I was amidst the din and dust of the tile relaying activity. In fact, I was sitting beneath the large, mango tree of our backyard watching the men go about their work atop the wooden lattice work in the sweltering heat, occasionally exchanging a yarn and eliciting varying reactions from raucous laughter to childlike surprise and wonder.
I must admit that I'd taken control of the captive audience at my disposal and put my story-telling ability to good use. Judging from the queries darted at me I realised they're no simpletons but a bunch of guys that were very much aware of the things happening around them. Sample just two questions tossed at me:-
(a) "Isn't the French President wasting a lot of his personal time on frivolous activities? When
does he get time to carry out his official duties?"
(b) "Why can't the political parties that come to power in our country go for developing the
villages just like the cities? By doing so, unemployment would go because people will be
busy with jobs setting up infrastructure and there wouldn't be any need for our children to
migrate into the cities".
I took an inordinately long time to answer the first and could only second their thoughts on the second......... And some among us have the audacity to call our people dumb!
Tailpiece.
It was sometime during late afternoon when a relative of mine had called up to help out a poor youngster - his dad is a wayside tea stall vendor and his mom, works as a domestic help - who's to pay a sum of Rs. 50 grand for a surgery, the completion of which would provide him with immediate employment abroad.
Luckily, I've a friend in the management faculty of a reputed hospital. All it needed was a call to explain the details of the case and she was gracious to give the youngster the requisite medical cover with the instruction that he must report to the concerned specialist on Monday. Damn sweet and thoughtful of her, because the boy has to reach Kochi all the way from a sleepy hamlet in Tamilnadu! And all for free......didn't I tell you that the world is so full of good, well meaning people?
I must admit that I'd taken control of the captive audience at my disposal and put my story-telling ability to good use. Judging from the queries darted at me I realised they're no simpletons but a bunch of guys that were very much aware of the things happening around them. Sample just two questions tossed at me:-
(a) "Isn't the French President wasting a lot of his personal time on frivolous activities? When
does he get time to carry out his official duties?"
(b) "Why can't the political parties that come to power in our country go for developing the
villages just like the cities? By doing so, unemployment would go because people will be
busy with jobs setting up infrastructure and there wouldn't be any need for our children to
migrate into the cities".
I took an inordinately long time to answer the first and could only second their thoughts on the second......... And some among us have the audacity to call our people dumb!
Tailpiece.
It was sometime during late afternoon when a relative of mine had called up to help out a poor youngster - his dad is a wayside tea stall vendor and his mom, works as a domestic help - who's to pay a sum of Rs. 50 grand for a surgery, the completion of which would provide him with immediate employment abroad.
Luckily, I've a friend in the management faculty of a reputed hospital. All it needed was a call to explain the details of the case and she was gracious to give the youngster the requisite medical cover with the instruction that he must report to the concerned specialist on Monday. Damn sweet and thoughtful of her, because the boy has to reach Kochi all the way from a sleepy hamlet in Tamilnadu! And all for free......didn't I tell you that the world is so full of good, well meaning people?
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