Bin Kagaz ki kashti-wala Bachpan
Chiranjilalji, an eighty two years young man, was born in a small village called Baanpur at Zila Bulandshahar to parents - Dharampalji and Beeraji. He had three siblings, two elder sister and a younger brother. Having lost his father at the tender age of seven, responsibility of the entire family fell on his little shoulders. They faced a lot of hardship due to the untimely death of his father. One sister was already married before his father's untimely demise. Through sheer hard work and saving every available coin he arranged his second sister's marriage. He then went to his brother-in-law's house at village Barouli, Zila Bulandshahar to learn some skillset. He fondly remembers those one and half years as his golden days, "Waha par rehtey thein. Bachpana tha, aur humari behen ki nanad thi, aur ladki thi, ladkey thein. Khub kheltey thein, koodtey thein. Fir uske baad mein apne gaon mein aa gaya."
Byapaar, Biwi aur Bacche
He started working again upon his return to Baanpur. Eventually he got married and had kids. Unfortunately, he lost two of his kids due to illness. In his words, "Humare ladke ko bimaari bahut buri thi, toh wahi kamaye aur wahi lagaye" His brother-in-law who was shifting to Delhi suggested he should also come with him and he agreed.
Roti, Kapda .......... (Part 1):
Chiranjilal is a barber by profession. He came to C R Park around 1970 to find work. At that time, there were only three-four houses at C R Park and rest of the plots were covered in jungle. Lots of people gave up their plot thinking this is not a suitable place for living. He feels they must be repenting now since the colony has come up really well. After three-four months he also decided to move to Gokhala market (near Tees Hazaari court), Purani Dilli. But fate brought him back to C R Park.
He has spent last 50 years working in C R Park. Even though he never owned a shop in C R Park, he is much sought after among the residents of C R Park. This is mainly due to his ability to extend his services to many old and infirm at their doorstep. One such client was the grandfather of Dr. Ghosh of J block.
His first client at Chittaranjan Park is Dr. Ananda Mukherjee's children who were then staying at B Block. He remembers giving them a haircut while they were sitting on their granny's lap. His charges at that time was just Rs. 1/- for a haircut and 50/- paise for a shave. This was for the people living in C R Park. Charges were as low as 15-20 paise for people of low income group. He remembers fondly how peaceful C R Park used to be during those days.
His association with the purohits of C R Park, especially C R Park Kali Mandir, gave him a much needed edge in his line of business. He worked with these purohits for rituals such as mundan, janeyu, vivah and ghaat-kaamaan. He remembers the initial monthly pay of the temple purohit as not more than Rs. 40-50/-. His ability to befriend the purohits of the colony not only gave him many such work in and around Delhi but also fame in terms of being featured alongwith Purohit Muktipada in a news article.
According to him, people were much simpler during early days. In his own words, "Pehle bahut sharafat thi. Baygair chai-paani ke, nashta karaye aane nahi dete thein. Main sabko bahu maa bolta tha, babu bolta tha, bahut izaat karte the..waise bahut. Mereko bangali colony pasand aayi"
Another incident he remembers where a resident of J block took him on a holiday trip, "Ek sahab thein...Bose..Bose..J block mein..Chandan Bose naam tha. Woh toh mereko Bumbai (Mumbai) dikhane le gaye. Bumbai se fir Nasik, fir Rameswaram aur Pondicherry." Besides being a barber, he also worked in tea shop, restaurants as labour. He also managed livestock such as goats, buffaloes, etc.
........Aur Makaan (Part 2):
He has spent last 50 years working in C R Park. Even though he never owned a shop in C R Park, he is much sought after among the residents of C R Park. This is mainly due to his ability to extend his services to many old and infirm at their doorstep. One such client was the grandfather of Dr. Ghosh of J block.
His first client at Chittaranjan Park is Dr. Ananda Mukherjee's children who were then staying at B Block. He remembers giving them a haircut while they were sitting on their granny's lap. His charges at that time was just Rs. 1/- for a haircut and 50/- paise for a shave. This was for the people living in C R Park. Charges were as low as 15-20 paise for people of low income group. He remembers fondly how peaceful C R Park used to be during those days.
