Changed but yet so same
oing home for Diwali is as much a tradition with working India as festival discounts are for its markets. So, this year was no exception for me.
Thanks to the jihadi explosions preceding Diwali, the luggage was slimmer than usual and the enthusiasm somewhat guarded. But then those were minor hitches as parents back home yearn for the family to be with them and it makes it worth everything in the world to see them laughing and talking with their children and grandchildren.
Diwali homecoming, sweet as it may be, always comes with its own set of revelations, revelation that the more things change, the more they remain the same. Here are some examples to buttress this claim:
Same old Rly blues:
Always at the receiving end of messing up my train reservations by waiting to buy a ticket till the eleventh hour, I chose to break my own little tradition by doing so as requested — getting the ticket a month in advance. Of course, modernisation came as an energy booster here, what with being able to book my tickets on my personal computer. Yes, that was the first change I felt pleasant about. But the very next thing was to encounter the same old roadblock — a waitlist of 81 even when Diwali was a month away!
Thirty days after booking my tickets, I was in the same old mode — biting off my nails on the day of my journey wondering if I would ever be able to get on to the overflowing train. Quota handlers would not promise, and instead advised me to keep my fingers crossed. Another matter that in the end I was on the train and with a confirmed berth, thanks to a colleague’s ceaseless efforts.
But, as I said, Indian Railways will always be Indian Railways — packed to the brim trains, god-knows-who-bought-all-the-tickets-in-advance and, last but never least the dirtier than dirty train toilets.
The Swarn Shatabdi, once a premium train, has lost most of its sheen and that includes its inside decor. Besides, always being an hour late in arriving at its destination, it also suffers from the most unhygienic toilets ever in the history of Indian railways. Most of them either don’t close or don’t flush or don’t work at all. The stink is unbearable and the mere thought of food being spread out on trays next to these overflowing hell-loos is nauseating. Will someone, please, do something about this. Old type toilets are welcome if that is the only way they can handle cleanliness.
Mall-ed
Another break of tradition, at least in middle rung towns like Lucknow, is the arrival of the cosmopolitan malling culture. Tradition has it that the day after Diwali all markets remain closed. The trader community on an overdrive till Diwali, takes collective leave to not just take a break but also take stock of their post-Diwali New Year. And such has been the strictness of this tradition that you would not find even the smallest of roadside kiosks open on this day which is called padewa. The trading community goes to watch movies with family, go visiting or simply spend the entire day and part of the night gambling.
Of course, malls are too cosmopolitan to be tied to any kind of tradition. So this year, one saw Lakhnavi families crawling all over the Gomtinagar malls and the cineplexes had queues almost overwhelming the top floors of these modern market places. Besides a bigger than usual hole in the pocket, courtesy the newness of this mall culture, these capitalistic pockets ensure that no one is meeting anyone anymore and much like the mega cities, the alienation of neighbourhood calling is all but dead. It feels bad in a town where you grew up breaking bread with your neighbours.
Thanks to the jihadi explosions preceding Diwali, the luggage was slimmer than usual and the enthusiasm somewhat guarded. But then those were minor hitches as parents back home yearn for the family to be with them and it makes it worth everything in the world to see them laughing and talking with their children and grandchildren.
Diwali homecoming, sweet as it may be, always comes with its own set of revelations, revelation that the more things change, the more they remain the same. Here are some examples to buttress this claim:
Same old Rly blues:
Always at the receiving end of messing up my train reservations by waiting to buy a ticket till the eleventh hour, I chose to break my own little tradition by doing so as requested — getting the ticket a month in advance. Of course, modernisation came as an energy booster here, what with being able to book my tickets on my personal computer. Yes, that was the first change I felt pleasant about. But the very next thing was to encounter the same old roadblock — a waitlist of 81 even when Diwali was a month away!
Thirty days after booking my tickets, I was in the same old mode — biting off my nails on the day of my journey wondering if I would ever be able to get on to the overflowing train. Quota handlers would not promise, and instead advised me to keep my fingers crossed. Another matter that in the end I was on the train and with a confirmed berth, thanks to a colleague’s ceaseless efforts.
But, as I said, Indian Railways will always be Indian Railways — packed to the brim trains, god-knows-who-bought-all-the-tickets-in-advance and, last but never least the dirtier than dirty train toilets.
The Swarn Shatabdi, once a premium train, has lost most of its sheen and that includes its inside decor. Besides, always being an hour late in arriving at its destination, it also suffers from the most unhygienic toilets ever in the history of Indian railways. Most of them either don’t close or don’t flush or don’t work at all. The stink is unbearable and the mere thought of food being spread out on trays next to these overflowing hell-loos is nauseating. Will someone, please, do something about this. Old type toilets are welcome if that is the only way they can handle cleanliness.
Mall-ed
Another break of tradition, at least in middle rung towns like Lucknow, is the arrival of the cosmopolitan malling culture. Tradition has it that the day after Diwali all markets remain closed. The trader community on an overdrive till Diwali, takes collective leave to not just take a break but also take stock of their post-Diwali New Year. And such has been the strictness of this tradition that you would not find even the smallest of roadside kiosks open on this day which is called padewa. The trading community goes to watch movies with family, go visiting or simply spend the entire day and part of the night gambling.
Of course, malls are too cosmopolitan to be tied to any kind of tradition. So this year, one saw Lakhnavi families crawling all over the Gomtinagar malls and the cineplexes had queues almost overwhelming the top floors of these modern market places. Besides a bigger than usual hole in the pocket, courtesy the newness of this mall culture, these capitalistic pockets ensure that no one is meeting anyone anymore and much like the mega cities, the alienation of neighbourhood calling is all but dead. It feels bad in a town where you grew up breaking bread with your neighbours.
Published November 2, 2008; http://www.dailypioneer.com/131626/Changed-but-yet-so-same.html
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