Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence

Many of the past happenings are so much deeply etched in my mind that those often appear as though it has happened only yesterday, kind of cached in my memory stick of my subconscious mind..

My walk in Shillong at the dead of the night in December of 1966 when i had just joined  Gauhati Refinery of Indian Oil Corporation is one such incident. Those days during 65 to 66 more or less every alternate month I would be in Shillong with my friend Pranjal Sen, he originally belonged to that place. Sometimes I would stay in his house but most of the time it would be hotel. It was my first job after finishing  engineering degree so hotels would be ordinary budget type, mostly wooden shacks, as a matter of fact those days most of the houses in Shillong were made of wood with slanting roof, typical of hill stations.

During that fateful trip I was staying in a hotel, it was within one kilometer from Pranjal's place. That night I had dinner in his house, it got late as we were having an excellent adda, he started insisting that I stay back but  I said bravely, “Come on! Don’t worry nothing will happen, I will safely walk down to my hotel!’’

It was freezing cold of December, I zipped my jacket up-to the neck, no cap or any scarf, it was the don’t care attitude of youth. The streets were deserted, the light from the incandescent bulb of the street light was throwing a cone of light in the mist ,  the light around was diffused, one side had houses and the other side the usual rise of hills along the  road. After walking for a few meters all my bravado evaporated, heavy fog was descending, the shadowy pine trees were appearing as giants ,I started cursing myself for taking such a foolhardy decision of walking back instead of staying back in the warmth of Pranjal's house. I was in half a mind to turn back but garnered enough courage to trudge the remaining distance.

After sometimes I started having a feeling that as though someone was following me,started getting goose pimple, i could hear a faint footstep behind, I looked back there was no one.I stopped,  the footsteps stopped. I was walking on footpath. A group of noisy Khasi boys and girls appeared from the opposite side, they  waved at me and went the other way, that interlude gave me some relief. I decided to walk on the road, , by walking in the center of the road I would be able to hear the  footsteps  on the bitumen topped road of the guy following me. Those days the heels of my leathers shoes would have metal studs to reduce the wear out, that was the style those days. In the dead of the night my shoes were making “khut, khut..” sound and which was sounding louder and multidimensional because of echo, the sound was bouncing back to me from the rocks of the hills surrounding the road . So it was me alone in that foggy road, diffused light and the echo of my own footsteps scaring me plus a nagging feeling that someone was following me, it was becoming too much for me to bear.  I more or less started running to reach the safety of my hotel. It was an uphill run , finally I saw the light of my hotel, that light acted as a beacon of hope to me, i steered myself towards the hotel and reached the hotel huffing puffing.. The manager was surprised to see me running in and said, “Sir, what happened?''
"I think someone was following me!I heard footsteps behind me."I said by moving towards the fireplace in the lobby to warm myself.
"No sir, you have been hearing your own footsteps, it is very common in hills when there is silence like now in the night, Shillong is a peaceful place , safe for people even in the night."
I thought to myself that he might be right, i was hearing echo of my footstep when it was bouncing on small rocks.

Though nothing untoward happened that night but still that half an hour walk has remained permanently etched in my mind and appears in my dream in various forms.

The other day I dreamt that I was walking on that same road in my that age of 1966, tight pants, jacket and studded shoes. Making that ‘’khut khut..’’ sound and then I heard a song playing at a distance…it was Hemant Kumar singing  ”Jane who kaisey..” I realized that somehow i have to reach the source of that sound for my safety, the sound of the song was becoming louder as i was nearing the source, i started walking faster. I woke up with a start and that song was still playing, it was 12.30 am in the night, my wife was asleep and the song was wafting from the drawing room. I got up , went to the drawing room, switched on the light.Looked around for the source of the song , found that it was the device in which i was playing songs from gana.com via WiFi in the afternoon, though i had stopped it but somehow it got keyed in to gana.com again in the midnight and started playing on its own. I am yet to find a conclusive proof of how it started on its own. I know in the night the cockroaches rule our house no matter how much Hit my wife sprays. I reasoned that those cockroaches might have triggered that device while running over it and which got lighted  to the Gana.com as it was already Wi-Fi enabled.This theory of mine of cockroaches causing the device to play is a far fetched one.  I took the device , stopped the song, disabled the Wifi of the device. After that incidence every night before going for sleep I double check all my devices and lock those down. No doubt that I was invaded by artificial intelligence that night!

