Sunday, January 9, 2011

Ragpickers in fog!

Because someone's fiction is someone's reality


It has been the coldest patch that they had witnessed.

“Amma ne jaldi bulaya hai... aaj, bola hai 6 baje k pehle ghar aajana”. The younger one told his elder brother.

“Then why on earth are you standing there like a dumb ass, give me a helping hand sisterfucker”, he retorted back.

“Ok ok , why are you shouting on me….”

“pick that one up… It’s a newspaper, would help even in some household stuff”

*Opens the newspaper and his eyes widens*

“Hey… did you see that? Gosh! Crores of rupees … IPL bidding…. Hey… what is bidding? How many zeroes are there in a crore?”

“I am just feeling too cold to answer any of your stupid question you sister fucker, just focus on work, pick that two rupee torn note too, mother can glue it up to buy a piece of bread tomorrow”

“Huh! You are elder to me; this doesn’t mean you abuse me all the time….”

“try and search a scarf or something if possible for mother, I don’t think she would survive the cold this year, she was coughing the whole night”

“Hey… see…the next news, this girl out here with long legs… she got lakhs of rupees for a new year dance at some night dance thing, for one hour….what is this night club? Does lakh has more zeroes than crore?”

“will you shut the fuck up?”

“oh my god… look at her, she looks like an angel with big boobs (laughs!) how many breads and milk packets can one buy from a lakh rupee note”

“I will slap you now if you don’t shut up… please try and find some useful stuff and hold off that newspaper”

“ok ok… stop yelling, uuuuuuuh! Its so cold”

“HEY LOOK THERE!!”

“THERE IT IS………………!! “

“but it’s under a big pile…and it’s smelling like dog shit out there too”

“why wouldn’t it?, Dint you noticed that angry bastard sitting right there, seems he has found something to eat close by”

( a brown dog sitting over trash)

“Its not he, It’s a she… bitch!”

“keep your fucking knowledge up to you…. Let’s try and throw some stones at him and then get that thing out of the trash”

“she looks angry…. I think we should search elsewhere” says the younger one.

“No way……..”

“There are a few big one’s there”

Younger one picks up a set of stones and Throws on the bitch. She runs in fury, in attack mode and catches finger of the younger one with a long jump. The other boy kicks her away. She runs into fog!

(crying) “It’s bleeding”

“take this polythene and rub it off, and be a boy now for god sake, don’t act like those stupid young kids, which needs dettol to even have a bath”(laughs out at his own sarcasm!)

“Its so cold, my hands are almost numb”

“better for you, that would ease pain…. In the meanwhile I will get that scarf out”

(the younger one taking his finger in mouth to suck off blood drops)“I will dance in new year’s night too……. When I grow up, that would end our misery days of poverty”(smiles)

(The other one digging trash) “they don’t pay shitheads to dance”(giggles)

“I would grow balls too na…. big deal” (laughs!)

(After a pause)

“sister fucker! SHUT UP! It’s not a scarf….its a torn socks”

And they both laughed till they started coughing with cold!


***********************************************************************************







Back drop – I am sitting in a warm blanket, there is an electric heater right next to me, illuminating, heating up my room…and I am holding a warm glass of coffee in my hand, still I am shivering a bit, it is that damn cold. Kanpur just like every city in north India currently is under extreme cold wave and fog laden cover.

In a country where 1 lakh 76 thousand crore rupees gets eaten off by some bloody corrupt individuals, the only difference between those battling survival in bare bodies and me is a sheer destiny of birth. I was born in the household where one telecom scandal, one raise in onion prices affects me not in day to day life immediately…. Whereas for those out there, laying on the pavement, every single coin of government treasury that they so rightly deserve for some help, matters. Conditions out there are in humane to say the least. There are people out there who need help, this isn’t a tsunami, this isn’t an earthquake, but it is equally tough because life is at stake. Official toll of death count in UP is 110, just after three successive days cold wave, specially in a state where our respective CM wears a multimillion garland now and then, I wonder if even a 35 rupee sweater that is sold on a cart can save someone’s life. I just wonder at times, how the only thing that matters is birth.


P.S. – help those in need. This isn’t an appeal or a plea, it’s a reminder, be human. go out there, give just a pair of socks, an old blanket, an unfashionable sweater, anything....It would be valuable to someone, It would make a difference.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pulkit, to start off..you rock!

Hope you remember this 'Fiducia'..yeah, am back and this time planning to pen a whole more introspectives in rhythmic verses..;)

Now, this one was heartwarming..I mean, as I read it..I did not expect the paradoxical para that awaited in the end...it started off like a fable..but reality then creeped in..so true...there is so much even we as individuals overlook around us...this frame of reality that you have portrayed with ease and experience, is one of them..

Another fact is that your genre of creative writing is also clearly seen through this post..I like that part too...the subject is true, needs to be made aware...and yes, we are quite ignorant about these striking realities...we need to do something, we talk about it...but alas! we all are yet silent and ongoing with our lives alone...

Great post! A gr8 thought...and triggers our minds to bring a change...gr8 work!

Keep blogging!

Meher said...

Its written very well. The best part of the story is the sarcasm. Lovely piece of writing.

Ashrita said...

That was thoughtful. Yeah, we all need to do our little bit :)

I'm gonna go back and read it again now :P Aadat se majboor! I always read posts twice :P

Blasphemous Aesthete said...

Your first line, Someone's fiction is others' reality.
I uphold that and have believed in that since long.

The story, its beautiful, how they live on the edge, and still how they care for each other. Its beautiful.

Cheers,
Blasphemous Aesthete

AS said...

hii

loved ur blog..this post was very relevant and touching as well.

keep writing :)

* but ur dark temp makes reading a bit difficult.

PULKIT said...

@ fiducia - your way to start off brought a big smile to my face, u don't know how much I need to hear such words as of now :) Thanks

yes I do remember u fiducia , one is not supposed to forget friends :) and I have never enjoyed reading any of your comments, more then what I did this time around....thanks for being so elaborate about it :)

I am glad you loved the write up so much, guess I just spoke my heart out and you felt each word of it, so it all goes back to your perception of reading it. Thanks again.

each word of your appreciation sunk deep within, cannot express what it meant to me Fiducia :) thanks for everything u said :) I read it a 20 times actually

PULKIT said...

@ meher - to start off, you have a beautiful blog and a beautiful name :) Thanks for dropping by at my space.
thanks for liking the post and commenting on it. the appreciation means a lot to me. it really does

PULKIT said...

@ ash - thanks SD, glad u are back to my comment box (impossible is a word of lesser degree to describe how I would never be able to scribble what all it means to me) Thanks, I did my little bit today...after writing this one last night :)
won't tell though what when and how... it would reduce the deed :)
I believe in it

PULKIT said...

@ BA - now I wish to know your first name at this point :) I always end up writing the wrong spelling of the pen name while replyin to your comments bro.
thanks for dropping by again, commenting again and leaving me with some satisfaction that I am being heard regularly by someone who is so good a writer in himself

PULKIT said...

@ AS - thanks for dropping by, leaving a comment. M honored. :) hope to see u again

Deepika said...

Great lesson from the fiction.. The rising prices do affect us but what about those who aren't often able to have warmth enough to survive.. The needy ones. Nice one.. One should always learn that if we are in problem, someone is in more problem out there...

Shriti said...

:))

Salil said...

dekho ye sab social shikshawadi shoshe mere jaise selfish personality ko samajh nahi aate....... mujhe only wahi samajh aata hai that could bother me in this life........ so I didn't like it........ simple..... mera khopda mat khaa jaana bas.....!!!!!