In the late 90s a farmer from Odisha filed a First Information Report (FIR) on Theft with the Nayagarh Police. Without knowing what theft was and without going through the complaint letter, Nayagarh police accepted his FIR. For them it was just an FIR on theft, an ordinary FIR, a source of income, not at all a serious matter. They just ignored the depth of the complaint at that time. But, when they realized, it was too late;  that “a stone well (built for fetching water) of 20 feet depth and of 6 feet diameter” is the property which was stolen and the FIR is about that. They could not understand how to proceed in this case? How come a stone well can be stolen? They initially thought the  farmer must be a psychiatric patient or must have filed the FIR under the influence of alcohol. But, that was not the case. He was quite normal and deliberately he had filed the FIR. Police neither understood the case, nor wanted to solve it. After a fortnight’s deliberation and struggle, Nayagarh police tried to convince the farmer to withdraw the case, but to no avail. And finally… they had to transfer the case to the Civil Court of Nayagarh.

After a considerable delay (which is common in Indian judicial system), the case came to the chair for hearing. Like the police, the magistrate who was hearing the case also could not understand the case. How come a 20 feet deep, 6 feet diameter stone well get stolen from his land? Every one including his own lawyers were in fix! No one could understand what is the motive behind this case. Theft of a stone well was just an impossible matter — how can one dig up a concrete thing from ground and take it away. But, the farmer was insisting, was insisting to investigate. On the day of the first hearing, the farmer through his statement informed the court that he took an agricultural loan of Rs 10,000/- from the local bank a year back. With that money he built the stone well on his land. The bank did not release the entire money in one shot, instead released the money in two instalments, after they were satisfied/verified the water level through their employees/agents. Even the local Revenue Inspector (RI) had visited the land and had certified that the stone well was built at the marked place. His certificate even further said that he has also verified the water level of the stone well. With all these proofs, the  farmer managed to convince the magistrate that the stone well was there in his land.

On the second day of the hearing, the farmer again tried to justify that his stone well is stolen. “How?”, that was the question asked by the govt lawyer.  To that, the  farmer answered, “I had the well on my land for 1 year, but now it is not there in my land. I don’t have any idea where is it or who has stolen that? Therefore I filed an FIR with the police and requested the police to find my well, which was a life-line for me“. To a separate query, the police said that they do not know whether the well was there in that land or not before 1 year, but definitely it is not present in the marked land at this moment. To add to the queries, they also informed the court (from their investigation) that they could find a grassy land, where there was no sign of well and nor was there any chance of a well to be present on that spot at any point of time. The height of the grass was at-least 1 mtr, which normally takes more than year to grow. That means, the well was missing for more than a year or so ! But as per the farmer’s statement it was built one year back. The government lawyer took this point and tried to prove that the  farmer was misleading the court and he should be punished.

Interestingly the court was not convinced with the govt. lawyer’s arguments. The judge wanted to know the reaction/counter argument through the farmer’s lawyers. The farmer who was mostly arguing his own case informed the court, that the investigation report submitted by the police is correct. However, he also added that his own statements are also justified. On further arguments, he cited all certificates which were issued by various independent agencies when his loan was being processed and when the loan was sanctioned. If their certificates were right, then this stone well was actually there on his land. According to the paper works and documents prepared, the loan was sanctioned, the stone well was built and he had it ready for business purposes — but all this only on paper not in reality. It was almost one year now when the well was supposed to have been built. As per the bank’s recent notice he had to repay his loan money. So he wanted to sell his stone well like any other commodities such that he can re-pay his debt. Since he could not locate that, he filed an FIR!

Now it was up to the court whether to accept the police report or the certificates issued by various agencies! If the police was right, then the stone well was not at all built. In that case, all the certificates are false, which was actually correct. In fact, the middle men, Revenue Inspector, Bank officials and the agents forcefully deducted their part (to sanction the loan) from the loan amount while releasing the loan to the farmer and issued all fake certificates without even asking them and even seeing the land and the well. Like every other loan, they did not visit any place, no survey was done and the loan was sanctioned. Poor farmer!! he only received Rs. 8000/- instead of Rs. 10, 000/- for his loan. The rest was for the “chai-pani” for the officials and the middle men. When he tried to raise his voice, he was threatened… “your second instalment will not be sanctioned and the bank declare him a defaulture, by virtue of which he will not get any loan in future”.

Reluctantly the farmer kept his silence and  no body was there to listen to his plea, not even his fellow farmers. “Are le lo… jo milta hai le lo, sarkar election ki time pe loan maaf kar denge (Take what ever is granted, the govt. will declare a loan waver at the time of election)” – was the reply to his complaints. Had he made any further complaint, he would not have got the second instalment of the loan at all. So, he decided to take the loan and to teach a lesson to all including the society on corruption and illegal practices in sanctioning loans to farmers. He was right, he could manage to do so. His initiation was a hit. The court ordered for arrest of all the officials and the middle men involved in the loan process and fined them heavily. Court also ordered for a detailed report from the district collector and the bank head quarters on such kind of loans.

The farmer, an aamjunta like you and me did his job, brought the corruption to light. But what about us? Don’t we think we should also raise our voices on such similar cases? Don’t we think it is our duty also? And the government!, the administration also should keep an eye on the loan process, the harassment, the illegal practices, the false reports and the delay in sanctioning the loans. Why can’t we make the loan process a transparent affair?

With the increase in suicide of farmers in Vidarbh (Maharastra), Jharsuguda (Odisha), Nizamabad (Andhra Pradesh),  Durg (Chatishgarh) and so on… don’t we think it is  high time for every one including you and me to rise to the occasion and raise our voices and stop all these tamasas, effects, after effects and so on.

Jago aamjunta, jago. Na khao na khilao.

Jai Hind

Note: This post is dedicated to the departed known-unknown souls of Vidarbh, Jharsuguda, Nizamabad and Durg.

“Have you ever been in a life outside the campus?“

“Have you ever thought of commuting without your own vehicle or commuting on a shared public/private transport on a daily basis?” I guess, many of us will say YES to this. If your answer is “yes“, why don’t you share your experiences with aamjunta?. After July 2009, I too have accepted this as “the real color of life”, and started using shared transport systems.

Let me take my fellow aamjunta through three different scenes — first from an economic point of view, second from a social point of view and third from a cultural point of view.

Let me ask a simple question: 9 x 5 = ?. Surprised with this silly question? The answer given by Bhubaneswar autowalas is always more than 60 You might be wondering how? and why?  Their philosophy behind their answer is very simple. Let me explain.

If you board a shared auto from place A to place B, your autofare is Rs 9/-. The autowala can accommodate 5 people (at max, not 3 as seen in Mumbai!) in his auto. So, at max he gets Rs 45/- for his trip between A to B. Most of the times he hardly gets 5 people, and some time he picks up some fellow commuters and gets some thing in the range of Rs 3-9/-. On an average he earns Rs 40-45/- per trip. However, if you ask an autowala and reserve an auto from A to B, his charge starts from Rs 60/- and some time more. I don’t understand the philosophy behind their charge.  If an auto goes for a reserved trip, not only does he save time, but also he saves fuel, as the halts are not there — a reserved auto would usually move from one point to the other. Hence, charging more than Rs 45/ – Rs 50/- for the reserved trip is not at all justified. But, the autowalas never listen and many times lose fare, fuel as well as time – in waiting, in halts and in sharing. Who can educate them about their business and tourism sense? I tried many times with many autowalas but failed.

