THE CLOCK or TIME?
I should acknowledge the role and contribution of my grandson in making this post possible. I had not written for a long time and one excuse was that my laptop had become very slow and in fact, it was crawling. I recognized that it was at the end of its tether. But perhaps the more important point, I was at a loss as to what to write. So I let my laptop, which had become too heavy for me to carry, lie where it was, back home in India. It has been with me on my journey through all five books and I thought it was time to give him some rest. So, he must be back there, wondering how I was coping without him for company. It was difficult, so I thought of getting him a younger companion. Please note that it has never been my intention to (dump him). But with my growing years and slowing speed, I had no choice. So I bought myself a Chromebook which I thought would serve my purpose, lighter to carry, and of course lighter on the purse. This needed a reorientation and that’s where my grandson comes in. All of ten years old, he taught me the basics of all the control functions on the keyboard, he the teacher, and me the student, separated by six decades. That perhaps was the defining factor between the new Chromebook and my old Laptop.
Having finished teaching me the basics, he asked-
"Grandpa, what are you going to write about?”
“Well, it’s been such a long time since I wrote something, I am still at a loss what to write about,” I replied.
“Oh! But there are so many topics you can write on,” he said.
“Can you suggest one, since you seem to have something in your mind?”
“If you can write about your conversation with a cat, why can’t you think of a conversation with a clock?” he laughed.
For a moment I fell silent. That was a wonderful suggestion I thought and offered immense possibilities. He added that time is an undefined cosmic element that is relative in nature (I don’t know from where he had picked this up) and ended by asking me to add Philosophical humor. I was flabbergasted, a child barely eleven years old suggesting this. It made me feel proud, but left me gasping.
“Well, that’s a good one, I think I shall do it, Thank you,” I said.
Easier said than done. I realized it when I started to write. My grandson looked over my shoulder and said-
“Grandpa, are you going to write about the clock or time?” he asked.
“Why do you ask? Aren’t both the same?”
“I just asked,” he replied.
MY CONVERSATION WITH THE CLOCK
For some time now I’ve been having conversations with non-human entities, be it my beard, the chair, or the cat. It always happens after midnight when the others are fast asleep. You may even call it my nocturnal excursions, but I should admit that I have found these conversations profound and elevating, at the end of which I have been left pondering.
Last night, it was the Clock. At the stroke of midnight, the grandfather’s clock in the room chimed. For the first time, I heard its booming sound, something I had not paid much attention to till now, and taken it for granted as a part of the paraphernalia. But last night it was different. It sounded unusually loud and I was sure no one else in the house heard it. It appeared that this was for my ears only, and as if it was beckoning to me. So I got up and went down to the living room and stood in front of the clock and stared at it.
“Well, well, I see you heard my call and came down here. Let me assure you that it was for your ears only, the others are fast asleep in their beds. For a long time now (well that is what I keep isn’t it, marking time) I have felt the need to talk and who better than you to listen. I have been witness to your midnight conversations with the chair, the cat, and even your beard and thought you were the best person to whom I could unburden my innermost thoughts,” he said.
I could no longer refer to the clock as ‘it’ for it sounded very much human. I continued to stare at him, not having recovered from the shock of listening to a clock.
“Why are you standing there staring at me? It will be some time before we finish our talk (assuming you will respond). So why don’t you pull up a chair and sit, and make yourself comfortable. After all, you are still the master of this house,” he continued.
“Sorry, that was an initial shock since I thought you folks usually went ‘tick-tock’ or ‘ding dong’”, I replied, pulling up a chair and sitting in front of him reconciling to the fact that it was going to be a long night ahead.
“Ha, ha, that’s our native lingo, but it does not mean that we cannot converse in a different tongue. See I have been listening to you people for such a long time, in fact for decades, that it is but natural I pick up your language. In fact, I am quite fluent and could teach you a thing or two,” he said.
