innocence and all

I live in a pind , you know a hamlet lovingly described by writers all over the world. Mine has all the usual ingredients found in every village of Punjab, four or five gurudwaras, a couple of temples, at least one Muslim pir’s grave looked after by the wakf Board of Pakistan, one or two baba’s who have localized following promising a trip to phoren, and the other finding a right groom. There is also the village pond, the swimming pool where buffaloes, kids and fish swim in perfect harmony.

Green fields all around, a slithery snake like dusty road encompasses it and leads it to the next one; we are as Hardy put it ‘far from the maddening crowd’ surround my pind. In fact, the villagers also live in the modern world but are still caught in the medieval times. In fact, my maid Raman, who finishes her work so that she can watch her favorite soap at 11: 30 am sharp on Star Plus. She loves being transported into the age of heavy impressive saris, the flowing perfect hair and the jewelry thinking that is how people live in big cities. Her idea of a perfect life is the romance so portrayed by the actors perfected to the hilt. One day, she was very listless and I jokingly asked her,” what happened to your serial?” don’t you want to watch it? She replied, no, no I am not well. Every day when I go back home I get fever and in the morning I get better and I come to work, but today I feel a bit weak.

This carried on for a few days and I remembered to ask her again and she told me, oh I am fine now. My grandmother told me to take a dirty serving spoon and sleep with it at night. So last night, I did this and put it with me to bed and now I am better.

I, as you know am still dumbfounded and quiet.

The other day, as all housewives I go through crazy moments of cleaning madness (lot of women will nod to this one!) and have two adorable labs that are higher in the pecking order than me! One of them, the older one Simba is loosing hair maybe coz’ he misses a mate or is just plain old growing old (that is one thing we all are denying in the face) and I asked Raman, to dust him too with a broom as his hair were all over and I was getting tired of dusting his hairballs from everywhere.

Well, Madam Miss Know it all, turned around and said that if she did that, he would get a cough. I am just learning not to laugh and just nod my head in acquiescence.

She, like the rest of India, is still caught in a time warp and still clings on to the time old superstitions that govern them. They are not bothered about an I-phone 5 launch, whether it is slimmer fatter or lighter or how much it costs, she lives her simply not bothered whether we scale Mars or not, or who dies or who lives. Life for them is living daily form sun up and sun down and living it stoically minus the humdrums of us hyper class.

As I write, this it’s Thursday and she has just informed me, she has to leave by 6:30pm as she has to go pay obeisance to Baba Miyan Sai because he cured her of her leucoderma. I know she is talking of blind faith but I’m thinking take –out for dinner!

Ravneet Sangha