Fida’s Rustic Legacy

Today’s Children Have Mobile Phones, TVs, Even Playgrounds Are No Longer Available… But The Childhood Of Our Times Was Different. The Mud Of The Eksari Village, The Bells Of The Oxen And The Laughter Of The Children… This Was Our World. In Those Days, Life Was In Every Ride, Every Game, Every Mischief. Early In The Morning, A Cart Full Of Beans Would Be Brought Out In The Streets Of The Eksari Village- Take Potatoes, Tomatoes… Ladyfinger And Parwal. The Children Would Run After Them. Hey, Give Me A Piece Of Parwal. The Cart Owner Would Laugh And Say- Run Away, You Rascals, If You Eat Everything For Free, Will I Sell It? And The Children Would Laugh Out Loud. The Buzz Of The Tonga A Tonga Standing At The Crossroads Of Eksari Village, The Sound Of The Horse's Tuk Tuk Tuk. The Children Would Climb Up Stealthily- Come On, Come On, Sit Quickly, We Will Run Away Before The Driver Comes. If The Tonga Would Move A Little, Everyone Would Shout- Ohh… We Are Flying. And As Soon As Someone Eld...

The Smell Of The Eksari Village Soil, The Tinkling Of The Horses Bells And The Laughter Of The Children… This Was Eksari Village’s Morning. A Life Full Of Games, Mischief, And Adventure, In Which A New Story Was Written Every Day. Childhood In The Eksari Village Was Amazing. We Would Leave The House As Soon As It Was Morning- No Mobile, No TV, Just The Smell Of Mud And A Group Of Friends. Sometimes Gilli Danda, Sometimes Marbles, Sometimes Hide And Seek… The Games Would Go On In Such A Way That We Would Even Ignore Our Mother’s  Calls. There Would Be Fights While Playing. If Someone Won More Marbles, He Would Become The Enemy Number One. Sometimes The Fights Would Get So Intense That We Would Hide In Our Mother’s Lap, Crying. But These Fights Were So Cute- The Very Next Moment We Would Again Start Playing Together. The Most Fun Moments Were When We Roamed Around In The Eksari Fields. Wheat Ears, Corn Cobs, Guava Trees- Everything Attracted Us. Secretly Plucking Corn Cobs And Roasti...

The Real Life Of A Eksari Village Resides Not Only In Its Farms And Barns, But Also On The Doorsteps Of The Shops. As Soon As The Morning Dawns, Someone Comes To Buy Milk, Someone To Smoke A Bidi Or A Cigarette, And Someone To Chat Over A Cup Of Tea. In This Row Of Shops, There Was Laughter, Mischief, News And Stories. Let Us Go On A Tour Of  Those Ten Shops Of The Eksari Village, Without Which The Eksari Village Was  Incomplete. Aftab Chacha's Grocery Shop Everything From Salt To Mustard Oil Was Available Here. Brother, Keep The Loan List Small, Otherwise The Copy Will Become Thick. Mukihiya Ji's Grocery Shop Here Less Goods And More Storytelling Is Sold. Nakta Telia's Grocery Shop- Eksari Village Mini Mall-  everything Is Available Except Cash. Unnus's Barber Shop  Old Mirror, Kirloskar Fan And Radio Tune. Should I Cut Your Hair Or Do You Worry Too? Sohail Chacha's Flour Mill And Grocery Shop Line Of People Getting Their Wheat Ground. These Ten Shops Were Not Just...

A Village Shop Is Not Just A Place To Buy Goods, It Is A Hub Of Gossip, Laughter And Memories Of The Entire Village. From A Cup Of Tea In The Morning To A Bidi Or Cigarette In The Evening, There Is Always Someone Sitting Here. Children Come For Toffees And Biscuits, And The Elderly Come Just To Gossip. As Soon As We Walk Through The Streets Of The Eksari Village And See That Old Shop,  It Feels As If The Whole Eksari Village Has Come And Stopped There. This Shop Is Not Ordinary Place- Here The Smell Of Soil, The Laughter Of People, The Mischief Of  Children And The Stories Of The Elders All Come Together To Create A Fair Of Life. As Soon As Walked Through The Streets Of The Eksari Village And Saw A Row Of Shops, It Felt As If The Whole Eksari Village Was Sitting There. Someone Is Sipping Tea, Someone Is Lightning A Bidi, A Child Is Asking For A Toffee By Pressing  A Coin, And Some Old Man Is Nodding His Head After Listening To Binaca Geetmala On The Radio. The Shops Of Th...

