YOEL Homes - An elderly home for the young

Warden - Ravi Sir, good evening. You have a new roommate, Karan. Take care of him as you have done with others.

Ravi (R) - Hello young man, I'm Ravi. You can make yourself comfortable.

Karan (K) -  Hello old man, I'm Karan. I'm not here to be comfortable (with a grin in his face).

R - I understand it will be difficult for a young man like you who is used to move around freely.

K - I don't bother whether or not you understand anything. Just leave me alone. 

R - You seem to be upset over something. Can I help you?

K - Any help from a person like you will only make it worse. So mind your own business old man.

R - I don't expect you to call me Sir, but you can at least call me Ravi. It seems more respectful than calling me old man.

K - The warden might call you "Sir" because of your age. But I give respect only to those who deserve it.

R - Why do you think I don't deserve some respect?

K - If you are here at this age, it means you haven't spent your early life well and it's time to repay your wrongdoing.

R - My son, don't judge a book by its cover.

K - Please don't call me your son. I don't wish to be son of a person like you.

R - I don't judge you; though you are here at a young age. Then why do you?

K - Unlike you, I'm here because of someone else and I don't look happy here like you either.

R - Now I see why you are upset. I'm also here because of someone else.

K - So we are sailing on the same boat then?

R - Not really. I chose to be here and I'm happy to be here.

K - Are you serious? I have been here only for a few minutes and I'm already desperate to go out.

R - Everybody's life is different. My life if different from yours. Take rest for today. We can speak tomorrow.

Next Day..

Karan woke up hearing the warden and got ready. He and Ravi went to the common place to eat. To his surprise, Karan saw many people showing respect to Ravi. This intrigued his curiosity on how Ravi ended up here and why people respect him so much. Once done with their food Ravi and Karan went back to their rooms. Karan began the conversation...

K - May I know why you are here?

R - Someone asked me to mind my own business yesterday.

K - I am just curious why people respect you so much. It's fine if you don't want to proceed further.

R - have told this story to many who have come here and will be happy to say you as well. But on one condition. I would like to know your story first before I say mine.

K - It's not something great. Just a guy who travelled away from home and ended up here by fate.
R - I have all the time on earth to listen to your story in more detail.
K - OK. I was born and brought up in a small town in Kanyakumari district. Once I completed my education, I moved to Chennai for a job. I stayed in a mansion and after making a few friends took a small apartment for rent and stayed there. Since my hometown is too long from here I do not travel there often. Things went well until one day my friend brought in a colleague of his to stay with us temporarily. He has resigned his job and was waiting for the final settlement before moving back to his hometown and starting his new business. Two days back the police came in with a search warrant. They found drugs in his bag and inquired me about it. My friend and his colleague have absconded and I have been remanded here until the investigation is over.
R - Young people like you are getting into all sorts of trouble these days. Having someone to guide at this age, might help save you all.
K - Most of us don't wish to be away from family. We travel to earn our livelihood. The only option we have in such cities is to stay in mansions where most of us are of the same age. Stress at work and peer pressure add to our woes. Also there's no one who can listen to us patiently nor to guide us when we go in the wrong path. This makes youngsters travel in the wrong path without realizing the consequences. 
R - It's quite funny in a way. On one hand, there are old people like us who like to listen and advice but there's no one to speak to us. And on the other end are people like you who need it but are away from us.
K - Maybe it seems funny to your age but not for us. Now, can I know your story?
R - Sure. I had one son who grew up here and moved elsewhere like you to earn a better livelihood. My wife passed away a few years ago and I had to be on my own. I thought through many options and the best place for me to be was here. So I accepted a crime that I didn't do and ended up here on life time prison.
K - You came to prison because you were alone? What about old age homes and why didn't you go there?
R - Most of the people are old and such places only have a few people to care about a lot of us. Being surrounded only by old people would make me feel mentally drained as well. But here, there are people of all ages. I listen to young people like you and help them to ensure they change themselves and live a better life. That is why I am respected here. The warden is a friend of my son and he takes good care of me. Not all elderly ones are fortunate as I am and hence end up spending their time waiting to see themselves or their fellow companions die sooner or later. Let's hope their sole rests in peace someday. 

A few months later.....

Karan was finally released and the time he spent in prison taught him a lot of lessons in life. His conversations with Ravi made him feel pity for elderly people and motivated him to make their situations better. He thought through many ideas until he ended up with this one. He decided to start a new elderly home were young people travelling away from their hometown can come and stay. They can choose to live with any of the elders they feel comfortable with. In that way, they would feel like being with family and would get necessary guidance when required. On the other hand, elderly people will have someone at the age of their son/daughter to take care of them and speak with. The youngsters who stay there would also be given priority in the future when they are old and need a place where they will be cared for. Thus YOEL homes was born. 

