Phir wahi shaam,phir wahi....
It had been a close, rainy day in January,quite unusual for that part of the year,but its India we have got too many varieties to choose from people to weather!Blinds half-drawn and me laying curled upon the sofa,reading and re-reading the ‘daily legitimate gossiper’,oh!I mean the newspaper.Alas!paper was uninteresting despite every possible corner filled with scam tainted leaders,break-ups and P3ps!!I was yearning to get out and get lost,to watch lot many attractions which the world presents in every nook and corner!I have always loved to lie in the very centre of five millions of people, with my filaments(my 3rd eye and this pen!) stretching out and running through them, responsive to every little jostle.The evening had brought a breeze with it.I thought,”What do you
say to a ramble through your bazaar?”.I was weary of my large living-room with bare walls and a tv(!) and gladly acquiesced.
For three hours i strolled about watching the ever-changing kaleidoscope of life as it ebbs and flows through motilal galli and the stand. My characteristic stupid vice of tracking of trail of thoughts of every other creation like me,with keen observance of detail and subtle power of inference,revealing many a canvases held me amused and enthralled as usual.
Whenever I step out in a weather as today wherein heavens might shower at any moment again,I cloud myself completely with a raincoat and plugin my i-pod.To stroll in a weather as this is a pleasure which I by no means miss.Once I tune in sounds and noises start flowing through this tiny masterpiece,tune in,tune in,rj’s start jostling through that little time of theirs and ours before which we ditch them and go for their neighbour in no time afterall!!People request songs,I wonder why cant they listen to their own which they would have stored in their respective phones.Don’t tag me cynical,please!I m just being logical.Why indeed do they need to come on air and place a request to listen to that one song!!Why indeed should I make that one thought complex and decided to let go!Afterall we require someone to listen to every now and then to make us relive the feeling that ‘indeed I ‘m alive!’.Passing through the stand watching people or rather the vice versa makes it amusing,People rushing towards the bus stop holding their umbrellas in one hand and their lunch pack in the other,with the fancy formal bags clinging to their sides.Few running for shelter with their tiring efforts to cover their head with that small bunch of books and a white kerchief.All que up in that 7sqm sheltered place near bus stop!oh!and their invaluable smiles on seeing an acquaintance,the fellow traveler who too inturn feels something amiss if the counterpart is late or absent.Few meet while departing and few travel buddies meet in the morning just to say a hi and to know about each others lunch packJSometimes I feel the world is just amazing,as though each of us are connected to one another in some or the other way,what if it is just a familiar glance as they say ‘ek nazar kaafi hain!’.Few waiting anxiously for their buses to come and just jump in them,afterall they have to think about dinner to be prepared,kids to be seen and husband’s roz ka office story to be heard,they are one category of living people called ‘middle class or I would say nuclear family middle/lower middle class working women’!!That does not stop them from smiling either.I pass and so do they,none of us knowing each other through person know many a things through that one unknown familiar glance!On my way back home sweet home having a kulfi from Mithi bhai is a must,other wise the sole purpose of me dragging my body in that dreadful weather is an utter waste and at times when the shop is closed,especially in that weather I feel so anguished over Mithi bhai and feel like thrashing her nashe main dhuth husband black and blue for it is the sole reason from stopping mithi bhai opening her shop for the bruises of last night will be to much to bear for her.To prepare and get kulfi is next to impossible.Luckily its open,oh grace hail Nathuram(well!the rascal is Mithi bhai’s husband mahashay!)
Further down the lane sitting in a char by char gaddi is Babu bhai,ek lalteen and his chai ki dukhaan.He too never misses to throw that one familiar glance and a salaam.teenu starts wailing and wagging its tail to signature his presence in that scene whose daily dose ka biscoot is still remaining.Below the char foot by char foot gaddi is Teenu’s ghar grihasthi!!and I shout’ Babu bhai biscoot pack!’.Teenu has a sweet family after all with a puppy and family planning the only responsible citi’jan’!Strange,absolutely strange!!
On crossing the street and coming out of that chaalis feet(oh yeh lambaayi hain!!)galli I reach Godowwin street exclusively filled with up-scale apartments,’chowki-daar(u) meethings’!,flashy lights and of course my flat,walls and a five feet balcony opening beautifully to Mrs.Sharma’s kitchen.Oh!I have no issues with that after all its community living I say!!;-)phir wahi sham,phir wahi chaar deewaarein aur meri doordarshan!!;-)
