Two India

Two India
One which toils hard in the field and sweat to earn their rupee to feed their day's hunger,
One which spends their earned money in Air-Conditioned gym to cut down their fat by sweat.

Two India
One which look for atleast muddled water to quench their family's thirst,
One which see for mud in their purified pet bottle while quenching their thirst.

Two India

One which looks for some roofed school in their nearby vicinity of 15 kms to have their kids educated,
One which looks for the best of the schools to get their wards educated in the city.

Two India

One which vote in every election and wait for a change in fate for their village and their future generations,
One which do not cast their vote in the election,debating how their vote can change the nation's fate.

Two India

One which see for stars in the sky above their head,in their village for entertainment,
One which see the stars in the fashion shows head to head,in their city for entertainment.

Two India

One which waits for decades for justice,
One which does not have patience for justice.

Two India

One which dreams that the educated will bridge the difference in the society and bring in equality,
One which creates more sub-class and raise the differences between them and the so-called-not-educated.

Two India

Go on doing their duty with hope,one day,their future generation will see light in their villages,
Go on doing duty,being cynic,due to power failure,that stops them from using their Air-Conditioners.

Two India

One still hopes,that the World will come for their rescue,
One which blames the World that it is the root cause for all their personal hurdles.

Two India

I came across both,
but, i decided, to live for and with the first India,
Who look upon to people for humanity and their progress.

Bhupesh Balakrishnan

Sunday in the Lake Market

Come Sunday. There are two prominent locations I make it a point to visit, whenever I am in the City of Joy. It will be either, the South City Mall, one of India’s largest mall, with the highest footfalls or else, the Lake Market in the Rash Behari Avenue.

If South City mall is my home mall, as I affectionately call, standing tall, just a few hundred feet away, in walking distance; the Lake Market is a place I have to visit to pick my Tamil Weekly magazines from the Malayali anna store, and also pick up some fruits for the week ahead from the fruit vendors.

With South City Mall nearby, it provides me couple of choices to pick my day's coffee... But, Lake Market gives me the true Indian shopping atmosphere, reminding me of my hometown lake market, in Tiruchirapalli, the fruit vendors around Teppakulam ( a pond around which all the vegetable and fruit vendors have their stall put up)…my Teppakulam lake Market existed till late ‘90s…but due to increasing traffic, they were moved to another place where people in the entire Tiruchirapalli city visited to purchase their weekly fruits and vegetable requirements...Infact, every town have a lake market…lake may not be the point, rather the old city market, which brought all city people together for shopping their staples…like, in Madurai, it will be Vizhakuthuun, or Simakal, or around Meenakshi Temple….in Salem, it will be in the Bazaar street, in Chennai, near Mylapore tank temple or near the Renganathan Street…in Bangalore, it will be the Jaya Nagar marketplace, usually near the BDA complex, or the long stretched Gandhi Bazaar in Basavangudi…these days, with spreading geography, markets have come closer to its customers, fulfill the needs of every locality,time being a constraint...making this great indian shopping experience slowly vanish...infact,I had observed the presence of this marketplace very much in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka,Orissa and in Kolkata…all these states, traditionally, deep-rooted in their literature and culture.

This Sunday happened to be a much more productive one, compared to the rest, in the last six months of my stay in Kolkata city; The weather played a crucial role in the way I started my day…an innocent weather, which looked like anytime, I will cry( let me not forget the pouring that happened yesterday, with me and my colleagues looking out of our opened windows, seeing the dark clouds engulf the skies, with an hours downpour that took all Kolkata citizens by surprise...needless to say, our worries were very much evident, due to the fact, that this downpour will de-list the purchase of certain summer product categories like the Air-Conditioners and Refrigerators from the ladders of our customer minds, due to the change in the weather conditions...It's neither a monsoon to feel jubilant about a good prospect of increase in Washer off-takes neither)…

As the day progressed, I ensured my home was spic and span, clearing the last couple of months newspapers and magazines. Once the Sunday chores were completed, I decided to shun the South City mall,which is heavily crowded on Sundays, and instead preferred to visit Lake Market alone…And, there, with the city shops closed for some reason, the market was so calm, except for the didi's team's civic election campaign in the corner of the Lake Market…

With the weather so beautiful, I really enjoyed the evening out in the market place. Once my magazines were bought from the Malayali anna shop, I ventured into the market, went around from vendor to vendor, looking for who sells the best of the Mangoes, strawberries and my usual bananas…As I looked around, hopping from one vendor to another, my regular vendor looked alarmed at the prospect of losing his regular customer...and finally, he ended up bagging my order for the week again…with me picking a bunch of strawberries and bananas.A retail person, somehow, am still not interested to the idea of picking my fruits from the local supermarkets...rather, me picking up in the marketplace is what makes my entire shopping a pleasant experience, call it the great Indian experience…maybe, the comfort of shopping along with small town people around me doing their bargaining, reminding me of my hometown...could be the true reason.

Whatever maybe, the day’s shopping experience was made so lovely, thanks to Lord Varuna, I would compare the evening weather to the weather I had experienced in Kodaikanal or Ooty during my local market visits…in early 2000s…during my MTR Food days.

As the day progressed, i also did a quick visit to the Tamil Sangam, to collect some Tamil writer’s books from the library. I decided to call it a day, and as I was heading home to catch a taxi, something stopped me(say, call of the lord) to visit the Shirdi Sai Baba madir, which is located nearby. I was wondering whether the temple will be opened, since, all my visits have ended up with me praying outside looking at a closed mandir. It was so surprising to find myself participating in the closing aarthi and bhajan performance.

It was also quite new experience for me to observe, with people clapping hands as they were singing the bhajans…which I have not seen/ or would have not observed in the Shirdi Mandir in Chennai…The clapping made the entire atmosphere reverberate some positive vibrations, with me feeling the same vibrations pass through my self. I remember the time when we as school kids used to clap our hands for our buddies who used to score top marks in the examinations…the law of religion and law of education has clearly understood and applied this principle into practice - the more one involves in collective actions,together, the more positive the surroundings will become, leading to positive vibrations, leading to better concentrations,leaving one with a peaceful mind and a purposeful sense for all future actions. That is why,i feel, we involve in such collective actions in temples and schools…be it bhajans or clappings…

How else, could I prepare myself for an another interesting challenging week ahead…with lot many more new people to be met, lot many more customers and businessmen to shake hands with and smile together…

To summarize, this Sunday has been a great one...to face the coming week...

Opposite,no luck

Excuse me, she looked around,

The two men at both extreme, just nodded

She put her bag in the chair next,

And sat in the chair, me opposite,

And, pulled her magazine out,

Started reading, eyes down,

Glass hiding her face,

And, I just sent my mails,

And looked at her, to catch a glimpse of her face,

But, she had other thoughts in mind.

(From Baker st, New Delhi Airport,20th May 2010,9:00 AM)