I got talking to a taxi driver ,a sikh gentleman who has ferried around a lot of my kiths and kins in the past and so seems to have a vague sketch of the family line ,that's what I got to know this time.Two days of ferrying to Gurgaon was done in silence ,I had exams to attend to and so must have looked forbidding.On my final journey to the station he suddenly got chatty.He seems to have gathered I am a doctor so he invited me to start a hospital and a school in his village,apparently in Haryana and Punjab border with the nearest good school or a hospital being some sixty kilometres away.He said the folks in his village could not send girls to school because it was very far away.
He had a lot to say about Punjab and his sikh religion.According to him he is a pure sikh so avoids meat and alcohol.Most of his free time is spent helping out in a langer preparing food for the poor of Delhi.He talked about the festivals they celebrate ,how they open stalls all over the gurdwara.
In the meantime some beggars came by pleading through the window.He was of the opinion that it was their way of thinking that was wrong ,even if they had enough of everything they would continue to do what they were doing.
'In our Punjab' was what he said 'even the sheds where animals are kept are squeeky clean and our cows enjoy fans and coolers during hot season so knowing that they are loved they produce a lot of milk.Even labourers who come to help during harvest season know that they will get enough and more to eat in Punjab.No landowner will keep an account of what his labourers are eating.They pick up whole sacks of wheat flour and give it to the workers'. I believed him .
Then he asked me if I had been to a gurdwara ,when I said 'yes, in Dehradun' he immediately quipped 'Paonta Sahib'.He asked me if I went to a temple,when I said ,'I am a christian ' he said ,'oh!'.
Then he gave me another monologue on how in the recent past a young Father(priest)from Dehradun had hired his taxi for a whole day with another guest and at the end of the day had taken all of them for a dinner.
During dinner the Father had offered him 'hard drinks' saying it was allright for them to drink alcohol,but he being a pure sikh had declined politely.Then in the same breath he said the Father tipped him Rs 500 and he had kept it in his purse because someone had told him that when Fathers gift anyone anything one should keep it ,it would bring blessings.He asked me if it was true?
Is this how normal people make a conversation or am I missing something in life?
Kudos to the Punjab da putra I remember everything he said.
He had a lot to say about Punjab and his sikh religion.According to him he is a pure sikh so avoids meat and alcohol.Most of his free time is spent helping out in a langer preparing food for the poor of Delhi.He talked about the festivals they celebrate ,how they open stalls all over the gurdwara.
In the meantime some beggars came by pleading through the window.He was of the opinion that it was their way of thinking that was wrong ,even if they had enough of everything they would continue to do what they were doing.
'In our Punjab' was what he said 'even the sheds where animals are kept are squeeky clean and our cows enjoy fans and coolers during hot season so knowing that they are loved they produce a lot of milk.Even labourers who come to help during harvest season know that they will get enough and more to eat in Punjab.No landowner will keep an account of what his labourers are eating.They pick up whole sacks of wheat flour and give it to the workers'. I believed him .
Then he asked me if I had been to a gurdwara ,when I said 'yes, in Dehradun' he immediately quipped 'Paonta Sahib'.He asked me if I went to a temple,when I said ,'I am a christian ' he said ,'oh!'.
Then he gave me another monologue on how in the recent past a young Father(priest)from Dehradun had hired his taxi for a whole day with another guest and at the end of the day had taken all of them for a dinner.
During dinner the Father had offered him 'hard drinks' saying it was allright for them to drink alcohol,but he being a pure sikh had declined politely.Then in the same breath he said the Father tipped him Rs 500 and he had kept it in his purse because someone had told him that when Fathers gift anyone anything one should keep it ,it would bring blessings.He asked me if it was true?
Is this how normal people make a conversation or am I missing something in life?
Kudos to the Punjab da putra I remember everything he said.
Comments