Journey from Guwahati to Machhiwara

by Rajiv Bakshi

  The Good Samaritan

  Anubhav was working in Agriculture University of Ludhiana as a Stenographer. Besides working in this prestigious university he was also supplying milk on his scooter for the last thirty years to his customers. This had been his family business and he was not ashamed to do this work. Be it Sarabha Nagar in Ludhiana or Raj Guru Nagar he was ready to oblige his customers even in the biting cold in the month of December or in the sultry weather of June. At exact 7 am he was dot on time at our house with his containers of milk. He would bell the main gate and if there was no response he would quietly enter the kitchen and put milk in the utensil and neatly cover it with a plate. I had been witness to this routine for the last thirty years. We changed our residence so many times but our connection with our milk man continued for ever.

  One evening he came to our house and said that he will not be coming for the supply of milk for three days as he had to attend to a marriage in Jallandhar of his close relatives. Three days passed but there was no trace of Anubhav. Two days later I received a phone call from him that three of his close relatives including his young son of 22 years had met a fatal accident in Phagwara and all of them had succumbed to their injuries due to severe crash of the car in which these young boys all students of Engineering college were traveling. The car which was driven by one of them had met with an accident and had hit a stationery truck on the main G T Road. Anubhav was devastated to hear this. He lost his only son and one of his sisters in laws son also died in this accident. No passerby had come to take the victims to the nearby hospital.

  All the passerby’s who were standing at the site of the accident were only talking in hushed voices as to what had happened and were discussing as to who was at fault. None had the courage and guts to take the bleeding children to the hospital. It was Anubhavs hunch that had the children been taken to some hospital they might have been saved. But it was not to be. On the day of cremation Anubhav had pledged in his mind that if he ever witnessed an accident he will never stop at that site. If no one helped in his grief, why should he help some one else? Anubhav had eaten the bitter pill and had resigned to his fate.

  Anubhav had married his daughter Vibha three years after the calamity and was now leading a contented life with his wife Neeti. It was a cold wintry morning and it was raining heavily. He had gone to drop his wife Neeti who was working as a nurse in a Government hospital. On the way back home near a petrol pump he came across a huge motley of young children dressed smartly in their School blazers and a few passerby’s who were daily workers who were going on their cycles to look out for work on daily wages. On one side he saw a scooter upside down and two young boys of the age of 15 or 16 bleeding profusely. They looked to be students of plus 1 or plus 2 and it looked as if they had met with an accident.

  Anubhav accelerated his car and did not think of stopping near the ghastly site. The whole panorama of his son’s death came dazzling in front of his eyes. Not even one person on the earth had helped his son and he thought why he should unnecessarily involve him in this accident. He had to supply milk to his customers. After that he had to be ready at 9 am to reach his office.

  After driving his car about 500 meters at a high speed he reversed the car and came to the site of the accident. He could smell his son’s breath on seeing the blood oozing out of the two children’s head. Immediately the passerby’s put the young children in his car. The boys had their Identity Cards dazzling in their neck. Anubhav carried the children to DMC hospital in Ludhiana in the emergency ward. Anubhav got the hospital cards made and also spent the money on medicines and the Doctors fees for putting the stitches. Two hours after the accident he made three frantic phone calls to three different people. Two of the calls were made from the public telephone booths in the hospital. Without telling his name he had informed parents of Kashish Arora and Sunil Singh that their sons had met with an accident but were now out of danger and were ready to be discharged from the hospital.

  The third call Anubhav made was to his wife Neeti on her mobile. With tears trickling from his eyes he told his wife in a soaking voice about the accident and how he had BROKEN his pledge not to help any distressed person. By the time parents of Kashish Arora and Sunil Singh came to DMC hospital the GOOD SAMARITAN had fled away without giving his name and mobile number to the hospital authorities. The happiest couple on hearing this sad episode was Anubhavs wife Neeti and Anubhav himself who had broken his vow. Neeti was so proud of her husband that though she lost her only son but her husband had saved lives of two unknown boys. Anubhav’s married daughter Vibha was so happy that she could never tie Rakhi to her brother but Kashish Arora and Sunil Singh sisters would tie the sacred thread to their brothers.

