Do you remember all the times your father protected you from harm and cared for you? Well, this is a story of fatherly love and the lengths it will go to secure the well-being of his child. It is a very short story which should appeal to those into multi-media and are reasonably tech-savvy. The story is dedicated to all the fathers and mothers, constantly battling the vagaries of life to ensure their children are safe and sound.
THE MOST EXHAUSTING FORM OF MARTYRDOM
(Set in the very near future)
On the banks of the Ganges stood a tall 35 year old man, attired all in white, clutching a red earthenware pot. Reverentially he scattered his wife's ashes onto the water and slowly stood up. As he watched the ashes sink and spread across the murky water, grief crashed upon him like a tidal wave. His beloved Sangeeta would never again make him laugh, smile, or share time with him. He wept openly and did not stop for a very long time...
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The global media corporations were pretty much in the same business they had been a generation ago: news, messaging, gossip, rumour, films, music and games - although the lines between the categories at times became blurred.
The quantum change had been in the method of providing or delivering services to the masses. While the vast majority received services through a bewildering array of multi-purpose devices, there was a rapidly growing and significant market share that had dispensed with such primitive approaches. The wired' had information sent to a thumb-sized multimedia controller (mmc) surgically implanted inside the back of the head. Voice commands permitted relaying of visuals and emails directly onto the human retina. For the right amount of money a sub-vocalization relay meant there wasn't even the need to talk to the device. Thought did the work for techno-geeks.
Jason Donovan's mmc was specifically configured to his needs as a renowned brain specialist and sports enthusiast. His Office Assistant programme while not quite as efficient as a human PA, organized his diary, filtered spam, nuisance messages and prioritised his emails. One day he would set aside the money to replace the Office Assistant with Turing-compliant Artificial Intelligence (AI) software available to the very rich techno-geeks. If he had owned such software, it would have interrupted the live transmission of the Super Bowl to inform him that the Chancellor of Harvard University wanted to see him forthwith. The Chancellor was not pleased that his call had not been returned for the duration of the game.
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Six months after the freak accident killed her mother and caused the child significant brain trauma, the prognosis was not good. Most of the damage was confined to the prefrontal lobes - the centres of higher reasoning. Every specialist Atul Sharma had consulted said the same, bar one: the girl would probably remain permanently in a vegetative state - incapable of communication or reasoning.
A member of the global transnational elite, Atul Sharma was, due to his IT Company, one of the wealthiest men on earth. He knew of no problem that could not solved by throwing money at it. They say money can't buy everything - but Atul Sharma would have disagreed with that. He had lost his wife Sangeeta, but he was now determined not to lose the person that his daughter had been. There was no mountain he wouldn't climb, no river he wouldn't ford to have his daughter restored to full health. With Jason Donovan's expertise and the money to hire specialist researchers in stem cell therapy, psychology, neuro-biochemistry and his own IT business, Atul Sharma was determined to find a way to save his daughter, Tamanna.
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It had taken two years of hard work for the operations and testing, but the results were encouraging. The young immature brain is very plastic and that undoubtedly was a major factor in the success. The electronic interfaces and gizmos were artificially stimulating and interfacing directly with brain tissue. The sophisticated electronic software, designed by the smartest Turing compliant AIs, appeared to be learning to control and direct important brain functions. This was a technological and medical breakthrough with revolutionary implications, that should have taken decades to develop, but Atul Sharma knew only too well that necessity was the mother of invention. All of the new technologies were not enough for the man who was incapable of taking no' for an answer. And now that the speech therapy was working, Atul Sharma had reason to hope that he might recapture a shadow of what his daughter used to be. While her cognitive skills were still limited to that of a seven year old, there was the promise of hope in some new lines of research.
"Daddy, please sing that song again," pleaded the 9 year old, completely captivated by a new twist on an old rhyme.
Sharma felt the happiness welling up inside and his face transformed into a smile and before he could stop himself he burst into a hearty laugh. That had not happened for a long time and he reveled in the sensation. "Why, of course, beti...Twinkle, twinkle little star, we know exactly what you are. Nuclear furnace in the sky, you'll burn to ashes by and by..."
It was moments like these that he enjoyed and savoured as a doting father. However he was no ordinary father but one who had a research and development team designing the world's smartest Turing 3.0 miniaturized AI - one with the potential of an average adult human. It was intended as Tamanna's 10th birthday present.
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"There is an urgent message for you Jason - from Mr Sharma," the PA announced in a controlled but emphatic manner.
