SIMPLE PROBLEMS, SIMPLE SOLUTIONS

The human race has developed into an excellent species with immense mind power. It can unravel the secrets of nature and its complex riddles with different ways and methods that it has evolved. So much so, it can hardly recognize a small problem when it sees one. With so much of accomplishments behind it, the mind actually fails to see a simple solution to any problem – big or small. Everything has to be analyzed, everything has to be attacked from every little corner and everything has to be approached in a big way. There are no small solutions to big problems and no small solutions to small problems too.

How then can you explain away this situation? It was the height of anti apartheid risings in South Africa. John was in a hurry leaving the town and he was walking past a large bungalow, to board a bus. There he chanced to meet two small boys about seven years of age. Nothing strange in that, but one boy was fair of skin while the other was black. He stopped and took further notice of them. He was astonished when he saw the white boy order the black one around, to go fetch this and that. Mr. John, himself a dark skinned person felt very crestfallen and wondered at the state of affairs where even a small child practices apartheid. As he was in a hurry to catch his bus he left immediately. Once he left the town limits he forgot all about it promptly.

After about six months he had to return to the same town. As he happened to pass through that particular bungalow he immediately remembered the incident he saw during the previous occasion.  His curiosity aroused, he took extra efforts to go close to the house and there again he saw the same two boys playing around. To his utter surprise he saw the dark boy now ordering the white around. He stood confused and presumed that the anti apartheid violence had seeped so much that even kids were being aware of it. He felt sad. He was a man of moderate tempers and suppression of any one or any form was totally not to his taste.

He was wondering if he should intervene and teach the boys some humanity, when he saw a white man at the extreme end of the garden silently watching the boys in action. Now John did not want the white man to feel the pinch of apartheid so he hurried over to him and said “don’t worry these kids do not know what they are doing. The other day I saw the dark one being ordered around”. The other man startled out of his stupor on hearing John speak and said “Oh, no, I do not misunderstand, for both are my kids and they play the “FETCH” game. The winner is the one who fetches the fastest.”

Here is a situation where the simple children’s game had been interpreted as some racial apartheid practice. Most often quite a number of family feuds spark at the children’s games.  How we adults try to carry our views and differences to the children’s world too? It would be best on such occasions for the grown ups to merely ignore the juniors and allow them to sort their differences out in the best way known to them.

Well, if this be the case in the emotional front, we do not fare better in the industrial arena either. Take the case of a famous Japanese soap company which positioned itself in the market as the only firm that sold the soap packed in an attractive soap box. They were quite successful in carving a niche for themselves in the consumables market and in fact, they capitalized on this aspect by constantly advertising that they sold the soap with the box.

Trouble began when complaints began creeping in that some of the boxes sold in the shops were returned as being empty. It was not just a single complaint to be ignored. The management realized that something had to be done immediately to prevent the problem from avalanching into a major crisis.  The problem was analyzed from all angles and it was localized that the problem was only in the packing and distribution section. The R&D department was called in and they came out with a proto type of a huge x-ray machine that would scan each of the box in the production output line, then another machine will weed out the empty ones. The cost of these machines worked into several crores and even then the accuracy sigma hovered at an unpleasant high.  Meanwhile time was ticking on and holding the stock any further would mean heavy loss to the company both monetarily and name wise too. The whole company was at a high hot. Watching the burst of activity going in the factory, a humble worker enquired what was going on. Then he got the news about the empty box.  Muscling up enough courage, he walked up to one of the top brass officer and volunteered that he could solve the problem very easily. The entire middle level management tried to brush him off like a fly. But the top management by then was so desperate for a solution that they were willing enough to take the advice of anybody, as long as the problem was resolved.  The worker wanted just three or four huge pedestal fans which he positioned in the output line. And very easily the empty soap boxes fell off the line, into a carton placed beneath the conveyor belt. This way it was ensured that the empty boxes did not escape into the market. Simple indeed!!

