the Thinker

Mr.Bagchi chose not to ask any more questions to Brunno for the time being and walked on. On their way back, Mr.Bagchi decided to pay a short visit to Mr.Dhar’s bookshop and Brunno obliged.

Mr.Dhar was pleasantly surprised to see the duo.

“There, there, what’s up? You are here after such a long time?” asked Mr.Dhar.

“Yes, after a long time,” replied Mr.Bagchi, with a smile on his face.

Brunno walked in with his master in his usual dignified style and no wonder everyone in Mr.Dhar’s shop looked at Mr.Bagchi’s new pet with some amount of interest.

“So, you have bought yourself a new pet I see. What’s it called?” asked Mr.Dhar as he looked at Brunno warmly.

“He is Brunno Dhar babu,” said Mr.Bagchi.

“So, will the little fellow like something to eat?” asked Mr.Dhar in his usual friendly manner. To this, Brunno gave out a low woof and Mr.Bagchi informed his friend that it will not be necessary.

“So, quite a nice bit of correspondence you are having with your pet, eh?” said Mr.Dhar. Mr.Bagchi smiled back.

Over the next ten minutes, Mr.Dhar and Mr.Bagchi updated each other over their daily affairs since the past few weeks. Brunno as usual, heard their conversation with a certain amount of interest. The look in his eyes sometimes made Mr.Dhar stop and wonder whether his friend’s new pet indeed understood their conversation.

“Say Bagchi, how’s is your nephew, what’s his name…errr, Deb, Deb…,” Mr.Dhar tried recalling the name when Mr.Bagchi said, “Debashish?”

“Yes. Debashish. How is he doing?” asked Mr.Dhar.

“How did you know of his coming?” asked Mr.Bagchi.

“Oh, he showed up the other day at my shop. Was asking for old issues of some magazine,” said Mr.Dhar.

“Really, I did not know he was interested in reading. He never touches any books or reading material at my place when I am around. Occasionally though, he reads the newspaper,” said Mr.Bagchi.

“No, no, he was asking for a year old issue of Time magazine. I told him that we have some old stock but if he could specify the date of the issue it would be easier for us to find it for him. But he insisted that he would like to have a look at the old stock himself. So I showed him into the storage and he spent a couple of hours there looking for his magazine. At the end of it, he left without taking any of them,” said Mr.Dhar.

Brunno was listening diligently and Mr.Bagchi too was drinking every word, his interest was mounting gradually.

“What was he searching for?” asked Mr.Bagchi.

“I don’t know though I think I heard him mention the name ‘Evrika’ or something that sounded like ‘ricka’ once. God knows what it means. Curious little boy, is he not?” asked Mr.Dhar in his usual unassuming manner.

Mr. Bagchi looked at Brunno for a second and asked, “Dhar babu, if you don’t mind, can I have a look at that old stock once?”

“Sure. Come, I will take you to the store,” said Mr.Dhar and the three of them headed towards the store. Mr. Dhar’s store was stashed with all kinds of used and old books. A strange wispy smell hung over the place and dirt was prominent everywhere. Brunno looked up to see cobwebs at some places on the ceiling.

“Your wife will certainly object to the cleanliness of this place,” said Brunno to his master. Under normal circumstances, he too would have not wanted to be present at such a spot, but at the moment the scent of a mystery was overwhelming. So Brunno followed his master quietly.

Mr.Dhar picked up a huge heap of old magazines and wiped off the dust from their covers. He handed them to Mr.Bagchi, when a customer arrived and Mr.Dhar went back to the counter allowing Mr.Bagchi and Brunno to explore the contents of those magazines.

Mr.Bagchi and Brunno surfed each and every page of the magazines keenly wanting to see what provoked Debu so much to pick up reading as a hobby. After an hour or two, the two of them were sweating in the humid store without any clue so far.

Though the initial curiosity about his nephew’s motives had prompted Mr.Bagchi to surf through the magazines; now, without receiving any fruitful outcome from this investigation, Mr.Bagchi decided to give up and start off for home.

“Come Brunno, we shall go home now. I don’t think there’s anything worth wasting so much time in these old magazines. God only knows what brought Debu here. They were leaving when the magazine fell from Mr.Bagchi’s hand. Mr.Bagchi started to move out, when Brunno called out to him.

“There is something here in this magazine that might spark up your interest again master,” said Brunno.

Mr.Bagchi halted and looked at the magazine that had fallen from his hand. Brunno was looking intently at some of its pages. Mr.Bagchi looked at the magazine. Someone had torn out an entire page from the magazine. The pages preceding and following it, contained pictures of vehicles, mostly cars.