Is this a sense of business or greediness? Who is getting benefited? Both, the autowalas and the commuters are at the losing end.

I had heard of big-brothers in Mumbai, those who collect haftas, charge extortion money, kidnap people at gun point and sometime threaten and kill. Big city, big things, big-brothers – a common phenomena. But, what about Bhubaneswar? It is not a big city! Moreover, people here are not that rich to be extorted or kidnapped at gun point. Police is very active here. Even then… “Big-brothers” -  hard core “muscle-men” are not extinct species here. They are very much present and active. However, I found one interesting fact about the big-brothers in Bhubaneswar. In many places, people use them, not that they use people. Let me share my experience with you.

One Sunday morning, I had to go to a friend’s place on a shared auto. Had to take an auto from Rasulgarh to Jayadev Vihar. Approached the autowalas for a shared trip. No one agreed to go, “jada aadmi nahini hai, bhada nahini milega, will not go”, was their simple answer. To that, when I asked for a reserved trip, they asked for Rs 120/- where they get Rs 30/- on a shared trip — four times the normal fare! Got frustrated with their attitude, went ahead and thought of trying for a line auto or some other auto. Tried to stop many autos, but no one stopped. Some even slowed down, but did not stop. Could not understand the reason. Why don’t they stop? Initially, I thought, there might be a traffic police standing nearby. But, that was not the case. A huge – dark – fatty young guy standing nearby, was waving his fingers at the autos which tried to stop. Seeing him there, no one dared to stop. Reason – he was hired by the local autowalas of that particular auto-stand, to protect their fare, such that other autowalas will not pickup any one from that stop .   If some one stops by mistake and picks a passenger, he will be brutally punished and fined by the muscle man. Initially I started laughing, not on the muscle man, but on the attitude of the autowalas. Neither they are interested to provide services, nor they allow others. Moreover, they pay these muscle men from their own pockets. Who suffers? The commuters, they theme selves and the aamjunta. After 10 minutes of waiting and frustration, I went to the muscle man, and asked, “what kind of justice are you doing?, neither the autowalas whose fare you are protecting are willing to go, nor they allow others to take.” By that time 4/5 more people joined with me and we started shouting. Initially he started showing his dadagiri to us, but seeing a group and our anger, he left the place, and we managed to get a line auto. In the mean time, I approached the police and informed about the incident.

An Interesting Scene of a Real Drama – Request: “No Repetition Please”!

Last month, I was in my native place for Durga Puja. It was a real vacation for me after a long gap – after some 8/10 years. We had the usual Durga Puja celebrations and in addition we  have a cultural function on the last day of the vacation – on the Purnima (Full Moon) day. Kids, young school/college going girls and guys and even senior people participate in that function. We always arrange in our village  small skits,  competitions, cultural shows, quiz  and many more events to celebrate the evening.  People from many other villages also participate in the function. Like every year, this year also we had that function. The evening and the events were going smoothly.  I was asked to be a part of the organizing team, however I deliberately did not participate in  organizing the event. The reason – “Drink “- every one in the organizing team were drunk, literally not on their feet, drunk so badly that they were not even able to speak coherently. They had beer, whisky, vodka etc… as a part of the “organizational arrangement”. Initially I thought of raising a protest, but whom to say? No one was in a mood to listen, and every body was drinking. Just kept silent and was keeping an eye on the event.

More than 500 people (of which 60% are kids) were attending the event. Suddenly some one from the organizing team entered the dais and started shouting on the microphone. Shouting in-fact is not the appropriate word, he was abusing the anchor with all kinds of vulgar words. To that, the anchor (who was drunk too) started reacting – retaliating with equally vulgar words. In a fraction of a second, the dais became a battleground, the cultural evening became a farce and a travesty of what people name as “culture”. Audience watching the show tried to pacify the matter, but in vain. The other organizers too tried their best (with their so called wisdom words) to pacify this. Nothing happened, no one stopped and we all were watching helplessly. Finally they were taken away forcefully by the guests. Later, the chief guest, who happens to be a retired head master and a seasoned artist rose to the occasion and gave his gandhigiri speech which had the following content: “Like many good and bad scenes of a drama, this (abusing scene) incident is a real scene of a real drama. However, the taste of this scene is bad. And there is a public demand, “no repetition please”.”

Not only that, he took two Rs 50/- notes from his pocket and awarded the two battling organizers for their scene – for their action, their show in the drama.

I still could not understand what kind of cultural function we had? What will the kids learn from this? Drinking and Shouting with vulgar words?. Is this the batton we are passing to our future generation? Chalta hai?  Aamjunta think of it…

Are yaar, chalo… yahan so jate hain,
Haan, achhi jagah hai… kyon hostel jayenge? yahan hi so jaate hain..

This was the post job treat conversation between two students. They fell from their cycle on their way to hostel from the main gate, after taking a heavy dinner and nice cock-tail in a reputed bear bar. Interestingly, we were also in the same job treat and were on our way walking to hostel too. When we saw them lying flat on the road, we could not believe our eyes. But, what to do? We put them into an auto-rickshaw and brought them to hostel. Before bringing them back, we picked and kept their cycle (badly damaged) near a tree.

This is just one among many incidents, which can be observed in our every-day life. Some times, the drunk-police man on the road, or some time the drunk workers or rickshaw-wallah on the road, or some time the drunk officer in the office. It is observed everywhere, irrespective of place and culture.

A friend of mine went for a high profile international research workshop. He is a non-drinker and a vegetarian person. Some of his course-mates who were members of faculty in different universities, teased him that he is not an “intellectual” because he doesn’t share a drink. The friend replied them in return that he doesn’t mind people drinking in front of him, even though he doesn’t drink himself. He added what had “intellectualism” to do with drinking or not drinking. The other group replied that “an intellectual breaks stereotypes and societal norms by drinking. In fact, we get cool ideas and inspiration after a drink. Moreover, you may not gain entry into high profile circles if you do not share a drink — you would not be called an intellectual.” My friend was listening carefully and smiled a bit listening to their statement. After a pause, he replied, “so an intellectual is a radical who deviates from societal norms and establishes himself as a revolutionary?” Everyone nodded. He then continued, “by drinking an intellectual gets entry into certain exclusive circles? also breaks norms“? People looked at him intently. He continued, “precisely that is the reason why I don’t drink. Not for religious or political causes. I don’t drink because I want to break this new norm that has been established by intellectual community. By breaking tradition through drinking you are also creating new tradition of drinking. I refuse to be a part of any. My intellectualism (if that is what it means) is not to follow any tradition, and I refuse to follow ‘the intellectual tradition’. If getting drunk defines intellectualism, then I refuse to be called an intellectual.”

