Life is easy kya karein

Around eleven pm, there was a huge fight in the Chawl across our house. We heard loud voices and ran towards the window to see what was happening. Some two hundred people were running towards the last lane of the Chawl. Having never seen crowds like this in the Chawl, we figured it was a fight between the two communities.  Three police vans came and then the place quietened down .   This Chawl is for the staff who do the cleaning activities of BMC and they all belong to the SC/ST category. Yeah, after seventy years of freedom, we still give perks, benefits and advantages to them which were to be stopped in ten years. The BMC rule allows them to keep the job through generations. So on retiring, the father gives the job to the eldest son and so on. They also get to keep the house, have medical benefits and get loans from the BMC. Their children get into the best of colleges, on showing the caste certificate. And now the reality is that most children do not study thr...

In Jharia, in all the houses, there was a system of 'Baasi Jaadu'. The first thing one did on waking up was take Neem Daatun in your mouth and pick up the Jaadu (Broom) . The house and the Aangan (centre courtyard) were swept taking God's name or doing 'Jaap'.  'Baasi' is from the previous night. Baasi Moonh means when one has not brushed their teeth on waking up. Baasi Khaana was the previous night's food. People ate Baasi Roti with their morning Chai(tea) . For years, I ate Roti Chappatis made the previous night with hot tea for my breakfast and evening snack. It is still the most divine meal for me.  Later when houses were bigger and other family members were sleeping late, then one cleaned the 'Aangan' and the 'Puja' room only. Because post the morning ablutions, everyone went to the Puja room to pray. Each family member had their own style of praying. Some bathed the Murti, one did Agarbatti ( Incense sticks), one did Dhoop, ...

Daiwaa washed the vessels at home. The washing area was outside the kitchen area but a long walk away as the kitchen did not open into the washing area. The washing area had a place to wash dishes, another cement platform to wash clothes, two open tanks to store coal and wood. Another area next to it for garbage collection. Later even the generator was kept here and Kerosene too for Lanterns and Dhibri. Dad had got a red small generator from Kolkata and later a white bigger one. Both were Japanese or Korean made. The red and the cream colours were so different from what I had ever seen. In the generator, we had to pull a thick string to make it start. After a couple of pulls or more, the machine started. The bigger the generator, the more the strength needed to pull that accelerator kind of thing. There were two iron tubs to store water to wash dishes.  The vessels were washed with ash which came from the Chulha or a coal fire. No detergents going into the drainage. No plastic co...

All friends fill a gap in me. A gap, as in a quality, I am looking for or a trait which is missing in me. I have friends who are great cooks. Some are great guides be it relationships or travel or shopping. Some friends are great listeners and some friends make me laugh a lot. Some friends listen to my support staff's  stories and some listen to my family gossip. Each one provides comfort in a different way. These days, I am scared to write the word 'maids'. I have to write house help or support staff. It is not that if I write maid, I treat them any different. But the whole liberal agenda is getting to me. Earlier, for me, staff meant people working in an office set up. Maid or servants did not have a bad meaning. Everything cannot be casteist as some intellectuals make it out to be. To do 'Sewa' was the best form of service which we did to people or God or Guru. Suddenly all these words have become shameful. May be when the English said it, that is what they wan...

I want a new bank locker. I want a new locker in another bank. I want a big locker. My bank decided to shift a couple of kilometres away from its original place without any information or rather an email to me. They took the lockers along. The notice they had put up outside the premises they vacated, was not legible. Do not understand how they managed to shift the lockers too. Guess what, they even managed to move the entire bank and lockers to the first floor. In the original premises, the lockers were in the basement. Wonder why they shifted to such an inconvenient location, narrow steep staircase in a new building. First floor and no elevators to the bank. Thank God, the elderly clients are strong enough to climb one floor. Finally, I found the new location which even Google Maps could not find. Husband and me kept asking around in the area. All kept guiding us to go ahead till we were a couple of kilometres from the place. I should be grateful, my locker was found in the new prem...

The school Parent teacher meetings are a very important part of the life of mothers of school going children. My house help was the Class representative for the parents of her child's class. She had to attend a monthly meeting with the teachers and the school Principal. She would inform me in advance that she will come late to work or do little work and leave early. That day she would not wear her daily Salwar Kameez but would be in a Saree. In those two years, I realised she had such a beautiful choice of Sarees . She wore them so gracefully. That day she would have the extra excitement on her face. I could see her buzzing with energy. I think that was the place where she had a position of a leader. She felt pride in her role as the PTA head for her class. She never missed those meetings. Now both her children are in college.  Coming back from Yoga, right outside our house is a vegetable vendor . He has encroached the footpath space. He and his wife have a big table to keep ...

Parents are sending their children for Speech and Drama class. This is supposed to make the child bold and confident. Every one wants a child who wins debates and speech competitions. I know our school used to have something called Extempore competition where the topic was given and children had 10 minutes to prepare and then go and speak on stage. For me, I never understood the meaning of extempore. I could not even understand or pronounce it correctly. I have just checked the meaning on Google and it says to talk or do something without preparation. Preparation for a speech always meant my Mother helping me by writing the speech and guiding me where to pause when I tried to 'mug' it and 'rattle' it at the same time. 'Rattle and mug' was the colloquial language that I knew. Children would get a couple of quotes from their parents and tried to fit it in the extempore speech.  Nowadays in schools, if the child is quiet, it  is a problem. All parents want th...