Progress

Tamil Story Translated in English

திரு. சுந்தரம் ராமஸ்வாமி அவர்களின் விகாசம் என்ற கதையை ஆங்கிலத்தில் மொழி பெயர்த்திருக்கிறேன். அருமையான கதை. அதன் பாடம் இன்றும், இந்த செயற்கை நுண்ணறிவு (AI) காலத்திலும், பொருந்தும்.

Vikasam by Tiru. Sundaram Ramaswamy

Translated in English by Dr. Ranganayaki

Progress

Mother was lying on the bed. I was lying on the floor close to the bed. Mom and I had made it a habit to wake up late. We had earned this right after a little bit of struggle. The family has been keeping the dharma of bathing before sunrise for centuries. But both of us are patients, Amma of Asthma and I of arthritis. Mornings are difficult for both these ailments.

The hooting and ringing of the horse bells could be heard. The cart has been yoked. It indicates that father has taken the shop key in his hand and the needle of the clock must be on 8.30. Next wearing his slippers - the sound of kirach, kirach... After climbing down the stairs chatak, patak.... opening the umbrella with a jerk and then closing it. Well, that's the umbrella's daily health check.

The door opened slightly. The sunlight that flowed through the gap formed like a glass tube and rose up. Dust swirls in the pillar of light. Oh ! Father... the spectacles... what is seen from here is just one eye... and the tilak of sandlewood paste... the vermilion mark on top of it.

"Hey Ambi, wake up!' Father called from there. I closed my eyes. I lay motionless, as if in a deep slumber.

Amma said, 'Get up fatso! Father is calling you.'

From the corner of my eye I saw my father’s face. It was gentle and loving. I opened my eyes as if breaking out of a deep sleep. "Hey, take a bath, eat and go to ‘Aanaippaalam’ (the elephant bridge)," said father.

'Go and get Ravuttar and come straight to the shop. I will go and send the cart’.

I looked at my father's face and mother's face alternately. I had told my mother about the confrontation between Ravuttar and father at the shop the day before.

‘Can you manage without him or not? This show of removing him and taking him back has been going on for so many years now.’

Father's face grew red. It appeared that if it turned redder, blood drops would trickle down the tip of the nose.

"Onam is coming... you come to the shop and prepare the bills" said my father. The slurred words came through the twisted lips as his anger peaked.

"Is Ravuttar the only one in this world who knows how to prepare bills?" said mother.

"Shut up," shouted the father. Suddenly he turned to look at me and said, "Wake up." I immediately stood up like a bow. "Go, do as I say," he said. I moved out quickly as if someone pulled the wheel tied to my leg.

The sound of the horse cart starting was heard at the door.

I finished the morning chores in a hurry. What agility! Unusually, I tied a dhoti over my shorts and wore a full-length shirt. The hope was that the two together will make me talk with a little more confidence. I did not feel the usual anger towards my father. I was not feeling upset too. Even a little bit of love seemed to be oozing out. Alas, he is stuck in a tricky situation. His angry nature has made him break off with Ravuttar. It may be said that he could have handled it more calmly. If he did not have the irritable nature he might have handled it more peacefully. But when he is the personification of anger how can he be at peace? Feeling happy at this thought process, I looked at my mother’s face and said, ‘When he is the personification of anger itself how can he be peaceful?’

Mother laughed. The next minute she hardened her face and said in a sarcastic tone, ' What a genius you are!'. "If you are an intelligent child, take Ravuttar and go to the shop," she said. With her right hand on her chest, she said, "Tell him I am sorry for whatever he (father) might have said."

I went and sat in the horse carriage.

It also occurred to me that the sale of Onam cannot be handled without Ravuttar. Who can account like him? He can do mental maths at lightning speed. His mental calculations are equivalent to five people sitting in a row and calculating with paper and pen. Is it mere mortal intelligence? No, it is superhuman! It is an ability beyond this world that surprises the customers gathering in the billing area and observing him.

Being stunned at watching him, many have openly asked, ‘Is he really human?’ They have asked, ‘When he is able to calculate so fast just by listening to the numbers, how much more he could have done if he could only see.’ Moreover his school education stopped at the third standard.

That girl Gomati in the shop, who does odd jobs like sweeping the floor, spreading the mat and bringing the drinking water, is in class five. Ravuttar's school education is two levels lower than hers.

