Tuesday, December 30, 2014

A Near PK Experience !



By Manuwant Choudhary

My car got amazingly stuck at this railway crossing at NH 103 on the Hajipur-Jandaha Road in north Bihar.

The powerbrakes just froze.

I could not move an inch.

I really did  not know what to do...

And my car does not even have a photo of Sai Baba or Ganesha or Hanuman...or the dangling Koran from the rear-view mirror.

No help !

No pics of any Baba's either !! (Many are in jail...and Sanju Baba is not a Baba)

I looked for signs of any oncoming train....luckily there were none.

But one never knew...

It had to  be a quick decision.

I tried the accelerator but it just made a loud hum and the car would not move.

How I missed my amby....where you wrote `Powerbrakes' behind on the boot but in fact there would be no brakes.

But no time for all that....

A train could come any minute and already a few cars were honking behind...

Then there were instant flashes of news headlines were tractors are hit by oncoming trains.....

But a thought did come... `Wait...this car does not move forward, let me see if it can move backwards at least...."

A reverse gear and Eureka !

My car moved.

I have never been so happy at anything moving backwards as now.

In fact, in the state I live in everything moves backwards....even caste politics.

Like Bihar was one of the best administered states at India's independence, today its at the bottom.

Quickly, I reversed and let others pass...and then I just drove in the reverse for a while...

Children at the roadside looked amused.....the elderly smiled.

They were all wondering this driver is crazy or just PK !

I smiled back.

I do not know why but I must have driven backwards for a few kms and then I stopped.

I stopped in front of  a house...there were a few bamboo poles in front..in preparation for something.

But I did not know why I stopped there and not anywhere else.

I did not get out of my car but just sat there....a void had set in.

My cellphone battery also had run out.

Then a man wearing a white dhoti and a white shawl stood next to my car and with folded hands he asked me if he could be of any help.

I asked him if I could get my cellphone re-charged anywhere?

He took me to his home...but could not promise if there was any electricity.

As I recharged my phone....the electricity went out again....but I managed to call Hyundai for help...

But during my wait for help..I noticed someone had passed away in the family.

An 86-year-old man sat on a chair assisted by another man...personally wrote down names of invitees on a thousand cards....for the bhoj (feast).

His wife had passed away due to the cold wave..She was 85 !

Jawahar Singh was a retired school teacher himself and he explained how it is important not to miss anybody for this feast...all castes...all the people in 5 villages.

"It is tough to remember all...but we try..because even if one person is left out he will feel bad....but more difficult is the distribution of the cards...."

A young family member was called, "Please ensure that you begin distributing the card in one village first..and finish it completely...not leaving anyone out...do not criss-cross the villages..."

Just then a wholesome meal was brought for me..despite my protests.

Rice, dal, aloo-gobi sabzee, chapatis and salad....

I wondered why they took such good care of me.

I was a complete stranger.

And wait this is `Kalyug', isn't it?

So I asked my host why he was good to me and this is what he replied, "Kalyug and Satyug are both on this planet....when you meet a good person and he treats you well it is Satyug...what if you met someone who robbed your car...then it is Kalyug."

On the road they met both.

Like once even a car thief met with an accident !

So generally I enquired if they were happy living on a busy highway.

I remember this road only some years ago was just a village road...and in many places there was nothing...

Then I also saw women repair the road under MNREGA...literally, no machines were used...stones were hammered in by hand..it must be the worlds second hand-made road..this first being in Gaya by the `Mountain Man', who built a road by cutting through a mountain alone.

But my hosts were not happy.

"It is bad for us..now they plan to build a four-lane highway here...They will destroy our homes..."

The Modi's & Jaitleys and Nitish & Manjhi's....will never understand their pain...

I only wish Anushka Sharma gave me some AIRTIME to explain......maybe the NATION does want to know !





















Friday, December 12, 2014

http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/9573/rutties-love-letter-to-jinnah/

http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/9573/rutties-love-letter-to-jinnah/

This last letter from Ratanbai `Ruttie' Petit Jinnah to M.A. Jinnah is beautiful but it reflects the turmoil of the times, even personal. Ruttie must be a beautiful individual.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

To Pakistan Without A Visa 4



If I were Narayanmurthy with 1.1 billion dollars for philanthropy I would invite Pakistani singer Misha Shafi to perform at the Taj Mahal Hotels poolside in memory of those killed on 26/11.....the terrorists from Pakistan did not know that they were desecrating a most sacred place...its at the Taj Mahal Hotel that Rattanbai `Ruttie' Petit Jinnah lived and died in her last years...she was the wife of Pakistani's Qiad-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah...

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

To Pakistan Without A Visa 3



Kangna HD - Fareed Ayaz & Abu Muhammad - This song is so amazing featured in Mira Nair Film The Reluctant Fundamentalist ....the deep emotions no western song can match and just love the `Lapak-Jhapaks'....