YDN-4

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon! A very ‘Happy Diwali 2006’ to all of you and your family members.

I will take this opportunity to enlighten everyone in the Department about the virtues of Social Development. It is indeed a thing to be proud of. For the Chairman, the directors, all employees, shareholders, beneficiaries, the NGOs involved and internal auditors- only that blessed lot who has had the privilege of actually being a part of the initiative.

On the 3rd of last month, three of us, handsome, smart, intelligent and fair (but one) young men checked in and managed to surpass the intense scrutiny of the airport security and metal detectors. The security guards were busy discussing their wives' puja expenses. The metal detectors forgot to beep. We had armed ourselves with plenty of arsenal and weapons to audit with. It was an important mission.

Satish (referred to earlier as 'but one') had the 'Madhya Pradesh Bhu Rajsyva Sanghita'. A document in Hindi/Sanskrit, which he till date has not been able to comprehend. He claims to have an audit point on non-compliance with the former. Aditya Modi very cleverly hid two digital cameras in the inner most pockets he could sport. Please do not ask me the locational details of these 'inner most' pockets. Prabal Chandhok had entrusted me with the important responsibility of bringing with me, his auditing skills. 'Skills' are usually interpreted as things that are intangible. However, in the case of my friend, it means his sports shoes!

We reached Bhopal. Prabal was waiting for us at the airport. With an Indica I presume would have been sufficient for him alone. We however somehow managed to squeeze in. One on top of another. The luggage that is! And reached Noor Us Subah. That very place where Mr. Rao had taken the ATI December 2005 batch for a tourist visit. After 50 minutes of a whirl wind tour of the heritage hotel, he decided, much to our relief, that we should also have dinner at the same place!

A couple of induction days in Bhopal helped us increase our arsenal with more probable concern areas to look into in depth. One of them being self help groups comprising of Rajasthani women.

With all this enthusiasm and the energy, we boarded the Inter city Bhopal- Ratlam express to get to the latter place. I unfortunately, had to bid goodbye to Modi and Satish and left for my actual battleground. It was meant to be Pratapgarh in Rajasthan. But I was put up in Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh. As if it was a journey from Ballygunge to Russel Street everyday.

The Tata Sumo given to help me reach, had a Sardar from Rajasthan at its wheels. This Sardar, nicknamed Pappu reminded me of the handsome Vinay Baheti without specks, with the big turban of Jasraj Singh Grewal on top. And he used to drive like Satish does. Frequently forgetting that every vehicle also has something called ‘brakes’.

On a field day, while we were visiting villages, it suddenly struck the NGO people that it was 4 in the evening and they had not yet offered to me anything edible. Other than tea full of milk and sugarcane juice! One such villager, Thakur Vijay Pratap Singh, happened to overhear our conversation. He immediately offered to help us and take us to his home for lunch. I readily agreed. (As if I had any other choice). I could see three women, briskly doing the rounds of the kitchen and the common sitting area (under the sun). All seemed to be in a hurry. But in the midst of all this chaos, they did not forget to ensure that their entire face was well covered with the pallus of their saris. Alas…….

The lunch offered to me was extremely homely, well cooked and served absolutely hot. I was given four ‘bajra’ rotis. Each one as thick as McDonalds Veggie burgers. And droplets of desi ghee falling off the edges of the rotis as if there was a leak in the terrace on a rainy day! With the rotis came another mouth watering dish. A pure vegetarian sabji that had in it green chillies and lots of masala for flavour. And the dressing given to the sabji was absolutely red in colour. Red Chili powder gently, but generously sprinkled on top! Don’t even ask me what happened to my early morning rituals for the next three days. All I can say is I was on liquid diet for the rest of my stay in Mandsaur!

The second NGO audit was relatively much better. In terms of accommodation, food and pin drop silence. Prabal had decided it was time for him to finally bid good bye to Munger. And join me in SDI! Munger has changed our friend to a considerable extent. He has learnt to respond to a hello as ‘Namaste’ and talk only when spoken to. In a yes or a no only. So, when you ask him ‘hungry kya?’, ….well you know what the answer will be, don’t you? There is a third compliment also that Prabal got from one of the villagers- ‘ a videshi who speaks and understands Hindi quite well’.

Folks, Triyog has promised to take care of my security from the second that this mail is shot to all you ‘esteemed subscribers’. For Prabal might have lost some weight, his punch remains as hard as ever!

Regards,
Abhishek Gupta.