Bachcha the cousin
closeset to me died yesterday. He passed away in his
sleep in the night. Probably the best type of death you can
have. Not like some
who shit and pee in bed for months together before they
decide to leave this world.
This closes a chapter
in my life. Barring another cousin I am now the seniormost
male member in my family. During the last one month itself
my uncle and my cousin passed away. Was
it only a coincidence that both of them a few days before they died spoke to me
on phone, and not for any special puropose, but just like that? Did they know
that they were leaving this world soon? Was it some kind of premonition or
sixth sense or was it just coincidental? A few months back I met an old class
mate of mine Laxmi Narain Pastore in Jhansi Jhansi
माली आवत देख कर कलियाँ करें
पुकार
फूल फूल को चुन लिया
काल हमारी बारि
‘Seeing the gardener the buds cry that today he will take
away the ones that have bloomed, and tomorrow it will be their turn.’
Or Firaq when he said:
सब मरहले हयात के तय कर के मैं फ़िराक
बैठा हुआ हूँ मौत में ताखीर देख कर मैं
‘I have covered all milestones in the world, and now I am
sitting with my feet dangling in the grave as the death is delayed.’
Not that I am afraid, but yes , I certainly want that I
should have as peaceful a death as Bachcha.
Several memories haunt me. The one I remember most vividly
is the long walk we used to have in the morning when he used to visit Ghazipr,
my native place. It was from our place to Bheeta (our old farmhouse developed
lovingly by my great-grandfather, and which was later sold by one of my uncles)
and then on to Badrinath ka Pokhra. This last lap we used to cover running. I think this walk was about 4 km, half of it
on dirt road. That reminds me of those who used to return from Dadri ka
Mela, in the nearby district of Ballia. If you saw a person totally covered
in dust from head to foot with clothes having the same hue and state you immediately recognized that
he was Dadri returned. Mela is interesting relic of olden days which has
continued to this day at several places.
The most famous in North
India is Sonepur ka Mela . To accommodate the rush of passengers
coming by train for the Mela, the British made the longest railway platform in
the country at Sonepur railway station. It was meter guage at that time and I
hope it is broad guage now. It was a congregation of men and animals, with
several shops which traveling salesmen used to take from place to place. Sonepur
is easily the biggest cattle fair in the country where you can buy anything
from elephants and horses to bullocks, cows and water buffaloes. Almost all the
Melas were at the harvest time, and they were basically cattle fair. The famous
Gwalior