  Happiness is but an Occasional Episode in the General Drama of Pain

  It is very difficult to define happiness. It is very easy to feel it Happiness is something which money cannot buy. A person may be having lakhs of rupees in his FDR account but he may not be happy. Happiness is something which has to come from within. A person may be having good money with him but if he does not enjoy good health and does not have peace of mind than that money is of no use to him. Similarly a student may be studying very hard but if he does not get good marks then he is not happy. A student will feel very happy if he is able to achieve the target which he or his parents have set. If the child is able to get admission in engineering or medical college naturally the student and his parents will feel happy. We must think of those times when our Madams gave us with STARS on our notebook and we would show it to our parents. Getting a star or “very good” from our teacher inflated our pride and we as students were very happy when we showed our note book to our parents and they were more happy than us.

  To some watching a cricket match at the dead of night gives them great pleasure. If the match is between India and Pakistan it gives immense pleasure. Who can forget the 6 deadly sixes hit by Yuvraj Singh in a cricket match between India and England? And the bowler to suffer was no mean bowler. Watching Joginder Sharma a non entity from Haryana doing the last over in twenty 20 match against Australia was a treat to watch. This gave more happiness to cricket lovers than having Rupees ten thousand in their pockets.

  To some listening to music gives them great happiness. While listening to old songs of Kishore Kumar & Mohd. Rafi gives more happiness to a music lover. When you are in a low or pensive mood try listening to music all by yourself. There are hundred of songs which give you more happiness than even money can buy.

  A rich man having 5 cars may get another Innova. He will not feel happy if another car is added in his kitty. But a poor person who owns a bicycle gets very happy when he gets a scooter.

  For some persons they are very happy if their article or photograph is published in a newspaper or in some magazine. They daily look for the paper to see if their name is printed in the article which they sent.

  Happiness is but an occasional episode in the general drama of pain. Learn to be happy in small things. Learn to give alms to distressed people or the people in pain. Help a stranger in distress or a needy and poor person or donate blood to some one, he will remember you throughout his life. Give Rupees ten thousand as “Shagun” to a rich person he will forget it after a day!!

  P.S. Money cannot buy you happiness. Doing a selfless act to brighten someone’s day can make you happy.

  The Face Book Friends

  Sandy was tall, dark and handsome. He had done his schooling from Sherwood College Nanital. He was the pampered child of his parents who were doing flourishing business in Jallandhar. The parents of this boy probably made a mistake of their life time in marrying this handsome young boy at a young age of twenty one. He was married to Dora a girl from a mediocre family from a remote village in Punjab. The only saving grace of the girl was that she was extremely beautiful.

  Everything went on smoothly. The couple was blessed with two children a boy and a girl. After the unfortunate death of father of Sandy at a young age of 50, the business of
the family started downward trend. There was a time when the family owned a fleet of 6 cars. Now the time had come when Sandy had no one to keep his head to weep.

  Dora had joined the circle where the ladies indulged in full gossip and card session. She had started caring two hoots for her husband. The day she started her card session, she was losing or winning Rs 100 only. It gradually increased to Rs 500 and then Rs 1000. There were days when she lost Rupees 10000 per session. The poor husband had to feel the brunt. Dora had no qualms when she stole the money from the valet of her husband. She even threatened to call the police at night if he refused to give her money.

  Sandy could not pay back the loan installments of his bank. The poor fellows name came into cibil and he was being denied loan from all banks as he had become a defaulter.

  Clever Dora had got the flat transferred to her name. She had also transferred the car in her name. The worst was yet to come. The children by this time were 6 and 8. Sandy was left with no alternative but to file for divorce against his wife Dora. The king once upon a time had become a pauper now. The poor fellow was thrown out of his own house. He had now to live in a one bed room flat having his grub at Highway dhaba’s. Gone were the days of Kings Hotel where Christina worked as a manager.