Pachayammal @ Payal - 4

The Inconvincible

Neha was born and brought up in Pune. A very mature, independent and strong woman who stands up for her and also others when such a situation arises. She had a round face with a dusky complexion and "chubby" was her pet name. Looking at her tall and muscular physique, people usually wonder if she's a sports woman. But travel and architecture were her favorites. She had her majors in History and that's what made her move to Madurai later. That is where we met and ended up together. Ever since marriage, we manage to travel to some historical place every year. 

Being the only daughter of a private detective, she grew up watching her father and learnt to analyze everything before arriving at a conclusion; the one thing Neha's father is always proud of. Maturity and knowledge combined with intuitiveness makes it difficult for anyone to convince her without the right intentions. Even after so many years of marriage, how I managed to convince her into marrying me, remains a dogma. So before speaking to her about the plan to cure Payal, the whole conversation would have to rehearsed several times. Will have to look for all possible questions and be prepared. If she feels that it won't work out well or is not convinced, then no one can change her mind. Answering to the questionnaire that had to be submitted along with a research grant application would be much easier than hers. She would remember every detail so well that it will not be possible to come up with a new variation to it later. It's during such times that I wish to have had a wife who is capable of forgetting past conversations; only to end up realizing that all women are the same when it comes to remembering past events. They just never forget.

It was time to get ready for the most daunting task; to convince Neha. I managed to find her in a good mood to discuss on this. The plan was to test the antidote on cell lines, then on mice and finally on rabbits. Once everything was successful, it will be administered to Payal. After listening to all of this patiently, Neha asked for the plan to be documented. She wanted to get it verified through friends from her circle. For the first time, I could see her not believing in me. It took me some time to explain and convince her that whatever being done is considered to be unethical and her husband will end up in prison for this. She asked me several questions to ensure I wasn't just trying to woo her into acceptance. After hearing everything, a big shock was waiting for me in the end. She insisted that the anti-dote can be given to Neha only after testing on myself. I was thrown back for a moment. The woman I care about the most in this world, cares for her daughter more than me.

There was several minutes of silence. Neha soon realized that her demand has indeed hurt me. In an effort to console me, she said "We've crossed a long way in life, whereas Payal is a small child. Her life has just begun." Though it did not make me feel any better, it felt right that I had to face the consequences for what I've done. So I agreed with her and left the room.

To be continued.....

Natpu

Parthiban was a great photographer. He took wonderful pictures which he displayed in several competitions and has won many awards. After winning an award recently, he was interviewed by a national news reporter. The reporter herself was a big fan of him and was interested to know about him. Parthi introduced himself and described his journey towards becoming a renowned photographer. Poomari's eyes were filled with awe, hearing it from him personally. She then asked him several questions for which he answered enthusiastically. She asked him what he was planning photograph next and his answer was "Probaby you". Upon hearing this, Poomari started blushing. She then asked him "You have taken a lot of pictures and no wonder they are great. But all of them are from within the urban environment. Have you thought about traveling to a forest or a mountain and capturing the wild?". Parthi stood mum for a while. He was both amazed about how well the reporter has researched him and also for asking about the one thing he wished he wasn't questioned about.

The reporter couldn't understand his silence and wasn't sure either if she had asked something offensive. But soon felt that he was uncomfortable and asked the cameras to stop recording. She decided to give a break and was also curious at the same time. So she went to him personally and asked him the reason. For the first time, he had opened up to her. Her assistant who was nearby eavesdropped their conversation. 

A week passed and Parthi's interview would be appearing in today's newspaper. He was all excited to read about himself. He took the newspaper and searched for his interview. Parthi was shocked reading the headline. Being unable to control his emotions, he called Poomari immediately. She too had seen it but promised him that it wasn't her. She assured him that she'll speak to the authorities and fix the online version. But the hardcopy would have already reached millions and nothing can be done about it.

It has been three years since then and Parthi had just received "Best wildlife photographer of the year" award. He was again being interviewed by another person. He knew what the first question would be and so it was. 

Reporter : Three years ago we read your interview on the newspaper titled "Parthi is afraid of the wild" and now you have received this award. What inspired you to overcome your fear and achieve this?

Parthi : After reading the newspaper I wanted to take the risk of going into the wild but I was still afraid. That's when Poomari decided to help me. She came with me to all the places until I had the confidence to go there alone. I dedicate this award to her and our friendship.  I now have the confidence to be in the wild by myself and to explore new places. 

