The Verdict is Out!

Sikandar ne Porus se kee thi ladaai
Woh kee this ladaai, toh main kya karoon

While travelling back to office yesterday afternoon after a spate of cancelled meetings, I decided to take the train from CST to Parel. It was around 3:00 in the afternoon, and the train was crowded with prime rush hour traffic as nearly all offices had declared a half day due to the expected verdict. The crowded train was the best place to observe the expressions and reactions of various people and try to analyse their feelings.

The train was packed with travellers of all religious denominations, castes and creeds; and the expressions on the faces of each person reminded me of the above song.

There was nary a person who seemed remotely interested in the verdict from a religious perspective. Everyone seemed completely detached from its socio-political implications.

On the contrary, there was a sense of wariness, a worry on their faces – worry whether their daughter has reached home from college, worry whether their son is sitting at home or is roaming outside, worry about whether they have enough rations stocked up for a couple of days, worry about the goons who masquerade as social workers or political party workers in their area, worry about the disconcerting sms they had received from their neighbour in Thane or wherever.

Seeing those reactions made me realize once again that while certain interested parties might create a ruckus about this issue again, and the media might play on for their TRPs, the ordinary man on the street, irrespective of his religious or social standing, is so frightened! Frightened for his family, his security, his next square meal.

Their expressions could actually be summed up very aptly by the opening lines of another very famous song…

Saari umr hum mar mar ke jee liye
Ek pal toh ab humein jeene do, jeene do