Tapori’s Day Off…

…

The 11^th day from Ganesh Charuthy most of Sarvajanik Ganesh idols are immersed into Arabian sea. India’ economical capital, Mumbai comes to a halt at that day. The ever-working city, Mumbai takes break from its routine hard life and celebrates the day. Shopkeeper shut their shops early, people reach their home early and most of schools remain off. Day is not declared as official government holiday, but it is counted by most of Mumbaikars as half-holiday, unofficially official.

 Big Ganesh Idols were on their way towards Arabian sea, accompanied by their hosts, with blaring noisy music system and flashy lightings. Several political parties and associations set their make-shift reception counters, along the road side to greet the Ganesh idol processions. They also have blaring loud speakers, playing Bollywood songs vociferously.  It’s always competition among political counters to get highest exposure and attention of public by loudest music.

Under loud celebrations, one boy was dancing on the road, crazily. That boy was not part of any   Ganesh Mandal or political party. He was just a common boy, enjoying the gift of free music. He was dancing on the road, methodically on the music and capturing attention of passing-by people and standing crowd. He was accompanied by some of his friends, who used to join him in dancing intermittently, but boy was kind of avid dancer, continually shaking his body on loud music tunes.

For some, he looked as crazy drunkard dancer, for few he was entertainer and for rest of the crowd he was no more than moving article. His dance is considered as Tapori dance. Tapori dance doesn’t require any class room training. Any one, with liberating senses, can Tapori dance and enjoy. It’s originated from streets and slums of India. Tapori dance is relaxing, frivolous and unorganized. Only requirement is matching Tapori song. From acting veteran Bhagwan( albela fame) , Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachhan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir Kapur,  most of Bollywood Stars have used Tapori dance to secure their place in Common Indian’s heart. It’s requirement.

Our Tapori dancer has charged with Time. More and More Ganesh idols were passing and music were becoming louder and louder, charging our Tapori dancer even more. In frenzy, he swung his shirt off in the air… For spectators, he was  just a nutcase., a Tapori..

Gopal was from small town near to Vishakhapatnam(AP). His father was very poor and when Gopal turned 14, he was sent to Mumbai to work as waiter at Udipi Restaurant. As Gopal could not speak Hindi, he was been given very dull work: To serve water to customers. His job is stand with try full of water glasses and whenever some new customer arrives, Gopal rush to him and serve water. There are other senior waiters who will take care of food order. Gopal is specially reserved for serving water only, day in and night out.

Whole day, Gopal used to fill the empty glasses and dump it on table for food-eaters. Since last two years, Gopal was doing the same tedious work again and again. To his bad luck, his hotel is situated at centre of the city and hence quite busy with customers all the day, leaving very few moments to rest.

Gopal could not visit his home-town for first 3 years as per his employee contract.  Gopal’s day used to start at 7.00 AM for breakfast customers. Food orders changes with time.. breakfast, lunch and dinner at night but for Gopal, glasses of water is the only option, regardless of time. Fill the empty glasses with water, stand at corner, customer arrives, rush to him/her, dump the glass and go back to the corner… wait till next customer. Same routine he has followed entire day, entire month, entire year… 24X7X365… Gopal never bothered whether customer has drunk water or not ! His job was to serve and he was serving. Gopal served water to various types of customers.. smiling, rude, confused, angry faces, critical... .Many eyes looked at Gopal during the day, but none of them have noticed emptiness of his eyes.

Initially Gopal used to dream that once he will learn the language, he will also serve various food items.. food items with various colours, smell and taste.. But monotony of Gopals’ life has killed his fantasies.. Now Gopal has forgotten his expectations from his life.. His life has been prisoner of few glasses… All the visuals of his life..sunrise, sunset, sea, rain, flowers, sky…, has limited just to a glass of water..