That day the conversation started in a gentle manner. “What is this Ravuttar, the loan has been piling up? The amount has increased quite a lot,’ said my father.

I feel that father could not accept the idea of Ravuttar selecting a bale of cloth, according to his wishes and then asking for it to be given on loan.

What can I do sir? Too many girls at home. Sons are useless. Son-in-laws are useless. Four daughters, four daughters-in-law. eight granddaughters, eight grandsons, how many in all? Even if I select just one set for each, the amount grows too big', said Ravuttar.

Father was looking closely at Ravuttar's face. It was as if he was cursing within, 'He is taking too much for granted. I will put him in place now'.

Ravuttar said, ‘Kolappa! Make the bill for these clothes and pack them up.’

Not even waiting for my consent, is he? Father’s face turned red with anger. He burst out, 'No, this time it is not possible to give the whole thing on loan. His voice sounded strict and harsh.

‘So you are saying you don’t want our relationship to continue sir?’ said Ravuttar. ‘Baby take me home’ Ravuttar got up to leave as he was saying this.

Gomati lifted Ravuttar's right hand and placed it on her left shoulder. She stepped down. Ravuttar also climbed down the stairs.

Everyday after closing the shop. Ravuttar would usually turn towards the place where father stands and, folding his hands, would say. Master. I'll make a move. This was his usual routine of taking leave. But today. without saying anything, he started going down the steps. He did not say anything... it seemed that he had taken leave of the shop for good.

I thought I could take Gomathi and go to Ravuttar's house. It seemed to me that if I did that, the anger in Ravuttar's mind would be somewhat alleviated. But Gomati was not at home. "Routhar said that he will not come. Gomati is going to shop right now,” said her mother.

Crossing the grove, entering the lane, I stopped in front of Ravuttar's house. It was a tiled house with a low roof. There was a well to the right of the front yard. The uncoated mortar walls were in ruins. Velvet moss bloomed on the walls and the floor around the well. There were cut stone steps in front of the house. A sackcloth was hanging like a curtain at the entrance.

'Ambi here', I said in a loud voice. A girl came out. Another girl who seemed to be the second of the twins, was just behind her. ‘Who has come dear?’ Ravuttar's voice came from within.

'Me, Ambi'

'Come, come’, said Ravuttar in a voice filled with excitement. I went in moving the curtain aside. On the floor, plastered with cow-dung. Ravuttar was sitting like a wrestler. With both his hands held up, he was repeating. 'Come, come'.

I sat on my knees in front of him and his searching hands touched me. His sightless stoney eyes were staring unblinkingly at me and it seemed as if they were anxious to bring back the lost sight. He pressed my shoulders hard and pulled me to his side forcefully and made me sit near him. It looked as if he was overwhelmed with emotion.

He said, ‘What is special today, it seems you are wearing a dhoti’.

Yes... just like that.'

Which border?'

‘Gundanji’

‘Ah, just like the master. In the shop, the boys also told me that you look exactly like your father. Though, I am not fortunate enough to have a good look at you.' While talking Ravuttar felt with his searching hands my chin, neck, pulse, mouth, nose, eyes, forehead and ears and said, 'Yes... everything is proper and fine. Having said this, he started laughing loudly.

I felt it was the right time to open up the topic for which I had come, but some unseen power was blocking my throat and I was not able to say anything.

I said, ‘Mother...'

Before I could complete, Ravuttar interrupted, 'How is her health?’

‘Well... as usual,' I said.

I have ‘Thoothuvalai' and 'Kandangkathri' Lehya. There is no better medicine for asthma than this. But Ayyer would accept only bottled medicines that have English labels on them. I don’t have English... I only have medicine,' saying this, Ravuttar laughed loudly.

I felt this was the best moment to say what I wanted to say. I said, 'Amma said I should take you to the shop.If father had said something unpleasant to you, Amma said she is feeling sorry for that. She has sent word that you should not take it to heart and you should not refuse Amma's request."

On hearing this, Ravuttar's face broke into a smile. Lifting up both his arms' he said in a loud voice, ‘She is a great human being. Then he told me, 'Get up, my son. Let's go to the shop immediately'.

Onam sales were good that year. Ravuttarwas very excited. He handled the shop boys who were bumping around him with utmost ease as always. It was as if Abhimanyu were standing alone in the battle field and fighting hoards of warriors.

