FAMILY STORY
My seven year old grand-daughter - Aakriti – was in a mood to hear some stories. Being a grand-pa I could not tell her grand-ma stories. So I convinced her that I would narrate one of my boyhood incidents. Moreover I am no Amitabh Bachan or Amin Sayani endowed with rich voice to make the narration interesting with fine voice modulation. I started :
“Aakku, you know I was the youngest at home then. It is a curse to be youngest in a Hindu home and oldest in Muslim home”
“Why Tatta?”
“Because you end up doing all the errands”
“How?”
“ If you are a Muslim the command will be polite. ‘Bade miyaan jara chai banaa dijiye’ , and so on. If a Hindu the command will not be polite though. ‘Hey Guddu, news paper lao. Boot polish karo’, and so on.
In my case I had to fetch the items from grocer, pay the electricity bill, get the footwear mended by the cobbler etc. Your great grand-father i.e. my father was slightly sentimental besides being thrifty. Once he had purchased a pair of slippers from ‘Congress Exhibition’ and attached sentimental value to it. Even after few years of use and several mending he would not discard it. I had the misfortune of getting it mended every time. First, the heel was replaced; then the sole; then the top parts one by one. At one point of time none of the parts was original. Finally the cobbler refused to mend it any more time and my father had to forcibly discard it.”
“Didn’t you foresee it and do something about it?”
“Yes. I foresaw it. I used to save an anna each time with an intention of buying a new pair for him. But little did I realize that the price was rising steeply just like now. My dream of buying a new pair for him was illusory like a mirage.”
“Tatta, what is a mirage?”
“It is an optical illusion like on a bright sunny day you feel there is water at a distance but there is none.”
“Illusion?”
“It’s like this. From your piggy bank savings you think you can buy a Barbie doll. But when you go to buy it, I shell out ten times as much to buy a doll actually.”
“I got it. But what are you advising, not to do saving?”
“No. The savings should be done and the savings shall be effectively used to get something durable, and be careful while using and get a standard quality product from proper source without falling for sales gimmicks.”
“Alright tatta”
By that time the door bell rang and her playmate Anagha was there at the entrance. Before both of them jointly asked for something I slipped from there.
However, my musing continued. What I didn’t tell her was that the story I partly made up was allegorical. At her age she doesn’t understand politics. The pair of slipper was the so called Indian National Congress which was completely changed in 1967 including the election symbol. My father had replaced the pair within two years of buying. He was a wise man, so he started following ‘Swatantra’ party when it was formed.
The sad part is the father of the nation is remembered only for a national holiday and not for his ideologies. Gandhi-ism was cremated on 30th Jan 1948 as Sati. Now, Gandhigiri is a dirty word and is considered a ‘black-mail’. Even principal opposition party calls INC, a 125 yr old party. Silly.
I earnestly hope, my compatriots remember to elect and select quality products, do not forget to save.
Bapu would have said, HEY RAM. I am semi-secular. I say JAI BHARAT
