I was reading Gulam Abbas’ story. He may be less known author in India but is one of the cherished authors in Pakistan. The story was “Anandi”. He very beautifully had written the thought of society about something which a society think is not good for society’s cultural health but most often a society itself get structured around it. This was the story of a red light area which was in the middle of a “cultured town”. The municipal corporation of the town had passed a bill to shift those prostitutes to some 15 km away from this cultured town. So the area had been shifted to a very abandoned part of the outskirt where there were bare lands all around with barbed herbs. Though far away from the town, this business still flourished there and people started doing there small business to cater visitors and residents of this new colony. To do the business conveniently here people build their own house. And then over a period of time, a town interposed around the colony of the prostitutes. Then a time came when the respectful people of the municipal corporation of this newly built town had called a meeting to discuss how and why this red light area is situated in the middle of the town which is not good for the cultural health of the town.
Very beautiful story, written in a very interesting way. Hats off to Mr. Gulam Abbas. I wish to read him more.
This is a kind of incidence which generally happens around us. Many a times we do observe it though do not put our brain much over it.
There was a same incident that happened just two months back around me.
I am staying in Raipur at one of the good society of a very low profile area. Actually, while passing through this area you would hardly imagine such a good society in the middle. While passing through this area, I often had to put my feet firm on the break as there was a liquor shop on the way to my society. And the area around the liquor shop always happens to be crowded. This had became my routine to ride dead slow while crossing this liquor shop. There was always a kind of glitter I was finding around this shop. Lots of people standing in queue in front of the liquor shop to wait for their number to get their quota of the night. Lots of temporary shops of snacks were having those kerosene lamps with shivering flames, trying to attract drunkards. A group of police man targeting people to earn some penny as a bribe in the course of maintaining the law and order of the area. Some drunkards were found lying on the road after gulping his dose of the day. Some were wandering on the road very abruptly in the effect of alcohol. Quite a lively atmosphere, creating livelihood of lot of people by using their own hard earned money of the day.
One day while passing through that same shop I find something unusual. The liquor shop was closed and there was a group of people doing some dharna to close this shop as this is creating a kind of cultural contamination to the society. This lasted for 3 days and finally ended when the shop owner had put down the board of the liquor shop from its place. And in this way a lively atmosphere of the surroundings had came to a halt with the closure of the liquor shop, allowing the culture of the society flourish at its extreme.
Just two days after this incident, while coming back to my home, I took other road which was another way to reach my society; I saw the same kind of glitter there which I was seeing near that liquor shop. I saw a big crowd like that of the crowd around the liquor shop, those temporary stalls of snacks seller with the shivering flames of the kerosene lamps, those wandering drunkards and those fallen drunkards. The same group of police man making money while putting the law and order of the area in place. Oh my god, the sign board of that same liquor shop I found there in one of the newly built under construction single story shop. It was the same liquor shop which was being closed after some dharna by some so called social activists. Every thing was same except the fact that this shop was being opened some 200 meters away from its old place.
And suddenly the story of “Anandi” and the Author Gulam Abbas waved in front of my eyes. I just smiled and put my foot firm over the break.
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