Idhar Udhar Ki Baat

  “Saab ji, age saab di plate nun kuttian ne nahin puchhna (Saab, one day even dogs won’t spare the Saab’s plaque).” The do-it-all Havildar said it so casually that for a moment I could not even react. I had just asked him to change the inauguration plaque for the third time because, yet again, the date of inauguration had changed. Somewhere higher up, protocol and prestige were wrestling with each other again. The Havildar’s remark sounded dangerously close to insolence. For a few seconds, I genuinely felt like giving him a proper dressing down.  But practicality often defeats emotions.  The fellow knew every mason, every painter, every welder and every shortcut in the cantonment. The deadline was tight and the event had to happen smoothly. So I swallowed my irritation. The inauguration eventually went off very well. Speeches were made, photographers clicked away furiously, chai and pakoras disappeared with military efficiency, and everyone left satisfied that hi...