Big Wonder

Big Wonder

As I was sipping cappuccino at the coffee shop with my friends, saw Mike waving at me. Mike is Makarand for the uninitiated.

‘Oh Mike when did you come from USA’

‘Just a week back dear’

‘How long?’ I asked. ‘I am here for just three weeks but this time there is a surprise.’ Mike was full of life as usual. A question mark writ large on my face.

‘Well this time Dorothy has accompanied me to India. So when are you coming to meet her?’‘ He asked. ‘O wow! Let me make it coming Sunday.’ I did not want to miss the opportunity of meeting Dorothy.

‘Sure! Come with your family in the morning and spend the day with us. After all haven’t met your kids for a long time now’ Mike’s hospitality spoke. ‘O sure’ I confirmed.

Mike had made it really big in the great US of A. He had flown way back in the 80s to do his Masters in computer engineering and stayed on initially working for a huge MNC and latter on settling to open his own IT Company. The tech boom had really helped him to make a gigantic success of his life. We had been in touch off and on. As technology advanced, letters that took a month to reach USA now transformed to emails and the world became a smaller place. FB and Whatsapp brought the world still closer and more personalized.

Mike had fallen in love with Kelly then. (Kalpana for the uninitiated) They were a happily married well settled couple with all comforts and luxuries and blessed with three kids – two sons and a sweet daughter. Life was full to the brim – success, name, fame- you name it and Mike had it. His palatial house had butlers and there were chauffeur driven Chryslers and Prado in the porch. When I had a chance to visit USA, I made it a point to visit Mike. Lived a life of ultimate luxury in those two days.

Yet, destiny had different plans. Kelly faced an untimely death and Mike was lonely. He immersed himself in work only to be more successful to a point where the stock of his company had zoomed at the bourses making Mike filthy rich. Yet Mike had never forgotten his roots and whenever he would travel to India made it a point to drop in at the same coffee shop whenever he was around. It was a stark contrast to some who had been celebrities in their own right but had the stiff upper lip and a snooty feel to their personalities. These types keep the safe distance and never indulge into friendship for fear that they may have to favor. Mike on the other hand was very generous and would help out whatever way he could - be it an opportunity, a job or even money.

So every time that we managed to meet, all of us used to tell him to remarry. His lone worry was bringing up the kids. He was not too fine with the idea of bringing a step mother at home. As time passed we got the news that Mike had finally married Dorothy. The couple was lovey dovey and Dorothy not only managed to be the perfect hostess but also a loving mother to Mike’s three kids. It was as if the clock had turned full circle to bring back the perfect life for Mike. Being part of the Mike fan club, we always used to get updates of things happening to Mike, his company and his family.
Mike was tied to his roots so to say and visited India every year. Once in a while he used to bring his kids to show them the incredible India right from the Taj Mahal, Kanyakumari, Gir forest, temples, Himalayas and all the rich heritage of India. Yet Dorothy never accompanied them on all these sojourns and we used to wonder why?

So now when I had a chance to meet Dorothy in person, I was too excited to see her. Dorothy was perfect in every which way one could imagine. Beautiful, demure, gentle – almost like Lizzie from Jane Austen’s - Pride and Prejudice, I thought to myself. We chatted and laughed. Exchanged old time memories with Mac and had a grand lunch. She was so perfect in every which way one could imagine. Her large blue deep eyes, her slender neck, the sparkling solitaires, her shapely toned body, her bewitching smile and her soft voice – everything about her was so mesmerizing. She even sang some songs from the Sound of Music. Time seemed to have halted in its feet.

Yet all of a sudden while the butler was serving coffee, the family dog Rudy happened to walk past and a brush of his tail happened to tipple the cup of coffee off the butler’s hands. The coffee spilled all over Dorothy. Her richly embroidered dress was smudged and Dorothy seemed to freeze with a listless expression. Mike suddenly jumped off his couch and quickly escorted Dorothy to the ante chamber. As the doors closed on us my thoughts were racing - Oh what a caring husband I thought to myself.

After a few minutes that seemed to last for lifetime Mike came out. When we enquired about Dorothy, he said ‘O she is all fine’ and yet something in his eyes told me that he was hiding something from all of us.  Mike was searching for excuses when little Stella spilled the beans. Actually Dorothy was not a human but a robot, she told us. Shock and surprise – the only two feelings we had then. I remembered having seen their wedding video and said ‘Oh but you both were kissing so passionately in the video. Just can’t believe she is a robot, Mike.’ Mike laughed and said that all that can be programmed into a robot. Oh really, how life like I thought to myself.

‘Well do you remember that serial – Small Wonder?’ asked Mike.

‘Yes, we do?’

‘Well to put things in perspective, I used to watch this serial in which the father had developed a robot that was just like a member of the family, a girl child, who was the daughter in the family. Well, I thought why not build a wife robot. I started researching on it and by and by developed Dorothy. She has all the specifications to be the perfect hostess, mother, and advisor and could also build emotions into her. The only thing is internally she is all metal and plastic. So although on the exterior she is a perfect being, internally she is still a machine. She needs to be taken care against liquids and also needs to be recharged just like all other gadgets.’

We were all aghast. The magic of technology was not easy to fathom.

Mike guffawed and said ‘Well,
 She is my Big Wonder’

Anagha Hunnurkar

Sunday, May 31, 2015