There was the palmist who, in the most Furrukh Khan-esque way, kept asking us where the complexity lay in our research. For ten minutes, we were trying to explain to the man that we are conducting a study, a research, and don’t need to find some great, deep, dark secret. Though he did make one excellent point: not all people who’re around the Darbar area are there for the mazaar. Bhati Gate is the heart of Lahore. It really doesn’t get any more “Lahore Shehar” than Bhati Gate. Mobilink opening an office across the street from Daata Darbar does not mean people will buy a sim from there only if they come to visit the mazaar. Point taken, Mr. S.A.Gillani. Point well taken.
There was also the woman standing by the bag-stand. First, it is necessary to explain what exactly a bag-stand is for people unacquainted with Darbar Sahib. It is said that no one who comes to Darbar Sahib ever leaves without having been fed. The non-stop food supply, lungar, is matched only by the non-stop flow of masses of hungry humans. For every 30-40 people who visit the Darbar, you’ll find one person running after the well-fed-looking ones asking if they want to order a “daigh” for the lungar. You’ll also find one running after the not-s0-well-fed-looking people asking if they need a plastic bag to put the rice in. This, obviously, is supported by a well-spread network of daigh shops and men with plastic bags of various sizes on wooden, stake-like contraptions.
Along side one such wonder stood a woman, dupatta draped over her head, dull maroon clothes bleached by the sun, weather beaten skin marked with signs of a hard life. Xeb decided to walk up to this woman and strike up a conversation, maybe find some answers to the questions we had. Turns out that we had located a rather well-educated individual who was more than willing to chat. After inquiring as to which particular department in the university we were at (which in itself was an unusual question) she informed us that she was an M.Sc. Economics. It might not sound shocking probably due to the inadequacy of my language but at that moment I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach for no obvious reason. She had to be kidding. That was what I thought till she started asking us exactly what we were doing our research on—in the most comfortably fluent of Urlish. Most entertaining interview yet, beating even Mr. M. Firoze at Abdullah Shah Ghazi.
Xeb has a note in her writing-pad which reads:
People I have Encountered
- Beggers—Men & Women
- Beggar woman who wanted me to pay for a miracle
And finally, there was the PSF worker from Federal B-Area, Block 16, Karachi. He was President of his unit. He was there to greet Asif Ali Zardari in Lahore. He was staying at the Darbar—had been for four days. He was worried about finding people who had been arrested and getting in touch with fellow party workers. He had escaped being arrested by walking off the upper-terraces when the police came there and climbing up to them when the police went elsewhere. zeeshanvirgo, you are a man of passion—passion for your belief, for your religion, for your people, for your ideology. It was a pleasure. If we never meet again in life, I will remember you. I will remember you walking up to us and asking us if we were from PSF. I will remember you sitting down and holding effortless conversation. I will remember your naively uninformed views on global politics. I will remember you lighting your cigarette from the diya in the central courtyard. I will remember your insights into the throng of life around you at the Darbar the last four days. I will remember your recounting of your Heera Mandi trip. I will remember your pure Karachiite lehja and your clean Karachiite urdu.
All in all, a fruitful, productive day. Well done, Team. =)
2 comments:
Inturrusting =)
interesting piece. could do with more definitive answers or more with details of the research.
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