| Username |
Post |
| Biswo |
Posted
on 23-Jan-03 06:47 PM
Adding something to Sitara's effort to resuscitate Sajha's vibrancy:-)
---
Summer time afternoon in Tandi is often parched if it is not raining. And for a few hours, the city comes to a standstill, most of its patrons avoid it, only a few braves in bicycle are seen swinging by the city centers perspiring heavily.
That day I left the house to eschew the eternal ennui of the house, and to enjoy the city. Standing in the shade of a bookshop, throwing glances at the hanging newspapers, I waited for someone familiar to come by.
Yet, the hush of the city, relentlessly punished by the scorching sun, didn't wane, except for the swishing trucks and buses. Women fruitsellers were fanning themselves and swatting the flies buzzing above their cucumber pieces. Old porters were lingering under the old Peepal tree of the city, occasionally sharing a cigarette stick. Shopkeepers were taking nap inside their kirana pasal, their distended belly squeezing out of their tight vest.
Only when the sun started to descend to the western mountain did people start coming, and I came out of the shop. I bought chana chatpat which cost me two rupees.He handed chana chatpat to me in a coneshaped paperplate.
"Where you from, actually?" I asked the familiar Madhesi shopkeeper. He said somewhere down in Terai.
"Seen you since long here."I said. Then a friend of mine came. He grabbed a few beans without even bothering to ask the shopkeeper, and ate and smiled. The shopkeeper gave an irked look, but said nothing.
"He married someweeks ago in Terai. Got fifteen thousands rupees in dowry." My friend said mockingly. The shopkeeper laughed, acknowledging the veracity of the statement.
"How much do you make here?" I asked. "Per month?"
"It is difficult to earn a lot. People just pick up and eat the beans." He replied.
---
We walked to the Narayani theater, with my friend, and the first thing I did to him was upbraiding him for that gratuitious picking up of beans. "For god's sake, he is a poor shopkeeper."
"It is not only me." he said. "Everybody does."
As we trudged up, we saw a familiar girl. She was in my class long ago.Dropped out from class long ago in highschool.
"I do tailoring. Women job."
"How is business?"
"Chinese readymade clothes inundated the market. Even the loyal customers of the past have deserted me. Only women come to make cholo/fariya, and some people come to mend or alter the clothes. I barely scrape enough for the living by that."
"Yea, readymade clothes. They cost less. They can be worn immediately.People can check how it fits right in front of the mirror.You have to adapt to the new environment, otherwise new environment sweeps you away."
"Theaters are facing the same problem now. They don't get viewers. Cables have taken away all their market. Whole day, there are movies in cables. No one wants to go to theaters. They show movies like 'Reshmaaki Jawaani' these days to appeal to the wayward desire of adolescents." I added.
--
In the evening, I bumped into a man who almost pulled me to his house. We trotted up to the second floor of his house. He was previously a mayor of Ratna Nagar. A very energetic Congressi fellow. " We have a jilla comittee meeting.You have to attend."
"Look, I am not a Congressi." I said.
"Doesn't matter."
I entered into a room in the second floor. He tried to introduce me with a few people. I rarely attend the political meetings, so I didn't know these people. But I have heard of their names in the newspapers(Of Chitwan, and KTM).
Finally, there was this man the ex-mayor introduced me with. "You probably know him already." I did Namaste, stared at his face, and uncomfortably said,"I don't remember meeting/seeing him before."
A difficult situation emerged, as the leader felt unease and somewhat demeaned. The ex-mayor then finally told me, "He is mannejyu. Bhim Bdr Shrestha."
Damn, I knew the man. Thousands of times, I have heard his name. He was so famous. But I had, it looks, never seen him before. He was kind of hero in the waning days of Panchayat. Later won the election too. And later switched his party. I knew him so well, yet I didn't know him.
Felt bad about that . Then, I left the Congressis to chitchat there in a few minutes.
--
The next day I left Tandi .
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| The Grocer's Wife |
Posted
on 24-Jan-03 03:45 AM
Interesting snippets from Biswo's Tandi. Nice read.
One constructive criticism though: I'd rather go watch "Reshma-ki Jawaani" with you than use an artificial sounding phrase like "eschew the eternal ennui of the house" in an otherwise warm and genuine collage of real stories from Cinema Road, Tandi.
I've seen movies in that Narayani Cinema countless of times (third class, of course, 1 rupee, and my cousin loved those "last fights" of Grade C Hindi cinema -- still better than "Reshma-ki Jawaani", I suppose.) Btw, the thread title reminded me of John le Carre's "The Tailor of Panama" -- they've made a fun movie from it with Pierce Brosnan and Jamie Curtis. Kranti-kaaris of Sajha might love it.
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 24-Jan-03 11:28 AM
TGWji,
Are you also from Tandi? Just wondering. And thanks for your suggestion.
I've seen the Tailors of Panama. That's a lousy movie, wasn't it? The idea was ok, but the movie was made very badly.I mean, I really regretted watching that movie.
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| surya |
Posted
on 24-Jan-03 01:38 PM
Nice Biswo ji.
So where did you go when you let Tandi?
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| madhav |
Posted
on 24-Jan-03 02:37 PM
Biswo, you feel me make nostalgic for those gone days.
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 24-Jan-03 04:38 PM
Suryaji,
Thanks.
So, you want 'detail', right? I went to my college, actually.
