In the name of Peace

Who would not like to have this and live happily notwithstanding the humdrum of day to day life? Certainly Imaginch wished very much that he be allowed to live in peace, in the house at least. Somehow the circumstances conspired to corner him to react in non-diplomatic ways- only to get in to hostile atmosphere as often as possible.  Many sessions of self analysis, in his study room did not result in any revelation, except a maze of cob webs and few lizards giving company in the hope of catching unwary insects.

For Imaginch the typical starts with a request, “can you switch on the water motor?” Being an imaginative person he had landed in the land of science, engineering and geopolitics busying himself in reorganising the world as he would like to have it.  Certainly the request sounded like an insult to his caliber of thinking and the fateful reply comes out signalling the initiation of hostilities – “what will happen if it is done after some time convenient to me and what will happen if I don’t do it? Now the water kettle is on the gas range!

An avid follower of events connected to space activities, Imaginch was seriously thinking about the two interesting news items – the water plumes on Titan (Jupiter’s moon) captured by Hubble Telescope and the need for a 13th Zodiacal sign as per the precise path followed by sun during its sojourn as seen from earth. He was proud to possess sufficient knowledge about the universe, stars, planets, and exoplanets including the comets. He had been nurturing and augmenting this information bank since decades. He dismissed the first item from further analysis as its impact would not be felt in the near future, at least by him anyway!

The second information was a bit serious raising immediate concern in his mind as he had a low key operating knowledge. His line of thinking hit against a solid wall , “ can you close the tap or otherwise water will be spreading on the floor” . Imaginch wrenched himself away from his thoughts only to find a bucket overflowing and in his inattentive frame of mind, almost had a skating practice.  He retorted vehemently at the voice that instructed him to close the tap, “What is that you are doing except disturbing me now and then”? The kettle on the gas range started to gurgle imitating Imaginch’s raising annoyance.

Bottling up the anger-which he was unable to vent out on anybody fearing further escalation, he resumed his work out on the Zodiac with 13 signs. The first problem that needed immediate solution was by which name this new sign of the zodiac is to be called. The second one was how to design the new chart for the horoscope which thus far had 12 neatly drawn rectangular boxes called houses. The third problem which reared its head was the shape that would elegant to look at. The next task to be tackled was to convince the already existing houses to sacrifice a few degrees each so that the 13th house can be constructed.  A shrill voice chose to intervene at this crucial stage,” The garbage collection team is at the corner of the street .....”

Imaginch felt as though a load of brick had fallen on him.  With great patience, he shrugged off the interruption and went down 2 floors, venting his anger at the members of the staircase, and waited for the garbage team to approach the apartment, which seemed to be taking ages. He went back to work not before spilling his spleen by shouting, “what sort of a life is this where one cannot even think calmly for awhile on an interesting thing”? The kettle on the gas range started issuing wisps of steam reflecting Imaginch’s emotional disturbance.

He immersed himself in organising the star wars – the 27 stars that had the privilege of occupying a certain houses are to be mentally prepared to move over to a new address. This would be better rather than admitting new members which would become a head ache for the practicing astrologers. Any ways they have a greater problem staring at them - interpreting the horoscope. A group of neighbours descended on the house and a hushed tone whispered in his ears, “hurry and get some milk sachet and cookies.. Hahn..  Do not forget to bring a litre of fruit juice after checking the date of expiry” A real steam engine started whistling from the gas range cautioning Imaginch to calm down.

Interruption or not Imaginch did not want to leave anything incomplete. He continued to list down probable solutions: Even prior to this they have to assign ownership Lord to this 13th sign. Imaginch’s choice fell on the royal planets – sun and moon as each ruled  over a single house in the old dispensation and he foresaw no difficulty in making them as rulers for 1 ½ houses. He thought an additional shared house is better than refusing co-ownership! At this point Imaginch wanted to leave the rest of the matter in the hands of astrologers, who at least now can claim their prediction in the past had failed due to this unknown 13th house and reiterate that 13 is considered as an unlucky number.

Not to leave the matter without a resolution, Imaginch hit up on brilliant solutions that would allow the horoscope followers to live in peace. The stark simplicity of them made him float in the heaven, among the very zodiac that is getting confused.  Stick with the 3000 year old Babylonian dispensation as it is convenient. Secondly, take care of the gnawing scientific findings by declaring the time taken by Sun and his paraphernalia as “Earned leave per completed trip along the zodiac, of course without any leave travel concession. Finally to ensure that no untoward disruptions are caused in the followers’ peace of mind, doubly make sure they are powerless to act other than to maintain status quo during this leave period.

