To K — 12 years of going with the Flow
It is 12 noon on 19th May 2025; we are in Ooty. Clouds and mist have completely covered our home and I wonder — is this how May 19th was in 2013.
The year you were born; the year our equation went from a relatively simple two-variable problem to a somewhat complicated three-variable problem. (And 4 years later, it became a 4 variable equation, practically impossible to solve.) All we are doing is iteratively solving the parameters using some heuristics as we go along.
Months before you were born — we imagined a kid coming along whose first word was likely to be ‘squuaas’ (that is how much squash I played with you in my womb), a craving for idli day and night, mathematically and scientifically inclined, didn’t really think of anything related to music — although truth be told we went to 10–15 shows of Sufi music and alike during the Delhi winter music festival often held in parks and mosques. We got many things wrong, as always. And you know what those are.
Over the past couple of years, there has been an overarching theme to many things you do (as Soum rightly pointed out) … flow. Incidentally, it was the movie you watched on your birthday yesterday. N in his usual casual self, made a paper crown (with your help of course), bought some popcorn — cheese and chocolate mix, and set for the matinee show of Flow, the story of a cat for you. We also gave Mysore Pak/Cashew Barfi to your 4 classmates Jonathan, Elisha, Srinidhi, and Krithin. Only Srinidhi really appreciated the dry Mysore Pak, so the backup (as suggested by me) Kaju Katli really helped. Then as has become the practice we also sent mangoes for all at school for the fruit break; which also seems like a hit. King of Fruits for all as crown prince turns 12.
(For N’s birthday, you created a version of board game Captain Sonar — it is really fun to play. Although you barely indulge in board games you create some brilliant ones!!)
Before I get all muddled up in Mysore pak and mangoes — let me get back to the flow. What is it that you like? Things that have a natural, seemingly unending flow to them. When it comes to sports — it has to begin with swimming and go on to skiing — both of which you have become pretty competent at. When it comes to art — music takes the cake. An art form defined by its unending flow, the ebbs and flows designed to keep taking you to your highest highs and lowest lows. When it comes to academics as traditionally defined — it has to be language — beginning with a few, often countable on your fingers, letters to form endless stories, poems, and whatnot. Of course, math means patterns and to test out the limits of these patterns, be it through rangoli or Python has been a defining start to most of our days till now. Science means experiments and tinkering opening up a new world of endless questions.
In our most recent skiing trip to Kazakhstan, you and Tiny sat down on one of the flats and started ripping Konnakol Carnatic music style. It was fun to be a part of. But that is just a small part of the trip.
On the 5th day, you guys were confident and zipping along. Both you and N were together — as luck would have it, the ski poles slipped off your hands while in the chair lift into a small gully off the main slope. The only thing running in your head was how to find the poles (We had learned that we needed to pay a fine of 60000 Tenge for losing poles — that number was probably running in your heads). So both of you removed your skis and headed straight for the gully — found the poles. N somehow managed to come back but you thought you were stuck. A heart-in-mouth moment for you all alone in that gully; N out of sight and we nowhere nearby. N could not even hear you. We later realized both of you were screaming for each other but could not hear a thing. Luckily, after some tears, you got the idea to remove your gloves and try climbing — which worked out. Just in time, the ski doctors on the slopes had also found their way to your skis. After this whole episode of high adrenalin and very high cortisol, we found you both (to our relief!).
Just to be spending April in the warm snow laced mountains with you both is something I keep thanking my God (Ajji, who else) for!!
Just a few days before you turned 12 — n, Jay and you went on an Indiahikes trek to Kedarkantha. You guys were reasonably well prepared, but for the sudden drone war that went on between Pakistan and India while you guys were about to summit Kedarkantha. So you had to hurry back and missed spending 2 more days in the forest. Although, you were pretty much safe as you were closer to the eastern side than the west; it sent chills through all of us parents. We were reading about the war and imagining you guys in the middle of a sticky situation, not having flights to get back, and so on.
This trip was a week before your exams, but you were game for it. Ready to work hard after you are back. Then you scored 95/100 in Math but never told us. “If I tell you how much I scored, I know you both (me and N) will act as if I failed in Math. That’s why I didn’t tell.”
We just recently peeled another layer of the onion that you are. This last year you have really sharpened your wit, A often being your unsuspecting victim. You also love two Trevor Noah pieces (“How The British Took Over India” one is timeless! and How NOT To Order At An Indian Restaurant!). You do a pretty nice imitation also. Another flow item!! For your Grade 7 Assembly at school — you wrote most of the play script and realised you like some rock music …. Another Brick in the Wall (Pink Floyd ‧ 1979)
We don’t need no education
We don’t need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teacher, leave them kids alone
We also travelled to New Zealand in July 2024. We spend some quality time with Varsha chiti and Parag. Then skied in Cardrona — which was totally awesome. Then went around South Island in a camper van. It was fun — with just the 4 of us doing things our way in literally one little corner of the world.
Get MudRoads’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Then December we celebrated Carnatic music during the Marghazi Masam in Chennai.
‘Our kids take us on journeys we otherwise would have never embarked on’. That is exactly the experience and emotion we went though in Chennai.
A story to finish off this note,
An old tale about the engineer who charged $10,000 to fix a machine:
Well, it’s not just a legend — the engineer was real. His name was Charles Proteus Steinmetz (1865–1923), a brilliant mind in electrical engineering.
One day, at Henry Ford’s River Rouge plant, a massive generator broke down. None of Ford’s own engineers could figure out the problem. So, Ford called in Steinmetz.
When he arrived, Steinmetz asked for only three things: a notebook, a pencil, and a cot.
He spent two days and nights listening to the machine, jotting down calculations.
Finally, Steinmetz requested a ladder, a tape measure, and a piece of chalk. He climbed up the generator, took a few measurements, and marked a spot with an X.
Turning to Ford’s engineers, he said:
“Remove this panel, unwind the coil exactly here, and take out 16 turns of wire.”
They did — and the generator roared back to life.
A few days later, Henry Ford received a bill from Steinmetz:
$10,000.
Ford, surprised by the amount, asked for an itemized invoice. Steinmetz replied:
Marking the spot with chalk: $1
Knowing where to mark: $9,999
Without a second thought, Ford paid the bill.
This story was later documented by Jack B. Scott, the son of one of Ford’s employees, in Life magazine in 1965.
