Today

Loss

I was on my way to a meeting. The taxi driver got a call. he proceed to talk in a slow tome for sometime. He finished and silence prevailed. I looked up to see that he was looking at me. "Maine kisi ko bhi is baar Eid pe phone nahin kiya. Mere Walid guzar gaye ek mahine pahle to ham gam mein kisi se baat nahin karna chahte".

"I am sorry, dukh hua jaan kar", I said but the gravity of what he had said did not strike me. He proceeded to tell me about his father.

"Bahut accha aadmi tha woh, haamre Peshawar mein Baap bacchon se zyada pyar nahin dikhata par hamara walid aisa nahin tha. Jab ham chota sa tha tab hi woh yahan UAE aa gaya par jab bhi chutti pe aata tha so hamare saath bahut khelta tha. Jab ham bada hua to unko bola ki ab tum wapas aa jao hum UAE ja ke kam karega. Hamara pagar hai 1400 dihram aur ham 400 mein apna guzara chalata tha aur baki sab ghar bhejta tha. Abhi hamko kuch accha nahin lagta"

I didn't know what to say. It was time for me to get off. I weakly said, "Main apka dukh samajh sakta hun, thoda time beetne do, sab thik ho jayega".

Thank you was all he said.

Signature Pathan

"Aur bhai bolo, kya naya hai", asked the Pathan driver.

His looks were uncharateristic of most Pathans as he was clean shaven. He had cunning grey eyes and I mistook him for an Arab who could speak Hindi.

"Bas saal badal gaya hai, aur to sab same hai", I said, a bit unnerved by his gaze. Something told me to be wary of him.

"Kya bolta hai tum yaar, saal badal gaya, aadmi badal gaya, zamana badal gaya, mausam badal gaya aur tum bolta hai kuch nahin badala". he said eloquently.

"Tum kahan ka rahne wala hai", the confusion about whether he was Arab or Pathan was still not resolved in my mind.

"Hum hai Jungli Pathan", he laughed

"Jungli Pathan??', I was surprised.

"Haan hum Jungli ilake se aya hai, sab humse darta hai", he clarified.

"Accha ye to batao, ki Pathan itna acchi gadi kaise chalate hain", I tried to change the topic of conversation.

"Kyon mazak karta hai, Pathan kuch aur kar hi nahin sakta, agar padhne to milta to gadi to nahin chalata", he seemed a bit sad. "Kitna accha hota ki agar humko bhi padhna ata aur hum office mein baidhta aur koyi sundar se secretary aati kagaz le kar aur hum us par din bhar sign karta...kagaz pe, secretary pe nahin", he smiled.

I got out of the cab and chuckled for a good 15 minutes, much to the amuzement of passers by.