The crow, the alley cat and the clock:

For the passerby, the desolate building looked uninteresting except for the painted legal warning that the property is shackled in litigation. The crow or the cat had no interest in the proceedings in a civil court as neither understood the implication nor the inclination to wait for a life time to know the outcome. Their concerns were immediate and pressing, in nature – survival. What this all had to do with the clock – it also had a role to play in their schemes, though in an allegorical sense.

The crow chanced up on this building when searching for a safe place to nest and as chance would have it, the cat also was on the lookout for a private property to forage and hunt its food in peace. Coming face to face, of course from different heights, they sized each other for hidden threat perceptions and simultaneously came to the conclusion that only the crow needed to be alert to safeguard its eggs or the fledglings - after hatching. The crow becoming alert to the potential danger, selected a place for nesting which presented minimal opportunities to the cat to mount a raid on its nest.

The cat got the message - loud and clear; and still nurtured hopes of getting hold of at least one of the fledglings that would emerge, from the clutch of eggs, and wander away from the nest. It patiently waited for the nest to be completed and eggs to be laid. It knew the importance of timing the event from start of incubation to the moment of hatching. Incapable of intervening in the process, the cat decided to wait and monitor the events that would unfold after the favourable “hatch window” – anytime between three to four weeks. For the present, it settled down and mentally started urging the crow to get on with the job of building the nest and begin the breeding season.

Cat naps had become history - in watching the crow making numerous flights to bring the construction materials, twig by twig. Hours were spent in following the progress of nest building. Though stricken with boredom, the cat continued watching, even ignoring the hunger pangs. The once scurrying rats or mice became bold and strutted around the cat with impunity. In its consuming desire, the cat let them have field days for themselves. All that the cat wanted was to be left undisturbed.

The ‘time’ keeping a watch on all these proceedings had a different scheme in mind. Like it had happened in many epics, at the appointed time of laying the eggs, the cat went in to a deep sleep with the eye lids drawing the curtain on wakefulness. For that brief period, the predator and tormented enjoyed bliss. As per its plan-B, the crow started to build another nest on a nearby tree in the same courtyard. The cat initially became curious and then perplexed. All the gathered knowledge about the behaviour of crows just deserted it. The twin dilemma that stared at the cat was – which nest to watch?  The “time” sensed the ball of fun beginning to roll!

Unaware of this ongoing drama, another unexpected participant joined the troop – a ‘koel’ grabbing an opportunity to deposit a few eggs for hatching. Impulsive by nature, unable to build and operate its own nest, it took an eleventh hour decision to lay eggs in the untenanted nest on the building. It had no patience to do a reconnaissance to find the more suitable one on the tree. The wily crow watching it from a distance took it as a blessing in disguise. With a slight change in plan-B, it decided to visit this abandoned nest now and then to keep the cat guessing. The clock kept ticking on its journey toward the appointed ‘time’.

The cat shifted its vigil on the nest where the eggs of ‘koel’ were undergoing hatching by a batch process – the crow and its mate volunteering for shift duties, whenever free from their primary responsibilities, to visit this nest also. Though the crows felt pity on “koel” eggs, they felt surrogatory mother-ship had its limits. For their part, the “koel” eggs were trying to come to terms with the conflict in the biological clock and the mundane clock.

Hearing no sign of life from the nest under its watch, the cat started to wonder what could be delaying the hatching process. Its mental clock had already gone past the expected date of arrival of fledglings from the eggs. The odd behaviour of the crows, noticed by it, did not help the matter in anyway. Having gone so far, the cat decided to wait for some more time.

One fine morning, the cat saw the crows frequently flying, to and fro, to the nest on the tree. Initially it doubted its sleepy eyesight and as it became fully roused, the pieces of the puzzle started to fall in place - in its mind. For the past few days, the crows rarely visited the nest under its watch! It realised its folly and along with it the dream to devour one or two tender fledgling of the crow had come to an end, this time.

