8:46 p.m. - 2003-06-12
The three boys adn their books.
Today is Saturday and today my brother told me to read the young world and he said that I should read each and everything. And since I missed the entry of yesterday because the lights were out from 12:00 in the morning till at night 10:05. well I didn’t do the entry of yesterday. So the name of the story had adopted different methods of doing so. Every pupil had a book in this hand. But the books were not the same. Nor the room where the students were studying the same. The room is the air conditioned with a large and luxurious bed in the center. Books, notebooks, pads, pencils, expensive pens, magazines and gramophone records are lying on the table. The glow of the table lamp is providing ample light on the book. In this room a boy is sitting on an easy chair reading a book. On the table next to him is a cup of coffee and a plate full of sandwiches. He eats the morsel of sandwich and sips coffee ad then looks at the clock on the wall. The room is quiet, except for soft murmur of the air- conditioner. He is reading in a relaxed environment. His loving parents have instructed the servants to pass by the room quietly so that their son is not disturbed. But it is said that relaxation depends on the state of mind. This boy has his books in front of him, but he is not concentrating. On either of the subjects. He is more interested in the English music on his gramophone. His mind drifts inside a night club where a woman is entertaining the guests with her dance. His mind is transported to the racecourse where his favorite horse is winning. As the music reaches higher notes the boy’s fingers drum the cover of the books. How lilting is this music, the boy muses. The textbook are all so dull and drab as compared to this, he muses. At midnight when the father tip-toes into the room he is delighted to find that his darling son is still studying and preparing for the examination. But when he comes closer he finds that while the boy’s eyes are on the book, the book itself is lying upside down. It is an Economics book and is called, The value of money. The second book is also in the hands of a boy. The boy is reading the with great concentration. But due to the din and noise inside the room reading is difficult if not impossible. The old fan inside the room is making more noise than providing relief from heat. One never knows when the fan may come crashing down on someone’s head. In a corner of the are room the mother is cooking food on a stove, which is making a loud whistling sound, shoo, shoo. On the other side the father has taken off his shirt and I lying on a wicker mat, snoring loudly. Two younger brothers are busy in a wrestling bout in the center of the room. The younger sister is memorizing tables loudly, “eight fives are forty eight six are forty eight…Clothes have been put up for drying under the old fan while the youngest one is addressing them loudly. A radio is playing loudly in the adjacent flat. Even the then the boy is adamant to study. Soon all the noise from the fan and the stove, chattering of the children, snoring of the father are lost in the text of the book. It is a book of Psychology, Will power of humans. It is a full-moon night. Among the numerous buildings in Bombay is the central library, once the town hall of the city visited by the Governors, Khan Bahadurs and Rai Bahadurs with full pomp and pageantry, to convey their loyalty to the British Raj. Also present sometimes would be rebellious young men who would taunt these people in their slogans and speeches. Here are now stocked thousands of books on all possible subject where the young and old come from morning till late in the evening read. But at this hour even the library is closed. Since the library is at a height, one has climb dozens of steps to reach the main hall. There is a crowd of young men at the library. What are they doing here at this time of night? Are they assembled here to lodge some protest? No. Are they eve teasing? No. Are they outside a cinema hall to buy tickets. No. Are they jeering the vice-chancellor or a collage principal? No. no they are all reading. In the lights outside the Central library, from the street lamps. No one is talking or even whispering to one another. No one has a sand wich in his hand , nor a cup of coffee. Of course, the old chai walla is seated is there as usual and once in a while a youth comes up to him buy a cup of cheap tea. The ones are studying, the youngsters are studying. They are studying Geography and History, Economics and Political Science, Physics and Chemistry. They are studying for Matric as well as the B.A. examination. In economics they are studying how business in managed and money multiplied. They are also reading about the rights and an privileges of Labour as laid down in the constitution they are all children of the poor who have no electricity in their homes or it has been disconnected for non-payment of bills. Some are suffering from power breakdowns and load-shedding in their small hovels. The boys are all busy studying. A boy has in his hands a book on political science, The revolution. And today's brother and today's bro quote is “how very good it is to know that one has a brother who will sort things out”. This is all for now byee.