  Christina from Goa was a lively lady of thirty five. She was from a rich business family. Both of her brothers were doing roaring business but her two sisters in law were bent upon turning Christina out of her maternal house.

  Christina had married a Punjabi boy Aditya of Amritsar. It was a fairy tale wedding. Their foreign tour included visits to Singapore, Malaysia, London, Paris, New York and many more. They were blessed with two girls now aged 5 and 7.

  What once upon a time was a fairy tale wedding was turning out to be a journey on thorns. The small fights, the big fights and then the biggest fight in the court room at Amritsar. Christina had no one to accompany to the court room except her old mother of 67 years. Her brothers and sisters in laws refused to accompany her at court. The girls were too young to understand the agony of their parents.

  It’s an old saying that no one is as good as whitewashed by his friends and no one is as bad as painted black by his enemies. Christina was painted black not only by her husband Aditya but also by her in laws. She was made to stand as a victim in the court of law.

  The divorce was granted as a compromise and out of court settlement. The girls were given to Aditya and poor Christina walked out of her house from Amritsar to Jalandhar all alone. She could have claimed alimony but she did not claim anything, not even her children!!!

  Christina came to her mother’s place in Jalandhar. Her mother had a palatial house in Jalandhar in a posh locality of Model Town. She cooked her own food. She was afraid to use the Air Conditioner at her mother’s place. The mother Raj got her will made and gave equal share to Christina and her two brothers. The brothers got an inkling of this and got the will changed. The poor mother Raj, had bequeathed her share to Christina but the brothers and their wives could not stand this.

  Christina one night walked out of the house and took a rented accommodation at Defence colony in Jalandhar. Depressed but well dressed. She had no one to fall for. She had been shunted out from her husband’s home, deprived love of her children, forced out of her paternal home and no relatives to support her.

  Christina only friend in life was internet and face book. Through face book she came in contact with Sandy a depressed person who had started from a scratch once again. He started the business of interior decorator and was working in his factory till 10 pm. He was almost on the verge of suicide. Sandy had no friend but his philosophy in life was: Take one step at a time. Christina was excellent in public relations and she was booking marriage functions, kitty parties, couple kitties etc in her hotel. She was getting handsome pay. Christina was getting offers from her friends for remarriage. Once bitten twice shy. She was now looking for a husband who was rich and might be ugly. Only money was her consideration. She had been defeated in life once in her fairy tale wedding and did not want to take chance again.

  After spending long hours in chatting and poking Sandy on facebook, one day she gave her phone number to Sandy. He would talk to Christina for long hours on net telling her about his problems in life. He talked about his wife, his children and his riches to rag story. Christina also shared her joys and sorrows over the net. No one proposed to each other. Though both had liking for each other. Both were mentally ruined and were looking for resurrection in life.

  A chance meeting with Doctor Gupta at Ludhiana clinched the issue. He was a top Psychologist at Ludhiana. Both of them had come to his clinic to get their problem solved. Out of blue the song from DDLJ – “Tujhe dekha to yeh jaana sanam” clinched the issue for them.

  Love & Hate Relationship

  I was not born in Pakistan. But I have always shared a love and hate relationship with this country. I am no politician but a common man. Since I am born after Partition I had no idea about how the cities like Lahore looked. My father had graduated from Lahore college and my grand father had worked as a Sub Judge in Lahore. I had a burning desire to see Lahore. The first Passport which I made was in the year 1990 which got expired in the year 2000 with no travel entry.

