(GOSSIP SHOPS
OF JOGILANKER, RAINAWARI,
SRINAGAR )
“Have you seen Mughal e Azam? If only you see the movie, you shall come to know
what Soshali -Azm and seculari -Azm
means .”
This is what Shadi Lal Koul told Rehman Galdhaar ( Abdul Rehman ). Abdul Rehman was asking me the meaning of
words socialism and secularism. He had joined National Conference party headed
by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and had heard his party leaders speaking these two
words in most of the meetings. He had sought the meaning of these words from
many Muslims and Pandits but none could simplify these terms to bring them down
to his level of understanding. I did it. He was happy.
Shadi Lal Koul lived
near Jogi Lanker bridge. Quite often I found him sitting in Abdul Rehman's shop
and passing on skills of TV and
transistor circuit repairing to him. Shadi Lal had also joined National
Conference. They would also gossip while sipping tea with some new National
Conference recruits. Before his transistor and TV repair shop, Abdul Rehman
sold rice and pulses from a small shop below the Jogi Lanker mosque. Once he
moved to a new shop, his old shop was
occupied by a naughty and mischievous person known as Ali Mohammad, a tailor by profession who was
nicknamed ‘National’.
Later, Shadi Lal worked as a freelance cameraman with Srinagar Doordarshan. His father was a
policeman who retired as A.S.I. We used to call him Shadi Police. Alas! This
poor chap died in a tragic road accident at Jammu post-1990.
During my college days, I noticed that many shops in
Srinagar city opened for gossip. We had our share of such shops in Jogilanker,
Rainawari. We had one Ram Joo Handoo who had a chemist’s shop. Come evening
time, many Pandits would enter the shop for pure gossip. They would occupy the
entire sitting space in the shop. At a certain point of time, no customer
entered the shop and the shelves, which used to be full of bottles and
tablets, revealed dust and emptiness.
Another gossip shop of Shamboo Nath Kalpushu also met the
same fate. Shamboo Nath Kalpushu had a flourishing chemist shop once. Dr Khashu,
a well known allopathic physician
from Srinagar would practice from this
shop.
Another chemist shop run by Chuni Lal Watloo in Jogilanker
Chowk fell victim to this gossip virus and Chuni Lal finally became a broker
cum agent for local police officials. He would intervene in all cases or
disputes that were brought to Rainawari
police station.
This virus of gossip also entered a dry cleaner’s shop (Moon Light Dry Cleaners
proprietor Abdul Rehman ) in Jogilanker
Chowk. Abdul Rehman washed his hands off the flourishing dry cleaning business.
A cloth merchant named Radhey Nath ’ Massarat ‘ also fell
victim to this virus. Come evening time, we would see many educated Pandits and Muslims from Rainawari unwinding
their day’s exertion inside this cloth shop. Radhey Nath ‘Massarat’ is a well
known Kashmiri poet who lives in Delhi
currently.
Maheshwar Nath Zutshi popularly known as Mahe-Kaak had a
stationery cum newspaper selling shop in Jogilanker Chowk. There was a small sitting space of
about 3 feet by 2 feet in the front portion of his shop. Though Mahe-Kaak was
not a gossip monger nor did he keep track of current affairs or news, some
Pandits still sat on that small space with ulterior motives. I have seen many
people sitting by rotations on his shop and discussing settlement of Mahe -Kaak
's children with him while reading newspapers, magazines and Illustrated Weekly
of India free. Mahe-Kaak had two or three sons. They were not educated enough
to compete for a government job. They would render help to their father in
procuring newspapers from Lal Chowk or in selling kerosene to the public. Mahe-
Kaak was authorized to sell kerosene.
Nath Ji, A Kashmiri
Pandit from Machama family of Karapora Khushki had also a shop in Jogilanker
Chowk near the post office. It was a small triangular shop close to the house
of Bhasker Nath Raina contractor. This man had retired from the police (CID
) and gossip mongers started pouring
into his cosmetic and stationery shop from day one. He had enough to tell.
