Soan Papdi

An old man in his mid 60s is sitting on a side berth in a moving train, reading an English newspaper “The Statesman”. He looks middle-class but well-read and quite respectable. He is decently dressed with a loose formal shirt, loose formal trousers and old leather shoes. Another man, much younger in his early thirties, casually dressed with a colorful Polo T-shirt and golf shorts is sitting opposite to him working on his laptop, talking to a friend about his upcoming engagement while sipping on a cup of chai.

[Close-ups of different political news articles in the newspaper]

[Close-up of first man’s index finger with a vote mark holding the newspaper]

[Close-up of second man’s fingers without a vote mark sipping on his cup of chai]

The young man is on a call with his friend, talking with a lot excitement, "Abey bakwaas mat kar yaar! Papa ko nahi pata yeh bachelor party warty ke baare mein! Yeh sirf apne laundo ke liye, mere taraf se... Aur bhool ke bhi bataaiyon mat kisiko haan? This is top secret man! (small pause) Haan bhai... Ya ya... ya ya ya... Thik hai chal... (small pause) Haan... tere bhabhi ka photo bhejta hoon main... Chal bye!"

The old man puts his newspaper down and asks the young man “Pachaas saal lag gaye yeh gore ko sampoorna bharatiya banne mein, huh! (heh heh heh) Par yeh kamal ka kya hi kamaal hain jo baar baar khil uthta hain... (small pause) Aapne kisko diya? Vote?”

The young man looks up at him surprised and says, “Vote? Usse kya hoga? Kuch farak padne wala hain kya?”

The old man puts the newspaper on the table with a slightly disappointed look on his face, smirks a bit and says after a while, “Jawaani ke josh mein hum bhi aise hi sochte the. Shaayad aapko farak nahi padega, par aapke bachhon ko zaroor padega! Shaadi hone wala hain na aapki?” He smiles looking at the young man, who looks at him with a confused face but not able to reply anything. Suddenly the train honks and brakes gradually slowing down nearing a station. 

The old man wears a white namaaz topi and starts gathering his things. He takes out a used gamchaa from below the seat and puts it on one shoulder, gets up from the seat and picks up a steel box kept on the floor by his side with a long bucket-like handle on the same shoulder. Giving one last look and a salaam towards the young man he says, "Khuda haafiz beta!", and starts walking towards the exit door selling out loudly, “Eyy Soan Papdiii.... Taaza Mithai Soan Papdiii....” [fade out]