On her rotis and aloo sabji, Rama mused over a friendship between an 18-year old and a 70 plus old. 'How does it work,' she asked for an answer. On a June evening, the 18-year old called from somewhere: 'Uncle, aap kal ghar mein hain na?' An yes confirmed the deal. By about one the next day, the 18-year old walked in with a knapsack of fryums -- murukku, thattai, cheedai - bought by dear old Seema at Mulund; with it came chaklis and laadus made by aged hands at her Dombivili home by 75-year old Aji of the 18-year old. Cant ask a June afternoon for more. The 18-year old settled down on a cot with the i-pad firmly in his pant pocket; he does not suffer from the i-phone tic; mostly, the iphone is dead on a run down battery; if you have to contact Kartik, call up his mother Neeta, on her mobile. For Kartik Iyer, it has been a long, sultry ride from Dombivili to Borivili with a Thane halt. And then lunch with Kartik and steel plate in padmasans on the floor while Rama and the old man shifted in arm chairs; rice, sambhar, bhaji with fried potato chips. Do not know whether Kartik Iyer relished the lunch; the young bulky man, seemed to have had his fill. He is a shrewd bloke; unlocks Aji for cash when Ramu and Neeta try and largely succeed being khadoos with locked Godrej cashboxes, going by chuckling Kartik version. Aji is always in cash and can never be cashless to her Kartik. Well, when Ajoba was around, the equations were different; Aji backed elder grandson, Aditya; Ajoba favoured younger grandson Kartik. And when Ajoba, to whom the 70 year old me said hullos, walked away, Kartik needed (my guess) an Ajoba replacement, an emotional fencing; original better than copycats. That may explain Kartik and the 70-year old me, which anyway is an irrelevant guess. On that June day, Kartik and me talked books, films, this and that ...he is into Jane Eyre over the last two months; more than half-way, admits Kartik; films excite Kartik; his eyes beam; serious films not Sairat but Fandry; incidentally, dislikes Sairat, 'bukwas'; downloads foreign films and knows most directors like Goddard, Spielberg, Sai Paranjape and is writing a graduate paper on film appreciation. On his pen drive, he brought a few films for downloading, making me evenings a certain pleasure. He does not say it but would like to do a film course at Pune Film Institute or if possible, a session at New York or Paris. Has all the details; funds as usual nil. Time to go; he bagged a Satyajit Ray book: Our Films, Their Films and today, could be skipping college to read the book on films to one day make a film. Kartik first film: 'Me ani Ajoba.'
Monday, June 6, 2016
An 18-year old
On her rotis and aloo sabji, Rama mused over a friendship between an 18-year old and a 70 plus old. 'How does it work,' she asked for an answer. On a June evening, the 18-year old called from somewhere: 'Uncle, aap kal ghar mein hain na?' An yes confirmed the deal. By about one the next day, the 18-year old walked in with a knapsack of fryums -- murukku, thattai, cheedai - bought by dear old Seema at Mulund; with it came chaklis and laadus made by aged hands at her Dombivili home by 75-year old Aji of the 18-year old. Cant ask a June afternoon for more. The 18-year old settled down on a cot with the i-pad firmly in his pant pocket; he does not suffer from the i-phone tic; mostly, the iphone is dead on a run down battery; if you have to contact Kartik, call up his mother Neeta, on her mobile. For Kartik Iyer, it has been a long, sultry ride from Dombivili to Borivili with a Thane halt. And then lunch with Kartik and steel plate in padmasans on the floor while Rama and the old man shifted in arm chairs; rice, sambhar, bhaji with fried potato chips. Do not know whether Kartik Iyer relished the lunch; the young bulky man, seemed to have had his fill. He is a shrewd bloke; unlocks Aji for cash when Ramu and Neeta try and largely succeed being khadoos with locked Godrej cashboxes, going by chuckling Kartik version. Aji is always in cash and can never be cashless to her Kartik. Well, when Ajoba was around, the equations were different; Aji backed elder grandson, Aditya; Ajoba favoured younger grandson Kartik. And when Ajoba, to whom the 70 year old me said hullos, walked away, Kartik needed (my guess) an Ajoba replacement, an emotional fencing; original better than copycats. That may explain Kartik and the 70-year old me, which anyway is an irrelevant guess. On that June day, Kartik and me talked books, films, this and that ...he is into Jane Eyre over the last two months; more than half-way, admits Kartik; films excite Kartik; his eyes beam; serious films not Sairat but Fandry; incidentally, dislikes Sairat, 'bukwas'; downloads foreign films and knows most directors like Goddard, Spielberg, Sai Paranjape and is writing a graduate paper on film appreciation. On his pen drive, he brought a few films for downloading, making me evenings a certain pleasure. He does not say it but would like to do a film course at Pune Film Institute or if possible, a session at New York or Paris. Has all the details; funds as usual nil. Time to go; he bagged a Satyajit Ray book: Our Films, Their Films and today, could be skipping college to read the book on films to one day make a film. Kartik first film: 'Me ani Ajoba.'
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