Stories of tough police officers like Ghulam Qadir Ganderbali. Stories about
1953 episode in Kashmir and stories about various visits of Pandit Nehru to Kashmir. This shop was destined to
close as the proprietor had brought the gossip virus with him from day one. Add
to that, as and when a female customer
would visit the shop and ask for some facial cream or talcum powder or perfume,
the proprietor would say:
“ ' Kyaa guv yimun saanienn koreyun. Tche chheyaa na saaf
shakal . Zaroori chha falila ta cream laagun ‘. meaning ‘I do not know what has happened to our
daughters. Your face is clean and clear. Why should you go for all these creams,
perfumes and oils ?” The ever-present
gossip mongers sitting inside the shop would immediately second the proprietor’
s message to the customer.
We had a saintly baker named Nil Kanth Bhan in Jogilanker.
He was thoroughly professional. Beginning his day at 4 a.m., he would be free
by 1 p.m. He would start with morning Tsoet ( Kashmiri bread) up to 9 a.m. and
then he would bake Kulcha, Telvoru and Katalam,
etc. Before closing his shop, he would prepare his tea and call for one
Ghulam Mohammad inside his shop. They would have tea together with freshly
baked Kulcha. Ghulam Mohammad had lost
his mental equilibrium and one could call him insane. His family had abandoned
him. He would roam on roads but his
command area or area of activity was
from Jogilanker bridge to Kralyar
Chowk or between Ismail
butcher’s and Shera butcher’s shop. While sipping tea, there was no communication between
Ghulam Mohammad and Neel Kanth. Summer
or winter, Ghulam Mohammad never
abandoned his Pheran and Kangri.
And Hell broke for Ghulam
Mohammad one day. A Muslim family known as Maliks had their cloth shop
near the Jogilanker bridge. A boy from this family saw Ghulam Mohammad taking
tea inside Nil Kanth’s shop. He immediately told every boy in the street about
this discovery. That day onwards, every
boy in Jogilanker would cry “ Batta Chai ” (meaning Pandit tea ) when Ghulam
Mohammad would pass by. Neel Kanth found a solution to this problem. He would
daily pass on a small tin with milk, dry
tea leaves and sugar water to Ghulam
Mohammad. He would also put burning charcoal in Ghulam Mohammad’s Kangri. The Tin with ready-made
tea mixture was put on charcoal and Ghulam
Mohammad would prepare his tea on sitting space near a closed shop just
opposite to Neel Kanth's bakery shop. When some boys saw this new arrangement,
they started crying “ Dubba Chai “ ( tea
made in tin ).The butcher opposite to Neel Kanth’s shop, whom we called
Ismail Pujj would also pass on a piece of raw boney meat
to Ghulam Mohammad for roasting it in
his Kangri.Ismaal Pujj was nicknamed as
Batta Pujj (Pandit butcher ) by the
shopkeepers because his customers were predominantly Pandits. When the boys saw
Ghulam Mohammad roasting the mutton piece in his Kangri, they started calling him ‘Takka Addij’ ( bone eater ). This new name Takka Addij
caught the fancy of one and all. Even the shopkeepers would then call him
‘Takka Addij’. That made him aggressive
and violent. He would pick up stones in frustration and throw on any person who
called him ‘Takka Addij’.
Another man who had lost his mental equilibrium would always
be present in Jogilanker market. He was known as Gaffara. Gaffara wore shabby
clothes and remained aloof. He would sit and sleep on the pavement or some
times on shops. His family had also
abandoned him. Quite often a Pandit lady
from Braroo family living nearby would bring him food. Many Pandits and Muslims
said that he was a silent Darvesh. I do not remember the name of another Hindu
baker who would give tea and Kulcha to Gaffara. This baker was known as “Nikka
Kandhur ” ( baby like baker ) by people from
Jogilanker. Nikka Kandhur was a Charas ( Cannabis ) addict. Some times
he would pass on a Charas ( cannabis )
filled cigarette to Gaffara.
A Kashmiri Pandit known as Gopi Nath was the president of
the shopkeepers association of Jogilanker. Every time I visited his shop, I
found him writing which made his customers wait even for a match stick box.
Keen to know as to what was being written by him, I found one day that for every
item he sold, he would write the cost price, sale price and the resultant
profit. This writing went to such extent that he focused less on selling and
more on writing and finally, a group of gossip mongers brought the virus of
gossip to his shop too resulting in total dwindle of his business.
