of nathulals, mustaches and clean shaves ……

a barbarous effort

Reminds me of my village and my childhood, when we used to have a hair cut from the local barber (naaua) as he is called there.

He was synonymos to our crying, me saying that he will cut my ears, plane haircuts, no money charged(he would get food from the household) and having a laugh seeing other kids crying wile getting the cut.

After growing up a little (coming to the little town), it was a chair and a glass in front and a good enough haircut. this was a time of paying Rs. 8 for the hair cut.

and now picture has become of an AC room and lots of lotions and creams. thats a time of Rs. 50 (striving to find Rs 20 barbar) haircut.

One other thing that changed after the first phase (was that of my good old village) visits to barbar also started symbolising Sundays.

But most of all this man here reminds me of ‘moochen hon to nathulal jee jaisi, warna na hon‘

Wondering

they are…. or we are….

Excited, thrilled, wondered…….
Seeing What?
Some tractors trying to level the land ahead to create a kuccha road for the village. Such is the road work affair there.

Road works here….. traffic jams, nascence, disputes……. Such is the road work affair here.

Munching ahead

the guy

Reminds me of the chewing gum chewing GUYs (including me). Guys/gaays have a chewing habit, whether in english or hindi

The pool

of uncertainties…..

Standing on top of a dam, I see this child looking for some fish. Tries to catch….misses. Tries to catch….misses……tries to……..got it…..Hurahhhhhhh. But its a very small one. Anyhow, something is better than nothing.

The little child in a big river, with small fishes. Will he be able to harvest his due? Or will he sleep today also with half stomach food?

But more importantly, will these things be a problem? I guess not. His life this far must have given him some teachings: Generally he will not get his due and generally he has to sleep with half stomach food.

But is that his life for ever? I hope not.

Hope there are bigger fishes,

and he has a net to get his due.

after all hope is all I can do,

But is it really hope that I can only do?

Child’s Play

Or not so …….

When I was this age, I could not even move the handle of a hand pump. But this braveheart here filled the loota (utensil holding water) with the water from a handpump (which I could never get water from).

I compared my childhood with his and thought, I got all the nutritious food in the world but never had strength enough to move the pump, why?

The answer came, ’situation’. Difference in our situations.

I had a tap at my house, he uses a handpump from a government office.

Whenever I needed water, I asked and my mother working in the kitchen got it for me; he probably was carrying water for his mother working in a near by quarry.

I bathed twice a day, only bath he had in the last few days was water spilling from the loota.

Its the ‘SITUATION’ which creates the ‘CONDITION’.

Beyond all boundries

Little atoms

This may be a small stone for us, but for them it’s a boulder. No matter what comes in their way, these worker ants carry the eggs of their colony to safety. Many times carrying five times the weight of their body, they cross barriers bigger than this and that too, nonstop.

It’s the dedication towards the work that matters.

Dead or alive

Deprived always

I was on a bridge on a seasonal river. I looked down and this is what I saw.
Probably a dead body. Why wasn’t it cremated? Did the relatives didn’t have enough money for even some pieces of wood? Did he have relatives?
Now, the body has been buried in the river bed. After some days the river will come and wash it away. Is this what it deserved?
Deprived of the basic amenities (some wood pieces) after death. Or was this person always deprived of the basic amenities; both during life and death.

Patriotism

Skin deep

Venue: Firoz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Occasion: India-Pakistan Test Match

Indian colours all around, flags, painted faces, bandannas, everywhere saffron, white, green. Everywhere a wave of patriotism. This sight made me feel so proud. I thought it was such a great sight and feeling.
Until this sight came in front of me and I thought, is this colour of patriotism permanent or is it only skin deep. Isn’t only at the time of cricket matches and wars (also 15th Aug. and 26th Jan.) that we feel patriotic.
No, this is not a permanent colour. We put it on our faces and hearts on such occasions and fool ourselves by being patriotic. If this colour was permanent we would have done something about the state of our country. But now I know about most of us including myself that this colour is just ’skin deep’.

Beyond barriers

Or creating them

I found these kids in a distant village of Bihar. We were scared to cross this river so as not to get our feet dirty. But these kids crossed it carelessly, some of them even bare feet. There were no hurdles for them, no barriers.

But also what occurred to me was that will they be able to cross these hurdles so easily and carelessly for ever. Soon monsoon will come and will bring life for the area. But at the same time this river will get filled with water and will pose such a hurdle for them which they will not be able to cross and reach to the resources on the other side (not even to their school). That is when the others get resources out of their share.

Does the story seem similar? It very much does to me. Yes, the reservation phenomenon. This river called reservation is said to give life and resources to some people. But does it hold some from getting their share of resources? Does it help some go beyond barriers or does it create barriers for some? We need to stop and think. Do we only need the rains and this filled river for our life or also a bridge over it so that no one is deprived of their share.

Smiling angel

Priceless smile

The picture was taken at a road side stall. The child was a waiter there.
Only the sight of the camera towards him brought a smile on his face. A question came to my mind. Was this event enough for a smile which was so deep, so real, so refreshing?
I thought and thought. And then, I realised; its the pursuit of happiness. We all are running our lives in the pursuit of happiness and this pursuit has made the life so complex that we forget to find happiness in small thing. Blindly looking of the larger goals of life we forget to give smaller things importance. Running in the pursuit of happiness we forget that it is something that cannot be achieved and the persuit will always continue.
His life is not so complex. He has learned to find happiness in small things.