‘Sir … Worli Naka tak chhodenge?’ He was 11, 12 at the most. Edgily shielding his stack of magazines with a flimsy plastic from drops of rain that were threatening to come down harder. I was driving back from town. I let him in. Visibly relieved he sat inside, his stack kept firmly in his lap. His gaze was fixed out the window. ‘Tera naam kya hai?’
‘Rakesh.’
‘School jata hai?’
‘Haan … 1 baje se 4 baje tak. Abhi exam ho gaya, chutti chalu. Mereko 218 mila, 400 mei se. Abhi school picnic jaarela hai, Lonavala. Mei bhi jayega, agar chaar din mein 200 rupya jama kiya toh. Nahi toh nahi jayega.’ When he spoke, he spoke a lot. ‘Baap kya karta hai?’
‘Maa ko maarta hai.’
‘Aur Maa?’
‘Maa roti hai.’
He spoke matter-of-factly, without flinching. Like beating your wife up was a full-time, recognized profession. ‘Bhai behen hai kya?’ His face lit up. ‘Chhota bhai hai … mustt hai. Ghar pe rahega wo abhi … dost log ke saath khelta rahega’.
‘Maa-baap kamate nahi toh ghar kaise chalta hai?’
‘Jitna main kamata hoo utna maa ko de deta hoo. 30 rupya centre se madam deti hai roz ka. Usse maa khaana banati hai. Aisa rahega toh school chhod ke naukri karega mai. Paisa mangta hai ghar chalane ko.’ He said a silent prayer as we passed the temple near the Worli fly over.
‘Mandir jaata hai?'
‘Dar mangalvaar Siddhivinayak jaata hai. Bhagwaan ko bolta hai ke maa ko kaam dila, aur ghar ko sambhal.’
‘Kitna magazine bechta hai roz?’
‘Kabhi 4, kabhi 5. Barsaat mein zyada nahi bikta. Bheeg jati hai toh vaat lag jaati hai wo alag. Aaj toh ek bhi nahi gayi …’
He looked at me expectantly. I smiled and asked him to give me a copy of ‘Time Out’. He beamed and kept one in the backseat. He resumed his gaze out the window. And then spoke. ‘Aaj mere dost ki behen ka shaadi hai. Abhi horela hai.’
‘Tu gaya nahi?’
‘Aisa kapda pehen ke kaise jayega. Shaadi ke liye aisa kapda mangta hai jo fatela nahi ho’. I stopped the car at Worli Naka. He got out and I paid him for the magazine. I told him to not quit school, and he nodded his head obediently before scampering off to push a sale to a car that had just stopped at the signal. ******************************************************
‘Sir … mereko airport tak chhodoge?’ I had just dropped Rakesh off and had stopped at the Mahim Church Signal. This kid was older than Rakesh, carrying novels. I asked him to get in. ‘Thank you Sir, barsaat bol ke aaj kuchh jaa raha hi nahi hai, toh socha ke airport jaa ke khaana khayega fir baad mein vaapis aayega. Idhar kya hai na, muslim log hai toh un log ko maas vagereh chalta hai. Main marathi hai, toh mereko dal roti mangta hai din mein. Toh airport ke saamne Anna ka hotel hai, udhar mustt khaane ka aur vaapis aane ka. Anna achha aadmi hai, udhaar pe khaana deta hai.’ His name, as he told me later, was Yogesh. He was a talkative one.
I looked at the Opal Mehta book on the top of his heap. ‘Yeh chalta hai kya?’
‘Arrey bhot chalta hai sir. Wo bole toh iska writer hai na, usne kuchh jhol kiyela hai. Toh book full garam ho gayeli hai. Bole toh ek din 4-5 toh jaati hai. Iska stock bhi khatam ho gayela hai lekin seth ka company mein setting hai, toh roz ka summ mein 4-5 book toh nikaal ke lata hi hai. Yeh aur Yeh doosri (he pointed at ‘The Da Vinci Code’) .. yeh dono mast bhaagti hai. Iska bhi kuchh toh bhi lafda hai, bole toh duniya bhar ke pao log full bhadak gayele hai yeh book mein jo likha hai na, usko le kar ke. Toh jitna zyada raada hota hai, book utna hi chalta hai.' ‘Pao’ is a Bombay term for ‘Christian’.
He paused to take a breath. ‘Lekin zindagi bhar yeh dhanda nahi karne ka. 4 mahine mein 1800 rupya bachane ka hai. Uske baad main naukri dhoondega, bole toh driver nahi toh aisa kuchh office ka naukri.’ ‘Ghar mein kaun hai?’
‘Idhar toh do mausi hai, ek behen hai. Ma baap muluk mein hai. Ahmednagar mein. Aap abhi school ka poochha na … mereko hasi aa rahi hai. Sorry hai … bole toh … kal-ich mein 2-3 dost log ko mila … school ka … wo log abhi 12th mein hai … mein 8th mein hi chhod diya … un log ko main bola ke office mein naukri karela hai … abhi kya bolne ka … sadak pe book bechta hai?’ He looked at the dashboard.
‘Aap cigarette nahi peeta?’ I shook my head. ‘Aaj kal sir log kam aur madam log cigarette zyada peeta hai. Ek din toh airport ke paas ek jhakaas gaadi mein ek madam baitheli thi, aur cigarette se saara tambaku nikal rahi thi. Main full udhar khada reh ke dekh raha tha. Fir usne kuchh kaala nikala, aur jalaya usko. Fir tambaku ke saath milaya, aur vaapis cigarette mein bhar diya. Aur fir apne driver ke saath … khud ke driver ke saath haan sir … wo cigarette ko peeya. Tabhi sheesha upar tha, toh andar full dhuan dhuan. Mereko toh laga wo log dono mar jayenge, toh mai khidki pe thak thak kiya. Jab madam khidki neeche ki toh full dhuan bahar mereko full khaasne ko hua. Aur madam aur uska driver dono baith ke mithai ke dabbe se peda kha rele they … de dhapa dhap! Mere dekhte dekhte poora dabba khatam kiya maalum. Kya kar rele they kya maalum. Main bola mere aang pe aayenge fukat mein main kat liya vahaan se.’ I smiled. ‘Toh kabhi hero-heroine ko dekhta hai kya?’
‘Arrey kitni baar. Wo Riteish Deshmukh hai na, roz airport ke udhar se uska Sonata nikalta hai … aur wo hamesha martukde jaise peeche soyela rehta hai. Ek din main uske driver ko poocha ke wo hamesha chhapri jaise sota kayeko hai. Uska driver bola ke apne baap pe gayela hai. Vaise main hero heroine ke saath time khoti nahi karta hai, bole toh wo log kabhi khareedta nahi hai. Lekin unke peechhe jo gaadi rehti hai na, wo hamesha kuchh na kuchh lete hai. Wo pehle yeh poochhega ka aage ki gaadi mein kaun sa hero heroine hai, aur fir baat karte karte main book dikhata hai aur wo kuchh na kuchh le lete hai. Toh hero heroine ko dekhne ke chakkar mein time khoti nahi karne ka, fatt kar ke peechhe ki gaadi ke paas jaane ka.’ Good strategy, I thought. I stopped just before the airport signal. He looked out, and then turned to me. ‘Aaj baarish solid giregi. Barsaat mein book geeli kar ke faayda nahi. Anna ke paas khana kha ke main ghar ko jayega, shaam ko wo ek Sidhhu kar ke hai apna kholi ke bagal mein uska kholi hai, uske saath carrom khelega mustt so jayega. Lift ke liye thank you sir.’ He gathered his books together, stepped out and walked away, unhurried. |