“These look like very old models,” said Mr.Bagchi as he glanced through the pictures in the magazine.

“Some of them are as old as 1914,” he added.

Brunno looked at the pages in a very thoughtful and meditative manner. Mr.Bagchi looked at his pet’s face and for a moment a thought crossed his mind. Brunno almost looked like a thinking man with that serious look on his face and with his eyes fixed upon the tethers of the torn page in the magazine.

“You know Brunno, nowadays people rave about Safaris and Lancers. But these cars possessed a charm of their own. Such grandeur and class. Today people want speed and faster vehicles and sneer at a 1950’s model,” said Mr.Bagchi, and let his breath out with a sigh.

Brunno looked at his master who suddenly appeared lost and older than he was.

“Fast, faster, fastest…that is motto of this generation. No time to wait or admire something beautiful,” said Mr. Bagchi still bearing the same wearied expression on his face.

Mr.Bagchi kept looking at the pages recalling his childhood days. His school days were different from the ones suffered by the present generation’s children. Bags were not so heavy and there was no hurry to grow up. As a child, Mr.Bagchi was more inquisitive and curious about everything in comparison to other children around him. His thirst for knowledge was further ignited by the supportive nature of his grandfather, who used to walk with him to school.

“You know Brunno, my grandfather was a great man, a genius in every respect. He knew a lot about everything; about nature, science, man, philosophy, literature..,”

“Was he a teacher?” Brunno asked a question after a long pause.

Mr. Bagchi looked down on him and smiled. “How did you ever guess? Yes, he used to teach Physics in a reputed university,” replied Mr.Bagchi.

“But his knowledge reserve was far greater than what those regular Physics textbooks contained. In fact, my grandmother often used to tell me that grandfather wished to become a scientist at a certain point in his life. He had researched a lot on speed, distance and time and now that I look at the pages in this magazine, it reminds me; grandfather had a passion for cars. During his days, these models were very popular and he had bought one of them and was extremely fond of it,” said Mr.Bagchi.

“You still have it?” asked Brunno.

“Yes, I do. It’s in our garage, but it is no longer in a state to run on the street. Many of the parts are damaged and they are rarely found. Repairing such models too is a tedious task. People know how to handle a Maruti, but a handling a Eureka was…,”

“What was the name again?” asked Brunno, suddenly alert.

“Eureka. It was a Grecian car model that came out during those days. It was a masterpiece. Such a beauty! My grandfather had bought a black one and he was very fond of it. Eureka was feasible and was a delight to drive. It was a lot faster than the rest of the models those days. But after a few months, the car company that came out with the model faced complaints from the customers. Speedy though it was, the engine consumed a lot of oil and that too very frequently,” Mr. Bagchi paused for a minute and continued, “the sales were going lower and the company had to stop the production. Subsequently its parts started disappearing from the market.”

There was a moment of silence after which Brunno spoke, “Your grandfather must have been upset?” asked Brunno.

“Oh yes, he definitely was. But then, he was an extremely spirited man and very intelligent. In fact, now I remember; a week after the news came out; he started to spend more time, shut up in his room. After some time he stopped coming down to the dinner table to dine with all of us. Mother used to carry his food into his room. Usually, grandfather used to spend most of his time with me. But those days, even I saw less of him,” said Mr. Bagchi.

“What happened to him?” asked Brunno.

“One morning I was awakened by a strange sound. I woke up and looked at the alarm clock. It was 5 A.M. It sounded like someone was in our car shed and he was yelling and saying something. Everyone was asleep in the house. Since it was a winter morning, it was still dark outside. Curious that I was, I quietly slipped out of my bed, took a torch and covered myself with my father’s shawl; and headed out to see what was going on.
It was not that I was very brave or something. In fact at first I thought that some thief might have crept into our premises. For a moment, before stepping out of the house I wondered for a moment whether I should carry a stick or something. But then I thought what if he has a gun. So I walked out to check out first. If indeed, it was a thief then, I decided to lock the gate of the car shed from outside and then go and wake up the other people. So I made my way towards the backyards of our house…,”

“Backyards? It was the same house we live in now?” Brunno interrupted again.