  I had decided not to renew the passport again as I had no chance to see a foreign land. When I went to Gurdaspur as Vigilance Officer in my Bank, I became friendly with a Manager whose brother was in SGPC. He told me that he can help me in getting Pakistan visa. That was in the year 2004. He told me just to give my Passport & three photographs. Rest all the formalities will be completed by him. Without telling my better half and my children I gave my Passport to my Banker colleague of Batala. Almost three months after that one day I got a call from Batala that I had got Visa for Pakistan for ten days to visit religious places. In the mean time my son was working in USA. He was sending me papers for my tourist visa.. A bird in hand is better than two in a bush. This famous quote I had learnt from my maternal grandfather. On one hand I had a visa for Pakistan and on other hand I was looking for a visa to America. When I told my wife that I intend to visit Pakistan with a Sikh Jatha she was flabbergasted. Getting first stamp of Pakistan on my Passport meant that I will never get visa for America. That was the perception of people around me. However after much deliberation, I took the plunge and embarked on my journey to Lahore in a Train to Pakistan in April 2004.

  What followed was a ten day Journey to various places in Punjab of Pakistan, visiting Lahore, Nankana Sahib, Panja Sahib & Kartarpur . The love and hospitality we Indians received was immense. There looked to be no difference in the streets of Lahore and Delhi. At both the places the streets are crowded & at both places you get street food which is relished by Punjabis on both sides of the border. Since I was on a religious journey I did not taste the non vegetarian food which was available in plenty in food courts of Lahore. But I enjoyed the Indian delicacies like Puri, Chane, Halwa, Lassi etc. The shopping was a treat to do. The shopkeepers kept on pestering us with tea, cold drinks and some even offered us sweets since we were their guest of honor. There was not even an iota of hostility which we so often read in newspapers and see on the electronic media of both the countries. It was real safe to travel all alone even at midnight in Lahore in a three wheeler to taste the Nawabi food and listen to the Indian songs from movies like Pakeeza in full blare. The Pakistani girls and women loved anything which was Indian especially the Indian Bindis & Indian suits & saris. I had taken a few packets of Bindis which I gave to the girls and women of Pakistan. They were so thankful to receive these small gifts from unknown visitors from India. When we entered Pakistan border we were cheered by the Pakistan crowd as if we were a VIP. All the Indians were garlanded by people of Pakistan when we entered the Sarai in Nankana Sahib. I did not stay in a luxurious five star hotel and did not get an AC. On the other hand we stayed in a room occupied by six or seven people and that too slept on a floor. But we were completely bowled over by the hospitality of their common
people.

  After this Pakistan visit I got USA visa for ten years and have visited America three times and have stayed there for almost seven months visiting length and breadth of that country. Americans are very free and very friendly and there is so much to see and explore there. But still out of the nine countries which I have visited till date I find my stay in Pakistan as the most memorable. I would love to visit this country again and again. But I have not been able to fathom out that why in India versus Pakistan cricket match I always want India to win. Also in Kabaddi and Hockey I want Indians to win against Pakistan irrespective of the strength of our team. But when Pakistan wrestlers and boxers are fighting against Iran or Kazakhstan in Asian Games I always cheer for the Men in Green. It was Hamlets dilemma for me why I was so happy to see Sania Mirza, Pakistani Bahu to win the Gold in Asian games in Mixed doubles in Lawn Tennis !!!!

  PS: The two sides of the same coin.

  One More Reason to Fight

  Sometime around late 1990’s I was under the wrong impression that my boss never fought with his wife. I was flabbergasted when he told me the reasons. The funniest reason which he told me was that his wife fought with him because he always came early from the office. Then I was under the wrong notion that my subordinates never fought with their better halves. Here again I was proved wrong when each of my subordinates told a long story about the reasons of their quarrels. A common reason given by them was that their wives fought because they always came late from the office. I always thought that businessmen led a very comfortable life and they must be the happiest person in the world. But while talking to a businessman’s wife, I was astonished that the young lady said that her husband always goes to the factory at 9 a.m. and return not before 10 p.m. That was another reason for them to fight. What about the poor people? Were they happy without any bickering? I was astonished when their wives grumbled that their husbands never went to work and were always busy in playing cards and drinking. The silliest notion which I had was film personalities like Amitabh and Jaya were an ideal couple. I was shocked, when I read in a popular paper that Rekha in her late fifties still harbored a keen desire for Amitabh. If Rekha is around, can Amitabh and Jaya be an ideal couple?