“But then with me, the horrid doubt always arises whether the convictions of man’s mind, which has been developed from the mind of the lower animals, are of any value or at all trustworthy. Would any one trust in the convictions of a monkey’s mind, if there are any convictions in such a mind?”
― Charles Darwin
Sunday was the 75th birthday of SD who is very dear to me. I wanted to surprise him with an appropriate gift and decided on a cake because Kamini who is also very dear to me runs a home made cakes business from her home and lives quite close to SD.
Kamini came up with a fantastic cake and included a very original message in icing on it. SD is a music aficionado which explains the design that Kamini came up with. Do click on the image to enlarge and read the message.
The cake was duly delivered but to the maid in the absence of SD who was in the shower. I was informed about the delivery around 10.30 am. I rang up SD to greet him personally fully prepared to hear a diatribe. I was told by his help that he had gone out and will return at 12.30 pm. I decide to call him on his mobile phone and my calls went unanswered. I tried to call up his wife who too did not answer.
Some background before I proceed with the story. SD is an odd ball, like quite a few of my dear ones are and I am too. Two years ago, for the same reason, I had got a bakery bought cake delivered through another friend. SD got very annoyed with me for spending so much and to celebrate a mere birthday whereas he was eagerly waiting for final goodbyes. He forbade me from ever doing anything like that ever again.
My mind went on overdrive. I said to myself that I had blown it and SD will never again talk to me and will cut off all relations and so on and so forth. This thought kept playing in my mind like a stuck record and I could not have my usual siesta.
At 5.00 pm SD rang me up to thank me for the marvelous gift and did not give me the diatribe that I was expecting. He and his wife had decided to go on a date to Mumbai for lunch and a stroll on Marine Drive in the rain. In the romantic mood that they were in, they just forgot to take their phones with them. They also had forgotten to tell the help that they would not be coming for lunch.
I cannot describe the relief that I felt on hearing the story of the date. For a few hours however, it was not a very pleasant situation to have been in. The monkey mind is very cunning and baffling and tends to let one’s imagination run wild, but I am wiser by hindsight.
Comments are closed.