In an another incident, I could not believe my eyes, when I saw people making fun of a drunk bank officer in a reputed nationalized bank. Some of the customers were getting irritated and some were enjoying the free entertainment, where his colleagues were standing helpless. Finally, the branch manager had to intervene, and the officer was cordoned-off to some room in the bank. What an embarrassing scene!

If you follow newspapers or TV channels regularly, you can definitely mark/find regular news on drunken-driving, drunken-beating (wife/parents or both), feeding months salary (currency notes) in drunk state to Bulls/Cow or rapes/killing under the influence of heavy drink. These kind of incidents are of course not new to us. It happens in our society, mostly in cities (villages are not far-off though). Drinking or serving drinks in parties/treats (irrespective of high/low profile parties) is not new. In fact, it is considered to be a status symbol in our society. Beer-bars/dance bars (including ladies bars) are mushrooming, both in metros and in other cities. If the bars are just serving liquor or dance, then the harm to the society is not much. However, that does not happen in real life. Beer-bars/dance bars are becoming the hubs of all anti-social activities, starting from terrorist activities to eve-teasing, hooliganism to drug peddling, under-world activities to supari killing activities and also to violent moral policing. Does that serve the society in a healthy manner? I doubt!

Writing incidents about cities is nether sufficient nor complete to discuss these issues. Now a days, one can find many liquor shops in small cities and even in Panchayat Headquarters. You can find all brands (including deshi and videshi) of liquors there. Not only liquors, one can find other brands of Ganja/Charas there. Some of these shops are licensed while some are not. As long as they are paying haftas to the local leaders/gundas and Police, no one can stop them from doing their business. They prosper, even if they spend a lot on bribing various organizations/individuals.

On a different note. Last week, I was in Puri Swargadvara (literally Heaven’s Gate) to attend a funeral there. There is a liquor shop adjacent to the cremation ground “Swarga Dwar“. The proximity of the liquor shop to the funeral grounds was so close that one could smell the fumes of human cremation while one drank. Every one coming to the cremation ground asked one question, what is the “Foreign Liquor Shop” doing here? I too could not understand how come the shop keeper got the license there? Mostly I was thinking, “who is buying here”? at this locality? near the cremation ground!” Suddenly, two college girls (hardly in their early 20s) got down from a cycle rickshaw, went to the shop and bought 4 bottles of different brand. In no time they just vanished. After some time, couple of people came there, bought some bottles of wines and started making lewd comments on the ladies attending the funeral. I am still wondering, whether allowing to open the shop at that place is appropriate or not.

I would like to discuss one more thing. If we (many of us, including the Govt.) understand the bad-effects of these kind of shops/bars or activities, then why do we allow these shops/bars to mushroom? Is it because, the Govt. gets huge tax or revenue? or is it because these shop keepers or bar owners are influential or do we really need them? Many of us drink, some are occasional and some are regular. Some can afford, where as many cannot; resulting in regular disturbances, fights, suicides, killings, rapes, eve teasing and stealing, etc. For some of us it is a status symbol, for some of us it is a fight between life and death.

And for the aamjunta …. let aamjunta decide what is good and what is bad; we all are independent in thinking, life style and expressing our views

Note: The incidents described are inspired from real-life stories. Neither I support drinking, nor I object. But, I am strongly against the after-effects of drinking.

Recently I shifted from Mumbai to Bhubaneswar. For me, shifting to Bhubaneswar was not only a shift involving cities; it was also a shift from my hostel life to a realistic family life, a paradigm shift in thinking and looking at the world. It is a shifting from an ideal place to a practical place. I did not know that the realities of the practical world were so scary. Anyway, thought of penning some of my experiences through this post.

The incidents I’ve been experiencing here at Bhubaneswar are unique and eye opening in many ways. Some of these experiences which I’m going through are the repetitions of my earlier experiences in Delhi and Chennai. Though, the experiences are very personal, but are common with many of us. I’m sure you must have experienced some thing or the other in your life or will be experiencing in future.

Internet Connection

Living without an Internet connection at home was the toughest part of my life. I decided to get an Internet connection to my place –  inquired with other friends those are having Internet connections at their home, here at Bhubaneswar. I was advised by most of them to take BSNL’s broadband connection. Without delay, I booked a BSNL’s unlimited Broadband connection. I paid the advance amount and submitted all the forms to the designated officer in time. I was told by the Officer that I should get the connection in a couple of days. But that did not happen.

When I inquired after a week, I was told by the officer in-charge that Internet connection will be provided to my place in a day’s time. I took his assurance seriously and called all my friends and relatives to share this piece of good news. But, his assurance did not materialize. After a day or two, when I met the same officer again, I was told that every thing is Ok now and I should get the connection by the end of the day. I was little thrilled this time, but that too was short-lived.

The end of the day is yet to come and I’m yet to get a connection after submitting the form and paying the Internet rent some twenty days before.

I complained again with the SDO, BSNL, I was again given the same false assurance. Interestingly, they themselves keep on telling me that “it will be connected today, tomorrow and so on”. False assurance is a part and parcel of their services. No one told me the truth and reason behind the delay.

House Rent

The difficulties in getting a house on rent in a small or big city have its own unique stories. Especially, getting a house on rent for a bachelor is a tough problem. The experience I am sharing with you is an addition to the list of those stories.

It was 7.20am, Friday, 24th July, 2009. I, my brother and my sister-in-law went to deposit advance for the new rented house for me, which my sister-in-law had booked on 23rd July evening. We were excited, thrilled and quite relaxed.  On our arrival, we were told that some one else had given the advance last night after my sister-in-law left and had already taken the house on rent. We felt really bad. Even, we had some unnecessary arguments and discussions in our house for the reason for the delay. Even though the house owner told us that we were late in coming to take possession of the house, I was not convinced fully. I had a doubt, as he was fumbling while talking to us.  In the evening, I was told by some one else that the house has still not been given on rent. The house owner lied to us in the morning.  He had become greedy and wanted more money for his house. Moreover, he wanted a Govt. Officer and a family man, not an employee of a private firm and a bachelor as his tenant. I could not understand his philosophy. If that was in his mind, he could have told us the truth, or else he could have given us some other appropriate reason. His lie (that we were late) unnecessarily sparked an argument and created an unpleasant scenario in our house. I do not understand one thing — “is  truth such a costly affair”?

The Travel Agent

Since I did not have the Internet connection, I could not book one on-line train ticket for my urgent travel. The booking counters were too far from my place. Therefore, I approached a Travel Agent to book a train ticket for me. I gave him the advance money and gave all the details to him. After taking the money and the details, he assured me for the ticket. He even went to the extent and asked me to meet him near the platform directly to collect the ticket and board the train. I was excited and made all my arrangements for the travel.

