Re-development and Re-habilitation
“Where are all these things coming from,” wondered Bagheera as he gingerly crossed the sofa that was
floating mid air into the house with two pair of human legs on either ends. Bagheera had an
uncomfortable morning as he nursed both morning sickness and an upset stomach. This was not unusual
on days when new objects were delivered to the house owned by Ashok and Gladys. The squeaking of
objects to make space for new ones gave Ashok and Gladys immense pleasure. It was like a game of
Sudoku that rewired their brains from time to time.
The goal of Sudoku is to fill a 9×9 grid with numbers so that each row, column and 3×3 section contain all
of the digits between 1 and 9. When Bagheera moved in with them he thought the objects would never
exceed 9 in the 2BHK flat he shared with them. But the number of objects had gone beyond 9 fast, and
so did the number of days he felt sick because of morning sickness, an upset stomach and the sound of
re-development and re-habitation of new objects.
As the trio sit around the tiny balcony of the 3rd floor flat, Ashok would browse through the newspaper
looking for offers like “Buy 1, Get 3 Free”, ‘50% discount on a Refrigerator you don’t need” and “50% off
on shirts and 70% off on a wardrobe because where will you keep all the shirts you are buying”. Gladys
loved plants, so while Ashok bought objects Gladys would look for ways to beautify the objects with plants.
Bagheera would gaze down the balcony while his brain calculated when a new object would squeak into
the house. Bagheera’s calculations would eventually put him to sleep because it was a complicated
exercise and his brain was not capable of solving such equations. It was just enough to keep his brain
occupied in between naps and snacks.
Bagheera took to Buddhism like cats take to fish, which helps him live in the present and worry about the
objects only on the date of delivery. When Ashok and Gladys sleep, he snoops through their messages to
find out when the object is arriving. More stress means more visits to the veterinarian and more
antibiotics. All of which was not worth it he decided. “I want to feel nice when I nap and snack,” he
promised himself.
On the day of delivery, Bagheera contributed to the re-development and re-habitation exercise to feel
more deserving of his existence in the household. There were three golden rules he followed: 1. Find out
if their household deserved these objects. 2. Check for expiry 3. Make sure that Ashok and Gladys forget
about unwanted, expired objects. Once these three rules were adhered to, he would hex the unwanted,
expired objects into miniatures that now sat around the house. They were small enough for him to
maneuver the house looking for spots ideal for his snack and nap time. This is all he ever wanted in his
life. To be like a flowing river that snacked and napped.
-
1970s Computers connected to each other – cat to cat: rehabilitate products from one cat to
another
1990s Liberalization – e-commerce. ads
2000s iphone 2007
Algebra of Happiness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brp9DpJsEi4