Child Marriage

CHILD MARRIAGE

They discussed her marriage without her consent
And she was red with rage as she heard them talk

“Rs. 20,000’s the dowry” said the father in law (to be)
“Start paying in installments now”
And she clenched her fists and punched the mattress under her

“Don’t send her to school now
Or else she won’t milk my cows!”
As she cried for her mother aloud

“Here’s my son and he won’t drink like me!
But who knows if someday he does?”
She was kicking in the air by now!

“And for my wife a sari in silk”

“Yes, yes!” said her father; ”I’ll give you all that and a little more”
“But pray keep her, please don’t sore!”

And they made her deal in money, gold and silk
As she cried for little milk…

Women Of India

WOMEN OF INDIA

In India
Scarce they are
Like the drops of rain
But regular
Like the barren lands in winter
Nipped in bud
Before they sprout
Tested, Wasted, Molested
But allowed to grow

Uprooted from life
As saplings
And axed at roots
When Kalpavrikshas
Living like the barren lands
They learn to drink the drops

…….their tears

A century in 100 kms...

No, I’ve never been to the USA but I have cousin who’s been there for over 4 years. He returned 2 years ago and he still keeps on visiting it quite often. He’s a successful young man as far as my family is concerned. He’s been projected to us, youngsters, as a role model and so every word that falls from his mouth is to be heard with the due respect.

We, he and I, quite often go on a stroll here and there. Few days ago we were visiting a newly constructed mall somewhere when he remarked “oh…cool…” just as he entered. I asked him what happened and he replied saying “so now we have malls as big as the average size that of the USA.”

Trust me, though I’m a diehard Puneite, malls neither make me proud nor angry with all their splurge of resources. I’m just indifferent to their very existence. Had they not been there, I’d still have loved Pune as much as I do.

Few days later I was visiting Koregaon, my native place, about 18kms south of Satara. We started from Bombay, speeding in an air conditioned car on the expressway, talking to my dad of the booming Indian economy. On the way we stopped at Pune as some of us had some shopping to do. We parked in the underground parking of a mall. It was amazing; easy to drive down there, lot of space, very disciplined and safe. Just as they show in all those Hollywood flicks.

After all was done, we hit the road again. This Pune-Satara is a segment of the Golden Quadrilateral Project our government’s been up to. It too is just amazing. We could sail there at about 120kph. I was reading a news paper article about the coming boom in telecom sector…

My friend Vinnie called me up while I was at Koregaon; busy with my cousin’s friends. Vinnie’s dad is a Kannadiga, her mom a Konkani. Though she’s been born and brought up in Pune and understands marathi, like many of us, she isn’t very comfortable with it. We usually talk in English.

I was on phone with her for about 25 minutes I guess and as I ended the call I noticed motley of about 40-45 people surrounding me. I thought I’d done something offensive. I looked at them confused when a child suddenly remarked addressing my sister sitting just across “Tumchya varad dadala sagla english yeta?” Meaning “Does your Varad dada know entire english?” There was a look of shock on his face. Fear, surprise. Varad dada who’d been so close to these kids just 25 minutes before was now alien.

As if this wasn’t enough my aunt who’d been witnessing our conversation, mine and Vinnie’s, remarked “Does your friend have a free phone?” I didn’t get her at all. Again the same look, confused. “You were on phone for 30 minutes! How can anyone afford that? Besides you weren’t talking anything important, I haven’t seen a “How are you today?” call going this long!”

I cant tell you how I handled these situations. Had I been home, my mom would have shouted for “wasting time on the phone” probably after like 40 minutes, but 25 minutes only?

My uncle there is considered King of the stock market. He invests moderate amounts and gets back good dividends on his stocks. I was discussing with him the concept of “Free phone”, the one that involves listening to ads for a few seconds before calling and he seemed completely ignorant of it. Where did you read it, he asked me. Times of India and Economic Times, I replied. He said they don’t get those papers there.

