Diwali

"Abbu mujhe bhi chahiye nayi dress Diwali ke liye. Iss baar mere saare dost le rahe hain." Saleem pleaded to his Abbu, this time a bit loudly and angrily.

Rasool, Saleem's father was in a great dilemma over his demand. Eid had just passed. It was on the eve of Eid that Saleem saw two of his cousins wearing new dresses. He asked his father, why didnt he get what they had for Eid? Rasool who is a temporary labour with Raheja builders near my office, told Saleem, "beta ye jaruri nahi kee Eid par nai poshaak hee pehani jaaye. dekho tumhaare dost Ashok, Kunaal, Vivek mei se kisi ne bhi nayi poshaak nahi li hai.." This argument though didnt plead Saleem much, he was convinced. Rasool thought that Saleem will forget about new dress as time passes and wont bother him further demanding for the same.
But now so early after the Eid, had Diwali arrived.

I often used to see Rasool at the Tea and Vadapaav stall on the street outside my office. He often accompanied Sujeet, my new friend who was an engineer with the Raheja builders. Rasool was a long bearded, quite and un-troublesome person. He never used to have the vada paav or tea with us. At first I used to insist him to have something. but he never agreed. One day I said, "arre Rasool miyaan le lijiye na kuch toh, aapake paise mai de deta hun." On this he replied, Saahab paise kee koi baat nahi, mujhe ye khaana pasand nahi hai, aur waise bhi main to ghar se hi khaakar aata hun toh bhukh bhi nahi lagati." Sujeet then told me not to ask him for anything. "He wont agree, bada hee svaabhimaani insaan hai."
I came to know that because Rasool wasnt much skilled at a thing, he seldom used to get any work at the Rahejas. Though he used to come daily there, did manage to get work for not more than just 3-4 days a week. This little work too he used to get because of Sujeet's recommendation,and thus earned the least amongst Raheja's labours.

It was the 10th of a month when I saw Rasool purchasing something from the stall. I knew that 10th of a month was the payment day at Raheja's, and was very curious to see what Rasool was purchasing. I kept watching him. He took few biscuit packs and went to feed it to the nearby stray dogs. I was amazed. How could he waste about 40-50 Rs/- to feed the dogs when he never had spent even 5 to have a vada paav for himself. WTF!! was the first reaction that came to my mind. I know many of such morons who become nawab on the payment day and a fakir on the next. I went straight to him and said, "kya Rasool miyaan, badi daawaten ho rahi hain? saara paisa aaj hi udaaoge kya?" He just smiled. Threw the last biscuit, and said to me calmly, "main kya daawat dunga saahabji, apani aukaat jaanta hun, aur saara paisa toh vaise bhi aaj hi khatm honewala hai. aaj dukandar ki udhar aur makaan ka bhaada chukaaunga toh agale ek mahine tak gharwalonki bhukh mita paaunga." "Toh inn kuttonko biscuit khilaakar kyo paisa jaaya kar rahe ho?" "Main kaun hota hun inhe khilaanewala saahabji, main to bas jariya hun. Jarurat-mand ko Alla miyaan kisi na kisi ke jariye aabodaana de hi deta hai, aaj main wo jariya hun kal koi aur hoga."

Saleem now had became so impatient, that he stopped talking to anyone in the house. When Sujeet visited Rasool's home, he came to know about the situation. He offered some amount to Rasool but he didnt agree. Sujeet said, "Take it as a debt, and return whenever you can." Rasool said, "nahi saahab, udhaar bhi ek tarah kee bhikh hi hoti hai, ye haraam hai, main nahi le sakta."
Saleem then rejected to have food too. Rasool was very confused. What should be done? The only way was to tell Saleem who he is, a Muslim. And to tell him that its a Hindu festival. Ashok, Kunaal, Vivek are all Hindus. They are going to have new dresses because its their festival, not his. Actually Rasool didnt want Saleem to know these things and spoil his innocence, loose his friends, but there wasnt any other way too.

Last Sunday when I finished my Diwali shopping and was returning from the market, I saw Rasool at the roadside clothes vendor. He was bargaining with the vendor over the price of a new jeans pant. I remembered my conversation with Rasool over the biscuit issue and thanked Khuda from all my heart. Aakhirkaar iss jarurat-mand ko Alla miyaan ne kisi na kisi ke jariye toh aabodaana de hi diya tha. So Saleem was going to enjoy his innocence and friendship for much longer than the poverty of Rasool was demanding.