AISA DES HAI MERA - A CASE OF DIVERSITY IN UNITY There were 25-30 of them - Marathi widows in their late Seventies/early Eighties with their meagre belongings, seeking 2 live out d rest of their days in Kashi - who boarded d S9 coach of Bengalooru-Patna Sanghamitra Exp at Nagpur. Their entry caused a ruckus in d compartment as if a wild cat had been let loose in a flight of pegions. Nobody was ready 2 believe that they had a valid waiting list ticket available with a young guardian of theirs who had gone 2 talk to (read bribe) a TTE 4 some sort of seating arrangement & that they needed 2 b allowed 2 sit for few minutes only. Having learnt that they were in 4 a 20-hr long journey 2 Mughal Sarai, d passengers became a bit more conscious about d security of their seats. D 3 ladies returning home 2 Allahabad from their Rameshwaram pilgrimage had now stopped talking about d virtues of their kul-deepaks & d vices of their neighbours & started packing every inch of their 3 berths with their luggage, lest somebody sits on them. On being reminded by 1 of d old ladies - Hum bhi aurat hain, quick was their reply - Aurat hau toh kya mude pe baitha lihi. D 2 Bihari men who were boasting of their vast experience with their Arey ! Duniya dekha hai humne Bhai type attitude & were shedding tears at d victimisation of Biharis everywhere started screaming at me as soon as I offered my berth to 3 of d old ladies - Arey nahi nahi mat baithne dijiye. Ye log rahta toh satne tak nahi deta. Arey abhi pi6li garmi ki baat hai...... D old ladies with their arthritic knees were, anyway, not in a position 2 ride up 2 my upper berth. My biggest hope was with d 2 teenager engineering students of some Chennai college who were returning home 2 Allahabad & were talking about how 2 change d SYSTEM. But they proved 2 b d most ruthless in d cohort. D boy between them cried harsh -Yahan baithi toh utha k fenk dunga. D girl kept on reading her Paulo Coelho novel. D wrinkled faces, cataracted eyes & arthritic knees of d old ladies meant nothing 2 anybody present there. What meant was racial & linguistic difference. A day earlier on d 1st leg of my journey between Kochi & Chennai in d Trivandrum Central-Shalimar Exp, I had encountered dozens of Bengali tourists making chaos about how d whole world outside Bengal is osobhyo & getting in return sattirical chuckles & comments from Malayalis who compromised almost d other half of d passengers. I, out of instinct, picked up a fight with my heartless co-passengers when my wife meekly reminded me of d promise my mother had made me make 2 her at Chennai Central station while parting - Jamana bahut kharab hai beta. Pata nahi kiske man me kya hai. Thoda jhuk k reh jana. Par raste me kisi k sath jhagda mat karna. Yaad rakhna Bahu bhi hai tumhare sath. I started missing my Bhaiya like never b4. I regained my calm soon & rushed 2 find their guardian. After half an hr, I found him 8 compartments afar, begging b4 a TC. My intro as a doctor & narration of d incidence in my coach played some role & d burly TC agreed 2 partially reduce his cut & d young guardian over d next hr escorted all d ladies 2 accommodate them in various coaches. D train by then had entered MP. D pilgrim ladies had started complaining of d smell of onion emanating from d pantry car & at non-vegetarianism at large. D techno couple were busy discussing how music can b used as an instrument 2 bring revolution in todays restless world. D Bihari men who were happy after taking revenge of atrocities of able-bodied young Marathi men with d helpless old ladies of their jaat were buried in a newspaper with d back page carrying a full size ad from d Ministry of Social welfare & Empowerment with a smiling Gandhiji & d following words - AN EYE FOR AN EYE MAKES D WHOLE WORLD BLIND.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 07:43:06 +0000
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