Bhai-Jaan (1952-2007)

Collar ko thoda sa oopar chadha ke

Cigarette ke dhooe ka chhalla bana ke

Sochna hai kya?

Jo hona hai hoga

Chal pade hain fikar yaaro dhooe mein uda ke

Jaane kya hoga Rama re?

Jaane kya hoga Rama re?

Cigarette & cut tea used to be in everybody’s hands. Students of my college used to eat samosas and kachories fried in cheap mustard oil. That’s what Bhai-jaan stall was all about. Bhai-jaan was the owner of small tea shop right in front of my college. The stall was just made of thin tin sheets. A turbulent flow of air was sufficient to uproot the stall. But the foundation of stall didn’t lie in tin sheets - but in cigarette lovers of my college. Bhai-jaan stall was a bench mark. It was a place to reunite.

History says that the tin sheets of the Bhai-jaan stall were laid before the walls of my college. Three generations of Bhai-jaan served the smokers of my college. Bhai-jaan never distinguished between toppers & droppers. He gave cigarettes & tea to everybody with equal dignity. I used to smoke at Bhai-jaan stall. Whenever I didn’t have enough money, I smoked without paying for it. I used to pay him whenever I had enough bucks.

Whether you haven’t submitted the assignment or you were unable to complete the project. Whether you have a bad reputation among professors or a girl refused your proposal. Whether you were beaten by a scoundrel or you are yourself a scoundrel. Whether you failed in one subject or you are detained for whole semester. Share your happiness, share your sorrow, and forget your tension - just smoke. Bhai-jaan stall was a pill for all diseases.

But now, Bhai-jaan is gone. My friends in Indore told me that there was a Garba festival to be organized that needed parking space. Bhai-jaan tea stall was uprooted to make way for it. And with it, fifty-five year old tradition was broken. If Garba is Indian tradition then Bhai-jaan is ours. I feel very bad about it & hope that the stall reappears after the festival is over.

WARNING: Smoking is the prime cause of lung and other cancers.