Today was different day.. today was Ganesh visarjan day.. Gopal’s hotel has to be closed by 2 PM as Ganesh-visarjan processions will start. During entire year, Gopal has waited for this day. In whole year, today was his day. He has decided that today he will drink and dance.. Dance like never before. He can dance today on the road, on the ground, under sky anywhere.... because today is Ganesh Virsajan day.. !! Today is the day to unleash energies… He has decided that today he will dance to break the dullness of his life and numbness of his fantasies. Today he will dance to realize that he is human, and not machine. Today he will dance to celebrate his life.. Today he will dance, to cherish his existence…

Hotel closed and Gopal came on road with new clothes. He danced amidst people, he danced amidst rain, he danced amidst loud music.. He was so engrossed, that he could feel his surroundings until he dashes on somebody.. Regardless of music, he just kept dancing on his steps.. In a way, He has reached to state of Nirwana, mental place of complete bliss and peace. … In Buddhism, nirvāna is the peaceful state of mind that is free from craving, anger, and other afflicting states.  People visit Ashrams, use thousands of rupees to please their guru.. only to get touch of Nirwana.. to understand the meaning of complete unity between conscious and unconscious, between knowing and unknowing. Our Gopal has reached that level of complete unity, without any spiritual guru and just by dancing Tapori dance. This is only for today, because tomorrow again he has to serve water glasses…

Regds

vadan

LALBAUG CHA RAJJA & ME..

Life is journey and we meet strangers during the journey. Sometimes these strangers play positive role in our life by sharing their life experiences. While  I was returning from Lalbaug, a well-known area of Mumbai during Ganesh festival, a something like that has happened.  

I went for mukh-darshan of Lalbaug Cha Raja, a Ganpati believed to be Navsala Pav Nara means one who listens to his devotee. So there are millions of people around the globe visit Lalbaug’s emperor during Ganesh festival to seek blessings with their wish-list. I was also among them. My wish as corporate animal was to get better paid job. All my friends have got the well paid break last year and in spite of my best efforts, I  was left behind. I mailed my resume to numerous job consultants, friends and attended few interviews too. But luck was not clicking. Though my current job does fill my financial need, greed to earn more money was making me restless. This restlessness was hurting my daily peace and family relationships. I had feeling that God is not kind with me.


Finally I decided to involve Ganpati Bappa into the matter and  I went to seek his blessing at Lalbaug. It was very VERY  long queue of devotees, and I got chance for darshan at midnight. Rajja's darshan was enlightening experience. I forgot all my tiredness and cursing of long queue at first glance of beloved Ganpati Bappa. I am not very religious but became at that very moment for a moment. After finishing darshan I took cab to home. Real story starts here.

Cab driver Santosh Sharma, was talkative and I am good listener. During the journey he narrated his life experiences and listening to him has become life experience for myself !

He talked about his wife's heart surgery, his indebtness, his religiosity…… his life struggle. While speaking about his wife’s medical treatment, he explained the complex matrix of our public medical system, the importance of religion in common man’s life, our social structure etc.

I am just translating his hindi words into English  :

