Sunday, February 22, 2009

Encountering the Gini

Hi friends,
This is one story i wrote for our college magazine IIMPulse.

“…and as C.K. Prahlad says fortune really lies at the bottom of the pyramid. If India is to truly become “shining” then inclusive growth is the key…and the key to this key is social equality in our highly fragmented society.
And our B-plan I believe, as the judges would agree, has the potential to bring all round development to socially isolated sections of our country. With this I would like to finish our presentation. Thank you very much”

And as Rajiv who was also my teammate for social B-Plan competition, finished our presentation, we got a huge round of applause from ‘101’ .

We looked like some kind of demi-gods in our shining black suits who had all solutions to human misery residing in their glossy powerpoint presentation. This was only enhanced by Rajiv’s perfect mixture of jargons, anecdotes, quotes and impromptu humour.

“That was quite an ending Rajiv ” – I said admiring his charisma which has left judges mesmerized for 30 mins

“That’s my core competency you know” he replied with a wink

“So what you plan to do with your 10k” I asked him about the prize money

“Nothing man….just some booze and stuff” he said casually

“Hmmmm….achchaa chal fauji chalega?” I asked him realizing I have not eaten since morning

“Chal”

Upon settling down at faujis we called the ubiquitous chotu to take our orders and clean the tables.

‘Haan saab’ the unfamiliar looking chotu asked us

‘Chotu pehle to do garam chai le aa fatafat’ – Rajiv ordered

‘You know Vaibhav I wanted to say more on C.K. Prahlad concept’ he said continuing our discussion on the ppt

‘Really ?’ I exclaimed

‘Ya…in fact I also had some other stuff on social equality also but the time was not enough’

As Rajiv continued his stories of social initiatives which have succeeded, chotu entered with two glasses of tea.

As soon as Rajiv touched the glass he screamed – “ Saale bhen**** bola tha na chai garam laane ko…samajh main nahi aata kya ek baar main”

‘saaary saab abhi le ke aata hun’ chotu managed to utter with his wet eyes while his sister was abused for the nth time in the day

“….ya so I was telling you about other social equality initiatives I had in mind….” Rajiv turned to me again.

But.

I wasn’t listening anymore.