SPIT FOR SPAT
Even
at 65, Ram Sahay Shukla was the unrivalled poet-laureate of Raigarh, his home
town. He was quite in demand for Kabi Sammelans during his youth.
That he was no longer invited to grace such occasions did seem to hurt him; but
he took this neglect in his stride. In his heyday, he was an instant ‘hit’ with
the audience chiefly for his salacious and suggestive lines about erotic love.
Age had not withered his capabilities, and he still regularly churned out his
‘poems’, though for a much smaller audience now.
If
he were not better known as a poet, he would certainly have been noticed as the
most voracious paan-eater of the town. He was never seen in public
without his mouth stuffed with paan. He could never put together a poem,
much less recite it to an audience, without chewing paan. He was
thoroughly convinced that his remarkable talent and creativity oozed out from the
tingling of his salivary glands with a mouthful of the leafy bundle liberally
laced with the strongest zarda available with the paan-wallah.
Ram
Sahay’s regular listeners maintained a discreet distance from him. Uninitiated
ones were generously sprayed with paan spit which flew in intermittent
jets all around him as he opened his big mouth and turned his head from side to
side to establish eye-contact and direct rapport with his audience. He was, of
course, oblivious of literally adding a lot of colour to the gathering; except
for once when there was a small ‘accident.’
Ram
Sahay was a regular visitor to the municipal library which was situated in the
heart of the town and on the first floor of a busy shopping complex. He had
found that those who had time for books also had time for his poems. One chilly
winter afternoon, he spotted a small audience basking on the terrace.
To
set the mood for reciting his latest creation, he stuffed a paan into
his mouth, as though by reflex action. Before beginning the recitation, he
evacuated the bitter fluid from his mouth as usual. At this, there was heard
from the street below angry enquiry about the legitimacy of birth of the
spitter, and loud proclamation of intention to establish carnal relations with
the spitter’s female relatives.
The
poet looked down, and was startled, though only for a moment. His spit had
landed squarely on a bald seth who was soaking in the sun in front of
his shop. The seth was coloured beyond recognition, and was livid with
rage. It appeared likely that the angry seth would physically assault
the poet. But Ram Sahay had long experience of handling hostile crowds. Instead
of making himself scarce, he immediately rushed down, took out a paan
from his pocket, offered it to the seth and lowered his head inviting the
seth to spit on him. The dumbfounded seth, of course, had to
forgive him, only managing to mumble a warning for the poet to look before he
spat in future.
***
Note: Late Shri Anandi Sahay Shukla (May his soul rest in peace!) had himself narrated this incident to me in 1986. In this piece written in 1990, and published in the Times of India, I had made a minor change in the name.
***
Terrific. Highly enjoyable narrative ,Narayanesque in tone and temper. Thanks for the excellent post!
ReplyDeleteHighly Motivational Sir. It reminds me of an authentic story of one of the prophets of the Almighty and an old lady who is supposed to be the prophet's biggest enemy because of his popularity and his statements (against her faith).
ReplyDeleteThe old woman made a habit of throwing rubbish on Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) whenever he passed from her house! Muhammad (PBUH) had to pass that house daily on the way to the mosque.Even when the old woman threw rubbish at him, he would pass silently without showing any anger or annoyance. This was a regular, daily event.
One day, when the Prophet was passing by, the woman was not there to throw the rubbish. He stopped and asked the neighbor about her well-being, wondering why she wasn't dropping any rubbish on him.
The neighbor informed the Prophet that the woman was sick in bed. The Prophet politely asked permission to visit the woman. When he was allowed to enter the house, the woman thought that he had come there to take his revenge because she was unable to defend herself (because of sickness).
But the Prophet assured her that he had come to her, not to take any revenge, but to see her and to look after her needs, as it was the command of Almighty that if anyone is sick, a Muslim should visit him and should help him if his help is needed.
The old woman was greatly moved by the kindness and love of the Prophet.
To know more about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) please read "The 100".
The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History is a 1978 book by Michael H. Hart.
Best deliverance of your pen and you dada. You have constantly been articulating the newest but a really enjoyable style of narration of your own. Learning while enjoying the text.
ReplyDelete