The House, the Queen & the life of Honey Bees

         

Part - 3: The house, the Queen and life Bees:

The taste of honey might lure Little Typhoon to empathise with the life style and survival of this species. The next bee sting may not hurt her that much as was in the earlier occasion. In the course of this narration, some ideas got repeated or presented in reworded form; it was done only to lay emphasis.

To present an interesting picture on the life in a comb, I relied on the help of Mr. Charles Darwin to understand his theory of evolution, as far as the bee is concerned.

The honey bees are at ease in their natural habitat– of trees and caves. They have adopted well to live on high raise buildings, temple towers or in any of the apartments of a gated community or in any secured apiary. This continent of Philosophy must be proud, to have been hosting these honey makers, for the last 35 to 40 million years.

The bee colony comes in to being, with the help of a large contingent of worker bees and the queen bee. Moving en masse to the nest site, selected by worker bees, they start the construction activities. Each bee, eager to kick-start the ‘operation honey comb – brood & butter’ bends its back and strains its   wings to meet the schedule.

Their motto: If we can’t keep to time now, then   where is it to brood? A highly philosophical attitude indeed!

Once the honey comb is completed, the Queen bee starts her brooding season. The slogan at the door of her chamber, might it be catchy like this - “Feast, choose, mate and brood”

The queen bee has nothing to do, besides enjoying her royal comforts, except to start the rituals - a fresh life cycle for a horde of drones, worker bees and a queen bee to perpetuate the lineage in the comb or hive.  She has authority to decide her own schedule for withdrawing sperms from the Bank of Spermatheca -   to fertilize the eggs placed in the cells and to populate the comb/hive with the kind of bees, needed at that season. Just like ordering from a menu card!

The Queen bee flies out in search of suitors having the right DNA typing , being careful to avoid offspring with mixed ‘ her’ & ‘his’ traits. She wants the brood only with ‘her traits’.

Her selection process, to choose a mate is very elaborate and should be faultless, to such an extent as, to avoid dating & courtship with a boyfriend from her own comb.

The reigning Queen has a diagnostic tool, an airborne-chromatographic column, sensitive even to less than a pbm (parts per billion molecules) to deal with such complications. But she is never in a hurry and diligently undertakes several flights to accomplish this task.  She knows perfectly well that from among the laid eggs, the worker bees will raise a Queen Bee.

The Queen bee, in all probability, may parley with one or more drones and on more than one dating flight. The queen and these drones might have at least one identical sex alleles to produce mother-type drone eggs (Motype).

The hand of fate deals the male bees with a cruel blow – they are condemned to death after mating with the queen bee. Queen and worker bees are born from fertilized eggs, with a valid parental stamping.

Only Mr. Charles Darwin might be able to throw some light on this genetic exclusivity & its impact on his theory.

A bee colony has - one queen, a few thousand fertile drones and a large contingent of sterile female workers.  Yet among drones & female workers of the same species (or) between drones & female workers of different species, a subtle difference exists in the chromosome counts: The female of any species has twice the number of chromosome count, compared with their male counter parts - The les miserables.

Bees, in a comb, are politically naive; they select and nurture a Queen and instead of ruling over ‘her’, they queue up in front of ‘her’ as spineless citizens. As well they could have done with out ‘her’.

May be, we the human beings  have ‘apiared’ that model too exactly, electing and regretting our impulsive choices? Both of us have to fight to keep what is ours - Honey Bees its savings and human beings their ethos.

It would be a utopian world, if the honey Combs could send down a part of honey, held in stock once a month and unasked. Then bees can live, in peace, like an honest taxpayer!

In the absence of such a mechanism, the combs are plundered leaving the waxy structure to stand mute testimony to their disillusionment against any ‘kind’ which is not ‘kind’ to them – humans and wild animals.

The bees in the comb are as selfish as the ants, much against the popular belief - that both are social workers. Both live in a colony and for a colony; are ruled by their respective Queens, whom these poor insects themselves, select, foster and crown - only to die, at the end, without even a posthumous honour.

Yes. They are social workers with in their respective colonies.

When the weather becomes too cold for comfort, all the worker bees and drones assume the role of comfort providers, to keep the Queen warm and comfortable.

