Last year I
was on bench for 4 months and most of that duration I was at my native. I have
a huge family, thereby many cousins, most living in my hometown. Most of them
work at the chilli market and had a huge 6 month off season. I noticed that
during the off season, they mostly did lukkhagiri,
roaming aimlessly, bitching about people, chasing girls, picking up fights etc.
I decided to indulge them in positive activities.
One day, I
told them that I would conduct a quiz. I had to explain them what actually a
quiz was. Since most of them were school drop outs, I had to carefully choose
the domain of the quiz to interest everyone.
“The quiz
will be about our town Byadgi. The questions would be on its history,
geography, politics, demography, people’s nicknames, important spots, events etc.”,
I wrote in the family what’s app group.
All my
cousins plus my brothers were hugely excited to experience this competition
first time in their lives. The teams and captains were made and the quiz would
be couple weeks later. I announced prizes too for the winning team.
Then, I had
the real task at hand; that was, to prepare the quiz questions. I didn’t live
in my native since the past 25 years, so I knew little. I spoke to my uncle but
to my despair he had a bad memory.
After
struggling for a week, I came to know about an old guy who knew almost
everything about the town. His name was Mohammad Gous.
Gous was a
slum dweller. I had seen him before but had never spoken to him. He was a
drunkard living in a hut and must have been in his mid-seventies. His wife had
abandoned him and his kids had moved to cities in search of jobs. He was
probably the least respected person in the neighborhood.
I took some
courage to speak to Gous thinking if he wasn't sober. He had ruffled hair, wore dirty torn clothes and wore
no shoes. I went and
told him that I needed his help in framing questions for a quiz and requested him to keep our
discussions secretive so that questions shouldn’t be leaked. He asked me to
come the next day
The news of
me meeting Gous reached my Mom. She reprimanded me and said, “Now you are
sitting with slum guys huh? Do you have an idea what would people think of you
and us?”
I turned a
Nelson’s eye to her cribbing.
I went to Gous
the next day. He lit his local beedi,
took a deep puff and said, “The first bus service in the town was laid in 1960.
The bus used to make 2 trips per day to Ranibennur town”
He
continued, “The first MLA of the town won with just one vote difference in 1968;
The guy whose nickname is ‘bear’ actually got the name because he wrestled with a
real bear in the local durgah when I
was a teenager; The famous doctor Kendadmath’s real surname is not Kendadmath.
His maternal grandfather’s surname was Kendadmath and he was a big doctor back
then. This guy used his grandfather’s surname and clinic to ride on his
popularity”
Gous went
on and on with his stories of the past and present. I felt his brain could give
super computer a run for its money in remembering each detail to precision.
Well in
time I had got wonderful trivia questions from Gous for the quiz.
The quiz happened
and was a blockbuster. There were about 15 participants with 3 teams and the
competition was cut throat. I had never seen such fist pumps, adrenaline rushes
and crazy participation before. Couple of guys cheated as well. They were
caught and their teams were penalized.
After the
quiz, one of my cousins came up to me and said, “I feel sad that we wasted our
lives thus far. I never knew that a quiz could be so thrilling and is also a
source of knowledge”
One more
cousin from the winning team proudly held his medal and said “This is the first
thing I have ever won in my life. When I showed it to my mother, she couldn’t
stop smiling”
I was
ecstatic that everyone loved the quiz. Everyone was on their toes to know when
would be the next event. I promised them that I would conduct a treasure hunt
in the next couple of months.
My brother
asked me with raised eyebrows “Where on earth did you find those terrific
questions?”
“Thank you”, I told Gous sitting next to him the next day
He gave a half smile.
"This calls for a celebration", I said
He didn't respond.
“Dada(brother),
have you ever drunk branded liquor?” I asked him
“haha.. how can I? I have been drinking only
the local liquor worth 50 rupees. One of my friends had been to Goa and he had
whiskey once and he was boasting about how incredible it was. It’s rich
people’s drink you know. I can’t afford to often drink even local liquor now”
Few months
later(early this year) I got a chance to go to London for an onsite visit for 3
weeks and while returning I bought a bottle of finest scotch from the duty free store.
I took the
bottle to Gous and said “The knowledge you gave me, I couldn’t have found that
in any book or with any scholar. You have become my favorite Guru. I couldn’t have thought of a better gift for
you than this. I bought an English bottle for you from foreign. Please accept”
He looked
at it as if he saw a dinosaur. Then he took it hesitantly as if he was
receiving holy water
“Wish my
sons respected me like you”, he uttered with moist eyes.
After that I didn’t get leaves for months. I
visited home after 3 months. I was curious to know how Gous liked the scotch.
I met him
in his usual place. And asked about it.
“I did
drink that bottle”, he said.
“I couldn’t believe that alcohol can be so
smooth, relaxing and mesmerizing. It felt like heaven, as if I drank nectar. Seriously,
I don’t have words to explain”, he continued.
Even though he wasn’t used to words such as ‘thank you’ or ‘sorry’
before, seeing his body language I understood he was profoundly thankful to me.
“Wow, I am
glad you liked it”, I said smilingly
Gous
finally said, “I want to go away with its taste. I have quit drinking after I
had your English bottle”
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