Roorkee Chapters: A Rikshaw ride..

25^th November,2012

4:49 am, Jawahar Bhawan IIT Roorkee

A Rikshaw ride..

It may seem quite weird when you have an exam day after and getting weird ideas to update your blog at this wee hour, but I have to…!! As I write this, I am surrounded by numerous discarded Legislation notes, a table full of books, newspapers, biscuit packets, my thermos flask. Etc etc.

Well…to beat the cold, and just to get an outing, I decided that buying a rajai would be a nice idea to beat the cold as well as to get some refreshment, so all set, I went out of the clumsy hostel room , and walked till civil lines , where I halted at a “Khokha” , to get a Classic Regular, as I lit the smoke,  I asked the pan-waalah as from where could I get a good rajaai… and he told be … “arey bhai, yahaan civil lines mein to aapko loot lenge…aap ek kaam karo.. pul(bridge) paar karke jaao, wahaan line se rajaai waale baithe hue hain, wahaan aapko 500-600 rs mein rajaai mil jaayegi…wahaan jaakar bata dena ki Mittal paan waale ne bheja hai to 100-150 rs discount mil jaayega…”

Well.. this is India, everyone has some alleged “reference” and we take pride in referring that reference to someone, hehe…

I thanked the rajaai waala for his generosity and took a rikshaw and told him to take me to the rajaai waala…

As the rikshaw made its way through the crowd of civil lines, I observed Roorkee  around me…!! It was just like any other mediocre town in India, yet it was a great rikshaw ride, Civil lines really changes colors during evening, though its crowded, it has its own charm, the student store, the peanut seller, the lassi shop at the corner, the horrible, disproportionate statues of Azaad and Maharana Prataab, at the corner, a Gulaabjaamun vendor sells hot gulaabjaamuns, perfect to relish in this cold weather, and then the mosque, the haphazard bookshops…Not to forget, “Maateshwari Chaat bhandaar” , which tempted me to have a feast…!!

Well.. the Old Town and the New Town of Roorkee are separated by a bridge, over the ganga canal, with mediocre ghats and not to forget, the Statues of Two Lions. Well, I reached old roorkee where the Rikshawaala dropped me.. and said “Bhaisab yahaan se pata kar lo”.

So I started making enquiries for the “Rajaai”, one by one at the shops, some said-arey seedhe jaao ,dikh jaayengi,

“Aage chauraahe se left ho jaana”

“Arey bhaisaab, yahaan kahaan aa gaye, civil lines mein milegi rajaai”

“aap ek kaam karo, aage se right lo, left mein kuch nahi hai”

Well.. numerous replies later, I found the chauraaha, being my first visit to Old Roorkee, I quite liked the idea of getting lost and roaming around, because the old town of roorkee is just like any other Old Town, overweight aunties and uncles roaming and having “chaat” at the chaat corners, stuffing “golgappe” into their big mouths, ladies in glittering sarees, as if they have just attended a wedding party, numerous girls bargaining over salwar suit prices, beedi-smoking rikshawaalas, I wish I had my camera at that time, just to capture the essence of it…!!

Well.. several enquiries and several “Galis”(lanes) later, I found what I was looking for, two grey bearded men, sitting in front of a grey colored shop with Grey rajaais…!! The shop was a stark contrast to other cheerful and bright lanes of Old Roorkee, he offered me a rajaai at a price of Rs.650, and knowing that my bargaining skills are not good, I decided to finally buy that rajaai..!! That paan waala reference did not work as the rajai waala simply refused to acknowledge any Mittal and Paan bhandaar….

Well.. rajaai packed, I waited for a Rikshaw to head for my hostel, finally I hauled my rajaai in that riksha and asked the rikshaw-waala

“Bhaiyya, maachis hai?? “

“haanji yeh lo”

The rikshawaala took out his lighter and lighted my cigarette, and the journey back to Jawahar Bhawan began.

I decided to pay a visit to old roorkee again, with my camera, but only after all these exams and submissions and whatever is over…!!

Well.. time to use the rajaai now…

Morever… numerous pages of UDPFI Guidelines… notes … LPG reforms are waiting to be read at my table.. but who cares… hehe … I will study tomorrow…Because:

“The Universal Rule of Syllabus says that no matter how much leaves or gaps you get to prepare for the exam, you always study on the day before... ek din pehle jo hota hai woh 10 din mein bhi nahi ho paata !! :D :D 3:)”