They start the game of shivering in unison to generate warmth. First, for the comfort of the queen and then for their own sake - like programmed toys or persons afflicted with ‘dengue’ fever, doing the St. Vitus dance.

They strive to maintain the ambience near 25°C, when the queen is observing a winter-pause in raising a fresh brood. The brooding (laying) period of the queen bee is important and demanding - important as another set of workers are needed and demanding because the worker bees  have to carry on with this comb/hive warming  exercises, at a feverish rate to maintain the central heating around  35°C.

It is a pity that they have not learned the art of keeping themselves warm by simply lighting a safety lamp, using a fuel mixture of honey and wax!

The worker bees manage to stay comfortable, with out affecting the routine. They take turns to change duties and share the cold and the warmth - avoiding hypothermia for those exposed to the cold air at the periphery of the comb.

For the worker bees, the winter season is celebration time with sumptuous feast of honey - with out rationing. The combs look lean and compact.
                           

Only the Himalayan honey bees have managed to live in nests, at high altitudes and in frozen landscapes. The largest of the living honey bee nesting in the highest mountain range, with out a winter huddle!

Hone Bee - The architect

Part – 2: The building of a honey comb

             

While reading this account, I hope Little Typhoon would understand the versatile and responsible life of honey bees. Appreciation for this species might rub into her mind, whenever she tastes a spoonful of honey!

In the honey comb, the bees follow a strict hierarchy – Queen, workers and drones. Only the worker bees are endowed with the skill to build the honey comb. They send out teams to scout and select suitable sites. Then, the building activities commence, at the most convenient location.  

To make this narration a little more interesting, I had to avail the help of Mr. Kekule, Sigmund Freud, Sir Isaac Newton, Tom Sawyer and the Spider.

Mr. Kekule was spending sleepless nights, over the vexed question of what would be the most suitable chemical structure for Benzene? Such a chemical structure should satisfy the atomic arrangement of the compound and as well explain all the known reactions it undergoes.

All these while and even millions of years before Mr. Kekule’s birth, honey bees were happily using hexagonal shaped openings in building their combs – unaware of Kekule’s dilemma!

Who gets the credit Miss. Nature or Mr. Kekule?

If at all, he had focused a little more attention on the honey combs in his neighbourhood, perhaps, he could have settled the shape of the of Benzene molecule - in a jiffy and with out waiting for the demons to dance in his dreams. 

Probably, by instinct he might have replicated the moves of bees, hopping from one opening to another. He, he gave the benzene molecule a six-member ring structure or a hexagonal shape with few bachelor electrons doing   ring -a- ring –a- roses. Thus the foundation stone for the edifice of an important branch - Organic chemistry was laid.

The honey bee, being an open air architect has many possible building sites - a branch of a well grown tree, an arching or over hanging rock face, the windowsills of high rise buildings or the underside of a water tank.

May be as an additional advantage, it might choose a site in close proximity of a wooded area, floricultural lands or orchards and fruit gardens - easy to gather nectar; though the bees fly several lakh of kilometers to gather nectar required to produce a kilo of honey. In this aspect the bees might be exhibiting the tendency of human beings, to  yearn for connectivity.

The surface that is chosen, as the foundation of the comb, is plastered with a thick coat of wax. Here is the main difference between the human dwelling and the nests of birds and insects like the honey bee. We anchor our empires at the deepest possible depths and then the super structure rises above the ground level.

Are we trying to communicate to the other living beings, sharing the space with us, that we are not open or that we have deeply buried pasts? This enigma could probably be answered only by a Sigmund Freud.

The birds and honey bees choose a site which happens to be the highest, convenient location, to start their construction. Are they trying to tell us that from the height to the depth, they have only open secrets? Only a bird and insect psychologist can throw light on this conundrum!

Honey bees rival the Spider in construction technique and material.

The honey uses wax wafers and the spider uses a polymerisable liquid secretion. Both share a strong mathematical aptitude for the branch dealing with figures – geometry. The spider is obsessed with spirals, involutes and radii whereas the honey bee is fascinated by the hexagon.

In a honey comb, the most responsible and versatile is the worker bees and they run a factory to produce the quantity of wax needed for a comb. The honey, they consume has to be commensurate with the task on hand - supplying energy for work and as raw material to the eight wax producing glands. The bees process honey in to wax at a specific temperature of 34.5 ± 1.5°C. 

