Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Les étrangers

Very often than not, you meet a few strangers in life - strangers with whom you may interact only once or twice in your life - but they leave an indelible impression on you. You end up not even knowing their names in most cases - but, it is either the way they talk, the specific words they use, their body language or simply something that you never realise, that characterises each of them them uniquely. As time passes, you may not remember them vividly, and all that remain are some cherishable memories that you fondly remember.

What follows is a description of a couple of such souls I met during my recent trip to India - souls who make your life interesting, and you thank them for being a part of your life...

The "Puneri" Karyalaya (wedding hall) Manager
It was a typical Marathi wedding setting at my hometown Pune. All people on the bride's side were standing in line at the gate of the wedding hall to welcome the junta on the groom's side. A lovely rangoli decorated with myriad colors & petals, and deeyas awaited eagerly the arrival of the groom. Being a monsoon month, the hall was covered with a mandap (cloth), almost 20 ft high. Thats when the wedding hall manager came along, dressed immaculately in a well-ironed shirt & trousers, giving his instructions to different people working at the wedding hall. As he turned his attention towards the gate, he looked at the rangoli, and then thundered at us -

"Please remove the deeyas as soon as the groom passes by. The entire mandap is completely made of cloth - so, please remove the deeyas immediately."

When he said this, we immediately looked at the handful of deeyas on the floor - sparkling little flames, fighting for their survival against the wind, some of them which had already given up; and then at the mandap ceiling, brightly coloured cloth staring back at us from a height of atleast 20-25 ft. We couldnt help but chuckle at the thought of the deeyas attempting to accomplish a feat similar to Birbal's khichadi. I then wondered if the Karyalaya Manager was Birbal himself, who had a strong conviction that the khichadi would definitely get cooked. The only difference in the conviction maybe was that the Birbal in the 16th century wanted the khichadi to get cooked, while our Birbal from the 21st century didnt really want the khichadi (mandap) to get cooked!

The ever-friendly Sardarji taxi driver in Mumbai
Having reached Dadar station from Pune by the Intercity Express, I was tugging my 2 bags in the direction of Swami Narayan temple where I was to meet a friend who was coming to pick me up. As always happens, a plethora of taxi drivers came running towards me as soon as I was out of the platoform.

"Saab, taxi chahiye kya?"
"Jaana kahaan hai?"
"Saab, idhar aao - taxi aap ke liye khadi hain"

While I was politely refusing the offers made by everyone, a Sardarji taxi driver approached me with a big smile on his face,

"Sir ji, taxi chaahiye?"
- "Nahin ji. Thank you."
"Kyon sir, kya hua?"
- "Mera ek dost aa raha hai."
"O ji! To hum kya dushman hai, hum dost nahin hai?" retorted the Sardarji with his smile changing to an uncontrollable laughter that had me also into splits!
-"Arey nahin ji, aap bhi hamare dost ho!" was all I could say!
"Bilkul ji! Jab bhi taxi ki jarurat ho, apne is dost ko pakka bulaa lo!" was the immediate response from the Sardarji.

His words & laughter still echo in my mind, and I know I have a friend for life to pick me up at Dadar station whenever I need.