Many a Needy and A Few Indifferent Fools

"Sir, please hold that bucket of water and pour some over that sapling the villagers planted over there.",    ordered the reporter. "Let' s do something at least", he added. Prasad looked at his manager and gave him a baffled look that said haven't we done enough already. The photo op, one of 2 things they were doing at the village today, had been on for the last 5 minutes. He and his colleagues were already missing the comforts of their AC cabins back in the office. He looked over to his friend a few meters away and said, "Come!! We are going to be on TV, and Mr. Reporter wants us to pour some water over these plants. We don't have a choice now. Do we?". Sarcasm had been flowing through his mouth all day. And so the act went on for a little over 5 minutes. Each still and video perfectly taken, the script  written 2 days before the act.

Brijesh, the manager reprimanded the village Sarpanch for not holding on to his side of the bargain. He was supposed to have the field cleaned up and ready for the photo op. "I asked you to have this cleaned before we arrived today. I can't ask these people to do the cleaning now. What if they fall sick?", he yelled. The Sarpanch's response was a muted bow of the head. What could he say. These people were supposed to help him alleviate the poverty from the village and he didn't want to let go of the little ray of hope that he could hold on to.

Ramullu was looking on from his fields. He was a boy of 12, a scrawny little fellow, deprived of food when these sahibs had first come to this godforsaken village some 150 kilometers from Hyderabad. He was a big fan of theirs too. What with all the prizes he won in the competitions organized by them. A host of trophies and medals had been lined up on his cardboard shelf in his parent's one room house. He would proudly show them off to all his friends. But all that had changed. He was now 21, built like a mule, toiling in the hot sun day after day as a farm laborer trying to make ends meet.  The trophies had been put away, they were of no use to him now. The scrap metal from it wouldn't even fetch him 5 rupees. His faith in the sahibs was  depleted by their inaction. The village had been the same for as long as he could remember. Just a few symbols had been erected here and there. The people were still poor. The schools still had no benches. The children still wore torn and tattered clothes and there were still no toilets in the entire village.

Rage boiled over him as he saw those few privileged educated faggots getting their moment of glory over the lost cause of the village. The government promised them so much. They didn't deliver. The local  panchayat stepped in, but they were too busy building their own houses and caring for their own wallets. The sahibs came next. They showed some promise but It didn't take long for it to change to tokenism and symbolism. The water purification plant was useful but everything else that came after was just a sham. School uniforms with big and ugly company logos, a bus stop, the annual Independence  Day competitions. It  was all just a gig to show to the world the growth they were seeing was inclusive, that they were giving back to society what they were taking out from it, a hypocritical parade of the good things they were claiming to do.

It had been the same scene year after year and no good had come out of it. A convoy of cars would come to a screeching halt. Sometimes they would bring a hot shot bike. They would step into the dusty country side to a heroes welcome. It didn't matter to them if they deserved it. Back in the office they were all normal people. To be welcomed like Icons gave their dented egos a boost. They would apply the most expensive sun screens to keep from getting tanned. Complain about the lack of basic amenities, eat, organize a couple of games that were popular with the locals and leave in the same convoy of cars they had come in.

How he wished he could just stand up against them and banish them from the village, his village. But he was a no body here. An ordinary man living a less than ordinary life, with a wife to care for and children to feed.

Romancing the Laugh

He heard a faint laugh not so far away from where he was resting. The banyan tree he was resting under was old and he would have to walk over to the other side to find who or what was so amusing. He was lying down at the end of a long hard day. Exams were not so easy anymore. He'd spent the whole night studying hard and still did not manage to read through the entire syllabus. But every tired bone in his body was urging him to take that short walk around the tree to see who and not what was causing the commotion.

Her laughter was getting louder by the second. It was hard to ignore and just lay around. How he wished he could just lay there and not hear her voice. She was laughing like she had no care for the world. It was loud and yet it was pleasing, scary yet it was comforting and pure yet there was something about the laugh that was a secret, a secret that he wanted to know. He was trying to register this gamut of emotions that were now taking over his mind and body.

The only thing on his side was the gloomy winter weather. The overcast sky meant the there was only a hint of the shinning sun and plenty reason to just laze around doing nothing. Everything else was working against his will. He couldn't lay down any longer if he wanted to. This was a battle he was always going to loose. He sighed at his helplessness, got up to his feet, turned the corner and….

He was star struck, spellbound even. He was wishing why he hadn't gotten off his lazy ass a little earlier. Every limb in his body seized. He lost complete control of himself, he wanted to wave at her but his hand won't rise. He wanted to walk up to her but his legs wouldn't budge. He wanted to say Hi but nothing but ^%&%&^% would come out of his mouth. She wasn't like anyone he had ever seen before. Her flowing hair, her glowing skin, her slender arms and her voluptuous figure fizzed him out. He kept staring at her for what seemed an eternity. He saw her walking up to him, his pulse was racing, his heart was in his mouth. She was now a mere 2 feet from him. Her beautiful, big, round eyes were staring right at him, her hand was now slowly rising and was by his cheeks and then…

Whack!! He woke up to a "I thought I woke you up an hour back, but seems like one Mr. someone's holed up in their dreams romancing god only knows what!!".

The pat on the cheek had been replaced by a more violent form they like to call a slap. The "Hey.. Would you like to take me out?" was replaced by a more nonsensical and harsh crib. The gentle gaze of her beautiful brown eyes were replaced by a stern  stare that demanded answers. But it was not all this that caught his attention.

She erupted into a hysterical laughter at the dumbfounded look on his face.

The years had taken the toll on her body but every inch was just as radiant and serene as they had been all those many many years back.  Her laughter brought back all those memories from the gloomy winter morning, the hot chai by the ladies hostel in the college and the jumping fences for a late night movie. He sighed and laughed with her just as hysterically.  He knew then how and why this love of 40 years had not faded an ounce.

He spent that anniversary morning by her side sipping a steaming hot cup of filter kaapi and falling in love with the love of his life all over again.