My Robovac, just named (Ramu Kaka) decided to do a rather splendid job last night, totally outperforming itself. It is set to 1 am, when it wakes up every night and starts performing, while all of us are sleeping away, peacefully going around the whole house, meticulously picking up every strand of hair, every speck of dust.
Last night too, promptly at 1 am it started its work. Humming and droning its way, out from my TV room, where it docks itself every day to recharge and rejuvenate.
Ramu kaka is designed to learn along the way, and based on its daily experiences of how my house’s furniture is kept, it faces many bumps and hurdles each day but takes them as a learning experience to manoeuvre itself more intelligently every day.
Over the numerous adventures, each day, Ramu kaka has learnt that the “work-to-reward” ratio is much higher, when it performs in the drawing cum dining room, as that space is more open, and it takes less time and bumps to clean up. Since it’s also the place where its detractors (my dogs) mostly reside during the day, the drawing cum dining room is Ramu Kakas largest area of performance each day.
Last night too, Ramu Kaka, woke up and dashed out of my TV room, to the living cum drawing room, only this night, it was going to be a different experience. Different hurdles, different messes.
You see one of my dogs’ had an upset stomach and had decided to ease itself out in the living room.
A very neatly piled dog poop was waiting for Ramu kaka in the living room.
Normally, I would have woken up, noticed it, cleaned it up, and shouted at the dogs, and it would have been like just any other day. But not this morning. This morning, I woke up to a rather dystopian scene in my dining cum living room.
When Ramu Kaka made a dash last night, I think it sensed that there was dog poop, a new sort of mess in the dining room. And while it is instructed to stay away from solid masses, I think it decided to override its settings, perhaps wanted to impress itself and went right over the dog poop.
They say, don’t try to be too big for your boots. Alas, everyone and every intelligent thing has to do its own learning!
Now I’m sure you can imagine the scene already. I woke up this morning to a poop laden Ramu kaka, who after riding over the mass of liquid-solid, must have realised how much of a greater mess it had created. It then decided to clean itself, riding over my inexpensive carpet, leaving Ramu kaka a bit clean, but the carpet, which it used as a foot mat, has now turned an unrecognizable colour of brown.
I think Ramu kaka must have felt some sort of remorse at making this mess, so went on to clean the rest of the house, not realising that the more it cleaned, the more poop was spread.
But Ramu Kaka did not relent. And kept working and working at night till this morning, making its presence felt all over !!!!!
Other than my regular maid and me now cleaning up the whole arena, I’m also cleaning up a rather weary and drained out Ramu kaka , and reminded of my early motherhood days, where cleaning poop out of a childs’ bottom was such a normal thing to do !
I guess there is a lot of merit in the saying, if you’ve made a mess, cut your losses and move on. Not the easiest thing to do, I guess, but what the heck, just do it.
by Shan Jain (Windsor Court)
