HUM HONGE KAAMYAAB... EK DIN...

“ Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one”.

                                                                                                                                           - John Lennon

                    Hmm...What do I start with? From where should I start with? Let me go the Indian way- Flash back style, since patriotic fervor is on the high. There two reasons one Olympic Performance & of course the Independence day celebrations.

                      Before you all get bored let me get started with the story. This is a true story.

                     We were heading to a small village far away from my beloved Hyderabad for a wedding of one of our colleagues. Like many Indians, marriage was his dream. Before you ask why? He is(was) very old enough to get married & of course Dowry. How can I not talk about it because when we are talking about marriage. Before you say we have heard(many times) about this before, I will stop. Let me apologize first as I haven’t began story as I promised. But, I heard (I know) He had got a very good deal.

                      Never ever in my life have I woke up early in the morning at 5 (after my schooling), that too on a weekend. Me along with my colleagues reached the station on time & The train did start on time( their arrivals are that we always complain about). As a law abiding citizen of this country, we had booked the ticket well in advance. When we entered our Compartment, it was already full and ourseats occupied by other law biding citizens. They let us sit in our reserved seats. I was relieved after we sat in our seats because of 2 reasons. One being, It was just a 2.5 hour journey and second I was not in some god forsaken other state of India where my other law biding citizens wouldn't even let me have my reserved seat.

                       I reached the town. It was a small sober station far away from the hustle and bustle of my home. The wedding venue was more than 35 kms from the stations. So, we had reach the nearest bus station to reach nearest place of wedding. We had to board two buses to reach our colleague's home. We boarded the bus that had cut our destination by half. We reached a 'Y' junction from where our destination was just 12 to13 kms.

                      It was hot. The blistering heat was making me sweat like a pig. There was just a single auto waiting at those cross roads that would go to our destination. He had promised us that he would start in another 5 minutes as every auto generally takes 15 people per trip. I sat at the back(like my old college days)of auto happily as it had been long since I had travelled like this. I had to snap back from my nostalgia when he asked me to stand on the Auto as 3 more people& a Cylinder(literally) had to board that big auto. I snapped. How on earth will I(we) be standing behind the Auto juggling with our luggage on the road that lead to the village.

                     I didn't take the risk. I got down from the auto after a heated argument with that (crazy)Auto guy. We saw a Lorry and Boarded it. It was a weird feeling sitting beside the lorry driver who was driving us to that Village. We told him the address and he asked if there was any landmark.We gave him a landmark of a school in that village( as told to us by colleague’s uncle). When we reached the Village after the lorry dropped us at our destination( it was a very cheap affair I should agree) We did track the house. The school which is a landmark apparently in that village is a residential school whose size is as big as almost one-thirds of the first floor of any Big Bazaar outlet. To be more precise it was exactly the size of two cafe coffee day shops put together. I am sorry again, I am deviating from my story.

                     We reached the place around lunch time. The distance of 35 kms took us exactly 2.5 hours almost equal to the time our train journey. After the courtesy hi and hello they had asked us to sit for lunch in a Church ground beside the house. I was pleasantly surprised to see people using a Christ play ground for a Hindu wedding. I thought that's Secularism & broad-mindedness for you. And Since I am a vegetarian (OK... eggetarian) Please lets not talk about how food was?

                      Our accommodation was arranged at one of the relative's homes which was very comfortable. It was all green fields at the backyard and sun had also cooled down a bit by that time.Since there was no electricity(almost throughout the day) we decided to head back to the nearest town where we could watch a movie to kill the time. The only thing (necessity) accessible in tat village at any point of time was Alcohol, which generates highest revenue in my beloved state.

                      Later, We got a bike so that we could Drive to cinema Hall. I had my other 2 companions (both drunk), Driving on the main road (with potholes) with 2 people in the pillion(not law biding anymore) we reached the theatre that screened new movies. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the movie complex had online booking.(technology did have its reach). As we were entering the hall, couple of guys were fighting with the movie usher as he didn't accept their tickets shown on their mobile phone saying I need a printout (Actual common man).

                      On our way back after the movie (movie was a disaster) and dinner, we drove back to our village. As soon we covered half a distance, it started to rain... HEAVILY. There was no place where I could park the vehicle on the narrow road and no tree was big enough to keep us dry so we continued driving. With no street lights, no people on that god forsaken road ( It was 10 PM & people sleep early in the villages) I was driving like a crazy man aided by those occasional lightnings which showed me how the road bent. Yes, I did reach the home and was pleasantly surprised to see electricity was being supplied even when it was raining heavily (villages are better equipped than cities). The old man managing that house told us that power cuts are only in the day not in the nights.(Genius Govt.)

                     Yes, My colleague did get married and might be celebrating his honeymoon right now. But, The Bottom line of experience(suffering) of that one day is that here I am happily (very) comfortable in the luxury of my job and I found it really difficult to adjust to the real problems faced by the common man because I don't have to deal with them. I can afford to ignore them or choose not to believe that these exist. My luxury keeps me away from such misery and I ignorantly start to believe that my country is moving forward whenever I see a missile being successfully launched or my country wins Olympic medals or a world cup or when someone stages a dharna against corruption. Here The farmer doesn't have electricity to irrigate his fields while the SEZ I work in is given freebies.

                    Like Madhavan in RDB says “Koi bhi desh perfect nahi hota, use perfect banana padta hai”. (We Indians are very filmy) This independence day i(like many others) hope for a better future for the future of this country.

“Hum honge kaamyaab... Ek din”

Jai Hind.