Reforms - Imaginch's second attempt: 340

His unsuccessful attempt to reform The UN ended, in asking it to reform by itself. He did not let go his urge to reform at the gates of UN but tried to dig deep into the bowels of Earth, hoping to get at the root of a problem that needed reform. If unlucky, at least he would become the owner of a well, producing crude oil or an exploitable gas field. After shifting millions of tons of debris, he struck pay dirt, literally. His oil-soaked eureka moment arrived.

He belatedly understood that the representatives of UN are comprised owing allegiance to political hues or appointed by that colourful stream. Like the passengers carrying baggage, they tote briefcases and hold-alls. He had learnt that the best attempt at reform must begin at the source of leak, rather than waiting to repair the pipe after it had burst.

Imaginch needed only a suitable trigger to act. A sexagenarian or a septuagenarian speaking in the house of lawmakers lamenting in a weak voice provided him that impulse to press the trigger. The LM (Law Maker) droned on, “We enact laws but are afraid to implement them. Then why at all we do it in the first place?” 

Imaginch latched on to these reasons for that outburst. Maybe, retiring or forced to retire from house as a N P LM (Non-Performing Law Maker)? Biding time to switchover to another party, fearing the axe on another term. Or, his conscience awakening suddenly on the past financial misdeeds coming home to collect with penal interest! Or, divested of privileges, the longarm of rusted laws might grab him? 

Wandering among the laws this august body had enacted, his mind understood that there exited a tiered structure called courts. They study, scrutinise and implement the law as it is or with interpretations, drawn from experience or precedence. So far, the often-repeated cliché "letter and spirit of law" reassured him. 

Then, why the ‘why at all we do it? question! Was the LM or the likely NPLM, trying to say, "our own heads are not reliable places to hear things, we have been refusing to hear.!" 

In the LM’s political career is this indicative of too little wisdom arrived too late? Feeling confused, Imaginch approached it from another perspective, that of a confused sexagenarius/septuāgēnārius lawmaker. He remembered reading “If you have to do what you have to do, to learn what you could do, then do what you have to do to learn it!” Definitely a bit more confusing to the already confused mind. 

Within the house, the lawmakers enjoy privilege, a form of immunity, and power as elected/selected representative. Such privileges (immunity, power) are unheard of for the people who have elected them. He had a doubt ‘in democracy’ if it implies that all are equal is for the print and some are more than the equal is the hidden operative part. 

He could not but question “whether these more than equals could confer on themselves these special exemptions, as lawmakers representing the country’s population?”. This leaves the less than equal majority to strictly adhere to the enacted laws. Was the LM unaware of this less than equal people who had no occasion to personally put to test their limits of privileges against that of the more than equal! It dawned on him that the ‘all are equal’ is merely a ruse to fool the electorate. 

The LM as a representative of people, should live the life of an ordinary citizen, at least to know what it takes to lead that life. To ease these LMs gently into the general world, he wanted them to pass through toll gates like any other highway user - pay by Fastag. 

Being LMs, ruling or opposition party, they get salary and perks (unanimously voted by themselves for themselves and whenever convenient to them!) The first thing expected of LMs is attendance and participation in population centric discussions. A government employee on 'AWOL' does not get paid and to set a moral standard, the LMs, should draw their salary and perks on a pro rata basis, based on the ‘physically present attendance percentage’, inside the house. This pro rata basis does not apply for the licence fee, utility charges. Along with, TDS these charges are to be deducted at source. 

The time is ripe to give taste of the laws enacted by LMs. The privilege of rushing by e-way to knock at  the doors of the highest court needs to be replaced with the more common practice and struggles faced by an ordinary litigant – fall in line and come through the judicial hierarchy. Since the LMs have been showing undue haste to come to the highest court of the land, Imaginch wanted to help them in only ‘in the hurrying part.’ 

Till the litigation reaches the highest court, their appeals for adjournment should not be entertained or granted. In case of arrest, bail only from jail as anticipatory means knowing in advance.

When relevant records, video & audio files mysteriously disappear on the day of hearing, it should be taken as culpability of both the named and the custodians of such material proofs. The named should be found guilty and the custodians dismissed from service, without appeal. The LMs should not be allowed to file a review petition, to save the drain on public money.

 Another thought - why not they foot the bills in total and get reimbursed after winning the case? Probably, the lamenting LM can help in removing the adjournment clause and introducing the culpability, ‘bail from jail’ and ‘footing the bills by the named with a reimbursement, clauses to free the hands of justice! Imaginch was very much pleased because “those who liked to rule with an iron hand, will now be served with an ironclad justice!”

Alternatively, make the LM, be a minister or member an ordinary citizen to give them a taste of the litigation with adjournment cycles. The LM, now an ordinary citizen, will have to fork out funds for his trial. Soon, this litigant will start crying for "no adjournment please." 

