Bhisma Upreti

Another India

Bhisma Upreti, Kathmandu, Nepal

On October 8, 2017, poet and story writer L.B. Chhetri said, “This is not the only India, the real India is on the road, so let's go for a morning walk.”

We were staying at the prestigious Diggi Palace Hotel of Jaipur. In the very same hotel, the Foundation of SAARC writers and Literature (FOSWAL) was organizing the South Asian Sufi Festival from October 7 to 9. Along with some other writers from Nepal, we were also in Jaipur to take part in the festival. The programme was scheduled to begin at 9 am, and we had almost two hours in hand. So, I agreed to his suggestion.

In order to see yet another India, we started walking from our hotel. When we reached the road a little away from the hotel, I said, “Let's walk today.”

“No, we need to go by a vehicle, we cannot cover a long distance by walking,” said L.B.

We stopped an auto but couldn't agree on the fair. Then came a school bus. L.B. raised his hand to stop the bus. The driver stopped it for us and we climbed onto the bus.

L.B. started talking with the driver, “What's your name brother?” L.B. knew even the smallest things about India as for many years he was in the Indian Army and had even studied for all his college degrees from here. So, for me, this journey was fun and easy too.

The name of the driver was Dharambir Chaudhary. He was from Brindaban, India.

“I am from your neighbouring country.” L. B. said.

The driver, Dharambir asked, “Which country?”

“Bangladesh.” L. B. replied. I looked at him surprisingly. He smiled.

“Oh, then you have come from Kolkata, yes?” Dharambir again asked.

“Yes.” I said. He used to refer to Bangladesh as Kolkata.

“From where in Kolkata?”

“From near the Howrah bridge,” I said. He trusted us.

Dharambir told us that he used to drive a lorry before. While driving a lorry, he had the opportunity to visit the different parts of India. He said that he had even been to Nepal.

We went towards the Pink city. In reality, if one does not visit the Pink City, one is not considered to have visited Jaipur. Thus on the third day of our visit to Jaipur, we were at this place. Though it was early morning and most of the shops were closed, it was fun. Some of the sweet shops were open and that was more than enough for us.

L.B. asked Dharambir to stop the bus in front of a sweetshop located around the middle of the city. We climbed down from the bus and ordered the shopkeeper to make three cups of sweet tea. While the tea was being made, we looked around the surroundings and saw a cycle-repairing shop adjacent to the shop. A boy of around 22-24 was standing in front of the shop. He came towards us and L.B. called him and requested him to click our photographs. While clicking the photos, we made Dharambir stand between us with the sweet shop in the background.

L.B. has a unique style of writing and making conversation. Sometimes we call it the 'L.B. style'. Since the morning on that day, he was in his 'L.B. style' and I was finding his style very intriguing.

L.B. has a talkative nature thus he asked, “What's your name brother?”

The boy (owner of the cycle-repairing shop) replied, “Chulbul Pandey.”

“What?' L.B. asked again in a surprised tone.

He repeated the same name once again.

“Nice, Chulbul Pandey from there?” I pointed my hand towards the direction of Mumbai, as the lead actor of the Bollywood movie Dabang, Salman Khan had the name of Chulbul Pandey.

“Yes sir,” He understood my intention and replied.

His talks were fun. He thought we didn't believe him so he took us inside his shop. On all the walls of the shop were several framed photographs. We looked at each of the photos. In those photos he was standing with Salman Khan, the celebrity Bollywood actor. In the photos, Dharambir was wearing a police uniform just like the one the actor Salman Khan was wearing. In some of the photos, on the chest there was a name-tag where he had written Chulbul Pandey. It was fun to look at the photos and at him, turn by turn.

“Did you click all these photos with Salman?” I asked him in Hindi.

“Yes, he is my brother,” he said with pride. I looked at the registration certificate of his shop. He was also Khan. His shop was small, only meant for repairing cycles. After looking at those photos I thought how cleverly he had clicked those photos in a photo-studio, as they looked exactly like he was clicking those photos with Salman Khan. He must have spent a lot of money in order to stitch the police uniforms exactly like the ones Salman Khan wore in the movie.

Three cups of tea arrived. Along with tea, L.B. ordered kachaudis. L.B., Dharambir and me enjoyed eating kachaudis and jalebis too.

“I don't feel satisfied until I eat kachaudis after coming to India. I feel like I am in the real India only after eating like this in a shop on the footpath,” L.B. said.

I agreed to this. The elite people, poets, writers, painters and those who we encountered in Diggi Palace are high-class people and are only a small part of India. India has a population of around 1.5 billion and maximum of the population like to spend their life tasting samosa, kachaudi, tea, jalebi and chatpate on the street in these small huts. Without experiencing the taste that a major part of the population has tasted, how could one experience the real taste of India! L.B was right.

While drinking the tea, I once again looked at the cycle shop. Chulbul Pandey was sitting in a chair. It was an example of how strongly Salman Khan had affected the life of the youth. Chulbul Pandey is a representative of a strong and big group of India.

I got up to pay the bill of the sweet shop. But, Dharambir ran towards the counter and said, 'Sir, you don't need to pay this bill. You are my guest as you have come from the neighbouring country, I will pay for this.'

I tried convincing him a lot, but he didn't agree and paid the bill. A mere driver made us feel deep gratitude towards him. I thought- this is also India.

We started walking from there. L.B. said, “Why do we need to give all the information about us truthfully? So, I had told him we are from Bangladesh.”

Having turned left and walked for around 100 metres, there was a vegetable market. This market strongly represented the middle-class people. We could see the bargaining, discussions, wholesalers, retailers, and people who made tea in the street there. After watching those scenes for a while and experiencing a different India, we turned back from there.

When we reached the main street, we stopped an auto and went towards Diggi Palace. On the way, I remembered, long ago in the Jiri Bazar of Dolakha, Nepal, I met a couple of French tourists who had returned from a trek to the Great Himalayan Trail after around one and a half months. I had asked them, 'How was the experience of your trekking?' They thought for a while by straining their foreheads and said, 'We encountered another Nepal, very different from Kathmandu.' Just like what he had said about Nepal having many different Nepals, we too had seen a very different India in Jaipur.

I thought – A nation in order to be complete and full needs to have unity of those different nations and their combined effort could make it possible. The day when all the responsible bodies of the nation understand this, how beautiful would it be?

After having breakfast at the hotel, we had to go to the grand hall to participate in a poetry recitation programme to experience yet another elite and high-class India.

(BHISMA UPRETI is a Nepali poet, essayist, translator, novelist, and literary organizer. He holds master’s degree in economics and Nepali. He has long experience in central bank in Nepal. His 10 books of poetry, 12 books of essays/travels, and one Novel have been published. He has translated 5 books of poems and short stories from English into Nepali. His books and other literary pieces have been published in more than 18 foreign languages from various countries of the world. A Gold medalist of the National Poetry Festival organized by Nepal Academy, Upreti is also the recipient of prestigious awards like the SAARC Literature Award (2019 and 2023). Upreti is President of PEN Nepal, A Nepalese Center of PEN International. )