1.1 Rocks and waves- “He knew it when he saw her”
Before going through this it is suggested that you go through the first part of the story Rocks and Waves (Part 1)
“Wake up, Neharika”, mom called from the kitchen.
This was the 4th time she was calling and Niharika knew that she has to get up this time otherwise mom would barge anytime into her room. Groggily, she gets out of the bed and walks towards the window. Somewhere in the distant a koel is heard singing in her melodious voice. Her class teacher, Mrs. John had told her that a koel sings very early in the morning but is now an endangered bird due to the mushrooming of the mobile network towers. She had said something about waves and signals that Neha could not grasp but at that moment she makes a silent vow to herself to never own a mobile phone. Silent vows like these, taken by a child hold immense power. If everyone keeps at least a few of them the world could be a better place. She enters the washroom and places the toothpaste on the toothbrush in exact quantity as the size of a “pea”, as she had seen her mom do the other day.
“Come on, hurry up! you need to be given a bath too”, mom is at the door and that is a sound of alarm. It also signifies that the clock has hit 6:30 and she has just an hour before the Morning Prayer starts.
“Alright mom”, she screams with the foam still in her mouth.
After 15 minutes she is ready in her school dress with her shirt tucked in and bag on her shoulders.
“Which one is your first class today”, mom asks as she pulls the comb with both of her hands to brush her hair sideways and clips them.
“It’s the writing class mom by Miss Molly. She is going to teach us the cursive writing today”, said Neharika.
“Hope she learns it well, the curved t’s and I’s just don’t run well in the family”, Mrs. Viz tells herself.
“Okay girl you are ready to go to school”, grab your water bottle and come downstairs for your breakfast. It was always milk toast for breakfast. Neharika climbs down the staircase skipping a step as she reached the drawing room of her house located in one of the most fertile countryside of India.
The family resided in a small accommodation provided by the company Mr. Viz worked for. Their colony was nestled in rural backyards . It was a self-sufficient space with its own parks, temple, school and numerous open spaces. Away from the jostling crowd of the metros this was a perfect place for children like Neharika to thrive and learn about life. There were around 600 families and each were give their own quarters. Every house had a similar façade which lent certain uniformity to the appearance and which certainly to the way of life.
Neharika’s school was 5 blocks down the road, “All the best princess,” said her father in his gravelly voice. She smiled at him and ran after her mother who was already at the gate. It was a 10 mins. Walk to school which Neharika usually took with her mother. 7:15 am is an unsually busy hour in the colony, with parents accompanying their kids to school and milkman with his daily visits, the world around seemed to be in a hurry. Neharika rushed after her mother with hurried footsteps. They pass the colony’s Laxmi Narayan temple and she raises her hands to the level of her chest holding the palms of both hands together in the shape of a lotus, in order to do offer “Namaste” to Lord Narayan.
Her mother raises her eyebrows and looks at her daughter disapprovingly “What did I tell you Neharika?”
She rolls her eyes and raises her elbows to bring them in a straight line forming the perfect age old “Namaste”, just like her mother has always told to do.
They walked for about half a mile until they passed the Sports Club where Neharika’s father used to come during weekends for his game of Table Tennis. She looks at the Basketball court where every evening she would longingly stand with a hope to grow as tall as the other players to be able to play the game on the court.
They walk along the road and take a right on the next turn where they could see the school’s gate clearly. The school gate is a hub of commotion with all the parents stopping by to drop their children. Majority of them being mothers who have come in groups after completing their early morning chores, it was the time of 90s when women were expected to chalk out all their daily activities around the schedule of their husband and children. Somehow it does not matter to them as this was a way and their smiles told the rest.
Mrs. Viz kisses Neharika and bids her goodbye at the gate. She could see all the mother’s going till the classroom with their kids but Mrs. Viz wanted Neharika to be independent and if it has to start from here, so be it. Neharika’s spots her friend Gautami and waves her, Gautami runs towards her and whispers something in her ear, they both giggle and run towards there classroom.