The second the size and price of the cloth falls on the ear, the mouth gives the answer. God only knows the kind of spark that is inside his brain. What kind of spark it could be that can blurt out the answer in split seconds. How can we say that the spark that multiplies sixteen items and gives the answer in a row and says, "Item sixteen, the sum is 1414 rupees, 25 paisa" is the human brain?

If it was written on the blackboard, I would have surely taken half an hour to total up the whole thing. Here the answers are given in split seconds. And till today, no mistake has been committed in this procedure.

Mother had told me about it. Fighting sleep, father used to check Ravuttar's calculations till late in the night and say, ‘He thinks too much of himself. I should find a few mistakes and cut him down to size’. But even after checking everything very carefully, he would not be able to find a single mistake. He would have kept himself awake in vain. That's all.

One day a bullock cart came and stood before the shop. There were curtains both in the front and at the back of the cart. From the inside of the cart, one could hear sounds of women yelling and children screaming.

Ravuttar said, 'Looks like our family women folk have come.

It came to be known that his house was to be auctioned and the court clerk was throwing all the household goods on the streets.

Ravuttar started crying, 'Oh, God! What shall I do now ? I can't find a way out.' He started wailing like a baby. At that time Kolappan came there and said, 'Forty five metres and seventy centimetres at Rs. 13 and 45 Paise. In a second, the crying stopped. Ravuttar said at once, Write it down. Six hundred and Sixteen rupees and sixty six paise. Having said this, he turned to my father sitting in front of the cash counter and said, ‘Sir, the interest and principal is more than five thousand rupees and I have to pay the court. Where will I go for money?’ he cried.

Finally, Ravuttar and my father boarded the horse-carriage and went to see the lawyer.

The next day Ravuttar did not come to the shop. Kolappan said that he saw with his own eyes, Ravuttar sitting in Chettiyar's shop and making the bills. Father got wild. How unjust! I have just returned from the court after paying up his debts and this unfaithful fellow has ditched me.'

Kolappan's anger knew no bounds. He said, 'What does he know anyway? All that he knows is to calculate accurately; an intelligent devil! Doesn't know how to behave. He muttered to himself, 'I'll go at once and drag him along." So saying he went on his bicycle.

Feeling helpless, father almost collapsed on the floor and started babbling, 'What kind of a world is this? You can't even trust the mother who gives birth to us.

After a short while, Kolappan returned. Ravuttar was sitting on the rear-carrier of his bicycle. Kolappan held his hand and made him stand before the cash counter. Ravuttar pleaded with folded hands and a heavy voice, 'Master. forgive me. I had lost my mind.

Father shouted, 'Wait and see. A day will come when your pride will be shattered."

No, no master, don't talk like that. Chettiyar said, "You work here and I'll pay your debts.' I was carried away. I had lost my senses.'

Father shouted again, ‘A time will come when your pride will be battered. You just wait and see.'

Surprisingly, my father's words came true. Father had been to Bombay to buy stocks for the shop. As soon as he returned home, he showed a small machine to Amma and said, 'This will do the calculations."

'A machine will do calculations?'

'Yes, it will,’ said father.

Amma gave a sum. Father pressed the buttons. At once the machine showed the answer.

I picked up a piece of paper, multiplied the numbers, and shouted, “The answer is correct Amma, ”

Has Ravuttar's intelligence taken the form of a machine?" asked my mother.

I was working on the machine for the whole day. I didn't even put it aside when I went to bed at night. I entered difficult sums in the machine. For every question, the machine answered correctly. I remembered what Gomati had said to me once. She had asked Ravuttar, 'Grandpa ! How do you calculate so fast?" Ravuttar had replied. 'Dear. I've got three extra nerves in my brain.'

Now, I was surprised as to how those extra nerves had been packed inside this machine! I could not contain my surprise. I took the machine to Gomati and showed it to her. Gomati tried a number of tricky sums one by one and at the end declared, 'I've also got the right answers for all the questions. This seems to be a bigger devil than Grandpa."

One day in the evening Ravuttar was giving the amount of the bill, Gomati was sitting beside him with the calculator placed on her skirt and she was checking his calculations. Once without realising it, she let the words come out of her mouth and said, ‘Your calculation is correct, grandpa.’

Ravuttar was irked, "You have the audacity to check and say my calculations are right!'

Gomati said, 'Yes grandpa. I'm telling you after calculating it."

'Alright. Let me ask you something. You give the answer. Ravuttar gave a sum. Gomati gave the answer. He gave her another one. She answered that one too.

