Eyes of the Mind and Other Stories

By Vinita Chopra

The author, on the one hand, has written simple yet thought-provoking stories about minor turbulences in the work-life balance of working women, and on the other, has given a heartrending account of those who had to sacrifice their personal needs and aspirations for the sake of others. An empathetic connection with those, who are physically challenged, has been established in two of the stories. Some stories, written in the backdrop of the lives of civil servants, make an interesting and informative reading.
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Poor girl was swinging in the pendulum of hope and expectations on one end to disappointments and rejections on the other. It seemed nobody cared for her feelings. She was unable to gauge
her own mother’s intentions. I, as an outsider, felt that there were some selfish and ulterior motives behind the seemingly genuine failures of the sincere attempts to get her married.
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They do not know how zebra is different from a giraffe. They have not seen the hues of nature. How green is the green of the leaves and what it is like when the leaves turn yellow in autumn! They
have not seen the radiance of the rising sun or the glow of the full moon. They have not experienced the pleasure of seeing the gigantic mountains or the vast oceans or the meandering clouds.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Point Six Technologies Pvt Ltd
• Release date: Jan 28, 2019
• ISBN: 9789388573498

Vinita Chopra

Ms Vinita Chopra belongs to the 1975 batch of the Indian Revenue Service. Academically she is an architect, having graduated from the renowned School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. But with the vision of a larger canvas to write her role on, she joined one of the premier Civil Services of the country.Ms Chopra retired from the post of Director General of Income Tax in August, 2009. She had the good fortune of very intensive and extensive involvement with income tax investigations during her 34 years long journey in the service. This exposure has greatly influenced her writings also.Sounds like fiction but it is true. Ms Chopra is now actively associated with her son, Siddharth Chopra’s enterprise, which is engaged in the business of designing and producing kids’ clothing under its own brand ‘Caca Cina’.Her debut book titled ‘They May Catch You!’ , in the non-fiction category, was published by M/s Vision Books in 2012. The book, which was aimed at sensitising and educating the lay public, and demystifying income tax investigations, has been a big success.‘Besides the Side Effects!’, her second book, is a novel, in which the endeavours of an investigating officer of the income tax department unravel a financial scam, which in turn leads to discovery of an unholy nexus between the political, bureaucratic set-up and a pseudo-spiritual guru. The book waspublished by Notion Press in 2014.‘Eyes of the Mind and Other Stories’, her third book, is a compilation of 14 short stories, deftly crafted by the author. The intense, sensitive and thought-provoking stories cover a wide range of social and other issues. Diverse dimensions of the lives of fellow human beings have been portrayedthrough these stories.

Book preview

METAMORPHOSIS

What is this, Arnav? Are you okay? You are lazing around at home ever since you returned from the US, Commissioner Sir chided his son lovingly and he continued,

"Here are two VIP passes for the quarter final match of the Cricket World Cup, between India and Australia. It will be fun to watch the match. Indian team is in a very good form under the captainship of Dhoni.

And, Arnav! Do you know about the Motera Stadium of Ahmedabad? It is one of the premier Cricket Stadiums of India, built on 50 acres of land on the banks of river, Sabarmati. It has a seating capacity for 54,000 spectators. It is an architectural marvel, with state of the art flood lights and covered stands. At the entrance of the stadium, there is a huge sculpture in iron, depicting a bull. The stadium itself is something worth seeing.

Believe me! You will really enjoy the match in the air-conditioned comfort of the VIP enclosure. Take a friend along."

Arnav was in the US for the last two years, pursuing his Masters’ in Chemical Engineering at the Henry Samuell School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of California, Los Angeles. He had returned a month ago after graduating from the prestigious school. Unlike most Indian students studying in USA, he did not stay back for further studies, nor did he apply for any job there. As proclaimed, he had returned for good.

However, Aanav had not come back unscathed from the ways of life from that part of the world. He was now finding it difficult to come to terms with the ways of the world, in which he had spent 22 years of his life before going to USA. It was no wonder that he declined his father’s offer to go and see the match from the VIP enclosure, which was reserved for politicians, sportsmen of repute, senior bureaucrats, other dignitaries and their kin. Tea, coffee, cold drinks, mineral water and lunch were all on the house. The VIP box was being sponsored by some well known Corporate House of the city. It was next to the air-conditioned box meant for the press and the media.

Arnav told his father assertively,

"Dad, I will not take these passes. I do not feel comfortable enjoying these special favours and privileges, just because I am your son. I will not have them. I am no VIP and I do not want to be treated like one. I am no different from those who buy the tickets and watch the match without the air-conditioned comfort reserved for the special few. We need to respect rights of all human beings and promote equality.

If at all I decide to watch the match, I will buy a ticket, just as everyone else has to do."

