~ My Diwali Dost...~

He was my Diwali man – living a secluded life in a petrol pump on Diwali night when all of Delhi was busy in the festivities of the Diwali moment. Deepinder had his own way of enjoyment as someone had given him a packet of sweets along with some candles which he had lighted near a dilapidated tyre shop which he worked in.

A big time KGF fan, Deepinder belongs to a village in UP and has been an inhabitant of Delhi since last 4 years as his father didn’t have the resources to make him study further – he is class 8^th pass, smilingingly he told me as if this was a sort of achievement for him. As I asked him if he wanted to study as I could help in a way, his blunt answer was “No” I want to have my own business, the time and my years for studies is over”. No wonder his answer was quite an accepting shock to me as he seemed to like his passion of business.

It was Diwali night of fun and frolic, of sparkle and lights but he had lit a single candle and a string of lights on his tyre puncture roadside shop cum living shanty – he was alone and ‘on the job’ of filling deflated tyres , it seemed to be a regular evening for him. There was a bit of uniqueness though, he had lighten a small ‘Diya’ (earthen lamp) in front of his favourite diety’s pic which he had placed on a dilapidated wooden podium.

I asked him” Deepinder, where are you from? And when almost half of Delhi has gone back to their native villages for Diwali celebrations, why are you still working in this city – you could have taken a break from daily rigmarole of duties which life offers us.”, he candidly replied “ Bhaiya, everyone took leave and there has to be someone managing the ‘Business’!, probably I will go on holi. We take turns whilst taking holidays, so my holi holidays are certainly booked.!”

“So don’t you miss your natives, friends on this special hour, when roads are almost empty ( a rare condition in Delhi!) and that everyone is eating, burning firecrackers and making merry – he replied “ I am happy as I have had a whatsapp videocall with my sisters and parents in Bihar” – though they were missing me but they understood the need of the hour.

No wonder, those 10 minutes of meeting Deepinder pointed certainities of life – that be whatever, there are silent workers for us who are at best making sacrifices to comply with their daily duties, be it festivities or a regular day, they are always there working to bring smile on people’s’ faces!

“Happy Diwali Deepinder and God Bless you!” were my last words of acknowledgement whilst he completed the task of inflating my car tyres , a job which he did without any qualms. A final adieu with all smiles was the last scene which made me see him for the last time before I headed to my destination, not before thinking about Deepinder till I reached my final home for Diwali Celebrations!...

~ A Life Different ...~

In this vast sea of heads counting, we all try to find our own identity – we are unique in every sense but still we are intrinsically alone and aloof. Have you observed there is something in you who converses with you for many singular topics – who is that? It is your conscience or the hidden ‘God’ which keeps you giving the hint to do what is right and in accordance with the laws of living.

Such deep thoughts were echoed with one my childhood friend who has had a spiritual bent of mind from the very beginning of his childhood – no surprise that he has made spirituality a seeking profession for himself and found ways to earn through it whilst he enjoys the company of many elated souls who are always in conversation with him on varied topics of life and its living! 

“Opening a small hut resort was my passion and my seeking from the very onset of what I realize who I was!” – as my friend met me this Diwali, I saw him after ages – his face had a radiant smile and he was balanced in his approach of life -spewing positivity and a contagious grin – he was surely a class apart from a typical “Delhiwalla” who I always see has bunch of complaints to fall upon!

As we conversed further, my friend started to tell his stories about some of the unique guests who have been a part of his journey – there has been some “Aghori’s” too! As he told me.

“So, what was your experience too with them?” as I asked him with lot of inquisitions.

“It was quite frightening but as they conversed, I felt quite at ease with them – believe me they are a class apart and what we have heard about them is not a fraction of what they are!”. As he further told me “They also gave me Ashirwad (blessing's) for a long life and a good future. It has been almost a month that they visited me and since then, I have been immersed with their positive aroma – business has also grown since then.”

There have been other visitors too, they are fun and frolic people from the plains – Mumbaiietes and Delhiietes throng his hut houses with equal fervor – “they just love it – the peace, the calm, the shinning stars, the serenity of atmosphere and above all – No messy Noise” – they feel at peace…

As we exchanged Diwali pleasentries, it was time to say goodbye and with a promise that I shall soon be visiting his small resort in upper regions of Rishikesh – the countdown for me has begun – surely everyone needs a reprieve from this madding crowd and the noise that hounds us although the day – to find your own being – this excursion is for sure on a “to-do-list” – time is the best testimony of when that happens….

~ The Couch Legacy ~

This is used to be foreground of discussions of all the roadside vendors – be it chaiwallas, Rikshawpullers or just souls who lost their way in life but now it is a dilapidated looking wearied out old couch set being discarded beyond any measure and left at the mercy of Delhi’s inclement weather.

The couch is an ode to many important discussions on myriad subjects of life – favorite was Indian politics, but not less was other important discussions regarding India’s growth, the changing value system of society, the religious debates in the country etc…

The nearby ‘Shyam Tea Stall’ is still there but no one sits on the couch anymore as it is in no condition to be sat on – it has endured the test of time and has weathered all seasons be it rain or storms, it remains intact but not without the skin. Surely, seeing its dilapidated condition, there is a talk to renovate it and again bring it to use. 

The favorite timepass of us Indian’s rolling over the subject of ‘Politics’ non-stop, we can have arguments and counterarguments till ages and yet cannot come to a conclusion – this sofa seat is a testament to those long standing discussions and timepass rendezvous – many of the proud inhabitants who have domed the this ‘throne’ has been a witness to some of the finest razzmatazz of talk, though with no certain end!