Imaginch thought that his reform drive should drive enter the house and not to get stalled at the gates. He wanted to drive through with report cards. There should be an annual assessment and grading, to determine the usefulness, salary and perks both upwards and downwards. Parties will be happy that it becomes easier to weed out NPLMs. There is no danger of the LM resigning, except the certainty of not returning for another term. 

Privilege is guaranteed only when the LM makes the speech inside the premises. LM not making that inside the premises but air views outside the premises that too soon after staging a walk out, is a violation. The penalty is automatic suspension for a specific day, pro rata reduction in salary and perks. In the case of repetitive violation ends in forfeiting of membership. 

Imaginch thought that all along the LMs have been enjoying privileges and his “Storm for Reforms” could be the one and only way to bring back to life a modified cliche that “in democracy all are equal but none are more equal than the others.” 

Imaginch had high hopes on LMs such as the one who lamented, “why at all do we do it?” to energetically, not withstanding the age of their creaking bones, legislate and take forward his “Storm for Reforms”. When push came to shove, they would not hesitate to take away the privileges, immunity, salaries, and perks of others who act as arms, legs, ears and eyes of the governing / Opposition hierarchy! Imaginch took his imaginary hat off, salute their bone-weary valour. He hoped for that to happen to the valour to survive the weary bones, in the long run! 

Immediately another doubt cropped up. Will the LMs have the nerve to touch the judiciary with such restraining measures?  A prompt reply,” No way. Who knows when they have to come and knock on the doors of judiciary!” Then what about the 3 letter agencies? Another prompt reply, “Do you insert your hand in the mouth of a lion, to count its teeth?” 

Once their privileges are removed, the judiciary and the alphabet agencies will have fun time. The LM cannot shoot and hoot as a past time. Levelling allegations and hitting below the now a belt, prima facie offence with attached condition ‘Jail before bail” Now the aggrieved need to do only one thing - file a complaint and the courts in the land will treat this as a suo motu case and do the rest, in the blink of an eye. 

The LM will regret and become poor by paying the legal fees. While on the legal fees, he had another brainstorm. LMs who are also practicing lawyers, will have to choose between making money or making laws.  He was much pleased with this strong thought, had an afterthought - wanted to amend the rules of adjournment such that a named LM cannot plead for an adjournment citing sessions, electioneering and prior commitments and suddenly falling ill etc.  Upping the ante, he wanted to make the ‘taking suddenly ill’ as a cognizable offence with a forfeiture clause on bail from jail. 

One last nail on the cabin of privileges. Contesting from two constituencies, winning and resigning from one – there will b no bye-election. The vacated seat will automatically vest with the runner up in that constituency. It is universal and applicable for any type of seat contested. For now, he did not want to touch the seat falling vacant due to demise of the winner. 

After tying up all the legal loopholes, Imaginch had some questions to that lamenting LM. 

Why do we end up with NPLMs in the hustings? Is the ability to bury the truth in fiction a prerequisite? How can justice be made out as a criminal act when they summarily dismiss allegations against them as figment of opponent’s imagination and criminal conspiracy? A hate speech of a common man attracts the wrath of law but a neta making hate speech is only given wide publicity and does not attract the law, or PIL or a suo motu case! Imaginch decided to leave it for later.

 As a last act of defiance, Imaginch wanted to change the rules of game called ‘defection’.  A LM will no longer enjoy the game of pole vault or play the role of a trapeze artist. One strict law will end the circus of switching sides, like changing a shirt or other garment. Defecting alone or as a group, the red flag of political vanvas goes up accompanied by a shrill whistle to signal that the game is over.  He was dissatisfied with that sexagenarian or septuagenarian for lamenting "what for?" instead of "why not"?

He sorely noted the absence of “Toolkits” which always make an appearance even in the case of people sneezing due to severe personal cold to facilitate agitations against a government. 

Like he did in the case of the UN reform, he did not want to leave this “storm for reforms” as an orphan by simply after appealing for self-reforms. He could not set aside his feeling that in this fight for “storm for reforms”, he is like the ill-trained matador thrown into the arena of a Spanish bullring!  

Let us wait and watch, with abated breath, to find out who is the winner – the matador or the bull? Any bets? 

The second session- Not so sweet, honey ! 333

My granddaughter broke that silence by asking, “why they build on trees?”  I replied, “From the perspective of the bees, it makes good sense to live near the source of buds and blooms rich in nectar and pollen from which they make food and construction materials” She had a supplementary question – “if we have terrace gardens all over the city, with plants flush with buds and blooms, will the honeybees like it?” I replied, “The high-rise dwellers would rather prefer fumigation than maintaining gardens, for the sake of honeybees! 

