~ “ Sahab Chai”- The Call Of The Morning ~

He has been at his usual best since quite some time – asking him about the time he came and set up his makeshift camp – a small Tea Shop shanty , his eyes glitters and he tells me that it was in mid ninety’s when he came from his hometown Allahabad that he thought of doing something worthwhile in this ‘Magical’ City. But what made him bring to this life of razzmatazz and hush-hush living? Rajinder thinks a lot and then after a careful analysis he states - “ Sahab kuch apna karna tha!” – I had this fire in me to do something of my own and that is what made me come to this City. He left his small family comprising of his mother and father and a younger sister and took a train to Delhi – he came her ticket less and just ran from his home.

Rajinder did odd jobs for some months to put food on his plate, he slept on pavements risking his life at because of brazen and drunk drivers in the night – he sailed through tough times due to chance meeting with his soon to be ‘Lifelong friend – Shankar’. As Rajinder tells me ‘Shankar was the guy who I made friends with in this city, he is an absolute Gem.” He now shares his small room with his long lasting friend – both are in their mid-40’s, unmarried and living to fulfill their aspirations in this land of opportunities.

                                                                                        

“Don’t you miss your parents or young sister? Are you in touch with them? “, I asked. He was quick to reply “Haanji – I go regularly to my native place, though my father is no more, I have got my sister married 5 years back and she is well settled in Allahabad having two kids. – She even visited me last year and I made them roam around India Gate!” – The excitement to his story was quite palpable and I obliged to his eagerness of sharing his personal life to me.

With every sip of Tea, I asked Rajinder Bhaiya, “Don’t you think of getting yourself married and start living a life of complete settlement?, what are you waiting for now?” He slowly whispers with a clever smile ( he becomes a little shy on taking up that question) – Sir, ab shaadi kya karenge, Ab budhhe ho gaye hum, time nikal gaya hai !” I was a little aghast first on listening to his answers, but as I convinced myself, it was his life and he has to make smart choices what he wants to do with it.

Now that I have befriended him – we converse daily on life post covid times – he is quite skeptical about situations changing for good, though he thinks that it will take time – he has lost considerable business due to this pandemic and hopes that situation fast changes for his betterment.

All I can say is that Rajinder Bhaiya has also become a purpose for me to go to office in the morning and have his tea cuppa sans Sugar but with lot of ginger and unconditional love which he pours whilst he makes Tea for me –- thus knocking on the office door every afternoon after I have reached office - I am in inquisition of a familiar voice “Sahab, Chai” – the day thus starts….

~ Zer0 – the power of it! ~

“Anything above a Zero in my bank balance would be acceptable to me!” – this quote of my friend whilst I was conversing with him the other day was significant enough for a motivational recording for future references. The guy in question did his Bachelor’s of Science with Mathematics as a honours and went on to do his Masters in finance and statistics from a top notch university in Singapore .

The current Covid situation made him kneel down the footsteps of destiny and as due to unforeseen circumstances lost his source of income – a recurring finance to run the show of everyday living. A chance “Hi” on WhatsApp lead us to a video call after some time – It was almost a decade that I was seeing him, he had changed in appearance, looked mature but handsome and had developed as thorough professional in quick time. The initial formalism just vanished after we started to talk frankly and thus got reminiscent of our childhood we had spent together. It was a beautiful time again for both of us as we started to pin point each other’s tangent moments of childhood – our wives listening to such talks and giggling on circumspect of things they never got to know about us!

Suddenly the mood changed when the topic of jobs and living came to forefront – my friend had just lost a job and was in complete dilemma about his future prospects of living in a country where everything was judged on monthly balances in one’s pocket. Though he seemed to be down, he certainly was a fighter and he was hoping to get back to business in quick succession. His positive attitude and remarkable thinking and philosophy about life enchanted me to the core – He had not told his family about his current situation and his wife still thought that her husband was doing work from home. He was pretentious enough to login at the same time as he was supposed to be but now the purpose had changed for good. He was doing job search in lieu of his normal office work. He was determined enough to land himself into an earnings stream and positively thought about it with no hiccups whatsoever.

