The Joys of Delhi (Delhi ke Majje)

Contrasting views on some common village issues or matters of importance at times led to some animated verbal-fights between Pyar Chand and Jaisi Ram. Other boys in their group always enjoyed that but those fights never turned into physical bouts. Others in the group always coaxed and tried to manipulate Pyar Chand and Jaisi Ram to pave the path for some action but that never happened. They were not close-friends, but one factor that worked as a cohesive force between them was that they were used to each other’s company. Every day they had to walk together three kilometers to reach their school and three kilometers back home.  Though they tried to join other groups, ultimately the two were left to seek each other’s company, because in other groups they never had anything to say. They studied together till 8^th class and knew a lot of secrets about each other, which somehow bound them.

While Pyar Chand was more of a dreamer, Jaisi Ram had a practical outlook towards life. While many youngsters of their age were fascinated by the world and things around them as they were contemplating the changes in their lives according to their age, our protagonists never paid much attention towards anything. Things were not going to change till they were in school – that’s what they believed.

Pyar Chand was indifferent towards his image as a dull-headed boy in the eyes of teachers and other students and it did not affect him ever. Jaisi Ram was slightly better than Pyar Chand and that notion of superiority kept him content. Rarely did they talk about studies, but whenever they did, Jaisi Ram compared himself with Pyar Chand and the matter settled quickly. They were in eighth class and somehow things took a drastic turn. Everything started to look so colossal, as they were going to appear in the board exams. Initial fervor and discussion at home and school made Pyar Chand a bit alert towards exams, but gradually he lost interest.

Jaisi Ram cheated well in board exams and got the passing marks, while Pyar Chand could not do that. Things did not change for Pyar Chand for the next two years and finally he gave up and mustered enough courage to tell his father that he was not interested in studies anymore. Jaisi Ram passed his tenth exams and during one of his discussions with Pyar Chand, he said then that he wanted to become a professor. Pyar Chand looked in bewilderment and said, “but for that you need to study a lot, what you say. They say that these professors are half-mad.” Jaisi Ram, “oh, you know better than anyone else, they earn a lot of money and once I will become professor, I will buy a big car.” Pyar Chand shook his head in his typical approval-giving style.

Jaisi Ram’s dream of becoming a Professor could not take off as his elder brother thought otherwise and sent him to Delhi to work with his maternal uncle, who was a mechanic in an iron-casting company. His brother made it clear that Jaisi Ram could study further but meanwhile, he would have to work to support the family like he was doing. And, Jaisi Ram was sent to Delhi.

Pyar Chand’s drunkard father took his son to work as a daily laborer on road. It appeared a harsh decision for many but Pyar Chand’s father had a big vision in his mind. In those days if you worked for PWD for 10 years, there was every possibility that one day you would be confirmed as a regular government employee – a dream job that would ensure fixed salary and pension. Six months passed quickly and one fine day our protagonists met.

Pyar Chand was returning from his work. While Jaisi Ram waited for an hour at the same place to meet Pyar Chand, he acted as if he was going somewhere, when he actually met the daily-wage laborer.

Pyar Chand, “Good to see you Jaisi. You are looking good, so how is Delhi?”

Jaisi Ram, “Delhi is very good, so you are working as a laborer, how are you doing there. I am here for three days as there is a lot of work in Delhi.”

Pyar Chand did not say anything for a while, and then he said , “see you yaara.” Meet me tomorrow morning at the pond, where we used to take bath and tell me about Delhi City.”

Jaisi Ram had a lot to say, but Pyar Chand just left. More than Pyar Chand, Jaisi Ram was excited to tell his old pal about Delhi but now he had to wait till morning. When they met early morning at the pond, Jaisi Ram spoke a lot until he felt satisfied – as usual, Pyar Chand listened to him patiently.

 Pyar Chand carefully tried to weigh in every word that his friend had said and then he could comprehend that people enjoy a great life in Delhi. Big buildings, trains, lot of cars, - a city where Prime Minister and President of India live. For the first time in his life, Pyar Chand felt really bad about his condition. And then he wanted to go to Delhi.  

