Copyright@kamleshsujata1
By Kamlesh Tripathi
40 years back
By Kamlesh Tripathi
40 years back
It was a gorgeous Friday morning when we came out of the
university campus—bunking classes; and were in a great hurry to the board the
beast that you see above—the absurd ‘tempo’ nicknamed ‘Suwar’ (pig) as it could
poke its nose, anywhere and everywhere on a busy road. We were already late for
the noon show, and mind you an adult one, with all those ... aha ... aha
scenes.
With me was, tall, lanky and mangy Sandy Lal— about whom, I
was not sure whether he practiced Hinduism or Christianity, for he at times, visited
the Church on Sundays, and with equal casualness he even swallowed the prasad of Lord Hanuman--those tasty, and
as many, besan-ka-laddoos at the Hanuman
temple, especially on Tuesdays, when I used to break my fast with half a kg of those.
So, God, alone knew what he was, but yes there was little doubt, about his
being God fearing.
And, accompanying us was Amrish Tiwari, son of Vice Principal,
Tiwari, of Christ Church College, which wasn’t far from the Lucknow University
campus. Amrish, a Christian with a Hindu surname, was perennially bewitched by
the Bard of Avon.
The fizz around us
conveyed, the initial scenes were quite explosive. And, so, we three were
waiting quite eagerly for the next tempo, by the roadside. And, just then we
saw one approaching. But I guess the guy had space only for two, he slowed down,
and for a fraction of a second even halted, but seeing the three of us together,
he decided to move on, and rightly so.
But we were late
for the show, and so, restless. And, as the tempo moved Amrish shot from the
hip, some nicely laced, Hindi ones, and seconded it by kicking the side panel
of the ‘Suwar,’ is when I saw him hurt himself.
And, Sandy who was behind
me, felt he should do something more aggressive than Amrish, to establish his
one-upmanship. So, he ran behind the tempo and using his long skinny legs tried
to kick it, when his foot got stuck, in the rear fender, and he was dragged for
a while after falling flat on his back. The uproar made the tempo driver to
stop it.
By now Amrish had
sprained his foot and Sandy couldn’t get up when he was stretchered to a close
by clinic where we came to know he had fractured his ankle.
And with all this, the
aha ... aha scenes, had gone for a
toss. A Chinese lunch, post the movie, too, was out of question, as the money
was utilised –in bandage and plaster, and what was left was just enough for a
quarter kg of besan-ka-laddoos, from a close by Hanuman temple which we all shared.
I realised, bunking
college always doesn’t take you where you want to be. And, if you try and hurt
someone, it will have an equal and opposite reaction, just as Newton’s third
law of motion, but God forbid, if you compete in hurting someone, there could be
a double reaction like Sandy.
As told by a dear friend Rana
****
