SEALED WITH A KISS

Lip service

Some three years ago, I took the liberty of greeting the daughter of the then Pakistan high commissioner, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, with a kiss. She was around sixteen; I nearing ninety. Her grandfather and grand- uncle were in college with me in England. A photograph of my embracing the teenager appeared in the Indian Express and was picked up by some Pakistani papers. It created a furore in Pakistan. Qazi was summoned to Islamabad to explain his daughter?s conduct. He did so to their satisfaction. They felt pretty foolish about it. A few days later, a Pakistani family, including their young daughters, came to call on me. As I opened the door to welcome them, the father said to me, ?First give my daughters a kiss, then we will come in?, and before the Qazis left India for the US, they came to say goodbye to me. This time it was their daughter who took the initiative and kissed me on both sides of my bearded cheeks.

I often wonder what would have happened if instead of Qazi?s little girl, I had taken the same liberty with her grand-aunt, Pyari Begam, who was a great beauty and in my age group. Perhaps it would have led to a war between the Baluchis and Sikhs. It was truly said by Don Marquis on kissing; ?Mayhem, death and arson have followed many a thoughtless kiss not sanctioned by a person.?

There are infinite ways of kissing: an avuncular on the forehead, the fraternal on both cheeks, the more intricate on the lips, or side of the neck. The choice largely depends on the female recipient because males are over-eager to convert the gesture into an intimate relationship. It is said high-heeled shoes were invented for short women who were tired of being kissed on their fore-heads.

An honest kiss demands meeting of the lips. Even with this, there are countless ways of expressing emotions. Vatsayan made a list of over 60 in his silly sex classic, Kama Sutra. In the matter of kissing no one needs a text-book to guide him or her. They know all there is to know from the day they were born. Nor do they have to wait for astral signs to tell them of auspicious days to go ahead. There is an old English saying; ?Kissing is not in season when the gorse is not in bloom.? Gorse is in full blossom right through the year. It grows in profusion in the Shivaliks.

One does not have to define a kiss. Henry Gibbons made a silly attempt which robbed it of all the joy it yields ? The anatomized juxtaposition of two orbicularis oris muscles in a state of contraction. Nonsense! Poet Robert Herrick was closer to the mark when he wrote: ?What is a Kiss? Why kiss, as some approve: they pave sweet cement, glue and lime of love.?

Kisses can be lethal as well as life-giving. There was the kiss of Judas which betrayed Jesus Christ and led to his crucifixion ? it was the kiss of death. There is also the prolonged kiss of resuscitation to save the life of a drowned person. There is the kiss that reveals past relationship. There is a kiss which means nothing but meeting of lips. As an old Italian proverb says: ?A kiss on the lip does not always touch the heart.? It is the kind of kiss that film actors plant on each other in front of cameras with dozens of people watching them. Meanwhile, I find solace in an old Spanish saying: ?A kiss without a moustache is like an egg without salt.? I have plenty of moustache.

Lighting the torch of learning

Village Gharuan in district Ropar is much like most other villages in Punjab. Most of the land is owned by Jat farmers, tilled by men and women of scheduled castes. Men are addicted to drink, drugs and beating their wives. The literacy rate is very low and there are no opportunities to improve living standards. In this village was born S.S. Dhanoa, who made it to the IAS and ended his career as chief secretary of Punjab. It was at his suggestion that Nanak Kohli of Washington decided to set up a Balwady in Gharuan as a pilot project. He had first toyed with the idea of granting scholarships to the best products of Indian colleges so that they could go for higher studies in Western universities. I told him that it would be like getting them green cards; they would never give anything back to India. ?If you really want to bring a change in your country, light the torch of learning in the kitchens of the poorest of the poor...?

And so he did with the Sunder Amarsheel Charitable Trust. It opened scores of Balwadis in the slums of Delhi before starting them in rural Punjab. He appointed Satinder Kaur, widow of an old time college friend, to oversee their operation. Kaur, once professor of mathematics, had joined the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and for 18 years was executive secretary of the Fellowship of Physically Handicapped, helping them to find jobs rather than go begging in the streets. The experience of dealing with likely delinquents came in handy.

In Gharuan, the Balwadi is now run by girls from the scheduled castes. They are more eager to learn than higher caste Jat girls. They wear smart school uniforms, eat a free, wholesome mid-day meal; they have begun to pick up skills like dress-making, needle-craft. They also pursue their studies. ?One of these days you will hear of one of my scheduled caste girls make it to the IAS like Dhanoa,? says Kaur. She adds: ?A host of sarpanches from nearby villages have approached us to start similar projects in their villages.? And so the torch of learning has been lit in an area of darkness.

Happy to be home alone

You will be delighted to know my Charlie dear,

How happily I live in my country here!

Polluted air, impure water and adulterated food

Always keep me in a jovial mood!

Spurious drugs and contraband brew

Add to my life a years few!

I am single but I am never alone

My companions are the idlers of my zone!

There are unstarred hotels and dhabas on wheels

From them I get much lunch and spicy meals!

I don?t have to go to a departmental store.