Delhi Drama Act 7

Delhi Drama Act 7. 

I enter the metro station and it's pretty late, I am worried that I'll be pretty late, this guy who looks like Nawazuddin Siddiqi playing a nervous character comes to me and this happens: 

"Ye Mandi house ka metro yaha se milega?" 
"Haanji" 

"Board pe to Nehru Place likha hai!"
"Iske baad wala jayega" 

This doesn't satisfy him, he goes to a cop and confirms this from him, the cop says the same, he comes back to me, the tensed curves still on his forehead, but with a sheepish smile of relief on his face. I smile back, and get busy on my phone.

The Nehru Place metro arrives and leaves, the board shows ITO as the next metro, arriving in 3 minutes.

I wait for it while talking to a friend on whatsapp. The guy stands right beside me, I start a conversation.

"Kaha jana hai aapko ?"

"Dwarka jana hai, yaha 8 baje se khade they bas ke liye, Du ghanta ho gaya, par bus aaya hi nahi, Ab metro se jayenge" 

I respond with a " hmm"

"Accha ek go baat bataye, mera phone mein kuch gana hai usme video aata hai par audio nahi aata, ek go samsung ka touch screen wala phone pe bhi chalaye par, usme bhi audio nahi aaya, HD video hai sab" 

He breaks into a nervous conversation.

"Support nahi karta hoga" I say

"Arey par video aata hai, audio nahi, accha choriye ye bataiye, accha phone konsa hai abhi"

" Budget bataiye, Phone batate hai"

The metro to ITO arrives, we get in, he sits beside me.

"Abhi Nokia 2690 chalate hai 5 saal ho gaya, 4 baar pani mein gira hai, par abhi bhi ekdam sahi chalta hai, budget dekho zyada nahi hai" he starts again, showing me his current phone which looks like it has seen a lot of rough days."
"Ek dhang ka smart phone lena hai to 4000 to kam se kam lagega" I respond.

"Battery kitna chalega? dehat ke log hai, yaha shehar mein to light jata kam hai, waha dehat mein light aata kam hai" 

"Ek din to chalta hai pura, par agar video dekhoge pura time to 6-7 ghanta" 
"2690 ka do do din tak charge nahi karna padta, par pata nahi nokia band kahe ho gaya,. Kitna accha to phone banata tha, iske baad C1 aya, C2 aaya phar fir banana hi band kar diya" 

"Haan wo company bik gaya na" 

"Accha, ye jo 4000 wala phone hai, isme HD video to chalega na?"

" Haan, pakka chalega" 

My mom calls me, I talk to her and as soon as I disconnect, he asks.

"Kitna Baja hai?"
" 10:45 "
" Hamara phone 11 baje ayega" 

I see a happy smile on his face,

"Madam hai hamare ghar pe"

"Madam? Aapki wife?"

" Haan 5 saal ho gaya shaadi ko, madam roz 11 baje phone karti hai"

"Accha, phir to khana bhi tayyar hoga?"

" Haan hoga to, par shayad hi khaunga, 12:30 tak ghar pahunchunga, mann nahi karega"

" Hamko to jaake banana padega, akele rehte hai" I say chuckling

And then we don't talk for a while, he then begin again.

" Bus mein sidha pahunch jaate hai, Metro mein change karna padta hai, Bus bhi AC hai, par ham AC mein nahi jaate, AC se aadat kharab hota hai, jo AC mein rehta hai uska garmi sehna kam ho jaata hai, hamko dekho din bhar dhup mein kaam karte hai, bina thake" 
" Kya kaam karte ho? " 

"Lift ka kaam, yaha abhi naya building sab bana hai, un sab mein lift lagwa raha hu" 
" Aap contractor ho? "
" Nahi, Lift repairing ka kaam seekh raha hu Jo abhi mechanic hai un sab ke saath reh ke kaam dekhta hu unka aur thoda bahut kaam karta hu" 
I don't say anything.

"Jo Ac mein zyada rehta hai, usko zyada bimari lagta hai, hamko to sardi zukhama kab ho ke nikal jata hai pata hi nahi chalta" 
" Ac mein rehne se bhook bhi zyada lagta hai, ek din ek gym mein kaam tha, waha din bhar ac mein they, bahar nikal ke 10 anda khaye" 
I laugh and just nod in agreement.

Mandi House arrives, we get down from the metro and part ways.

In Picture: The Man and Me in a blurry selfie taken while I was showing him my phone and it's features.