“Yes,” answered Mr. Bagchi. “My grandfather left it for my father and then it passed on to me. Now, where was I..Oh yes, so I entered the shed. It was dark inside and the voices became clearer as I moved closer to the place. It sounded familiar. The person inside the shed noticed me and called out my name. It was then that I realised it was my grandfather.” Mr.Bagchi paused for a moment and continued, “He walked up towards me and hugged me. I was not sure what had happened so I asked him what he was doing so early in the morning in the car shed. He looked jubilant and replied that he had discovered something incredible. I asked him what that was and he told me that he had just returned after taking a ride in his Eureka and it was the speediest ride he ever enjoyed. He then took me near the car and we got inside it. He then took me for a ride to the childrens’ park. It was kind of slightly far from our house and generally Eureka took around 35 minutes to take us there. This time we reached there in 15 minutes and it was the most delightful ride I ever had. We sat in the park for some time and there my grandfather explained to me how a car engine works and what problems Eureka was facing. He also told me that he had discovered a formula to make not only Eureka but any car run faster without consuming the amount of oil it generally does. He intended to write a letter to the car company so that he could inform them about his discovery and they could make the necessary repairs in the car. Eureka would once again hit the streets, but this time as the fastest and the most low fuel consumption car.”

Brunno listened. There was a moment of silence and then he asked again, “So he gave the formula to the car company?”

Mr.Bagchi sighed, “Unfortunately, he could not, Brunno. Two days after this he had a paralytic attack. Those few days when he had severed himself from the world for Eureka’s sake, weighed heavily upon him. My grandfather was otherwise very regular about his food, exercise and medicines. But all these things became secondary and redeeming Eureka became his obsession. A few days after the attack, he passed away.”

“Did he hand over the formula to you?” asked Brunno.

“No, he was the only one who knew it. After his stroke, he was not in a state to talk or walk properly. He called me and my sister one day to his room and tried to tell us something. His words were not very clear. But all we understood is two words-‘Eureka’ and ‘mirror.’ I had searched in the car shed and also searched in grandfather’s room for it. But I could not find it. And a month after he passed away, my parents sent me away to a boarding school. That was the end of the search. I was so caught up with studies and other things after that, I hardly got time to explore things on my own. And to be frank, after my grandfather’s death, the spirit to investigate and know more things had diminished within me. There was no one with whom I could share my thoughts or questions,” said Mr.Bagchi.

A strange look came upon Brunno’s face and he stood up. “Lets go home master, isn’t it late enough?” he said.

Mr.Bagchi nodded his head and stood up too, still lost in his memories. Just when they were about to leave, Mr.Dhar walked in.

“So you both found what you were looking for?” asked Mr.Dhar.

“No, Dhar babu, thanks for..,” before Mr.Bagchi could finish his sentence he heard Brunno mutter, “Now everything is clear.” Mr.Bagchi quickly thanked Mr.Dhar and they started walking back towards home.

“What is clear Brunno?” asked Mr.Bagchi.

“Almost everything. I think I will sleep in the garden tonight,” replied Brunno.

Mr. Bagchi could sense a change in Brunno’s behaviour. His pet suddenly seemed agile and it appeared that something was on Brunno’s mind.

“What’s the matter Brunno? There are mosquitoes in the garden, a lot of mud and dirt. Why will you sleep there?” asked Mr.Bagchi.

“Don’t worry master. It’s only for some time. Don’t eat too heavily tonight, or you will fall asleep,” replied Brunno.

Mr.Bagchi could sense that Brunno was up to something. But what? He did not ask any other questions and decided to wait and watch.

That night at the dinner table, Mrs.Bagchi cooked most of Debu’s favourite dishes as usual. But Debu was not too hungry and did not even taste some of the items.

“What happened Debu? Are you not feeling too well?” asked Mrs.Bagchi concerned.

Mr.Bagchi who had got used to Mrs. Bagchi’s unnecessary concern for Debu and evident negligence towards Brunno, did not pay any heed towards this and asked his wife, “What happened to the newspapers? I don’t get to read any of it nowadays. Is it not delivered in the morning nowadays?”

“Of course it is. It must be on the table. You must not have looked properly,” she replied.

“I looked everywhere. But it is not there. What about the cable connection? None of the channels are clear. Should I go to neighbour’s place to watch the news now? Have you informed the cable operator?” asked Mr.Bagchi, slightly disturbed by his wife’s attitude.

“Yes, they came and said some of the cable cords might have got damaged. They will come tomorrow to fix it up. If you are dying to know the news, why don’t you log on the internet? Why so much complaining?” said Mrs.Bagchi.

“You know, it is really funny. The password for the internet that I enter comes up as invalid. It seems all the communication networks in the house are facing some problem or the other, chronologically,” replied Mr.Bagchi.

Brunno who was lying quietly at a corner for so long now raised his head slightly as he heard the conversation. Unlike other days, he seemed least interested in Debu’s reactions and he did not even eat his food that Mrs. Bagchi kept for him.