“ While returning from Patna, suddenly at Kurla station (Mumbai) my wife has developed pain in stomach due to long travel. I knew from my friend that tablet Genpack works for stomach pain and I gave her. But it did not worked and her stomach started swelling. We rushed to general hospital. Inspecting doctors told me she is fine by prescribing another dose of Genpack. I did not trust their judgment and I insisted more details. Finally looking at my intensity, they did some medical tests and told me meet expert doctor at third floor immediately. That doctor was nice and he also works at Lilavati( 5 star hospital of Mumbai). He told me my wife is having heart trouble and she requires to admit at ICU immediately for more tests. We rushed to ICU. They told me to deposit Rs 2 lakh. I requested them to let my wife be admitted, and will deposit money once it’s arranged. They were not agreed. Finally, We went to private nursing home for medical tests. At private nursing home, they did the medical tests of Rs.10000 and one heart surgeon told us that my wife is having problem with heart valves,3 of them are dysfunctional. They have  to be replaced. First question I asked was, how much is the surgery will cost ? He replied Rs. 6 Lakh..I was totally shocked !! .. I already had debt of Rs.30,000 due to cousin marriage and now how will I procure Rs.6 lakh.. !! My wife’s health was deteriorating day by day. Nursing home daily expense was also increasing. I prayed to Maiyaa( Goddess). That night I got idea to call my ex-boss, with whom I had fight and left the job last year. I knew his brother is heart surgeon. He gave his brother’s cell number. It was at 10PM, and I dialed his number. Mostly he switches off his mobile after 9 PM, but thanks to Maiyaa, that his mobile was not switched off. He talked with nursing home’s doctor and told me to immediately shift to JJ hospital. He assured me that my wife will be fine. His words were so refreshing JJJJ He arranged the ambulance and I paid Rs.2500 for that. Thanks to Maiyaa that we reached hospital on time. At hospital, security guards were not allowing our ambulance. I lost my temper, I asked “ do you know Dr.Ajit Kumar ?This is emergency “.. They opened the gate and we took my wife to ICU… Doctors were ready for her…They gave some injections to my wife and put her into big machine for some aaa… graphy. I was looking everything with startled eyes and not understanding anything of it. I just kept chanting Maiyaa’s name all the way.

Next day they told me that my wife is out of danger now and I need to arrange Rs.2 Lakh for surgery. Actually my ex-boss’s brother has agreed to operate my wife for free and I have to pay only for medicines and operation theater charge. That’s why surgery cost was 2 Lakh instead of 6 Lakh.  “

Actually when he was narrating all these, I was getting bored. But I did not intervene and let the flow continue. He continued.

“ I went to my friends, relatives, and charity organizations. Somehow I have managed Rs.2 Lakh and deposited to hospital. I thought that now everything should be fine but new twist has come. Doctors have cancelled surgery date 3 times. I was confused. My friends asked that had you consulted Manju Maiyaa.. ? “

I asked:  Who is she ?

“ She is god lady, residing at Titwala Mandir. She knows everything about her devotees. I went to seek her blessings and without my explanation, she told me that “Do Mrityujan Jaap(Chant) at Santracruz (my residence) or Titwala( her residence) and your wife will be operated. “. Jai ho Maiyaa ki.. I asked my pandit friend to do Mrityujan jap and he agreed  to do the Jap at Goregoan, his residence. Neither I could deny his offer or accept as Maiyaaji has told me to do the jaap at either Santacruz or Titawala. Miracle happened. Day before Jap, my pandit friend called me to inform that he will do the Jap at Santacruz only… Jai ho Maiyaa Ki..

Me to hailed  Jai ho maiyaa ki  as proper reaction.

“ Once Mrityunjay Jaap has completed as per ritual, My wife surgery has also completed. Doctor told me that they will announce patients name and inform about success of surgery. There were 6 patients who have been operated along with my wife for heart problem. As each name was announced, relative of patient came out crying. I was waiting with beating heart and Maiyaaji’s name on lip. Finally my name has been announced and I went inside the ICU cabin. Doctor told me that out of 6 surgeries, only your wife has recovered fully. Now my wife is fine and healthy.. Jai ho Maiyaa ki. Now my problem is indebtness of Rs.3 Lakh, I have to pay to my borrowers. I am working in two shifts, day and night. At daytime I work as car driver and  at night I drive taxi. I am sure that within 3 years, I will pay all my debt…Jai ho maiyya ki.”

