No thoroughfare for 3-wheelers

Kamal Baruah

(kamal.baruah@yahoo.com)

In the early 1990s, there was no multiplex imagination or today’s streaming services like Netflix, Prime Video, or Hotstar, but PVR Priyaat Vasant Vihar was the only movie theatre that offered a distinctive culture of Hollywood blockbusters and urban leisure to the middle-class residents of Delhi. The nearby JP Vasant Continental was another hotspot attraction for elite Delhiites. The luxurious lifestyles and personal ostentation of the rich and famous were hated against such envy. Meanwhile, the pathetic mess food forced them to experience some adventure to live their own way, as they were missing their “gharkakhana” those days. Nevertheless, a movie and street food on the weekend somehow made their days.

 On Sundays, they would plan their wild outing to fetch the height of madness, while cars and bikes were jostled for space on the busy street of South Delhi. They yawned lazily in the luxurious comfort of “hey-rickshaw” when a couple of paddle rickshaws pulled them up towards the JPs Vasant Continental. However, the security guards at the gate got confused to welcome such unexpected visitors and were frightened by their sudden move, which made things worse, while they even parked their hired three-wheelers—rickshaws—in the valet parking.

 The Café Resto was overwhelmed by music to the ears, while beers and wines tasted well with the western music. A pair of formal dinner tables were set and reserved for them in advance. Meanwhile, the banquet hall echoed with the sound of clinking champagne glasses. The drinks had put guests in an amiable mood, and the fashionable interior could be the surprising ingredient for the perfect flavours. But they had another idea and requested that the night manager play some other music of their choice.

 Soon their audio cassette was inserted and they pressed the ‘play’ button on the tape recorder. It was the Khayal, a Hindustani classical form of singing for the popular renditions of Pt. Bhimsen Joshi. The mood of the entire hall was gradually dying down into a pin-drop silence, except for the golden voice from the song ‘Mile Sur MeraTumhara’ that completely enthralled the gang of eight rickshaw travelers. They were humming a cheerful tune of ragas, while the other affluent diners felt dejected and forced to listen to classical numbers one after another. The heat was unbearable for many. Some of them could be seen leaving the dinner early.

 A hotel just can’t discriminate based on a protected class, so their chosen music was on, and they enjoyed raising their drinks with the soulful music in the air. It continued till their dinner was over, and they finally left the place quietly, heading towards the parking rickshaw. The incident rocked the hoteliers that night. The Vasant Continental awoke to find the flaws in the glass by prohibiting rickshaws onto their campus, while notifying them on the very next day, “No thoroughfare for three-wheelers,” following the incident.

 The paddle rickshaws are prohibited from driving on their premises in actuality, as they faced the incident last supper. The boys couldn’t stop laughing then. As intrepid adventurers, JNU boys from the north-east simply loved exploring the wilderness in the national capital. As that pathetic ‘bahana’ (excuse) for students at hostel, if they have had a stressful day at the classroom, they love to chill out and listen to some soulful music; after all, the tape recorder plays at the Vasant Continental was definitely worth a listen.