Time's Up: Every Moment Counts

by Vasu Velamur

  She opened the device and typed, then concentrated on the screen. Vashist called out, “What are you doing now with the device?”

  “I’m trying to use the help function here”

  “What help do you need, you have everything here with him” Vashist pointed towards Ranga

  “I was seeking what would happen if we gave a wrong answer”

  “What was the reply?” enquired Vashist, who now was more curious than a pregnant cat.

  “I’m waiting”

  They all became curious and waited for some action. Since the screen had gone completely blue. Only 3 dots jumped around the screen from the left to right. After exactly 28 seconds, the screen displayed its answer. “You will return to the same spot from where you found the device in the first place”. This answer thrilled everyone. Even a wrong answer could get us back in time, so why worry they all thought. Then the second sentence appeared. The device typed again, “You will get moved but in a different period”

  Now Vindhya cried out in anger, “Why a different time, I can’t handle this time travel at all”. Anyway, she typed which year they would have to go? Back or front? The device this time shot the reply stating that it will take exactly the Current Year – (2π*T)/3, T= time taken to answer.

  Everyone looked at Vindhya, and she shrugged. “Anyway, we needed to know what would happen if we went wrong”

  Ranga after all his calmness during this adventure lost his cool for once and said “But why now? Couldn’t you have not waited?”

  “Waited till what? After we made the mistake” Vindhya retorted back “We had a lucky escape last time. Why risk it this time?”

  Silence prevailed in the room for a couple of minutes. Then Vindhya again typed a question “OK, we go back in time but would you be there with us?”

  The device replied with no remorse, “Unfortunately, no. I will be in self-destruct mode after you reach the destination. 5 minutes later I will explode into 1000 pieces”

  For one last time signaled Vindhya and typed “If our answers are correct, when will this end?”

  The device prompted the reply soon “27 questions, the last user had made it till 20 before you took over”

  Everyone sighed a relief; they had only 6 more locations to go to. Vashist took over the device and typed his question “Can we see those 20 questions of the previous owner?”

  The device typed “Sure, but only at the end. Either you finish the quest or accept failure. Never in-between”

  There was a sort of gloom around the room, and none of them wanted to talk with the other. They sat motionless and waited for some action from the outside to trigger them. None of them was sure what to say or do now. This information has put more pressure on them than ever.

  Yet, the gloom continued for a long time, and as expected by Vindhya; they heard the room door knock. She sprang to action and came to her animated levels. The messenger was at the door to inform them that the dinner with the royal family was ready. Vindhya nodded in agreement without consulting the others. She knew with food she was the ultimate answer. Till now the gloomy condition that persisted faded away. With a slight smile on her face, she turned to the boys and mimicked hunger and eating actions. To which both of them melted down, exhilarated. Vindhya had something in her eyes that could bring down these guys. Now added with her ghagra dress and the makeup thanks to the royal guest room lightings she was gorgeous to look at. This knock on the door got the group back to its leg again.

  Before it got out of hand, Vashist announced to the messenger, “Sir, we will be outside in 2 minutes”. With a gentle close of the door, he mumbled, “Look, we somehow have to find the problem by today and solve it by tomorrow at 7 AM. That’s all the time we have. So don’t waste too much time on food”

  “Get to the problem if you like, I will not forget the Ghevar and Mohanthal desserts” affirmed her stand. She was already on cloud nine.

  “OK, get your stomach full but also help us find the problem” prayed Vashisht. “First try to get close to the royalty somehow”

  “Let me see” Vindhya ran to grab her shawl and adjusted it in front of the life-size mirror on the wall. Ranga was in his lighter mood and cracked an ancient joke “Mirror Mirror on the wall, who is the fattest of all?”