Gautami was Neharika’s best friend, these childhood friendships have an air of innocence about them, devoid of any motives or agenda childhood friends take solace in each other’s well-being. Keeping their bags on their respective seats Gautami and Neharika are greeted by Komal there neighbour. The three friends go for the assembly prayer.
The atmosphere is serene with kids singing “Vaishnav Jan to” with enthusiasm at the top of their voices. Suddenly, Mrs. John pats Neharika’s back. Neharika opens her eyes and looks at her class teacher. Her teacher was signaling her to go forward to the stage. Neharika trudged towards the stage, with the principal’s eyes glued to her she could sense an air of positivity in her smile. Her graceful eyes signified that it was not a punishment but something more that had prompted them to call her to the stage. As she climbed up the stairs, the principal said “ Stand on the chair and keep your hands folded in prayer just as you were”. Neharika joined her hands in the lotus position and raised her elbows in a straight line. She was still feeling a bit shy to be standing at a 4 feet high stool, she could see all her friends from here. She spotted Gautami who had her eyes half open. She rejoiced in this sudden stardom. Neharika closed her eyes, remembered her mother and started to sing “Vaishnav Jan to” in a low voice.
Unaware of this a small boy of medium height and wheatish complexion was standing at the back of the prayer hall, trying to catch a glimpse of the kid who was standing on the chair on the front. He craned his neck and stood on his toes with all his might until he spotted the fair girl standing in the front. The boy thought of doing it himself and who knows joining his hands in a similar fashion would earn him a place “beside the girl”. He could never do that and the prayer ended. However, the boy remembered the face of the girl and that day, it lived in his memory forever, until………
ज़िद्दी यादें
We all go thorough the troughs and the crests of this journey called life. Everyone lives with memories but only a few truly live those memories. Isn’t it interesting how we create a hill of memories on the vast swathe of time?
This is a dedication to those timeless recollections.
A lovely but not so fair move by Hindustan Unilever
Unilever is the latest company to join the bandwagon of brands showing sudden guilt and support to equality. While, it is true that this is a step towards a right direction this begets a question if it is the right step and most importantly why now?
Brands, in my view reflect the societies’ happenings and practices. “Lets scrub out that tan”, “ white unblemished skin” and the more nuanced “ black beauty”. Ever heard “white beauty”, anyone?. Many such white aggrandizing phrases have been a part of our regular parlance and have set a certain standard to the perception of beauty.
In the context of business, the Indian fairness cream market was reportedly worth nearly Rs 3,000 crore in 2019, according to the India Fairness Cream & Bleach Market Overview (2018-2023). Market revenues were expected to reach Rs 5,000 crore by 2023. Till late 90’s Fair and lovely had a lion’s share 90% (of the 558 cr. market). At least 12 new brands entered this segment by 2000s with sky high ad spends and organized market of 558 cr. Even the fakes had a field day. It was believed that the fairness market would never see a dark day until 2013 when the market shrunk and we saw a negative sales growth of 4.5% in volume ( as per Nielsen MAT Sales 2013 report).This carried on until the most recent George Floyd case which was a tipping point of the entire discourse.
Now we know that when a brand that is clocking 3000 cr annual sales. and is sold in a dozen markets decides to do a major product change it has to justify its balance sheet forecasts. No matter the intentions or emotions this move is insignificant in the larger scheme of things.
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Somewhere Near
The times of lockdown have been hard. I hope you guys are safe and keeping healthy. The following are a few lines that I wrote earlier this year. I hope you get the message and the positivity in this piece
छोटे छोटे लोग
This is a dedication from my side to the victims of a fire that raged on the ill-fated morning of 4 Jan 2019 in a nondescript town of India. The fire destroyed about 250 shanties and caused a loss of about 50 lives. May the souls of the victims rest in peace.
This poem reflects upon the crude reality that though there is massive development in countries yet the fruits of that development with just a few. We as people have moved away from the harsh realities that even their cries of distress cant reach to our ears.
The Inward Gaze 