I left Santosh Sharma’s taxi with happy note. In the bed, I was thinking about my problem of earning more to Santosh’s life struggle. How Santosh has managed his wife’ problem with meager resources he had ! How could illiterate taxi driver has dealt with difficult medical jargons as Cardio gram, Angiography,.. Etc ! …

Santosh Sharma has never lost hope on his destiny, faith in Maiyaa. Santosh sharma was not cribbing for his wife’s uncalled illness and the mental, financial, physical stress it has caused Instead, he was thanking God (Maiyaa) for keeping the hope alive.. …

I realized in-stead of complaining about my petty problems to Ganpati Bappa, I should learn from Santosh’s life to slog on. And thank Ganpati bappa for what he has given me, instead of what he has NOT given me. I should focus on my work, strive for excellence and find solace in my daily life, instead of cribbing for money only.

This time emperor of Lalbaug has shown me the correct way through taxi driver Santosh Sharma.



Regds

Vadan

Partition

Partition

This short story is about an automobile mechanic, who was victim of his own mental fears.

RC Garage was a vehicle repairing workshop owned by two mechanics : Radhe and Chotu. They were quite knowledgeable about vehicle mechanism and very customer friendly. Hence I used to service my scooter at their garage since last 8 years. Our relationship has also grown over the years. Both of them worked in quite harmonious way and prospered in their lives under roof of RC garage.
My scooter has developed certain battery issue, hampering it’s performance. I called Radhe for the repair. He told me to visit the garage at 10 AM. My preferred time was around 4 PM. Surprisingly he was insisting on 10 AM. I could not understand the reason behind his insistence. Finally, I agreed on his timings.
I reached to his garage. He was waiting for me eagerly. I could not find Chotu around. I asked whereabouts of Chotu, which Radhe ignored to answer. I found fewer vehicles than usual in the garage. Radhe was totally engrossed in his work. This level of commitment to work can possibly be achieved when passion becomes profession. It’s always inspiring to watch such commitment.
While Radhe was working on my scooter, Chotu has arrived. I noticed that both of them have ignored each other’s presence. Chotu started working on client’s car silently. It was unusual because I have never seen both of them working so silent. The FM radio was also switched off. Chotu wanted a screwdriver, lying near to Radhe. I noticed that instead of taking help from Radhe, he went all way to another side of garage to get similar kind of screwdriver. I smelled dispute between them and as friend of both I thought to intervene to resolve the issue. I asked the reason for the dispute. Radhe kept mum but finally Chotu broke the silence.
Chotu disclosed that Radhe wants to work separately. On insistence, Radhe charged Chotu on financial cheating, which Chotu opposed vehemently. It seemed that Chotu was shocked on and argued passionately against Radhe’s decision. Since both of them did not have enough capital to buy or rent new garage, they had no option to share the same garage. Radhe insisted on separate timeslots for working and separate tool set. Hence they will have separate customers and tools to work with. I understood, the reason behind Radhe’s insistence on 10 AM was to make me his client, before Chotu arrives. Working at different timeslots on same garage means that each of them will work only for few hours and rest of day will be spent being unproductive. Separate hours of working, will also decrease their capability to handle more customers hence decreased revenue. Till now they used to share their tools and managing the business but separate toolkit will be costly to buy. Chotu’s arguments had made sense to me and I requested Radhe to sort out the issues and avoid the separation. Radhe was totally adamant. He has made his mind for separation. Finally Chotu turned emotional. He explained that he and Radhe were from same town and came to Mumbai together. They were trained under same Mechanic teacher and stayed together for initial years. They have shared the grief and happiness of life and supported each other in hard times. Chotu was not able to understand the reason for Radhe’s anger. Chotu requested, pleaded and begged Radhe to avoid separation but Radhe was not listening.

I left garage with heavy heart. That night, I was thinking about Radhe’s stubbornness. I felt that Radhe was not telling the real reason behind his decision. He was hiding some unexposed fact. Radhe’s body language was somehow not confirming his verbal expressions. Something was there in Radhe’s mind which was not coming out.
After few months when I went to service my scooter, I found that RC garage has been shut down. Neighbor told me that dispute between Radhe and Chotu grew and finally they decided to shut down the garage. My real worry was not to worry about them but find new knowledgeable mechanic for my scooter !!