Waiting At The Railway Station

I was reading the blog “Maddy’s ramblings”, where there is a mention about Maniyachi ( Vanchinathan) station. While the author dwells in his blog, on the assassination of the Collector of Thirunelveli Mr. Ashe, I got more interested with the station which happens to be the Crime Scene (i.e. Maniyachi railway Station). This station is imprinted deep in my mind, for during school vacations, we had to cross this station while traveling to our grandparent’s house, at Chennai. No doubt, for a train traveling from Tuticorin to Chennai, there are about twenty stations at which it stops. But yet Maniyachi haunts my mind inerasably. Why? Probably because of its historical links or is it anything else?. Well I wanted to comment about this station in Maddy’s ramblings. But then, I would become a parasite isn’t it?. Putting my blog in his blog site. So here is “My version” on Maniyachi station.
My father was in the Textile Mill at Tuticorin. During school vacation we used to go to Chennai for spending our holidays at our grand parent’s house at Chennai. There was one train from Tuticorin, which left in the afternoon. It was a passenger train, pulled by the steam engine. The train used to make maximum noise but would cover very little distance. But being kids we never minded this travesty. We spent the time fighting for the window seat and kept running down the aisle.
After traveling for over an hour we reached the Maniyachi Junction. It was an island platform. The train stopped after huffing and puffing. My father asked us to climb down and explained that from this point on, our train will be linked to the Diesel train coming from Thirunelvelli. Of course, we would miss our good old steam engine but yet we had to complete the journey before the holidays were out. So assured of better speed we began to relax. We waited in the small station for well over an hour for the train to arrive from Thirunelveli. This gave us an opportunity to tour the station and take all the details of the location. There were huge mounds of sand dunes all around. The wind was howling and blowing with such velocity that, huge grains of sand beat our face. We stood there and watched, the steam loco being detached from our coupes and puff off to the shed with its mission accomplished. My father showed me the signal and how they changed. He pointed out the “points man” and we saw him use the lever to change the track for the train. He explained the difference between meter gauge and broad gauge. He added that the narrow gauge operated in hilly regions. We enjoyed all this bits of information. We saw the huge water tank at a little distance, which would fill the engine with water to generate the steam.
We waited and waited for the diesel engine to arrive. Finally it did on the adjacent platform. The diesel engine then was attached to our train first and then this entire group was linked to the train from Thirunelvelli. We saw the men working frantically and running around. Our compartments were shunted up and down and finally we were grouped alongwith the other train. As the electrification work was not completed or even begun at those places we had to go through all these exercises. Electrification was available only from Villupuram. There again the engine change procedures were carried out. But that was during the night so we were deep in sleep so we missed it. At last we were all set to go. By then the sun was setting, we could see the red ball of fire over the vast open space around the station. We got into the train and set off.
During the return journey the entire process was reversed. This time the wait seemed to be abominable. The coupes meant for Tuticorin were delinked and left like orphans at the station. The diesel engine, on the other hand, rolled off with its train to Trinelvelli . We were stranded at Maniyachi for well over an hour. This time our pop was already back at home and not traveling with us. The useful education and tips he was giving us during the onward journey was missing. To add to it, it was mid afternoon and the hot wind was scorching us. The train compartments were like hot ovens and we were scared we would be baked alive. There was literally nothing else at the station besides our train. We played all kinds of games and pestered our mother and irritated her. She shooed us off. We got down from the train and tried running on the platform, it was not very pleasant in the hot sun. My sister by then had studied Indian History so she was aware of the great Independence activist Vanchinathan, but she preferred to twist the tale a little, she said the train was waiting at the station for such a long time one day, that an irate Vanchinathan had shot Mr. Ashe mistaking him for the station master. That revealed her killing mood. I laughed at her joke . Then we began conjuring up some strange story or the other for the delay like ,to pass time. I said “Probably the loco driver has lost his way”. My sister suggested a more weird tale , “ no, the driver has taken a loan from the station master and is hesitant to return here.” As the time waned the stories became more Halloween , we even imagined that the station was haunted by Mr. Ashe and Mr. Vanchi.
It was sickening to note that the station had retained its rustiness since the days of Mr. Ashe. That was understandable for not many important stations were available beyond this junction. The traffic was meager in those days, so it was sufficient to use the steam engine for shorter distances. Trains coming from different directions such as Trinelvelli ,Sengottah , Tuticorin etc were clubbed together and hauled to larger destinations. This of course is the best method for management of resources, but at that tender age we could not comprehend or appreciate such “Drucker ian” theories.
Even today, with so much of advancement in technology, waiting at stations or at some remote locations for signal or some other reason is mandatory in train travel. I once read that while traveling in the Trans-Siberian Railway, one could witness the change of gauge while traveling from one country to another. While going into China the wheels under the train have to be changed, so one has to spent an hour or two in the train yard. When the Trans-Siberian Railway was built, the Russians were worried that an invading army could use the tracks against them, so they made the track gauges wider. Mongolia followed Russia on the question of track gauges (which meant that Russia could invade them quite easily, which it did). China uses standard track. So this change is inevitable. However, most sophisticated equipments are now available in the train yards, that the entire exercise is completed without much ado. Tongs are used to hoist the carriages up, while the set of wheels are changed underneath. I once saw a movie ( or documentary ?) where I saw that the carriages were lifted with cranes while the wheel sets were changed.
Well, getting back to our story, since the station master was the only visible personnel representing the great Railways there, he became our villain. Then we got the better of ourselves and walked up to the station master and said “ Maniachu”, meaning “it is already time”. The station master blinked once and then understanding the pun said “this is Mani Achi” ( Grand mother of Mani) so everything is slow here”. Well at last our steam engine came and we were hooked on to her and then we went on with our journey back home.
Recently, I happened to travel there and saw that there was some changes, the name board was changed, the station had more buildings around it, steam engines were gone, the linking and delinking were no longer required as a direct train with an electric engine was plying right from Chennai to Tuticorin. Further the trains had compartments fitted with air conditioners, so waiting in a hot compartment was ruled out. Above all, I have become older now that I would not grudge a few extra hours of time all to my self not doing anything at all. Well that ‘s not to be, for the train nowadays does not make such long stopovers at this station any more.