The “time” was happy to see a contented family of crow and a disappointed cat. Having learnt a bitter lesson and ruing its impulsive action, the eleventh hour “koel” flew once over its un-hatched eggs and disappeared from the scene.

THe AppMan

The tag of Senior Citizen entitles one for very many benefits as diverse as they come. You get to be called “Pa” by even married couples and “Grandpa” by toddlers to college students. The unexpected bonanza could be sometimes getting a seat in a crowded bus. The flop side too reveals it once in a while – a speeding motorist calling out, hey “Pa” can you not see where you are going? ; A school kid racing by on his bicycle yelling, “grandpa” can’t you move and give way? . These calls apart, as App man there are plenty of requests and users to keep the old spirit going.

KidApp:
The imaginative child, yet-to-master verbal articulation, goes on inventing gestures and grunts making the parents and grandparents to scramble and decode the contents. Exasperation and splitting of hairs are not allowed by this child and at the very hint of such thoughts occurring in the minds, a fresh avalanche, of gestures & grunts, is triggered to smother the grownups ear-deep. The bond between a toddler and a grandparent defies all known laws of chemistry and physics. The motive force that is driving this dynamo of affection is trust and it needs only the willingness of an adult. Then on, the adult’s free will is indeed held captive by the kid’s magnetic field of smile and affection and undergoes bending at the kid’s will.

 
SittingApp:
Baby sitting involves a lot other than sparing time – patience, perseverance and attention. The patience required is best understood by watching a large tub getting filled, from a tap letting out a thin stream of water. It is rather slow. The need for the water makes one to persist with this slow process. The interminable wait is usually spent by indulging in reminiscence and reveries. At the right moment, if the wandering mind is not brought back to the almost filled tub, the excess water overflows. The adult will have to learn to show patience, perseverance and attention. The child reciprocates by enjoying the attention, appreciating the perseverance and admiring the patience shown. The work done on the emotional plane leads to the state where nothing but selfless affection finds expression. 

MindApp:
The mind is a repository as well as a generator of emotions. The other parts of the body are merely the end effectors. They simply obey it - like puppets on strings.  When the mind picks up speed, these parts get confused, unable to cope up with the rapid reactions that are to be exhibited; then they go crazy. Relationship is like a viscous fluid; resists flowing out easily. The reluctance vanishes once the hearts warm up to each other. 

OzApp:
On the mental plane, feeling of hope or despair, happy or sad, hate or love, achievement or debacle, miracle or disaster plays upon the nervous system as feeling or emotion. Emotion has a physical dimension. The secondary effect felt by the limbs of the body is the physical dimension of feeling. The moment an emotion grows in volume or intensity, it acquires mass and is subjected to the pull of gravity. In the end, the weight of emotion dictates rest or inactivity to the body in order to lessen the burden of emotion.

This weight is particularly heavy in the case of negative emotions. A created happiness fades with time whereas an imparted sadness grows with time in the mind of the receptor.  The growing feeling of guilt makes the initiator too to suffer. Both feel the weight of their respective emotions. 

HangApp:
Sometimes a family conversation becomes ‘shared’ when the phone is on the speaker mode, making it an inclusive and interactive affair. At times, the speaker is not on this mode rendering the one to one deliberation privy - by design or oversight. The passive persons, left out of the briefing, have to make up the whole exchange from bits and pieces picked up from the one sided talk. Some days even this jugglery might be daunting as grunts, hmmms, ha-has, true.. trues etc  from this end does not tell the story of the other end. The towers do not listen to all we talk and pass it on. Remembering this might help. Yet, nothing will be lost and the full picture will emerge – directly in ‘passive voice’ or indirectly when the same is repeated to relatives and friends. 

ShutApp:
Call it the 6th or 7th sense or simply a non-sense, but the fact is some can manage things pretty well while others get vexed. The actions of such managers defy logic at that time but after a while prove to be rewarding. Those who could not understand the techniques are the pleading smart phone category: “unable to back up” and “updates are pending”. 

Tailpiece:
These Sr. Citizen’s Apps are not written in mystic codes. Even the powerful computers cannot handle delicate emotions whereas a sensible person can do it with a personal touch. No human system breaks down because of these Apps being used or not. It is UNIQUE like UNIX or Linux open source software. Installation is free and no virus exists to corrupt. Some more..? just demand, it will be delivered!

