Bablee ( Part-2 ) —

(Recap – In the first episode, I related the circumstances, how and why I came into contact with Ganak. )

On the day fixed for the visit of the site, I took Ganak to the spot, then to his suggested hard wares’ white wash items shop.He handed over to shop keeper the list of needed items and after two days he started working on the project. The period of time I am narrating here was an old time and there existed no such hard wares paints’ shop with branded enamels and paints, where desired color mixing digital device were available, as we commonly found every where .

In fact, at that time the distemper in the name of “medium of of white wash” used to come in powdery shape in bags. The skilled painter firstly liquefy that with water and to give it appropriate coloring used to apply liquid stain concentrates. A skilled painter in this drive needed two great skills, firstly to prepare the needed color by mixing the color stains appropriately rather with accuracy and secondly a fine hand running application of painting brush on walls. ‘

Specifically, the ratio of coloring stain, in preparing of needed color was required bucket after buckets. And every time, freshly the liquid had to be prepared, that should be in exact match with the previous spectrum. Here only, the the actual skill of the painter was on stake, since the same ratio were to maintained for all four walls of the room. No doubt, Ganak had mastery in this art, why for my friend had suggested his name. Now, when every thing was being done manually, it was natural to prolong the time in white wash. Oftentimes,  I remained present in person on the spot and a conversation was but to take place. At the beginning, it was formal but with the passing of time it turned up into an intimacy. This intimacy helped to know me so many incidences of life of Ganak and his family affairs.

As I told in previous blog, when I met him for the first time, it was my guess he was about thirty years old. But when we came on informal terms, it revealed to me he was running with his thirty five years of age, still bachelor he was.  In between this project, on evening times I too visited his house intermittently; the reason being an intimacy had developed with him and some what friendly relationship had developed as well. The truth is, he had began to treat me  as an elder brother and in reciprocation I offered him a status of younger brother cum friend.  

One thing I noticed in his house, in the name of woman, old mother was the only member in the house. She had to cook the food for all and manage the entire house hold affairs. Gradually, with the passing of time, I too came to know that apart from Manik as elder brother, he too had an eldest brother, who happened to come back in house late evening. This eldest brother was also in looks like other brothers, lean, thin and taller but his complexion was somewhat darker; but utmost descent and gentle by nature. He worked as a salesman at some grocery shop. In our small  city, The closing time of a grocery shop is an arduous process. In the morning time, the vendor arranges too many bags of grains and other edibles just out side, in front of the shop as show casing them, and recollect and replace them back in the store at the closing time of the shop.

This process took long time after 9 O’ clock at evening, after that he was to relieved from the shop. Again, it took about half an hour to reach back home. Normally he happened to arrive back at about 10 O’ clock. In true senses, he was not only gentleman, sometimes he looked like a saint or seer to me. He was of religious aptitude and fond of crooning psalms and religious songs. Besides god too has gifted him a melodious voice. It was divine experience listening his religious songs. Just in contrast to him, Ganak had a deep inclination for cine romantic and sad songs, but accursed with a  strident, shrill and dissonant sound.

Just imagine an ass braying in his full swing of mood and that was the singing ability of Ganak. Often under the tipsy mood, his this desire to sing the song impelled him to bray loudly and with full crescendo of his dissonant sound. When ever he sung a song, I ever wished to plug my ears with my fingers’ tip. Since, every evening on returning from his toilsome job, he was habitual to consume alcohol and as an aftermath of this, the singer inside him often happened to surface up. On reaching his unquenchable desire, he always begun his braying in crescendo applying his entire energy to reach on the top of his voice.

Even, his tamed pack of dogs could not afford to endure his dissonant sound. They being offended by this singing demeanor of the master, too began to howl collectively, as if, registering their resentful protest. This phenomenal cameo ever presented the weird situation . The fact was, his neighbors too were of the working class people and they too happened to consume the alcohol in daily routine on the same pattern. The collective chorus of Ganak and his pack of dogs offended them to the extinction and on various occasions skirmish amid neighbors took place. I in myself been witness to such skirmishes and only knew, how hardly I succeeded to calm them down . But Ganak was of his own kind, he had his own cogent arguments. He was firm by arguing, ” This is my house and I am at liberty to sing the song in whatever form I like.”

With the passing of the time, I began to become acquainted with the family history of Ganak. All these facts and details too were related by Ganak himself to me. There, in the ante- room of the house hung a framed photo. The photo seemed of his departed father with his mother. Mother, as I already told about her was soothing in facial impressions but father in photo picture was a bald headed,dark complexioned, ugly featured, wearing  glasses rested on nose. The pose of the father in the photo picture too was of unique in itself. God knows, from where and by whom it was snap shot. The father in the photo frame looked, as if, giving an alarming pose. In the sense, it seems there, he could slap at the face of the person by coming out of the frame, who was watching the photo frame.

Ganak too had made me know that his father was a gardener in the General Post Office of the city on the temporary basis. Whole through his service tenure, he served there in the same capacity. He was Bengali by origin but mother was from North India. Out of this spousal relationship six children survived as on this day. Three brothers, I already spoken about them, rest three were sisters, all married and happy in their own in- law’s house. The amazing fact was, all three brothers had there sharp features after the mother. In truth, Ganak and Manik had inherited bright complexion of mother but eldest had the shadow of dark complexion of father. After the long lapse of our this friend ship, I chanced to look at his sisters in his house on their occasional visits, all they followed the asymmetrical features and complexion of the father.

The only question, that sometimes nagged me was, “how and why this beautiful mother got wedded with this ugly featured father?”  Well! That was an old time and in our Indian society marriage were arranged by parents solely and never the consent of girl were needed. In such spousal, girls conceded to the whim of the parents.  This might be the reason I found consoling. As far as, the nature or disposition of Ganak was concerned, he was somewhat jovial by nature. He ever tried to create humor in his every topic and enjoyed that by himself by grinning his teeth. He was given to project even tragic incidences with a touch of humor. His this habit sometimes was so annoying to me. Perhaps, such kind of presentation been categorized as ” dark comedy,” but later on I felt, he was somewhat sadistic in tendency. ( End of the Part- 2. Cont’d ) Penned by — Vinay Pharasi —–