The resinous mixture collected from tree buds, mixed with wax and bee saliva (enzymes) is this bee-made Propolis adhesive which is powerful, water resistant and antiseptic. The worker bees prepare a cavity free surface on the wall or ceiling, or bark of a tree and then coat that surface with a thin layer of propolis, to create a smooth, clean surface and sticky foundation. The bees have only tiny mandibles, to mold, smoothen and fuse this mixture to the surface before attaching the comb. The entire labour-intensive process is highly engineered for bond strength and durability to support the weight of the live comb. A beehive may store 10 to 15 kg of honey. There might be 5 to 10 thousand bees weighing 0.5 to 1.0 kg, living inside + the comb weight which has to be supported against gravity and forces generated by winds. 

The chorus rose again, this time for another break and urging me to stop wandering in the park and get on with the next stage - the specialty of the honeycomb structure. Low on energy, we all trooped out for a lengthy break to feast on the food items on offer. 

Becoming restive, the war machines and marine life buffs asked me, “. “Grandpa, you are going all over the park without telling us how a beehive is built.  Lost your way or what? When will you come to the comb itself, it is dangling in mid-air” Sarcasm or satire, it gave me a chance to come out with more. 

“Sure, let us see how. The forager worker bee is probably their site engineer to scout for a viable plot having accessibility and abundance of flora, within wingable distance to strike a barter deal. Plants depend on insects like the bees for pollination and for a fee - nectar and pollen, the bees are willing to go the extra mile! 

The honeybees do it differently. The foundation for the comb is at the top and the house hangs upside down.  When the comb is built on a high-rise building, it is also attached to the walls for additional support. They strengthen the foundation and attachment points with more wax. The beehive has to support the weight of honey and brood which might go up to 45 kg. The mixture of wax and adhesive propolis hardens to a very strong and permanent bond. The bees make use of gravity to help and guide the construction downwards - instinct or ingenuity!”. 

The hexagonal cells allow for greater energy absorption, and the honeycomb is especially strong against compression and buckling forces. The hexagon shaped hollow cells result in lighter weight, reduced material usage. The distributed and interconnected cells offer better resistance. 

My granddaughter asked, “Why the comb is smaller at the bottom and what happens in case of a cyclone?” 

“Let me explain. Remember, the honeycomb hangs upside down. The base (nearer to the ground)) structure is formed by three intersecting rhombic plates. This geometry is more efficient, occupies a smaller space and interlocks the base with the cells on the opposite side of the comb. Now, the bees need less wax to close the base (bottom)! 

In case of a cyclone, the force majeure clause will automatically come into play. Force majeure means ‘beyond one’s control’ like acts of nature or war etc. Th e beehive on a tree branch faces direct wind force and if built on tall buildings it has to bear the brunt of upward draft of winds also. Tree or tall building, its endurance is tested to destruction. During construction the bees have addressed compression and shearing loads and yet can’t claim the axiom- survival of the fittest! 

She had this doubt. “Will the force majeure be applicable when we try to get at the stored honey?”  I replied, “In the case of natural comb, any aggression unleashed on it, the bees have no other option but to declare force majeure to relocate or perish. A kilo of beeswax costs them about 8 kilo honey. Destruction of a beehive is that difficult for the bees to rebuild.  They fare better in the apiaries. Harvesting of honey is done with minimal damage.” 

Becoming excited, she asked, “Grandpa, “Like dairy milk, we do have dairy honey also but how nectar, pollen are converted to honey?” 

It is a complex process and in its simple form it works like this. The female forager worker bees collect pollen, moisten it with nectar and saliva to produce the protein rich food/honey for the larvae and the colony. Normal collection is about 10 to 15 kg of dehydrated honey and in a good season this may go up to 25 to 45 kg. This excess quantity allows them to take up expansion activities.  If not from an apiary, the honey we use is most probably stolen from the bees depriving them of food and expansion activities.” 

My granddaughter had this doubt – what the honeybees do in the night? 

“You will be surprised to know that beehive keeps humming in the night also. Young house bees will be busy turning nectar brought by the forager bees into the sweet honey. The forager bees, obviously tired from a day’s hard work sleep it off. Other bees go full blast at housekeeping chores.” 

While narrating a story, I keep my eyes closed, an auto-reflex. These guys just used that opportunity to leave a paper bearing dozen questions, on my lap. Initially perplexed, soon I recollected that these guys had a supply of writing materials with them.  Having exhausted all that I know, I bowled them over with a slower delivery – “why don’t you guys do these questions as a summer project work? Your parents and teachers will be happy. Don’t forget to include whatever I have told you so far.” 

Absolute, deadpan expression left me in doubt, whether the war machine and marine life buffs are planning to retract their respective requests.

Back at home, Grandma enquired, “How was the trip? The granddaughter silently opened her book and pointed out to the half a page write up on honeybees and said, “You know what grandma, on this matter he told us a screenplay of a 3-hour horror movie!" 