Madhav,
Nice to see you again. Don't miss Tandi that much, man. It is changed now, isn't it?
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| nam_p |
Posted
on 24-Jan-03 07:40 PM
Biswo,
Evocative anecdotes. But Tandi, a city ? Common now :)
NBS
NB You might find the last line of a story by Octavio Paz interesting. Titled 'The Blue Bouquet', it's in an anthology called 'Short Shorts' compiled by Irving Howe.
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| Paschim |
Posted
on 24-Jan-03 08:23 PM
Niraj, town/city...nagar/shahar ustai ustai ta ho ni...hatti ra hatti chaap chappal jastai! I was in Biswo's hometown in December, and was pleased to see they've finally constructed their own "nagar-palika" bhawan, but the ex-mayor's Mahindra and Mahindra jeep looked decrepit after carrying sacks and sacks of tori and rice from his field to his house during his 5 year tenure!
I liked the plot of "The Tailor of Panama" very much, and the movie was too fast/eventful to be boring. The whole farce with the "silent opposition" and the ridiculous presentation of the Western intelligence apparatus was fun. John le Carre has actually said that of his 16 novels, he wants to be buried with this and "A Perfect Spy". And on all his plots, he says he wants to be credible, not authentic. Big difference, he says.
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| trikal |
Posted
on 24-Jan-03 08:34 PM
Biswoji,
Last summer I was in Tandi ..... Pathakji le bolaako dherai vayeko thiyo ... Pathakji lai US maa aaunda pani maile veteko hunaale Tandi pani gayeko thiyen...... Tara Pahileko vanda ta kata kata farak vaisakecha .......
Je vaye pani aafno desh jata gayepani ramaailo nai lagcha ni ..... hoiena ra?.....
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 24-Jan-03 10:07 PM
nam_p,
It is so difficult to claim Tandi as city. I say 'gaau' in Nepali, never said Tandi sahar. But now I have to write Ratna Nagar Municipality(never mind tautology: Nagar, Municipality!) wherever I have to write my permanent address(these days, more frequent due to INS thingy], so forgive me for writing Tandi city.
Paschim,
You really liked that movie, bhanya? Yea, they made fun of US intelligence, the so called silent opposition etc.., but was the movie well made? I think we have different taste. Geoffry Rush was the first one to disappoint me, ke bhanne aru, really chitta dukhchha because I hoped a lot from that movie:-)
Listening about Narayan Banko misuse of Mahendra And Mahendra surprised me. I knew people were like, "he didn't work, but he ain't corrupt either." when I was there.[That was more than two years ago.] Gayera Sakiyechha Bhane Kaan Samaatnu Parlaa, aru ke garnu:-)
Trikalji, Which Pathakji? :-)
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| isolated freak |
Posted
on 24-Jan-03 10:31 PM
Bisow,
That movie actually makes fun of the British Intelligence (and covert operations agency) MI 6 for the most part. Its a good movie, if you want to learn the nitty gritty of information gathering.
Your story is good too. hao ke hao ke shi ni yong hen duo tai nan de "zi"
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| isolated freak |
Posted
on 24-Jan-03 10:41 PM
hao ke hao ke shi ni yong hen duo tai nan de "zi"
this means: good but too many hard words [for someone like me witha limited vocab to undersatnd].
writing can be made simple and things can be expressed with easy words, hoina? (or hoina, malai ta thaha chaina]
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| Paschim |
Posted
on 25-Jan-03 04:11 AM
Oops Biswo, that was more of a light-hearted remark on my part. Didn't want to libel the poor Mayor without hard facts!! I actually haven't heard any "bad" stuff about Mr. Ban...if anything, he seems to be a young local leader with much promise for Chitwan and beyond. But the official jeep was run down, and "tori and dhaan" was my theory :)
As for the movie -- looks like we do have different tastes!The witty/devious satire against both British and American intelligence was fun and educational.
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 25-Jan-03 05:34 PM
IFji,
OK, will we ever stop complaining about the choice of words? I don't think this essay uses nan zi at all. Anyway, thank you very much for reading and commenting on this posting.
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| noname |
Posted
on 25-Jan-03 05:55 PM
Biswoji,
Got time to read SAJHA postings after long time. Starting from this one.
>>"He married someweeks ago in Terai. Got fifteen thousands rupees in dowry."
A chatpati wala in my TOLE too got exactly the same amount. Is there any fixed rate for CP WALAs or what? I wonder!
BB Shrestha reminded me of those 'JANAPAKCHHIYA UMMEDWAR' in PANCHAYAT regime. Many of them (but a few like Rajendra Pandey) are now not in limelight. I had seen this man busy last time was in Madan Bhandari mishap. He was looking for the corpses.
Enjoyed reading your thread!
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| isolated freak |
Posted
on 25-Jan-03 10:17 PM
Biswo,
c'mon, i was not complaining, i was merely suggesting.
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 26-Jan-03 02:21 PM
nonameji,
Thanks for your compliment. I don't if that is the ongoing rate for Chatpate guys. But listening to that definitely shocked me at that moment.I always opposed this 'tilak' thing which has distorted forms and ugly consequences in the Terai region. Its major implication, however, is that women are essentially burden to those who keep them, and by marrying daughters, fathers are unencumbering themselves from [unwanted] burden, so they should compensate those men who accept the [unwanted] burden. It basically implies that women are as worthless as garbage. Which , of course, is wrong.
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