Probably, the worker bees engaged in the wax manufacturing enjoy a little leniency and can get away for demanding an enhanced dietary funding under Food – For –Wax (FFW), just like what Tom Sawyer did for white washing a wall. Till now, this demand of the workers has not been vetoed in the history of honey bees.

The wax layers and comb builders are pretty clever. They have some how hit up on the idea - of identical and miniaturized parts, that will greatly enhance the pace in building of the comb. The produced wax scales measuring in micrometer thicknesses and millimeter widths; glass like and light weight construction material.

From where, these versatile workers have learnt the art of producing transparent, glassy looking waxy scales? Is it a tribute to their wax producing glands and associated metering mechanisms or millions of years of genetic knowledge?

The bees need the comb   urgently to start a new colony and with a swarm of dedicated workers on roster, this time saving technique might not greatly alter the finishing date.

The bees, having come in to being much earlier than humans, have learned to use a single window system - hexagonal cells, of the same size, for every one. Is this not a radically a different approach, if we could recollect the story of Sir Isaac Newton, his pet cat, it’s kitten, a big and a small opening on the door!

If by law the bees have to apply for a comb building permit, no **UDA will touch it with a 10ft barge pole. Though it is full of hexagonal cell holes, the Free Space Index is “0”. In all probability the bees will be shown the Floor plan of a spider to drive home the point that all empty looking cells are not voids!

Unlike the spider, the honey bee need not pray for favourable wind conditions to start with the comb construction. It just needs a plain surface at any vantage location. Then like storm troopers, the swarm, of worker bees, prepares the construction site with a foundation course of a waxy layer.

The honey bees are very flexible in their approach and consider it an accomplished task, even if they manage to put in place only a part of the first hexagonal cell.  Then, as all of us are fond of saying – completing the rest of the comb is history.

Working in unison, the bees fix the possible number of sides of the first row hexagons, at the foundation level. .  Making use of these available sides of the first row of hexagons, the subsequent rows of hexagons are added along the length and breadth of the plot.

The bees at this stage probably know that with team effort they can create such a honey comb which will pass the scrutiny of the human eyes as perfect.

The task of building the honey comb, k is very unique and complex.  The sides of the hexagons must be equal in length and any two sides must have an included angle of 120°. Further more, this geometry must be constructed using wafer thin and short wax bricks, with out using heat to melt and join the adjacent sides. As being laid, the wax bricks will have to be adjusted for length, angle and instantly set in position.

They have this technique of deception, under their wings, to let loose – crowding and buzzing around the comb, incessantly and without giving a window of an opportunity for a closer look. Obviously, by this time some thing must have started buzzing in our minds. Shall we acknowledge the complexity and technicality, the bees employ – whenever the building of a honey comb comes to our mind?

Can we resolve to deem the honey combs as an architecturally designed construction?

The near white, opaque wax used in honeycomb building, slowly turns yellowish or brownish due to the incorporation of oily substances from pollen. They don’t bother about exterior appearances – simply there is no free time!

The Spider and the honey bees deserve our kudos! Both accomplish their tasks with utmost precision and with out any external referrals.

Mr. Kekule, being a scientist would have been delighted to ask the honey bees a couple questions. Why they prefer only the wax secreted by them and not any another chemical substance, to build, bind and water proof the honey comb?

Mr. Kekule being aware of the “lac” structure built by Duryodhana to burn down the Pandavas might have been apprehensive on the safety aspects of their honey combs.

Honey bee - the social entrepreuner

Introduction:

I availed a brief sabbatical holiday (meaning escape from Little Typhoon’s barrage of inquisitive questions) and used it to get in to the subject matter of our last encounter – the Bee, honey and the beehive. Is this not rhyming with the famous Bollywood film Roti, kapda aur machhan?

I resolved not to entertain oral exchanges but to make her read the narration, without questioning my grasp on the subject. Here I am on a safe wicket – LT has to wait a few years, at least, to go through the printed matter, provided the memory of the sting still remains fresh in her mind.

Notwithstanding this, I owe her a “thank you” note – for making me to gather these informations from various publicized accounts.