Got ready for the journey,  called the agent one hour before the train starts to know the status of the ticket.  He again assured me about the ticket. As per his suggestion, I reached the station 20 minutes before. I was waiting there for the ticket.  He again assured me about the ticket over phone. But, he never turned up. Moreover, he did not pick my calls afterward. The train left the platform as scheduled and I came back home with anger and frustration.  Two hours after the train had left, he called me and said –  “Sir, your ticket is now ready, and you can travel tomorrow. We did not get the ticket for today’s train, we are sorry for that, but we have booked your ticket for tomorrow’s train”.

Initially I did not believe him, but had no other option left. On my further inquiry he gave me the berth/coach number. This time, I thought he is telling the truth and re-planned the travel. Next day again I called him before I left for the train. He asked me to reach the coach and collect the ticket there from his person. I was waiting there with hope. But the person did not come. When I went near the coach to verify the details which he gave me last night, I could not believe my eyes. That berth was booked on someone else’ s name. In addition, he had sold the ticket to some other person instead of giving me that ticket. Fortunately, the person who bought the ticket was one of my acquaintances. On my casual enquiry, he told me that he got the ticket after paying some Rs. 400/- extra. I could not believe this, the trick, the unprofessionalism and the unethical practices. Immediately I called the agent and asked him not to book any more ticket for me and asked him to return my money. He was keeping on telling me, sorry sir, aap ka ticket kaal wali train me kar diya gaya (we have booked your ticket for tomorrow’s train), aap kaal jaiye, wo galti ho gaya…blah blah… and was not ready to accept his  deeds. What a shame! What kind of ethics  are we into?

I booked my ticket after standing in the queue for 3 hours and promised not to approach a travel agent hence forth.

Centre for Excellence and Excellent Facility

Some days back I visited a college after I saw an advertisement in a national daily. In fact, there were several advertisements by the same college in the local TV channels too. As per the advertisement, they were claiming that they have excellent facilities for research, they have best faculties and they have strong collaborations with many foreign universities. I was excited, when I came to know about all these things in the advertisement. I decided to visit them. But, I regretted when I reached there. Regretted, because, I had lost 6 hours and some Rs 400/- to visit that college. Interestingly, they did not have any facilities for research, neither they had buildings, nor they had infrastructures. They did not have a single trained faculty. What they were claiming on quality faculty was completely false. The names they were showing are all well established faculties in USA and have never been to that place. They have a dial-up connection for Internet and their library is even smaller than my private collection. They were just fooling  people through their advertisements. I got irritated in the beginning. On a casual interaction with the trustees, I pointed out the lacunae of their claims. I thought they will take my comments seriously. Unfortunately, they smiled at me, and said, “That was an advertisement, to attract students and their parents, the list of faculties you saw in the college web-site are for the AICTE and for our future students, not for you. We are not alone in this business. Almost all  are doing the same.”

What to say? Did not have any more words.

Is the 63rd Independence year still not enough to teach us to mature in terms of our work ethics, professionalism and culture? What development are we talking of without ethics at the grass-root level? Interestingly, in “India” aamjunta is also immune to these cheats and doesnot even react.There are many more such incidents, happens with me and with you aamjuta. Everyday we see these kinds of false assurances, unethical advertisements and promises.   Don’t take those seriously.  Stick to the truth and practice truth. Else, truth, which is becoming a rare commodity, will be extinct one day.

Aamjunta – Satyameva Jayate.

So far, times have changed, years have passed, and the political equations of the world have changed. But, does that mean the mind-set of imperialism and racism has changed too? The recent developments in Australia, UK and some other part of the world have reminded us of the ugly faces of racism. Even though there are silent protest marches, and intellectual discussions on these incidents, we still see regular attacks. The racial attacks in Australia on the students of Asian Origin (mostly Indians) have forced the Indian government too to voice its concern. Yet, racial attacks are still on through violence and/or through discrimination. As a matter of fact, after the racial attacks, the student intake in Australia has decreased. It is not only going to impact the economy of that country, but also is going to impact the relationship of India and Australia in a long run.

Racism in Australia has had its historical facts. It has had a very difficult past where almost a kind of apartheid has been practiced and the aboriginal people lost all their land. These people have been suffering from many prejudices. They are not only facing poverty, but also are subjected to various notorious policies in the past. For example, in June 1998, “One Nation”, an Australian nationalist party in Queensland won 22% of the votes (11 out of 89 seats) – with their main lines as fighting against immigration of non-whites. Even though their “race-based” populist measures had created uproar in the mainstream Australia and abroad, they could manage to win 22% of votes as the un-employment was very high. They could also manage to convince the people that “immigrants were taking their jobs”. Hate speeches and hate newspaper writings by their leaders in the past had triggered violence. Their concern “in danger of being swamped” by Asians also had an impact on the election results.

It is to be remembered that racism is not confined to Australia only. Many other parts of the world are also witnessing racism either through violent attacks or social discrimination or social un-acceptance. Coming to the racism in Africa, one can observe the row in many African countries. Since most of the African countries have gained independence from their former colonial countries, apartheid and racism is quite evident there. The policy of brutality by the rulers and slavery had also been practiced in many parts of the world through centuries. In most of the places, the conflicts of resource allocation has also triggered wide spread violence against their colonial rulers. For example, the violence in Zimbabwe against the white farmers is due to the poverty and lack of land ownership by the black farmers. Some argue that it is anti-racism. But, does anti-racism advocate violence? If yes, it too is a problematic concern.

In the Middle East – with its policies, the “West” has created (mostly) many more extremist groups. The “oil politics” of the mighty “West” have created not only extremist factions, but also have turned into a form of racism as well; “West” is either hated by “Middle-East” or Middle-East is despised by the “West”.

With the world trade tower bombings on September 11, 2001, there have been violent, hate relationships between various sections of society in different parts of the world. Many innocent people of Indian origin and or of Middle East/Pakistan origin are killed and abused or side lined in different parts of the world. In fact, many Sikhs were “officially” attacked post-9/11/. Why should innocent people be victimized? Both parties retaliated without realizing the consequences. The retaliation by the minority/majority leads only to violence and destruction of the human kind. Racism along with religious clashes at different parts of the world has complicated the entire system of world histories and geographies.

While saying all these things, we should not forget our own country. We too are not cleaned from racial rows. The manus vs. bhaiya in Maharastra, the Hindi vs. non-Hindi in South and the epithet of “Chinky” to the North-Eastern students have not only been witnessed in violence, but also raised many questions about our stake on racism. If people of one part of India are treated racially in the other part of the country, then how do we expect justice from Australians, or Europeans and Americans? Dividing the country based on language, region, and religion might lead to more racial abuses and cases of violence. Either encroachment by immigrants or a sense of superiority or inferiority of one part of the society, adds fuel to the fire. This not only has created social exclusiveness, but also has divided the entire society. Social exclusiveness or forming clubs/parties of exclusiveness is of course not a major problem. But the problem is in its outcome. The exhibition of superiority and un-approachability of the superior class emerges from such social exclusiveness. It divides people of a rich state or a poor state, a developed state or an under-developed state, etc. In a global context, it is India vs. America or India vs. Europe or Australia; the developing vs. developed.