Mr. Prasad, who was the Police Commissioner of Ahmedabad, was one of the senior most civil servants of Gujarat. He and his wife were used to the special treatment they always got on every occasion. They had not known what it was like to be an ordinary mortal in our hierarchical but chaotic society. Standing in queues, buying tickets, or even using public transport was unthinkable to them. They never had to personally visit the bank, the post office or any other public utility department. Arnav was also a willing beneficiary of the privileges bestowed on them by virtue of the official position of Mr. Prasad, till he left for USA. But now, he was a changed person.

Arnav’s retort in this manner was highly disconcerting to Mr. Prasad. He could not see much sense in the argument of Arnav. He genuinely believed that he deserved to be treated differently from the masses as it was his merit and destiny, which brought him to the position he was in. However, he kept quiet at this as he did not want to annoy his son, who had just returned from abroad.

Arnav’s mother, Mrs. Prasad, was always busy socialising or shopping or attending kitty parties. She was often invited to functions organised by various ladies’ organisations. She was also actively associated with some NGOs working for the cause of the weaker sections of the society. She could never spare any time for cooking or any other job required for running the household. A number of servants attended to all needs of their socially active and officially important family.

The presence of servants was taken for granted by the members of the Prasad family. Nobody paid any attention to them. Nobody ever had even a fleeting thought as to how the servants felt doing menial work for the sustenance of their family, day in and day out, without any break. It never struck to Arnav also, all these years while he was in India.

But now complete metamorphosis could be seen in Arnav’s way of thinking. The question that arose in his mind was,

Why in US all household work is done by the family members themselves and why back home, we are so dependent on servants?

He himself was cooking, cleaning dishes, buying groceries, disposing of garbage and vacuum cleaning the house. Here he did not need to lift a finger, if he so desired. Here he could sit and watch TV the whole day. All these stark differences were disturbing the sensitive sensibilities of Arnav.

Chhotu was the youngest servant in Commissioner Sir’s house. The young boy was always occupied in household chores. From morning till evening, he was busy scrubbing floors, washing clothes, cleaning dishes, chopping vegetables and running errands for the family. Arnav was now able to empathise with the plight of Chhotu and feel sorry for him.

Next day Arnav announced that he was going to see the match. He had bought two tickets, one for himself and one for Chhotu. Chhotu was going to accompany him to the match venue. There was resistance from his mother as in Chhotu’s absence, who will attend to all that work at home. But fearing her son’s wrath, she relented reluctantly. Commissioner Sir also did not like the idea of his son going with the servant boy. But what could he say to his grown-up son, who had now developed a mind of his own? He was, however, hoping against hope…. that better sense would prevail and Arnav will drop the idea of going with Chhotu.

Much to the dismay of Mr. and Mrs. Prasad, Arnav woke up early the next day and started getting ready for going to the stadium. He alerted Chhotu also to get ready in time. Chhotu got dressed in his best multi- coloured polyester shirt, which he had reserved for festivals and other such special occasions. Arnav, on the other hand, was sporting a tee shirt with some non-descript logo and his faded Levi jeans. Arnav also declined his father’s offer to take his official vehicle to the venue. They hired a three wheeler auto-rickshaw…. when the chauffer driven car with red beacon light on its roof was standing idle in the porch of his bungalow and Arnav had a free access to it.

From the vendors at the venue, Arnav bought two sets of caps and sunglasses, which were required for warding off the sun and for building up the mood for the occasion. The stadium was jam packed. There were scores of fans still queuing up for the tickets. Thankfully, Arnav had bought the tickets a day before! They seated themselves in the public seating area and became a part of the huge crowd, which had come to witness this historic match. There was a lot of thrill and excitement in the air. Spectators could be seen waiving the tricolour from all over. Arnav explained the rules of the game to Chhotu.

During the lunch break, Arnav had to struggle and push his way through to reach up to the food counter. With great difficulty, he managed to buy two veg. burgers and two cans of Pepsi. The match was even more exciting in the post lunch session, as now India was batting. They clapped and shouted and cheered the players. As India was approaching victory, the cheering became more loud and the crowds became more boisterous.

Finally, as expected, India defeated Australia…… by 5 wickets. Australia had made 260 runs in 50 overs and India reached the tally of 261 in 47.4 overs. There was euphoria all around. It was no mean achievement. India had now reached the semi finals of the World Cup. Arnav and Chhotu thoroughly enjoyed the excitement of a winning match for India. As if it was their personal victory! Victory of having asserted their freedom!

Now it was time to leave. Exiting the stadium was more difficult than entering it. The crowds had become unmanageable. Police was doing everything to ensure peaceful exit of the crowds. The son of the Police Commissioner got shoved and pushed, and hit from all directions….. had to jostle his way through along with the others, to get out of the stadium. Chhotu got almost squeezed and kicked but Arnav