Part – 1: The honey

The continent, which introduced the concept of ‘zero’ to mathematics, also has this distinction - according to fossil logs, the first of honey bees might have operated their mithai shops, here in Asia several million years ago.

Honey is a sweet and natural product, combining the flora and insecta origins. Plants and the sterile female worker bees are JV partners in converting plant secretions, honeydew and nectar through the refining laboratories of the bees – a quid pro quo of a sweeter kind.

Nectar and flavour by any other name means the same anywhere in the world. But honey, by taste and flavour, may not be the same everywhere in the world. This depends on the source accreditation of the product- wild or domestic; hot or a cold climate and a host of other conditions that lend the flavour and taste to this produce.

                           

The taste, flavour and composition of the honey vary as in the case of vines.  The connoisseur/expert/authority can put his fingers, in this case his nose and taste buds, unerringly on factors such as soil, location, climate, plant source, season, processing methods and storage conditions to appraise the quality.

The bee plays its part – seeking the juicy nectar sporting a prescription UV glasses for reading the blueprint. They never got tired of playing this game for over several million of years, give or take a few years spent in devising the game. 

   

Though they are JV partners, the flowers do not give open access to the raw material- nectar. Like booting of a computer system, series of regulatory checks are to be completed. The flower plays a little game by hiding nectar, anther and stamen in the darkest, central park.

The honey bee steps in to the house of nectar and as soon as its legs land on a “honey trap” mat- literally the honey bee swipes a biological admit card. After verification, the mat bends down triggering the mature anthers also to bend forward and sprinkle ‘pollen grains’ in a traditional welcoming style. Then as a seasoned hostess, the flower serves a dish of sweet nectar, as quid pro quo, to the guest of honour.

Production of pollen, pollination and propagation is the life cycle of a plant. The flower does not mind the revisits by the same honey bee a million times and every time plays the part of a perfect hostess. Collection of nectar, converting it to honey and proliferation is a life cycle for the honey bee. This inter & intra relationships, with out courtships are selfish and benefitting mutually.

Otherwise, will the flower welcome the bee or will the bee visit the flower again and again?

Honey bees are fond of dancing and perform it with out the help of a choreographer, practice sessions or rehearsals. They use different types of ‘bee natyams’ and ‘mudras’- waggle, tremble and round dance to GPS with each other- according to the nature of information such as availability of nectar, quality, distance and direction to the Garden of Flowers. 

They don’t look for a stage to perform but do it right in the air and while in flight. The worker’s special –tremble dance is performed solely for the purpose of calling in volunteers to collect the nectar brought by the foragers.

‘Nectar in the mouth is not the same as the honey in the comb’. What a poignant statement from the house of the industrious insects!  They use digestive and regurgitation techniques to promptly convert the gathered nectar in to honey, using inversion enzymes.

The bees store the processed honey in a viscous liquid form, as absorbate in the numerous cells cum passages cum living holes – the unique hexagonal shapes.

The energy we derive or the honey gives out is based on the saccharides or sugars – fructose, glucose and sucrose. Their chemical structure might be complicated but the sweeter taste is simple. To add ‘zing’ to the taste, smaller constituents such as acids, proteins, oxidase enzymes, minerals and moisture are present rendering honey slightly acidic and to go well with our alkaline taste buds.

The produce of the honey bees and the anatomy of a particular type of ants have been put to important usages, by the Ayurvedic surgeons, in operations to treat general and war wounds. The surgeons applied honey, as a lure, on the incisions that are to be stitched and placed a specially reared species of ants on to them.

 The ants, in their eagerness to taste the sweetish offering, dug in their cutters on either side of the open lesion. The moment the ant starts feasting, the waiting surgeon applied a guillotine at its neck, expertly severing the rest of its body. The surgeon repeated this exercise till the wound was closed against internal infection. The ‘cutters’ of those ants were a cutting edge tool in the operative care of patients!

On the part of the ant, it was an act of supreme sacrifice to save a human life.

Apart from this important use in surgical procedures, the honey was a preferred vehicle to deliver medicines. A household without a bottle of honey and a grandmother was the rarest of a rare case, in those days and in those villages where Gandhiji’s young India lived. Be it a potion for fever, aches, de-worming or a laxative or a bitter pill – honey had a hand in all of them.