Before retiring to his bed, Mr.Bagchi checked up on Brunno, who was moving out towards the garden.

“Brunno…” Mr.Bagchi called out to his pet.

“Don’t fall asleep completely master, keep your eyes and ears open for my call tonight,” said Brunno as he moved out.

“But what…,” Mr.Bagchi started to ask.

“Trust me,” said Brunno.

That night Mr.Bagchi could not sleep wondering what was Brunno going to do and why was he sounding so secretive. At around 1 A.M, he was awakened by a strange sound. It appeared as if a dog was barking furiously and someone was screaming.

“BRUNNO!” Mr.Bagchi jumped out of his bed. The chaos had awakened the neighbours as well. Mrs.Bagchi too woke up alarmed, “What happened? What’s this noise all about?”

“I will find out,” said Mr.Bagchi as he took the torch and hurried out.

“I will also come with you,” said Mrs.Bagchi and followed him.

They rushed towards the car shed in the backyards. The screams and the barks were clearer now.

They entered the shed and switched the light on to see Debu petrified and shivering at one corner with a piece of paper in his fist. He was sweating profusely Brunno had cornered him and was barking at him furiously.

“BRUNNO! STOP,” Mr.Bagchi yelled at Brunno.

“Brunno stopped barking but still growled angrily at Debu.

“Oh, poor Debu. Look how badly he is shivering. Back off you mongrel,” Mrs.Bagchi yelled at Brunno.

“Yeah right, poor Debu, he would not have remained so poor had he succeeded tonight,” said Brunno.

“What are you talking about Brunno?” asked Mr.Bagchi.

“Ask him to hand over that parchment he has in his hand first,” said Brunno.

Mrs.Bagchi and Debu watched the two of them amazed. This was the first time they saw Mr.Bagchi talk to Brunno like that.

Mr.Bagchi looked at Debu’s right hand and saw the piece of paper he was holding.

“Give that to me,” Mr.Bagchi ordered.

“Let the boy settle down…,” Mrs.Bagchi started to speak.

“Wait,” said Mr.Bagchi and looked at Debu. Debu was still reluctant to hand over the paper to his uncle but he had to oblige when Brunno gave out an angry growl.

“O..okay, okay, here,” he handed the paper to Mr.Bagchi.

It was dirty and yellowish coloured paper. The edges were tattered slightly and the paper had several creases on it. Mr.Bagchi unfolded the crumpled paper carefully and started reading the contents. The ink that was used was fountain pen ink, something that was not so common these days. But the handwriting appeared somewhat familiar. There were some notes on speed, velocity and fuel pressure. And a formula was jotted down below that, but what arrested Mr.Bagchi’s attention was one single word written in bold letters at the bottom of the parchment. It said loud and clear- EUREKA!

“My goodness!” Exclaimed Mr.Bagchi. “This is my grandfather’s formula, the one he discovered a few days before his death,” said Mr.Bagchi, shocked. He then looked up at Debu. “Where on earth did you get this?” he asked.

“He did not get this, he tried to steal it,” said Brunno quietly.

“Steal it? How did he ever know it was here?” asked Mr.Bagchi still bewildered.

“From your sister, of course. Your sister was with you when your grandfather let out the secret about where he has kept the formula. Your family must have known about your grandfather’s discovery,” said Brunno.

“Yes, they did, but most of them did not believe it and all that my grandfather told us were two words, ‘Eureka’ and ‘mirror’. What sense can you make out of it?” asked Mr.Bagchi.

“Eureka is not only the name of a car, it also means something else. It means ‘I found it.’
The second word is ‘mirror’. When you told me about the two words, I started to think. If we connect the words together, it leads to this kind of a meaning according to me-‘I found the mirror.’ Or maybe, ‘I found it in a mirror.’ Now, the hints that your grandfather had given led me to think that the formula should be in the car shed. But you told me earlier that you had searched here during your childhood and found nothing. Now try to think of it. How could a mirror possibly be connected to the formula and why should anyone expect a mirror in a car shed? People don’t dress up in the car shed. But they do look up in the side view mirrors of their cars while driving on the roads,” replied Brunno.

Mr.Bagchi heard everything and started to speak, “So…you mean, you are saying that the formula was….”

“…kept inside the side view mirror,” replied Brunno.

“Your nephew guessed it before you could. Just like you told me about your grandfather’s discovery and secret about where it was kept; he too must have heard it from his mother or your sister. You had mentioned to me that the formula could make Eureka, the fastest as well as the least fuel consuming car,” he added.

