CHAPTER VII
LADY AT KHAN MARKET
For evening walk, I almost every day visit Khan Market, the most expensive market/ shopping mall of Delhi. It is only a KM away from India Gate, 500 metres away from UPSC building and Lodhi Garden, 2 KM from official residence of Prime Minister of India, 4 KM from Rashtrapati Bhawan and 1 KM from 10 Jan Path, official residence of former Prime Minister of India. Intentionally, I have mentioned the distance of Khan Market from different famous landmarks randomly without following any systematic manner. According to some surveys, it is the most expensive market in the world in terms of getting an accommodation on rent per square foot or to purchase one at a lumpsum amount.
How many people are coming to this market for shopping? It is a very intriguing question considering the fact that there are many famous eateries which are doing extremely good business. At any time after 6 PM till 11 PM, you may be in the Q for at least half an hour to get a seat at Khanchacha-a famous non-vegetarian restaurant. Deliberately I am avoiding any other name of any restaurant to avoid any controversy of omission and commission. If we consider taking dinner is also a part of shopping, then at least 50 percent of the visitors to this market are real shoppers. If we exclude them, then actual shoppers would be less than 10 percent. As I always try to follow the majority, I am coming in the 90 percent group who never shops at this market. However, I am not doing any window-shopping as well. Then, why I am going to this expensive shopping centre almost every day? I can share some of the reasons, for obvious reasons, some I cannot do (sharing).
Eighty percent of the visitors of this market are from upper middle class or from the elite class. Every day, you are likely to see at least one or two top politicians of India, one or two celebrities of different genre and a host of beautiful men and women of different ages, different regions, different cultures and different countries.
The items available in the market are only for upper and upper middle class except, perhaps, medicines. Earlier, it was the only market where mangoes were available in all the seasons. Fruits originated from different countries are available in this market, albeit at an astronomical price.
I like this market mainly for two reasons, one for the most beautiful gentry and their discussions on different topics, which I have to overhear without any valid intentions. For example, yesterday I overheard a mother was admonishing her child, ‘Beta, that (particular item) was available in Singapore. It is India, you can’t find it here.’ I do not know what child was demanding, but from her mother I was convinced, Singapore is a better place for shopping than India (I am yet to visit Singapore!!!!).
I like all the Indian girls talking in English finishing every sentence with a ‘naa’. In Hindi ‘naa’ means ‘isn’t it’ if it is at the end of a sentence. I like their dress codes, which may be either short/ too short or long /too long. And what about the beautiful low neck-lines!! Some of them may use to have taken long time before the mirror to look like careless or simple. Some of them are funky and some are serious. Sometimes, I want to say the serious youngsters ‘Do not carry the burden of the whole world on your shoulders, my dear child.’ But I do not say that, because they may not like to have any unwanted advice from a conventionally dressed middle aged (old) person.
Most of the boys are also in good/ expensive dresses. They are basically dutiful porters of their beautiful and smart partners after shopping. Many of them are also dignified drivers of their partners (like me). I seldom see two men, unless father and son or brothers, together, barring some exceptions in a group, though I see two or group of girls together. Being a gender expert (you have every right to ask my credibility or credentials on this), I have noticed, rightly or wrongly, this difference between the two genders from the very first day.
Sometimes, I see some elderly couple with their adult children, apparently happy in each others’ company. Sometimes, very old persons are seen with their adult grand children, cracking jokes. I always like those scenes, though with a heavy heart as my children have lost their grandparents (from my side) before they become adults. Even my youngest daughter was born after death of my father.
I see another group of persons who are overweight, lest to say. Many couples are obese, but I observe some couples with my intriguing eyes, when one partner is obese and another one is having a zero figure. Whenever I see those couples, visualizing their married life, many imaginary pictures pass through my mind. Yoops, I do not want to discuss those here!!!
Sometimes, I notice, young children from very rich background, fought with their young parents to get some expensive gadgets exactly in a similar manner when poor children use to fight with their parents to have cheap toys at a country side ‘mela’ (fete). Children are children, irrespective of their backgrounds!
Sometimes, I meet some persons whose parents are successful in their respective fields and being their children, these groups try to en-cash their parents’ popularity. Occasionally, I get a chance to talk some of them, in most of the cases I find them well short of expectations compared to their illustrated parents.
Every day, I find new set of persons, baring few common faces. I learn something new from their overheard conversations and make myself updated with latest trend in fashion industry. I also see some cultural paradigm shift among the high class society people-like young boys are abandoning the habit of smoking in public places: whereas some girls are acquiring that bad habit. This never hurts me, but rather amuses me.
What hurts me sometimes, being the most expensive market, visited by lot of foreigners, the market cannot be termed as clean as that of cities of South Korea, China, Australia, Europe, USA or even Bhutan. Probably, we have to think over it again and again how to deal with the cleanliness issue!