In a matter-of-fact voice, the grandma asked, “Was the screenplay that much painful than the sting of bees?" 

Searching for me? I have other engagements to attend to.

The story 'on the making of a story': 354

One can enjoy life in various innocuous ways. He found one, in the hard way by attempting to write a story… 

He did not realise the work of putting down words to tell a story will become a potential minefield. Enthusiasm was egging on the raw talent to go all out to prove " U 2 can do it!" Done with its part, it evaporated proving even for enthusiasm, entropy existed. 

He was scared to visualise that the collective ghosts of Sadi Carnot, Rudolf Clausius and William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), the architects of Thermodynamics, jumping up and down with in delight. At this point, if he had shelved his dream to write, it would have become a diplomatic coup for the established writers and if he decided to persist with, it would certainly land him in a tank of hot soup for every paragraph he wrote.

He had a doubt whether the established writers’ attempts to derail his authorship could be called a diplomatic coup?  

 "Diplomatic coup” is an idiomatic expression to describe a brilliant, sudden, and highly successful act. For his purpose he had to trim some of the trappings viz disregarding its nuanced approach in the geopolitical sphere. He assured himself with an “Yes” that it would entirely be within his rights. Would it have gained him an upper hand or advantage in the literary circles? The jury is still out there on this whether to allow him to normalise relations or secure a significant internal agreement within the circle. 

When it came to thinking, the physical work involved movements, sounds and conversations like the silent shifting of mental gears and any conversational interruption that chased away the thoughts, sometimes never to be apprehended. For the onlookers, the writer appeared to be idling while all of them were engaged in tangible, visible and useful activities. This first batch of inhouse juries, stood by this assessment. 

Are there any more juries? What was the fallout for the writer? One thing would certainly be there - a guaranteed variety. 

He had opened the yet to be titled story, with a scene depicting a busy marketplace, where people were making random moves as if to collide with each other but miraculously managing to avoid it by deft counter moves. At this point, he allowed a pickpocket to snatch a purse and became busy to device a ploy to get him apprehended. 

As he was searching for a novel idea to trip and trap the thief, came the interruption. "You are sitting like a statue; would it be asking too much to dump the wet and dry wastes in the garbage bins?". If you read between the lines, you will catch the subtle, dual reference to garbage clearance. Withstanding all this type of snide and asides from the sidelines, he was yet to progress beyond the opening paragraph. Availing this opportunity, the beginning of the apprehending ploy vanished without a trace and the wastes got promptly disposed into the bins. 

He decided to give a late start to a good Samaritan, to go after the thief. Remembering his description of the human chaos at the busy marketplace, he gave up the idea of a chase and hit upon another solution. He brought in a child character to blow a whistle and contrived a shrill whistler to echo in response, from somewhere in the market. Thinking that two policemen were after him, the pickpocket hid the purse inside his baggy pants while searching for an escape route. He hoped the pickpocket and the readers would not pause to think "Oh, What a joke! Our potbellied policemen giving a chase, unbelievable!"  

Not to embarrass the police force, he revised his plan and decided on three or four separate incidents in the marketplace that would be an ideal setting for further narration. For starters, he focused his mind on devising ways to reunite a child (another character) that got separated from its parents. 

Engrossed in developing this angle, he failed to notice the hubbub in his house. A frantic search was going on for a misplaced article. In frustration, his son came over and hissed at him, "You were handling it yesterday, where is it now?" Leaving the child lost in the crowd in a safe corner he turned his attention home ward.  'What did I handle yesterday and which is misplaced today?" Without uttering a single word, his son gestured to a pair of shoes on the floor keeping company with a tin of shoe polish. 

The smell of shoe polish just registering, he blurted out, " You mean the brush?” Instantly transforming himself into a rag picker, he dashed out to rummage among the garbage, he had emptied a while ago. 

The poor child, lost in the crowd of the market, has to wait for some more time to reunite with his parents. The interrupted narrative, after the brush episode, moved forward to the spot where the child was witing. To stir the emotions of the would-be readers with sympathy, he decided to depute an extra actor to extend a friendly gesture with a cup of ice cream to comfort the child. 

Reluctant, confused and yet yearning for the offered ice cream, the child got down to the business of emptying the cup. In the meanwhile, another extra actor, not to be outdone in compassion, brought a bag of chips. Perplexed and glad, the child took the chips of chips and even offered to share some with the two caring actors. Touched by this grand gesture, the actors enquired, “How you got separated from the elders?” 

This question confused the child and in between munching the crunchies replied, “Why would you ask like that? I just came to enjoy the crowd and the marketplace!”  Before the writer could appreciate himself for giving an Aesop twist, he heard the siren, “The washing machine has just finished its work, when will yours be?” 

After this ‘commercial break’, he continued thinking about the next step in the narrative. His mind was unable to come out of the crowded marketplace and urged him to look for something there itself. 

