Aankh maarkar ladki patao

Today, when a taxi driver smiled at me through the review mirror, trying to give suggestive looks, instead of getting scared, such confrontations from before came knocking on my memory palace. Unfortunately, I was in a hurry and had almost reached my destination and so I could not take any pleasure from the situation.

 

Hold on a second; do not get any wrong idea from the word pleasure.

 

Back when I was a college student in Ajmer, my friends and I had made a program for a movie. The group of us fifteen girls booked a tampo. We were all babbling on when one friend smiled and made a sign to look outside. Behind our tampo, a 13-14 year old boy was speeding up his bicycle. His smile was not an innocent one, and suddenly he started doing stunts; we clapped and seeing that he winked. By god, our inner villain woke up. We gave him a nice smile and the hero took out a small comb from his pocket and fixed his hair all the while riding his bicycle.

 

The tampo driver understood that he now has to do what we will tell him to do. And then started the filmy scene; we would slow down the tampo's speed, and then would fasten it and so on, with the changing tone of the tampo the speed of his bicycle would change too and so would the songs that he had started to sing.

Then the tampo that had been running on its full speed suddenly hit the brake, causing the bicycle and its rider to crash on it and we dragged him inside.

The tampo started again with full speed, the bicycle now far behind and the noise of the traffic was all around us. Yet, with us fifteen girls on the seats and the boy sitting on the floor, there was a pin drop silence; until what had actually happened registered on the boy's expressions and a scream filled the silence. There was panic on his face and smile on ours. He understood that he is now caught; even understood that we all were his "Didi". We requested him to sing any song, he did not; we even asked him to wink and he did not.  

When we reached the cinema hall, and let him, leave. We watched as he walked at first and then after a minute or two, he ran as fast as he could as if was being followed by wildlings. Maybe we should have been but we were not sad that he had most likely lost his bicycle, but were sad because we knew India has now lost a future roadside majnu.

 

Anyways, after sometime I came back to Jaisalmer and continued my studies from the college here. While sharing stories with friends here, I shared this story of Ajmer too.

One day a friend said that we should eat the lunch at her house. When returning to college the two of us took a taxi. While we were sitting there on the backseat, deep in our conversation, we realized that the taxi driver was staring at us through the review mirror. His age must have had been near to 45 or 50. His smile was not a nice one. A female knows who is looking at her with what intentions.

My friend looked at me and smiled, and the Ranjeet in me awakened again. Now call it bravery or stupidity, we told him to take a different road, one that was more secluded. Once we reached a point where there was nobody but us three, I told the driver to stop the taxi.

 

I got out from one side and my friend got out from the other and stood next to the driver. I told him to get out. My biggest problem is I never call any passerby "Bhae-sahab" or "Uncle Ji". Why should I? They are not to me; those who truly are related to them can call them so.

Therefore, "Utariyai awara aashik ji", driver's expression was as though I had asked for his kidney. I dragged him out by his collar, and my friend sat on his seat. I asked, "Why were you winking and smiling so much?” Then started the nonstop train of apologies, oh and we were informed that we were like his daughters.

 

We took the same taxi to the college and he promised that he will not even take the fare, but by then we had something else in our mind. When we reached the first entrance of our college, my friend ran inside to call out others and the driver understood our intentions.

He started the taxi and turned it towards the next exit with full speed; I was still in the taxi. Thus, the chaos began. He speeded up taxi without letting me out; I tried to drag him to the backseat. He kept apologizing but did not stop. My college friends grabbed their bikes and followed us whilst I kept pulling his hair and hit him as hard as I could. Then came in a full on filmy scene, a friend brought his bike in front of the taxi and the driver hit the break so hard that I fell down the seat and he out of the taxi.

 

He was brought back to the college, and we did not let him leave until the end of the day. To be honest neither the professors nor we students showed any mercy for his age. From cleaning the grounds to the toilets, we made him do it all. I do not know what happened to his taxi though, as we had left it behind when we brought him to the college.

 

Laila, Shiri, Juliet or Heer; we hear about their love stories but never once did we hear that their lovers Majnu, Farhad, Romeo or Ranjha winked or whistled to attract them. Kisi film mai bhi nahi dikhaya ki heroin aisai pat-ti hai aur na hi kisi story mai padha, to saala yai chalan kisnai chalaya?

 

There must have had been some real scenario that inspired so many to do this? Kisi kai paas aisi koe prem kahani ho to please mujhai bhejna taki aagai sai mai maar-pitae kai bina maamlai suljah saku, pyar sai.. ;)