They were uprooted and shooed away from the streets and pavements of Delhi because the establishment did not want them to be seen or even spotted by the foreign delegates to the G20 meet!
I’m sitting, writing this column on 9 September…It’s well past sunset and it’s raining, in and around New Delhi. Heavy to very heavy downpour. Wondering rather aloud: what’s been the fate of the hundreds of our citizens who have been uprooted and shifted and shooed away from the streets and parks and pavements of the capital city. Perhaps, because the establishment wanted it this way. That is, keep them away from the scene!
Yes, for the past many days sprucing has been on …make-up has been put on, inflicted on this capital city. Cover ups! Removal of men and women and children who do not fit in the happening category! Even cart pullers and rickshaw pullers and road side sellers pulled aside. None of them to be seen or even spotted by the foreign delegates to the G20 meet!
What’s all this? Let the foreign guests and the supposed who’s who of the world see our capital city with its ground realities, with its citizens in the varying surviving modes.
Also, let’s not overlook the fact that the foreign delegates would be well too aware of the ground realities of the day. They would be aware of the poverty and malnutrition and the tough living conditions of a large percentage of our population. They would also be aware of the dismal realities faced by the minority communities and groups in the country – Dalits, Christians and the Muslims. They would be more than aware of the civil strife in Manipur, the communal poisoning-cum-violence being made to spread out in the various states, and the tight-grim conditions prevailing in the Kashmir Valley.
‘Khyaal’ for the seniors!
With the World Senior Citizens’ Day 2023 just passing by (August 21) and as the World Alzheimer’s Day ( 21 September) nears, I’m focusing on the platform – Khyaal – for the senior citizens of the country.
Last month at the Bengaluru Poetry Festival, I’d met the Mumbai-based Hemanshu Jain, who started this forum to try reach out to the senior citizens of the country. He and his team members come from diverse fields and professions; two of his team members were formerly crew members with a well-known airlines but quit so as to reach out to the senior citizens!
What struck was their enthusiasm; earnestness cum sincerity rather writ large. And it’s not that they were focusing only on the ailments and setbacks related to the elderly but they were so very freely discussing the varying aspects to life and everyday living.
‘My work kept me going all these years’
I ‘m reminded of what Khushwant Singh had told me when I’d asked him what’s kept him going …He’d passed away at 99 and all too intact! This when he suffered several upheavals, went through some very tough phases in life — both, on the personal and also on the professional fronts yet he continued undeterred and strong…Reasons to his longevity? According to me, one of the reasons for his longevity was the fact that there was no contradiction between his head and the heart. He was straightforward and honest and had the grit to talk aloud the stark realities. Also, he never bypassed talking about his insecurities and challenges he’d faced. And also the regrets in his life.
On how he managed to live all intact all those long years he’d said in that characteristic blunt way, “ Don’t know why and how I have lived so long! This could be because of the fact that I’m alone, by myself, sitting in silence …after all, silence is meditation. I’m fortunate I can spend a lot of time alone, by myself …it is very beneficial, as the mind gets an enormous amount of rest and a day’s silence gives more energy. Blank your mind for a while and this I suppose is the sole purpose of meditation …enjoy solitude!”
He’d also detailed, “No, never, have I sat depressed …even when I was sacked as editor of the Illustrated Weekly I didn’t go into depression but took up writing a novel and writing helped me to go ahead …Even when my wife passed away (after almost 62 years of marriage) I sat alone all night, going over the past. But when people kept dropping in, it got tough to cope and I went off to Goa. I wanted to be left alone. Today, my friends and contemporaries have all gone. I feel like a solitary traveler left on the road, when others have fallen by the roadside. I have gone through several setbacks, and each time it’s work and more work that has kept me going. I’m emotionally strong. Even as a child I have been known to speak my mind. And have rarely ever lied. And I rarely get angry. And I’m not short tempered nor vengeful so that also helps. Even when a friend has been rude I just move away. One thing I can’t stand is rudeness and making sure that I don’t ever meet that person again.”
But life couldn’t have been all too smooth? I had asked him
“No life hasn’t been smooth. I have had my quota of setbacks and financial insecurities in those earlier days but what actually helped me to go ahead is writing. Yes, only and only my writing helped me .Writing has been a constant factor. In fact, even to this day I ‘m engrossed in writing and would do so till the very end. No, there’s nothing called retirement for me. In fact, in my third year as editor of the Hindustan Times, when my contract was due for renewal, KK Birla asked me about my retirement plans, whether I’d like to retire. I told him rather categorically that I’d only retire at the Nigambodh Ghat!”
He’d also added, “I do follow what the Quran and Hadith stresses on – don’t waste time, so every single moment is to be used, to be well utilized and one cannot just sit and brood. Earlier, whenever tense I used to go and visit the cremation grounds. It does have a cleansing effect but now I go nowhere. Once in a while to the dentist’s otherwise for weeks or months I’m here, in my apartment.”
He would also say, “No matter how big the setback or irritant, don’t get hassled or worked up. Instead, try saying this one-liner to yourself whenever something has gone wrong: ‘It doesn’t matter…I don’t give a damn!’ Yes, say this sentence to yourself and you will surely feel lighter and less tense.”
Khushwant would often quote this verse of Nathaniel Cotton (1721-1788):
“If solid happiness we prize;
Within our breast this jewel lies;
And they are fools who roam;
The world has nothing to bestow;
From our own selves our joys must flow;
And that dear hut, our home.”
