It’s a tad old but thought worth sharing. ‘Madhyam marg’ has been the biggest puzzle of my life, and it has challenged me now and again. Few shockers are worth sharing here.
My first eye-opener was never Swabhimaan or Shanti, unlike my classmates but Vimal. Vimal happened to be a beautiful super tanned attractive house help we had. I used to compliment her for her looks, and she would grin. She was a hell of a showstopper in the nearby slums, and even for the white-collared lot, I could see them giving side glances. Well, we had our Vimal, whom I used to tease with ‘Only Vimal’.
She came one day and while scrubbing her dishes, announced that she has moved in with Munna. I was shocked, her husband’s name was Ram Bharose, and now the poor guy was simply Ram Bharose! Controlling the middle-class clauses and semicolons of how people should behave, I asked her Vimal, how could you?
She turned back and spat ‘Well Munna has a colour TV, fridge and listens to me’. I did not have any reply to this line. It was so pure and honest, and there was a lady who demonstrated her choice unabashedly. I could see from the corner of eyes; my aunt was wiping off her sweat. I went inside to tackle my the ISC syllabus, wiping off my amusement.
More than a decade gone, I see more Vimals, not in soaps, not in slums but in our society. I don’t wipe off my amusement anymore; I guess its people’s choice at the end. I am reformatting my middle-class sensibilities and perhaps others should too.
