A lost watch and a stroke of genius
WHEN I recently suggested to Venkatraman, my 71-year-old brother-in-law, to wear a smartwatch so that he could keep track of the number of steps walked in a day, monitor his sleep pattern and health parameters, he not only politely turned down my suggestion but also smiled wryly and said: ‘No way. I took a vow not to wear a watch almost 40 years ago, and that vow is still valid — analog or digital doesn’t matter.’
He added: ‘You will be surprised to know that India’s last Governor-General, C Rajagopalachari (Rajaji), indirectly played a role in my decision.’
Intrigued, I asked him: ‘Would you mind unwinding that watch story?’ He took a deep breath and then spoke of an incident that happened in Rajaji’s life. ‘Rajaji and his friends were once travelling by train. On the way, the wristwatch of one of his friends slipped and fell out of the window. While his friends were all tensed up, Rajaji remained cool, looking through the window and counting numbers 1, 2, 3 and so on.’
‘At the next station, Rajaji called the station master and told him about the number of telegraph posts he had counted since the watch fell down. The watch was returned to its owner within a few days. Rajaji’s friends acknowledged his stroke of genius and mental alertness,’ Venkatraman said. After a pause, he carried on: ‘But that’s only the first part of the story.’
‘Tell me about the sequel,’ I requested eagerly. He continued: ‘Renowned Tamil orator Thenkachi Ko Swaminathan narrated this Rajaji story on All India Radio (AIR). I just got married, and my business partner gifted me a costly Citizen wristwatch that he had brought from the US. Wearing the watch with pride, I travelled by train from Chennai to Coimbatore. On the way, it slid off my wrist and fell out of the train just after crossing a station. Remembering the AIR story, I, too, counted the telegraph posts, ala Rajaji.’
Venkatraman got down at the next station, took a bus to the previous one, and walked along the railway track. ‘I was searching for my Citizen watch like a man possessed,’ he recalled. Suddenly, a railway gangman appeared on the scene and shouted at him: ‘Stay away. A train is fast approaching.’ He jumped off the track, only to find an express train whizzing past him and missing him by a whisker. On that very day, having miraculously survived, he took a vow never to wear a wristwatch. My brother-in-law said he realised that Rajaji had railway personnel at his command, while he was just an ordinary ‘Citizen’.
As his amazing, thrilling story ended, I glanced at my smartwatch. No wonder it showed that my blood pressure had risen by a few notches!
