~ Your Test of Time…~

 Can a Street mendicant who is just a toddler ask for alms which he so much desirous of?

He has listened the scarcity of the same through his mother who keeps on hankering about the ‘Not-Haves’ to run the show of life and livelihood, or can he be a trained street urchin making passersby emotional and asking for alms which he can splurge on whilst his mother and father do just nothing and sit on the pavement – his father, a drunkard lives life in a splurge and sees people running around as fools to chase the velocity of life!

Your test of time is defined by the occurrence of events which may happen in your daily living – some insect, or a bird or a human being , or an animal like Cow, Dog comes to you with a set of expectations – primarily for food for life and your conduct determines the true angel or devil which resides inside you.

Remember – you will be eagle-eye watched in rapt attention by Him, how you conduct yourself is what is coming your way.

As I take breaks and tread the streets of Delhi , I have come across zillion souls who are so much wandering around you – oblivion to facts and fiction of life , what it is for literate people sitting in front of laptops in cool A/c cucumbers and speaking and acting like demigods to these unfortunate souls. They see you with expectations and try to emulate themselves to what you are doing in life.

The two kids who regularly frequent around my office – and who are my friends for life now are my happiness musketeers. They talk to me in a differential tone, without any expectations – we have started to share the bond of togetherness whilst we have a tea-cuppa every day in the afternoon. I generally ask them about their school and their parentage, to which they answer in sublime manner – the girl name is Ishika and she hasn’t yet enrolled for school whilst her younger brother (Vansh) is a grade-II student in a nearby Government primary school, though he hates getting up in morning and going to school.

Both have a thing in common which mesmerizes me – Their Smile! – They are happy go lucky souls, living under tutelage of HIS mercy – with no fear of Corona or any other vector born disease we are so dreadful of! Isn't it just sheer coincidence that these tiny tots are hale and hearty and are actual life learners and their real school been the streets and pavements of Delhi where they live and loiter around!

They certainly are a far contrast to what life offers us – though we don’t cherish its magnanimity .

They are the ones who make me ecstatic of everyday living – of what life’s aim should be for all of us whilst we finish each day and approach the day of our ‘Last Supper’.

I end up writing this piece of my experience with words of wisdom as we all live life in awareness…

रहिमन यही संसार मे, सब सो मिलिए धाई | ना जाने केहि रूपमे, नारायण मिल जाई || 

~ Life Sometimes... ~

He came to sell pens, but he took my heart away!

Sans shoes or slippers, his small feet was an immediate sight to be noticed with disillusionment. His innocent smile is contagious and pure from his heart. He is untouched of the societal infirmities. A pure soul as I would love to call him. His dilapidated condition is a synonymous to the conditions he is living in, but his genteel smile and long-lasting purity of soul is mesmerizing.

He comes to me and just stood still, at this delicate age where we as toddlers were cocooned by our mothers, life has to offer him other scenarios. Though quite oblivious to what he is marketing a certain irony is being cooked around his destiny. The object he is selling will never be his true warrior in life - A "Pen", it could have made him topple his situation if his life allowed so. Now that he has been born under precarious circumstances, the toddler with his broken milk tooth and shabbily dressed aura has been designated to become an early life salesman. He will go through the grill of everyday hardships to fend for himself and be able to bring food to the table, many a day’s sleeping empty stomach. Oh, life what begets of you! Why have you done what you have done. 

For many of us when we were kids, our parents did the best they could have done to bring us to a level we all are today. They knew the perils of failure and what does living a failed life meant. They had the means to atone us different hats and live upto their expectations of living a grandeur of life. Now the situation is overturned, a soul seen with a contrast of nature where filling his belly and survival of the day is his main task, leave alone living in luxury, which is the dreams of his dreams

Deep diving into the situation, I ponder upon our laws of karmic existence, what is the true cause and effect of what you do and what you become. This can be a complacent justification to your heart when you habitually see such souls around you but here the test becomes, a test of time and your destiny. What behaviours you show and present before them tells your true nature of existence.

As they say "What is the use of sacrifice and philanthropy, if you start talking about it!", you do your bit in tandem of time and move on - pray to almighty to be able to give him courage of existence and improving upon his life from where he finds himself today. Miracles do happen, that is the beauty of life, are well not living in a miraculous way? Have we not taken life on a casual note? what have we done to earn such a body, mind and spirit and in such comfortable situation we are in today!

Not everyone is so fortunate to live a life of shine as we do - of course we need to reciprocate such endowment to our creator or destiny - Be agile and humble to bow down to his call, you can be devastated by any situation which he wills.

Today, a situation becomes a prelude to my thinking, a times script of nature which gives you hint to test yourself at this hour. You make him smile instantaneously by presenting him his most wanted need of the hour, the icing on the cake also happens as you spear him with a sanitizer and he asks, "here too!" as he outreaches his hand.

You say a final goodbye to him, and he is never to be found again, as he gets lost in time seeking an aimless dream, a mirage of a better living. You are left behold, with a praise towards the sky and praying for his betterment, a better future should befall on this nameless soul, a wanderer who has outcast your conscience with a differential thinking.... As I write past midnight, I truly thank God for his mischievous best, to give me a glimpse of what life can be!

“Subhash” – an attempt to un-‘FOIL’ life !

 “He is alive” – this is the first thought that came to my mind whilst I saw Him after almost a sabbatical of six months – His demeanor was a mesmerizing as it was earlier, and he was at his talkative best. He spotted me in the weekly mart and called me “Bhaiya, how are you?, All well at home?” . I relied in the same tone and enquired about his whereabouts since the lockdown happened.

He told his sordid story with a smiling glance – his passion for living life with smile all the time has been his uniqueness, that is what has attracted me in his character. I have known ‘Subhashji” since decade now and he has not changed a bit, though the fragilities of body has started to appear on his persona. His hair have become salt and pepper so has his moustache, but looking at him, he has continued to empress his customers with his marketing skills and the mix and match products he sells on his movable trolley!

