Tags:
Journalism of Courage
When my wife went to the US for her PhD and I had to manage two mutinous kids 8212; who were then eleven and nine, respectively 8212; I fell back on what I had learnt in the Navy to run a taut but happy ship. It did not always work, as my daughter, Swara, who is now 22, reminds me. I had evolved routines from the time they woke up at 8220;hands call8221; and caught the bus to be on school 8220;watch8221; till 8220;pipe-down8221; when they were supposed to be in bed.
A useful principle I tried to instill was the concept of ERIC. Acronym for 8220;easy to remember if consulted8221;, the Officer of the Day OOD maintains the ERIC 8212; a book in which relevant instructions and information are noted and passed on to the next set of watch-keepers. The OOD concept failed at home since Swara told me archly that she and her brother were still kids and if she had a choice, she would be the Captain and I could be the permanent OOD at home 8212; till Mom came back.
I thought this would work fine till I came to know about one such ERIC encounter much later 8212; and this is how it was reconstructed. When the phone rang Abu grabbed it first with a machine-gun burst: 8220;This is 381793 and Papa is not at home8230; bye.8221; At that there is a yell from his sister: 8220;You idiot, gadha, who asked you to answer the phone? I am the OOD. Give it to me.8221; A long wait while the person on the other end waits patiently and finally Madam gets to the phone. The drill is executed confidently. 8220;Can you spell? Then spell your name 8212; slowly. Yes, what is the message? CTBT? That is all? Is it a 8216;gaali8217;? One minute, I have to find ERIC 8212; no, ERIC is not my brother. Have you got a sister? Did you fight with her when you were small? You meanie, you still fight with her? I won8217;t talk to you.8221; Bang.
Much later I got a call from Madhavrao Scindia asking whether I had got his message about the CTBT meeting. I fumbled when he enquired as to who ERIC was. Slowly the whole episode was narrated and, gracious man that he was, he was full of praise for the confident manner in which Swara dealt with his call. And when I enquired, Madam8217;s saucy response was that she remembered but I had not consulted her!