Pagli

Pagli

I finished my morning walk around the lake, came out of the gate near CRC, Gopal was fetching the car, I walked towards the lone beggar. Every day I pay some money to that beggar plus a beggar woman. The woman was missing. I asked that beggar about her. He informed, “Both of us got 500 bucks from a gentleman yesterday, she must be boozed out.”

Those words “boozed out’ took me back by about 20 years.

Those days I was posted at Kolkata and would on some evenings stop at the lake for evening walk on the way home. It was one such evening when I was walking around the lake opposite Menoka cinema. Suddenly I felt that a few urchins were following me, those days the lake was not enclosed like what it is now. I sensed that those were snatchers, I was trying to figure out a way to get out of the predicament but suddenly a woman in trousers with a bidi dangling from her mouth, the hair tightly bound in a bun appeared from nowhere. She hissed at those urchins, “Back off

! Leave him alone!”

I stopped, wide eyed I was watching that tableaux. I was mesmerized by that scene unfolding in the semidarkness. The diffused light from the street lamps created an aerie atmosphere! She was poised like a fighter with her weight supported on her left leg and slightly bent forward, she had pulled out her long hair pin and held that in her fist, a desi Modesty Blaise I thought. Her this unexpected appearance stunned those ruffians, I started looking around for police. I don’t remember whether I shouted for police or not but I heard footsteps and whistle. Those rascals fled after cursing her in Bengali, they were calling her Mukhpuri ( in Bengali, it means burnt face). She gave a mock salute to me and vanished in the thin air.

After that day I stopped my evening walk around the lake. I encountered that woman in trousers again when I went for an English movie in Menoka. I found her selling tickets in black, I could make out that she was the ring leader of all those boys selling tickets around that cinema hall. She did not recognize me but I could, the event of that fateful evening was permanently etched in my mind.

I went near her at the teashop by the side of road, she came forward thinking that I was looking for ticket.

-No,no I don’t want any ticket as I have purchased ticket in advance but I want to thank you for saving me on that evening.

She looked closer at me and then carelessly told, “Oh! That’s nothing! Because of those rascals’ people are scared to come even for evening show in this cinema hall and if people don’t come then how do we earn? So me and my gang keep a close watch!”

-That day I could not thank you but I want to reward you for your that act.

I gave her 50 bucks and she accepted that nonchalantly.

I don’t remember the name of the Hindi movie for which one evening on a later date me and my wife thought of going to Menoka, purchase ticket from the counter. The “Houseful "board was hanging in front of the hall. At the tea shop I inquired about her. One of the serving boys said, ‘You are looking for Mukhpuri, she earned some big money yesterday because this movie has become hit, she must be boozed out!”

We could not purchase tickets in black even.

In the meanwhile, I got transferred and then retired, I had no occasion to go to Menoka cinema hall, did not see her again until I started my morning walk around the lake 3 years back.

But when I first saw that beggar woman who has white patches on her face and hands I was taken aback for a moment as I have seen that face somewhere. I asked Gopal, my driver to find out about her.

Later on Gopal informed me that she is the same girl Mukhpuri who is now known as Pagli, twenty years back she was like a don of Menoka cinema hall, controlling the black market of cinema tickets of the theatre.

I of course did not remind her of that day but started giving money to her every day. She is still sharp, she knows my car and when she sees me coming out of the gate of the lake she calls out for Gopal in commanding voice to bring the car. I found her to be in friendly terms with the guards and policeman at the gate. Even in tatters she is always in smiles and keeps commenting on those hawkers, drivers, guards.
In the meanwhile Gopal brought the car and i got in,from the window i looked at the vacant space of Pagli and tried to superimpose that with the vibrant young face of Mukhpuri which i saw 20 years back.

Disclaimer: Partly true and rest a spin.