Friday 2 February 2007

Running after the West

More than a year ago, I had written this piece and as I was rummaging through my old documents, I found it today. It's still interesting!

I was panicking, whether I'll be able to grab a copy of the much awaited, Dan Brown's, "The Da Vinci Code", or not. The book had already sold in millions when I enquired its availability at the valley's leading bookstores. I was curious to get hold of the book and finish it in one go. I had placed the order with one of the leading book stores, "Pilgrims", and was waiting for them to make a call at my residence as they are in the possession of the book. And the moment came; I got a call from one sweet voiced lady asking me to visit the bookstore the same day. A hint of admonition pervaded in her message conveying, compelling me to visit the shop at the earliest.

So, I was in a hurry, after my office hour. It was raining and I didn't even have a raincoat or an umbrella to save me from the abrupt downpourings. I was drenched and had no convenience of my own to reach the shop at Thamel. Also the taxis were zooming past me and I wasn't able to stop even a single one. Finally, I got to the shop and my eyes started wandering on the shelves as I stepped in – on the lookout for the book. And hurried by the desire, I asked the shopkeeper for it and told him about my booking. He was happy to see an eager customer, and brought a copy from the shelves. And it was the last copy! They had outsold the whole lot in a single day! I was amazed to know that there are so many avid readers. At last, I got hold of my long-awaited proud possession.

While making the payment, I noticed a foreigner, in a pure khadi outfit, at the counter. He had long braids of hair, and appeared like a Hindu sadhu. Then, I noticed a set of books with white covers in his hand. He was a gentle, soft spoken, middle aged American (which I guessed from his mode of payment). He took out six 10-dollar bills and made the payment. I stayed back and storked out my neck to peek at the book's title. It was a set of "Vedas". As I watched the man leave the shop after collecting the changes, I was in deep thought. I hated myself for hurrying so much in search of the book which was totally fictional. Here, in front of me were the real facts of life, and as a wandering soul I was running behind a totally fictitious plot.

I had stepped inside the shop with much eagerness and anticipation, but was leaving the shop with a dejected heart, sunk in the realities of my thoughts and opinions inclined towards West.

5 comments:

  1. Good expression Sanjib! The East Vs. West philosophy in life is not something new. It has been going on for ages. We always tend to live the life of 'others' and forget to live for your ownself. Having lived both eastern and western life for more than decades each, I have to be truely diplomatic here and say that each has their own beauty and beasts. If you could just extract the beauty out of both cultures, you will indeed be a saint in a true sense!
    Anurakta

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  2. Thanks Anu, I have been picking up bits and pieces from every culture and I really find them quite helpful in conceptualising my views about life and future. Your experience with both EAST and WEST makes you a GLOBAL citizen and I would love to get feedback from you on my write-ups.

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  3. Sanjib,
    The grass you are talking about that is widely used in Brazil and south america to produce alternative fuel and that has kinda picked up a lil bit in the USA too.
    But in they USA the goverment is encouraging the farmers to produce corn to produce bio-fuels rather than grow grass, and corn has better yeld then the grass so US government is the leading producer of ethanol which is produced from corn.
    Kool topic bro keep it up.
    Vj

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  4. Sanjib,
    The grass you are talking about that is widely used in Brazil and south america to produce alternative fuel and that has kinda picked up a lil bit in the USA too.
    But in they USA the goverment is encouraging the farmers to produce corn to produce bio-fuels rather than grow grass, and corn has better yeld then the grass so US government is the leading producer of ethanol which is produced from corn.
    Kool topic bro keep it up.
    Vj

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for the comments BJ

    ReplyDelete