AZGAR, PANCHHI & RAM

अजगर करे न चाकरी पंछी करे न काम, 

दास मलूका कह गए सब के दाता राम!

The literal meaning of the above saying is that “neither the python does any job, nor the bird does any work. Saint Maluka has said that the God takes care of all!” The moral of this saying is that even if one does not do any work, God is there to feed them.

Now friends, before you bombard me with endless questions and infinite logics such as even the python has to make efforts to catch his prey and the bird has to get up early morning to catch worm etc., let me remind you, that the above words are not mine, they are said by Saint Maluka! The reason I am sharing this with you is because they help me console myself when I encounter some person being paid (especially by me) without doing anything and I am sure that these words might act as a consolation to you as well. I am sure, if the Saint would have been alive today, he would have taken his words back on seeing just how many people are desperately trying to spend their lives like Azagar of Panchhi, without doing any job! Though there are endless examples, I have listed a few below:

1.       When I return from office, before I am able to wash my hands, my maid is standing with the tray containing glass of water and cup of tea! And by the time I wash my hands and drink water before lifting the cup of tea, she is ready with the question,” Didi, main jaoon (May I go)?” It is clear that I am not left with enough time to notice the dust on the furniture or to ask her about the jobs I had assigned; rather I barely manage to ask her whether dinner is ready.

Though there are standing instructions to my maid to prepare dinner, I have faced the situation when even the dinner was not ready.

Once, I reached home from office and the maid bade me goodbye before I could ask her anything. When at dinner time, I asked the kids to set the table and went into the kitchen to re heat the food; I was welcomed by empty utensils. Though it was an unexpected treat for the kids as Pizza in 30 minutes was the only option left, it left me fuming over the slackness of the maid!

When I confronted the maid the next day, she laughed off the whole matter,” Didi, main bhool gai thi (I had forgotten)!” What can be said on this simple innocent explanation!

So crux of the matter is, though the maid doesn’t mind staying in home the whole day contributing to the ever inflating telephone bills in the absence of house lady, she makes sure to spend least time with her to survive like azgar or panchhi while doing bare minimum work! The house lady has to bear the charges of not having a clean house or systematic work despite having full day maid!

Now, those of you who want to preach me on how I should stop tolerating this “Kamchori” and fire the irresponsible maid, are requested to go through my blog post dedicated to this topic “In search of a maid” and spare me from the lecture.

2.        That day I visited a store to buy sandals. When I enquired the salesman about a particular model of sandal, without unfolding his hands he replied that all the models available in the shop were on display. After playing hide and seek with the models available on display, I spotted the desired model in the bottommost shelf (which seemed to be hidden like a treasure).  But, when I asked the salesman to pull them out (as bending to pull the sandals could increase my backache for which the sandals were actually recommended), I started feeling guilty, as the sadness of the whole world prevailed on his face, while obliging me. When I asked for my size in that model, he simply refused, saying that the only sizes available were displayed and I was forced to go to the store manager. When the store manager asked the salesman to bring the sandals of my size from store, the expression on the face of the salesman resembled that of the majboor & lachar daughter-in-law in the black & white movies of sixties, who was forced by the cruel mother-in-law to do enormous work, without raising her voice. I wonder, the way the man is being paid for simply standing in a store and deterring the customers through his behaviour, whether he is the one being referred by Saint Maluka!

3.       If these examples are not enough for you to believe in the saying of Saint Maluka, let me give you one more example. We had been feeling that the man we had appointed for washing our car was not doing his job properly as even though the car was washed daily, it still did not appear clean. Last week, by God’s grace my husband came out from his hibernation of many months and stepped out of the house to resume his morning walk. He was astonished to see the carwalla merrily making a Lakshman Rekha on all sides of the car by spilling water on the ground through a mug! Though I agree that the man had great innovative skills to make maximum money with minimum labour, we were shocked to know how he had been fooling us and taking monthly payment by making us believe that the car was being washed daily!

So friends, while I offer you free advice to give up your early morning sleep and watch your car cleaner secretly for one day, let me also advise you that  there is no point in increasing your blood pressure over these Azgars and Panchhis around you. Instead consider that you are the one to whom God has assigned the job to feed them, as said by Saint Maluka!