I observed the road today from a prespective we do not generally do. We generally see it, while driving. But looking at it sitting on an upturned oil can, in front of a roadside seat cover shop, was new to me.
There was this young boy, the 'chharra' of the shop jumping agilely to meet the 'fetch' orders of the proprietor. As the owner worked on fixing my scooter, i engaged the boy in conversation. The transcript is as follows. I'd have translaed it in english, but that would erode the effect. Hence i write it verbatim, in Hindi.
"Naam kya hai tera??"
"Sankar"
" Kitte saal ka hai?"
"barah"
"Kya kaam karta hai, matlab dukaan pe baithne ke alawa?"
"Arre bhaiya mai padhai karta hoon"
"Achha, kaunsi class me hai?"
"saatwi"
"Waah yaar, dikhta to tu paanchwi ka hai. School ka naam kya hai?"
" sarkari uchhatar matdhyamik vidyalaya, kramaank 4"
" teacher padhate hai ki nahi?"
" pehle to farziwaada tha, aajkal naye teacher aaye hai, vides se, to ab achha padhate hai"
"vides se?? arrey dilli se aaye honge, vides se kaise?"
"aree badi gori madam hai, pakka videsi"
" fees kitti lagti hai?"
" kuchh nahi, kitaben bhi milti hai. bas kapi khareedni padti hai."
" aur khana milta hai?"
" woh sirf paanchvi kaksha tak wallon ko milta hai. Meri class ka ek ladks toh jaan boojh ke fail hua, taaki khaana milta rahe"
" tu mat aisa karna, padh lega thik se to khana apne aap milega"
" koi nahi bahiya, khaana milta kabhi nahi hai, humesha kamaana padta hai, bhale padho, ya nahi"
Just then a city bus passed us, it still is a novelty to indore, and it's very common to ask weather you have taken a ride in it or not , and i asked him the same question.
"Yeh nayi city bus me baitha??"
"bahut baar, kya jhakaas bus banaayi hai bhaiya. apne indore ka bhi devlopement ho raha hai" (the spelling of development is knowingly incorrect to stress on the the pronounciation he used)
"devlopement, iska kya matlab hota hai?"
"matlab nayi cheezen aana, sheher sundar dikhne lagna, logon ki naukri lagna. mere mohalle ke chaar log chala rahe hai yeh bus"
" tujhe koi gaadi chalate aati hai?"
" luna chali hai bahut baar"
" police nahi pakadti? tu to 12 saal ka hi hai"
" koi nahi pakadti bhaaiya, usko maloom hai, pakad legi toh bhi mere paas toh kuchh hai hi nahi dene ke liye"
This time he asked me a question.
" Aapne trejur iland dekha??"
" haan maine dekha hai"
" kya mast jagah hai bhaiyya, ise bhi devlopement kehte hai. Wahan kya sidhiyaan hai, apne aap hi upar neeche hoti rehti hai. Yeh mangal city to bekaar hai, upar jaane ke liye bijli sidhi hai, neeche aane ke liye hai hi nahi. One way hai". having cracked a joke, he laughs,one of the most beautiful laughs i've heard in a while.
By this time, my scooter is fixed, so i take leave of this young boy, giving him a chocolate i happen to have in my pocket. Thinking what all this boy sankar told me in such a small time.
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5 comments:
phod diya! ur blog is full full of some real good stuff! best thing is - God! you've turned out to be a 100 times better poet than me!
ye shankar wala kissa was pretty thought provokin too especially for me who has just finished readin City of joy a day before.
I consider myself an Indiaphile, but I have to confess to not knowing Hindi. Would it be possible to offer some sort of translation that in some small way captures how development was discussed in the conversation?
During my six months in India earlier this year, I tried asking many people what they thought of globalization or how they thought development was affecting them. Usually people told me that development was a good thing, but they seldom could offer specific examples of how it was affecting them.
I'll check back in hopes of a translation. Keep up the great posts!
@ ishaan, shashank
Thanks for the praise.
@ steve
i'm posting a translation.
Development is a very relative concept. For me, an engineering student, it might mean, easier jobs, greater opportunities of higher education. In general, i'd expect to see industrial development in terms of manufacture etc.
In this boys eyes, it means more jobs, cleaner cities, better business etc.
Really nice. Out of the mouth of babes - as they say !
I don't know why but it made me sad reading about it. It is probably not the best way to live at 12 years old but he will be fine...
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