It is understood that racial superiority or imperial arrogance leads to political and economic division between countries and states. As a matter of fact, the division becomes more serious and becomes the class of affordability vs. the world of millions, the aamjunta. One thing is common between these divided groups – dislike/hate against each other. They are ignorant of each other, leading to hate and dislike. Along with the above divisions, many people also relate racism with the level of intelligence and/or with IQ. This is a myth and is scientifically proved to be wrong.

Along with racism, the plight of caste based systems in India has also complicated the entire scenario. The family to which one was born usually determined one’s social status and discriminatory social, political, economical and educational discrimination. The question arises, is merit earned by the possibility of being inevitably born is a certain caste or by one’s actions and efforts? It appears these days in India that caste decide one’s social status. Don’t we think we need an early solution to this? Are we serious enough to resolve this? I doubt. Short-term political goals should be scrutinized and discouraged. The rising inequality among castes, regions, and religions require through checking. Unless, we control this, we are bound to develop racial bias for scape-goating or advancing xenophobic and isolationist tendencies.

It has been rightly said:

… Once, they demonised the blacks to justify slavery. Then they demonised  the “coloureds” to justify colonialism. Today, they demonise asylum seekers to justify the ways of globalism. And, in the age of the media, of spin, demonisation sets out the parameters of popular culture within which such exclusion finds its own rationale — usually under the guise of xenophobia, the fear of strangers.

A. Sivanandan, Poverty is the new black, The Guardian, August 17, 2001

Racism has been in practice, and no doubt will be there in any other form in future. Social and cultural tolerance and equal share of the natural resources is desired, if we are interested to control racism. This however is not going to be easy for any generation. Rising un-employment, and pathetic mind-set of both ruled and ruler need a brake. Else, more violence may be triggered. The division of the elite and the millions requires to be treated carefully. Restraint is desired from both the aamjunta or the millions and the elite. It is we, who can pacify this, though cannot stop it completely. Only the “common man” has the capability to break away from these political traps that divide a human from another human on the basis of race, caste and creed.

Aamjunta – what is your stake?

It was quarter to midnight, had our dinner in Pizza Hut, Hiranandani Gardens, Powai.

I felt greedy when Ketan floated the idea about trying some new flavors at Naturals Ice Cream Parlor. And so, both of us decided to go for it, even though we had quite a lot of work in the lab. The parlour was just a 10 minutes walk. We had just crossed the Galeria building, when suddenly, a lady’s voice called Ketan’s name from somewhere behind: Ketu… hai…Ketu…. When we turned our heads towards the direction of the sound, we could see a group of young guys and gals discussing with each other, and one of them, a short, lanky, girl with a big nose pin, dressed in a pair of shorts and Tees came out… Shy as he is by nature, Ketan could not understand how to react…. Moreover, my presence made him slightly uncomfortable. Before he could say anything, she had already started talking and had extended her hand for a warm handshake. I could guess, that Ketan wanted to avoid, and make that meeting a quick affair, but could not. Instead, gave his mobile number, and promised her a treat some other day It took some 15 minutes for him to convince her that he was busy today and finally to say “good night” to her. We had to rush, as it was past midnight. Unfortunately, could not get Ice cream as the shop was closed by that time.

By the time, I could observe that and Ketan was still in that mid-night (shock) meeting. I casually inquired…

What happens boss? Whats the matter..

“Nothing, it is just paining”

“What? What is paining?”

“My palm is paining…Mala scratched my palm with her long nails… could not say any thing to her..”

“Oh! thats interesting“, I just made this comment with a smile…

I could see that Ketan was feeling bit restless, but could not figure out whether his restlessness was because of his meeting this girl at a wrong time and wrong place? or because of the scratching and the pain It did not take time to figure out … “it was his meeting her at a wrong place, at a wrong time and in my presence” which was the cause of his restlessness. Afterwards, he made several stories, and has been clarifying since … that “she is just a school mate of mine, had never spoken to her before, just a friend… blah blah…”; trying to convince me…

This is not only the story of Ketan… In my last 7 years of campus life, I have witnessed at least some hundred different incidents. Interestingly, most of them are at night, between 12.30 am to 4.30 am. I could remember meeting Boni with his “friend” at about 4.20 am on a rainy night (morning?) while going to the station to get the early morning local train to Khopoli. Both of them were standing, under a tree in the main road, completely drenched in the rain… I was in a hurry, just said “Hi” and went on my way. Poor Boni called me at least some 4 times on that day… with different reasons… just to know, what was my reaction…!!

Another such incident happened, while I was returning to my room from lab at about 2.30 am, I saw Nutan going towards lake side at that time of the night with her new friend. I was in half sleep, was about to rummage my cycle into them. I thought it was my mistake and was about to say sorry, but they just vanished in no time. Next day, Nutan called a friend of mine and invited her for a dinner treat at Laxmi. Though my friend could not understand the reason of her sudden invitation, she could smell some thing fussy during the dinner. Nutan inquired many things about me from my friend, and finally asked, “did aamjunta say anything to you?” It was just a bouncer for my friend. Realizing that my friend does not know any thing about the last night’s incident, Nutan changed the topic in no time.

On a different note, I could remember when Suryapratap narrated the story of Nidhi and Mohan. Both of them were in their initial days of love, used to go for dinners, movies, malls; but when some of our friends saw them or spotted them, they used to behave as if they are just strangers…

Once during my graduation days, I was on a vacation with my family to Koraput (Odisha). While getting down from the bus at a hill station near Koraput, I saw Radha and Sid waiting there for a Bus. Before I could go closer and say a “hi” to them, they just vanished from the place, reason… they had bunked classes and had come to this place without any one’s knowledge. Embarassing for me because they did not acknowledge, and my parents were asking…“is there any thing wrong between you and Sid?” Why did he leave without saying a Hi to you? Embarassing for Sid as well… for obvious reasons.. I had no other way out but to convince my parents, that he was not Sid, but some one else….

That happens People behave interestingly when they meet some one at a wrong time and wrong place. Moreover, our cultural and societal restraints make us slightly conscious when we are in the initial days of “dating” — though I still do not understand the full-implications of the term.

Being discreet about relationships is common — me, you, the politicians, celebrities, and the aamjunta. The answering patterns are common… “we are just friends”, “it was a courtesy visit”, “we are family friends”, etc., etc. Celebrities use these tactics very coolly for the camera and paparazzi and so does the aamjunta. But, paparazzi exists in all societies and these statements are sometimes forgivable because after all there is something called : “privacy” !

Aamjunta, have you experienced any thing of this kind?

Disclaimer: All names used in this post are fictionalized. However, the incidents described are inspired from real-life stories.

While browsing through the Placement Blog, I came across Coal India Limited’s Management Trainee Joining Form. It is a 26-page document with so many blanks to fill in declarations, personal details and professional details, etc. But, what surprised me is the declaration that the new employee has to sign at the time of joining:

• That I am married and have only one wife living.
• That I am married and my husband has no other wife living.