Meeting after so many days, he has still not changed his business preposition and he continues to sell tissue papers or foil papers of all shapes and sizes, his insistence to passers-by to buy his sell is always on an encouraging note. He cracks jokes according to situations and quite enthusiastically compares his products with that of what is being sold in regular shops – though having bought his sell earlier, I have been a thorough acknowledger of this fact that his products are of equal footage, if not inferior in quality – not to forget that they are priced far below the retail price of malls and regular shops.

Subhashji has been conscientiously living in these tough times with his family – consisting of two young boys and his wife. One of his son is studying in class 12 and is attempting his board exams; the other one is in class 7^th, his only worry is , though his elder son is study-focused but lack of laptop or a high end mobile phone has become an impediment in his studies and he has to skip some of his online classes for lack of continues source of internet. He knows how important it is to make his kids educated as he himself is a school dropout, though his story of doing so is completely different of his times.

Nowadays I see him moving through the by lanes of service lanes and overstretches his working hours – the reason for this conduct is quite obvious. The trial and tribulations of destiny has made him outreach his earning acumen and he has to work overtime to make ends meet.

“There are few customers now a days Bhaiya – they don’t buy street products out of fear of corona – though I have kept sanitizer in my cart but its is tough to convince them, it is only my dedicated customers who buy from me!” – I can well understand his predicament and had full sympathy with him whilst he retorted to my prodding of his business condition.

The time came and we exchanged formal goodbyes to meet again hale and hearty, not before obeying to his clarion call to shop from his cart, for me it has always been an honor to do so as it is not his genteel smile that makes your day but the effort and the strong vision he has for his life and his growing children.

~ Destiny of Gods ~

Passing through the streets of Delhi, one can have a careful glance trough the boundary walls of a park or a temple and you can surely find yourself witnessing dilapidated statues of Gods and Goddess nicely placed on the wall plinth. For most, these are the same statues which were revered in homes when they were in all finesse but now that they have somehow got ruptured, broken or have got cracked that they have been placed at their current statures.

I was able to witness one such site whilst I was trotting the not so narrow lanes of a mart – these revealing pieces of art were all lined up out of reverence or may be guilt of the owners. They were all having one deformity or other; some of them were having broken hands for others paint were worn off and the shape and beauty of the deity had thus got disoriented and as according to the passersby , they had severely lost their sheen to be bowed down out of fear or a guilt of purpose!

These abandoned statues now are at the liberty of nature and are thus prone to incessant rains and scorching heat of Delhi summers and are sure to get the ruptured with the passage of time.

Out of reverence or out of fear, these small idols of various divinities are not dismantled completely and rather as placed ‘reverentially’ on a secluded and safe place. Formidable time certainties take over from there and after some clicking months and even year’s, to our dismay, we can see the gradual decay of these iconic symbols of one’s religion.

In current times as I see them, they are just been placed and look in good shape, many passersby bow down whilst they pass through them – don’t know if the respect they present is out of fear or reverence – another sought after question for me to be judgmental about. Same this holds good for many of us who pass through any place of worship – be it a Temple, Gurudwara or a Masjid.

Another awful reason for people to secretly place these icons on the roadside walls can be attributed to the fact that many of pedestrian’s address nature’s call in an open and clandestine grounds – the best way to stop them doing so is to place these icons.

It is such an oxymoronic truth that those gods or powers we owe are existence, we don’t shy away to place them on different pedestal to their own satisfaction. For the more prudent ones, some take the extra step of making these idols submerged in a nearby river or flowing waterbody – just as we all take pride when we do a ‘Ganpathi Visarjan’ or ‘Durga Visarjaan’.

The destiny of these idols is defined from the very first day when they take shape; where they would be dismantled and will loose ground is just a matter of time; in the middle, they become our power structures of our domesticated temples and are vociferously prayed for our selfish interests – I wonder what happens to their powers when they loose their shine and are thus gets matured in the eyes of the same set of worshippers who once bought them home to have a lasting semblance with them while they put forth their best desires to be heard on the other side of existence – Till date this remains a far reaching enigma to me and may be to many such pedestrians who pass by and glance through these once decorated idols of worship but now have become roadside gods!

~ Rohit - A Standing Ovation ~

 Standing in rapt attention for endless hours, he prides himself to be the only vocal salesperson his employer can accommodate – though he is lucky to have been employed at this fragile hour of crisis.

His job is to stand at a particular point with a placard in hand demonstrating his marketing skills, though he exemplifies as a static lamppost. I have been seeing him on my way to office for quite some time now, though his posture sometimes changes and so does his dress, but the placard and the umbrella he so famously embellishes remain as an Einstein’s constant. A certitude in his characteristic glance enamor your conscience to speak to him which I did whilst I took the liberty to steer my car towards the “Arrow” which is displays all the time. He is a salesman to a local clothes vendor in a Delhi mart – The clothes range from all sorts of Ladies, gents and children wear – be it jeans, trousers, ladies’ tees etc., all are fixed priced with no haggling scope for the approaching customer.

Last Sunday, we took the liberty to approach the famous “Rs 500” shop as marketed by this gentleman – before I entered the lane, I asked him his name – the reply came as “Rohit”. As I parked my car, he soon turned out to be a valet parker, assisting me to place my car in a comfortable parking space informally reserved for his customers. Before I could thank him for his gesture, I saw him quickly going back and standing at the same point as he always does, probably he didn’t want any opportunity to be missed to attract his prospective customers which pass by

Let me make you aware that Rohit stands almost on the main road pedestal and showcases his visibility to all passersby. I have seen him inching towards the main road whilst he see herd of cars approaching by – his key marketing skill which he has so famously acquired whilst he learnt this trick standing on the road for endless hours!

After shopping for some wannabe clothes, I asked his employer who was at helm of affairs at the billing desk as to why Rohit is being asked to position himself almost punishingly on the road, come what may; the answer was that he has self-prophesied this no frills marketing strategy and it has been no compulsion for him to be harsh to himself – instead he joined as a salesman in the shop but seeing low customer turnout, he leaped into the idea of caricaturing himself as a visible sales lamppost to attract passersby – He intrigued this idea whilst he observed that this shop was towards the interior of the market and it would be pound foolish to be sitting and waiting for the customer footfall and believe me, according to his employer, his decision is paying dividends as he has some very good customer handling skills he attracts customers with his famously jotted one liners – also he converts himself to valet parking assistant and also comes inside of shop whilst he see’s that there are lot of customers who are being left unattended!