Finally as the talk culminated with exchanging pleasantries of good wishes – he told me one last thing which made him passed through his state of mind – When I lost my job , I had one thing in my mind , that I should not have a ‘Zero’ credited to my bank account next month. Anything above this number is acceptable to me as my pay-cheque – The tricked worked – may be the grand design liked his positive and humble attitude towards living. An unexpected call from him today to share his moments of joy said it all – He was happy and thankful to almighty for testing his waters and faith upon situations, after all the concept he strongly believed in actually did wonders to his life – not to mention the salary he got, though a zero but lot of them after a natural number!

~ Akash & the Art of Shoe Making ~

Sitting in my office, I sometimes venture out for a tea cuppa, the urge to have my favorite beverage is synonymous with the weather we are living by. Calling for one such urge, I happen to meet a young kid – a roaming cobbler with the name ‘Akash’. Whilst having my tea, he happened to come to me with an expectation – whether I would give him a chance to clean my sport shoes ( white in color) and if that can be done, it would be his first earning since morning – time had already clicked afternoon by then.

Though I was not in that mindset, but a general chit-chat opened between him and myself. Earlier he was very hesitant to tell me his whereabouts – what was his name and from where he comes but after putting him at ease, he was able to shun some light on his life and his current situation. He told me that his name was ‘Akash’ and that he comes all the way from Noida – now that intrigued me , as Noida was almost other end of the city and what made him travel so much to come to work in this part of Delhi. He told me that he has been coming here from 2 years now and he is quite familiar with the place – he started to come with his friend earlier just to loiter around but soon learnt that the place is bereft of any cobbler or a shoemaker. As his father is into this profession since long, it was the best choice life had to offer.

His bag seems to be heavy – stacked with paraphernalia which is of use to him in his day to day discharge of his duties. He wears a mask which he bought himself of his own money – a fact that he was very proud of. I asked what made him work at this stage of his life, he quickly replied ‘Paise kamane hain Bhaiya!” – I saw a sense of self-esteem and hope to live a dignified life in brightened eyes of this lad. As his school is shut due to Covid, he goes back by 4 pm and reaches his home by 5:30 and thus helps his mother in her household chores, thereby in the late evening he gets time to study – He has made a life of discipline all by himself with no pressure from his parents.

Nudging further into his life, he told me that there are about 4 members in his family and that he is studying in class 7^th in a ‘Sarkari’ School in Noida. He has a younger sister in same school in class 4^th. Also, that his father is a cobbler and his mother a housewife, probably he has learnt the art of shoe servicing from his father as I presumed rightly so.

By now we had become good friends and Akash was feeling confident in being conversant with me – he quite coyly asked me if I can provide him with water – the request was immediately executed and I could see him gulping down the liquid as thirst had almost overpowered him. Having done so, he thanked me and said if I had any shoe-work to be done at that moment – my reply was in the negative.

As time slipped by, the moments had come to close this chance rendezvous with a hope to meet next time – till then , I made Akash a promise that I shall give him a virtual treat coming Monday and make him a show-time hero to be seen on this platform – With a laugh on his face, I now fulfill my promise with a prayer and hope that Akash would one day be doing good for himself and his family…God Bless Akash!

~ Jyoti and the Morning Water Saga ~

Coming to office today, I chanced upon an unusual call from behind “Bhaiya Pani hai??” – as the call came apparently as I was holding a Coca Cola 2 litre bottle – chilled enough to be creating thirst to any soul – today being a humid day. Turning around, I could sense the decrepit situation the woman was – I have been noticing her quite some days, she wanders around many offices, having to fend for herself. Her shabbiness speaks about her condition.

May be she is not more than 45 years of age and with no family – kids or otherwise, she is always loaded with a gunny bag on her shoulder trespassing from one office to another and observing people and situations around. May be she is recording and observing acts of life. Sometimes she starts to speak to herself in a sublime tone and hearing her one can mark tone of rupture of life’s tribulations.

Turning back when I started to oblige her call, a sudden surprise shook me, she opened the throttle of her plastic bottle – rag-picked and cleaned from somewhere and stated “Is it chilled enough?” . Hearing a sudden change in her vocab, I stood still and started to converse “ Didi , how come you know English – considered to be a language of elite ?” , My question was juxtaposed with quick answer “ Yes, what you think, I am a graduate.!!!” – Almost all hell broke loose inside me and a certain element of revere surpassed my consciousness, I felt shamed at first to have asked her this question, but a decree of inquisition lead me to go ahead…. She is a graduate and what life has offered her! 

