There is a market near my home. The market’s name is Vyapar Kendra. You can get almost anything there, unless it is very expensive or a designer brand!
Parking is a problem, so it is always best to visit first thing in the morning or park about 100 meters away and walk down, taking care to avoid the maniacal two-wheeler drivers who aim to mow you down.
The Mahabharata introduced us to the concept of the ‘Chakravyuha.’ As per the epic, Abhimanyu’s mother (she was one of Arjuna’s - the archer - wives) was pregnant with Abhimanyu and was listening to someone tell her about the Chakravyuha - how to get in and get out. Abhimanyu, in fetal form, was listening to the conversation. Alas, his mother fell asleep during the discourse on how to exit the Chakravyuha. During the last battle between the cousins (the Pandavas and the Kauravas) at Kurukshetra, Abhimanyu volunteered to enter the Chakravyuha. Of course, he could not get out, and that spelled his doom.
Vyapar Kendra is like a Chakravyuha. You can enter, but once you penetrate its bowels, you feel trapped and struggle to exit!
I often chat with Mr Chaurasia when I am at Vyapar Kendra. His chai is the best in the market. He is from Allahabad, now called Prayag. My father was posted in an army cantonment called Chheoki, across the Yamuna River, from Allahabad.
When I converse with him, I speak in Hindi and refer to the town as Allahabad. However, recently I became conscious of my pronunciation when referring to the town as Allahabad, and realized I pronounce the name as “Illahabad,” the name that Akbar the Great conferred on the city when he founded it.
Please read my post on the subject! The Brits converted it to Allahabad, unmindful of the fact that they would be offending Indian politicians two centuries after the fact! So, in a fit of righteous, priggish pride, they renamed the city as ‘Prayag.’ But Prayag does not roll off the tongue with the same felicity as ‘Illahabad.’
Still, it is great to converse with Mr. Chaurasia, learn about developments in the region, and listen to him when he talks about educating his children.
People of Mr. Chaurasia’s generation are very keen that their descendants get a superb education and that they are not trapped like he sometimes feels his generation was. I don’t think Indian politicians understand this simple fact, but I bet the prospect of an educated, thinking populace terrifies them.
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