The silver lining to this marketing strategy came out when I got to know that Rohit was almost illiterate and was a son of a roadside sweeper who happened to pass away few years back not before introducing his son to the Shopkeeper for employment. As according to Rohit’s father, he did studied till class 6^th before he was forced to quit studies citing family’s economic turbulence!

Hearing about Rohit’s story, I started to revere him as a true gentleman who inspite of his hard existence has been a source of inspiration to many – he is still optimistic and positive about life and is using his full acumen to be of use to his employer at this time of crisis.

As we came out of the “Rs 500 Shop” – I said Adieu to the budding marketing genius and internally prophesized that one day he becomes an owner of such a shop, and I be his everlasting customer. Till then, I would be complacent to see him regularly with his everyday penchant – an umbrella and a Placard; two famous visibilities defining his job roles!!!

~ Ravi – What I will miss ~

“Never ever be afraid of the tumultuous nature of your living and life. Have faith in what it bestows on you. You are here as a part of the grand design of nature, and soon with your conscientious living you shall see to it what the purpose was! “ – These are words pouring out of a middle aged man “ Ravi” who has been a constant source of inspiration and guilt – Yes “guilt”, because we have been partners in crime for a common purpose during our grown up years. We used to be next door neighbors and were almost in the same age group. Our commonality in living our life was so much interwoven with ‘Same thought’ of doing things in our own ways.

Times changed and our career dominations took different trajectory, but though our destiny took us poles apart, we were constantly in touch with our true bonds of togetherness. We used to communicate via open letters, then came the grandeur of Internet which made us believe in the communication world of emails. In the midst of all this, our lives took other dimensions and we got married and had beautiful families. With the advent of WhatsApp again our communication began with equal ferocity – enquiry about our latest happenings in life, our families and health whereabouts were frequented in our recurring talks.

Ravi was docile and a good listener, his success mantra in life was based on the simple trilogy of Bhagwat Gita “ Do your work and let consciousness do the rest, don’t hanker on what you have done right or wrong!”, We used to have frequented talks about life and perils of it and what best we can do to sumptuously enjoy the delicacies it throws on us!

Of late it was not so long ago that we had a WhatsApp chat to know about wellbeing of us and our families, all seem to be going good and Ravi was in good health and was working from home as most of us are in this uncertain times of pandemic, the world came crashing when I informed myself about the tragedy which had struck Ravi last week, I could see his updated WhatsApp message status about  his sudden demise as he succumbed to Corona in US. A sudden sullenness engrossed me and my individuality , how uncertain and unpredictable the next second of one’s life can be!

Ravi was a soul who knew the unpredictability’s of life and its nature – he somehow knew that things could turn uncertain at any hour, may be due to his clairvoyance or his thoughts from his sub-conscious mind. I could not gauge his somberness in the last WhatsApp chat we had last week , but now when I deeply realize his meaningful words , I concise  

The echoes of his words have got engraved in my heart and soul, thus they are “ You are here for a purpose, and you shall be called back anytime, any moment when the purpose is fulfilled, knowingly or unknowingly you have to obey to HIS call and you cannot question it!”

Paying a heartfelt obeisance to my beloved childhood friend, all I have to say is that “ You exemplified your living with what you spoke – Life is the biggest chimera of living as you will be asked to Stop anytime , any moment – Rest in peace my beloved and be prepared to come back as per your Karma”

As I culminate this heartfelt note paying my tribute to Ravi through a verse of Bhagwat Gita which he so loved ...

vāsānsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya ,navāni gṛihṇāti naro ’parāṇi

tathā śharīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇānya, nyāni sanyāti navāni dehī...

Purport:-

“As a person sheds worn-out garments and wears new ones, likewise, at the time of death, the soul casts off its worn-out body and enters a new one.”

Rest in peace my friend “ I shall see you in another world fulfilling the purpose of your living true to your call of rebirth… Till then Goodbye !!!

~ Life – Just an Act of Balancing…~

 Walking through the park at our usual pace, we were a group of talkative youngsters circling the aisles of park when we spotted a bench to take a walking sabbatical.

Within no time came a bunch of “Oldies”, as we call them in our parlance, almost all had passed the fag end of their life and were enriched with magnificent experiences of their living journey. Their vociferous voices were testimony of their experiences they had lived. I Knew one of the old stalwarts amongst many, “Chadha Uncle” – he was quite a lovable chap of our society and was active in RWA day to day work – his activeness intreat answers for many as how come he is so agile at this age? We have seen him retired for so long – at least 20 years or so as far as we all can decipher!)

They took halt along with our bench and continued to chat loudly oblivious to our presence in their vicinity, their rodomontade was of interest to all of us – “Life” as we call it. I guess this is was what intrigued us all as we were discussing the same as a coincidence. We readily started to listen to the words of prudence being spelled by the septuagenarians.  The conversation thus continued as Chadha uncle took the lead whilst he spoke “The art of making life work is within you! It is you that knows what is best for you and what is not – Life gives equal opportunities to everyone who has taken birth, may be at different times, but it does give opportunities.” – These words of wisdom was part of a healthy discussion which we were listening with rapt attention cognizant to the experience the Oldies had.

Commenting on the fast life and quick decision making required to survive the current pace, Puri uncle was at its witty best – “We also had similar life which we have led with our own prudence. Patience is the key to tackle multifarious hiccups. As I see young aspirations falling down their nadir, the young generation is not wary of going the hard way and not hesitating to take big bets failing to evaluate its consequence.”

As one of the old gentlemen was carrying a Tea flask for his friends in discussions (seems to be a daily feature for all of them), we were offered the same with all the magnanimity. As Tea Cuppa came, we all sipped into its elegant flavor and propped up another inquisitive question – “Uncle what has been your best decision in life which you think took your life to a different trajectory?”