It also found use in the cosmetic formulations - mixed along with herbal and aromatic pastes as beauty aides, for the fair and lovelies of ancient kingdoms.

Even among this society of insects- which produce “honey”, fake actors are present. They also produce honey, but could not capture a share of the consumer market or get settled in apiaries, like honey bees. Only the genuine process and product qualifies for certification.       

 If the honey bees apply for it, they will gladly be given an ISO certification, in no time, for their traditional, systematic way of production and storage.

      

Any one serving the society at large, even with selfish motives can be considered as a social worker.  In this respect, this species of honey bees have been exemplary: ‘if a flower needs a visit, we will be there; if a drop of honey is to be made we will gladly do it;’

These tireless workers have been immortalized with a place in the Heavens. Astronomers have named a nebula (honey bee) and a star cluster (beehive cluster) to commemorate their dedication, for many more millions of years to come.

The Teflon Man melts part -3 The Ice is broken

The next Sunday, Bystander reached the park early and sat on the usual bench awaiting the arrival of his bench mate – the senior citizen. Minutes ticked by and there was no sign of the gentleman in the park. He started worrying whether his non-stop outburst has hurt and made the gentleman to avoid his company.

 Impatiently he started gazing at the holiday crowd slowly filling the park benches. Then he did an unusual thing – reserved the vacant space on the bench with a package he was carrying for the senior citizen.

At last, the senior citizen made his appearance and came straight towards Bystander saying, “Good evening my friend” with a wide smile on his face. After being chastened by Muser, he respectfully rose and showed the reserved seat. The ‘good evening my friend’ made him to blush a little at his previous highhanded behaviour.

The gentleman continued, “You mentioned about Google being the guru for the youngsters. It mirrors the feelings of loggers or bloggers. Can it feel and experience the emotional content? Parents do. When a son or daughter is born, an age difference also comes in to existence.

When children become adults, the age difference in terms of number of years still remains the same. So your attempt to indirectly bring the phenomenon of generation gap is out of context here, as the gap started exiting from the very first day. Do you agree? 

The one point I agree with you is that their perceptions and mine differ. Let me clarify it further. My perception of them remains the same but their perception of me is the one that is undergoing change.
Please do not tag these feelings as a post-retirement crisis or credit them to senility – I am sure these thoughts would have occurred in your mind!. My heart is still filled with the sweet moments of their childhood and it is still fresh in memory.

My friend, in their child hood, I might have tried to wean them towards my favourite hobbies or would have urged them to take my failed ambitions forward. After a time I realised every one has his or her chosen priorities and let them follow their own paths. Of course, this part was as difficult as a numismatist or a philatelist parting with dear collections.

My friend you forgot to mention the fact that when the migratory birds take notice of human presence, they communicate with each other in the flock and then decide either to relax the vigil or to tighten it for survival.

Do the children react like this – SMS, emails, calls go and find a place in the black hole of cyber space. Is this not a relevant point for one to get annoyed?

Birds do follow our presence. Even in my children’s absence I have been following their progress – a new flat, a car, a promotion, or a start-up company. This poor heart gets filled with joy and pride, even if these happenings come to my notice through someone else.

May be all these things might sound to you a little far fetched to you Mr Bystander. But this how I feel. Anything, wrong with that? Your rainbow example – I know a rainbow is beautiful, as a whole and like children, and one should not try to segregate it in to individual colour components.

Let me explain my feelings with the example of a mirror. It reflects the object in front of it and it will continue to do the same even when it is broken in to shards of glass, as long as the mercury coating is in tact, showing multiple images of the same object.

The fact is none of these virtual images can be held in your hands except the real object placed in front of the mirror. Children are the real objects and real images. The point I would like you to understand is that a broken heart still beats with many images of the child –turned- adult. Unlike the virtual image in the mirror, these mental pictures touch the heart and are seen by the mind. Parents are not just mirrors.

I liked-your imagery about celebrations, the steamed ground nut and thoughtful present. Above all your question “How long to wait for the next Sunday” set many things in motion. Thanks for every thing.

Mr Bystander I have decided to arrange for a grand family get together on the first convenient occasion of a birth day or a marriage anniversary, of one of my family members. I feel now it is my duty to take the first step to bring together the flock. This I am going to do not for my  sake but to ensure such togetherness in the years to come for sustaining a close knit family.