Tommy

 Tommy could sense that something was not all right with him, at the moment. For the last three days, the appetite had deserted him and the mere sight of food tray fired revulsion in his stomach. He liked to ponder over mundane things affecting the dog’s world in general and his own in particular. His familiar thinking posture – face resting on the folded front paws, tail tucked under the belly and lying on his left side or right side depending on the seriousness of the issue requiring contemplation.

Today, he was not even comfortable with any of these postures. Suddenly his sharp ears picked up a commotion down the street and on an impulse – he rarely breaks his reveries, ran out of the resting place to find out ‘what the noise was all about?”

A common sight greeted his eyes – milling crowd gesticulating and taking the role of on the spot judges, on something that had happened. He heard them dividing in to camps to argue for and against the victims and the culprit. Inching closer he saw a pool of blood, a broken spectacles, a dismembered man holding the leash attached to a pet dog, which had also suffered the same fate under the wheels of a speeding vehicle. Tommy could not understand why these people are still arguing even after the vehicle and the errant driver had run away from the scene.

Having come on to the scene, he wanted to focus his attention to find out “why the man did not let the leash go?” and “who made the fatal error of misjudging the traffic flow while crossing the road?” he paused and lifted his face heavenwards as if the answers were displayed there. After sometime, losing hope of getting any answer, he started to scrutinise the scene in detail. This exercise increased the Adrenalin flow and he became excited. He came to the conclusion that the flow pattern of traffic must have confused the dog- on- leash and the human wearing thick lenses. Caught in two minds, they might have decided to go through the crossing anyway.

Emotionally moved, he understood that both of them are not alive to tell the true story, except the broken spectacle if it could talk. The crowd of on the spot judges started to disperse after the arrival of policemen. He felt hungry all of a sudden and went around foraging for food. He decided to contemplate, in his favourite posture, after finishing a hearty meal and think about “Why he felt unhappy when the inhabitants of the house did not treat him well?”, “What was preventing him to enjoy the freedom without a leash?” and “Why people think only of a dog’s obedience and not accept that it can also think – in a dog’s own sense? Tom ambled towards his residence, in fact a dilapidated house in the neighbourhood.

Tommy understood the inhabitants thinking – we had let a street dog live near the house and his presence acting as a deterrent to trespassers is incidental. He decided to take the neglect as it is and carry on.

To be leashed or not had him thinking for a while. The incident at the accident site was still fresh in the mind. Attachment had not done anything to that deceased friend. Now he strolls like a ‘master’ of the walks and enjoying the freedom. He closed this debate and felt happy.

A dog like him thinking about people might be an attempt to climb a step in the ladder of reasoning. People, who think only about the obedience part of the dogs find it difficult to climb down a step or two on that ladder - may be because dogs do not exhibit ego. Tommy closed his eyes and realised that all was well in his world till he gets involved in events.

Events evoke emotions. The best remedy is to prevent the events from occurring. If at all not possible the next better option should be not to allow it to evoke emotions. In the worst case scenario, is not to spend time on pondering over it. May be many better things are waiting to occupy the thinking space.

This house is in order

 Imaginch became pensive after the chance visit to an old age home. The deep emotional impact it left on him was unbearable and indescribable, forcing out his thoughts on engaging his friends-in-park in any light-hearted discussion. Even the news item on commissioning the world’s largest radio telescope failed to enthuse. Instead he was sore at science & technology for searching out signals from deep space ignoring meek pleas of an aging population left in old age homes.

A tall and shriveled Sr. Citizen sat by and gazed at him for a long time. To give company to this person a stocky bespectacled man joined the group. To Imaginch this person appeared a little withdrawn but willing to take part in any discussion that might take place. Yet, the attention grabber was a lithe, fair complexioned person who did not try to hide his presence – with or without the clutch of Newspapers & magazines he held.

Imaginch started to feel the heaviness of uneasiness that hung in the air and the lone ceiling fan could not do much about it, though it added its own verbal encouragement. Imaginch wondered whether the creaking noise was in support of the atmosphere or to the persons! The timely arrival of a snacks tray helped everyone to relax.

