Halloween Party

I just read the brain smashing you gave the rest of the interactors. maybe I shouldn`t have posted.

you know though, reading the story, I didn`t at all feel it was a poverty thing with some hidden agenda to it. I sincerely felt like it was just a well laid out story. The title didn`t really jell with it, (the ``party`` bit), but I didn`t think it had THAT much emotion to it, as opposed to what I see in all your comment posts. Plenty of jumping up and down emotion there. Whereas the story itself was pretty moderate paced, matter-of-fact, told as it is, and yes, believable, c`est la vie.

BeejWa,
Since when Anandmargi admirer is not a COMMIE?

Tumhar Logan ka susra prablym Ye Hai Ke Sussra Commie hai tau Kono Baat nahee
Lekin Sare-aam Istakbal tau karo. LENINWa ka Keera Katat Hai, lekin Khujlee Nahee Karegey.

Ah! the cycle rickshaw, as opposed to the ``auto rikshah``.. the picture was a nice reminder of a few childhood summer holidays. I always wondered how the boy on the seat used to be so carefree, waving to people of his trade when they passed by, while using his thumb to ring the bell on the handle bar, and his other hand to steer. And all the time his left buttock would go up and the right one down, right one up left one down, thighs pressing the sides of the bike together, his bum not even touching the seat, you could feel the muscles working inside his backside to push those enormous pedals, and him so small yet he would be flying in the air and you could make out the threads sticking out of his back pocket with the missing button, and the cuffs of his navy blue trousers rolled so tight with more navy blue threads sticking out and you`d wonder what would happen if a thread got caught in the wheel spoke or the pedal, and you squatting there on the ground next to your aunt`s white Bata chappals with the blue toe bands which are right up against another aunt`s dark brown kolapuris the ones she uses for visiting people on special occasions, and you dangling on the ground with your frock flying in the air like the rickshawala and then you tuck the dress under you as best you can without falling off the side and feel like a balloon coz the air is still getting in, and all the time the rickshawala is chirping like a cricket bibiji this and bibiji that and you just want to smack him for flying so fast and not having any thing to hold on to in this rickety transport mechanism of his with the red vinyl hood and the window cutout at the back where you can see the zigzag lines of the sewing machine and the cheap aluminium frame that he probably sits up all night to polish it glistens so! whew... memories...

Aww. Nice story Beej, well written, good tempo. Poor Raju. But I think a bike lock costs a little more than five rupees nowadays.

Re#39, #40 by Netizen

Zen muni, thanks for your support.


Re#41 Dost-Mittar

Thanks. I’m glad you liked the story. Perhaps such stories never complete – they just repeat themselves!

I put my two cents on the Marg in #43.

Re#38 Delhiwala

Who was the camera man and who is that dunce with those beautiful ladies?

Re#37 Delhiwala

I am VERY pleased with this interact – and its content has nothing to do with that fact.

Dear Delhiwala – as you probably know I have extremely high regards for Sirdarjees! What happened in 1984 was and remains a blot on the face of the nation – in my view, it is an unresolved issue and someday the country WILL have to face up to it – I hope that day comes soon – and those who have been wronged must keep focus on it – using the right means though, not the wrong ones!

At the same time, one must not oneself become hostage to the past – I’m glad that you have not done so.

And please be assured, I will NEVER insult you by treating you with kid gloves! You are a Sirdarjee!

You can count on that fact!

Sincerely,
Beej.

Re#36 by mirmir

Dear MirMir,

Thanks for showing up here – and for your positive feedback. I’ll ask Raju to keep working at it – but you realize it’s difficult to come up with two or three hundred pages – especially for somebody who has NOT been to school!

Okay, now that that is out of the way – let me address this issue of you putting me on your “ignore” list – that you claim to have done on that other board of yours!

You realize what that means!

It means that you are NOT reading these words that I am typing right now. THESE words!

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord!

I could write absolutely anything here – absolutely ANYTHING – and it will still fly because – because you WON’T be reading it! You won’t even know what you were hit with!

I could ridicule you – and ridicule you – and ridicule you till the cows come home!

I could laugh into your face! Make faces at you!

I could curse you – using colorful language and choice words that would make even our hardened Delhiwala red with shame – so red, so red that he would hide under his bed – shaking with dread!

I could tear you apart – into shreds – like a rudimentary rag doll! I could make you run – make you run as if you were on nature’s call!

And hey, I could even inflict that ultimate of insults on you – I could talk to you in Spanish here – as if you are a callow newcomer for whom English is a handicap and who must be spoken into his native tongue – and who must be patronized by being warned against this bunch of big, bad, bullies of the chowk bazaar from whom you must be protected – as if you can not hold your own here and as if you will get ravaged in no time (Ah, innocent you!) by this band of rowdy elements (not to mention nutty elements (come to think of it what brings you to this asylum unless (Oh my God!) you feel you belong here!))– All those enfant terrible, with one solitary exception – that ONLY candid person in this whole vast crowd (in addition to T-bhai, of course) – who SHALL remain nameless – because of modesty, of course!

I could do ALL of those bad things to you – but I won’t!

At least today I won’t!

Then again, there is always tomorrow!

Take it from me MirMir – there is ALWAYS tomorrow! So make sure you keep me on that list!

Sincerely,
Beej.