After three days, Jaisi Ram went back to Delhi. Usually engrossed in his routine work, Pyar Chand could not focus on anything for the next few days. While cleaning a ditch near the road during his work, Pyar Chand hurt his leg badly. He could not hold it for long and finally shared his thoughts with other colleagues, who were working as PWD daily wage workers. They listened in amusement as he vividly described everything to them and felt relieved.

The same thing happened again after six months when Jaisi Ram visited the village. Once again, he told some elaborate stories about Delhi and Pyar Chand felt more and more longing for the capital of India. Jaisi Ram did not shut up until he felt satisfied that he had said everything that he wanted to say at the village pond and then left in a hurry.  

This World had become a dreary place for Pyar Chand – every day he dreamt of going to Delhi to live a great life. If there was a heaven – it was in Delhi. Pyar Chand thought. Oh, I am not intelligent like Jaisi Ram, but I also deserve a good life. I just want to go to Delhi. And then something good happened for the PWD worker - Jaisi Ram came to village for a couple of days and besides telling compelling stories about the city, he also gave a phone number  to Pyar Chand with an important note that he could only call him on Sunday – every week.  

Well, Pyar Chand had something else in his mind, he waited and saved some money after three months and booked a ticket to Delhi. He knew his father would never agree to send him away to Delhi. So, he told his mother that he would find some decent work in Delhi and rest would be taken care of by his friend Jaisi Ram. Though, Pyar Chand waited for the next Sunday and made a call on that number which Jaisi Ram had given him. He dialed that number with huge anticipation and carefully queued up all the words in his mind he wanted to say over the phone.  He called up and a woman on the other side picked up.

Woman with a hoarse voice said – “Hello, who.”

Pyar Chand was speechless for a while but then he managed to say something and said, “Madam Ji, please call Jaisi Ram, I am his Friend from village.” The Woman instantly snapped – “oh, Jaisi Ram is not here, call at Nine in the evening.”
“Madam Ji, give me his address,” said Pyar Chand quickly.

The Woman did not waste much time to give him the address. Well, Pyar Chand could see his dream was coming true. With hopes and aspirations, he left the village.

He boarded the bus two hours before it was supposed to leave the bus stand. As the bus started for Delhi, his heart sank, he was leaving his home-district for the first time in his life. He did not talk to anyone on the bus and did not go outside to drink tea or to eat anything, when bus stopped for breaks. And when everyone slept in the bus, Pyar Chand managed to beat ill-thoughts and apprehensions by painting some exquisite pictures of the city in his mind – consequently, he managed to sleep peacefully.  Finally, he reached Delhi and saw a big crowd and a lot of vehicles – as told by Jaisi Ram. With a mixed feeling of happiness and apprehension, he boarded an auto.

There was so much to see – Pyar Chand dodged curious glances at everything – from ugly DTC buses to yellow autos. Riding high on his train of thoughts, his reverie was disturbed by the stench erupting irrepressibly from the rotting roadside garbage. He put a handkerchief on his nose and continued with sight-seeing.  At times he forgot to blink as he did not want to miss a single scene. He was new to the city, but did well by hiring an auto after a reasonable bargaining on fare.

Finally, he reached the colony, as written on the address. It was a congested housing complex and as the auto penetrated into the narrow street, Pyar Chand saw a few piglets playing in a small ditch. Kucha road made it a bumpy ride and Pyar Chand had to hold tightly to the roof supporting rod of the auto to maintain his balance on the seat. The pungent stench which caught up with Pyar Chand in the halfway after he left the Bus Terminal grew stronger in this colony. 

With address note in one hand and other hand on his nose to counter stench, Pyar Ram reached a shop. He wanted to buy something for his friend – just then he saw jaisi Ram. Well, Pyar Chand looked thrilled and absolutely overjoyed to see Jaisi Ram there. He rushed towards his friend and shook Jaisi Ram’s hands. Both couldn’t say anything for a while. It was a feeling of sheer joy which kept Pyar Chand silent for a while and he expected his friend Jaisi Ram to say something, who could not move his limbs or lips and it appeared as if he had suffered an instant stroke of paralysis.

