PIYA: Can I have some money, Papa?
PAPA: What for, Piya?
PIYA: Just going to McDonalds with friends in the evening.
PAPA: To eat all that junk food.
PIYA: Not unhealthy if eaten in moderation, Papa. The Americans were so smart to have invented fast food, weren’t they?
PAPA: They did not invent fast food. We also have fast food, and it is much better than anything they have.
PIYA: Give me an example, Papa.
PAPA: Samosas, choley bhaturey.Idli vadas. Or even jalebis.
PIYA: Hmmn, you’re right. Never thought of it like that.
PAPA: All our chaat is also fast food, isn’t it? Take paani puri for example.
PIYA: You mean golgappas?
PAPA: Yes, the same. They call them puchkas in Kolkata. Did you see Kaun Banega Crorepati last week?
PIYA: No, Papa. I was watching something on Netflix.
PAPA: There was Gargee, a bright, young girl who was a contestant on the show. Amitabh asked if she could recognise a particular monument shown on a big screen. She answered correctly that it was the Victoria Memorial. Amitabh congratulated her and began to reminisce about how in his down-and-out days he used to go there to a chaatwallah who had his stall just outside the gate, and eat delicious puchkas.
PAPA: He used to earn just three to four hundred rupees a month those days, and so the puchkas were the only thing he could afford. He used to eat till his stomach was full.
PIYA: Wasn’t Amitabh’s father a famous personality?
PAPA: One of India’s most famous poets. Harivansh Rai Bachchan.
PIYA: But the son, that is to say, Amitabh, still had to make do with paanipuri when he was hard up.
PAPA: (with a smile) Exactly.
PIYA: Does Mr Bachchan like chat so much?
PIYA: Wait. Why are you telling me this story?
PAPA: It’s an interesting story, and true.
PIYA: Is it because you want to tell me that Harivansh Rai ji didn’t make much money? And so, I should write less poetry.
PAPA: Not at all. You should write. I encourage you to do so. Poetry, prose, whatever.
PIYA: (thoughtfully) It could also be the case that Harivansh Rai ji may have had money, but Amitabh, his son, wanted to stand on his own two feet and not borrow money from his father?
PAPA: That is the more likely explanation, yes.
PIYA: Are you then sending me a message that I shouldn’t be asking you for money?
PAPA: Not at all. But it’s an idea, isn’t it?
PIYA: Because Papa, I want to let you know that I am a very responsible daughter, and when I start working tomorrow, I wouldn’t want my father to worry that I was making a meal out of eating puchkas.
PAPA: Meaning?
PIYA: Meaning only that I will never ever hesitate to ask you for money.
PAPA: Ohh!
PIYA: Just to give you peace of mind, you understand.
PAPA: Not funny, Piya!
Rajesh Talwar is the prolific author of 35 books across multiple genres.