Life Around Kutchery - Unique style of 2 in 1

Unique 2-in-1 style of Mr Ashok Ram,
The Paan Seller

                  In every district the life around Kutchery is very interesting as I have mentioned in the last blog, but there are some vendors who are unique and and you will not find similar character in other places. Mr Ashok Ram the "Paan" seller is exactly such a unique person whose look alike is hard to find. Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) is in the neighborhood of Ranchi Kutchery. Just outside the boundary of RMC is Mr Ram's shop. He knows well how to attract the attentions of passersby and for this he has taken a bold step of keeping himself and his things in two contrasting styles at the same time i.e. half portion is just opposite in style to the other half. He has one color for right leg of pant while other for left leg. Same is for the shirt. Most daring is the style of his mustache and beard because it is only half on the right side while on the left it is clean. 

Mr Ashok Ram on his 2-in-1 scooter and his shop

                  Even his old scooter has different colors on each half. Whoever sees him, can not remain without smiling and everyone notices him. It is a strong attraction of attention which is the motto of his advertisement. He has another shop at Vardhman Compound, Ranchi and he mentions it in a banner hung in front of his shop. Even his banner is unique. On it is God Shiva in the "Ardhanarishwar-अर्धनारीश्वर" form to support Mr Ram's style because "Ardhanarishwar" is half Shiva on the right side and half Parvati on the left side i.e. half male - half female. Beside God "Ardhnarishwar" is his own photo in his unique style. Then there are different slogans, one of which says,

"पान है मर्दों की शान / 

गुटखा करता है माता, बहनों और बच्चों को नुकसान /

 यही है 2-इन-1 का ऐलान"

(Paan (betel leaf) is style of a man while Gutkha harms ladies and children, thus declares 2-in-1)
There is also a 2-in-1 dog in the banner sitting on a 2-in-1 scooter in the banner. Due to two colors of the dog its name is Chhotu the  'Duranga' (दुरंगा) . Below it is a slogan visibly said by the dog as follows:-

"हम हैं छोटू दुरंगा /

हम नहीं पहनते अंगा" 

(I am Chhotu the Duranga, I do not wear clothes)

Visiting card of Mr Ashok Ram

                 And then there is Mr Ashok Ram's stunt picture on it in which he is riding in his 2-in-1 style clothes on five 2-in-1 scooters. He has even printed his mobile number on it. The whole picture of the banner has been printed on his visiting cards which he happily gave us when we visited his shop. I snapped a pic of his shop and asked to pose for his pic. He posed smiling for the picture.
                  Mr Ram is an interesting and unique person around the Ranchi Kutchery. 

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Life Around Kutchery - Interesting world !

            In every district, Collectorates and courts (generally called Kutchery) are the places where public has to visit either for necessary documents or for cases in which they are involved. The government offices and courts have their own rules for the work and most of the time a person has to visit many times to get a work done. Poor people who do not own a vehicle  and come from distant villages have to rely on private transport services but these transport services are not available frequently if passengers are few. In such cases generally a mini bus or Jeep would bring people at the district headquarter around 10:00 AM and return back around 5:00 PM in the evening. People coming from these villages have no option but to remain around the Kutchery till 5:00 PM even if they have no work after 11:00 AM. This time without work is boring but there are sellers around Kutchery who attract these people to sell their items. Apart from eatables of a variety of items one can see people selling peculiar items that are hard to find elsewhere. 

Selling "Pahadi Imli" near Kutchery.
Tamarind from mountain

               Different types of home made medicines or parts of unseen plants from forest are sold claiming their miraculous healing properties and curing effects for common ailments like joint pains, gas, piles, diabetes, blood pressure and even sex related diseases. Another group of sellers take advantage of uncertainties in life of people and such people are many among these people passing time. Many of them are involved in lengthy cases in courts that may last many  many years or even to next generation. This makes them superstitious and easily attracted towards roadside 'Fortune tellers' (Jyotishi). These Jyotishi tell futures by reading palm or selecting cards. Card selecting Jyotishi may be further eye-catching due to his trained parrot that sits inside a cage and when its master opens the cage it comes out, selects a card among many, hands over to Jyotishi and simply goes back to its cage. On the basis of this card the Jyotishi tells future of the person sitting in front of him. Another type of Jyotishi sells miraculous rings to be worn in fingers and "Tabij" (Amulet). They claim that these things protect the owner from evil eyes or fulfill wishes. They also sell old iron horse shoe (Ghode ki Naal) and iron nails of boats (Naav ki Keel) or rings made of these irons. 
                       Then there are some vendors who exchange old currency notes to new ones for a commission. The commission varies according to the extent of the damage. A few vendors make and sell stamps called "Muhar" in Hindi. There are plants and seeds sellers who grow in numbers during Monsoon. 
                    One may find 'old coins seller' who will show small and big coins from days more than hundred years ago. Coins of British periods and coins of small kingdoms or "Jamindaars". Even coins of about 40 years ago which we had used but now not in use, these include 1 p, 3 p, 5 p, 10 p and yellow coins of 20 p having a lotus flower on it.
                       Sometimes people need urgent passport size photos and they get it within minutes from digital photographers who keep small printers operated by batteries. Before these digital cameras came, the photographers used a box type camera with a black curtain. These were very basic cameras with ordinary lenses and cap type shutters and photographic plates. The customer had to sit like a statue for some moment in front of the camera when the photographer would open the cap shutter for a few seconds and develop a negative inside the box camera. then he would place this negative near the camera lens on a stand and repeat the process to make photos. It took more than half hours to deliver the pics and quality was also not good but all this process looked very funny. 
                   In those times there happened to be one more time pass that was the play of "Monkey, Jamura and Madari". The crowd called "Majma" would encircle them and see the act of three with a lot of interest. The most interesting happened to be the dialogues between the "Jamura and Madari" which related to light moments from daily life to satire on politics. Now these shows are not seen perhaps due to the "Animal Cruelty Laws". Same is the reason for vanishing "Snake Charmers" otherwise they were an integral part of the life around "Kutchery".
                   So as a whole the life around "Kutchery" is very interesting and a good time-pass for people without work who also become buyers in this process and give "Roji-roti" (Employment) to these interesting sellers. But this interesting world is not without danger because "Pickpockets" and "Thugs" also roam there and it is better to be careful when in such places.

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