Trip back in Time

What started as a mere obligation towards my family, actually turned out to be a very grounding experience...waise before i start i would like to tell u , I really have no affinity towards my relatives...some may be offended with it but thats how it is...why its like tht ..well may be in some other post..:-)

Now coming to crux... i went to Wadner Bholji...its 15 km from malkapur..which is 498km from mumbai and its in maharashtra. I used train, bus and bullockcart (Baiil gaddi) When i reached malkapur i took a bus which was just like the one showed in fevikol ads..and when i covered 14km there was a baiil gaddi waiting for me with my paternal uncle (chachaji)

The one whole bus and BG trip was just like the one we see in movies... and i still remember the swadesh movie - yeh jo desh hai tera song... small children who are scantly dressed running here and there...the whole area seems to be a gazing field for cattles .. it just a picture perfect of harmony between man and beast...

Once i reached my home (small old palace, i can even say dungeon..cause it has 12 rooms though only three r occupied & rest r store rooms and also.. its ready to crumble - its been standing since 1950) it was just the typical family drama where in all relatives would flock to get a glimpse and shower their blessings on me with few tears rolling down.. but i would say it touched me a lot... don't know why but there was a certain warmth in everyone's blessings..

And it was perplexing to see how much the village ahs changed...at one end we have mud houses and no electricity for 14 hours a day and at the other end we have TATA Sky and amazon generators..so the small town was changing or not.. difficult to answer. they use lux liquid soap and pears face fash but still prefer to use the ash as cleansing agent for utensils. So does that mean they r changing selectively or this is force change.. i guess only time will tell..

Then in afternoon came the dreaded time.. Lunch time.. i ate (mirchi ki daal and jawari ki roti) Lentils with lot of spice and maize cooked in indian style.. and i was sure now i would leak form all possible holes. After frequent visits to LOO and few glasses of sweet lime juice... it stabilized.Then i took leave with everyone's heart filled ..like i might not come again but then that's the way INDIA is... Love is always in abundance.. its ppl who don't recognize it and few who do end up abusing it..only few lucky one's can make its glory shine their lives and live with it.

So after two hours of tipsy topsy bus journey i reached my mother's home town...Well though i never wanted to land up there but cause of my wife and mom i decided to go..after 8 yrs.. my point of view was simple.. if they don't care why should i, Ppl also assume that respect is what they should get by virtue of age and not their deeds which is so wrong...And then comes their arrogance and a worse habit of taking credit of all good things and cursing /fault finding with things which are beyond anyone's control..And yes all they are interested is MONEY..

The first thing i was greeted with was, How much u earn ?, How much ur brother earns? , ur wife? and so on ..boy it was like Hot seat with questions flowing form all directions with no life lines no buzzers. Just siting their and hoping for things to come to an end.

Then came the time.. doze of lecture, taunts followed by plastic love..This time i was all ready..I was not gonna lie down and take it from them..I had it for all my childhood and i promised myself of no more nonsense.

And the round of pot shots started through the how Raj Thakre killed his own mentor and father figure.. Bal Thakre.. by formign his own dreaded party. Never in my life i bothered about them but this time i knew why they were being bought in the discussion and i had to take a stance opp to it to preserve my dignity. And it ended in a very heated discussion..

i don't know why i did that.. may be i did wrong but somewhere deep inside i was ok.. no regrets.. was not cursing myself this time and not asking god as why they did this to me..And i also know next time they will think twice before getting into any nonsense..I know all of you would think i did wrong but then point is i think i was not wrong .

Then in all this it was time to take leave...but not without last glitch.. the train which was suppose to reach mumbai at 5:30 in morning actually started at 7:00 am from the source station itself.. the whole night at waiting room with men women children sleeping in any place possible was another experience in itself..

However i realized that god plans everything.. the scenic beauty i got see made up for the painstaking 9 hrs delay..With rains slashing all over the place and climate turned into a typicall Honey Moon climate.. what should i explain more... :-)

Thus sitting there i realised the beacuse of my mother and my lovely wife i had another big lesson of life learnt in best way possible..
Never let ur head rise high over ur shoulders..Everytime time now i spend 500/- in a hotel i would feel the pain that i saw in my villagers (Now i will call it even my village) How i should never look down on any human being as i might not realize it but will leave that individual with lot of life long pain.. and most important how i should always look at happiness of others.