The Canteen Story

Everyone was standing with nothing-can-be-done look on their faces. It was not a popular tourist spot but then it was also not a place that could be allowed to be taken over by a bunch of people because their interest was only in earning money. Some places are so beautiful that they are worth fighting for. I don’t know if it would make any sense to you my grandchildren but trust me, almost around 50 people were fighting with millionaires to protect a canteen.  It was not a beautiful place like you must be imagining. It was no where closer to even a 1 star hotel. Go on a highway you will see some dhabas enough to allow the entry of 100 people. That is what the canteen was like.

Since the time i heard about the fight going on to save the canteen i would always go there to see if protest has stopped. I wanted to talk to them and know the reason for saving it. It was just a canteen after all. One fine day i saw only people standing there. These were those people who were protesting the takeover of canteen. There were no authorities and no millionaires standing to argue or bargain. I went to them to talk. When they saw me their expressions kind of got low. I am sure they must have thought that i was there to bargain and argue. They gave me some angry and unwelcomed looks. So i left and decided to talk to them later. This continued for some days. One day i went to them and made it clear that i was not from the opposite side and i only wanted to talk. They had no idea if i were lying or saying truth. A well body-built guy came to me and asked me to show my identity card. It was clear to a lot of extent that he was a student. Do not ask how i know grandchildren. This is what people call experience. At my age, which we know is 76 though i look young, we can tell about other people only by looking at them. I showed him my licence and after he was convinced everybody allowed me to enter the premises.

I knew that everybody was tensed. Even if there was no one standing against them for a few days they would everyday gather with posters with messages like “go away this is our place” and “just get some other place, and legally please!”. I had to start a conversation to know why everybody was protecting that place. I started by saying “Hey!” after which i seriously had no idea what to say. I was expecting something from their side. A fat guy from behind the crowd came to with a glass of water and said “everybody is tired as no one has slept for last 10 days”. I was not happy to hear that. So i asked if they wanted me to come later. When i asked, a person who was standing in the corner asked me to do what i came to do quickly. Even though i had told them earlier that i only wanted to know the reason for protecting the canteen i repeated it with a more caring tone. The guy who first checked my identity card came forward and said “okay, we will tell you why we want to save it”. And that was it. I waited for 5 minutes but no one said a word. But then suddenly the guy who checked my id card began to talk.

My name is Rahul and here is why i do not want this place to go down:

I did my schooling from hometown. From birth to 12^th std i was with my parents. I would see them every day. They would see me every day. We would often get into fights for not allowing me to go to late night parties. But you know what? We would also get happy to see that we are safe, we get to share smiles, cries, food and every other moment possible. I remember vividly when i fell sick. I was not able to sleep the entire night. The entire night i only vomited and that kept my parents awake. I was awake because i was sick but my parents were awake because they knew i needed them. Nobody can compete with our parents. Everybody is selfish. I asked my mother that night if she could cook something for me as i was hungry. She did. Recently i got ill again. I usually go to canteen to eat at 10am for breakfast, 2pm for lunch, 6pm for evening snack and 9pm for dinner. But one day i did not. One of the canteen boys came to my room to ask if i were okay. I told him about my condition which he then narrated to his co-workers. I got a call at 9:30pm from the canteen. It was Shyaam bhaiya. He said, “this is my number. I will be in canteen for the whole night. Call me if you need anything”. I called him at 3am and asked him if he could cook a parantha for me. He did and delivered it to my room. Our PG is right in front of the canteen. So it was not a big problem for him.

He did not say anything else and stepped back. Another boy came. My name is Arnav and this is why i do not want this place to go down:

There was a time when i thought i was in love and i was in love, alright? Okay. fine. I lost her to someone else. But that is not the point. I came here, met someone else and now i am happy. She loves me and i feel good when i am with her. Recently we were supposed to do a project together so i asked her if she could come to the canteen to do the work. She said no as it was right in front of the boys’ pg and chances were there would be many boys looking at her like animals. I asked her to spend only 15 minutes and if uncomfortable then we would leave that place immediately. She came, sat and we guys did our whole project in the canteen. It took us nearly 3 hours. After 3 hours she said that it was good. She had no idea that she would feel nice here.

This was his story and frankly speaking, after two stories i still had no clue about why they wanted to save the canteen. Then the guy who was standing in the corner came and introduced himself. His name was Kuldeep, owner of the canteen. He saw the confused expression on my face and said, “there are many reasons why we do not want this pace to go down. The basic reason is that their acquisition is illegal. Second, what these boys really wanted to say was that this place means a lot to them”.  Rahul came and started to speak again. He said, “summary is that we have a lot of memories here. Kuldeep bhaiya is ready to sign the paper. But we do not want him to and we all know that he also does not want to. It is not only about money. This place has been our home for many years. This place has seen people falling sick and taking care of them, outsiders including girls feeling safe and homely here, fights of friends on topics which later made them laugh, failure of people in securing good marks, securing a job and this place has been the only place where we would love to have food and laughs no matter what happens”.