He created a small disturbance, in the write up, and forced some people from the crowd to converge there. Though the encircling wall of humanity obstructed the ongoing visuals, enough audio filtered through to inform the gathering that two persons were throwing heated arguments at each other. The context was unclear after some time the sound-bytes stopped abruptly. Losing interest in further proceedings, people disbursed leaving the quarrelling duo alone. 

What about the readers? He had to describe something for them to read, so he included in the write up this conversation: 

“Did I not prove my point?” 

“The point is, you would not have proved it without me”. 

“Wrong, I would have proved it solo, even without your help. As expected, they all gathered, watched and made no attempt to learn or diffuse the situation. The moment we stopped shouting they all left. What this tells you?” 

“One, you were right. Two, entertainment in any form is ok with them!” 

He had come to the decisive part of the narration. The snatched purse has to be retrieved and the thief has to be apprehended.

Unaware of the narrator’s dilemma, the thief took his own decision and decided to hide safely in plain sight. But he wanted that plain sight to be in a busy café and have something to munch too! He chose a crowded self-service pay and eat cafe. With a few nervous butterflies fluttering in his stomach, he approached the cash counter and then all hell broke loose …... for him.

Coincidence or a twist in the pig’s tail, the narrator experienced another kind of hell breaking loose for him. The overhead tank had run out of water and he had forgotten to top it up from the storage sump. Quickly switching on the motor, he came back to think of ways to end the story. In his hurry he forgot about the part of switching off the sump motor after its job was done. 

A part of his mind said, "catch him" and the other part argued pro bono to get him off with a warning. He mused. "Why not twist the tale a bit more and leave it with two endings?" He praised his foresight for having brought the thief to where he wanted him to be for the twin endings. 

The thief took out the stolen purse and counted out the required money for whatever he had ordered. As the printer was doing its work, an unfriendly hand shook the thief from the back. The thief turned around to face the person, who was none other than the extra actor, in plain clothes, who had given a bag of chips to the child, a little while ago and in some other part of the market.

The blood drained from the thief’s face when recognition hit him like a loaded truck. Soon the other extra actor, also in plain clothes, who had sponsored a cup of ice cream to that child, joined the show. The printer which just finished the billing sat in silence with anticipation. The thief knew that his game had just ended even without the policemen blowing their whistles. At that point, his worry was about the order he had placed and paid for with the stolen money.

With one of the endings behind him, the narrator mulled over the pro bono ending.

He simply decided to make use of the two policemen already in place. Only they have to stage a different act as compassionate police men!  

The actor who laid his hands on the shoulder of the thief asked, "why should you degrade yourself like this?" Before the thief could reply, the second actor clarified, "Maybe hunger forced him to do this". Instead of the good cop bad cop play it was all the way a good cops act! 

The cashier wanting to play a part, chose that exact moment to announce, "take this printout and collect your ordered items”. The thief hesitated but the two extra actors slightly nodded, retrieved the stolen purse and after giving a stern warning before letting the thief go ahead. 

When he wrote the words 'stern warning', he never expected to receive one himself. In his scramble to end the narrative, he had forgotten to switch off the sump motor, which was happily giving the side walls of the overhead tank a most welcome bath! 

What he had left to do now, was to come up with a suitable title for this untitled story. 

The busy market place, people who tested principles of thermodynamics, the pickpocket and the two extra actors and the child who blew the whistle and the other child who did what he did for fun, the crowd that gathered around a disturbance and of course, the interruptions at home while thinking…. 

The list lengthened like the vote of thanks mentions, which often had more names than attendees. 

What would be a more appropriate title? Before his mind could suggest a two branched title, he decided to title it as The story 'on the making of a story'.

Sleep, with open eyes 335

The grandkids staged tantrums to accompany him for his eye check-up, a year after BELT cataract procedure.  The children, hinging their hopes on grandpa to forgive their ‘screenplay of a horror movie’ comment and banked on a visit to their favourite ice-cream parlour. They did not relent. To enjoy alone time from Grandpa and his three thieves, she chose to remain at home. 

In the waiting hall, different pictures of eyes, with different stories to tell, kept a careful watch on them with or without glasses. The kid interested in marine life, started a mental list of questions to test his grandpa’s knowledge and patience. He encouraged the other two also to make additions to his list. He whispered into their ears, “it will be our tit for tat” for that arboretum trip, which really left us stung! 

Unaware of this wily trap, grandpa completed the check-up, collected the medicines and came out to the waiting hall. He saw the kids engrossed in an animated discussion. He had no clue what so ever that final touches are being given to their attack plan. A detour to the ice cream parlour and back home for lunch completed the round trip. 