CIL MT Joining Declaration

I was wondering, how come the wife will declare that her husband has no more wives? Does that imply, that a female trainee can have more than one living husband? Moreover, does she know every thing about her husband’s life and personal relationships? Why does the employer need to ask such kind of questions?, which has more to do with the personal life than the professional one. How does disclosure of marriage help in seeking better employees?

If this is the law of the land, that your husband should have only one living wife, then how come Chief Minister(s), Central and State Minister(s) have multiple living wives? Not only that, there are enough sitting MPs and MLAs, who have multiple living wives. Even Celebrities and Film Stars too have multiple simultaneous relationships. Is it a fashion meant only for people who can afford it? Is it a necessity for power game? I am not going to write the huge list of people who have multiple (living) marriages here. This is because, I do not want to encroach some one’s private life and make that public. It is not a personal vendetta, rather an ideological battle.

There are couple of questions which came into my mind.

1. If it is considered as a part of law under IPC to have only one living wife, then what prevents the state machinery to block them from power? Is it not a double standard?
2. How can people (netas/leaders) with multiple wives decide whether their followers will have one or more wives? I mean to say, that most of these people in power wield these laws meant for aamjunta, when they themselves break these laws.

Aamjunta, what do you think?

Note: I do not advocate the thought of Bigamy or polyandry. I am still an eligible bachelor

Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.

John F. Kennedy

The recent Indian Lok Sabha elections have been trend setting in a unique way. Actually, it was aamjunta who was victorious in the last election against nefarious combinations and opportunistic alliances. It was the win of individuals who have actually “worked” against the arm-chair media savvy election campaign policies of parties. For almost the first time, aamjunta voted for people rather than parties.

Now, the election drama and mud-slinging at each other is over! For many of us the election results were beyond our expectations. But, if you analyze from a very close angle, you can sense that the results were obvious. The common man or the aamjunta has done the right job by choosing people whom they see working for their society or their community. Of course, this time too there were manipulations, but which political agency doesn’t manipulate?

Every political party uses its influence through the state machinery; some time wins, some time loses badly. The hunger for power never diminishes. In the name of democracy and ideology, family members fight with each other for the same seat. The reason – it is an election between political parties, and for them, bringing power “home” at any cost is of foremost importance. The seat should go to their own family member, no matter which part he/she belongs to and does not matter who wins the race. Politics has become dynastic in nature.

Going down the memory lane ……

It was a by-poll in the Laxmipur assembly segment of Koraput in Odisha, some time in the mid nineties. Two brothers were contesting; the younger one had a Janata Dal ticket and the elder one on a Congress ticket. Both of them were staying together, and had a single Mahindra Jeep for election campaigning. With Biju Patnaik’s photo in the morning and with Indiraji’s photo in the evening, both brothers managed to campaign and divide people. Front side of their house was the Congress office and rear was Janata Dal’s office. Campaigning ended peacefully, but the election did not. There were violence during the election and at least 5 people died on the election day. But, for whom and for which political ideology these people fought with each other and lost their lives? Ultimately, power had to be in the family, the brothers had great understanding among themselves, but because of their personal power-hunger 5 innocent civilians lost their lives. One of them ruled, while the other expanded his business in the constituency of the brother, whereas the aamjunta suffered.

Things have changed a bit today. Awareness has gone up. E-campaigning has taken a big stage, mobile campaigning is the tool now. One would be astonished to see Advaniji’s Photo and a message “whom do you want to see as a strong PM?, vote for BJP and L. K. Advani” in Dawn’s (leading Pakistan Daily) on-line news portal. Getting SMS… very common at least 1/2 SMS in a day came to cell-phones prior to elections; some times I wonder “what happens to the Supreme Court’s Directive and TRAI’s observations?” Do the political parties and their SMS campaigning not come under these directives and observations? Some one should file a PIL on this.

With IPL-2 in parallel, election campaigning did not come to as much lime-light as it used to be. Even then, the hate-love speech of Varun Gandhi and Sanjay Dutt, fasting of Karunanidi, Desh ki samman of Advani, anti-Computer-cum-English (i)literacy of Mulayam Singh, Jai Ho of Congress, Manus of Raj, played an interesting role during the time. Election went off smoothly, with some Maoist attacks and violence in between. But, overall, it was smooth. And on the voting day – some people enjoyed voting in the queue and majority…. enjoyed the holidays. In Mumbai, it was a 4-day holiday, resulting in a 44% voting turn out; the worst was in South Mumbai though

Like every time, this time also, I had decided to spend the day in front of the TV Set for counting. But, at the final moments did not feel like wasting my time. Went back to work instead. In most places, the results were as expected. The win of Congress or loss of BJP, did not create enough interest in me. What I could see was very clear, “the aamjunta has won, voted not the right party but the right person at the right place“. For example in Mumbai- all seven seats were won by Congress-NCP coalition. The in-fight in Senas and rise of MNS has spoiled the chances of the winning of Sena-BJP combine. BJP was the worst loser in this. They should have sensed this result long back; when bhaiyas were beaten up in platforms and thrown out of trains. Congress did not arrest Raj, Senas supported the movement and the BJP was a mute spectator. And the result – the hate of bhaiyas for the Sena-BJP combination was on rise, affected the result, not only in Mumbai, but also in UP and Bihar. On a lighter note, let me ask – who is representing Manus of Mumbai in Delhi? Bhaiyas or Manus? All the winners in Mumbai have north-Indian links. BJP as well as the Sena have to realize this. BJP especially has to act as a national party and not have the bias of a regional party. Unless they act/react at the right moment, others have and will always take away the ship.

In UP, whether someone accepts or not, the hate-love speeches had an impact on the vote share. Interestingly, Kalayan Singh’s dal-badlu at the last moment, Behenji’s dalit ki beti ka nara, jhappi-ya-pappi of Sanjy Dutt did not have much impact on the result. And with BJP – how can some one believe of “Ram Mandir ki nara” in the 21st century? Do they think the aamjunta is a fool, does not understand their politics of divide and rule? Common man understands that there is no point in fighting for political leaders and parties, because ultimately it is the common man who suffers, neither the parties nor politicians. This common man’s shops, shanties and slums and lives are at risk during communal or social violence. We are made puppets who dance at the tunes of politicians and ultimately put fire into our own homes. So, this time if their leaders can change their parties because their sons and daughters are not getting tickets, then why can’t aamjunta not change their votes? Moreover, why should they support some people who could not fight for their cause in Mumbai and other places. The public sentiment has to be understood by the parties. Indian electorate is slowly coming of age. Right steps at the right time is more important.

Congress too should not get overwhelmed with the results too. They won, not because they deserve, but because of the shear frustration of the aamjunta on the action and reaction of others and also because aamjunta was afraid of a new deadly coalition and post-poll pathetic jod-tod or alliances. The reaction was more against horse trading after elections rather than parties per say.