I will not miss that opportunity to remind them that friendship and Google stop at a distance and only the kinship will travel those extra miles with them.

You had very many kind words and it helped me to see through the haze. From the way you handled the discussions, I believe you must have a friend or relative of an equal calibre. What else will give me more pleasure than inviting both of you to our family reunion? Both of you will get my invitations.

After a long and satisfied silence, Bystander took leave of the gentleman, walking in to falling dusk.

The Strained Fabric

Life itself is a versatile writer. The way thrills and surprises are thrown at us is unbelievable. Our TV serials soaked mind looks for hidden meanings among non-descript happenings. Finding none, we shut down our antennae. Then comes the surprise or thrill with a big bang! The experience need not be always pleasant, but the unexpectedness of the experience is the thrill or surprise.

Grown up child, a son or a daughter has the potential to add new equations in the family emotions. All along it has been a threesome emotional equilibrium, which under goes changes by the arrival of a daughter in law or son in law in to the family fold. This new relationship also brings in add-ons like her or his family circle to enlarge the emotional canvas.

When a family has a daughter and son, the efforts become two fold and in diverse directions. Diametrically opposite natures, emotional demands and inflicted self-rating exercises disturb the tranquillity of feelings and thoughts – once the son and daughter get married.

The daughter, owing to her biological moorings, might take it for granted that certain rights are vested with her. The moment a transgression is noticed she responds like a touch screen of a smart phone. The daughter in law, on the other hand might feel presumed or actual disadvantage in such a new set up. Unable to make the necessary adjustments, she starts to exhibit the mimosa pudica behaviour (touch-me-not syndrome).

It is possible that the daughter of the house might feel at a disadvantage after the arrival of a daughter in law – the symptom of elders going the extra mile to facilitate their daughter in law to find her feet. The daughter, feeling envy that her parents are siding with the daughter in law over simple issues, almost replicates the touch-me-not behaviour of the daughter in law.

Instead of analysing, the individual starts building a wall, to hem in the contradictory emotions or try to hide it under a table.

Tuning one’s mind to suit the present is easier said than done and yet this simple thought might come to the mind , after much water has flown over the bridge. In rare cases, it strikes the mind, when a fire engine is about to be called for saving the burning bridge of relationship.

 Individuals clinging on to past or have developed self-righteousness contribute to the simmering disharmony, brought to the fore by marital status. 

The solution for this impasse is very simple –  the concerned individuals taking  it up on themselves to  weed out the misgivings, and misconceptions to let the tree of affection to grow.

Most parents graciously let go and share the emotional space to maintain the dynamics in harmony. Unknowingly, some parents still try to hold on to their ‘stamp collection’. When this happens in a family, where a daughter or a daughter in law is in the throes of emotional deficit and struggling with the ‘ghost from the past’ – the family fabric gets stressed and stays stretched for long.

The least discernible standoff will be from parents but it does happen, once in a while. A choice word used by the son will set in a feeling of distraught in one of the parent’s mind. A well-meant opinion from the daughter in law might force them to rise in defence of their son. A similar attempt will be made when the daughter in law utters a seemingly innocuous remark regarding the daughter.

In the visible world, a light source makes shadows. In the invisible world, of the mind, it is the misunderstandings that cast shadows. Maturity in thinking, according to the situation, might have arrested these developing emotional disturbances.

The stress in this emotional dynamics is mutual and inclusive. In effect, two sets of families and their relations have to adjust and assess to relieve the stress to the family fabric.

Elders and youngsters have to exercise great care and refrain from spilling the beans in the open- showing a rare restraint to leave the strained relationship to heal itself. If not, even the passage of time may fail to remedy the situation.

At this point, the elders have to step in and facilitate an open minded introspection. A few tear drops rolling down the cheeks and a few goose pimples raising heckles will settle all the differences. The togetherness, over a course of a sumptuous meal would be a better palliative.

After the meal, warm hugs, handshakes and banter will cement the deal. The calmed nerves will then help in closing the emotional gap. Every thing has to come to an end on one day or the other; then why not to day than some other day in the future?

