We all know that there are two types of rickshaw. Pull rickshaw and the cycle rickshaw. Pull rickshaws ply on the streets of Kolkata and cycle rickshaws ply in the suburbs of the city, in villages and smaller towns. But, whatever the appearances, the difference between the two types of rickshaws is not to be ignored. If the front cycle is romoved, there is not much of a difference between the two types. The actual difference is not of the rickshaws, but of the drivers, especially the temper and behaviour of the drivers.
The rickshaw puller in the city is aged, sedate, moving with the world in his own easy manner. Generally he's impervious to all relevant and irrelevant matters around him, except the rickshaw fare. He doesn't talk much about the fare. And that is the formula of his success. He speaks only once when the rider gets off his rickshaw. If the rider has not fixed the fare before sitting on the rickshaw, the rickshaw puller is likely to charge double the actual rate, leaving the passenger non-plussed. On most occassions the passenger has most probably come to meet his/her relative or dropped off at a road crossing. The rickshaw puller then comes to form and begins his tirade of insulting words in his Bhagalpuri language and collects a small crowd of curious on-lookers. The passenger, to get away from this embarrassing position, shells out what has been demanded. On a few occassions, the passanger hands over to the rickshaw puller the actual fare and walks away, ignoring his tirade of insulting language. But the rickshaw puller uses such foul language that will make a person mad and will make him want to return and give a fitting reply; the rickshaw puller wants just that. Because, in the meantime, he has collected a small curious crowd to whom he was expressing his grievance and tale of cruel injustice.
The nature of the cycle rickshaw puller is different. Most of them are young. While paddling the rickshaw, they hum the tune of popular Hindi songs. A few even sing their favourite songs quite loudly. The passengers generally don't raise any objection. Even if any passenger does object, the rickshawallah is least bothered. Most of the cycle rickshaws nowadays have a transistor fixed to the handle bar with one of the FM channels blaring out popular Hindi or Bengali songs. Many of the rickshaw pullers come from lower middle class good families, with some education. I know a rickshaw puller, a graduate and a very good reciter of poems. In fact, he has bagged several prizes in recitation. His rickshaw is specially designed and very comfortable to sit in. The standard rickshaws are uncomfortable and you're likely to slide forward if you're not careful. But you won't find such rickshaw pullers in Kolkata. They are all illiterate and hail from a neighbouring state. They don't have any connection with the city.
But the rickshawallahs in the suburbs are all influential citizens. They have connection with the main nerve centre of the town's life. They are involved with its rise and fall, joy an sorrow. They know all the respected intellectuals and professionals; theives and rascals; generally even their houses. But the rickshaw pullers of Kolkata have no knowledge beyond the big road crossing and market.
There's another big difference between the pull rickshaw and the cycle rickshaw. The pull rickshaw sometimes overturns, but the cycle rickshaw rarely does, although once in a while it does fall down a khud or into a drain. The overturning of a pull rickshaw apparently appears funny, at the same time sad. Three couples known to me fell from pull rickshaws. In all three cases, the couples were bulky. The rickshaw puller was pulling the rickshaw when, all of a sudden, the joint weight of the bulky couple disbalanced the rickshaw and it went out of control of the rickshaw puller. The rickshaw went backward in a ninety degree angle and the passengers were thrown on the road, while the rickshaw puller went up and hung from the handle of the rickshaw and ultimately fell along with it. Generally, in such cases, there's not much injury to the passengers or the puller, except for a few bruises may be. But the couples involved are a bit shaken and don't dare to venture on a pull rickshaw for quite some time.
The cycle rickshaw does not overturn in such manner. But its speed sometimes throws it off its orbit and it is very dangerous. If not carefully driven, cycle rickshaw accidents are much more critical. I was thrown out of a rickshaw once while taking a sharp turn in full speed.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
FEELING GOOD OR SATISFACTION
A gentleman entered a shoe store to purchase a pair of shoes. After minutely examining the texture, leather and design of several shoes, he chose a pair and put them on to see the fitting and was satisfied. "Oh fine, they are excellent !" the gentleman exclaimed, and continued, "Now you can take them back, I don't require these. Please bring me another pair exactly like these but one size smaller." The shop keeper was a bit surprised and asked "Why one size smaller, are they for somebody else ?" The man replied "No, no. I'm purchasing the shoes for myself." He looked up at the bewildered shop keeper and with a weary smile and asked "What, you didn't catch on ?" The shop keeper shook his head and said he didn't understand this matter of purchasing a smaller size shoe.
It was a rainy afternoon, there was very little sale. It's been raining for several days and the roads were all slushy. There was no second customer and no new customer was likely at that moment. So he expressed his curiosity to know the reason for purchasing a shoe one size small.
What the gentleman said didn't appear to be irrelavent. After waking up in the morning, he goes to the milk depot to collect milk. There, sometimes in knee deep water, sometimes in the rain, and in other seasons, even after queing in line in the sun for more than an hour, sometimes he gets milk, on most occassions he doesn't. When he returns home with the empty bottle, his wife flares up as if he had intentionally not brought the milk or had drunk it and brought the empty bottle. There was no current the whole of last night; intolerable heat, frightening mosquito bites made the night unbearable. Now, this morning there wasn't a drop of water. After this, frightful marketing. Then followed by rushing to office in an overcrowded tram, tram derailed, late to office, rebuke of higher authority. He's a cashier where he works. Small change is unavailable, public playing dirty tricks, taunting comments, abusive language and on occassions even attempt to assault.