I have seen her before in vicinity of our office quarelling with a restaurant owner as she made her make-shift sitting place outside. She was at her best arguments and gave a befitting reply to the restaurant manager - " Tere baap ki jagah hai, yeh footpath sabka hai!" was her pragmatic argument.

Having no words to say, I said “Didi, whenever you want water or anything else, come to our office which is nearby.” Showcasing the route, she quickly said “I know where you work!, I have observed you quite some time, I know many people in area around as I stay here.”, then suddenly she tells says “ My name is Jyoti.” – as if she read my mind – as that was the next question begetting my thoughts.

Whilst having my lunch, a bout of thirst engrossed me , gulping down water from same bottle, I could again start to sense the morning meeting with Didi, the bottle got symbolic preset of her presence around me, though I was no judge of trials and tribulation of life she might have gone through – her predicament was a living testimony of that – she must have gone through her ups and downs of living and finally had accepted the situation as it is. No one would think of living a life on the street after doing a fair degree of education.

Vow! What a conversation it was today – passing through an aisle, a chance encounter made my day and gave me a boost to live with equal zeal as she was… My urge to have a long conversation with Jyoti remains an enigma, as I don’t know when she would meet me or come to our office – also , maybe she will be around our office complex, these questions stand open ended with no definite answers – only time is a the best advocate of such situations!

Till then , all I have to say is – May you stay happy and healthy and be strong to live life in a better way than the current one – with a heavy heart I say “Thank you God for turning me around towards such a personality whose 2 mins conversation has had an edible mark on my being!“

~ Rehman – a Doctor in the making ~

Rehman has been a curious student since I have known him for about 4 years now, his mother works at our house and has been working hard for a purpose - to make her son something worthwhile in life. she herself has only one anguish in her heart, that she came from a poor family which could not afford to pay for her education - she is educated up till class 8th.

A victim of early marriage followed by motherhood, Fatima as she likes to be called, has been doing maid work in our block for about a decade. On a sudden day, she talks to us about her elder son - Rehman, who is a good student and studies in class 8th - He has been a class topper and wants to be a doctor in life. Her son is a matter of pride to the family - consisting of 3 younger sisters who are mediocre in their studious pursuit. Two years hence, I had an opportunity to share time with Rehman and make him go through Science and Math’s lessons on Saturday’s and Sunday’s - the time we shared turned out to be a phenomena of sorts - Rehman turned out to be a real concept grasper - he could memorize equations and mathematical tricks in quick succession. For him, he used technology to his pursuit – mobile phone was a virtual tutor for him – quite unlike many kids I see loitering around with gadgetry and pondering over useless stuff. He has no flavor for being well dressed – a simple T-shirt and jeans along with slippers is all he wants to look comfortable – his only greed was knowledge and books!

Our talks started to compose towards concept of higher education and about challenges which such downtrodden students face during their educational journey - though the government is doing its best to have 'Prized Catch' students who secure good grades in class but considering the extra investment higher education needs, it is far beyond the economic reach of such class of society and thus it creates a vacuum for such students.

Nevertheless,I knew Rehman is class apart and would do well in his 10th Board exams - he didn’t let me down, took science and also was able to convince his mother to enroll him for a pre-medical tuition institute ( with great difficulty she did - borrowing money from close acquaintances and also taking advances from all and sundry).

The result  paid off - Rehman has done wonders in his 12th class by securing 92% marks and is all confident in taking up NEET this year - A chance conversation on phone with the lad made me think of the reminiscent 4 years since I met him. He was all a visionary and had a single minded aim of being a doctor - I guess, he has been heard and all of his efforts and dedication towards his aim has started to pay off. As we draw towards the end of our communication - Rehman assured me of one thing - 'Bhaiya, I will meet you next time when I shall be able to secure a Medical Seat in College and on the way of becoming a doctor!".