Nowdays, when I bypass the Tea stall, I could see some of the new occupants of this sofa seat, they are happy sitting on it and cuddle amongst themselves , for they are the street canines who have found temporary refuge in it whilst in the evening and night the change of weather has bring forth gush of cold air.

Surely, the couch has become a blessing in disguise for them as they play and make merry to everyone’s amusement and has thus become the benchmark of all life forms making good use of it with every passing day – in the morning, it is a makeshift point for labourers and passersby, in the evening and late night it gets occupied by dogs and cats sometimes …

As a testimony of time, it will wither away to its newness only when ‘Shyam ji’ will take the complete control and ownership of it and give it a complete facelift and given many of his regular customers to sit on it and again gaggle in endless discussions about life and its being… till then, it will be a standalone benchmark of his makeshift shop being evenly guarded by canines in the night…

~ Power of Silence...~

 Both mother daughter duo sat in the aisle of local market engrossed in a cheeky smile. Being a festive season, they had put up a makeshift stall for the comfort of their seasoned customers, a PAYTM tagbox was all that was kept to receive payments along with a small box for change (if customers wanted to pay in cash).

The sell was all small festive items, from diyas to designer candles and other decorative items such as earthen lamps and handcrafted pastel stickers. The intriguing part being both mother-daughter duo was chatting and gesticulating in a particular way – ‘Sign language!’ – at first instance it didn’t make any sense to the causal onlooker as one is not interested in a small shop with inadequate flashy signs and bereft of any flashy marketing but on a closer look, one may see that the daughter seems to be deaf and dump and that in particular the mother was making a happy effort to communicate with her in same parlance – one could surely conclude that she must have learnt the language as a need of the hour!

Suddenly a female customer turns up to enquire about their sell and the daughter (about 30 years of age) welcomes her with her intriguing smile and a folded hand ‘Namaste’ – the gesture surely touched the customer and in ignorance she starts to ask for price of the items displayed – in nick of time her mother jumps in and steer’s the talk to her favour and tries to answer customer’s query – the daughter still showcasing her smiling face.

It was my turn to approach the makeshift shop and started to enquire about an item which probably was not displayed – the mother asked her daughter gesticulating in sign language, post which frantic search was initiated by the daughter to find the missing item. The search bore fruit and a pack of decorative candles were found to everyone’s satisfaction, the smile on daughter’s face was captivating.

The shopping soon turned quite interesting when the Aunty told me that all these items have been dedicated been made by her over two months’ time, she employees two likeminded staff – both deaf and dump, I asked “Aunty how all of them communicate, especially they have a white board and markers, whatever they cannot share while gestures, they communicate via writing and drawing!” – the parable, ‘Need of the hour produces a man’ proved on dotted line… She still sits on her makeshift shop in the evening with her mother , every time I pass through her small shop, she smiles and does greets me with a customary ‘Namaste!”, the best thing is that everytime I find more tempting items to be bought…. The next shopping spree is just round the corner with a certain hope and pray that one fine day I want to see her with her own permanent shop to sell her items, time has the only answer to this question….

~ As Luck would have it...! ~

 The discussion became intense on the ‘Luck’ factor of life, as the group argued with their points and counterpoints. Many in the group were arguing as to who was lucky and where luck played its part to get to a level of life where they are now. Considering the life many of us have lived, the ups and the troughs have been the part of the game and this is bound to happen for everyone, many of us would fall through the headwinds but many would take those as the opportunities provided by ‘providence’.

Today, as I met the diehard survivor (Manoji) who was purely ‘lucky’ to survive a disastrous streak of a life-threatening disease, he didn’t have many qualms of why he got it at the first place, all he his focus was on how to overcome this impediment of life course and tag himself to be lucky to have done that!

Talking of luck as a biproduct of effort and daily labour, he was much affirmative of the thoughts that come by when a tragedy strikes us, the daily living has its own set of questions to be answered and the luck factor remains elusive in most of them.

He was simple in his rationale and his “What if?” was admissible in our discussion. To name a few, as he stated to augur his point,

“What if you were born without limbs or partially blind?, how would your life have been OR, “What if you were born with mental disorder?” – you could not have comprehended the beauty of life OR “What if you were born in a situation of utter poverty and had no means for a two meals a day? – how would your life be in these circumstances?” – the radical of his thought were profound , as was his wisdom.

We surely ignore the daily lucky instances that have been bestowed on us in our day-to-day life and are more focused on something great to happen through “Luck”! – surely there have been super lucky people in this world who just by their instincts have done some acts which has given them much pelf as in the case of a Kerala Auto driver winning Rs 25 crore in Onam lottery on just an instinct of choosing a ticket!.

As Manoji  says “don’t worry, you wont be so lucky 😊!” – but as all was discussed in length and breadth, we are all lucky in one sense or the other, for those who have perfect health – they are lucky against those who have timely minutes left to leave the world! , for those who have loving family – they seem to be lucky against those who are left alone ,especially after the Delta wave of Covid!

“Just living hale and hearty with a loving family and managing our expenses with our own house makes a ‘PERFECT’ definition of being lucky in this material world, for the rest, chasing incessant dreams will take away things which you have always taken for granted! – the last guide to living as spoken by Manoji is just prudent enough to be lived the ways he has felt….the results will mesmerize you…