At home, they saw the dining table standing bare, with nothing on it except the cloth. It only added fuel to the ravenous appetite already gnawing at their digestive tracks. From another part of the house, the grandmother made a dramatic entry with a mischievous smile. Since this act did not get her the desired response, she just went back to where from she had come. With ‘hunger cum suspense’ knocking about in their heads, they sent questioning looks at the grandfather just shrugged his shoulders to convey a “I too don’t know!”. 

Then, the buzzer rang and broke the ‘questions cum suspense’ laden silence. Grandmother hurried to open the door, overtaking them all. Peeping from behind her back, the kids noticed the person from Swiggy. The ‘hunger cum suspense’ and ‘questions cum suspense’ ended the moment when plates and cutleries appeared as if by magic. Their luncheon has arrived! Unable to hold it anymore, they asked “what is the special occasion today?” The grandma, beaming with another mischievous smile replied, “It is the kitchen’s birthday!”

After the lunch, she said, “Children, heavy or light lunch, it is siesta time for the old man. Disturb him, he will behave like a grumpy old bear."  Like ‘Shaun the sheep’ they all nodded their heads with no such plan to allow the old man his siesta. One of them silently murmured the tit for tat mantra.

Following him in to the bedroom, they sat by his side without speaking a word. The old man got the message that his siesta has already started walking southwards. Pre-empting them he asked, " Now out with it, whatever you people want to ask." 

"Grandpa, we know how easily you would drift off in to sleep while telling bedtime stories. Don't do what you did to your children, to us, now!" 

Feeling royally cornered, he agreed, “Ok. If your questions are interesting, I will keep my eyes open." 

In the arboretum, you explained about the compound eyes of the honeybees. Tell us about our eyes? 

Ok. I will give only the general picture. You will have to refer to books or use search engines in the net to get more intricate details. 

You had the BELT thing on your eyes, why?

When the natural lens in the eye becomes cloudy or yellow, it becomes difficult to see things clearly. This cloudy thing is a cataract. During cataract surgery, a new artificial lens is placed to restore sharp vision. 

Why people young and old have to wear various types of spectacles, even without a cataract?

Any one of the following could be the reason. Myopia (near-sightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), astigmatism (distorted vision), and presbyopia (age-related close-up difficulty). Vision blurs as the light entering the lens are prevented from being properly focused on the retina. The prescribed corrective lenses or glasses overcome these deficiencies, to give a clear vision. 

Why don't we fit animals, having poor eyesight with glasses?

They do suffer from near-sightedness and cataract. As most of them do not perform tasks requiring 20/20 vision, glasses are unnecessary for them. 

Do we dream in colour and how do we see colours?

Most of us do but people from older generations who have seen mostly black and white pictures, rarely have dreams in colour.  Our eyes have 6 to 7 million cone cells. Most people have three types of cone photoreceptors called trichromacy comprising of short cones (blue), medium cones (green) and long cones (red). 

We can distinguish up to 1 million colours. Some have a fourth type of cone (tetrachromacy). People with a strongly developed tetrachromacy can detect up to 100 million colours, but this happens very rarely. Weakly developed tetrachromacy will be a useless addition as the brain ignores the signals from these cones. In addition, there are about 100 to 125 million rod cells to help us see in dim light but missing out on colour & finer details. 

Do animals dream?

Yes. Many animals have dreams but are incapable of sharing their experience with us! 

In what ways the eyes of animals differ from human eyes? 

Humans have spherical, globelike shape, with a slight bulge in the front. We have round pupil. We see the world right-side up and in high detail. Generally, we get a horizontal vision spanning 200 ⁰ 220⁰ and in the vertical direction we can see objects lying in the range of 130⁰ to 135⁰. 

Animals have spherical, specialised tubular, cylindrical shaped eyes and compound eyes. Some have vertical slits in the pupil; some have horizontal slits. Animal brain processes only visual information, by filtering out unimportant data. They rely on panoramic view from about 330⁰ wide vision to detect predators from any side. But have blind spots directly behind them. 

In the wild, animals with poor vision cannot see prey or predators and cannot survive long enough and rarely able to pass on their genetic trait of bad eyesight. They depend on other reliable senses like smell and hearing to overcome weak eyesight. Animals don’t need to see fine, high-resolution details as they have to focus only on objects close to them rather than at a distance or to rely on environmental familiarity instead of keen visuals.  Their ability to detect motion and to see in the dark, or to use ultraviolet light for visuals is sufficient for survival. 

Will we be able to see underwater? How marine animals manage to see even under abysmal depths? 

No. Our eyes are designed to receive light travelling through air and not water. Something to do with how light is bent or not bent (refractive index). Pay attention to reflection, refraction and refractive index in Physics lessons, then you will fully appreciate their importance in our life.