His resolve resounds of his grit and gumption and sets an example for all of us - Hard work pays - Rehman - I just want to say Good luck buddy and keep your head up to face any adversary - you are the chosen one – next time we meet , I want to see you wearing a doctor's apron next time we meet and I address you not as Rehman but Dr Rehman.....!!!

~ A living Parody ~

His life of aloofness and mediocrity makes him look different on the street. Captivating though, he is always engrossed in stale vision overlooking the passing traffic as he sits on a chosen spot on the pavement as I have always seen him since quite some time now.

Living a life of comfort-ability and with nothing to do, he just sits and sleeps on a pavement under the metro pillar whilst we pass through him daily and see his eclectic glance towards the passing traffic. He is always in the thoughtful mood and reminiscing his life lived by as I presume.

What made him live a life which he is bound to live - maybe he took some wrong twists and turns which life generally offer to every one of us, this may have made him recluse and cut off the wilderness of daily living. He has no targets to achieve, no plans to follow, living a mendicant's life, he eats what passersby give him. He has a little living paraphernalia to boast of - some torn clothes, one or two water bottles always half-filled and a set of worn out clothes which he always hangs on the metro grill nearby.

Engrossed in his own sense of thinking and his own intriguing ways of acting on the street, his unknown existence is mesmeric to passersby – there are some dedicated givers of alms to him – he chooses them with aplomb and cherishes his acceptance with much delight. Seeing his choice of acts  - a question begets my mind – How come he can be so choosy when life has made him bring to a level of no return – Can beggars be choosers ?.. This idiom has been demolished by his example in my dictionary of words.

He takes life as it comes every day and ‘Planning’ has no place in his daily living. Come what may, he is seated with equal composure be it rain or scorching sunshine.

Seeing him through it makes me believe that he has not had a hair-cut or a shave since ages - at least of six months and it is certainly not due to current pandemic but his self-induced poverty. I see no reason for him not to work, as he is able bodied - though having mediocre built. Sometimes he gets up and talk to street hawkers and shares his side of life and makes the street urchins laugh and giggle – his stance makes me believe that he is in conversant with kids and he must have had good experiences with them earlier in life – may be of his own kids. There are many such questions which shall besiege your mind and bring it to a point of no valid answers.

An inquisition has set up in my mind to have a conversation with him and ask about his life and what made him wander through his share of trials and tribulations about life. There are certain question which beset my eyes on him - does he have a family, where he is from, what brought him to this predicament, the meeting thus is awaited…

~ Santosh – Woman of Substance ~

Sitting on the pavement, she is not hesitant to call out pedestrians walking by to buy fresh mangoes which are ‘Sweet as Sugar’ as per her. She has arranged her sell in a adroit fashion as it captivates ones eye at least once. When asked as to how much a kilo she is selling her ‘product’ she is quick to answer Rs 50 a kilo – though the price seems to be on higher side as compared to the market economics but she is firm and is not ready to negotiate. She further describes her sell as class apart and a wise choose from piles of mangoes in the wholesale mart. Further she adds, “Whosoever buys from her comes back to her next time – often buying double the next time.” Her confidence exhorts from the sale she makes most of the time. 

Santosh as her name what she tells me , was a clear cut housewife, sitting in confines of her dwelling and raising her kids – 2 of them, a girl and a boy and wants to fulfill her wish of sending her kids to a good school.  Her husband Vikas – a cycle rickshaw driver has not been able to make ends meet in last few months due to the present Covid-19 situation – as per her, he used to leave home by 8 a.m and be back by 6 p.m but now though he goes to ‘Work’ at the same time, he comes back by noon with not many customers he is going into sublime depression day by day.

She took the plunge seeing the economic condition of her house deteriorating – there is rent to be paid, children to be fed and not to forget she is inculcating a dream to educate her children par excellence – a forte she could not achieve herself – though she is a 10^th pass and portrays herself to be an educated woman amongst the clan she lives with.

With her prudence and budgeting , she has now started to look confident and have actually started to contribute to the family kitty, though a lot of hard work goes behind what ‘profit’ she is able to make at the end of a tiring day.