It is true that local problems and local issues have a big impact on the elections. Regional parties use this to lure the voters and make a good business out of it at the center. Some times they succeed, some times not. Let us discuss from north to south. The grand alliance of LJP and RJD was a costly affair. LJP got wiped out and RJD managed to save 4 out of 40. (Un)Fortunately Paswanji has to sit idle this time without any ministry and Laluji’s train got de-railed. Their betrayal of Congress was a costly affair. In West Bengal, Trinamool Congress and Congress combination has brought some hope after 40 years. Didi can now dream of becoming the future CM. But, on her way to the CM’s chair, she has created Singurs and Nandigrams with the help of Communists. Both the parties have to be blamed for this.

Down the line, in Odisha, BJP have lost the ground. Their big mistake was taking BJD as a casual partner. In politics, nothing is casual, no one is a friend and no one is an enemy. Their mismanagement and failure in negotiating with BJD costed them the worst in this election. With some 6 odd seats (from 32 in 2004), in the Bidhan Sabha and zero in the Lok Sabha, how do they dream of ruling that state? Their other blunder was communaliztion of Kandhamal. Interestingly, they won 2 out of 3 assembly segments there, but lost all over the state. Not only that, the impact of Kandhamal was heard in southern states like Kerla and Tamil Nadu, north-eastern states like Manipur, Sikkim, Assam and others. Unless they come out from this mind-set and ideology, I doubt… many prime ministers in waiting will come and go from BJP; will be dropped at the queue.

Further South, BJP did not get a friend in Andhra Pradesh. Chiru’s Praja Rajyam (rule of the subjects) has cerated the spoil for them. The Praja Rajyam not only blocked TDP from the power race, but also blocked BJP from creating a base in south. With two people’s fight, the third person wins; so does the Congress. Further south, every one wanted to become the messiah of Tamil cause in Sri Lanka. Karunanidhi’s certificate to Prabhakaran, Vaiko’s open support, Subramanian Swamy’s comment, Jayalalithaa’s u-turn on Tamil issue made not only furore during the election, but also changed the history and statistics in Tamil Nadu’s election. Congress and DMK got a face save, AIDMK rose from the last time dust bite. But, like every election, this time the incumbency did not have any impact. BJP lost every thing, neither AIDMK nor DMK was with them. Similar drama was seen in Kerla. The left got a massive blow, may be that was the nuclear (bomb) blow.

The states like Gujurat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Chatisgarh, Jharkhand and some extent in Maharastra the BJP has got a face saving, whereas in Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerla, the entire north-east, and Rajasthan (their one time gad or durg or fort ) it got wiped out. In most of the states, they lost to regional parties, with whom they had seat sharing before. BJPs “media-savy” central leadership did not have proper coordination with the state leadership. Result: complete failure. Like BJP, the lefts also had a miss in both West Bengal and Kerla. No one other than their party caders should be blamed for their poor performances. The ghosts of Singur and Nandigram are not letting them go as before.

And the congress, rose from a nil to 20+ in UP, from no where to power in West Bengal and Kerla, from a miss to hit in Rajasthan and 100% in Mumbai and Delhi. What else? Somewhere they won on their own, some where they won because of their friends, and some where they won because of the in-fights of their rivals. On the other hand, the biggest loser in the tally is the BSP. They fought some 500+ seats all over the country, but managed to get only 20+ seats. With that number also, their leader dreams of becoming the PM of the country. Interestingly, every one in India now is interested in becoming the PM, starting from Sharad Powar to Arjun Singh, Pranab Mukharejee to AK Antony, Mayawati to Mulayam Singh, LK Advani to Narendra Modi, Lalu Prasad to Nitish Kumar and Ram Vilas Paswan to Deva Gauda... every body was in the race. In fact, even Jaspal Bhatti and Shekhar Suman were also Prime Ministerial candidates… Hmmm, but, finally Manmohan Singh sworn-in as the PM.

Anyway, the elections are over, the results are out, and swearing in ceremony is over. Many are doing in political terminology “atma-manthans” now. Better luck next time

Aamjunta, watch it, keep an eye and judge properly next time too.

PS: There are certain terms which form a part of political lingo of India that have been used in this article. The author documents these terms without any offence to the general readers.

It was 8th Aug, 1990, I joined hostel at Ravenshaw College, Cuttack. Was stepping into a new life — a life other than my home. I had just completed my 10th at the time. In the initial days of my hostel life, I was unable to cope up mainly with the life style and hostel food. Food was (is) never bad, only that the preparation was not as per my taste, which was tuned to Mom’s kitchen. But, over the years, I’ve changed my food habit as well as my taste buds. Nothing great about that; this happens if you stay in hostel for more than 15 years . Now, I love hostel food. However, that does not mean, I do not have cribs. Yes, some time I too have cribs, like, “that item is bad, this is more oily, no green veg, chapati is not properly baked, rice is half cooked,” etc., etc… Very common cribs among regular hostelites.

Enjoying and cribbing over food is natural, and we do that in home, hotel or hostel. But, there is a difference in cribbing over food and wasting food. We waste food everywhere — home/hotel/hostel. Even the best preparations in the best banquets are also sometimes wasted. But, in this article I have basically concentrated on the food wastage in hostels.

One can observe the amount of food that gets wasted per day in a hostel and can collect the data of this wastage, the results might be appalling. The amount of wastage in bigger hostels are really big and are easily noticeable. In small hostels too there are food wastage, but hardly any one cares to notice that properly. I am reproducing here some of our observations based on the statistics of Hostel-12/13 mess of IIT Bombay.

To know the exact amount of wastage and the pattern of wastage in our hostel (Hostel 12-13, IIT Bombay), the mess team started taking a stock of it. Every day, the mess team weighs the entire wasted food per meal (breakfast, lunch, tiffin and dinner separately) and reports the same in the mess notice board. Just to give an idea of the amount of food we waste in our mess, I inquired with the Mess Manager and requested him to give me a month’s detail. Thought of putting a week’s data here:

With the average per day per meal of 800 mess members, the amount of food wastage one see in the above table is definitely a matter of huge concern. In an average day, the amount of food we waste in the hostel is around 130 Kg, which might be sufficient of another 400+ meals!! That means, every 4 person who eat in our mess waste food sufficient to feed one more person. Is not this statistics alarming? When people in this country die of hunger, a small mess like H-12/H-13 wastes food sufficient for 400 people daily. If you extrapolate this statistics to other hostels of IIT Bombay, then I wonder how much food we waste daily. There are roughly 5000 inmates and 14 hostels in IIT Bombay!

Many students justify the wastage, saying “the quality of food is not good”; “we are paying, so we will waste”; “why should the mess manager makes the profit alone?”, etc., etc… Are these excuses of educated people acceptable? On my part, I simply reject all these excuses. These are in-human!

One should remember that food wastage is not only a local issue, it is also a national issue. There should be an awareness campaign on this aspect. In fact, the mess team had started an awareness campaign in H-12/H-13 mess. They write articles in institute magazines and keep on putting various quotes/photos in the mess with “save food” campaign. Yes, the wastage has gone down after that, but not significantly. The statistics I’m showing here is based on data of the post-awareness campaign. Just imagine, the amount of wastage we had before!!