Later my dad introduced me to his friend’s son. He’s doing law. First year, ILS Pune. At first I was happy I’d finally found someone my age. We went to the computer in my uncle’s bedroom to pass some time. I found he couldn’t really use the comp because he didn’t understand English. I thought it was okay. But some time later, as I referred to some site in the course of conversation, he asked me “What is internet?”

I was shocked.

This moment the only line I can think of is:

“Different parts of India live in different centuries.”—N.A. Palkhiwala in We, The People

Today, sitting here, typing this on my PC, I realize how privileged I am to think “How do I improve my French?” or “Which is the cheapest plan for my cell phone?” or “How do I reduce my net addiction?” while a town just 120 kms away is still figuring out the century it is living in.

However the most important question I want to ask here is, which is that booming economy we’re talking of and in which India is it? In which century is she living?

The Happy Prince...

I want Them to stretch,
And tear my eyes apart
To give a bump in my butts,
An aching dent in my back

I want Them to give
Sleepless nights for years to come
Dark round circles
Around my eyes

But They shall fill my empty mind
With openness
A feeling of satisfaction, a glow
On my face

A life worthy of living,
An occupied mind worth having

....THE BOOKS


The Happy Prince

Satisfaction...

Honestly, 5000 a month is not enough to sustain in Pune but that is what my dad sends me and will keep sending for the years to come. I have a room mate and his father sends him upto 9000 a month but when he is really serious and honest, he says 9000 a month is really not enough. One of my other friends gets 12000-15000 a month and mostly she's cribbing about how less she gets. A college mate who's worked the all way through says he stays very comfortably in 2500 a month only. I don't know how much is enough and I'm not trying to answer that question either.

A friend called Karan Malhotra of mine just renovated his room. It will be very difficult to explain what changes he made in his room because I'm no professional interior decorator and so I dont't have the terminology it requires. It will, however, I guess, be sufficient if I say that he has made his room much more luxurious than what it was like before. The bed has been replaced with a larger and a softer one. The furniture is smoother and shinier and the bathrooms and the wardrobes look royal. Karan is happy but not content. He still wants to buy that bed in the store that was the costliest. It is softer, smoother and shinier according to him. He wants to be more comfortable.

Akshit Mehta isn't really happy with the new swimming pool with slides that's been built on his old farm house. He wants tp pull down the entire farm house and rebuild it. "I will do it when I have enough money of my own" he says.

Do I personally have no needs, wants or aspirations? Or is it wrong or right to have them or too many of them? I do not know. What I know however is that life is not about satisfying your needs and wants. Life is about being satisfied with yourself, with or instead of them.

Its 1:00 AM in the night. I am awake because I cannot sleep. Hence, I decide to clean my room. I start with the old question papers, the old short notes and all other old old stuff that I once used to study for Law School Entrances. As I'm gathering it I feel emotional. A lump comes up and holds itself right in the throat. I feel as if I'm gathering pieces of my shattered dream.

I somehow manage to cool down and tell myself "Hey! its not as if you are not going to be admitted anywhere! You are still going to a good college! What's more now that you'll have more time you can complete your french course, learn the flute and even intern anywhere you want almost everyday. Now you have all the choices open! It's as if everything you ever wanted is lying at your feet!! You only have to choose what you want to pick up!"

The other voice however comes out too. It is weaker that the first voice, but it comes out. It says "Look at X. Look how happy X is. Only if you had worked a little harder you'd have been there! After all you've lost NALSAR only by 4 marks! HOw could you Prince...How could you??"

One side of me wants to attempt these entrances again. The other however refuses. It says "Look at all the world that is now open! You'll be more than just a lawyer if you use your time well!"

Inside of me there is this third voice which I think is my conscience mixed with my emotions. It says "Why can't we have both? Why can't you be at a law school and do all those things you want to do too??"