  With all minor adjustments done to their dresses, the 3 left the room, and the messenger directed them. He looked at Vindhya and said; you look great, Beti and signaled them to walk this way. They went through a long corridor that had some of the best murals of Rajasthani valor on the walls. The other side was the garden, which looked marvelous in the night light. Then they reached a flight of stairs where they went in circles and reached the entrance to the banquet hall. The hall could accommodate around 400 people without touching one another. Yet there were only nine of them in that place and all waited for these three young kids.

  The entire royal family remained seated at the table. The King was there with his wife and two kids. There was also an aged couple who looked like the kid’s grandparents. Along with them, three middle-aged men looked like they were some ministers in the cabinet. They all got up and greeted them with smiles and requested them to take their places at the dinner table.

  The royals sat on one side of the table while the others sat on the opposite side. Vindhya’s heart pumped in rapid mode and it was visible on her face. It turned red, and the queen noticed it and said “Beti, calm down and relax”. The attendee brought a bowl of water and a basin with him poured water on her hands to wash it. No sooner had everyone finished their wash cycle, the Chef announced loudly. They would have a special meal today to reward the guests who rescued the royal parrot. Right now Vindhya’s heart pumped like Hussain Bolt when he finished his 100-meter dash. She couldn’t wait. Terrified if she would violate any of the royal procedures. Ranga sat next to her, pinched her hand, and told her to compose herself. He also whispered in her ears, “Eat after the royals have started, do not rush”.

  The royal kids looked like they were not enjoying the meals. The queen observed what was happening and told them, “Look here, kids, this is not a formal dinner. So eat according to your taste but first introduce yourself”. she turned towards Vindhya and said “Looks like you are all not from this part of the land”

  Vindhya started but words did not come to her help, she tried to adjust her voice. After some trials, she restarted, “Your majesty, we are from the south of India. Chennai”

  The royals had a puzzled look on their face; they did not know where it was. The King then asked them where it was exactly.”

  “Your Highness, it is in the south of India. Next to Karnataka” said Vindhya. Then she figured out that these names were unknown, so she rephrased her answer. “You know Chennapatnam the place next to Vijayanagar”

  Now the royal understood what she answered and signaled to go on.

  “We started from there and wanted to know more about the land that is north of Vindhyas”

  The queen interrupted the king and said, “Before that, let me know your sweet names. Once the king starts. he will bore you with all his stories. These kids dislike us asking questions to them at all”

  “My name is Vindhya and these are my close friends Ranga and Vashist” Vindhya pointed to them. “And we are all engineering students”

  “What students? Did you mean British education?” remarked the grandfather

  “No, your Highness, we are studying Indian history. We wanted to explore your culture. So we traveled down here” managed Vindhya.

  “And what exactly bought you to this location?” asked the queen

  “What else, your majesty, the good food and the hospitality of this land. We wanted to experience it firsthand, not from messengers” said Vindhya. She was now in full form with confidence on how to sugarcoat the answers to the royals. She had pleasant experiences with this from her father’s office. Many big-shot people came and discussed financial matters there.

  “Who told you all this?” the king broke
his silence

  “When I shopped for this dress, I met two soldiers who narrated about some visit by the Queen of England. Also, how should they show their hospitality?”

  “Oh, and do you think what they said about this land is true?”

  “Very much, your highness. Can’t you see us, strangers and commoners having dinner with the royals? This is enough to show the hospitality”

  “You are no commoners. You had trespassed the area but have done a good deed too. Hence we want to reward you” said the Queen with a little empathy.

  “True, but can I ask you one question, Queen?”

  “Yes beti, go ahead”

  “We have found your royal parrot, and it is in good shape, but still the king is not in a cheerful mood. Is there any troubling problem?”

  The moment Vindhya asked this question, Ranga pulled her hands and made a stern look with her eyes. This stare of his in any language would have meant to shut up and close her mouth. To everyone’s surprise, the queen responded maturely. “We have this big visit of the British queen and we need to show the strength of Rajasthan. and he doesn’t know what to do that’s the plain reason girl”

  “That’s not at all a problem queen, try to paint the city pink in colour and showcase your dance and culture. That’s more than enough”

  “Why pink?”

