Zehereela Chumban

Cokeela and Narcotesh were girlfriend boyfriend. Haha. That sounds very funny. But you know what I mean. Nevertheless, their story is not funny.

I take you back to 1998. The two met in college and felt for... oops, I'm sorry... the two met and fell for each other. Those were the days of love, flowers, gifts, CDs—very beautiful, just like the initial days always are. There was so much love between them. Skipping classes and taking them at movie halls was quite usual.

Like any other couple, they had their share of quarrel and banter. But, overall, things were pretty cool... of course, until one day.

That day, Narcotesh was caught smoking weed by the narcotics department of police. They took him into interrogation to find out where he'd got it from. Narcotesh, although revealed the source, was beaten black and blue. That was supposedly his penalty for the weed deed. The police released him soon after.

The wounds and bruises were heavy. Narcotesh got rushed in to a local clinic by his friend Charsam... who also informed Cokeela of the incident. Charsam asked her to come to the BB clinic.

An hour later, at the BB clinic, Cokeela saw her love resting in one of the rooms. There were wounds all over his body. Cokeela decided to stay till the evening while Charsam left for home.

She was so sad to see Narcotesh in the state he was... and managed a tear or two in the process. She could feel his pain. She even replicated a Hindi movie stunt so common in the situation—kissed him on the forehead and other bruised parts of his body... wishing him a speedy recovery.

The next moment there was a thud in the room... Cokeela had collapsed. You guys must be thinking it was the agony that she could not bear... or stuff like that... but that's not true.

Next to Narco's bed could be seen the bottle of medicine that had been applied on his bruised skin. This bottle clearly stated: Poisonous; Do not swallow!!!

That, she did! ...accidentally, while kissing him the Hindi movie style.

Jeeru ki Chaal... Bachcha Behaal [A Pakau Film Story]

Jeeru belonged to a poor family. They were so poor that he did not even know his surname. I mean, at that time, locating the next meal was more important than surnames and religions. Most of the family members (mom, dad, 4 sons - Jeeru being the youngest) begged at south Delhi traffic signals/temples and so on.

Jeeru's earliest childhood memories were the most significant ones. They take him to the time he was offered a 'Melody' toffee by a couple in a big car. Jeeru noticed the couple even had the 'Eclairs' toffees. He asked them for Eclairs instead of the Melody... only to be shunned away! 'Beggars can't be choosers', is what the guy behind the wheel said to him while rolling up the window in disgust. This hurt Jeeru big time. He ran away from his family in search of a new life. The beggars' population was all set to lose count by 1.

Jeeru quit begging and started selling mundane items. He worked very hard. Balloons, toys, incenses, gajraas, hair clips etc were some of his saleables. Being the intelligent guy he was, jumping jobs soon became a usual activity for him.

Interestingly, by jumping one job to another, Jeeru started gaining momentum in life. He was kind-of on track. He worked hard during the day... and at night cursed the rich in his thoughts. Jeeru claimed that the rich people lacked compassion... and were undeserving b******s!

With some years of work experience in bag, Jeeru joined a big hospital as an assistant nurse (ward boy). The training was basic and Jeeru did well in clearing the test. The salary from the job was good enough for Jeeru to maintain a savings bank account... which he planned to disperse at the time of marriage!

Things were going well and within six months of joining, Jeeru had been shifted to the labor room. His job was to take care of all the equipment that was used in meeting deliverables.... He was enjoying it...

A point to note here is that a ritual had become a part of Jeeru's life—regardless of whatever, Jeeru always used to curse the big-money guys who he used to encounter in the hospital... He used to think of them at night and wonder how artificial they were...
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It was during the seventh month of the employment at the hospital that Jeeru reunited with his family. One of his brothers had tracked him through some desi word-of-mouth networking. Jeeru was kind of happy to meet them. Apparently, they had opened a pakora shop... and it was the only source of their livelihood. Interestingly, they had a special 'jeera' pakora in memories of their absconding family member.

The marital status of 2 of the brothers was same as Jeeru's; however, the eldest one had gotten married a year before and his wife, Laaji, was expecting.

Jeeru's dad saw the opportunity and asked him for a favor... "son, what if we get Laaji's labor done in your hospital?" Jeeru felt like running away the second time; however, he declined the idea. He later spoke to some senior doctors and they agreed for it—BUT only on the condition that Laaji will stay in one of the cheaper ward rooms post the operation!

On the day of the delivery, there were 3 other deliveries scheduled in that time frame. Jeeru had made sure all equipment was in place. Waiting outside the room, something weird had started cooking in his mind.

"What if I exchange Laaji's kid with the rich man's next door? We will get a fair kid in the family... Laaji will accept whatever is handed to her... The rich family in the next room will learn a lesson. How will they react when they can't choose to have a child of their own color?... beggars cant be choosers!"

Leveraging the power of his association with the hospital, he did! That day, a black baby got delivered to a white family... they were happy.

On this side, Jeeru's brother was sad. Initially, Jeeru thought his brother was doubting his wife for producing a white baby... but the brother soon revealed that his baby had born with a defect... the baby, although extremely fair, was deaf...

Jeeru now hates the rich more than before... while I hope he realizes 'hatred' is never the solution.