The Divide!

A few days ago when I entered the colony park for my evening round of walking, I bumped into a couple of old acquaintances – Narasimlu (‘N’) and Venkateswarlu (‘V’).They stay in the same colony and always looked happy and contented. They live in a large old time house with a big compound. It was a joint family of paternal uncles and their families. That day when I said hello to them, they did not sound their usual selves!  It intrigued me and I wanted to get to the bottom of it.

We sat on the park bench and I directly broached the subject by asking them why they looked so dull and unenthusiastic. ‘N’ disclosed that the joint family split and the brothers partitioned the property. ‘V’ said things were pretty rough since the last one month and they had to cope with a number of daily issues. They said; while the drawing up of the physical boundaries of an old house brought in its wake number problems, the day to day matters led to further challenges. I was not only curious but genuinely concerned at this new situation confronting both these friends.

 Family divisions are not uncommon and they keep happening every day and everywhere. But here the story seems to be a little different. I wanted to know things in more detail and requested them to put me in complete picture.The conversation went like this…

“Dear friends could you let me know more about the division and what happened thereafter”

The divide they said, placed ‘N’ in the front portion and ‘V’ in the rear portion.

“The property was divided horizontally with the result the road face went to one family and the backyard to the other” explained ‘V’

“Water supply controls like well and pumps are in the front yard and the power supply controls are in the back portion” said ‘N’

“Road access is with the front portion and the drainage exit controls are in the rear portion” supplemented ‘V’

“So what happened?” I asked impatiently.

“All hell was let loose from day one .The front portion did not release enough water and many of us had to skip taking bath. Some of us were stuck in the toilets midway and we had to order an immediate supply of mineral water cans and bundles of toilet rolls” lamented ‘V’

“The response came instantly and the back portion tripped the power circuits. In the blistering heat we had no fans, no fridge and we had to immediately order earthen pots for drinking water and two dozen hand fans besides dozens of Electral packets to save us from heat and dehydration” cribbed  ‘N’

“My God things were pretty nasty!” I was shocked at the turn of events.

“Next day vegetable vendors came cursing to the backside and you know they just gave 3 bundles of spinach for Rs 10/- and all vegetables were sold higher than the usual rates” ‘V’ blurted out in anguish.

“But why?” I was curious.

“Because the front portion refused to allow the vendors inside and as a bargain collected some greens and vegetables as access fee.” ‘V’ was upset.

“Then look at what happened to us” the voice of ‘N’ was quivering. “The back portion blocked the sewage and drainage pipes and the flow reversed and I just can’t describe what happened to our toilets and all the drain outlets. It was hell!” said ‘N’ his face contorted in pain.

“My God this is beyond my imagination” I was really concerned for both of them.

“We haven’t yet told you about the other stuff” said ‘N’ and ‘V’ philosophically.

“The school autos no longer pickup children from the rear portion”

“The kids from the front portion can’t access the play area in the backyard”

“The mangoes from the backyard are not available to the front”

“The papayas from the front are not reaching the rear portion”

“Red Chilly Chutney and Biryani are no longer exchanged for Tamarind Rice and Gongura Chutney”. The sadness was palpable.

“Maid-servants, drivers, errand boys, cable operators and even pundits for performing Poojas are hired separately. Oh! The list is endless and the issues countless”. Both sounded fatigued!

“Please stop! I can’t take this anymore” I shouted in anguish.

We three sat in silence for some time. The Sun had set and the grey shadows started spreading across the park. Will the impasse end? If so when? Will there be general happiness and camaraderie? Will there ever be efforts for building peaceful and brotherly co-existence between the two portions?

We know we don’t have ready answers yet. But there is hope always flickering in our minds. The watchman switched on the lights and the illumination was gradually dissipating the darkness. Darkness is after all absence of light! Yes; there will be light sooner than later. We looked at one another with a smile on our lips and a new glow in our eyes- the glow of hope and faith. We stood up and walked firm-footed in the direction of the light.