The craftsmen retired for lunch. The little monkey was curious. What was that wedge for -- in an operation involving only the sawing of log wood? It decided to experiment. Curiosity can, of course, be killing ! It ought to be. Because it brings forth conviction. Conviction, in turn, generates confidence. Confidence in life ! So be inquisitive. It pays !!
 

What  will happen if a tow-truck had a flat ? The tow-truck  can, still, hook its own front bumper and lift it. With the offending wheel in the air - the truck can retreat to safety. You  think it is preposterous? Believe me, I too, nurtured the doubt -  but never had an opportunity to experiment. I acknowledged however, I must clinch  the issue early - one way or the other. Nursing  a ddoubt indefinitely -- be advised -- is also hazardous.

It  is more important, they say, to cultivate a confidence  than nursing a doubt. On anything. People who fire-walk do not  demand to know if it will hurt. They trust their conviction -- the Power they believe in will not let them down. That does it.

One  dark  rainy night, the washerman retrieved an  animal.  The faith assured his search would redeem only his  donkey  --  none other's -- missing since afternoon. In the morning, however,  the beast turned out to be a tiger. If he had any doubts on the methods of his search, he would not have had the necessary confidence. He would have collapsed at the first sight of the tiger. That is the influence of conviction.

In  Velizy is located the Software Factory of  a  Multi-National. Several hundred engineers have been producing excellent software from that warehouse.

One day a new recruit joined them. He was explained the functioning of the factory and in particular about the prestigious  Operating  System they had. An Operating System is  a  make-up that shows a generic face for a chosen hardware platform. It is to be forever  present and kicking. Its loss  signifies  the  clinical death of the computer.

It is the responsibility of the Operating System to, in turn, run application programs. Without losing sanity. The new recruit had a doubt -- what will happen if an application program  substitutes  itself in place of the Operating System ? The Operating system may be killed in the process. What if? The application may be smart. The Operating System may get an artificial respiration and may survive, he argued.

He  decided  to experiment. The substitution was commanded.  The Operating System evaporated. And down came the system.  Keyboards were suddenly hanging. The screens started playing rubbish.

All of a sudden, several hundred programmers did not have a thing to do. In the annals of Velizy, there has never been a  catastrophe of that kind.

Sysop, that is, the System Boss came in. A quick examination  put the accusing finger on the new recruit. The recruit explained what he did. Sysop thought it was the equivalent of the tow-truck attempting to tow itself. How could that work ? The idea violates  common sense. Such a stupid doubt never crossed the minds of hundreds of software engineers working there for ages. How could you think of it, Fresher -- he barked.

"Sir,  I am from India", the new recruit said, "When you  declare it  is wet paint, your boys would not go near. But we prefer  to verify. Not that we do not believe you -- we like to update our data bases continuously. Your programmers have full faith in  your Operating System. No harm will come to it. Nor will it let them down. We are curious. Is the paint really wet or dry -- just now? Since when it has become dry and so on. We need to know - else we lose our sleep. So we experiment. For this initiative only, Bill Gates acknowledges Indians  are the best brains for software. When we are not  busy creating a new virus or mailing obnoxious chain letters, we indulge in this pastime"

My ambition to become a software wizard had a natural death that afternoon.  I do not invent new virus vampire anymore -- nobody seems to be concerned in virology these days. I do the next best.

I write middles for the dailies.

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