Relations are part of life. More often, we tend to travel by non-existent paths. In the process we try to shape and admire the beauty of an, un-cut gem, forgetting that this gem is a gem even in its natural state. Value addition or evaluation only creates conflicts– in gems or in our associated relationships. It is better to keep the family fabric unstressed by sacrificing the caprice.

The Teflon Man melts part - 2: Bystander stands trial

 

 The next day Bystander impatiently stood in front of Muser to catch his attention. Muser was engaged in furiously writing, in three different dairies and on as many topics, oblivious to the surroundings.

He was aspiring to become a full fledged writer and spent hours on end at his writing table. He had set a deadline of three months for the project and in effect was trying to follow in the foot steps of the famous English novelist Edgar Wallace, who used to simultaneously dictate on three or four mystery novels. Muser found the efforts draining and his attempts pretty amateurish.

Coming back to the present, he greeted his friend and asked, “What do I owe you for your sudden visit?” Given such a chance, Bystander not was not a person to let go the opportunity to start his famous non-stop talking. He narrated the conversation (one sided of course) between himself and the senior citizen.

 From his friend’s s monologue Muser collected many points to cross-examine him. Muser not only advocates but also acts as an advocate - an able foil, to one another, during these long years of friendship.

He questioned, “What made you to take so much liberty with a senior citizen who happens to be a new friend?”  The reply he got was amusing to say the least.

Bystander explained why he came to like the old man. The absence of usual mannerisms seen in such aged people – multi coloured amulet threads adoring the wrist, gem stones studded rings on fingers, swiping the air with the nose, twisting or twirling of fingers, talking to themselves or drawing in the air while walking…. The list was getting longer.

Muser concluded that his bosom friend has lost his senses – because Bystander did not believe in superstitions.

Friend, “you did not open your mouth at the mention of young birds having no time even for elementary things in a day why? And what made you to think he was only concerned about the grown up children?”

Bystander replied, “I thought the senior citizen was going to open the flood gates to his compressed emotions. Hence I kept mine shut. It was my wild guess about the grown up children”

Muser appreciated his friend for the efforts to alleviate the sufferings from an agitated mind and to make the person enjoy the rest of his life. To keep Bystander’s enthusiasm in check, he advised him to be little more cautious in guessing and preaching, in future.

A pleased Muser asked his friend, "Earlier you were only a verbose. How come suddenly you possess poetical talents. Your description of an ideal setting for a celebration was really beautiful. Why don’t you take up to writing? Bystander was very much pleased to hear these words from the mouth of a reticent.

The bomb shells came next. “The odd man out was your references to MNC, smart phones and the .NET”. Don’t you think that it was little over done – to say the least it was a time bomb that could have gone either way. Remember my words and be little more careful. I would advise you to stick to poetical language, which many don’t have time to understand, and outwardly it would sound pleasant to hear.

Thank your good fortunes. The passing remark made by the gentle man indicates that still he is considering you a friend. If I were in his shoes, you would not be here talking to me. Let me wish you a grand success in your maiden, foolhardy attempt in counselling a troubled mind”, Muser finishing his questioning.

Unburdened and with a reassured conscience, Bystander decided to eagerly wait for the coming Sunday.

The Teflon Man Man melts part 1: Bystander speaks

  

The Bystander, having no other pressing engagements, spent time in observing people just to get acquainted well with the crowd. During his walks and Sunday visits to park, he noticed the same senior citizen (unconfirmed guess) passing by. He used to wonder whether it was a coincidence or both of them operating under the same biological clock.

It so happened during one of the Sunday park visit, Bystander found an unusual gathering of crowd and all the benches were occupied. Deciding to take a walk around the park, he chanced up on a vacancy besides the same senior citizen. He opted to take the seat instead of continuing to stroll around.

A few minutes elapsed in silence as the senior citizen was sizing up the occupant next to him. Bystander bided his time waiting for senior man to break the silence. The senior citizen also waited to see if the newcomer would like to talk or remain silent.

Just then a young child came running towards them, after the ball lobbed by her mother. The child could not catch up and the ball gently rolled under the bench where these two men were sitting. As if on cue both of them bent down,  to stop the ball rolling away further.

The girl gleefully accepted the ball, thanked them and ran towards her mother. Both the men started to talk almost at the same instant. After preliminary introductions, the senior citizen looked little pensive and said,” I know. I can not sit in judgment but that does not prevent me from presenting my case. Is it not?”

