Strings

Akhilesh Deshpande worked as a peon in the Hazaampur branch of the reputed Gokul Bank. He also happened to stay in that same locality, one of day labourers and vegetable merchants. Employees of Gokul Bank called this the purgatory and when any employee got transferred to this branch, his family immediately went into the most despondent mourning. Not for Akhilesh. This was his 'Karma Bhoomi' and he loved the Hazaampur branch of the famous Gokul Bank.

Akhilesh had a small family. His father had retired as head clerk of the nearby municipal school. Akhilesh being poor at studies could not take advantage of the opportunities that the salary of a head clerk could buy him. His doting mother too did not help. As a result, Akhilesh grew to be a lethargic, 'good for nothing' young man. That is, till his parents got him married to Kokila, whose father worked at the local branch of Gokul Bank. After the death of his parents, Akhilesh inherited his father's 20 year old house and after the death of his father in law, the job of peon, by special recommendation from the municipal commisioner whose wife was a student of Kokila's mother, a famous sitar player of Hazaampur. He and Kokila had a daughter and his mother in law moved in with them after the death of her husband. She served to help in the household and to look after her granddaughter whom she loved dearly. She also played on some functions but few people appreciated classical music these days.

Some people live all their lives in one place. Akhilesh was no exception. At 45, he had spent almost his entire life at Hazaampur. Every morning he went to work. There, he stayed till about 4 o'clock. On Saturdays, he returned early. Normally, Kokila and he went for shopping on Saturdays. Hazaampur was always bustling with activity because it housed a huge market that people from all over the city came to. Sometimes, when the local Savitri theatre played a mainstream Hindi movie, having got it cheap over the usual amorous 'A' certified movies that it usually screened, Akhilesh took Kokila there. But he was not much of a movie goer. The tea-boy who came with a kettle full of tea for the bank employees every day at 2 in the afternoon, usually got him the tickets. Apparently, his brother was in the 'black' business and so, it may be said that Akhilesh got by pretty well without having to stand in queue putting his limbs at peril trying to fish out tickets from the small opening to the ticket vendor's cubbyhole. For one thing, the Savitri theatre always went houseful.

One day a circular was issued in the office that the Hazaampur branch of the Gokul bank was to close down. All employees were to be transferred to other branches. The non-confirmed staff was offered a compensation with notice to leave. Akhilesh was permanent and hence he got his transfer letter to Pithora, a good eighty miles away. They required a peon there because the one working there had just retired. That was the only place where there was infact a vacancy for a peon. The news came as a huge blow to Akhilesh.

And it brought a gloom on the family. Of course, they expected that he would not leave his job. That was not an option. He had a daughter whose education and dowry had to be paid for. But Akhilesh knew that he could not travel so far everyday. It was not impossible considering the fact that the government had built the East-West Greater Pradesh bypass that had taken 6 years to complete and when completed only led to migrant workers from every village to take to the cities in large numbers. It meant that the buses would be packed to capacity and more. It also meant that Akhilesh would have to give up on his easy schedule at Hazaampur and start early morning and return late evening. It was just inconceivable.

After dinner he brought it up with Kokila. They fought which was unusual for Akhilesh because he was terrified by confrontations. But this meant his very life style was challenged. It meant that he would have to give up on the finer things in his life that he had come to cherish. He also found it demeaning to travel like a labourer from a nearby village, all that distance, everyday...and to what end?

Next day, Kokila gave a tearful rendition to her mother of the last night's tiff. Her mother paid a small visit to her student, the Municipal comissioner's wife. Over many praises on the commisioner's wife's abilities on the Sitar, Kokila's mother slipped in her small problem, namely Akhilesh's transfer.

"You know Durga...I do not hide anything from you." Which was mostly true. "My son-in-law has made life miserable for us after the news of transfer. Last night, devi Saraswati came in my dreams and said that she could not tolerate such an evil place as our house on account of the innumerable squabbles. I fell at her feet and she asked me to come to her greatest devotee, you. I came running to you."

Durga knew where this was going. Rarely does a woman fail to see another's motive. And rarely does one shy away from praise, so profusely emanating from another of her sex. She nodded with immense show of concern.

"It's just that Rajeshji (Durga's huband) is such a powerful man. And his favours on this poor lady has been so numerous that I feel almost ashamed to ask you to speak to him about it. And just when I was asked by the Zila Mandal to play at this year's Ganesha festival too... in front of the Mayor himself. I'll never live to see that honour and nor will my students for I am to choose one of my best students for a jugal bandi. How does an artist derive inspiration with such chaos at home?"

Durga knew yet again. Only this time it was her turn to open her mouth.

"Guru mata, devi Saraswati will never forgive me if I did not do all I can so that my teacher can perform in front of Ganesha. It will be a terrible loss to the entire music community of Hazaampur."

"And you know my dear that you are my only choice to perform on stage with me."

"Oh thank you Guru mata."

Poor Rajesh the commisioner. When he came home that night, Durga had prepared the most tragic tale to relate. She brought it up just after dinner. Rajesh immediately said it was not possible to do anything because he could not change Akhilesh's transfer. He was the municipal commisioner not the mayor.

Durga was relentless. She imagined herself playing alongside her guru. Such an honourable occasion also meant new Sarees and jewellery. So she rephrased her plea.

"Surely a man in your position can employ Akhilesh in your own office. He can still be a peon. A peon is a peon. And don't you care for my happiness at all. All I have is my music." There were tears-on-demand now. "I have never asked you for anything. Not even to adopt a child after we discovered your problem. Is this too much to ask."

They of course fought that night. No man deserves to be hit below the belt. That rule is sacrosanct...even in savage cultures, I am told.

A few days later, Akhilesh woke up feeling dejected as ever. There was just a week to his transfer. When he reached his office, he got a call from the manager. He was informed that his transfer had been cancelled. He was given a cheque for two months salary as compensation. His services were no longer required by the bank. He was delighted. This was God's way of telling him that he did not deserve to leave Hazaampur. Who was he to go against the allmighty's will?

At home, Kokila howled like a wolf. Her mother tried to console her. She also made a mental note not to take Durga for the performance out of spite. After all, why should she be the only one to suffer all this? Had she spoken to her husband, Akhilesh might have had another job right now.

Akhilesh did get a job after all. At the Savitri theatre as ticket vendor. It was not a government job but it was a job and it had a lot of 'outside income'.

Durga never played with Kokila's mother on stage. Actually, Kokila's mother too never played at the Ganesha festival. She was passed over for a local playback singer who had cleared three rounds of the latest reality talent show on television. She was practically a celebrity in Hazaampur. Kokila's mother was livid and made another mental note to prepare her granddaughter to compete in the same talent show someday.

Durga and Rajesh never had a good marriage because of the whole fertility issue. He started staying away from home to escape Durga's nagging. Some of his friends held private cocktail parties where the movie reel from the Savitri theatre was illegally run for a private screening. He started frequenting these parties. This is where he met a man called Akhilesh from the theatre and thought (in an inebriated state) he had heard that name somewhere in the context of music and jewellery. Then gave up.