In Jogilanker, there
was a mischievous tailor, Ali Mohammad by name. He had his shop below Jogianker
mosque. Many people told many stories about him. He would sing while stitching
clothes on his old Singer sewing machine. Pandits came to his shop for repair
work while people living in Dal Lake
area or the Haanjis ( boat people ) got
new clothes stitched from him. He was nicknamed as 'National'. The Word ‘National ‘ had got attached to him as he was a staunch National Conference
sympathizer/activist. He would ensure that his shop was open at 9 a.m. That had
a purpose. The moment he saw some people leaving towards Jogilanker bridge for
going to the office, he would Cry:
“ ‘Ora chhu traeta
buzun . Tche boozuthh na . Kaeni jung ha sa zabardast. Raathh chhu na sheikh
sahbun taqreer kormut. Khaanyaar pyathha chhe saarisee military chhakkarithh.
Vaen khassi jaloosa . ’ meaning ‘ Situation has suddenly taken a very tense
turn. Didn’t you hear that? Crowds are throwing stone missiles. Yesterday
Sheikh Sahib ( Sheikh Mohd Abdullah ) has spoken something in his address to
the people. You will see the army in the entire city right from Khanyaar. A
violent procession is about to pass that way. ’
”
Having spoken these words, he would suddenly go missing.
Innocent Pandit and Muslim ladies and
some office going people would get frightened. This rumour would spread like a
wildfire to Jogilanker market. Many would decide about not going to the office
and staying in their homes. There was no immediate source to verify facts.
Later in the day, people would realize that they had been fooled by Ali
Mohammad.
There was a milk seller's shop in Ghat, Jogilanker near
Vishwa Bharti college. This milk seller had a large family. One of the boys in
the family was educated and we would call him Maama Kol. He joined Jammu And Kashmir Bank. This milk seller also
worked as head Hamaal ( labour head ) in the Food and Supplies Department’s ration store at Bagh,
Jogilanker. The rations especially rice, Atta and sugar were stored in big
boats ( near Jogilanker bridge ) known as
Bahuch. Each government ration Ghat had a Ghat Munshi ( clerk ), Kanda
coolie ( weighing man ), head Hamaal and labourer.
Whenever any Pandit
would see the head Hamaal in the market he would ask him :
“ Kyaa saa ghattus trovukhaha tomull ?’ or
‘ Have the fresh rice supplies come ?”
The head Hamaal's replies would be different to different
persons. He would generally say :
“ Thahar veini
kharizi na tomull ‘. or… ‘Wait, Do not go for the rice as yet .”
“Praar daah doh . Saaf tomull iyee . ‘ or ‘Wait for ten days, fresh rice stocks are awaited .”
“Thaav piece mey aithee . Ba khaarai paanai .’ or ‘ Keep the
ration slip with me. I shall buy myself.”
“First class tomull chhuyee. Khaar subahanuss .’ Or ‘We have a good variety of rice. Buy it
tomorrow.”
I never saw any Muslim asking this question to the head
Hamaal. They would go and buy straight what was available at the ration depot.
We had another shopkeeper doing brisk business in provisions
who was very popular with Pandits and whom every person called Naba Bakhor.
While he enjoyed gossiping with other shopkeepers and customers, he had
kept no space for anybody to sit inside his shop. Behind his back, Pandits
called him a Pakistani agent. Muslims owing allegiance to National Conference
called him a mischief man from Jamaat ( Jamaat e Islami ).
He was all praise for Maharaja's rule. According to him, all
ills in Kashmiri society had come after the
Awami Raj ( public rule ). This
was his indirect way of hitting at the National Conference sympathizers apart
from appeasing his Kashmiri Pandit customers. You had to keep standing outside
his shop for gossiping. He would sit in the shop during morning hours where
after his sons would take over. They did not indulge in gossiping. I would
often hear him say one line to close his argument :
“Ye chhe markazitch chaal ‘.. or….’This is a trick played by the
central government .”
For him, every disturbance or unpleasantness around was a
ploy of the central government. He was intelligent, sharp and focused on his
business.
Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
.
