Haunted by the status of a beggar……Part-2

(Recap– My one cousin brother, charmed by the dazzling life of cine world of Bombay, somehow, managed to flee to Bombay . There his dreams got shattered, as it usually happens with such type of youth. Eventually he turned up into a cab driver. With the passing of time, he prospered to a petty cab-transporter…..next part.)

landing back – One day, the news got afloated that my cousin brother has wound up his entire business there in Bombay and landed back to his home town. Now he was well off, no doubt; so he set up his transport business back here in the native city. The secret of his coming back remained a ‘secret’ to all kith and kin. But miraculously or by chance I succeeded to get the secret elicited and that too, direct from the horse mouth. That was the time, I too was a grown up one and well settled in ‘consultancy business.’ This helped to generate a proximity of relations between him and I. For he needed my help to resolve his business problems, no doubt he was quite older in age to me but this type of relations often supposed to develop in natural process.

The mystery – He and I, both were fond of drinks and this played the major role in unraveling the  mystery of his sudden “landing back” at the home town. Now onward, story narration goes on , in first person direct from the horse mouth (cousin brother.)

” I was contented with the sound financial situation of my running, prosperous transport business and planning to expand that further. I had some fabulous dreams in offing to get realized. Even I had planned to buy another two bedrooms flat at some sub urban location and to take my family along with me there. But it’s a fact, the knacks and ethical norms with which you are born and brought up always journey with you. In fact, your life is shaped by the class you are born with. There, daily I used to arrive at my “taxi-stand”, on foot, since it was merely two km away from my stay of the  “chaal.” I rather preferred this, since, early in the morning it,s good to walk.

In between this  daily amble, I used to cross a bustling square of the city. On the entering nook, there always I found a beggar. In pity, I daily would throw some coins in his bowl. In long duration, my this habit helped generate some acquaintances with that beggar. It is natural, when you encounter daily with certain person, a kind of affinity is bound to take place. By coming into contact, I came to know that the place of his “begging business” he had inherited in legacy from his “father in law.” His father in law had been there as a beggar for thirty five years, after retiring from that vocation had gone back to his native place. He too used to narrate so many sinister stories about the begging business, but never I paid an atom to them.

It was my routine, at evening about 9.00 p m to park my personal taxi car at the parking lot and tread on back to my ‘chaal’. In between this walking back to my stay place, by dint of habit I  had to make a regular halt at some specific “permit room” to have my daily hard drinks. I was an old regular customer of that “permit room’ and had developed an affinity with the owner. There was a strict rule of the “restaurant cum permit room” that owner always dealt in cash and never offered the facility of credit. As the occasion had had to occur in future to teach me a great lesson of life, once I got delayed on my returning trip. It was 10.30 p m when I knocked at the permit room.

Humiliation – To my astonishment, I found the same beggar there, in shoddy clothes he occupied a table with a glass of whiskey before him, a costly cigarette of 555 brand dangling between his lips. He was high in mood and entirely tipsy. He threw a glance at me and invited me loudly, “come on Seth ( a term in common parlance meant rich man), your today’s drinks are on my part. I will buy you all drinks.” Hesitatingly,  god knows what induced me to occupy the seat in front of him, rather, I was amazed by his presence there. He ordered for some costly whiskey which I on rare occasion used to relish when my purse was heavy. His hospitality of hard drinks satiated me and we both enjoyed a prolonged sitting.

Eventually I too got tipsy and we both in our process of leaving the bar reached at the counter of the restaurant cum permit room. On reaching there,swaying in tipsiness beggar said sententiously to the proprietor. ” register it all into my credit, seth.” Proprietor nodded affirmatively and noted down that in his some special book and beggar left the place swaying. This was the most shocking and humiliating experience to me. I felt my lower limbs got petrified. The proprietor was giving credit to a beggar but he never showed that leniency to me on some certain dire occasion when I had requested him for credit in the past. I was ebullient inside and protested to the proprietor roughly, ” Seth, you never allowed me such leniency in past whilst I am your an old customer and you knew well that I own so many cabs and run my own business as a transporter.”

The answer, proprietor delivered was enough to put me to shame. ” Seth, your business may betray you one day and put you back on the road. But his business has got an eternal grantee of collecting alms. In that condition, you might abscond sneakily without making payment but he won’t.” For months to come , whenever I used to go on bed at night, the wordings of proprietor echoed in my ears ghastly. I ever felt that in this big city, I never can attain the status of a “man of substance.” I continuously felt ashamed of my own entity. And on one day, I decided to wind up all my business, since, it was better for me to run my same business back in my own home town for that could fetch me  a status here above a beggar.” The end of the story. Penned by– Vinay Pharasi…..