  “Pink, a delicate color that means sweet, nice, playful, cute, romantic. Charming, feminine, and tenderness”. She acted like the energizer bunny. She went on, “it’s also associated with flowers, babies, little girls, cotton candy, and sweets. Finally, it is the colour that represents hospitality. I guess this is a no brainer”

  “WoW” the surprised queen rejoiced “you have pretty good ideas girl”

  This time, both the guys bit their teeth and got furious, and wanted to close her mouth. Ranga pulled her close to him and whispered, “Vin, enough we do not want to get caught here with the royalty. Please do not make statements you like without thinking”

  “I’m not blabbering” she shot back

  “Why are you suggesting colours and all? Leave it to them”

  “Don’t you know history; Jaipur is the pink city. It’s supposed to be in pink colour for the visit of the British Queen. So I suggested. It’s there in all our history books.” Then they all went into silent mode and looked like dumbstruck monkeys, who did not know what to do.

  “Ohh. this is a splendid idea” jumped the king in joy. “My thoughts were wondering what colour should I paint the city. You have given an excellent suggestion, beti. You have some wonderful concepts”

  “Thanks your majesty, we are only trying to help you,” said Vindhya calmly. Yet inside she had butterflies in her stomach.

  “Bhanuprasad”, called the king, looked towards his minister. ”You need to assemble our council and we must discuss the pink colour idea in tomorrow’s meeting.”

  The queen interrupted them, “we are here to enjoy the dinner. Let’s not discuss work here, your majesty, a humble request”

  “Yes, Marudhar Bhai” said the king and signaled the Chef to start dinner. “Beti, which dish do you like in our cuisine?”

  “These two boys are not food lovers but I love a lot of them,'' Vindhya enthusiastically started. “I like dhal bati churma, jowar & makka roti, gatta saag, ghevar and mango rabdi”

  A royal and grand meal began with the traditional dhal bhati churma and mango chaas. The quantity and the quality were beyond words. The three south Indians enjoyed the meal of a lifetime. They were silent throughout the table because of a sumptuous dinner. With such a meal in front of her, Vindhya could not control her tongue. So she started the conversation with the king. “Your Majesty, even after we suggested a solution, you still look sad. Can we know why?”

  “Beti, this is something about a girl like you. I have a problem which I do not know what to do”

  Ranga signaled to Vindhya to wipe something off her face. It was the churma, and she did not want to waste it. So used her tongue to swipe it off and continued “Is that girl sitting there at the table your problem?”

  “No, she is my girl, but this is about my close friend”

  “Who is that friend?”

  “You would not understand the problem, my dear child”

  “No your majesty, why not try with us” continued Vindhya. She looked out for the problem to which the device was referring. “Your majesty myself and my friends here are very good at problem solving”

  The queen interfered softly, “Your majesty, why not tell them the problem as a short story while we have dinner. Let us see if they can understand it”

  “Yes, your majesty” jumped in Vashist for the first time in the last half an hour. His mouth opened only for the intake of the food but now he supported his best friend “Why don’t you give us a chance”

  “OK, I will. Yet I need to test your skills within this short time frame of the dinner” said the King. He then paused for a few seconds. “I will test this girl. It’s only a minor puzzle and if she succeeds, we continue”

  “Can we help her in solving it?” asked Vashist. In the back of his mind, he worried more about the analytical skills of Vindhya.

  “Why not but I need the answer before we finish the desserts”..

  “We are also in” said all the three in unison.

  So the king thought for a few seconds and asked them “can you tell me what is the next number in this sequence?”

  “What is the sequence, your majesty” jumped in Vashist while he shook the table a bit. Vindhya pulled him back and reminded him to stay put and not disturb or jeopardize the situation. Since the king allowed them a chance now.

  “0-3-0-1-0-1-0-0-1-0-1.” He paused for a while and then continued, “I repeat myself the sequence is 03010100101 and what is the next?”