Ravuttar's face turned pale. ‘Oh God I just can’t understand this,’ cried Ravuttar.

'Grandpa, I didn't do the calculations. This machine does it.’ Gomati thrusted the machine in his hand.

Grandpa’s hands shivered when he took the calculator. His fingers trembled. He touched and felt the back and front of the machine and asked again and again, ‘Does this thing do the calculations?’ ‘Yes,’ said Gomati. ‘You keep it’ said Ravuttar and returned the calculator.

After this he was unable to speak, as if something was stuck up in his throat. He didn't even move. He froze and leaned on the wall. That day, Gomati and I took turns to calculate the bills. After a long time, Gomati prodded him with her fingers and asked, 'Grandpa, why are you not talking?' Even then he did not answer.

After this incident, he used to come to the shop numb and lifeless. He had lost his laughter, happiness, his satirical wit, his humour and jabs. His voice had mellowed. It seemed that he had lost some weight too.

Father did not ask him to prepare the bills.

One afternoon the store was bustling. I was counting the amount for the clothes that Murugan had cut. Ravuttar interrupted in the middle saying, "Wait a minute!"

Murugan stopped mid-way and silently looked at him. 'What price did you say for the poplin?’

'Fifteen rupees, ten paise per metre.’

'Wrong, check the cloth. It is Sixteen rupees, ten paise.’

Father got up from his seat and came near Ravuttar.

Murugan's face lost its colour as soon as he looked at the cloth.

He said. 'You are right."

Ten metres have been sold. We have lost ten rupees, haven't we? Are you here to throw away Ayyar's money in the street? Ravuttar scolded him.

Father asked, 'Do you know the price?"

‘Yes. It is a matter of memory. That's all." 'Do you remember the price of everything then?' Father asked again.

God’s will', said Ravultar.

‘So the price of small towels?’

'Four rupees, ten paise.’

The big ones?

‘Thirty-six rupees, forty paise.’

Father kept asking a series of questions. He got the correct answers. Father was surprised. He couldn't believe it at all. He was breathing heavily. He couldn't control himself. He said, ‘Then you do one thing. From now on, whenever the bill is made, check if the price is ok.’

'As far as possible, I'll take care of that. As he replied Ravuttar raised his head and asked, 'Sir ! Have you paid the electricity bill? Today is the last day."

"Oh! I haven’t paid it. Father called, 'Kolappa!’

'He has not come to work today,’ said Ravuttar.

'How do you know that?' asked my father.

'Each individual has a special voice and odour. Today neither his voice nor his odour was there.' Having said this Ravuttar called, 'Muruga!’

Murugan came.

‘Master, yesterday he said to a customer that double dhoti is not in stock. Take him to task.’

Father said, 'I can't understand what you're saying.’

'Sir, you had marked the price and stored ten double dhotis, hadn't you? Seven have been sold out of that stock so far. So there should be three more left.’

Father ordered that the dhotis be brought there. He found three double dhotis in balance.

Ravuttar lowered his voice a bit and said, ironically, ‘Oh Lord Muruga, you smoothly turn away the customers by saying we don’t have something even though we have it in stock. Are we here for doing business or for swatting flies ?

That day, in the evening. Ravuttar settled down next to father, where he prepared the bills. He said, 'If I sit next to you I'll be able to serve you better. Then he said, 'Sir, if you can increase the speed of the fan a little, I'll also get some air.’

Father ordered that the speed of the fan be increased. Ravuttar asked, ‘Sir. it’s time to pay the income-tax. You should meet the auditor, shouldn't you?'

Father said, 'Yes, I have to go and see him.'

When it was time to close the shop, Ravuttar asked, 'Sir, you had to buy medicine for Amma. Have you bought it ?

'I have to buy it,’ said my father as he was pulling and checking the lock on the shop. Ravuttar asked, 'Master, you said your mother's annual ceremony is approaching. If you tell Murugan, he will inform the purohit, on his way home.’

'Yes, I'll tell him,’ said my father.

The workers of the shop were leaving one by one. Gomati took Ravuttar's hand and placed it on her shoulder and as she started walking, asked, 'Grandpa, won't you sit down to do the calculations from now on?'

Ravuttar said, ‘Now Ibrahim Hasan Ravuttar is no longer a calculating machine. He is the manager of the shop and that is God’s will.’