The ocean surface is bright, and the deep sea is in pitch-black darkness. To maximise vision in low light & high-pressure environment, the sea animals have special lens shapes, light-gathering layers and unique pupil structures. In the abyssal zone, where sunlight barely penetrates, their eyes are adapted to detect bioluminescence and the faint, downwelling blue light. Marine creatures have almost perfectly spherical, dense lenses with high-powered focusing capabilities. To capture the maximum number of photons, their eyes are massive relative to their body size

Tapetum Lucidum, a reflective layer behind the retina acts as a mirror to reflect light back through the retina to increase light absorption, enabling them to see in dark or murky water. Tubular and upward-facing eyes act like binoculars to identify silhouette of prey against the faint light from the surface. Their eyes, have retinas packed with rod cells, which are highly sensitive to light and have few or no cone cells as colour vision is not important for survival in deep-sea. 

They have focusing structures to shape the eyes to work with refractive index of air and water.  Their corneas can withstand pressure and function in water, often using a flatter shape to minimise distortion and compensates for the lack of refraction. Some have very flexible, muscular eyes that can dramatically change the shape of the lens or move it to focus at various distances. 

Their eyes can regulate light to deal with high-intensity light at the surface and absolute darkness of deep sea. Some species possess a fleshy structure that hangs down to create an omega-shaped pupil that can expand or contract to manage the highly varying lighting conditions. 

Why such a complicated anatomy for the eye of a typical marine animal? 

The salt water absorbs, scatters and filters the light rapidly. This is a harsh and unforgiving environment teeming with predators and survival is not a given but won and to be protected. Their multifocal refractive index capability allows them to survey multiple depths at once. The rod pigments in the eye are highly sensitive to blue and green light, which is the only light that penetrates deep water. Efficiently combining all these extra features, a marine life does its best to survive and reproduce. 

In space, will our eyes function properly?

Yes. We can clearly see things in space. To avoid vacuum and radiation hazards, we must wear protective gears while in space. 

He rounded off it all with some interesting facts, without answering for whom! 

A watched kettle boils over only when you blink your eyes! (his own ‘grandverb’ a la proverb) 

Marine animals in coastal & murky waters have a nictitating membrane (blinking third eyelid) that allows some light transmission while protecting the eyes from suspended particles. Some have mottled skin to blend in with a specialised iris that breaks up the outline of the eye as camouflage. 

The land mammals have flatter lenses and near-sightedness is more common in animals like dogs & cats. They do not rely on perfect vision to survive as they are protected by humans. Because of this reason, their defective genes causing poor eyesight gets passed-on. 

Rods and cones are special development in the eyes of vertebrates and are not universal to all life. Unlike humans, other vertebrates have varying number of rods and cones depending on their environment. 

Some insects do not have rods & cones but still manage with other senses. Plants & microbes depend on photopigments or photochromes.

Humans, animals, birds and insects all have exactly the same DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) as their genetic blueprint. All life on Earth uses the same fundamental genetic code in the double helix structure, based on the same four chemical bases such as Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, and Cytosine. The specific sequence of this A, T, G and C differs, thus making all of them as unique species.

At the end, the kids asked, “Grandpa, how could you recollect so much information and answer all our questions without slipping into your siesta?” 

The grandfather calmly replied, “I have been preparing the material since last summer. Otherwise, how could I keep you all away from mischiefs? I am like the legendary General Zhang Fei who lived in the late 2^nd or early 3^rd century BCE.  He slept with his eyes open and with practice now I too can!” 

Having heard all the eye related information, the kids were in a quandary - to take him at face value or to take everything he said his with spoonsful of salt. They tactfully refrained from asking “how then he heard and answered their questions?”. Fearing another outlandish story, they just nodded their heads and left, only to come face to face with their grandma. 

She asked, “How did it go?” They replied in unison, “We asked for a bucketful of water and he managed to dunk is in the Ocean, that is how horrible it went. Are you happy now?” She left the spot wondering, “What happened to these kids and why give me such a reaction? If at all they had to vent anger, it should have been dumped on their tormentor’s head and not on me?

The first session: Honey, not so sweet honey! 331A

The grandchildren were coming over for the summer holidays. Stocking of the kitchen cupboard, reading and art materials and a pre-paid tours to places of their interest have had a healthy bite on our savings. Internal rearrangements were planned and completed to give them the feel @ home atmosphere with space, freedom and privacy. We started looking at the circled date on the calendar, for their arrival and maybe, they were counting the days to come over.  At this time, the clock that counts ‘ageing’ mercifully stops to give the grandparents a chance to have fun! 

A year of school, off-school activities seem to have somewhat smoothened the edges off their individual and collective mischievousness. Like the wind reversing directions, now it was the turn of the parents shooting out communications – ask them to do this, help them to do that and make them behave. I happily ignored them all. I had my own plans to give them time to decompress. During my summer holidays there were no coaching classes and curfews. The SOP was giving attendance for lunch and be back for dinner and night halt. This prompted me to ask, “If not now, when they will enjoy their childhood?” 