This time the question had a keen listener in the group. A middle aged man (must be in early 60’s) was not shy of giggling and thus answered “I guess for me, It was me getting Married!” , The answer seems to be quaint to all of us youngsters! After a brief pause, he exhorted “Life is beautiful when you have a equally understanding and prudent partner to give you support in thick and thin of life’s journey. If you fail to have such a recognized partner, life seems to be a pack of troubles and you will always be doing a balancing act.”

Soon, it became dark and our conversations was backfooted to be continued at later stage as and when we all meet again, till then, the life lessons have been recorded and has started to be juxtaposed with our day to day endeavors of living….

~ Gratitude towards Life…~

Walking down the lanes of Delhi, one can see many faces and souls who are just existing in the grandeur of life; they have seen the thick and thin of their daily living, but they certainly refuse to mellow down with the trial and tribulations of what life offers them!

Passing through a major intersection of crossroads, I chanced upon a middle aged lady encapsulated in her own small world, not looking towards the rigmarole of life passing through, she was fully engrossed in decorating and arranging her pavement shop which she so dedicatedly setup with an expectations of getting customers whilst they glance through her sellable items she has arranged superbly.

Her paraphernalia consists of hanker chiefs, socks, scarfs and kids hand gloves and other sundry items she could expect to sell considering the fact that she has been in the role of an ‘Entrepreneur’ for quite some time. Covid times have created situations for many a people to plunge on desperate efforts for a living. Without inhibitions, many folks have started what they could with their meagre savings and time they have to earn a living – who knows that a small step they have taken today under duress of situations they are in could lead them to an all-out entrepreneurship binge; As they say “ The journey of 1000 miles start from first step!”

Observing such sight, a sea of questions come to one’s mind – What has made them so tough to endure the vagaries  of life and its living, almost at the nadir of societal pyramid, the robustness in their attitude towards life is worth an emulate for many of us- if at all we see them as set examples to face the challenges of life – come what may. Their dignity of living and self-esteem desist them from begging or being a recluse.

Their home paraphernalia consists of existing with optimal items of daily life, not obeying to hoarding capacities that we generally inculcate. Living in shanties or roadside makeshift camps, their belief to take life as it comes holds true unlike many of us who fear life and its challenges which might come our way and what we may not be able to take it.

Nowadays reading unfortunate news of people who are giving up on life due to various trials and tribulations life offers them, a constant reminder to all of us can be people living in dire situations and still having zeal of living – they certainly believe in idiom of “This shall too pass…”. The lady in question can be termed as a visible example of such situations, she could have chosen the other path and had succumbed to situations life offered her – Instead she did not and their lies her victory and victory to all of us I the belief that whatever be the situation “Accept life as it comes  your way….at the end of it, you will cherish your journey…”

~ Raj Uncle - One Man Show ~

Sitting on the pavement with a confident aura and observing the passersby – sometimes shouting like a marketing genre, Raj uncle is an age old phenomena for me. I have known him for more than two decades as far as I believe. He used to be quite young and versatile in his personality, now that I could find him in a sea of people in the flea market, I could sanely observe that age has definitely took over him.

I generally went to say a sober “Hi” to the him and was never short of words when the conversation began. He at once recognized me as an old customer, though he did not expect me to buy any items he had displayed in front of him. I knew for better that he must have gone through tough times which had befallen on such assiduous souls who, in spite of all the dichotomy of life stood still and faced the situation with aplomb. Asking him about his ‘Business’ condition, he was quick to react, whilst he raised his hands above - “Everything is owed to HIM, we are nothing son!”.

This one sentence actually said it all for the cerebral mind. It encapsulates our exposed reality and our vulnerabilities of life. We believe on certain outcomes of our daily activities ignorant of the fact what actually is stored for us or for what we are pronounced destined!

Raj Uncle has been in the business of selling hand purses and handkerchiefs since I have known him. As far as I remember, he had two daughters – the same was asked by chatterbox in me. Suddenly, he started to smile; an emotion I have not seen in many now a days, and responded “Both of them are happily married, and well settled in life.” I am happy for them and they take of me and my wife by calling us every now and then and dropping in occasionally, what else a father wants in this life.”

Another streak of wisdom Raj uncle spelled midst of showing some ladies purses to some customers who suddenly happen to arrive from nowhere; though a good sign for his business. The deal didn’t go through, but Raj uncle’s zeal to sell just does not die – he shouted clamorously to attract all and sundry, to which there was meagre response. In between, he started to enquire about my well-being, to which I responded in affirmative. I just wanted to talk to him more and more as I could judge a sense of instinctive connect with him – may be due to the fact that I had met him after almost half a year, though I was also very conscious of the fact that he was going through his prime business hours and could not afford to be as talkative as I am, also bearing in mind that he was all alone to manage his paraphernalia.

Convincing customers nowadays is a tricky spell in business, I observed him to be quite a rainmaker in his art of selling. Finally, I fell for his articulative stance and thought of buying purse for my mom – needless to say, he was more than happy to see me as a customer again, the deal was struck quickly with little haggling – for me buying his sell was just a symbolic gesture and a way of overcoming my guilt of wasting time of his whilst he was working!

A final goodbye and note of thanks exchanged between us and my thoughtful mind started to reminisce our past when he never used to sit on the pavement and sell his goods but to stand in front of the road and gesticulate and shout every now and then to attract customers – may be decades of workmanship has made him acknowledge the art of instinctive selling and also as I observed now , Raj uncle’s age has taken over it with passage of time.

Giving the purse to my mom – the final cult came, “Did you bring it from Raj sahib?” – that is the honor the man holds in our house and why not he deserves all the praise one can gift for his fighting spirit and living for a purpose with a thankful stance for All!!!

~ Market Glitterati ~

After ages, I have true honor of seeing our favorite flea market in full swing – Saturday are special days for all of us as we have been accustomed to seeing this flourishing market for more than five decades or so!

