The Parcel

Hi Ahmad,

Really thanks for the wonderful comments. Was shifting last week and did not check chowk out for some time. Thanks once again.

Rajesh, my name is Ahmad Hayat, your article ``The Parcel`` and my article ``My Summer of 69`` were published on Chowk within a day or two of each other...After having read ``The Parcel`` and having liked it (as I am quite fond of checking out peoples` interactions to my articles, having found none that day, I decided to read your article) I went for ``Generation Ex``. I would like to say that the sh*t that I had posted on chowk in the form of ``My Summer of 69`` and that by the way has received over 80 equally shi*ty posts is not even comparable to your magnificent article ``Generation Ex``. One of the best things that I have read in a long time, and I am not talking about chowk...anywhere for that matter.
Would love to have more of your publications here on chowk or elsewhere.

Ahmad Hayat
P.S. ``Generation Ex`` and ``My Summer of 69`` are only comparable in the sense that both of them describe past events. The content and intentions are ceratainly very different. Anyway I just wanted to tell you that you just became my personal favourite. Really :o)

Re: # 8

> Yaar I think you`re mistaking the fondness/affection/love/sensitivity (or perhaps a
> mixture of all of these) with pettiness.

Ummm ... you may be right .. for all i know. In any case, the way I feel things, it is not necessary that others feel the same way.... so its kewl with me.

> Wonder where the Hindu and brahmin bit...
brahmin, because that is where i hv observed it most ....& hindu because that is what most
of my circle is. Or maybe I should wait till the muslims out-breed is all ....

guys, the tomato pickle represents his emotions at being seperated from all he knows in this cold city. It represents all the good thngs he knows in life, and thats why the tears welled up, cause it was a bit of his mother, a bit of India he was looking forward to.

These guys aren`t childish or immature, they`re away from home maybe for the first time, and it is difficult to handle, and can be an emotional rollercoaster, they will be like this until they emotionally mature to be able to handle the distance, so give them a break and stop calling them immature.

Even when i go to scotland, i always bring back lots of garam masala that my mother has hand made herself with loads of diff spices, some that she has bought from Pakistan, to bring back to London, and we`re only 400 miles away!!!! i can imagine those guys who are 4000 miles away!!!

At least i can go once a month, poor guys can get to India once or twice a year if they are lucky!!!

#6 by wiseguyin

I`d think that the guys who were running the country for 50 years are exactly the kind who get depressed by ``picklish`` stuff .... notice the smallness (for want of a better word) that is displayed by the babus in government. In contrast, the guys who r pulling the country up r the kind who really do not care much mundane stuff like that ...

Yaar I think you`re mistaking the fondness/affection/love/sensitivity (or perhaps a mixture of all of these) with pettiness. In any event, that was a knee-jerk response to a bull-headed comment, so no offense intended to anyone. But I believe that a little bit of sensitivity is just what is needed in this rather superficial and mechanical world.

Subroto - Enjoyed your comments. This is not real. But I remember well the passion with which guys used to wait for their pickles. Once, during the dotcombust, a chap was sent back to India and he took back all his jars saying his mother had made them with lot of effort and it was too precious to leave behind (He gave away his 40 Pound winter jacket BTW). Immature? - Maybe. Moving? - Definitely.

WiseGuy - Wonder where the Hindu and brahmin bit comes from (maybe it is inevitable in chowk).

Re: # 5
Harish,
The problem is that I have myself seen some amazingly childish behaviour in lots of fellow
Hindus. It IS irritating at times .... but yeah, I agree, some ppl may remember the home
food too much .... I never was into these things (& have been away from home since > 2.5 years now).

> India Inc. was run for almost 50 years by you guys with nothing to show for. Just 10
> odd-years by momma`s boys, and you have seen the difference.
Ok. I have a problem with that statement.
I`d think that the guys who were running the country for 50 years are exactly the kind who
get depressed by ``picklish`` stuff .... notice the smallness (for want of a better word) that
is displayed by the babus in government. In contrast, the guys who r pulling the country
up r the kind who really do not care much mundane stuff like that ...

jus` my thoughtz ...

#1 by wiseguyin

Grown up men actually having fetish for tomato pickle ?

Yaar, it perhaps was a longing for food cooked/made by mother. Most of us (at least I`ve had it) do have that craving, especially when we are away from home for long periods.

#4 by DrDr

If this is an accurate description i shudder at the thought of India Inc. being run by such immature characters.

India Inc. was run for almost 50 years by you guys with nothing to show for. Just 10 odd-years by momma`s boys, and you have seen the difference.

#1 u`r right on! These r infantile adults - even the narrator comes across as an adolescent who cant wait 2 grow up but his emotions r so childish. If this is an accurate description i shudder at the thought of India Inc. being run by such immature characters.

But aside of the cry baby - this was a very accurate description. People handing over achar, sandlewood soap, medicines and lots more. Excellent observation of the tiny details that accompany such journeys. Look forward to reading more.

Tragedy? Could have been funny but poor little iggy piggy spoilt it by crying over lost pickle. Even though this may be fiction I throughly recommend the boarding school experience for all such kids. Seeing your tuck disappear on the first day of the term is a great character builder.

Is this for real ?
Grown up men actually having fetish for tomato pickle ?

The rest of the story is nicely strung together ... occasionally funny too.... but seriously, did
this guy go into mental depression for pickle ?

No wonder India is prone to loosing track of which way it is going ... lemme hazard a guess,
ur friend was a tamil brahmin too. Right ?