25 Kms North of Amritsar is a place called Chowk Mehta .It houses the Damdami Taksal ,a seat of Sikh learning and education .Tucked away almost unknown to the outside world ,it sprang into prominence when one of its heads ,held the country to ransom .He was instrumental in instilling fear in the minds of many like us who by birth were as close to any Sikh in any part of the world .Then, as now, we always made our way to the nearest gurudwara in our vicinity with the same regularity as to a temple or a masjid .It was a bond (between us and the Sikhs ),that no one had ever dared to drive a wedge through .It was also crystal clear that no one would succeed if they attempted .
Sant Bhindrawale tried to do the impossible .He was headquartered at Chowk Mehta from where lists were prepared and diktats sent to carry out gruesome killings of Hindus .He had a narrow support base -but it was a ruthless and committed one .Those who did not support his ideas ,were confronted with a choice –leave or be prepared for the repercussions .Maybe death ..
Jaswant Singh chose to leave Chowk Mehta.
“I have come to teach here .Why have you come ?To sell “andaa” and chicken on a cycle .It does not make sense to me ” ?I had asked, as a young teacher at Rai .It was a logical question.
“How can one stay in a place where we are told that Hindus are our enemies . How can one stay in a place when people tell you that a separate country Khalistan is going to be created ? They keep saying “Sikh ik vakhri qaum hai. (Sikhs are a different race) .In our family we have Hindus .And in our family I have relatives in Andhra ,Maharastra and Assam .Sa…la , Ch…..ya, sanoo bewakoof samajdeh hai “ ( they think we are fools”) .He was a raw and rustic man .But he was a true secularist and a nationalist .
Rai is a residential school .And having the mess food day in and day out was uphill task –even though the food was top class .But even top class food loses its edge once it becomes repetitive , predictable and assured .By the time I had spent my first year at Rai ,I knew what was going to be served for breakfast on Monday ,lunch on Tuesday or dinner on Saturday !! We always had the option of eating at the world class dhabas at Murthal but one could not do that very often .The distance and the pocket protested sometimes .
Jaswant Singh changed all that .He gave us options .He peddled raw eggs and dressed chicken and it suited us fine .I always preferred having boiled eggs which were warm ,and cook my own chicken and share it with my other bachelor friends .He would announce his arrival by ringing the bell of his cycle three times !! I would open my door and inspect his eggs and chicken .One day I told him that the eggs were too small and so were the chicken .I was at the prime of my life and had taken to playing squash daily .I had fairly good biceps .I flexed my muscles and showed them to him.
“I need big eggs and chicken to feed my biceps” I boasted !! Get me big eggs and a good “kooker” (chicken).And I expanded my chest !!
He was quick to retort
“If you eat the eggs and the chicken I supply you ,you will be like this”, and proceeded to show me his biceps !!And I swear ,they were really big and bulging !!And as a afterthought he said
“But you wont get them ,because you are a Amul eating man .Desi ghee khaaya karoh(eat pure ghee).” he added with a smile and a hearty laugh !!
“Can you get me desi ghee”, I asked ?
“Of course I can .You just have to tell me a day or two in advance .I will get you desi ghee and looni makkhan (white butter). You need it .”!!
That’s how I started to eat farm fresh eggs,farm fresh dressed chicken ,desi ghee and looni makkhan !!Jaswant started feeding my body . From a acquaintance ,he became a friend .I would talk to him in Punjabi .I asked him once whether he travelled to Punjab often .
“Of course I do .I have some land there .I will return once the madness is over .I don’t like it much here .I feel homesick” .Punjab at the time was in the grip of terrorism .Terrorists used innocent human beings like Jaswant as couriers to pass messages to each other or hide in their homes .And if the police came to know of such incidents ,then the innocents were targeted .People like Jaswant were caught in the crossfire of the Police and the Terrorists .No one was obeying or playing the game according to rule .Punjab lurched from one gory incident into another .I got married .The Principal of the school changed .And for reasons best known to him ,he stopped the entry of Jaswant into our school campus .I don’t know what the reasons might have been .I could not understand why he ordered the cutting down of eucalyptus trees and targeting people like Jaswant .Jaswant stopped coming .
In the mayhem of terrorism ,I lost my brother in law who was a senior IAS Officer .Jaswant came to meet me .On his cycle but without his eggs ,desi ghee ,and chicken .I was grieving and trying to cope with the tragedy .I heard the bell of the cycle ring 3 times .I got up and opened the door ………
To be contd and concluded tommorow .