The market represents true mix of old and new and has been a cross cultural festival amongst all and sundry. I call it ‘cross-cultural’ as you will see people of all cultures buying and selling various items in all its traditionalism – from south Indian spices and to north Indian cheese and papadom's , you see yourself to be in a gifted place and can cheat yourself to a one time shopping spree!

 I have seen a major revamp of orthodoxy of this age-old market where second generation and even third generation of marketers have taken ground. In my juvenile days, I used to frequent this market for cheap plastic toys and tennis balls and even cricket bats which were quite affordable according to my pocket money , now that that the market has been bombarded with Chinese paraphernalia, it has taken an aristocratic shape. It consists of all sorts of items; you name it and they have it – From kitchenware to fruit and vegetables to the famous road side eateries - the famous ‘Chole Bhature’ and ‘Tickies’ to South Indian ‘Idli Dosas’.

The only thing which has been a diligent constant are the vegetable vendors; though they have also accommodated themselves towards fast changing times; they have started to sell ‘Chinese Ginger’ which is placed under Chinese LED lights. They have mastered the art of arranging various vegetables and fruits in an attractive fashion. You will observe tomatoes being extra-ordinarily ‘glowing’ under the aegis of Chinese red LED light – your eyes get captivating towards cleverly projected lady finger under razor focused green LED light – – beware, both of the temptations are illusion to your eyes which gets busted once you come home and see what you have bought!

At this stage of my life, the purpose of visiting the Saturday market has changed – now it is primarily for fruits and vegetables with an occasional demand from my kids to bring stationery items , though I still wait eagerly for Saturday market to come in full swing which had lost its sheen due to Covid restrictions.

Today being one of those lucky days, I had the honor of visiting this iconic market and meet age old hawkers who have been my permanent fruit and vegetable vendors. A general chit-chat with them after six months have been pulsating – enquiring about their wellbeing and vice versa has been satiating to the mind as I got to know that everyone was safe and sound, though a big pain was significant drop in their day to day earnings, but still they were happy to repeat this idiom “ Health is wealth, we can earn later in life , no problem!”  Their roadside wisdom has been acquired from experience they have had sitting on various tranches of life, first with their fathers and grandfathers and now themselves.

The happiness quotient they carry is far beyond the luxuries of corporate life – they have dreamy aspirations which makes them class apart from regular rigmarole of life, they are not averse to taking risks and experiment in the journey of life – conversing with them sets your thinking apart, their charisma of greeting a customer is phenomenal so as their inviting nature. They bestow true spirit of entrepreneurship and have many ideas to reckon with – today after meeting them after ages, all I could say is that they truly represent the zeal of living life be whatever... they eventually become my role models and life coaches for the art of thy living...

~ “Kishen” - The Young Entrepreneur ~

 Chit chatting with my friends and having a glass of lemon juice, I suddenly chanced upon makeshift stall in front of me - ‘Ram Ladoo Bhandar’ as the name is famous in our vicinity and hardcore street food foodies quite often throng the stall to have delicacies it offers. What is captivating to the eye is not serpentine queue sometimes one sees through at peak time in the evening when people are desirously waiting to have their plate of ‘Ram Ladoos’, but a young lad earnestly working so hard along with his father that he does not spare time to look up

I have quite often seen him washing dirty plates and picking up leftovers from a makeshift bench that the father son duo have positioned near there stall for customers to cherish their feed.

I quite often see him doing Sundry works which are of immense help to his father – Work types such as cleaning the bench, picking up leftover plates and quite oddly even frying the ‘Ram Ladoos’, whilst he puts himself in great danger in doing so.

He has quickly become cynosure of all eyes as according to his age and physical appearance, he works so dedicatedly towards the task assigned to him – His father has a reprimanding tone and quite often calls him with high pitch but ‘Kishen’ as he calls him, is always a consistent and obeying son trying to beat time. Today as I observed him, he was busy cleansing utensils and for that he was trying to prepare the spume which is needed to do so!

Aiming to finish a hoard of dishes which lied on a pile – Kishen had taken this as a task to complete within a timeline set against all odds. For him, his ‘Karma’ was his playground – At this stage of his life, he is learning the tricks of the trade and is a quick learner – Talk to him and he would give a confident reply that he loves doing all this paraphernalia and helping his father.

I asked him once ‘Do you love all this?”, his answer was in affirmative and that too with a big smile.

At other time, I asked “Don’t you study?” – he replied “ I study in the morning and afternoon and then in the evening I come here with my father and help him setup his stall – in the interim, I do menial work what my father tells me to do!”

“What you want to be when you grow old Kishen?”, I once asked.

He was a bit shy first of all then suddenly when this question was repeated by his father – his reply was that “ I want to convert this makeshift stall to a proper shop and start his own setup and employ people – I was flabbergasted on hearing about his vision that he had perceived for himself – Kishen had made up his firm plans to be an “Entrepreneur” at this stage of his life and that is why he was so dedicatedly engrossed in all types of works in his father’s stall. He could strongly visualize that right in front of him were legalized DDA shops and one can operate this type of setup from a concrete shop and thus have a formal arrangement. He knew fully well that for this to happen they would be needing lot of money – this again added to his zest to come with his father and contribute in his own way!

Enquiring from his father about his working so early in his life, he says – “ I have three sons, Kishen is the youngest of them all – he is 7 years old but comes with me on his own, he loves to be in the market and do things and is not shy of anything, seeing his zeal and dedication, I don’t stop him accompanying me. “

Nowadays, my visit to the local mart has an aim – to see Kishen working with his father hand in glove and to bless him internally for him to achieve his aim in life , but surely not before completing his studies and become educated enough to open not only one shop but string of shops with his hard work and dedication!

~ Like a Girl...~

 Today ,I broadcast a beautiful poem being recited by a girl in her teens – The poem suffix’s her internal thought and lateral thinking about what she is and what she believes in!

Her ruminations are synonymous of her existence in this world – A vociferous spell of her convictions and dreams!  She emulates herself to the greatest icons of womanhood – ‘Liberty’, 'Teresa’ &’Indira’  – all woman of substance and her role models of life...

She recites about her apprehensions of being a girl and what people thought it to be like….