“But, but…the company which manufactured Eureka closed years back. Yes, but he can sell it to…,” Mr.Bagchi was interrupted again.

“You said at the dinner table today that it is a strange thing that your newspapers are missing. Your cable and internet connection too are not functioning properly. And then you yourself added that all the communication networks in your home are facing problems. Isn’t it too much of a coincidence?” asked Brunno.

“You mean…you mean, he tampered with them? But why would he do that?” asked Mr.Bagchi, looking even more confused.

“He did that to keep you away from the news that a reputed company in Bangalore is planning to launch Eureka back into the market. However, their team is still researching to fix the problems the earlier model faced. It has been on newspapers and channels over the past few days. Eureka was already beginning to gain the stature of a status symbol, something like Rolls Royce or Mercedes during your grandfather’s days. Therefore, the company thought it would be nice idea to re-launch the vehicle. There were certain technical specialties in the car that were not present in all cars. The company therefore thought that they would be faithful to the previous model. But they needed to fix the fuel problem. Now, Debu thought it would be a nice idea to get hold of your grandfather’s formula as it will make him rich if he could get in touch with the company. But what if you came to know about this? So he wanted to make sure that there is no source available that could inform you about this,” said Brunno and paused for a minute, “But I must say that’s a very stupid thing to do.”

Mr.Bagchi looked at Debu for a second and then looked at Brunno and asked, “And what was he doing at Dhar babu’s shop?”

“Do you remember, Mr.Dhar told us that he came looking something that sounded like, ‘..Ricca.’ Actually, Debu said, ‘Eureka.’ He went there to scoot for some material on the car. He found it and tore the page and hid it. This afternoon when we returned, he had gone for a bath. I sneaked into his room and sniffed out the torn page. There are part by part descriptions in it about how Eureka functions and what kind of parts it has. There is also some information about the mirrors in the car, which proved very useful for your nephew. The page is still in his pocket. He decided that he has to finish his job tonight. So when the lights went off, he silently crept into the garden. I watched him silently move towards the car shed. He got inside and I followed him. It took him an hour to dismantle the mirrors and get the formula. When he found what he wanted, he started to leave. Unfortunately for him, I was lying on his path. It was too dark for him to see and he brought a very low power torch, one that would help him to break open locks etc. He was afraid of being discovered. So he tripped over me and I started barking. He was terrified at being discovered. I would not let him escape. So he ran back at the car shed and I ran behind him and cornered. You told me that he is scared of dogs, so the ball was in my court,” said Brunno.

“But Brunno, how did you know about the news of Eureka being re-launched?”

“He left clues everywhere. There was a stash of newspapers under the bed mattress in his room. He distributed it all over the bed so that no particular region looks thicker and covered it all with the mattress,” replied Brunno.

“So he was planning to escape..,” started off Mr.Bagchi.

“To Bangalore, this morning,” Brunno completed the sentence for Mr.Bagchi. “There is an air ticket in his other pocket.”

Mr. Bagchi gave Debu a stern look and said, “Come here, let me search your pockets.”

“Un..uncle, you cannot insult me…,” Debu started off but just at that point Brunno barked loudly. Debu’s face turned purple. Mr.Bagchi searched both his pockets and found the magazine page and the air ticket.

“So, you came here to steal grandfather’s formula. No wonder, you did not inform your mother,” said Mr.Bagchi.

The noises in Mr.Bagchi’s backyard had already woken up some of his neighbours and at this point in time, few of them had already arrived only to hear Debu confess his crime and beg for forgiveness from Mr. and Mrs. Bagchi. Some of the neighbours were inclined upon calling the police but Mr.Bagchi stopped them.

“My sister will be devastated when she hears about this. She is the only reason that has held me from calling the police,” said Mr.Bagchi.

However, Mrs.Bagchi who appeared stunned by the entire episode said only one thing at the end of it all- “That dog can talk?!” Brunno smiled at that.

Debu left next morning and Mr.Bagchi called up his sister telling her that her son had left for home. Mr.Bagchi was sitting on his sofa reading the news with Brunno beside him. After a long time, everything appeared normal.

“Master, what’s there in the news today?” asked Brunno.

“Oh I really wish there was something about my brave little pet,” replied Mr.Bagchi and looked lovingly at Brunno. “Brunno, do you mind if I pat you on your head for just once?” asked Mr.Bagchi.

Brunno smiled and stood up. Just then, Mrs.Bagchi called out, “Brunno, come here dear, have your breakfast. I have made your favorite item.”

Mr.Bagchi and Brunno heard that, delighted and Brunno replied, “no, I don’t mind at all.”