 When A VCR Came To Abu Saleh's House For The First Time In The Village Eksari,  It Felt As If The City's Cinema Had Come Directly To Our Courtyard. Children Would Pay Rs 10- Everyone Would Come To Watch Movies In The Light Of Petromax And In The Mud. At That Time, Abu Saleh's House Itself Became The Real Cinema Hall Of The Eksari Village. The Days In The Eksari Village Used To Take On A Different Colour. When Abu Saleh Got A VCR At Home, It Felt As If The Whole World Had Changed. At That Time, There Was No TV In Every Home, And A VCR Seemed Like A Dream. As Soon As It Was Evening, The News Would Be Spread- A Movie Is Being Shown At Abu Saleh's House Today. People Would Line Up And Pay Rs. 5, Rs. 10 And Sit And Watch The Movie. There Would Be Chairs And Sofas- Some Would Pull Cots And Others Would Sit Wherever They Found A Place. There Was A Different Sparkle On Everyone’s Face. As Soon As The Film Started, Everyone From  Children To Elders In The Eksari Village Would C...

The Year Was 1986… The Whole Village Eksari Would Be Immersed In Darkness As Soon As The Evening Fell. The Flame Of The Lamp Would Keep Moving In The Courtyard, And The Children Would Keep Circling Around That Light Like Moths. But There Came An Evening When The Pillars Stood Still, The Wires Hung Down, And The Bulb Showed Its Peeling Face For The First Time. The Villager’s Standing Under The Bulb Were Saying In Surprise- Hey, There Is No Need To Put Oil In It. Children Would Touch The Bulb With Their Hands And Watch As If A Small Sun Had Settled Inside. The Elders Would Stand In The Courtyard Like Elephants And Say With A Proud Smile- It Seems The Colours Of The City Have Spread To Eksari Village As Well. Over Time, My Son Developed A Magical Habit Of Light. Then Came The Year 1993… One Day, A Black Box Arrived, Covered With A Layer Of Glue. The Villager’s Asked, What Is This? The Answer Was, Telephone. Everyone Started Thinking, How Does The Voice Enter Through It And Come Out? The F...

The People Of Eksari Village Still Remember That Day, When The Electric Bulb Lit Up For The First Time In The Streets Of Eksari Village And The Telephone Bell Rang… And People Wondered- Who Made This Dream Come True? Because That Day, The Air Was Filled With The Smoke, The Sun Had Hidden Behind The Mountains, And Eksari Village Was Ready To Spend Another Night In Darkness. Children Were Roaming Around The Lantern, Elders Were Listening To Stories Sitting Near The Fire Of The Stove… Everything Was Feeling The Same As Before. But This Evening There Was A Strange Warmth In The Air- As If A Storm Was About To Come. And After A Few Days, The Same Storm Covered The Streets Of The Village Eksari With Light, And The Voices For The First Time Made Their Journey Through The Paths Of Stars. After Hearing This, Such A Commotion Started In The Village Eksari That It Was Going To Change The Fate Of The Entire Village Eksari. There Were Two Faces Behind This And Their Intentions Were Faster Than Ligh...

There Is A Saying- The Name Of The Soil In Which You Are Born Is Not On The Tongue, But In The Heart. And When That Land Of The Village Eksari Speaks, It Does Not Seem Like A Field But A Living Story. These Are The Same Names That Not Only Tell The Direction Of The Field, But Also Identify  The Footpaths That Run Through The Veins Of The Village Eksari. When Someone Asks, How Is Your Village? We Don’t Open The Maps… We Just Count The Names Of The Fields- Like A Bairiya. Because Here, The Name Of The Fields Is Not Just An Identification Of The Land- It Is A Relationship Between Blood And Soil. Come, Let Us Walk On The Map Of Those Fields, Which Are Made Of Childhood Runs, Talks Of Elders And Stories Flowing In The Flow Of The Plough. Dobhar- A Field Of Memories Soaked In Water.  Dobhar Is Known Not Just For Its Water, But For The Stories That Are Soaked In Its Soil. During The Rainy Season, When The Water Stagnates Here, The Children Of The Village Eksari Come To Bathe And Fish...