The College of Self Educaton and two young men--II
"Sudhakar, I take dinner at my house on working days, and I bring
the lunch in my tiffin box. I pay no rent. Thus, I sort of manage with my pay. But, now my pocket is empty. In fact, it is so every month by the twentieth. Believe me, my friend, I feel quite depressed. I am a capitalist on the salary day, by the fifth I am a socalist, a communist by the fifteenth and on the twentieth, your friend is a naxalite. Don't you sympathise with me?"
Venkat took out the remaining piece of idli and throwing it in to his mouth said effusively, "Sudhakar, I am very hungry. Today's idli is quite tasty. "Bearer," he shouted, "One more plate of idli please. Take
this coin and fetch a single plate of Vada Sambhar. The balance is your tips. Do bring some extra sambhar. Do you understand?"
Venkat felt relieved that the month's salary was spent and his pocket was empty! He relaxed on the chair and gazed at Sudhakar intently for a few seconds. Then he asked, "Who was that Sudhakar? Who was that old woman? Why were you holding her hand? What hapened in between?Why you left her like That? Just because our office girls laughed? What experiments were you conducting in human relationships?"
"What? Did the girls see me there? Did they laugh? My dear fellow, where were you then?"
"Where could I be?" guffawed Venkat. "I was naturally following the girls."
"You saw me and walked away," commented Sudhakar in a hush voice.
"My dear boy, I did see you from a distance.You left the hand of the old woman and raced down the slope. I whistled aloud and the four girls looked back, startled. You had gone far ahead."
"Your tease of whistling behind the girls is not so very decent," admonished Sudhakar. "What will they
think of you after all?"
"Whatever they may think does it matter?" returned the carefree Venkat. They may think that this boy whistles well. Or, they may feel jealous that they are not able to whistle like me. They are girls after all. Forget about it. Tell me, what happened to the old woman? Something did happen. Otherwise, you would not have reached there.Did the policemen beat her also?"
"Did you see the spectacle?"
"Why not? They were not conducting a secret operation. They were kicking all and sundry like donkeys. Did you notice the cloth banner over the stations? Some Charlie is coming to inaugurate a new canteen inside the station. Therefore, the blood of the poicemen is boiling. Normally, these same poicemen loll comfortably in a corner of the station. Doing nothing except munching betels and counting the number of trains."
Reverting to the
beggar woman, Sudhakar spoke slowly, with feeling. "The old woman was in real trouble. She would have slipped over the slope any time...I supported her for a while. Then she sat there leaning against the wall.."
Venkat became pensive. The smile on his face disappeared. After a few seconds, he took out the cigar packet. He was about to light one, when Sudhakar held his hands firmly and said, "There is still some time left before the office time."
"That is for you, saints. I never start the work before eleven. The attendance, of course, I mark at ten O' clock."
It was Sudhakar's turn to be silent.
"I know you are still thinking about the old woman," said Venkat, breaking the silence. "These beggars will not die even if one throws them down the bridge. Well, If the old woman slips and falls down, she will get up somehow. Take it that she dies. Beggars die on the roadside. Where else are they supposed to die?"
Venkat spoke firmly, without a trace of emotion. He always called a spade a spade. Sudkahar liked this trait of his friend.
Still occupied with the beggar woman, Sudhakar went on, "She is not simply a beggar woman, Sudhakar went on,"She is not simply a beggar. She is an old woman. I have no sympathy for the beggars who are physically strong and have taken to begging as a profession. But, this woman is different. Her both legs are paralyzed. She is unable to stand up. Didn't you see with what difficulty she was trying to move down the slope inch by inch, the pain of effort writ large on her bony face?"
Venkat, listening intently, felt a sense of uneasiness.