Having ample time and an attentive listener, the gentleman gave a detailed list of his daily mortification to the shop keeper. The shop keeper is not a man from another world, he's very much aware of these things; he also has to face some of these problems. But he has never thought of these things in a seriatim manner. But, even then, what relation purchasing a smaller size shoe has got to do with all these, he just could not understand. However, he got up and brought a pair of shoes one size smaller. The gentleman put the shoes on after a lot of struggle. On seeing his face it was evident that he was in anguish.
The shop keeper has, by this time, taken the gentleman as mad or a miser. But what the gentleman told him after he put on his shoes, not only stunned him, but assured him that he was not mad. The gentleman forcibly put the shoes on and, while limping across the carpet of the shop, told the shop keeper, " Just think that after limping along with these shoes on throughout the day, I come home at the end of the day and take off these shoes, how relieved I'll be, what peace, what happiness, what satisfaction. Morning till evening no milk, no power, overcrowded trams, pot holes, slush, abuse, humiliation. There's no peace, no happiness anywhere, only your one size small pair of shoes will give me extreme satisfaction in the evening when I return home and take them off.."
The matter of feeling good or satisfied is very complicated and totally subjective. At any moment of time or on any one issue, your satisfaction may not be the same as mine. I met a childhood friend of mine last year after a long time. At the end of a long conversation, he suddenly asked me "Don't you like loadshedding ?" Not only this, a sister-in-law of mine loves the smell of shoe polish; my younger brother loves to eat burnt toast; I even know a gentleman who, in the middle of the night, gleefully observes a cat fight on the roof with his binoculars. Mark Twain once stated, feeling good means to melt oneself into loneliness. May be this perpetual vagabond whimsical writer had discovered in his life that whatever you like or love or adore is your own, personally yours. Our whole life flitters away in search of the partner of our intimate liking. That invaluable partner may sometimes be our friend, sometimes our lover or wife, sometimes our child or pupil.
In the unsuccessful poet's language, being satisfied means living well. That poet's impression was that, in the manner in which the evening star looks comfortable in the midst of the white clouds, the manner in which the chrysanthemum nestles peacefully in the lap of the green leaves, our keeping well cannot be the same. Even then, if you think you're satisfied, then you're happy.
It was a rainy afternoon, there was very little sale. It's been raining for several days and the roads were all slushy. There was no second customer and no new customer was likely at that moment. So he expressed his curiosity to know the reason for purchasing a shoe one size small.
What the gentleman said didn't appear to be irrelavent. After waking up in the morning, he goes to the milk depot to collect milk. There, sometimes in knee deep water, sometimes in the rain, and in other seasons, even after queing in line in the sun for more than an hour, sometimes he gets milk, on most occassions he doesn't. When he returns home with the empty bottle, his wife flares up as if he had intentionally not brought the milk or had drunk it and brought the empty bottle. There was no current the whole of last night; intolerable heat, frightening mosquito bites made the night unbearable. Now, this morning there wasn't a drop of water. After this, frightful marketing. Then followed by rushing to office in an overcrowded tram, tram derailed, late to office, rebuke of higher authority. He's a cashier where he works. Small change is unavailable, public playing dirty tricks, taunting comments, abusive language and on occassions even attempt to assault.
Having ample time and an attentive listener, the gentleman gave a detailed list of his daily mortification to the shop keeper. The shop keeper is not a man from another world, he's very much aware of these things; he also has to face some of these problems. But he has never thought of these things in a seriatim manner. But, even then, what relation purchasing a smaller size shoe has got to do with all these, he just could not understand. However, he got up and brought a pair of shoes one size smaller. The gentleman put the shoes on after a lot of struggle. On seeing his face it was evident that he was in anguish.
The shop keeper has, by this time, taken the gentleman as mad or a miser. But what the gentleman told him after he put on his shoes, not only stunned him, but assured him that he was not mad. The gentleman forcibly put the shoes on and, while limping across the carpet of the shop, told the shop keeper, " Just think that after limping along with these shoes on throughout the day, I come home at the end of the day and take off these shoes, how relieved I'll be, what peace, what happiness, what satisfaction. Morning till evening no milk, no power, overcrowded trams, pot holes, slush, abuse, humiliation. There's no peace, no happiness anywhere, only your one size small pair of shoes will give me extreme satisfaction in the evening when I return home and take them off.."
The matter of feeling good or satisfied is very complicated and totally subjective. At any moment of time or on any one issue, your satisfaction may not be the same as mine. I met a childhood friend of mine last year after a long time. At the end of a long conversation, he suddenly asked me "Don't you like loadshedding ?" Not only this, a sister-in-law of mine loves the smell of shoe polish; my younger brother loves to eat burnt toast; I even know a gentleman who, in the middle of the night, gleefully observes a cat fight on the roof with his binoculars. Mark Twain once stated, feeling good means to melt oneself into loneliness. May be this perpetual vagabond whimsical writer had discovered in his life that whatever you like or love or adore is your own, personally yours. Our whole life flitters away in search of the partner of our intimate liking. That invaluable partner may sometimes be our friend, sometimes our lover or wife, sometimes our child or pupil.
In the unsuccessful poet's language, being satisfied means living well. That poet's impression was that, in the manner in which the evening star looks comfortable in the midst of the white clouds, the manner in which the chrysanthemum nestles peacefully in the lap of the green leaves, our keeping well cannot be the same. Even then, if you think you're satisfied, then you're happy.
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