C6 A New Beginning

“Professor! Professor! Uncle!” the professor looked up tears streaming down his eyes. “What did you call me just now?”

“Ummmmmm.........Uncle?” his face broke into a smile; his eyes shining like diamonds. “Say that again.”

“Uncle!”

“You have made me very happy, dear daughter.” He said wiping his tears on his sleeve. “You have strengthened my resolve to protect you once again.” He looked beyond Sri Latha signaling for someone and the waitress materialized with two steaming hot, aromatic, mouth-watering biryanis.

“As your uncle, it is my right to pamper you as much as I can.” He said happily. “Dig in. I have something good to share with you today.” He followed his words by mixing the chicken boneless curry with the biryani rice putting the first morsel into his mouth relishing the taste with his eyes shut in ecstasy. “Mmmmmmmm! They haven’t lost their touch still!”

“Yes uncle. It’s fantastic! The best biryani I have ever tasted so far!” she discarded the spoon in her hand and followed the professor, eating with her hands doing full justice to the food before her.

“They are the best in the universe! You won’t find this taste anywhere.” He served some of the biryani from his own pot of biryani, adding the best chicken pieces onto her plate.

“Mmmmuncle!!!” she protested with her mouth full.

“Eat dear daughter. I am very bad when it comes to food.” He said brushing off her protests and carefully piling up cashew nuts on her plate. “If your aunt had been alive, she would have stuffed you nicely and you would be chubbier and cuter than any kid in the universe!”

Srilatha paused gobbling up food and looked at him. “Uncle, tell me about her.”

He took a deep breath and started speaking.

**********

Vedantham Shanmukha Sarma was pacing to and fro in front of the maternity ward anxiously. He would occasionally sit on the chair and would get up again suddenly as if he had remembered something urgent and commence his pacing again. His father Anjaneya Sarma was observing his antics with a smile.

It was the maternity ward, and his daughter-in-law was in the labor room. Everyone was waiting for the arrival of a new life anxiously. While his son paced the corridor, Anjaneya Sarma was silently praying for an easy and comfortable delivery which was a paradox in itself. When was childbirth ever easy for a mother? It was one of the most difficult tasks unless you preferred a caesarean operation.

It was what made him respect women; they endured the greatest pain to give birth. Then they would spend the next few months nourishing you; a few more years showing you the world, teaching and shaping your character. A mother’s love was the purest form of love that had no parallel. No wonder she was called the first God – Mathru Devo Bhava!

His thoughts were interrupted by the entry of a young man of 30. He was tall, lanky, with a broad forehead adorned with a long, straight-line Bindi. He was panting and trying to catch his breath.

“Did you run all the way to fifth floor, son?”

“Yes, father-in-law. Couldn’t wait for the lift!” Shanmukha Sarma shook his head and patted the newcomer on the back. “You are really crazy you know!”

“I was afraid my alludu (sister’s son) wouldn’t wait for me, Bava Garu (brother-in-law)!”

Their chatter was broken by the nurse coming out with a baby in her arms. “See what I said? He’s a naughty one!” he took the baby in his arms lovingly. “So, adorable he is!”

“Yes, Bava. He certainly is!” everyone took turns to hold the baby in their arms admiring the pink complexion of a newborn. A new life was being admired and this bundle of joy had brought a new light in their lives.

********

Five years had passed since this momentous occasion. The large tiled-roof building stood majestically on a 100-acre plot. The boundary wall with a majestic gate signified the importance of the owners in this village. There was a small outhouse near the gate apart from the guard room manned by a single guard armed with an INSAS Rifle.

On the right side of the building was a goshala – a building to keep the cows. Several cows lay serenely ruminating while their calves ran around in fun chased by laughing and shrieking children. The image was so pure and carefree – an image of a beautiful rural life.

To the right of this goshala was the cattle shed where the buffaloes and the oxen were kept. This was again partitioned to keep the oxen separate from the buffaloes. Each buffalo and each ox had their own private cubicles spacious enough to lie down and move freely.

The goshala and the cattle shed had carefully chosen attendants who treated these livestock as their children and cared for them diligently. The recruitment tests were specially designed to test their temperament before appointing a person for these posts.

Then there was the stable where the horses were kept. Each stall was designed to cater to the comfort of the horse housed in it. It was obvious that no expense had been spared to give the best facilities to the animals. These were the best of the best breeds that money could buy. The stable lads had also been recruited through a special recruitment test and were honour bound to treat them well.

A veterinary Clinic stood shoulder to shoulder with the Emergency Clinic right in the middle of the compound. This medical facility was open for the public as well and catered to the medical needs of the villagers as well as the inhabitants of the house including their livestock. It had it’s own entrance facing the village.

The chariot house was used to park a variety of chariots that had been commissioned by the owners. Now you might ask why anyone would go for chariots when you had the most advanced tech available at your feet? We will have to ask the owner to get an answer for that question.

We complete our tour of the compound with two remarkable buildings: the Vidya Bhavan housed the best collection of books that could be found in the world. It was the largest single private library on the planet that boasted of books as old as 50,000 million years. It had a reception desk on each of the 50 floors; each floor accommodating 10 lakh (1 million) books. It had a annexe that housed the digital library catering to those manuscripts that could not be lent to subscribers. This library had its own entrance with a security outpost manned by a platoon of highly trained Special Forces commandos under Captain Padmapani.

The final building in this compound consisted of two blocks: Block – A was the servant quarters and was closer to the main building. Each quarter was a 2BHK or a 3 BHK as per the position of the staff in the household. All were fully furnished quarters; hence the staff who lived there didn’t have to buy anything. It also meant that the staff had to move in empty handed, the clothes on their body being their only private possessions. When the staff retired or resigned or had been terminated from service, they were not allowed to take anything away from the quarters except their personal possessions meticulously recorded during their tenure. It also had the emergency generator for unexpected power cuts.

Block – B was a reinforced military barracks that housed the security team. It also had an emergency bunker to hide the non-combatants in case of a battle like situation. This block housed the shield generator which was installed in a reinforced concrete bunker that was bomb proof. No one was allowed in this room except those authorised by the owner and Captain Padmapani.

Having completed our tour, let us meet the owner of this house – or shall we say a rural fortress – by going round to the main building.