His association with the purohits of C R Park, especially C R Park Kali Mandir, gave him a much needed edge in his line of business. He worked with these purohits for rituals such as mundan, janeyu, vivah and ghaat-kaamaan. He remembers the initial monthly pay of the temple purohit as not more than Rs. 40-50/-. His ability to befriend the purohits of the colony not only gave him many such work in and around Delhi but also fame in terms of being featured alongwith Purohit Muktipada in a news article.
According to him, people were much simpler during early days. In his own words, "Pehle bahut sharafat thi. Baygair chai-paani ke, nashta karaye aane nahi dete thein. Main sabko bahu maa bolta tha, babu bolta tha, bahut izaat karte the..waise bahut. Mereko bangali colony pasand aayi"
Another incident he remembers where a resident of J block took him on a holiday trip, "Ek sahab thein...Bose..Bose..J block mein..Chandan Bose naam tha. Woh toh mereko Bumbai (Mumbai) dikhane le gaye. Bumbai se fir Nasik, fir Rameswaram aur Pondicherry." Besides being a barber, he also worked in tea shop, restaurants as labour. He also managed livestock such as goats, buffaloes, etc.
........Aur Makaan (Part 2):
Initially, he used to live in four-storey DDA flats, Govindpuri before buying a jhuggi for himself behind Krishna Market, Kalkaji. During Emergency, the jhuggis were demolished and he was alloted a residential plot at Madangir. He stayed there for eight years before shifting to another jhuggi at Transit camp, Govindpuri. Meanwhile, he constructed another house at Dakshinpuri. His house at the transit camp was illegally occupied and the fight eventually reached Delhi courts. The case continued for 27 years. He lost his wife in the interim and was forced to sell all his properties. Later he built a 150 sq. yard house at Tughlakabad village. His sons are staying there. But he prefers to stay in his transit camp house alongwith his grand-daughter after winning the case. He has four sons, four grandsons, eight granddaughters and few great-grandchildren. He still spends time with his sons and eats there most of the time. Otherwise, they send his food to his house. He has lost all his siblings.
Bhasha ka Talmel
Bhasha ka Talmel
He faced few hurdles due to spoken language being different than his. One very interesting story of his, "Ek dafa toh pandit ji ne mantar padwaye. Toh woh na kaha ke guru guru bolo. Guru, guru. Maine kuch aur bola. Bahut hasey thein. Guru mane gaaye ko boltey thein"
Dukaan ka adhoora sapna
On being asked as to why he never opened a shop in C R Park, "Socha tha..jab tak yeh jo market hai A block mein....4 number?
Biswajit:haan 3 number..3 number..
Chiranjilal: Haan 3 number..waha main socha tha. Waha pe kone pe hotel tha. Ek aur tha. Toh maine kaha ki sahab meri bhi jhuggi dalwa do. Toh fir waha ye tha ki yaha sirf Bangali rahengey....Bangali rahengey"
Ab ka C R Park
82 year old Chiranjilal visits C R Park Kali Mandir regularly. At day end, he walks all the way to Tughlakabad village to meet his sons' family. His business has suffered due to the onslaught of pandemic. In his own words, "Ab toh ye kaam khatam kar diya hain. Corona ki wajah se bulate hi nahi. Vaham itna ghus raha hain ki keh bhi kuch nahi saktey. Kaam toh bilkul hi thapp ho gaya hain.. ab toh bai ko gate ko bhi nahi chune dete. Ek sahab hain. Woh kehtey thein ki jab humko zarurat padegi tab hum bula lengey. Nahi toh nirupam nagar ki kothi thi. Unse daal roti badiya chal rahi thi. Chalo jo prabhu ki icha"
We, too, wish that things improve and we prosper again not only economically but physically as well as spiritually.
Amen
Acknowlegement:
Interview by Biswajit Bhattacharya
Photographs by Shawn Martin & Shahana Chakraborty
Transcription by Shweta Sharma
Blogpost by Shukla Banik
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