Be careful of tall orders

JKV possessed three valuable assets - a disarming smile, pleasing manners and most important of all, a 6-foot tall fair coloured frame. Being lean and thin, he, in fact, looked a couple of inches taller.

Because of these qualities, topped by a sound academic background, he easily attracted people who would not mind spending some extra time in his company. Radiating unusual charm, tall JKV was the cynosure of all eyes even when he walked on the roadside.

In his time, there was not much awareness about the need to ensure kids attain good height. They were left to grow on their own with little emphasis on ensuring protein rich and nutritious food and playing sports. So, JKV was an exception and was, therefore, a Gulliver in the world around him.

He honestly confessed to people in his inner circle that he harboured a strong desire to see his offspring as tall as him. Out of modesty, he did not say it explicitly but he implied that he wanted them to be handsome and beautiful also - like him. He had seen that good looking tall people stood out in the crowd and attracted appreciative attention from all and sundry.

Years passed by. God was benevolent and granted to JKV a beautiful wife. That was not all. The couple was blessed with two daughters and two sons, all virtually "made to order" as desired by JKV.

Call it quirk of fate or whatever you deem appropriate, God answered JKV's wishes. His elder son, AV, exceeded expectations. Even when he was at school, he overshot his dad's height. He touched the 6 foot 2 inch mark - and appeared threatening to grow further. Mercifully, handsomeness and charm served as icing on the cake - his lean and thin figure, his solid academic background being an additional asset. AV came to be treated as Gulliver Junior in his neighbourhood and became the envy of many.

But slowly JKV and others around him discovered the hard fact that AV's unusual height, instead of being a boon as perceived earlier, was proving to be a bane that was becoming insurmountable. After all, you certainly cannot reduce a person's height.

The stark reality became pronounced when AV started hitting with his head the traditional door frames in his house which were certainly not designed for people like him. When bumps on his head became a regular feature, some one jocularly suggested that he wear a helmet even in his living and bed rooms.

AV's travails did not end there. He would not find in the market a pair of leather shoes of size 11. Order had to be placed for his special shoes which meant shelling out extra money. The tailor would ask for more cloth for stitching his clothes, again involving additional expenditure.

More problems awaited him when he took up a job under the federal government. He had to commute every day to his office by a public transport bus but he would not fit in. If he did not get a seat, he had to keep standing, his neck drooping.

The realisation of his height being a bane, not a boon, dawned on him whenever he travelled by train. He had to ensure that he was allotted a berth in the cabin as these were a little longer than those on the side in the sleeper coaches. But alas even these fell short of his requirement. He would squeeze himself to snatch some sleep. And there was nothing the railways could do for him.

Someone had rightly said that things sweet come in small packages.

The writer is a journalist based in India.