Reluctantly telling her story, she gets up by 4 a.m and rushes to the nearby Mandi ( a wholesale vegetable mart nearby) and scans good quality Mangoes herself and finally negotiating her way buys her today's sell with firmity. Coming back home she prepares breakfast as well as lunch for the family who are still asleep. Both husband and wife leave for work by 8 a.m sharp and the ordeal begins for both. Sometimes she is lucky to sell her stock of mangoes in quick succession, if she has a lucky day, the entire stock is sold and her cart stands empty to her merriment. There are days when she is not able to make enough profit due to meager sale.

Asked what her future plan is for her working life – she cherishes the current Covid situation and says that this has actually come as a blessing in disguise for her as earlier she was restraint to work by her husband. Now that things have got tougher, they have no choice and she is experimenting with her new found love for entrepreneurship.

Her only inhibition is that post Covid scenario, will she be able to enjoy and work through her new found freedom? Having said that, will her dedicated customers be able to have a sumptuous feed of Mangoes that Santosh so proudly sells, only time has answers to these questions of mine…

~ Kaku & Shower of Nature ~

It’s a rainy day today and I have been fortunate enough to be alive and healthy to see and enjoy the sounds of raindrops dripping on sun soaked mud - the fragrance of which embellishes in the air. Taking a deep breath to consume the maximum of such attar, I was chanced upon a street urchin who took shelter in a nearby shop-roof. Fully drenched, he wore a mask to protect himself from the current pandemic – seems like he had no liking to wear the mask and was doing it under duress as being asked to do so.

All of 9 to 10 years of age as I presumed so, he was looking and desperately wanted to play in falling droplets but was being severely restrained by his acquaintance accompanying him. I could sense a deep feeling of desperation of the kid and how his best wish of the moment was being blanketed by a sense of ownership of his fellow being.

Suddenly, he took a stand and started to run in chaos into open aisle of shops near our office, as if freeing himself of bonds of solitude and obligation, he just won’t listen to the calling of his name ‘Kaku’ by his probable elder sister. She starts to severely reprimands but the shouts fall on deaf ears. Kaku resorts to ablutions of his body and soul as if freed from bondage of humanity – for him it is a moment of lifetime which shall be written as test of time for him to cherish as memories. His dance and acts of joy makes people look at him with interest – he has no caring for what people would say or react to his gestures – he is just dancing as a free soul and enjoying a just moment with nature’s bounty.

Having no slippers and a holed T-shirt ‘Kaku’ is the king of times, he looks at his sister who is all red faced and wants his younger brother to come back in shelter – but in vain. Then suddenly something unexpected happens, a nearby shopkeeper comes up with a cup of tea and a bread-pakora, best snack for the time.

Having offered so, his eyes sparkle as he receives the goodies. Kaku grabs his offerings and finds himself a corner, he sits on a pavement and quickly starts to munch – his face expressions showcase his feelings of ecstasy and happiness – life for him stands out complete as he gets his favorite weather, a nature induced shower and a sumptuous munch, what else does he want.

Finally the rain mellows down and Kaku has gulped down his snacks, running back to his sister he clings onto her hand and starts to walk away to his daily chore – begging , for which he has been thoroughly trained. I hope to see Kaku again in his wits but without an open palm to beg – for him life has to offer much more than what it has offered him till now…. Somebody up there must be listening!!!

~ The Scooter Uncle ~

Just to pass the red light, I had to screech my vehicle due to an unexpected halt – a suddenly turned Red light which just a while was showing 10 seconds to happen but as we know it, the precarious conditions of our traffic management system. I had to halt in an abrupt manner but those 90 seconds of stoppage gave me a profound lesson of my life and it came as a blessing in disguise to follow for the times to come.

As I stopped, there was only one scooter which had taken a halt beforehand, an elderly gentleman was just somehow trying to balance this two wheeler as its engine was not starting in spite of multiple kicks he had done with. It was almost sometime that I was seeing this situation and suddenly a pupil to pupil contact with uncle made me ask him if I could be of help to the elderly gentleman. His reply was on expected lines as his condition in this scorching heat was not good – as according to him he has been trying to kick start his erring scooter since 10 odd minutes but in vain. Getting out of the car, I also tried my luck and started to apply incessant kicks to the machine – to no avail.