“But do you realize?” he continued, “it is that same tick-tock and ding-dong with which I have kept track of your life, your growing up and growing old. All your past and present is already here and your future also belongs to me. Your whole life is contained within my domain. I was then, I am here and will continue to be.”
“That cannot be. You must have a beginning and an end just like us mortals. I have aged and so have you. Maybe your life span is greater, but you have to acknowledge that when you run out of energy because your pendulum has stopped since it is too tired, you require my intervention to start you off once again. So you are as mortal as I am. You have a beginning and an end,” I said.
“Well, there’s a catch. If you are talking about my physical manifestation, yes. I came into your home a hundred and fifty years ago when your great grandfather bought me from one of the renowned clock makers in the town. He was impressed by my grand looks. I am awake to the possibility that you may decide to sell me off as scrap. That will only bring to an end my physical existence. But whether I tick-tock or not, whether you keep resetting me or not or sell me off as scrap, you can never take Time away from me for that is my Essence. You will agree that you cannot live without my essential Being, that’s why you keep resetting me to keep track of your present existence,” he replied.
“That’s ok, but isn’t re-energizing and resetting you, is like reincarnation,” I asked.
“That’s a thought and a good one. But it’s interesting that you talk of reincarnation. So you do believe in it?” he asked.
“Well, it’s a comforting thought isn’t it?”
“It is. For me, there is no reincarnation. I am always and will always be,” he said.
“Scientists say that you started with the Big Bang, what do you have to say to that?” I asked.
“Ha, they say a lot of things. They even say I will end with the Big Crunch. I am not bothered by what they say, maybe you understand them better. But let me tell you that there have been many Big Bangs and Big Crunches. I have been through them all. They will continue that’s how this universe functions. You know Space? You should have a talk with him someday. He is everywhere, all-encompassing, and I am there with him always. We both determine the reality of your existence, all your past, present, and future.”
How could that be possible? I thought. I have seen the years pass me by, from a child to youth and now an old man. Physically I have grown and changed, as age catches up I find myself deteriorating, and one day I will break down into non-existence. When someone says the time has flown, so many years have passed. And that is time, isn’t it? I cannot accept that my future is already known when it has not happened.
“If as you claim that my future is known, can you tell me about it?” I asked.
“Oh! That is a cosmic secret and will remain so. I can’t help you even if I want to,” he replied.
“That’s being evasive. Why don’t you accept that you don’t know because it has not happened?”
“Whatever. Can you tell with certainty when the universe began? You can only speculate. While one says that everything including me started with the Big Bang and another says I am an illusion, whom will you believe? The more you think that you have found the answer more questions arise. The truth is The Truth is out there. I am there and so is Space. There are no boundaries,” he replied.
By now I was totally confused. Everyone talks about The Truth but when it comes to answering they say it’s the Absolute, All-encompassing, the Brahman, and so on. The only thing they say is that what I conceive as change from past to present and future is only in respect of my physical manifestation but beyond that, is my Essence, which is always there, indestructible. I knew I was treading into realms that seemed out of bounds for an ordinary man like me who accepts that I begin and that I end. But it is indeed a comforting thought ‘You may sell me off as scrap but you can never take Time out of me for that is my Essence'.
“Well I can sense that you are getting somewhere, but I can also see your eyelids droop. Feeling tired, bored, or sleepy? In any case, it’s ‘Time’ you went to sleep,” he said.
“I guess that I am all three - tired, bored, and sleepy,” I replied.
“So should I say good night or good morning,” he asked.
“Whatever,” I replied and started to move.
I am sure that I heard him chime as if to say ‘bye’.
It was around eight in the morning when I was woken up by my grandson. As I opened my eyes, I found him staring at me.
“Grandpa, did you finish writing your blog?” he asked.
“I hope so. Well let us see,” I said.
There it was, my first post on my new Chromebook.
“Let me read it,” he said and proceeded to do so.
“But grandpa, I cannot understand anything you have written,” he said.
I smiled at him and said, “neither do I”.