They exchanged a few words and then Jaisi Ram bought bread and four eggs from that shop and did not say anything on the way as Pyar Chand followed him. Finally, Jaisi Ram said, “how did you reach here? you left your job, your father will kill you now. Who gave you the money to buy bus ticket?”

With a big smile on his face, Pyar Chand said, “No no..I saved some money and like you said then that if you want to do something big in life, you need to leave that village, so I am here now.”

A storm of thoughts and words was heaving inside Jaisi Ram – he wanted to puke it promptly on his patient listener, but he could not say much. Finally, they reached near a house. Pyar Chand felt a bit surprised that Jaisi Ram was not saying anything- something he was not used to. They entered a narrow staircase, which led towards the terrace of the house. Well, the walls of the stairs were stained with red color – displaying different shapes of obscure images created by Paan and Gutkha spit. Stairs finished on the Terrace of the building. There was a small room on the terrace with an adjacent bathroom – Jaisi Ram unlocked the room and invited Pyar Chand inside.

It was the month of April and anyone who has ever spent time in Delhi during this period of the year must be aware about the treacherous summer, which begins to show its ugly face in this month and then turns into a sadistic monster in the forthcoming months of May and June. Jaisi Ram, who used to dominate and initiate the conversations between them, did not speak a single word for the next half an hour.

They entered the room, which looked big as there was not much in there, except a bed, a table fan and a few other things. Pyar Chand just sat in front of the fan and continued with observation – his favorite pastime, which he had not been able to enjoy since morning.

Suddenly, he saw that there was a medium-size suitcase there and he clearly remembered that – that was the one suitcase Jaisi Ram used to bring to the village. Finally, Jaisi Ram said, “if you want to take bath there is a bathroom.”

He gave three slices of bread to Pyar Chand, some tea and half of the egg omelet, he cooked quickly. Pyar Chand had a lot of questions in his mind, but failed to get the start. So, it is Delhi…ok the same Delhi. What…lost in his thoughts, he did not realize that Jaisi Ram was ready to go to work.

He spoke again, “look I will come in the evening.” Pyar Chand nodded in approval. And, then Jaisi Ram left.

Pyar Chand, tried to sleep during the day but could not. He tried to increase the speed of the table fan but could not. As the day progressed, Pyar Chand found that heat had turned into something really worse – well, he couldn’t find the right word for that. The overhead roof was burning and it seemed that fan had literally surrendered to the situation, as it was blowing hot air. He drank enough water from the pitcher that Jaisi Ram had placed in the corner, but just could not get any relief. Next four hours were spent in gulping a few more glasses of water. Pyar Chand felt that he had turned into a machine, which was drinking water and producing sweat as a by-product. Finally, he decided to go downstairs but then changed his mind quickly.

It was an extraordinary day in the life of Pyar Chand who experienced every minute of it – in a way he couldn’t have imagined ever, he had a lot of time to ponder over a few important things. Finally the day  ended. And then Jaisi Ram returned from work.

It was just another day of April in Delhi, but Pyar Chand was looking enervated. He had a whole day to think about Jaisi Ram and Delhi and above all Delhi ke majje (the joys of Delhi). Jaisi Ram did not look at Pyar Chand since returning from work. Before he could say anything, Pyar Chand asked, “Yaara, do I need to go for advance booking to book my tickets for Himachal or can I get them directly, when I would board the bus.”

Jaisi Ram swiftly replied, “No, no, you can get when you would reach there. There would not be much rush these days.”   Well, Pyar Chand saw that old glow and smile on the face of his friend Jaisi Ram for the first time since he came to Delhi.

Both slept on the terrace and shared a single mattress – hardened by the overuse. Jaisi Ram gave mosquito repellant to Pyar Chand, who applied it and slept peacefully. Next day, he gave 100 Rs. to Jaisi Ram and said sorry for all the trouble. And just when Jaisi Ram was leaving for his work, Pyar Chand picked up his newly bought bag and followed him. Pyar Chand did not say anything. Both reached the main road, where Pyar Chand hired an auto. Just then Jaisi Ram said, “Why are you going so early – the bus will leave in the evening?” Pyar Chand did not look back, he did not say anything. He looked at the  Auto-driver and said  - let’s go.