Sensing Imaginch’s curiosity and hesitation to ask them about the circumstances that brought them together at that old age home, the tall man started saying, “ Not everyone in a family will be in sync with everything at all times. This is true for a reason: We are all genetically engineered products and naturally have to conform to different kind of fits and tolerances. The only handle the human beings have is the ‘power of thinking’ which sometimes likes to enjoy a back seat driving. I decided at an appropriate point to be at peace with myself and be happy about it”. Imaginch tried to detect that happiness in that face and found not even a trace of it. He silently saluted that hardened, living heart.

It was now the turn of the stout man and he spoke out highlighting, “The differentiation between an individual and a family is this: discrete thinking and global thinking. Beliefs and reactions among the members give birth to an emotional state and in this state actions, reactions and attitudes that are questioned disturb harmony. This was the last straw as far as my capacity could endure and opted out of the vicious circle to stay in an old age home where these problems do not arise”.

Weighing each word and thought, the erudite personality held attention of the group and went on to hang many pictures on the wall of life around a Sr. Citizen – “In a dynamic family sanity and reason should find a place, along with a strong will to desist from brewing a storm for narrow emotional gains. In a stressed emotional state, there will be no time to think about larger than our ‘personal’ issues. A bit of understanding and tolerance with a cool off interval will be a perfect Ying and Yang balance. For every spirited defence there would certainly be a ghost.

Probably this will make it easier to understand why we should not do what we continue to do! If the members of a family manage to keep personal things strictly personal and larger interests separate, disharmony will not find the voice to disrupt”.

“It may not always be possible to be broadminded, in these days of stressful living. But the benefit of it is it allows one to put up with any temporary transgression. When the rising annoyance is felt, accepted and relegated or when repeated transgressions are left un-minded then a sense of moderated tolerance is maintained. If annoyance is allowed to grow out of bounds minor transgressions become real monsters.

“Being narrow-minded does not help anyone to ‘live-among’ but to ‘live-aloof’- within one’s own rigid boundaries. When such boundaries have been drawn, the constant look-out is only for trespassers, and it becomes a significant burden on the other members of a family.

“Water is an elixir of life and it has a philosophical lesson or two - filling a bottle, by straight away immersing it in water, is slow. The water refuses to fill in a hurry. Instead it patiently waits for the air, already occupying the space, to make way. In a physical sense they have worked out a rate and space compromise - water occupies the space as the air vacates from it. Here the patience and understanding of the physical world has resulted in harmonious adjustment. If this is managed by inanimate things such as water and air, why not the ones with the ‘power of thinking’!

“Instead, if the same bottle had been immersed neck down, the air residing inside the bottle resists entry of water and at the same time water will be trying to force its way in – a standoff! What happened to patience, understanding of the physical world and the harmonious adjustment shown earlier? Why the same inanimate things failed here?

“The attributes - patience, understanding and harmony did not change only the attitude of the “handler” changed.  Harmonious adjustment tolerated each others existence whereas the stand-off tried to assert an individual’s importance.The family is a fabric fresh from the mill. Parting it to suit different needs or repeatedly attempting to dye it with colours as per any whim and fancy only makes the fabric lose its intrinsic strength and sheen”.

After listening to all these points, without laying any blame on any of their individual family members, Imaginch felt nothing but admiration and deep respect for the inmates.  More than anything else the philosophy the inmates had formulated to carry on with life, everyday, made him to feel subdued.

He decided to pass on this wisdom from the old age home inmates to his friends-in-the park: “Try filling the water bottle, with patience and understanding. Harmonious adjustment is a better state - to be in”!

The cow

The overhead sun was not kind to the hapless persons and animals on the road. A tree here and there offered some shade but those who were in a hurry did not pause to enjoy the welcoming relief. Imaginch vainly tried to keep the scorching rays at bay with an umbrella so small that it would  barely cover the head of a 10 year old. He could not hurry and get out of sun’s domain as he was habituated to closely look at things on the road or taking in the scenery, mainly to spot rash & unmindful driving. This was fodder for him to lecture to a different kind of hapless victims, who gather every evening at the park for a senior citizen’s chitchat.

The search for the agenda weighing heavily on his mind, he did not hear the shout aimed at his ears. A few moments later he felt something hard swipe by his right hip. He was as startled as the cow that almost trampled over him. During that brief encounter lasting a few seconds, Imaginch noticed the worried look in the eyes of the cow as if it had lost something dear to it. Without wasting time, the cow had already run in to a lane emitting a cry of anguish. Even in that situation Imaginch did not fail to find fault with the cow for not having raised that siren before ramming in to him.

