Bablee ( Part-11th) —

(Recap- In the previous episode, I mentioned about my coming across to Ranjit after a long gap of time.  There, he revealed so many facts about Bablee and other shopkeepers, including me as well. That all numbed me somewhere.  )

When I was coming back after taking leave from Ranjit, one question nagged me badly. For last one year, Ranjit had not shown up in the market, but he was fully informed even about the minor developments, incidences and behavioral mode of all shopkeepers in connection with Bablee. Even, he was fraught with kind of information, which despite myself being almost present  there, I was unable to glean.  Then, who was the man providing him all the information. And his confidence level of eliciting the facts also carried a weight! Suddenly, the idea of his welder friend, “Brijlal” in the market flashed in my mind. Still, he was running his welding fabrication shop over there. This welder was a gentle type man and laconic by nature, who always kept him to himself and ever busied in his work.

It was my experience, people who are taciturn, they are endowed with a gift to listen and observe the people and things around them keenly. And the gist of the matter, they deduct almost to the reality. This habit becomes an inseparable part and parcel of their personality. They are like a spy, who gleans the information silently without coming into the notice of other. Now, I was certain, he being the crony of Ranjit was his pet informer.

Well! As on today, when I am jotting down all this, in shape of  a story( after about an elapse of twenty years,) Still, I can recall and feel the “love saturated ambiance,” of that bygone era. Reason being, I too was  a covert participant in that collective activity. Now it feels to me, the entire bazaar was in “love vibrant mode” at that time and Bablee was in a pivotal mode. This was the time, when I felt to get my office white washed. It was natural, to sort out the problem, Ganak was the only evident solution. Ganak, who just had encountered the sad demise of old mother and was confronting problems in maintaining and managing the house and his pack of dogs.

Now, he was so eager to get wed-locked.  But as I mentioned repeatedly , he had got inscribed in his mind, the image of a beautiful, well versed and educated girl, as a life partner. On my call, he arrived on one day. He inspected the shop from inside and made  me prepare the list of items needed for white wash. After that he came out of the office and stationed himself on the front veranda. This was the historical moment of his life, when his glance went across the road and his eyes got fixed upon Bablee, who was busied on sewing machine. At once, it flashed to him, the dream girl, he was in search for his future life, was this girl only and his search been finished in the market only.

The initial stage of this story is; the white wash of the office, that could be finished in merely two days, that took long fifteen days to get completed. He on purpose did the white wash with a very slow hand. In between, he was given to the habit of taking out a chair from inside the office, and install that in veranda and  sunk himself in that chair, facing the Bablee’s tailoring shop. There his gaze constantly fixed on Bablee and mind busy in flowery, fancy pictures of future life. No doubt, when a man fall in love with some one, in “one way traffic mode,” he experiences such kind of experience.

Bablee, on one day had said to me in a complained tone, ” Your this painter keeps on staring me the whole day.” With a humor and on purpose to appease her, I had replied, ” It’s not his fault, you are so beautiful and charming dear. Secondly, he is till a bachelor and if he dies upon you, this fact should exhilarate you.” Upon my this reply, she gave an open heart laugh. Some how, the white wash of the office was but to get finished one day and it came to the finishing point too. After that, Ganak developed a habit, he began to visit my office daily either in the morning time or in noon time or at evening time on petty pretext.

I knew his disconsolate condition of the heart, but could not ask him not to visit the office frequently. In fact, I was not able to muster the courage to say him, ” why you are trying your hand on the girl, on whom your this big brother is deeply interested.” The fact was. I intended to keep my “Mission Love” very secretive. It was a dilemma for all now. What an amazing and fox type girls both sisters were? The entire market was mad after them. Now the acquaintance or known people to shopkeepers (Ganak for example), too had begun to surrender the heart to them. I supposed, the same situation prevailed across the entire market.

Just, if I think of myself, I owned a wife and children back in home but was given to a fancy of being in relationship with Bablee in the same way as her elder sister was with a married man. I was so hopeful and frenzy on this front. Perhaps, other shopkeepers with married status too were fostering the same dream. Each and every one seemed so optimistic in this love vibrant market. In between all this hue and cry, three major incidences took place, those in a way proved disaster to many. This all occurred in the way, as the saying goes, ” as the luck would have this.” Firstly,  a good looking south Indian boy, who used to vend the plastic mold furniture on a hand pushed Rickshaw, visited our  bazaar by chance as an occasional vendor. Secondly, a bulky man,’ having oval shaped face with mustache appeared on the shop of Bablee one day. In fact, he was accompanied by both Bablee and her elder sister Jito and also by their younger brother. I have mentioned about younger brother, he was intimate with me. He ushered that man inside my office and introduced him as “Sam” to me. This Sam was in the vocation of ‘Medical sales representative’ and , he claimed to be a  family friend of them. It was told, he belonged to the Christian Community. Though he looked a charlatan to me, if my observance was asked.

Thirdly, Ganak when his infatuation for Bablee reached to acme, he dared to do a deed which too put me in an awkward situation. In next episodes ,I will give the details of all of these incidences. (End of the part- 11th. Cont’d ) Penned by — Vinay Pharasi —–