Time was passing by and I had to somehow call the situation a quit before I could see the signal turn green – post that situation, I could have seen myself in a precarious situation as I was to be blamed the cause of a traffic jam!

I quickly told my new found elderly friend “Uncle there is a scooter market nearby and you can easily find a mechanic to repair this dilapidated age old machine ( I could strongly sense that the scooter must be 15 years of age ,well past his modest running capacity, but somehow uncle was in love with it for the reasons best known to him.).

After my hasty suggestion, Uncle did not reply but started to again apply kicks to his scooter with a hope that it might start via a divine intervention. I again reiterated my suggestion but this time he was point blank and told me “Beta I don’t have much money to get it repaired, I was going to my shop which has been closed for almost 2 months now due to Covid situation.” He further wanted to share his pain of economic losses that he might have suffered but his self-esteem and adamant ethos combined with lack of time stopped him.

All this reminded me of my toddler days, when me and my father used to ride a scooter with so much pride, and many a times it used to fail us due to abrupt machine disruptions – the fun of dragging and trailing the two wheeler cannot be expressed in words! , though the situation this time was too different considering uncle’s age and the strong situation which led him to get out and start working in order to live a dignified life.

Finally the money was offered to him and with much convincing he took the same though with much reluctance – but with one catch, he took my phone no and promised me to return back the same in due course. Today as I happily jot down this piece of a situation, I did get a call from uncleji with a token of big thanks for the other day – soon I shall be meeting the noble soul who taught me the virtue of “Honesty” which many of younger lads have forgone with fast changing societal degradation, till that time, I pray for him to be again up and running his business as a BC – Before Corona era and show his life skills to all and sundry whom he touches with his elegance and never say die attitude.

~ Shambhu – The Toy Man ~

He often strolls the streets to sell his prized possessions and timely cleans them up with an aim that he can meet his next customer anytime and anywhere.

His diminutive structure is a stark reminder of the life times he has lived – well accentuated with the fact that his hair has turned salt and pepper, the ‘Toy Man’ has certainly lived the test of his lifetime. I can spot him every now and then in the by lanes of the commercial mart and his prawning eyes looks towards all and sundry. Sometimes he sits on the pavement and takes out a goodie ( a pack of biscuit or a cake rusk) and cherishes it to its hearts content sipping a bottle of water afterwards to mellow down his gulp.

He is particular familiar with children and sometimes bestows her magnanimity by offering them gifts free of cost – can’t imagine a man in penury with such a golden heart. He himself struggles to make ends meet but still gives himself a leverage to bestow such gifts to his own pacification.

Asking about his genre and from where he hails – his eyes lighten up and he tells you his journey to this city of his dreams and aspirations. He claims to be a 12^th pass from Gorakhpur and has been in Delhi for almost 2 decades now, living in nearby LIG flats with his family. Interestingly so, in the night Shambu turns a night watchman for an ATM kiosk and also steals some sleep to be ready for the next day’s grill. He leaves the marketplace by 6 pm daily and takes some rest before his next duty by 8 p.m which continues till 7 a.m. next morning.

Talking of his family, he proudly mentions his two star kids – Gopi (his son) is described as a student prodigy – as per him he always secures first position in his class and Jaya- his daughter is also good in studies and helps her mother doing household chores, both study in class 8 and 6 respectively in a nearby government aided school.

His main aim is to see his kids settle down in government jobs and then he aims to get retired and sit with his wife and spend time.

Suddenly, a toddler fancies his sell and prods his mother to buy him a toy which Shambu is so eagerly waiting to sell, the negotiation begins and Shambu in his art of selling wins and passes on the toy ( a small plastic car) to the kid whose eyes just glitters with excitement.

When asked as to where he gets his daily to be sold articles, he gives a bleak answer – “Sir , I have to buy them myself from wholesale market out of money that I have saved and this is how I buy them.”

The cycle of buy and Sell thus resumes significance as as In between he economizes his household expenses, I guess he is a perfect balancer – be it switching between his jobs and also managing his household in perfect balance.

The Dusk has befallen and it’s time for our Toy man to go back to his home to prepare and dawn on a new jersey – that of a night watchman and thereby taking intermittent sleep before meeting all of us next morning with his new articles to be sold.