Her aspirations, thoughts and aim of achieving grandeur of life and her strong convictions of reality whilst she sets to dream in this world of man’s domination……

May she achieves the world beyond words and sets apart for herself into dominion of a ‘Girl’ who then becomes a signatory and an exemplified communion of Womanhood….

~ It’s a Dog’s Life, Beautiful Just... ~

 The sleepy head is oblivious to the market rigmarole and having a dreamy sleep – I generally see him walking the market aisles every now and then, observing the gentry walking past by him. The canine is a foodie and generally has a dedicated set of food givers – mostly shopkeepers who obey him by feeding him with goodies which he likes!

Wagging his tail as usual he comes to them on one sweet shout or a soft whistle knowingly fully well that there is something interesting coming up – either a sumptuous meal or slice of cake or biscuits which is a general evening breakfast of shopkeepers. His conduct varies from person to person and as I observe him , he has a sense of aristocracy to his behavior – sometimes he walks with pride as he is the sole owner of market area he has made his home. There are certainly other meekly canines posing a stiff challenge to his dominating position in the area he occupies. He has been into some deadly fights to defend his proprieties and have thus won and earned his dominance – in the midst of all this he has made some loyalists who always walk behind his arrogant style – giving me an impression that now he has made his bodyguards too!

Nowadays, I mostly see him accompanied with an elegant female companion which he has somehow befriended to kill his boredom – I strongly guessed that my favorite doggy is now in love 😊. Whilst I was buying something from the shop, the canine came to me and looked at me with a gently and poked his nose to have my body smell – a behavior very unique to certain dogs – the objective being to have a sense of acquaintance.

Today, I saw a scene captivating to my eyes – ‘Sheru’ was fast asleep  and seeing him at this state of wellbeing, I asked my shopkeeper friend as to why he is sleeping at this time of evening when whole market is up and running, the market rush and noise does not concern him – the answer came as a shock to me; “‘Sheru’ seems to be heartbroken as he is missing his female companion since two days – a tragedy had stuck his life and whilst they both were crossing the road nearby, a fast approaching car had hit her and she died on the spot – Sheru showed his anger by relentless barking and chasing the car but to no avail. He came back and sat near the almost crumbled body of his love and did not had his food since two days now – he generally has lost all enthusiasm of living , we all shopkeepers are seriously contemplating of taking him to a doctor, though once we have tried thus but he has been growling at us as well. He certainly does not like to be disturbed and wants to live in this state of despondency.”

After hearing the heart-rending  love story of my favorite canine, I felt sorry for him – his predicament was imaginable – I just went near him with an aim to woo him with his favorite cake biscuit which he so eagerly loves and enjoys but to no avail – he opened his eyes with a little effort and saw me and wagged his tail as a reciprocative gesture and then slept again – I assume he started to dream about his lost love – I could equate his feelings with strong sense as I observed a face of despondent lover! All I said was “May almighty give him strength to overcome this phase of his life and his beloved rests in peace above – the short and sweet love story of our Sheru would be ingrained in our hearts and mind in times to come!

~ Life’s Oxymoron...~

Went on a buying spree and the conversationalist that I am , I could not stop to utter a few words of appreciation of merchandise Uncle was selling in his shop. Articulately dressed, the old man had one assistant to help him out in finding my requirements of Tees. In the midst of it all , I started a  general chit chat about the current situation and how his business might have got impacted whilst he opens his shop quite reluctantly. He is about 70 years of age and in the target range of government advisory for not being let out without any valid reason.

During the course of our conversation, I did mention him to take care of himself whilst the whole world fight this dreaded disease – having said that , I guess uncle went into a deep pause and started to share his sordid – happy story – I deliberately write this down as ‘Sordid – Happy as hyphenated – the two oxymoron's!

He started to share that he has one son and one daughter, both married and having kids – he has a big house near his shop and that he stays with his family – et all , it consists just his wife! Both his kids are out of India since a decade, happily married and settled – They don’t want to come back and stay with their father and mother who have grown old and fragile and now they need a helping hand – if not financially but emotionally!

I did raise this valid point during the course of our jest conversations and uncle fully acknowledge this fact that now he actually wants his son to come back and stay with him. “He is earning well outside and has 2 kids going to school there, he cannot equate his earnings in India. Though I am happy that he has done good for himself, but I don’t have the courage to tell him that he should think of coming back as his mother and father have passed their ripe age of living – time is clicking fast and our health is of no guarantee now!”  His sense of early pride soon turned out into a feeling of melancholy.

I fully acknowledged Uncle’s concern but kept mum as I could see the ignominy of a desperate father who wanted his Son to do good for himself but the cost of it, he has to pay now at this ripe age.

As our conversation gelled “Son, many a times , I have had medical emergency in the night and it is my neighbors that have come to our help – though I can afford good medical support in India, I cant do things myself or for my wife if anything uncertain happens.”

I reverted “ Uncle, you should frankly talk to your son as to what he thinks about this situation that you face now , you have good property – Shop and 3 BHK home in a good locality and your son must have had a good savings as he has been staying outside for more than a decade – he can buy his own home here and make himself comfortably placed. What do you think?”

Uncle juxtaposed my argument with one sentence which summed that all – “ Son, new generation will never understand the situation which old parents face through at fag end of life! All through my life I stuggled to setup business for my son and he never obliged my hidden plans for him – He went to study outside and never to return. I have accepted this as my destiny and God’s will.”

The whole conversation took about five minutes – time was up as his assistant bought the requisite merchandise of my choice, the next thought was of business – I selected a few Tees and paid and said “ All the Best uncle, may you be hale and hearty and I see you again living life with equal fervor.”

The reply was “God Bless You.” Coming out of his shop , I went to severe thinking about such parents and the predicaments they face during their lifetime. This turned out to be a catch 22 situation and many a parents are in this situation as they want their kids to be well settled economically and personally but at the same time want them to be near them – “A Life’s Oxymoron” as I would say it – as one cannot have the best of two worlds at the same time, the situation makes it more complex with the time we live in now. For the kids, I genuinely feel stuck up at crossroads of life as many of them might feel obligated to stay with their parents at this stage of their life but the pulls of better life make them stay away from them – calling them ‘Victims of their own success’ what an irony I summed up this situation as I walk back home thinking about Uncle’s predicament….Life thus goes on…!