Jason Donovan seethed with annoyance at having a lecture in London at the Royal Institute for Science being interrupted by the Turing-Compliant software gifted to him by Atul Sharma. There was no arguing with the AI or circumventing it and Donovan resented that he was obliged to make his apologies to the audience and request to be excused from his presentation on brain architecture and function. It had been a significant piece of research that the world needed to understand.
"Put me through to Mr Sharma now if you will...Hi, Mr Sharma. Has something happened to your daughter's condition?...Yes, I understand that...The work on growing brain cells is progressing well, but growing functioning brain tissue is more than amassing a large number of new brain cells. The structural connections or neural relays are the key. That's why designing brain architecture through controlled growth of those stem-cell-derived brain cells is so important. While that work is extremely promising, a great deal more research is needed..."
Donovan's employer however was not in the mood for patience or caution. "Jason," said the steely tone, "The transplant of neural structures has to take place before her puberty growth spurt begins. You yourself said that this would ensure that adult behavior emerged in a natural way and rate as the new transplanted tissues grew and integrated with the undamaged brain in the presence of growth and sex hormones."
"Yes, I know I said that, but - "
"- I want my daughter growing up and behaving as a normal girl," insisted Sharma, ignoring the irony of speaking about a child who was the world's first true cyborg. Cyborg, in the current age, was a term reserved only for a marriage of brain and electronic circuitry.
Donovan felt intimidated by the image of his employer standing there, what looked like a few feet from him. "Of course you want her to be an ordinary girl, but you do need to understand the size of the problem we're dealing with here. We can't be sure the new transplanted tissue will integrate well with existing functional tissue. There's no knowing what trouble we're setting into motion if the old and new tissues don't integrate well."
Sharma was in no mood to negotiate.
"The operation on Tamanna has been scheduled for 23rd October, in London, 9.00am GMT. Have your team liaise with my people and work out the details of a suitable hospital and backup teams. Don't let me down, Jason. There is everything riding on this."
The message ended suddenly, and almost as abruptly, the image of the ruthless CEO disappeared from Donovan's retina.
23rd October was Tamanna's 12th birthday, and Sharma never ever forgot his daughter's special day.
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The gawky adolescent lay on her side on an examination table. Her eyes were closed, and her expression serene.
Atul Sharma in contrast, looked anxious and concerned as he looked down at his daughter. Just when he was becoming accustomed to having a normal' healthy teenage daughter, tragedy has struck yet again. The temporary joy of being a father to a child had come to a crushing end.
Sharma as one of the wealthiest men on earth, knew of no problem that could not be solved by throwing money at it. He was not accustomed to distress and worry. He had lawyers, advisers and PR people to take care of such matters. The chores of being a parent could be taken care of by employing nannies and tutors. Even Sharma realized, however, that money could not banish the constant worry of a parent for their child's health and well-being. It mattered little to him that he had already changed the world irrevocably through his innovative development of AI microchips, their integration with brain tissue, and the modelling of neural relays created through stem cell work. If he had to move heaven and earth to restore his daughter's health he would have done that too.
Not accustomed to being kept waiting, Sharma noisily cleared his throat to remind the white lab coated technician that a diagnosis was overdue. Hafsat Abiola, as head of R & D at Atul Electronic Solutions had conducted the required tests. She was determined not to be hurried in her evaluation of the situation. Her team had after all been working on the problem for the last 24 hours and took pride in the quality of their work.
"Well?" demanded Sharma impatiently.
"Sir, it is a software problem." When she heard her boss groan in distress, she quickly added, "As far we can tell, none of the electronic gadgetry and electronic software is faulty - nor the interfaces between the hardware and brain tissue. So that leaves us with software issues."
In today's society, software referred not only to programmes that ran on electronic circuits but also to psychological difficulties.
"No, that can't be right..." he muttered to himself. Sharma could not accept that his daughter was mentally ill. But the programming of the electronic gadgetry including the operations of the AI had been shown to be error-free. By a process of elimination that only left faulty brain function. Old memories were surfacing and causing cascade failures that rendered Tamanna paralysed and speechless.
Hafsat Abiola without waiting had already set her Turing 2.0 Compliant PA searching for the top psychiatrists and psychologists around the world. As silence in this delicate context was advisable, she sent the results of her search directly to her boss' PA software.
After reading the message from Hafsat, he found himself reflecting upon something he had read when he first became a father:Being a parent is the most exhausting form of martyrdom.'
Atul Sharma girded his loins for the endless struggles that lay ahead to secure the good health of his daughter Tamanna. It did not even enter his consciousness that he could fail.
(The End)
Anupamaa
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