I found new mechanic for my scooter and RC garage’s memory has been washed out from my mind. That day I returned home late night. I took last Borivali local train and reached my station at darkest hours of night and moments before wee hours of morning. It was raining very hard and I was in dire search of auto rickshaw. I am very afraid of whims of auto rickshaw drivers. They may give you ride or may not ! They are kings and we, as passengers are at mercy of their whims. Under heavy rain, luckily I found an auto, who was willing to give me ride. I just jumped into the auto. I was surprised to see Radhe as auto driver !!!!
I had many questions to ask. But Rain was so heavy that I was busy in saving myself from torrents of rain. Rain became nastier. Radhe could hardly see the road. I requested Radhe to wait till Rain slows down. He agreed. Coincidently we were stopped right in front of closed RC garage. Having no other option, Radhe took his auto under the shade of RC Garage. He came out of auto and touched the closed door of RC garage. Radhe seemed very depressed. I could not feel his energies, I have experienced when he worked as mechanic. He looked at few rusty tools lying on the floor. He picked one of it, judged it and threw it as useless. I could not stop asking Radhe that why RC garage was closed ? Radhe casually replied that he could not work with Chotu. Chotu was fraud. I could not feel the truth in his words. I wanted to grab him and shack him till he tell me the truth. I curbed my feelings and asked mere formal question “When did he started driving Auto and left his mastered profession ?” He replied that after shutting RC garage, he could not work as mechanic, the memories of RC haunting him. I felt that Radhe is opening up. I got closer to Radhe, put my hand on his shoulder and asked him to tell the truth. He turned around and I found small tear in corner of his eye.

He lighted a cigarette, exposing his inner dilemma.
“ My wife is very beautiful. All my friends were jealous of my fortune, including Chotu. That day I have invited Chotu for dinner.. At time of dining, Chotu crossed the limit. When my wife was serving him Roti, he suddenly touched her wrist intently twice... I could not bear that visual of his fingers touching my wife’s wrist.. I could not sleep at that night and till now that bloody visual keeps recurring in my mind. That day I have decided to sever all my relations with Chotu..”

The lid has broken and worms are coming out of bottle. I knew that Radhe haven’t spoken about this incident with Chotu or his wife and merely assuming things, based in his perception. I replied Radhe that touching wrist is very minor gesture. May be Chotu did not mean anything and it can be merely just a small incident !! May be Radhe was victim of his own suspicion, wrong perception and mental complex about his wife. Radhe was not accepting any of my arguments. He was adamant that Chotu had devil in his mind and if not stopped he could have stolen his beautiful wife.
Rain was stopped and we headed towards my home. Sometimes we can be blinded by our mental beliefs that we tend to forget the practical approach. Deep emotions became driving force and our actions are guided by emotions rather than reasonability. Pakistan’s founder Mr.Jinnah was having ambition of becoming India’s first Prime minister. As he saw that Jawarharlal Nehru was having greater chance, he fulfilled his lifelong ambition by creating new country based on religion. On the surface, Mr.Jinnah formed new country, Pakistan for Muslims community. The real reason might be his inherent desire to RULE. If Mr.Jinnah would have been first PM of India, may be Pakistan would not have formed. Same argument about desire to rule is applicable to Ambani family and Thakckery family’s division. Ambition is an emotion and so does Fear. In our case, Radhe’s inherent fear of losing beautiful wife was reason for his spat with Chotu. His fear has not just ruined his carrier and mental peace. But as we could not stop formation of Pakistan, separation of Ambani family or Rise of MNS (Maharashtra Navnirman sena), I could not stop RC garage’s partition.
Engrossed in these thoughts, I left Radhe’s auto. I was standing on lonely, wet road , watching Radhe’s auto crossing the potholes, splashing the dirty water and finally disappeared in the darkness.

I felt the silence,,, after the storm. I didn’t like that and wanted to save myself from it. I rushed to my home.


Regds
Vadan
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