Chandi ki thaali

Chandi ki thaali

“Ae Bhopya, makdi bol, makdi”

“Makdi”, “nai, nai Mekdi” , “Ma-e-k-di”, “May-k-di”

Everyone laughed, I started laughing too.

Jagggu smacked me on the head, ”saale, tu nahin sikhega”

                  Jaggu was the tallest of us all, and so enjoyed smacking us whenever he got the chance, as he was also wiser than us all, he got his chance so often.

                 “Ae Jaggu, ek bar fir se sikhaa na!” I pleaded, Jaggu repeated, in his perfect voice, that perfect accent I’ve heard so often. The strange name associated with this strange place. How funny it sounded! But people around here spoke it so casually, like any commonplace name. I repeated it again,”may-k-di” and giggled inwardly.

                It was a very big Hotal, with glass walls, and glass doors, decorated with colorful ribbons and balloons. There were pictures of various food items it sold stuck on its walls. And there was a big colorful man in red and yellow cloths, as big as Baba, sitting on bench outside the door, his arms spread wide, always smiling. And he never moved from his place, not even when people tried to sit near him on the bench.

              It was a good night, there were so many people inside and outside the Hotal, and others were still coming. All good looking, wearing good cloths.  Many people come here daily,  Dau says- they are all paisadaar people. They can afford spending  money here- Why should people go to hotal to eat? I wonder, don’t they have their Ma to cook form them?

               But Dau says “they’re all Foren items, their Ma don’t know how to cook them. I’d like to see sometime, how these Foren items look like. But I can’t see them, the Chowkidaar won’t let me go in. he once hit me hard with his laathi when I tried to peek through the glass doors.

              I doubt my brother’s knowledge, are these people really Paisadaar? I remember, Ma once told me the other day that Paisadaar people ate in ‘Chandi ki Thaali’, but here they’re all eating out of paper bags and plastic boxes and plastic glasses. I too eat in plastic Dabba. How could they be Paisadaar then?

            I think they all are not so much Paisadaar, only yesterday I saw that Aadmi and his Aurat who looked so beautiful but couldn’t buy separate meal for both, so drank from a single glass with two Nali’s and bit on a single Paon between them.

          A little distance from where I’m standing is a group of some men and women talking and laughing.  Tipya is standing near them, his right hand outstretched and left hand running on his tummy. He makes so funny a face! As if his Baba has just kicked him hard and he’s about to cry. Tipya speaks something, but they don’t give him a heed. The men continue their talking but a pretty woman opens her bag; Tipya moves towards her, but before she can bring out money the man who was speaking stops her hand and nods his hand in a big No No. The woman is good, she replies “Jaane do na baba” or something similar and hands out a coin, Tipya moves to another group.

        “Dekh, aise hota hai kaam” Jaggu says to me. Actually I was with Tipya when we started. But the first time he made such a face, I couldn’t hide my giggle, so the woman who had shown some sympathy to him frowned at me and scolded “Naatakbaz!” before storming off. Tipya had given me a big punch in the stomach after she left and that’s the reason why I was standing with other kids in the dark corner.  Jaggu had  taken the responsibility of teaching me the art of making silly faces at people and getting money from them in return.

       “Dekh, sidhe jaa ke rone lagney kaa. Ek haath pet ke upar aur fir- saaab do din se bhookha hoon saab! – koi aurat sath main ho to usske paas jaake rone kaa”

       As tipya was pleading to that group, I saw a man come out of the Hotal, he wore white shirt and a Patta was hanging from his neck. He went to the Chowkidaar and said something to him pointing a finger at Tipya. The Chowkidaar got up and while Tipya was busy running his left hand on his stomach and making funny faces, he struck his Laathi  hard on his bum and yelled “chal bhaag yahan se! Doosri baar aaya to taang tod dunga.” Tipya ran towards us and I could see his face change, from crying to angry. Just like when he punched me in the stomach. The Chowkidaar then turned to the man and said “sorry saab,pataa nahin kahaan se chale aate hain”

              “Hota hai bhai, kabhi kabhi hota hai” Jaggu pats Tipya’s back as we walk back towards our homes.

            Its late in night people have started to lay their Bistars on the footpath. As we enter our street, I can hear Ma crying, “Oy maa re…..” I hold Dau’s hand and we run home. Ma is lying on the ground, Baba bending over her, his right hand clenched around her hair and the left hand raised as in a Mukka. As he saw us, he charged at us, caught Dau by the shoulder and ‘wham!’ gave a tight slap.

          “Kahaan the be kaiminey!” he demanded.

Dau knows better answer, he digs in his Chaddi pocket and pulls out a fistful of coins.

         “Dikha to!” Baba take the coins in his big hands and starts counting. He then looks at me, hands me a few of them and orders,

       “ae Bhopya, jaa andaa le ke aa”

         I take the money and run to the Andeywallah’s Laari.

        “Baba ke liye”, I say to him and hand him the money.

          The Andeywallah takes some  from his bowl and starts chopping them. Dau said that the Hotal where we’d just been aslso sells Andaa. The Paisadaar log give twenty five rupees for a single andaa there. I think they don’t know that they could buy andaa from here too, and not only does it come cheap, Bhurabhai also gives some onions free with them. I’ll tell those people if I go to the place again. But this time I’ll tell it to only those people who give me a coin.

           I take the andaa home, Baba is sitting crosslegged, Ma is serving him hot rotees. Baba doesn’t dip them in the Daal,he  eats them only with andaa

               “Ghoor kya rahaa hai?” Baba yells at me, “jaa bistar lagaa.”

            I take the pillow and Chaddar from the corner and pickup a Pilastik. Baba’s laari  is standing just outside. I spread the Pilastik over it and observe it under the light from the street-lamp.. it is a big poster, as big as the chaddar and strong as well.

               On the top right is painted a face of a fair woman, she’s  old but good-looking. On the left is a big hand, drawn in three colors, I don’t know their names yet. Below these pictures  are a few lines and then there is a very big picture at the bottom. A smiling black woman, wearing cloths like Ma- looking like Ma, is standing near ahouse. I don’t know why is she smiling.

             I climb atop the Laari, pull the chaddar to my chin, and close my eyes. Ma has told me today to ask for something from Kishanji before I sleep. What should I ask?

May be I could ask him to make me Paisadaar, so that I could eat in Chandi ki thaali.

               It’s so hot inside the Chaddar. But I cannot get out of it. The mosquitoes are buzzing over me. I wish I could sleep in Ma’s lap like I used to do when I was small. But then she started getting fat, and fat, and fat, and one day Kaali started to sleep in her lap. She starts to cry at any time, even in the day when Ma is working. Ma leaves whatever she’s doing and takes her in her lap. Sometimes when Ma is angry, she yells “Kalmoohi” and smacks once or twice on her back. But then she hugs her more tightly and tears start rolling down her cheeks.

I wish Kishanji make me Kalmooha.