What other thing that hurts me (of course, I cannot blame the opulence of Kan Market for that), the very thinking of our more than six lakh villages in India, many of which are still short of minimum civic facilities for the common people. Is Khan Market a proverbial heaven for those under privileged people of our country? How long our country may need to make our fellow brothers and sisters eligible to have a taste of mango in the winter (by not taking a ‘maaza’ or a ‘fruiti’)??????????
All the percentages given above are my eye estimates only and therefore all the percentages are subject to corrections through scientific statistical surveys. Till then, enjoy your cup of coffee/ tea with your love ones at Khan Market.
The above description is general in nature about Khan Market. However, a very dignified lady of sixty plus age caught my attention for a few days in the month June, 2015. She must be from a very well to do family-I thought on the very first look. When I saw the lady for the second time at the same place, I observed that her eyes were telling that she was not happy. I saw the lady at the same place for next one week hardly changing her place of standing. Normally, in Khan Market nobody talks to strangers unless you are a vendor or sales person. On the tenth day, curiosity had overpowered my internal resistance for not talking to a stranger at Khan Market. But before, I talked to her a strange thing happened. A young boy was in a hurry and he was about to bump the old lady. But instead of bumping her he passed through the lady. On seeing that I became a totally confused person and I tried to find out, whether the boy was a spirit or the lady was a spirit or both of them were spirits. However, I did have to wait for long time as the young boy was grabbed by his mother from falling confirming he was not a spirit, unless her mother was also not a spirit!!!!
I approached the old lady and asked, ‘Madam, do you want some assistance?’
With a very surprised look she said, ‘Yes, I need assistance. Hope I meet the right person.’
I gestured to follow me to outside the market. She followed me and told me, ‘I had visited this market from my childhood and like to stay here now also. I died few days ago alone. I want to talk to someone and convey some of my displeasures to my children.’Then she narrated how she died:
She was gasping for oxygen. She was fr
agile and too weak to sit even without support of pillows arranged by a reluctant young nurse. The nurse was praying for her life, not because she loves her, but she wants her service to continue for few more days as she has been being paid salary at least three times more than the prevailing market rate. The old lady lost her husband a few years back, since then she has been all alone in this large house. She has three children who are ‘who is who’ in the high society. They all are millionaires and they have enough money to hire best of the doctors/ nurse to look after their old mother. But, unfortunately, they are so busy with their own works that, they do not have time to sit with their mother for a minute even. These are the children for whom this old lady used to sit whole night for even when they were down with a simple flu. She used to cancel all his official/ business meeting when they faced even very small problem in their studies/ business/ workplace. Today she is lying on a large bed, not capable of moving one corner to the other corner of the bed, counting her days. Like enjoying a tragic film, she was recapitulating her life, her love for his children, love between her and her husband and then her loneliness for the last few years after death of her husband despite of the fact that, she had still enough money to fend herself like a queen.
Finally her time of death had come and a fairy appeared before her and tells, ‘O, nice old lady. Time has come for you to leave this world. I am taking you to the place of eternal peace, some calls it, heaven. Before leaving this world, you may ask for a boon to help someone you love or a curse someone you dislike and I assure you, it will be fulfilled.’
The old lady gasping for her final breath requests the fairy, ‘If you really want to fulfil my wish then make my children more successful, healthy, happy and they live longer.’
The fairy smiled, ‘Your last wish has not surprised me, as I know you are a prisoner of love. You love your children without expecting any reciprocal love from your children. I find many like you, who believe in giving only and expecting nothing, not even mere praise nor love from the person to whom they are ready to give everything. You have given your money, health, happiness, your youth and everything for welfare of your children who abandoned you when you need them most. Even then, instead of cursing them, you ask a boon for them. Anyway, as promised, as per your wish, they will get everything what you have asked for them. But you may ask for another boon.’
The old lady with a faint smile asked the fairy, ‘they (her children) should get better place than me after their death! Only another one small help I want from you, I want to convey my displeasure to my children that I was not happy at the time of death with them for the treatment they had meted out to me.’
The fairy smiles again and told, ‘You have to wait for someone who will be able to communicate with you and willing to convey your message to your children. I do not know how long you have to wait. Only I can advise you to wait at your favourite market for him or her so that you will be in good humour in your waiting!’
After hearing her story I asked the old lady, ‘Ok, give the address of your children, I shall send emails to them tomorrow itself. ‘
She gave the email and postal address of her children and as per promise I sent the emails.
I did not get any reply from two children. One had written back with an abusive language that he would inform police if I send another email with full of rubbish.
After two days, the lady was in a very good mood and told me, ‘I am leaving this world for ever. I am thankful to you and that is why I am here today. All the three children, for the first time they realized that money is not everything, human touch is more important than anything else in life.’
‘But one of your children, abused me after receiving my email.’ I told her.
I hope he will tender apology to you as he already realized his mistake.’’ After uttering those words she vanished emitting a flash of light.
After two days I got a phone call from the gentleman who sent a abusive email to me. He told me, ‘I do not know whether you have met my mother after her death or not, but I shall always repent for whole of my life, why I had not met my mother before her death!
BEAUTIFUL GHOST