by Sudha Nair
Tara heard sounds coming from her son, Vivek’s room. It was rather a motley mix of sounds, like a series of clacks from an old creaky fan mixed with the pulverizing rumble of a mixer.
She crept closer to the door and nudged it open. Her jaw fell open at the sight before her. A six-foot-tall metallic figure stood in the middle of the room. She gawked at it, terrified. It had a humongous steel body, red bulbs for eyes, legs as thick as silver trees, huge silver arms that moved, and fingers with blinking red lights at its tips. She trembled with fright as it stood just a foot away from her. She shut her eyes with her palms, and stood rooted to the spot, too afraid to move.
After a moment she slowly drew her fingers apart and peeked at it. “Ahhh,” she screamed when it lifted its arms so suddenly that she knocked her spectacles off her face and was now unable to see. She knelt to the floor and fumbled to find her spectacles. A metallic hum followed as the giant bent down and retrieved them for her.
“Thank…thank you,” she stuttered, her voice barely a squeak. She willed herself to remain steady as she rose and put her spectacles back on. Was this whom Vivek had called Bob?
In a moment, Bob was thundering past her to the kitchen. She watched him, staring at his huge back that was strangely open, revealing millions of wires stuffed into his body. It appeared as if someone had deliberately left his back open or forgotten to cover it.
Bob began to load the dishwasher, then emptied the washing machine, and folded Vivek’s clothes. He walked into Tara’s room, drew her curtains back and made her bed. Oh, my, my! Tara thought in awe, as he then went on to dust the furniture and vacuum the floor.
As she watched Bob at work, she began to wonder if she was hallucinating. The long flight from India had been tiring and Vivek had dropped her home after lunch. “I’ll introduce you to Bob later,” he’d called out, driving away even before she’d let herself in. She was fast asleep in her room when the metallic noise had woken her up.
Vivek was always interested in gadgets as a child, tinkering with the clock, the TV, computer, and any electronic thing he could lay his hands on. After graduating in Mechanical Engineering in India, he’d come to the US to do his Masters and continued to stay here after he’d moved on to a job. All her pleas to him to visit her in India were cast aside, citing several excuses and work pressures, until finally she’d decided to make a trip herself. But she also had another motive for this long, unavoidable trip. She was on a bride hunt for him and she firmly believed that these were matters that couldn’t be finalised over phone or Skype calls. With Vivek’s father no more, she thought she must find someone to take care of him before she passed on. Someone who loved Vivek the way he was, she thought.
But who would marry Vivek now with this monstrous Bob in the house? These days technology was driving her crazy. Vivek would rather speak to her on Skype than plan a holiday to India to see her. His whole house was remote-controlled, he’d told her. His heater, washing machine, dishwasher and dinner could be started while he was at work. His TV, computer, curtain blinds, and lamps were voice-controlled. She was sure something had replaced the ubiquitous phone too. She was unable to find it to call Vivek.
She glanced at the clock. It was almost 5 PM. Bob was still vacuuming the living room. He’d been busy the whole day. He seemed pretty harmless by now. She made herself a cup of tea and turned on the TV. Switching to the Indian channel that aired her favourite saas-bahu serials, she made herself comfortable on the sofa to drink her tea.
Bob sat too, on a contraption that swung out of his legs. On a bench-like seat extension. He sat right next to her, turning his neck towards her from time to time, as if expecting her to say or do something. But she couldn’t, in heaven’s name, figure out what to do. Maybe he was waiting for a command. She hoped Vivek would be home soon.
It was dinner time soon, and Vivek hadn’t returned. Tara went to the kitchen to start dinner. Bob followed her. He stood beside her near the counter as she started chopping an onion into neat little squares. In a minute, Bob picked up another onion and did the same. Tara was wonderstruck. Really! You can do this, Bob?
“Oh well, let’s see what else you can do,” she said aloud. She took out a frying pan and placed it on the burner. Then she poured in some oil and dumped the onions in it. As if on cue, he picked the onions he’d chopped and dumped them in too. She smiled, her eyes wide with excitement. “Well, I think you’ll learn how to cook,” she said with a smile. Then she took out potatoes, and said to Bob, “chop,” gesturing with the knife. Bob was a quick learner, she realised. He chopped them the same way as he had the onions. She was pleased. Then he dumped it in the pan when she asked him to. After she let the ingredients cook for five minutes, she gestured towards the tomatoes. Bob chopped and dumped them into the pan. Then she showed him how to add the spices and stir the mixture. After that, she switched off the burner and served the potato curry into a dish. She couldn’t wait to share her excitement when Vivek got back.
It was 9 PM and Tara began to feel hungry. Bob had just finished wiping down the kitchen counters and loading up the dishwasher. “I’m hungry,” she said aloud, trying to see if she could find a phone to check on Vivek. Bob opened up the fridge and took out some rotis. He microwaved the rotis and served them with the potato curry onto a plate. He placed it on the dining table.
Tara was completely taken by surprise. “You can do all that?” she said. You’re such a revelation!
After dinner, she and Bob took up their places in the living room and continued watching Indian soaps. When it was finally half past ten, Vivek wheeled in through the front door. His face glowed at the sight of the two of them watching TV.
“I see you’ve met my buddy,” he said, smiling.
“Why didn’t you introduce us before?” she said.
“Isn’t he a lovely surprise?”
“He is an absolute delight.”
Bob helped Vivek rise up from the wheel chair and sit beside Tara on the sofa. He lay his head on her lap. Tara related all that had happened during the day, all that she’d seen Bob do at the house, as she stroked Vivek’s hair. “I’ve missed you, ma,” he said, and she kissed his forehead.
Then as Bob helped Vivek to the dining table, she told him how Bob had learnt to cook the potato curry. Bob served Vivek his meal. Tara beamed when she saw Vivek licking off the last crumbs from the plate.
“I guess you won’t miss a home-cooked meal,” Tara said, squeezing his hand gently.
“Now that you’re here I know there’s more that Bob can learn,” Vivek said, laughing.
“I’m very proud of your new experiment,” Tara said, pleased to see her son’s happiness. “We have so much to talk about. But I feel tired now. I’m going to go to bed. We’ll talk in the morning,” she said, and walked up to her bedroom.
When Bob followed her into her room, she gave a little chuckle. Oh really, are you going to babysit me too? She lay down, her eyelids heavy with sleep. As she pondered over the astonishing day, Bob drew the blanket over her shoulders, and switched off the lights. You’re a good companion, Bob, she thought, as she closed her eyes. But I hope Vivek finds someone to love and share a conversation with. Technology, she fervently hoped, was not going to obliterate that need too, one day.