  While Vashist could not find a paper, he used his ghee-soaked fingers to note the numbers on the leftover Churma. While he noted it down, the next course of dinner was served. They served 5 different rotis with ghatta saag and kadhi. The rotis were made of bajra, atta, makka, khaba and missi. The kadhi was outstanding since Vindhya dipped her index finger and licked it. She thought no one would see it, but they all saw it and laughed at it.

  Ranga and Vashist ran through their known series of numbers, but none of them matched. Even if they thought that this was a binary sequence it had a 3 which made it out of sync. Nothing matched and the dinner courses tempted them. They had to eat, since they all were starving. Vindhya hinted she wanted to concentrate on the dinner and left the puzzle to the guys. She enjoyed the wadi made of moong dhal which made her forget all about the pakora and only wanted this. She signaled for more wadi.

  The guys on their part were trying to solve and eat the dinner and it was not going well. They couldn’t solve or eat. So they decided they would eat quickly and then solve the puzzle which was an excellent choice at the current juncture. The next item which they served was Kaju Pilaf. Vindhya commented after a long time, “Your majesty, in my place, we will find a few cashews in the bowl of rice. But the Kaju Pilaf, but here I find the reverse. In a bowl full of cashews I find morsels of basmati rice.”

  The rice served with Ker sangria which is also used as a side dish was bajra rotis. They also served 5 varieties of dhal named panch dhal by the chief chef. The friends were full to their throats when the desserts arrived. It included mango rabdi, ghevar, moong dhal halwa, and gujia a dry fruit sweets. Vindhya could not think how to finish this dinner. While the boys tried to solve the puzzle, she helped them by prolonging the dinner.

  Vindhya anyway in a blast finished her dinner and washed her hands and then looked at the king. The king signaled to her with his fingers as only 5 more minutes remained for the answer. The friends went into a huddle to brainstorm about the sequences. Yet they were nowhere near the solution. Time ran up and also the tempers ran within the friends. Finally, Vindhya jumped up and looked at the king and said “ZERO, am I right?”

  Ranga banged on his head a
nd Vashist was furious that she did not consult them at all. While Vindhya continued, “If I am right, can I have one more serving of the halwa?”

  “Yes beti, you are correct” asserted the king. He then signaled the chef for one more round of desserts for all. He was happy that the young ones had solved the problem.

  Ranga, who could not accept his defeat, pulled her and asked, “Did you solve it or was it a guess”

  “I did it on my own, not a guess”

  “So what is the explanation?”

  Vashist also rushed into the huddle. The king interrupted and asked “Can you explain it to me, to make sure it is not a wild guess”

  Vindhya cleared her throat and said, “Your majesty, here is the explanation. The numbers are the difference between the dates in the calendar for each month with 31. This means the difference between 31 and the respective 12 months in the year. That’s why the second number is 3 since Feb has only 28 days. Am I right?”

  “On the bull’s-eye, Beti” said the king who enjoyed the answer while her friends hugged her in pure excitement.

  “So now you have to tell me the story of yours,” said Vindhya, licking the halwa from her spoon.

  ∞∞∞

  Chapter-11

  A Royale Conundrum

  Sunday 09:16 PM

  The king thought about it a little and wondered where to start. He looked out of the window and then turned towards the group and stared for some time. It started as, “Children, it is way past the bedtime for us today. So how about you meet us tomorrow at 10 AM. As soon as the regular council meeting finishes, we can discuss the story”

  “Sure, your majesty” said Vindhya “we will be there in touch with your minister. Will the ministers help us reach you tomorrow?”

  “Sure, Bhanuprasad here will help you”.

  Bhanuprasad nodded in agreement to the current plan. The group got themselves dismantled and returned to their room. They had something running at the back of their minds. The clock timer, what if the king is busy tomorrow, would the puzzle be easy? No conversation took place for a while, and finally Vindhya broke the shackles.