Forget and Forgive - Our Social Structure

I was in Bhagalpur for a couple of days. My hometown, my place of birth and supposedly a place that I need to admire and respect even if it makes me pull out my gut and wrap it around my face. I wish that the feeling of respect and admiration was not pushed on us by the chance of birth, rather, it should be deserved. So here I was in a place that I had grown up and a place that I wish I could do something about. How did I reach there ?
I was in Nepal for a couple of days, on work, far from the mobile calls and frantic mails. I was to return to Patna from Katihar, a place close to the border. And the day I was supposed to get on the train I hear that all the trains form the station has been cancelled as the train track has suddenly collapsed. All the fighting we witness for the post of Railway Minister is for such opportunities. Though no lives were lost ( sad for the bureaucrats and the opposition, who cud have made money and political mileage respectively). So when the rail track collapsed, there is no alternative route. I cant even imagine to take a road route.. you know why. I don't even care to complain about the fact that a rail track has not been mended for 48 hours !! Stranded in the 18th century with a Maoist rule on one side and a disillusioned democracy on the other, I decided, I will go to Bhagapur and take a train from there. Indo-Nepal border is a joke. You can crossover with a fighter plane if u have a stupid chalk mark on it and may be a 100 Rs note for the benefit of the border keepers. I know their salaries aren't enough and that their wives might want a LCD TV this Diwali, I forgive them. I have almost forgotten that I was supposed to take a train.
When I reach the border - Jogbani ( a small town surviving on smuggling to Nepal), I find no vehicles there. Its 17th September , Vishwakarma Puja. The God who in some holy scriptures must have asked the motorist not to run their vehicles on this particular day. This Puja is strange in two ways. It happens every 17th Sept which is strange as the Hindu calender is not the same as Roman calender. It forbids the running of machinery which wasn't even there when the foundations of the what we call Hinduism was taking place. This must have been added later on as a bonus holiday, as if the existing ones were not enough. And suddenly I spotted a press vehicle that was to return to Bhagalpur after delivering papers there. I book it. Its illegal, its not a commercial passenger vehicle. I still book it. I prefer my personal "comforts" over the "law of the nation".
The road from Jogbani to Bhagalpur is 30 km of rubbles and rocks, 25 km of dilapidated road, 5 km of roads, 40 km of 6 lane express highway under construction for the last 2 centuries, 30 km of rubbles again and 50 km of bad roads. Bruised tail bone and tottering body,I landed home... happy .. no memories of the roads behind. I bet they have been mended 10 times on papers.Koi baat nahin .. neta hain .. paise to khayenge hi.
I reached home in the sweet mild rains that had taken the heat off the air. It even prevented me from muttering my famous dialogues about global warming. I didnt even feel the absence of electricity. I first noticed that there was no electricity when my mother asked me shut the TV "because you never know when the bijli will come". She was right - traditional wisdom, local experience and trend analysis at play all at the same time.I waited .. waited and waited longer and then I gave up. One day passed by and still no scope and no hope. "Saar .. transformer ud gaya hai.. teal badalna hoga" Local practice.. I remembered I had been through this. Yes ... not a big deal.. a local scientific lab had proved that the boiling of whatever oil is used in the transformers is equal to getting it charged. The same technology was applied. No avail. No electricity yet.So the dreaded thing happened. The transformer had to be replaced.
This is an interesting process. 4-5 people in the colony make a group to collect money which is generally in the range of Rs 200 per house. As an accepted norm this is what the electricity department needs to get a new transformer. The state electricity board might be running in losses but the employees are not. People complained in subdued voices that they are playing the bills in time that they have lodged a complaint as well and that they should not be paying bribes, but underneath they knew its compulsory. 3 days it took for me to see the tube light on again. 3 days it took me to see how people are accustomed to the way of life and how easily we forget what is right and what is wrong. We forgive all the misgivings and we live in peace. We don't want to quarrel with the system, we don't want to challenge it.