Arre yaar, Umar Khalid ka naam aate hi mera dil soch mein padh jaata hai. Lucknow mein pharmacy ki fees bhejta hoon, aur sochta hoon — yeh log jail mein baith ke baat karte hain, hum gaadi chalate hain, lekin aazadi ka matlab kya hai? Ramu ke tapri pe chai peete waqt kisi ne kaha, "Bhai, jis din police station se road pe aana aasan hoga, us din asli mela lagega." Bas, pata nahi, kya sahi hai, kya galat.

Yaar, main toh dekhta hoon mere gaadi ke passenger har mahine Delhi ka do kamra flat ka itna paisa dete hain, sirf commute ke liye. Mere chacha ke ghar in Ghaziabad mein do kamra khaali pade hain, par unke bete ko bhi wahi Seoul... yaaní Gurgaon jaana hai. Kya faayda? Petrol ka kharcha aur time dono zaya. Bas, sarkar ko yeh connect karna chahiye, warna ghar bhi jaayenge, rozgaar bhi.

Last night I was waiting for a fare near Gautam Palli, tuner on some Korean revenge drama — the wife in it had the same stubborn look my daughter gets when she says "Papa, pharmacy is my decision." Yaar, logic says their chaebol stories have nothing to do with our Lucknow, but that woman’s silence while sorting accounts felt like watching my mother hide the milk bill under the chai saucer. Bas, if the drama is fair to its villains, I give it time.

Nolan sahab ki film dekhi thi maine Inception, woh bhi DVD pe Ramu stall ke paas wale TV shop par. Bahut ghoomti thi gaadi, par uss din seating arrangement kharab thi, AC bhi nahi chala — par film aisi ki pata hi nahi chala teen ghante kaise nikle. Yaar, uske dimaag ka suspension toh kamaal ka hai, lekin main sochta hoon, agar woh Lucknow ki gali mein apni sports car leke aaye, toh do minute mein uski suspension khatam ho jayegi.