[Reader-list] Arjun Bhai

[zainab at xtdnet.nl]

25th December 2004

Arjun Bhai

Today is Christmas. I have a present in the offing, soon to come true.
Arjun bhai, who has been around VT Station since he was ten years old, is
going to talk to me today. Arjun bhai is a hawker. He sits right outside
the ticket counter, selling socks. Since sometime now I have been trying
to get hold of him. We have a hit-and-miss relationship. But today, we
have promised to meet and talk.

Today is Christmas. I board a train from Byculla to VT Station. It is 9:20
AM when I land at the station. The station is quiet and empty. I suddenly
sense loneliness on the station. The platforms are quiet. Life appears on
a standstill. This is not the VT Railway Station I have known.

I walk out of the station. Sitting outside is Raghu kaka. Raghu kaka sets
up his plastic sheet and sells newspapers right opposite Arjun bhai. Kaka
always wears a depressed look on his face. He sits on the road with the
newspapers spread out. Inside the railway station, we have the Video Wall.
Outside, we have kaka. As people walk past him, I realize that they either
slow down or halt for a while to take a peek at the headlines. Democracy
and information operate despite labels and boundaries of legality and
illegality. And people practice time as they walk out and get inside the
railway station. ‘Headlines for Free!’ is what I think Raghu kaka’s slogan
should be. Arjun bhai later told me that Raghu kaka has been around even
before he came to the place and started selling goods.

As I wait for Arjun bhai, I notice several people walking past.
Visibility, marks and signs are the ways in which we make sense of the
crowds. We make sense of the city through known symbols. And the symbols,
marks and signs change over periods of time. In 1984, it was the textile
mill workers. In the period after the 1992-93 riots, it was the Muslims.
And in this year, our marks and signs are fixated on hawkers,
slum-dwellers and the dirt which constitutes the illegal and the unwanted!
In each era, ‘the other’ changes. And we love to create ‘the other’
because we cannot live without it. Something has to be fearful and
terrorizing. Sometime ago, ‘the other’ was the leopard who was on the
killing spree. And what an irony! Standing right opposite VT Station is
the Times of India Building which facilitates the creation and fear of
‘the other’. I think it is all about moving images and time. Wow!

I practice marking myself. And I try to avoid being marked. Wherever I go,
my name is a mystery to everyone. Zainab Bawa – Parsi? Punjabi? Gujarati?
Thus far, my surname has protected my identity at least until the
multiples don’t know yet that Zainab is a Muslim name. It’s funny huh! I
am the researcher and I am the subject. I trace practices and I am a
practitioner myself. Whoops! Self-indulgence huh?

Arjun bhai comes running out of the railway station. “I thought you must
be gone! That’s why I came dhawat-padat (scampering and running). If there
is ever a problem, you must inform Raghu kaka. He knows me and will give
me the message.” “Have you had tea?” I ask him. “No, let’s go inside and
talk,” he replies. Arjun bhai leads me to one of the tea and coffee stalls
inside VT Station. I take out my wallet to pay. He looks and gives me a
benign smile, “No. This is on me.” He pays and hands me a cup of coffee. I
am a trifle surprised. Is it coffee because he likes it? Or is it because
he assumes that today’s office going persons are more coffee drinkers than
tea lovers? That’s not a question on my list today, but it’s worth
examining!