~ Vaibhav - A Life of a Cobbler ~

Quite often , I see some street urchins roaming around the aisles of a commercial mart near my office, their prawning eyes are always focused down below looking towards footwear of the gentry – having found one , they quickly start to converse with the prospective customer in one word which sums up their intention – “Polish?”.  I know one of them amongst the lot as I have befriended him since 3-4 months.

Walking barefoot throughout the scorching heat, Vaibhav goes on to chase his customers who need polishing their shoes – the irony being he himself cannot afford a shoe and thus maintain it.

His worn-out feet juxtaposes a history of sorts, he comes to his ‘Karmic’ Region barefoot and keeps on roaming around with a sole objective to earn a certain amount per day to accommodate his lunch as well as safe for his dinner in the night. He belongs to Ajmer and had come to Delhi with is village friends – a lot of two other urchins who also are in the same profession as Vaibhav.

Asking him about he school he quite vociferously tells me “ School is closed due to Covid – I don’t have a mobile phone or a computer so as to attend the online classes – though I have bought the books when I started from Ajmer and when I have time in the evening, I read them quite occasionally

Vaibhav meets me without fail on all weekdays and hardly takes a break from his ‘Business’ as he confidently calls it with aplomb. He wants to open a shoe factory in the long run as he thinks he has not only mastered the art of polishing shoes but also has started to make them.

Further asking him as to why he has not made shoes for himself, he tells me “ I don’t have money to make shoes for myself but I am saving for that day when I shall wear a shoe made by my own self.” – His proudness was well recorded by me and I prayed to God that one day he should get what he has dreamt of. Every person dreams big out of life for himself and Vaibhav is no different, his situation in life is tricky as he has to balance his economic situation along with his studies and take care of the family as well.

His parents belong to economically weaker section of society – His father is a cobbler and his mother a housemaid. He has two elder sisters – both married at an early age – another anomaly in our society where young girls are married off at puberty only to become mothers at adolescent age!

Vaibhav does want to ruin a life of any girl till the time he sets himself strong foot economically – his prudence of life at this stage is well honored and at least he knows the poverty trap he has to set himself free. He works hard throughout the day, only to leave by 7 pm in the evening, when shots and offices in the commercial complex sets to thin down. Post this, he long with his friends go on a little evening breakfast consisting of Tea and Rusk or biscuits. A general chitchat follows among all four and they laugh and discuss life and be merry – that is the time which belongs to all three and they cherish these moments to their hearts content.

Vaibhav has one big quality which is in his blood – he never overcharges for his labour and never undermines his effort, whatever he quotes for the work type that becomes his last word. Though in nowadays parlance this is not the right attitude, but he says he is right in his might and he wants to stick to the rules he has made for himself and thus follows it with all earnest.

Before taking leave, I wish Vaibhav and his friends a good bye and ‘All the Best’ greetings – I would certainly like to be in touch with them, and honestly want to see them grow not only in age but also about maturity of living and may they achieve their dreams which they have set their eyes henceforth!

~ Disha Aunty – A Life lived in Wisdom ~

As the phone rang some days before, I sitting next to it was the first one to pick it up – expecting a near or dear one to be calling us – a routine nowadays considering the times we are living by – This landline phone is testimony to our living and is with us for last 36 long years – I still remember vividly!

Getting a call on this means no wrong number – for us it is most of the times my mother’s friends which they found it convenient to dial in as we live in the digital world induced by mobile phones.

Getting to notice the true test of time when one was young and sport a hearty smile with equal measure of confidence, Disha Aunty used to go to office  trailing miles and ever engrossed in her true Karmic sense – She used to go from one hospital to another; as she worked as a medical officer in prestigious Government of India company She was ever agile and talkative in nature and lure almost everyone who came in contact with her with her bags of never-ending stories!

Now that she is of 73 years of age, and ill bound to do things of her own and that time has taken over the regimes of her existence, she has many age-related problems – Sugar, Hypertension and has had an open-heart surgery in recent past.

Speaking with a philosophical mindset, Aunty speaks words of wisdom when she tells me “Son, so many people you meet at definitive occasions in this journey of life, you remember some but forget many. Even your near and dear ones who have departed now occur as a dream and their memories become intangible thoughts now!”

Further she tells me “This life is a beautiful till the time you are in great health and you have a great family with whom you can cherish your living. Lack of Money can still be compensated via love and care for each other and with continual support, one can transgress life with a happy living!”

Giving examples of her colleagues whose sons and daughters have left their aged parents in midst of this trying times of Corona virus. She blatantly speaks of curse which will befall on those lifeless souls who have left their parents entrapped in uncertainty of life – more so when their aged parents want much of care and love at this stage of life. “I don’t know why the younger generation does not comprehend one grueling fact of life that “It comes back to you with a bang and at that time they will face the same situation. No one on earth can dodge the unrelenting Laws of Karma which are always working incognito.”

Finally after exchanging goodbye pleasantries she kept the phone down with enthusiasm and excitement of talking to me again not before a humorist sarcasm “Quite hopefully I should remain alive by that time 😊” – Those final words were rhetorically rejected by me with sayings “ Disha Aunty you will be alive and kicking and will surely call us soon to share some marvel moments of life that you have lived , It is always a pleasure receiving your phone and talking to you for so long!”

As the phone rang today, I vehemently rushed towards the instrument to pick up the call as I generally do – the voice on the other side was quite somber to disclose an unpleasant happening – with a heavy heart ,I received an unpleasant news of Disha Aunty leaving for her heavenly abode leaving behind slew of memorable moments which she so frequently used to share with me!

In the Midst of time, when we navigate in retrospection what we owed to the world and what we actually gained, you will see a highly skewed benchmark set against time...correction will require decades, but only the prudent ones will ever get to know what they did wrong....!!!