 Last year they had clandestinely visited the corner fast-food joint. This time, right royally, I decided to treat them with ice-creams, against the well-meant warnings and admonishments of their grandmother. Having said that, she always waited with glasses of hot water, as the troupe returned after their battle with scoops of ice-cream! 

The granddaughter wanted me to read the book on insects along with her. The grandson 1, had a book and wanted to share his take on war machines. Not to be left behind, grandson 2, chose marine life and expected me to accompany him for a scuba dive, into their world, with or without the gear! I was at my wits’ end to accommodate them all. To make the matter worse, a bunker buster dropped from the kitchen came streaking down targeting me – “Children, don’t waste your breath teaching that old and rusted brain. It will go bonkers!” To understand my fury and discomfort, you have to feel the sting of an entire colony of honeybees. 

The first session in the arboretum: 

To deal with the insect, war machines and the marine life in one go, I decided a field trip to a nearby arboretum - a specialised botanical garden, might help me. My own secret place! For the children, this arboretum would be a forest of change, living in a mega concrete jungle. They celebrated it by running wild, chasing butterflies, echoing the bird calls and attempted to snare a gadfly or two- a whale of a time amidst the trails, fallen leaves, twigs and flowers in bloom. 

Suddenly, my granddaughter shouted, “Look there! A big beehive, there on that tree!” Excitement and curiosity racing each other, she tugged at my sleeves relentlessly pointing out the honeycomb. To tease her a little I kept on asking, “where, I am not able to see anything there.”  With curled lips and a pout on the face, she simply said, “If you want to see you will see. 

Seizing the opportunity I asked, “Are you ready to hear about the honeybees? Write down your questions and basing on them I will answer them in a sequence to present a complete picture.”  My grandsons, though disappointed, reluctantly agreed to defer discussions on war machines and marine creatures to a later date and would hear the hum of the beehive, now! 

Patting their shoulders, I said, “Wait awhile, your interests will also be addressed. Now, listen to the hum of honeybees!  Have you ever wondered how these tiny honeybees, each weighing just 100-160mg with a micro brain weighing less than 2mg, operate on a super software that runs without a glitch, generation after generation? A queen bee 190-220mg, lays up to 2000 eggs at a time. Fertilized eggs become female worker bees and new queen bee. of Unfertilized eggs, up to 20%, produce male bees or drones. Using pheromones “scent” she controls the worker bees in activities including rearing of limited new queens. Drones weigh 170-300mg, avails free boarding & lodging to partner with the queen bee to produce the next generation bees, as needed. 

Honeybee’s eyes have thousands of light-collecting units called ommatidia. Each ommatidia is an individual mini camera with cornea, lens, and photoreceptor cells. They create a 360° panoramic view of its surroundings to detect rapid movement, colour and UV light.  Compared to human vision, this mosaic image is poor in resolution and sharpness. With a demonstration, I wanted to make the children to understand this point. Turning on the panoramic mode, I gave them my cell phone to shoot videos while completing a full circle After initial hiccups, they got the videos and after viewing them said, “It is not picture perfect, but we get your point. 

Want to know, why do they sting? They don’t unless you disturb them. You see that beehive; it is well above the reach of us. They are careful to avoid human interference. In a chorus, they said, “Grandpa, give us a break.” I understood and herded them towards the restraint for the much need fill for them and a respite for my voice box.  Refreshed, they wanted me to continue. 

“It is hard to imagine what sort of science and engineering are involved in the construction of the comb and production of honey.  The bees have wisely chosen the hexagonal honeycomb structure. The reasons are the hexagonal hollow cells offer living space, distribute loads, effectively manage heat, don’t shear or buckle easily. This pattern covers maximum area with minimum of material usage to build an exceptionally lightweight, load-bearing structure with high energy absorption and stiffness. Turning to ‘war machines” enthusiastic grandson, I pointed it out that we have adopted these fundamentals in aerospace applications, to dissipate destructive energy in structures built for impact resistance and seismic protection. 

My granddaughter asked, “How do they form the hexagon cells!” I am about to come there next. Do you remember what I said in the beginning about science and engineering? The bees construct array of tubes, stacked one over the other and not hexagonal tubes. The worker bees sit inside the tubes and use an ingenious trick to form hexagonal cells - body heat to soften the mixed wax and adhesive. Fluid dynamics does the rest! 

Like in our world, science glues the engineered materials in the honeycomb also. Taking their confused look as a green signal, I started explaining the chemical process involved in manufacturing the materials and the geometrical trick combined with physics used to fabricate the hexagonal cells to build the comb. I expected a barrage of question but heard only the rustling of leaves. The grandchildren have gone in to deep trance to digest the chemistry, physics and geometry as probably it all reminded them of some coaching classes!