We walk over to the area of the ticket counter which has several pillars.
Arjun bhai and I stand near one of the pillars and start talking. “I come
from a village in Maharashtra. When I was young, I was not interested in
studies. I would go off with my maternal uncle and participate in his
business activities. My parents would always tell me, ‘study, study,
study!’ but I was not one to listen. I am educated till the fourth class.
If I had seriously pursued education, I would be sitting in an office, not
selling socks outside VT. When I first came to Bombay, I was selling toys,
right here where I am. Then we used to find it very difficult to run with
our goods when the BMC van would come to evict us. Toys are difficult to
get hold of all at once. So, we stopped selling toys and began to sell
socks. It is easy to run with socks when the officials come chasing. This
is not my business. It belongs to someone else. I work for him. I have
several relations with him. I can’t just say that he is my boss. He is
like my brother-in-law because I married a girl from his village. He is
also like an elder brother. He is a friend, a companion. And so, I work
hard for him. That is why when you would come to ask me to talk, I would
tell you to come in the mornings. It is not good to talk at the time of
business. Besides, if a customer would come, I would have to attend to him
and leave you in between. And I would not like to see you standing on the
roads, talking to me. You are like my sister,” he says in a protective
tone.
“Why did you come here and decide to do business?” I ask him. “For
generations we have been doing business here. So I also came here. Public
is always here. There is no time when there is no public here, except from
2 – 2:30 PM in the afternoons. Now, everybody knows me here. Even my
customers know me. We have a little network here, with those of us who
work in the area. But I don’t care or intervene in someone else’s business
by the side. Everybody knows that I set up dhanda here. Nobody will
encroach on my space. For a day or two someone may come and set up
business. But after that, they will go away. It is like guests we have in
our house. They come for a day or two and that’s okay. But if they enter
your house, you will naturally defend your territory. Isn’t it?” he asks
rhetorically.
Arjun bhai had disappeared for a few days in between. He says that
whenever the officials decide to get strict, it’s good to lay low and not
do business for a couple of days. “I set up business somewhere else in
that period. Earlier it was Kharinar and Rajendra Rao. These two had done
a lot of evict us hawkers. Then it was okay for a while. Now, again they
are behind us. The police and the BMC both harass us. Otherwise there is
no other problem. The police will come, take our goods, give us two slaps
and either extract the legal 1200-rupee fine or just take some money and
settle the mamla (affair). But you must never be afraid of the police.
Look at me, I am not afraid any more. Sometimes the BMC operates
independently; sometimes they are hand-in-glove with the police. We have
to pay haftas. In my grandfather’s time, it used to be Re.1 and now, it is
Rs.100.” As Arjun bhai tells me the story of the value of money, I realize
that the value of money is also a matter of time. Time changes everything.
“You know, when I first came here, I used to sleep on the footpath. But I
am particular about some habits. I need to take a bath once a day and wear
washed clothes everyday. So, I used to spend one rupee everyday to buy a
pot of water. I would have a bath. And everyday, I would spend two rupees
to get my clothes washed. You asked me why I came and started business
here nah? I don’t have any bad habits. My heart is clean. I was never into
doing drugs. Look at the boys around here, they do drugs. I am not into
this. In fact, when they dope and smoke, I start to feel giddy with the
smell. So I came here and started doing dhanda. I travel across the city.
I see boys doing drugs on the Chowpatty beach. But I never go there.” “Do
you go to Nariman Point?” I ask him excitedly. “I have never been there,
even in times of absolute loneliness, I never go there. What happens when
you go to the sea face? You just sit there and see the rocks and stones,
that’s it! So I don’t go there,” he tells me bluntly.
Arjun bhai is a hard worker. “I come here everyday from 10 in the morning
and stay till 9 at night. I come from Kurla. We store our goods here at a
godown, at Fort. Even on Sundays, we set up shop because on Sundays, we
have tourists from small towns who shop. Moreover, on Sundays, people from
the suburbs come to town because they want to give a nice time to their
children – picnic. So they come and buy as well.” “So when do you get time
for yourself?” I asked him. “No time. Just business. Earlier I used to
watch movies a lot. Now, I think all movies are alike and there is no
family film. Haan, yes, when Mughal-e-Azam got released recently, I went