Bystander did not know whether he had to reply or wait for the other man to continue. Few seconds elapsed before the other man decided to take leave saying, “will meet again”. The abrupt departure unsettled Bystander but gave little hope that more will be coming out at another time.

That another time came in the same park and on the same bench on the next Sunday. Unusually, Bystander brought some steamed ground nuts thinking that munching on them might help the senior citizen to crunch out his woes.

From the look on the senior citizen’s face it appeared as though he was waiting for his arrival. Pleasantries and ground nuts were exchanged and then the man started saying, “Young birds, taking to wings have no time in the day for even elementary things” and paused. Suddenly the senior citizen switched topics to politics, science, environment and changing weather pattern.

 Used to extempore and non-stop talking on any single same topic at a given time, Bystander found it little confusing – these starts and stops of the senior citizen. At one point, he even thought that the man might be suffering from senility.

The curiosity in Bystander went up by several notches. Resolving to get to the bottom of the affair, he continued to seek out for the man and said hello every day, from that day onwards. By that time, Bystander had worked out that the man has experienced certain difficulties in emotional adjustment with his family members.

Having concluded this, Bystander did not want to wait for the other man to begin airing his woes. Instead he himself will do the pouring of woes in a different way. He only wished to help the agitated old mind to settle down and enjoy the evenings of the remaining life.

Having made this decision, he impatiently waited for the first opportunity - be it is in the walk or in the park, thinking place do not matter but the conversation might. 

Facing the other man Bystander said, “Please listen to your inner voice and hear the sweet music of your love and affection for them. Glittering ceremonies did not make it a memorable celebration. A simple but beautiful setting of a gentle stream flowing over pebbles and boulders, making gurgling sounds would have definitely made that celebration memorable.

You were under a social pressure at that time and now this younger generation is experiencing the force of MNCs, smart phones, internet and competition. Try to accept these facts”.

Seeing no expression change in the man, he continued “Once a bird takes to wings and migrates, it is on its own for food, shelter, and survival of the species. Sons and daughters are akin to these birds and do the same thing.

Leave them undisturbed and admire them from a distance or count the heads in family reunions. You watch the birds intently, passionately and likewise the nesting birds certainly do take notice of you and yet continue with their activities. They are not ignoring you .This approach works better to keep the flock together, emotionally.”

Wondering whether all the things are getting analysed or being ignored by the senior citizen, Bystander paused for a moment, searching for visually disturbing clues. Seeing none, he decided to go ahead, “To sit in judgment means, view points are heard and considered in the light of precedence and experiences to fully understand the issues.

Then also, the delivered judgment must be agreeable, workable and be in tune with the present constraints. Avoid getting upset if your advice goes up for a second opinion. Today’s youngsters do not do anything with out consulting Google and friends”.

More surprise was in store and Bystander felt like delivering a monologue – the lack of response was unsettling and breaking the flow of thoughts. He wondered what Muser would have done hearing this monologue!

It was getting dark and many people started leaving the park. Bystander noted that a few latecomers to the park were just getting in for a brief stay. This observation sprung another idea in his mind.  He suggested a stroll around the park to which the other man readily agreed needing a little diversion.

In silence they leisurely walked around for some time and then Bystander pointed it out that the crowd which was leaving, as the park lights were switched on, did so to get prepared for the next week’s work. The question, they   carried home might have been, “how long to wait for the next Sunday?”

Please recollect the story of a devotee being praised by the Lord for constantly remembering Him amidst all his worldly worries. If the essence of the story has been understood, then it is easy to love the younger generation with out any reservation. More over, your memory of their childhood with you might be quite different from their perceptions of their childhood memories in your company. Here lie the woes and worries.

What an Adult education for an adult!

At the end of the day, Bystander felt that he had taken lot of liberties in airing his views, giving no chance to the senior citizen to speak. Bystander knew that this attitude was in contrast to the statement he made about judging people. He deliberately did so to help the other man to come out of his mental shackles and unburden himself, in solitude.

Bystander said, “Good night Sir” walking through the gate with a heavy heart. The senior citizen, who remained mute all along responded, “Same to you, gentleman”, walking a step behind Bystander.