Value Of Time

“Hello Dr Raghunandan, how are you?”

I was about to step out of the State bank Of India after depositing my pension check and had my hand on the door knob when Mr Pai hailed me. I tried to play deaf and get out fast but had to give way to a lady who was trying to get in. That was enough for Mr Pai to reach me, grip my wrist and pull me away from the door. I was caught.

“Very nice to see you after a long time. How is your family? How is the practice? I hope you are getting some patients. I advised you not to take retirement. You would have been deputy director now. See, the government has approved the ‘Guaranteed career improvement scheme’ also. You would have got the scale and arrears for the last six years. Thirty eight thousand basic, mind you.”

I have been caught by Mr Pai at least a dozen times after I opted to retire from health services and start my practice and he has not missed a single opportunity to drive his opinion into my skull. He was against my opting for voluntary retirement at a time when I was the senior most dentist and was due for promotion, and he had tried his best at that time to convince me that I was being absolutely foolish.

“I hope you are not in a hurry. Come this side. I have something very interesting to tell you.” He tightened the grip on my wrist and pushed me into a corner. He took out the thick black 2003 diary he always carries in his shoulder bag. I was trapped. I resigned to my fate and braced myself up for another session with Mr Pai.

“Now listen” He started his recitation. ”I have given the heading ‘Value of time’, to this” he continued. ”If you want to know the value of a second, ask a short distance runner. If you want to know the value of a minute, ask one who has just missed his train. If you want to know the value of an hour …………………….” He went on. I had no option other than listening to him till he reached “if you want to know the value of a year…………..” I tried to tell him that I already knew all the values by heart, but he was not listening. “And did I tell you about this quotation from Gandhiji?” he opened another page, “There is enough in this world for every one’s need but not for every one’s greed”. I told him that he had already told me all these a dozen times but he brushed my defence aside. “Have I? good then, because, these are things one should listen again and again. That’s why I am putting them in my book. It will be published shortly and as soon as it is published I will give you a copy”. His book is in the process of being published for the last eight years.

Mr Pai was not always like this. He was the administrative officer in our department and retired a few years before I opted for retirement. He was always found fully immersed in the administrative affairs of the department, arrived at the office before nine in the morning and left only after six in the evening. He never kept things pending and helped everyone as much as he can. After his retirement he must have felt miserable without his office and might have had a tough time adjusting to his new life. I do not know where he got the idea of writing his book, but ever since he started collecting ‘material’ for his book, he has been a nuisance. He has been in Ponda for a very long time, knows many people and always manages to get some or the other victim to hear about his book. He lives with his family but spends most of the time alone in the spare one room apartment they own which is conveniently located next to the bar which provides him with the inspiration needed for the book. Since it is also in close vicinity of the places that i have to visit every now and then like the bank, gas depot, pharmacy and the post office etc, he manages to catch me at least once in a few months.

By experience, I knew that I would be captive for at least half an hour and looked this way and that hoping to find an escape route. I had told my wife that I would be back in fifteen minutes for lunch and that she can start preparing chapattis. She does not like to eat them cold and insists that I eat them hot too. By now her chapattis would be cold and she would be getting hot.

“Token number seventy seven, token number seventy seven “ we heard the recorded voice calling.

“That’s my token. You just wait here for a minute. I will be back fast. I have many more things to show you” Mr Pai reluctantly released the grip on my wrist and went towards the cash counter.

I felt bad about doing a vanishing act but could not help it. I dived for the door. After all it was Mr Pai himself who had taught me the value of seconds and minutes.