This question was far away from the mind of the cow as it was bent upon rescuing the errant calf which had bolted away without permission. The rushing traffic on the road added fuel to its anxiety. Some of this anxiety must have affected Imaginch and he also decided to follow the cow, setting aside the chores he wanted to finish. Like an explorer, he followed the trail of the cow some time loosing track and worrying before spotting it. He began to huff and puff and only the motherly concern of the cow made him to trek along. He closed the umbrella - thinking that it might scare the cow to break into a run as he was nearing the limits of physical endurance.

The strange looks of passersby irked him but ignored them as an unsolicited window shopping. Probably they thought the cow must be trying to escape the tyranny of an old man with a folded umbrella. With a mischievous smile playing in the corners of his mouth, he imagined himself in the role of a milkman chasing his cow.

Imaginch wandered wherever the cow led him and by now his slow brain understood the mission of the cow. He began invoking the wishes of umpteen good Samaritans to rush in and help the cow and calf to find each other. By now, the cow had entered and exited through many lanes and streets as though it had a virtual map in its head, which could easily out map Google.He had a strange feeling that both of them are now in a territory that vaguely appeared familiar. A look at the board displaying the street name confirmed that they have come back to the starting place where he and the cow had met awhile ago.

Before starting the second round, the cow raised its head heavenwards and let out a loud bellow. A few seconds later a plaintive voice answered the call. The angled ears of the cow picked it up and started to run towards the source of the answering calf - mother’s instinct has already confirmed the identity of the responder. Imaginch managed to reach the destination in time to see the calf and the cow running towards each other. The scene looked quite cinematic to him.The calf straight away went for the udder for a dose of nourishing milk and at the same time got a caressing lick along the spine making it to tremble with the tingling sensation.Tears welled in the eyes of Imaginch as he moved on trying to recollect for what purpose he was out on the road and whether it was important or not!

Hennu a.k.a Hemanth

 Mr. Hennu was furious. The women folk at home have singularly mastered the art of re-casting an episode from different angles, aiming to better the last attempt.  The experience was like watching a morphed version of breaking news from all the 24 X 7 channels. He could have walked out of earshot but that had repercussions of another kind. In comparison, the re-run stories were better as he had the choice of dozing off in to a far away land where ladies did not engage in this frivolous activity.

His reverie was abruptly broken by a loud metallic sound – a heap of utensils lay strewn on the kitchen floor. A few shards of broken china really frightened him, as he rushed and surveyed the scene before the womenfolk. There was a very valid reason to get in to a damage gathering mode – he had forgotten to close the windows which a cat always used as the entry point – not to say hello to the folks but to grab some eatable. They had specifically warned him about this forager and yet... While clearing the mess, he readied himself to hear the admonishment repeatedly till another faux pas is committed.

In the midst of similar mishaps he had developed personal solutions to effectively deflect their anger, by spreading a smoke screen of invented philosophy though the screen was inefficient in preventing the re-runs. He cursed the effect of 24 X 7 news channels for this inadequacy, within himself. Tired of waving the red, yellow and orange flags the womenfolk settled for the white flag he managed to wave with apprehension.   Savouring the reprieve, he wanted to go through the list of replies and find out which one he could have used and escaped without spending energy in waving the white flag.

Now, Mr. Hennu shifted gears and really became very furious. In the study where he had his writing materials and books of his choice but there was no trace of his compilation on invented philosophy. Further search revealed many of his treasured hand written papers and notebooks had vanished. The mystery surrounding their disappearance weighed on his mind as heavily as the missing military plane in the mind of the defence minister.

When he gave up on them as a lost cause, the womenfolk let out the secret – all his precious possessions (papers and notebooks) had been cleared to keep the shelf tidy and if he so desired  to re-posses them, all he had to do was to go in search of the old paper buyer.

In stunned silence, Hennu sank in to a sofa for inventing a new set of smoke screen solutions  to confuse and console a person like himself.
“Better not to engage and avoid conflict”, “Not hearing is not as harmful as coming up with an explanation”. Even to his ears these  murmurings sounded childish!

Before calling it a day, he wanted to pry out the secret why he is becoming called as Hennu but the mere thought of going back to the womenfolk and their penchant for the 24 X 7 syndrome prevented him from going any further down his memory lane.