Re#35 by rahulmal

Thanks Rahul, for your comments of considerable depth.

I have always LOVED Premchand – always did, always shall! And I have a feeling that if one were to take a walk through some of those remote villages in India – one would find that most of his stories – it’s difficult to believe that some of these stories are more than eighty years old – are still being played out – day in and day out! The reasons are simple – does the nature of man really change that much?

Indeed, what you write in #35 makes a lot of sense – the three problems of the lack of education, the contempt for authority, and the phenomenon of having to move to an unfamiliar location where one has no ties and is extremely vulnerable to exploitation – they all gang up together and grind many an underdog to smithereens in no time! I would also add to that some of the “bad habits” (ganja for example) which a lonely person can get tempted to indulge into in a strange land – where there are no watchful eyes of close relatives or neighbors or others to dissuade! (This is one area where I feel it is a good thing that village people are generally nosier than the city folks!)

I will never forget the experience of visiting my old high school a few years ago – and being taken aback by the change in the landscape. The change did not result from construction. However, the area between an open sewer stream that runs next to the school periphery and the paved road that runs parallel to the open sewer – a sidewalk about four feet wide but about as long as the boundary wall (about four hundred feet) was open space no more but occupied by jhuggies – about 2-3 feet high jhuggies constructed of a whole bunch of makeshift supplies – primarily cardboard boxes – dozens of the families had moved there – all from villages. The sewer stream provided easy bathroom facilities and the solitary municipal water tap outside the school gate was the source of water for every need for all those people.

When times are tough – people learn to survive and manage with very little – maybe that’s why our subcontinental civilization has been able to have such a marathon run – and continues to go strong – nukes may come and go!

And now for something completely different!

Rahul, congratulations on being among the FEW interactors who have displayed a certain amount of diversity of interests by showing up on BOTH my boards!

As distinct from the chest-thumpers who are too timid to deal with the emotions that a story of this kind would definitely invoke, even provoke – by design!

As distinct from the softies who sneak in on this one – but were too biased by their latent religious prejudices to open their traps on the last board! Yeah, YOU (but not you, Rahul) heard it right – I said religious prejudices!

As distinct from the timid peekers who looked in on both the boards – but were lacking in words – for they were afraid of the writer – perhaps they even relieved themselves involuntarily – and to think that ANYONE could be afraid of a furry little gentle pussycat of a person!!

Oh, the thought of it!

PS:

The Anand Marg sect is meant to be for illustration purposes only – it could have been something different – but in my view, real names help – and I had trouble thinking another name. As you are probably aware, at one time this sect had a certain reputation for being secretive, which would require the type of comradeship and the excessive zeal of new members which is indicated in this story. To me, fictitious names just don’t carry the same impact – they lack credibility. I was not trying to malign the sect in any way – I don’t know too much about it and I hope I have not offended any Margis – it IS my understanding that it used to be secretive but currently its members pretty much concern themselves with meditation and the like.

I just got back, so here goes.

Re#34 by HP

Dear HP,

Let me put it as simply as I can. I like your sense of humor and I am quite sure you are a smart person in your line of work. I assume you are a professor type, by reading your stuff, but I might be wrong. The problem that I find is that like many other professor-types, you become captive to whatever conclusions you made upon a certain time – and you have lost that sense of openness of mind and the inquisitiveness which is the primary agent that tends to make us grow! As a result, when I read you I have trouble believing you – your desire to make a point and sway your audience with that home run of a point gets the better of any sense of fairness that you may have had once upon a time.

Having said all that, it’s merely a janitor’s opinion – therefore no need to rush toward the bar and hit that bottle again!

First, thanks for reading my stuff. To me it appears that you are trying to come up very hard to find something negative about this write-up – again because of your pre-conceived notions – and having found zilch, are trying to grab at imaginary straws.

Most themes in life are simple – because life is basically simple – unless the professor-types TRY to distort into something it is not. THEY are the ones who need fixing – not those most things in life!

They make “baal kee khaal”!

They interpret and reinterpret simple word to forcibly see meanings which a simple soul would never do!

They ascribe motives where there may not be any!

And worst of all, they assume that the rest of the world is JUST LIKE THEM!

Goodness gracious!

And then they wonder why that drink tastes so good and looks so interesting – unlike people!

Well, I got good news for you! Keep reading my stuff – as long as you keep doing that, there is still hope for you!

Sincerely,
Beej.

Beej:

Nice story. The description of the life of the Bihari riksha puller is quite realistic. But the story felt a bit unfinished. I have read about Anand Marg after a long time. Is it still alive in India?

Re: # 38


jaspal bhattis photo along with his wife, sarita (?).

reminded me of flop show.

Re: # 37

hamara beejwa ki borayi hamaka buri lagge, ram....:)

Re: # 37

BeejWa,
Lagta Hai tumka Diwali Ki Raat Mai JUA BAHUT ZYDA KHELAT HO.
Hamar Bhabhee Jee ko Haar Gya KIYA?

Khair Koi Baat nahee, DharamRaj Yudishter Drapuadi ka Cheer Haran ke pashchat bhee DharamRay hi Rahe the. Tum tau ek chota mota se Tattay ho.

A perfect little gem of a story. But, Raju, now that I know you so well I can`t help being concerned about your future. Please let us know how you`re getting on - maybe two or three hundred pages? I`ll be looking for news of you. mirmir