to see it with my family. It is a family film.”
“Now, it is hard time. There is no one to care for hawkers and the union
is also not a hopeful prospect. We know immediately when the BMC van is
around. Believe me, I have hardly been caught. I always manage to escape.”
“You have two more boys with you these days?” I asked him. He started
smiling, “Oh yes, that is because the boys can help when it is time to run
with the goods. Otherwise it gets tough when I am alone. Nowadays, the
hawkers on the main road don’t set up shop between 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM.
Also, if you have noticed, earlier, the shops used to be on both sides of
the sidewalk. Now, we are allowed to set up shop only on one side.”
I asked him if the ban on crossing roads and the compulsion to use the
subway has affected his business. “Not much. Those who use the roads use
them anyway. If you see from the point of view of humanity, it is
dangerous to cross roads. But public is public. They do dadagiri
(bullying) and they cross the roads despite being fined. Anyway, there are
not many people who like using the subway. So they walk on the roads.”
Arjun bhai has seen all kinds of changes at VT Station – the laying down
of tiles on the road, the beautification of Bhatia baug park and the
creation of the subway. “The coming of the subway did affect my business.
But then, the prices are more in the shops down there. Some people these
days believe that the goods we sell on the roads are not of nice quality.
So they buy from shops. Actually, there is not much difference. I sell the
same thing on the roads for ten rupees and in the shop, you pay fifteen
rupees.” “But there is also a difference in the packaging nah?” I
interjected. “No. We do the same nice packaging for people to like and
buy.”
“When I first came here, I used to pay Rs.2 for the rice plate in the GPO
(General Post Office) Canteen. Now, it is all expensive. Also, I can’t
digest roadside food. I bring food from home and fill up a bottle of water
from outside.” “Oh”, I said, “you can get free water from the charitable
taps behind.” “No,” he replied, “You are supposed to drink water then and
there. Cannot take water outside,” he informs me.
“Life is difficult. I love my village. But I can’t stay there for too long
because I am very used to the city. But I don’t love the city. I am here
only to do business, just to earn money. That is what Bombay is about –
earning money. Here there is no humanity. In a rupee, twenty five paisa is
honesty and the rest of the twelve annas, there’s nothing.”
“What do you think about VT Railway Station? They say they are going to
build a museum here? Also, what changes have you seen at VT Station?” I
asked Arjun Bhai. “Museum? When they make one, I shall see. They have been
saying this for years now and I am yet to see something happen. Nothing
happens. VT station, I think it is the same as always. Crowds were always
there. If 10% people go out of the city, another 20% come in. It is like
this only. And what is a railway station? It is like how my home is. To
me, my home is a place where I come and go. Same with the railway station
– I come and go here. Nothing more. And public is public. You see, when I
was in school, I had studied that the British introduced the railways.
Why? Because goods had to be transported. We are like cattle. And this
railway station is a place where herding takes place. Sometimes there is
lots of public, sometimes there is none. You know it is the same thing
that happens with my business too. At some point, there are several people
at the same time. And everybody buys. And sometimes, there are many
people, but if one person does not buy, all move off. It is the same with
the railway station. If one person is moving, everybody is moving. If one
person stops, people around stop. And this VT is one place where there
will always be public. Lots of public!”
“I live in a chawl in Kurla. My wife and children live with me. I always
laugh and smile, even when there is tension. And, you should never get
angry. Be patient. That is important in life.”
I asked him a little more about the subway market. “Hmmm. In the subway,
there was a problem. The shop-owners used to sell stuff even outside the
limits of their shop. So the BMC came running on them.” “But,” I asked
him, “hawkers sell goods even inside the subway.” “Yes, of course,” he
tells me, “business is business. Have to do!”
I conclude for the day and tell him that I may come back another day.
While we were talking, a beggar boy had come asking for alms. Arjun bhai
gave his cup of coffee to him. Maybe he doesn’t like coffee and was
drinking because I was around.
As I walked out of the station, I remembered Arjun bhai’s gesture of
paying for the coffee. I think we all live by the generosity of people who
themselves have little they own. At least I survive by this generosity!




Zainab Bawa
Bombay
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