P.S - We may not always have the ability to overcome our fears/insecurities but friendship always does !!!

Pachayammal @ Payal - 3

Clash of the Conscience

I reached out to Vincent for help and he has pushed me into a difficult situation now; whether to look for a cure or to try and replicate it. Whatever Vincent just said to me over the phone seemed valid. He was right; this could help evolve humans into something great than what we were now. The power to harness energy from light and we will be biological batteries ;). The light from the sun reaches most places on earth where humans inhabit and would be sufficient to cover most of the population. Another good reason for people to have a sun bath and feel replenished. And during the night, we had the moon and our own light bulbs (thanks to Edison, one of the great inventor mankind has known) to serve as a source of light. We would no longer require to do agriculture or domestication of animals. People can utilize all their time to create much more amazing things. But will people stop eating food since it is no longer required to? That's something to think about as well. One thing for sure is that no longer do we have to worry about famine and hunger. This should be the way ahead. Let me call Vincent now and inform about my decision.

Oh Wait!! Payal is my daughter. How could I do this to my own daughter and my only lineage. Her birth was the most amazing moment of my life. And moreover she is a very small child, just a year old. A living doll with beautiful eyes and an innocent smile. Wouldn't it be inhumane to use her for my own selfish research? I would be the most evil person the world has ever known (more than Mojo  Jojo). And if something happens to Payal during research, I would die out of guilt.

A scientist should think about the benefit of a society above all. Considering the benefits of this, I should proceed with the research and try to replicate this. Sacrifice has been the key for several inventions. All of the scientists worked for the larger good. I too have sacrificed my teenage for this research and will not let this go down the drain. The genetic expression has only had a positive impact in all my studies so far. I've also injected it on myself and I'm still normal and healthy. Hence it shouldn't be life threatening. Moreover, Payal is very young and her body has already accepted the gene successfully.

How would Neha react if I told her about this? She's already mad at me for whatever has happened. She loves Payal more than anything and anyone in this world. She would do anything to protect her daughter. I wouldn't be surprised if she even files a divorce against me and take Payal with her. However, she might agree if I convince her that I am only trying to cure her.

Even if i manage to console myself and Neha, how would I prove this to the research community. I cannot exhibit Neha as a proof of concept. It is unethical and a crime to utilize a human for genetic research without proper approval. I would end up in jail for the crime that I have committed already.

Why isn't life simple where things can be just black or white. Let me take some break and clear up my mind. There should be a way out of this...

Pachayammal - Reaching out for help

With all my efforts to console Neha going in vain, it was time to do something about the situation. I went to my private lab located in the underground. I sat there all night thinking about how to reverse this genetic inclusion. I know its going to be difficult task and hence as a temporary solution, I wanted to stop the expression of the protein necessary to produce the pigment. That should be much easier with the current advancement in gene silencing technology. It is being used to prevent the expression of disease causing proteins and also to understand the role of individual proteins. I drew a logical flow diagram of the steps to be followed to achieve this. The first step was to identify which proteins were being expressed in Payal's body. The previous test at my friend's lab only revealed that one of the markers attached to the proteins was being expressed.

I started looking up my previous project documents and searched for the pigments that I worked upon. As I was going through the papers, I stumbled across a signature at one of the corners. I immedately knew whom it belonged to. How could I ever forget this name? My colleague and best friend at the university. And also my partner in crime. Vincent was such an intelligent guy with a great sense of humor. Though most women wantand to hang out with him, he was rather interested to hangout with science. We spent most of the time at the library or lab; not so interested with the boring lectures. Staying overnight in the lab was something we did frequently since we performed our experiments after college hours ended.We were so close to each other that people got into the suspicion that we were probably gay. It was only after he got married to Theresa that the suspicions disappeared. He now has two kids, a son and a daughter.

He is the best person to assist me with this. It's been quite sometime since we have spoken with both of us being occupied with family and work. The last time I spoke to him, he was in Simla for vacation. As it was midnight already, I decided to call him in the morning. I was also exhausted having been through a long day thinking hard and happy to have made a few steps ahead. I had some food from the refrigerator and went to sleep.

I woke up and looked at the clock, it was 11 am already. I tried reaching to Vincent's phone but he rejected my call with a message stating that he was on a meeting and would call me later. I knew his meetings were usually long, so I went into the shower and was wondering how life has changed in the past few days. Neha usually wakes me up everyday by 8 when she starts to the office. Now that she doesn't speak with me, I've been waking up very late for quite sometime. Though she was angry at me, she never missed preparing food for me or texting the first good morning message to me. I had once told her that looking at her text in the morning made my day bright. Ever since then she kept texting everyday. I felt guilty to have hurt this wonderful woman who cherishes my life everyday with her love. Once done with the shower, I had some food and checked my mobile to see if Vincent had called. As expected, he hadn't called back yet. I went down to the lab and started looking at the papers again.

