HE DIDN'T...
He didn’t see the willingness of people to tell you
directions,
the resilience of those poverty-stricken children with laughter in
their eyes,
insisting on selling you balloons you don’t need.
He didn’t see the volunteers who set up stands to provide
cold, life-saving drinks in the heat,
or lines for samosas and jalebis that are
way longer than the ones at McDonalds.
He didn’t taste the pickles made by the grandmothers of
India,
with secret ingredients of maternal love,
nor did he see anyone transform
the simple unforgiving onion
with a few drops of lime and some salt into
something edible.
He didn’t travel in a local train or metro
and hear a thousand stories in a thousand accents from a few hundred regions.
and hear a thousand stories in a thousand accents from a few hundred regions.
He didn’t see
strangers smile and converse in sign language,
or share a meal on a train.
He didn’t see the telephone man climbing a rickety pole to
fix a line,
or the indulgence of the motorist towards the cow, the camel, the
stray dog on the street.
He didn’t see the bowls of water kept outside windows for
the birds,
or the scores of women who have turned colourful nighties into a
uniform for gossip.
He didn’t see the cheerful old men sitting on a corner in a
park,
sharing tales of their youth that they’ll forget soon
or the reverence of
the kids towards them and other elderly.
He didn’t see the milkman hard at work amid the dung,
whistling a cheerful tune while the world slept.
Or the mangos, the sweet juicy
balls of heaven,
over which many a debates are fought,
in dining rooms and
fruit carts.
He didn’t see the multiple cricket matches being played on a
single ground,
or girls playing seven stones amid giggles of uninhibited
glee,
or young boys washing buffaloes in the dirty water,
throwing cusswords
with gay abandon.
Can you sum up India in a word, in an article, in a book?
Not likely.
Not likely.
We’re the chaos.
A colourful, noisy, smelly,
headache-inducing chaos.
But if you open your eyes, you will grow to love it
and live it.
He didn't open his eyes.
He didn't open his eyes.