I know Disha Aunty – you must be seeing us ALL from the ‘Other Side’ of the world – having a panoramic view and meeting  your departed near and dear ones – not to forget the innumerable blessing you must be giving us from there for such true moments that we shared as our paths crossed in this world – Be live and spread your smile as you did to this physical world – God Bless your Soul!

~ Life’s Offer…~

The secluded finisher always sees himself in the midst of rolling his hands or doing brisk running and hardly takes are break. His persona at this stage of his life is riveting to me, almost at the fag end of life, his zeal to keep himself fit has been phenomenal – sometimes doing a glancing ‘Hello” or a “Namaste” gives you a feeling of intrigue to have a long conversation with uncle.

One such day hence arrived, on reaching the tracks of the park early in the morning, I started to do brisk walk with a purposeful aim of loosening my still body after a deep sleep – I had only circumambulated the park’s track that I could see the old gentleman coming towards me, whilst he was jogging.

Clothed in his favorite track suit which he generally loves to wear, I had made up my mind to be a conversationalist with him, be whatever it takes. The moment thus arrived, after about 40 mins of walking he took a short break and positioned himself quite satisfyingly on the nearby bench. Taking out his water bottle , he sipped through gently as if the thirst had overcome him after a hard exercise regimen. As I was observing him for some time, he used to sit on the same bench which could be termed his favorite. With a streaking eye contact, I started the conversation with a pensive thought – “ Hope he is in a mood to talk.”

“Hello Uncle, I often see you jog and do exercises , at this age you are so fit and fine, what makes you do all this , you can come to park and sit calmly and introspect the best moments of your life in all those moments.”

With a grimace , he thus spoke “ Son , I have been working so hard all through my life, I had a electronics shop and never took a break almost all my life, Sundays were too occupied as there was lot to do and achieve as per my aspirations.”

Then suddenly his voice chocked, and his eyes turned wet, after a brief pause, he started to speak again – “I lost my wife and my only son got separated as he got a good career option out of this country. I am all alone now and thus have lot of time on this planet till I am alive, almost nothing to do.”.

“Last year I was prognosed with Cancer and am undergoing treatment and have to periodically go to hospital to get rid of the disease – Don’t know if I ever will be able to do that!”

As the story got melancholic, quite inquisitively, I again asked “But what about your shop?”

He replied “Ah, I closed it down at the peak of my earning capacity – as there was no zeal left to continue after my wife’s passing away and my son taking his own stance in life. I never thought that one day I shall close the dream of my life on such account. All my life I dreamt that one day my son would take the reigns of this business and I shall sit at home and thus enjoy the time life has to offer, but God had decided otherwise.”

Though it was a sad little story – It made me wonder about most of us who are struggling and running  an endless race without almost the same outcome – One day we shall be left alone with all the money we ever thought we could amass but without near or dear ones and compromising on our health.

Taking leave from Subhash Uncle – As we conversed I gently asked his name and thus told him that I shall be addressing him thus so , I started to take my own course as the sun had started to shine quite bright hinting for a humid afternoon coming over, not before promising myself to meet him the next day with yet another round of fruitful conversations whilst we shall sit in beautiful meadows of monsoon greenery!

~ Code Name God ~

Sitting sometimes in your own lonely world of wanderings  you start to ponder about the mega happenings in life and its attributes – the first question begets your mind “Who Made this all ?, the Stars, Moon, all these heavenly bodies”, the cosmic intelligence is always performing its task without any hiccup; the sun rises on time, moon has its own orbit, various planets with gigantic masses always moving with phenomenal speeds

Alas! All this does radically intrigue’s one’s mind about a strange coincidence about such major appearances around us; The general question being, who made it so perfect and in perfect symphony with each other? Who actually programmed it so perfectly? Not even an iota of error one can decipher in the laws of the world. The best of humanity – Physicist, Biologist and other intellects of highest order as still trying to uncover the greatest mysteries of this universe. Only the insane can be judgmental to the tune of not acknowledging the power and existence of the higher order – what we call GOD or ‘Cosmic Intelligence’ running this universe with so much perfection!

Looking at life’s intelligence around ,you can surely get a strong understanding of the hidden working of greatest order – the growing of a seed into a huge tree, a plant germinating via seeds and sprinkling flowers and its fragrance, the birth and death of living beings – all this seems to be such beautiful in this intransigent world of thoughts and actions.

Not believing opens a wide range of debates, the answers to which are hard to find and makes situation more complex – the total acceptability of an unknown ‘Cosmic Governance’ satiates one’s intellect and make us stay focus on the tasks we have been assigned to do whilst we live each day.

Many of the biggest thinkers of this world have propounded big theories for the existence of this universe and how this was propounded by just a Big Bang – but as we research more and more onto it, many intriguing questions have evolved which challenges this age old theory of evolution – for many the quick and simplest answer is ‘ There is a Supreme and Supernatural Power always at work, It is HIM that he wishes , so does it happen!” – The prudence and enlightenment of this theoretical talk goes well with what you see and feel – It is you who have to be a judge of your own existence, many thoughts of you being born to a particular family and into life situations will ponder you erratically – There is a seeker in everyone of us, for some it is at a dormant level and for many it is live and kicking.

Many of us are working from close comforts of our homes, spending time with families but at the same time living under constant fear of the uncertainties of life, of losing our close ones. Fears of some tragic instances which we all see and hear from various sources – many questions arise in our ever-engaging mind and thoughts – what if…?

All what I have live and experience in this beautiful journey of life led me to think laterally – that many of your life’s situations are pre-existing and defined; we are here only to live upto that script written as according to our own ‘Sanchit Karma’s’ – the only silver-lining being that it is our free will with which we can act with impunity whilst we exist on this planet. All this has a significance of your living, what you do today will be recorded in ‘Akashic Records’ and shall come back to you with equal fervor – for this to believe; start living with a conscious state of mind – observe the Deja’ vu moments life offers you everyday, the hints it gives you hidden in small moments and situations ; you never know this might lead your to a path of self-enlightenment and you find the source of that ‘Big Cosmic Intelligence’ which is playing around since time immemorial – Happy Searching!