He stopped for some seconds. I said, “yes but aren’t they offering you a land somewhere else?”

Kuldeep said, “the land that they are offering is bloody 50 kms away from here”. It was really far. Rahul came in again and before he could say another word i said, “you do not have to say another word. Your words have shown all the sentiments you have for the place. I know how it feels when you lose a place that you think is all and only yours. A place where you can come, knowing that people and food are always ready to make you feel better. It is not about money and definitely not only about legality. It is more than that. It is about losing a part of your life”.

No one said another word. We knew that emotions were clear and everything has been understood.

I stayed there for 30 more minutes. In these 30 minutes there was only silence when suddenly authorities came with a bull-dozer. It was 50 against 7 with a bull-dozer. A guy took out a speaker and started shouting, “get out now. This canteen will be demolished in 10 minutes”.

While everyone stood up and went to the gate to begin their protest and sat their realizing what i could do. The voice was familiar. I slowly went to the gate to confirm. When i saw the person, he was no one else but your father.

We looked at each other, shared some telepathy talks and then i asked him if we could talk in person. 15 minutes later he took every person back and made the final announcement that the canteen will always be there. All this happened last week. Now you know what i was up to last week.

“Grandpa, you said that you knew how it feels to lose a place. How? Did you also go through such an incident?” asked one of his grandchildren.

“And grandpa, what did you really tell father that he took his decision back?” asked another.

He just smiled and left saying, “sorry folks i gotta go. I have a date”. He winked and left.

A Cry

Having pizza is like, the best thing that ever happens to Amit. He leaves home and when his parents ask with whom he is going all he says is, “with some friends”. He lies to his parents every time he goes out alone whether to have pizza or just for a ride. The main reason for not telling his parents that he goes out alone is he does not want to hear make-some-friends lecture. It’s not that he never tried. Since the time he has learnt to walk, every day he tries to make friends he fails. He does not understand what to say when people are talking to him. While in 5^th std, someone said, “you know what, today was the worst day of my life. Teacher caught me playing cross and zero game during the class”. The only reaction that he gave was of an “okay”. He could have said that there was no need of playing during the class but he could not. Speaking with people is not something that he does or he can do.

Manish never lies at home about going out with friends. That is because his friends don’t go out to visit some places or for just casual outings. Manish is the guy who wants to go out, see people, places, taste new food and know about new culture but does not because his friends do not go out. He fears to be left alone. When he is with people he feels that there is a light that helps him to see and there is oxygen that helps him to breath. It’s in a way like, he has legs but he is being controlled by his friends. He allows them to do that because he believes that keeping them happy will keep him in their company for a long time.

While making presentations Amit often works alone as no one is ready to work with him. His not-talking-to-anybody attitude goes against him every time students are divided in a group. If he by any chance gets in a group, he keeps quite because he feels that nobody will listen to him. He stands out, with group but all alone lost in his thoughts of what he could have done if he were working alone. He does not make any kind of attempt to mix with people. During break time or any time when he is out, he often sees couples sitting. That does not make him jealous of not having a girlfriend but make him think about being with a better girl. Though being aware of his failed attempt to talk to girls tell him that it will never be possible to get a girl, but couples for some reason take him to a parallel world where he imagines himself with a more beautiful girl.

Manish never faces the problem of not getting into a group. When divided he is the first one to get in a group. But this does not make him feel like a gold medalist. During the discussion of the topic his voice goes unheard. No one cares what he is speaking. He speaks continuously trying hard to get heard but he does not. If his point gets into notice then someone by using any way criticizes him, says his point in a better way and takes away all the credit. He never speaks a word knowing that whatever is happening is not right. He just does not want to lose his membership of the group. He continues to compromise only for the sake of being in a group. While eating anywhere his friends make him pay more by saying that total amount would equally be distributed. Even after calculating correctly he ends up paying 3 times his amount. So if he eats for 50 INR, he in a way ends up paying 150 INR.

There is always a time when one season changes, every year your class changes (provided you pass) and people change. Some change for good and some change for bad. There comes a time when Amit and Manish decide to change. Amit after gathering lots of guts decides to join a group and Manish decides to make a friend who would understand him. The group in which Amit tries to fit is the group of which Manish is a part of and the guy to whom Manish sees and think of talking to is Amit. Their desire to take a stand socially in life introduces them to each other. When Amit goes to the group, no one but Manish shows interest in talking. Group without caring for the introduction continues to talk among each other. This gives Amit and Manish some time to know each other.

During the talk they do not realize that they have already found a real friendship in each other. Amit gets a friend in front of whom he does not get nervous and Manish gets a friend who listens to him with all the respect that he deserves as a person. Now after five years of passing from the college they share their experiences with each other every time they meet. While listening to their experiences Amit’s wife and Manish’s girlfriend lose control and laugh a lot. They have now started to take their past as a joke after learning from it.

In each other’s company, they have learnt a lot socially. Now Amit does not get nervous when he meets new people and Manish has understood that self respect is not something that you should compromise with but it is something that every human deserves.