In my last post “Mumbai Blues“, I had narrated the incident of an old man looking for food in garbage/dust bins. In a country like India and in a continent like Asia which faces the biggest challenge of poverty, malnutrition and shortage of food, can we afford such a dangerous luxury of food wastage?

Aamjunta, what is your take on this? What do you say on my quote “Waste Mat Karo, Taste Karo”? Do share your views.

It was almost quarter to eleven on a regular working day…

I had a tough day at lab and hostel trying to juggle with balancing my time and thesis writing. Additionally, summer seems to take toll on one’s energy level. That evening I got so irritable, stressed and exhausted that was unable to utter a single word. The demand and supply chain of the thesis writing was not matching. Demand was very high resulting in high pressure on the quality, quantity and the pace of my output. Anyway, I decided to skip dinner, had some biscuits instead in lab itself. Suddenly, my exasperation with the process made me think seriously of taking a break and I decided to go to either lake side or some where else and to sit there for some time by myself. I decided that I will not seek company and so did not ask any one to come along with me. On normal occasions, I have friends whom can ask and who will not deny their company. But, today it was different — just wanted to be by myself. Wanted some private and quite moments for myself.

I left lab somewhere around 11.00pm with my bag, laptop and books. Headed for an unknown destination. I was near the SOM kiosk, when I saw an auto coming from hostel side. Waved my hand gesturing him to stop, fortunately he halted. I asked him…“Boss kahin chaloge?” kahan? – he asked.. hmmmm HN chaloge? (will you go to Hiranandani?). He agreed immediately and I comfortably slipped into it. I was so tired that did not even feel like getting down at HN Galleria. But, the auto reached HN in no time. I got down, paid him, walked to the ice-cream parlor had some ice-cream and then cool drinks.

After a while, I started feeling better and sat for some time near the galleria arch. My phone rang…friends and family were trying to reach me…. But, I decided not to disturb others with my stress stories. Switched that off and kept in my pocket. It was slightly breezy that evening and I sat observing people — precisely people of Mumbai in the dark night. Many couples were around too, sitting very close to each other and sharing their life and thoughts. Mumbai affords so little of private space that people have to find shelter in the market-places, malls and theaters to spare some time for their love stories. Most of these couples were in completely engrossed mode, and it did not not matter to them who was sitting there, who was staring at them or who was passing-by. I felt slightly out of place being without a (female ) companion to share some intimate moments. I left the place so as to allow the couples to enjoy their privacy, and searched for some other place to sit. It was almost 11.30 pm by that time. The chairs in front of Haiko mall were empty. Selected a corner seat, so that I do not disturb people and people do not disturb me. I sat for some time, looking here and there, luxury cars coming and going, the autos, the people around, the security guards and the “night-riders” like me. A unique aspect of Mumbai is that it suddenly bustles and jostles with the night moving into deeper darkness. The corner seat I had chosen for myself gave a nice view of many landmarks of HN: the Rodas hotel, the Haiko mall, the Pavilion restaurant and the main road. In the light of the street-lamps the roads of Mumbai glitter like the body of a slithering cobra.

There was no one sitting around me. I was alone. But all of a sudden, my attention got diverted when I saw an old man, ill-looking, in his late 60s or early 70s. He was almost on the verge of nudity as his torn dhoti and gamccha were in threads, hardly did help to cover his sickly body. He looked like a scare-crow who has been brought to life and left in the glitter and glitz of the mega city…. Trying desperately to hide his bare chest and body with his dirty old gamchha, the man was on his way to some unknown destination. He seemed to be only busy searching for something in the dust-bins placed near the roads and the malls. I was curious now and started to take an interest in this character who seemed straight out of some novel. The man came closer to where I was sitting, he had huge eyes placed on a completely dark skin. He stopped near the dust-bin that was placed close to my chair and started searching for some thing. I was curious… what must he be looking for and at this time? Many things came into my mind… starting from incidents of putting bombs in dustbins to searching for food…. I started observing him from a close angle as he hunted the dustbin as if on a treasure hunt. He was only picking up the cans (cool drink cans) and plastic bottles. Collected some 4/5 bottles, 2/3 cans, 1/2 poly bags… but was still searching for some thing else… became curious.. what is he looking for? and at that late night?

Before I could ask any thing, a lady in her late 30s came and asked him politely with a voice full of compassion, “baba kya dhund rahe ho”? The old man was surprised beyond words… for the words “baba”… he seemed to have never have come across these words! He looked frightened for a moment, but when he saw that the lady meant no harm, gathered a little courage and told her… “kuchh nahini”…. Then she asked, “aap ko kya chahiye?” He was quiet for a moment and replied, “nahin beti.. kuchh khana dhund raha hun… (looking for some food). I am taking these things (bags, bottles and cans) such that I can sell them get some money tomorrow. I don’t think I’ll get any food from here at this time of the night. But, can not sell these now…It’s late”. I was shocked to see that the man was not begging, he was just hunting for left-overs in the dustbin. The lady seem to stifle her tears and went back to her husband, got some 20/30 rupees…gave him that money and said.. “kal ka bare me bad me sochna.. aab jao… kuchh khalo...(think about tomorrow, when it is tomorrow…go and eat something now)”. He took that money, smiled gratefully and left. And I… sat thinking… where is he going? I had only 30 rupees in my pocket, enough for going back to hostel in an auto, couldn’t even spare that with him. But, was extremely happy to observe that even there are people in the busy life of Mumbai who come and help a man like that on their own accord. What amazed me even more was that the man did not beg from any one…

I was lost in my own thoughts, when suddenly my attention got diverted by the parking sound of a huge Honda city in front of Rodas Hotel. A gorgeously decked-up lady in her early 30s got down from the car. She was accompanied by her little baby (hardly 1/2year old) and her husband. The husband was carrying the baby, was dressed in a neat three-piece suit. He was perhaps in mid-thirties, calm, composed with signs of prosperity. And she… I hardly traced any sign of clothes. She was also on the verge of nudity, her nano-skirt and figure hugging back-less top with low-cut neck lines, nine-inch sandals and dark luscious wine lipstick.… She looked like something which I have only seen in a few fashion magazines like FHM or Femina. The couple were heading for the Pavilion restaurant for some high profile party. I was wondering how come people dress like this? Are married ladies in Mumbai so liberal in front of their husbands? I thought may be I am getting old fashioned and orthodox. But, somehow could not help myself comparing this scantily-clad young lady with that semi-clad old man…. He was also barely dressed like her…. But the difference was painful, he could not afford, whereas she did not want…While the old man was frightened even of a dog crawling near him, this lady bursted on the security guard and scolded him as he did not open the door fully for her to enter….

Hmm, both the incidents took me away from my own state of troubled existence….I had enough of this world too…checked my wrist watch… it was almost 12.30 am and past midnight…. The scenes of HN had already overpowered me and cleansed my own tension of thesis writing. I started looking for an auto…to get back to my “home” for the last 7 years.

Aamjunta, do share your experiences if any…

P.N.: This post is a kind of sequel to Anne de Plume’s post on “Who is a Human?” on Iris