Conversations with Pyaremohan were not extensive this time around given the nature of my visit. Still, seeing me limping around with a bad foot, he joined countless others in giving me medical advice. Apart from recommending a hot compress (cold compresses apparently are for delicate parts like eyes whereas the lowly foot needs a shot of intense heat), he also hesitantly offered to provide me with some pig fat balm if Dad (as he calls my father) was willing to tolerate it in his apartment. Dad it turned out wasn't inspite of his carnivorous youth but I left the possibility of some pig on me (pun purely unintentional) open. Coincidentally a book I was reading at the time, Cloudstreet, also served up pig fat as a recipe for burns so the Pyaremohan Apothecary had some basis for its medications.Pyaremohan in fact seemed to be in slaughter mode. Having returned from Haryana where his kids had been shorn of their locks, he now needed to sacrifice a goat (if I remember correctly) as a follow up. This was to take place on a Sunday.
Me: So will you get someone to sacrifice the goat?
PM: No, I do it myself.
The headless goat and defatted pig left Dad in some distress and he swore to lecture Pyaremohan, then desisted. Dad is after all a lamb at heart, and there is no saying what Pyaremohan would do to a lamb.
The Haryana returned native also saw it fit to once again delight me with the dubious charms of Haryanvi music videos uploaded on his mobile phone. These chiefly consisted of some rustic lad singing lustily to his lady love, a shimmering vision purely due to her bright and sequinned dress. Mostly he described her charms, she responded coquettishly and it wound its way to a predictable end. The backdrops were of some interest. In one, a college, students sat in outdoor classrooms. Young love blossomed in natural surroundings but the video had little to indicate that the college had lofty aims like Santiniketan. Many had a large white house, obviously an architectural mistake popular in the state (or perhaps the producer was on a limited budget). I mentioned to Pyaremohan that the videos appeared to be repetitive. I suspect no more will be shown to me, though I remain intrigued as to what passes for entertainment in the provinces.
Before I left, Pyaremohan invited us for a quick lunch. He lived fairly close to the airport in a wadi, which had a number of tightly packed residences and was also almost entirely Haryanvi. A clutch of children made quick salaams and ran off to play, the women dutifully served us. It turned out that all of them were good looking in a delicate fashion (Pyaremohan's sister-in-law was in ghunghat, a fact he mentioned with great pride, inexplicably she threw it off when he left the room though Dad and my brother were around) and also capable young women in a patriarchal system. Some elements of patriarchy were familiar but also mildly shocking, Pyaremohan's sister for example could only make limited use of her training as a beautician, her husband deciding what could be "allowed". In fact the whole visit left me with the impression of a family and culture where the men were swaggering, macho duds prone to drink and the women, within the constraints of their lives, marshalled all their intelligence to raise a family.
I think I do not need to know anything more about Haryana for awhile. But for anyone interested, youtube hosts one of Pyaremohan's beloved songs.