After a few hours, I heard my phone ring and it was indeed Vincent. I did not want to put him under a shock immediately. Spoke with him for sometime about our usual life and work.He then asked me if there was anything urgent or if he could call back again. I asked him to hang on for some more time as I wanted to discuss something important and also that I needed his help. I told him the whole story that had happened and how much Neha was mad on me. There was utter silence and no reply from him. I asked him if he was still on the call. He immediately shouted with joy and said "I'm so excited, this is amazing!!!". This wasn't the response I was expecting from him. I explained him how much worried I was and that I needed his help to fix this before things turn out to be worse.

"I can understand your pain Raj, but think of the bright side of it. Are you sure you want to do this? This had been your dream. A world were people would no longer die of hunger. Take your time and call me back once you decide on how we can proceed about this. I gotta go for another important meeting now."
To be continued...

Pachayammal (Payal) - The beginning

I could still feel the anger on Neha's face. After an hour of heated arguments, things haven't turned out to be any better. I did all my best to console her but only to see them go in vain. Payal, who was very young, couldn't understand our conversation and was staring at us innocently. Neha stood speechless and following a few minutes of silence, tears started flowing down her cheeks. She felt broken inside; who wouldn't be?. She ran towards our daughter Payal and hugged her tightly. It was several days since the incident and Neha hasn't spoken to me yet. This was the first time something like this has happened between us. I knew I was the reason behind this but was not sure on how to fix it. The only questions going through my mind were those from Neha; "How could you do this to our child? What else are you gonna do to her?"

Neha and I were happily married for more than 5 years. Our only daughter Payal is just 1 year old now. Yes, we had some issues with having our first child. I could still remember the happiness in Neha's face on hearing the news from the doctor. A few days after she was born we named her Payal as a short form for Pachayammal (derived from the name of our Tutelary deity , Pachayamman), since Pachayammal sounded out of fashion. But my mom believed that she was none other than our Tutelary and always called her as Pachayammal. From the beginning Payal was much different from other children. She had a normal weight and was active. The strange thing was that she avoided intake of any food. The doctors did several tests and everything was normal. Even after a few months, we still had to force feed her. To everyone's surprise, her health was always normal. 

One summer morning, I was taking Payal to doctor for a regular check-up. My mom was also accompanying me to take care of her. The clinic was locked and we had to wait outside in the sun for sometime. Though it was a little hot, Payal seemed to be enjoying it. She was a lot more active than how she use to be at home. A few minutes later she started developing pale green patches on her skin. We immediately rushed into the car to avoid the sun. My mom looked at me and said "See, you didn't people believe so long. She is definitely our Tutelary, Pachayammal". I didn't know how to respond to it. At the right moment, the doctor had just arrived and the patches also disappeared. We told the doctor about what had just happened but didn't want to risk taking Payal back in the sun to recreate the symptom. The doctor checked Payal and told she was alright. I had a strange fear in my mind though.

We avoided taking her out while it was very sunny. Meanwhile she continued to avoid food which made us feel disturbed. A few weeks passed and we had to take her in the sun again. The patches appeared again and I doubted if my fear would come true. I took Payal to my friend's lab and ask him to perform a DNA test on her. The result confirmed my fears. The genetic material had indeed managed to integrate itself with the host DNA and has started expressing itself. I wasn't sure about being happy or to be worried. There were a lot of questions going in my mind. "What would happen to her in the future? Would this be the answer to millions dying of hunger? How would Neha react once I tell her about this? Is there a way to revert this?..."

I gathered all my courage and went up to Neha. I ensured she was in a calm mood which she always maintained. I slowly explained her about the situation. I was working on a project to test different pigments that were capable of creating energy from light. The gene expression was very much positive in mice. But since genetic engineering on humans required a lot of approvals, I decided to test it on myself. There was no reaction on me but somehow has got transmitted to Payal and expressed itself successfully. This was the reason why Payal was always active and healthy, though she never wanted to have food. She was drawing all her energy from the surrounding light. Neha was speechless after hearing this. She burst into anger. She asked me how I could do this to our daughter and what else I was planning to do with her. I didn't have any answer to it. She started crying and hugged Payal tightly. After this incident, Neha didn't speak to me for days. I was spending most of the time in my lab trying to find if there was a way out of this.

To be continued..