Found Sharda, ‘isi khushi mein’- Polly Part II

Sharda and family

Sharda has two kids now, one boy and a girl. She smiles gracefully in photos now, with her husband and kids in fb pictures. Earlier she would giggle uncontrollably. We must meet soon.

So, anyway, we were in Class VI at the railway police station, explaining our end of the story when ‘Nazaaqat’ made that comment about ‘this hullaballoo just another way of making income’, when the officers got really angry and fined us. We requested them to reduce the fine, but they would not listen as they had to teach us a lesson. I do not know if ‘Nazaaqat’ learned. So, we reached Hind Motors late and also returned home late. But in between we had tons of lovely Bengali food and laughter. Polly and her family were unbelievably good hosts.

Sharda, Polly and Shadma in the middle, as they've discovered what my didi Barkha had done in Antakshari

Naughty Sharda was pretty hard working, unless she could avoid it… She generally brought aloo phulka in tiffin after cooking the same herself! She looked after her younger siblings and diligently helped out at home.

But in school, we got the best of her witty comments and giggles and also physical fights in good spirit. You ask her and she will tell you all about the comments made by one ‘bhaen’ (van- cart rickshaw) guy to our ‘bhaen’ (van- cart rickshaw) guy in Ballygunge, a village where Shadma had taken us for a picnic.

We were going from Shadma’s property in the village to the really large and ancient well near a dargaah. The mode of travel was a cart fitted with cycle, commonly pronounced as ‘bhaen’. Apparently, Polly and I were bringing the ‘bhaen’ down at the back and the driver could not cycle at optimum speed, according to Sharda who interpreted as well as related the passing van-driver’s comment, “peechhe mein weight jaada ho gaya hai”… We do not know what had really passed. But there were Nauras, Shadma, Sharda, Polly and Nazaaqat at least, if not Sushma also on the van…

Sharda and I, clicked by her niece Jil

Sharda suggested we make Polly jealous so she visits soon

I finally reached Mulund East yesterday to meet with Sharda at her home (It takes 2 hrs 30 mins from Malad West, where I live!). She came downstairs to greet me! Sweet, soft-spoken and ever so graceful, she fed me with delicious home-cooked food after apologizing umpteen number of times that she had not made anything special as I had made her cook special Gujarati delicacies twice already without turning up. I didn’t even bother to put her at ease, hungrily lapping up tasty alu-bhaji, daal, gazab roti, Tikiya on chutney toast, more chutney, ‘chhaas’, ‘mithai’ and unbelievable ‘Srikhand’. Some of it was prepared by her girls, (She wishes her son would learn cooking too) her own daughter and her ‘devrani’/sister-in-law’s daughter. Sharda introduced me to the latter and their ‘bua-saas’/aunt-in-law also.

Sharda's niece and nephew Jil & Deep.

Sharda still looks after her younger sisters who are married in Mumbai, what with her mother and younger brother gone in an accident. She sent me off with a beautiful necklace and some home-ground white dhokla-powder. An ideal human being, beautifully living in the joint-family set-up in separate floors of a building, where the children celebrate togetherness, busy to the T, I am so looking forward to our next meeting.