I don't know whether you remember what I told you that day on that katta of mine. I'd said every question has 3 ends. 1st is that you get an answer. 2nd is that you don't get an answer and the 3rd is you put the question off. Kill it. Ignore it. Try to draw your mind away from it. Suffocate it. To do just that I came online at this unearthly hour.

I dont know whether it is your help, ear, advice that I seek or is it just my own way of clearing my thoughts. Just read this and do what you think is apt.

Prince...

There are no answers...

Fun, Frolic and Fish! Yes! The trip to Goa was all that and a little but important more. On way back we decide to take a night halt at Chiplun. My room has an A/C, a TV, a huge double bed to be shared between me and my sister and my mind that has just received news from a friend: I have done miserably in one of my Law School entrances. I am not as much thinking about the result as much I am of my future. Knowing that HSC results are going to be a complete disaster I am more of wondering what is it that I am heading to?

Answers don’t come easily. In fact I have just learned some time back when I met my father’s long lost friend Nandakumar Patil that there are no answers at all. Nandakumar Patil used to be a hot looking material 29 years ago women including my mom used to be crazy after. Never did he care about his studies as much he did about acting in various plays. Dad's account later confirmed that he won the best actor state level award for 3 years consecutively. What is interesting is now he is neither an actor nor does he account or audit being a commerce graduate. He works in the State Transport Services as the controller of traffic. Now he sees whether the drivers follow the planned schedule and whether the broken vehicles are looked after properly. Interesting isn’t it?

More interesting is the fact that he’s married a doctor wife, a girl who’s more educated, more independent and more able than himself. In course of conversation when a question arose how did she say yes to someone as weird as Nandakumar she said she didn’t really care what her life partner was up to. She was confident that it was she who mattered if she wanted a good life and that no other person really mattered for a persons good life.

Then when the layers of past memories were being undone by this crowd of 4 who happened to be long lost friends for the last 29 years, they started remembering their other friends they are no more in contact with. Some 18-time failure, chain smoker had married the most beautiful girl, a girl who could have anyone she wanted. An 18-time failure that too at commerce undergraduate level? He was not good looking or wealthy. An 18 time failure cannot be smart! What was it that she saw in him? But then, their wedding did happen. It is a truth, a fact that no one disputes.

Then as members of ABVP in their time my mom also knows Nandakumar uncle’s wife, the doctor. She asks her about some other friend who used to be a miserable failure at everything then. Studies, co-curricular or extra curricular, he was of no use. Today he’s a multi millioner doctor at Kolhapur with three three-storied hospitals. An evidence that academics has nothing to do with real life successes.

And as these thoughts are scooting through I fall asleep to wake up 2 hours later at a doorbell. It’s my dad calling me for tea to his room. There is a person sitting there on the chair in front of him in his room. His name: Mr. Relekar.

Mr. Relekar is B.Com, LL.B, CA from University of Pune. B.Com from BMCC and LL.B from Symbiosis. He teaches in the college at Chiplun and takes commerce classes for students. As the trend goes he asks me about what my plans for future are. Which stream have I done my +2 in? I answer Law and Commerce respectively not knowing the above data. Had I known all that before I would probably have answered the second question as Science or Arts. And then begins my 1hr long interview. What is debit? What is credit? What is suspense account? What is the entry for this? What is the entry for that?

I cant answer even 2 questions to his complete satisfaction. He tells me “beta you need to read all your books form 11th standard again” in my mind I say “you are right sir except the last word. I dnt need to read them “again”, I only need to read them”

And then he tells me how privileged I am as compared to people from Chiplun. A person from Chiplun lacks big ambitions says he. They don’t want a car, they feel its fine to walk even 15 kms.

May be he is right. I just don’t have a big ambition to drive me. May be I just don’t need that A/C and TV room with a huge Bed? I can sleep on the floor just as sound. May be I am happy with a bicycle…who knows? But if everything continues the way its going where do I think I will end up? Will I get the only girl I love more than anything ever with only a bicycle and no bed to sleep?

Again…there are no answers…