Roundabout | Kaka Kohli leads in showing a story and not just telling it

Have you heard of Kaka Kohli or ever come across him as he walked down the hilly road swinging his stick. Surely you must have come across him one time or the other because there is no escape from him. The human heart seeks the likes of him to reaffirm their faith in love, life and the trials and the tribulations that come along with it.

So before I start babbling about the human history of dabbling in stories and putting them into each other’s heads and hearts, let’s get to the point on who Kaka Kohli is and where did one run into this unforgettable character. Since the difference between fact and fiction is blurring with age, I must ponder a bit, Oh! yes, I found him in a collection of stories by Namita Gokhale of the “Paro: Dreams of Passion” fame titled “Life on Mars”, mint fresh from the Speaking Tiger and on my desk for review. This particular story is called “GIGALLIB”, a word which well captures his soul and speech. Kohli was always in love, always connected. In the words of Gokhale: “ Kaka had recently materialised in Nainital, and had taken over Metropole Hotel...He had moved to our lakeside hill station from Bombay, where, it was from Bombay, where it was rumoured, he had featured as the sidekick in a flop Hindi film”.

This “Prem-Pujari”, as he called himself, falls in love with the narrator’s aunty Bindu, whose beauty is described as an inexplicable mix of Geeta Dutt and the venerable vamp Helen. He carries her picture quietly in his wallet, never expresses his love and his quotable quote is: “Love is bloody blind” and one day he is witness to the beauty of his dreams walking into the lake a second time and drowning. He is left murmuring “Love is bloody blind”! This is a fine collection of fifteen stories of love and longing and her beautiful home town of Nainital, as well as stories of women from Indian mythology including Qandhari, Damyanti and Kunti.

Compulsive nose picking and other true tales

From the magical realism of Gokhale, we come to stories gathered during a long journey in journalism by a former senior political reporter of the Hindustan Times - Anil Maheshwari - who had, what they say, a magical reportorial eye. He was a state correspondent of repute, starting his career as a reporter in Meerut, then Lucknow and for two years in Chandigarh, where he noticed the work of youngsters, including yours truly, and encouraged us immensely. After two years in this city of ours, he moved to report from Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, and then the North-East and also Sikkim and Bhutan. After retirement, he has not rested quietly and has penned many books, including the one in hand.

It is said that the real stories that a reporter has gathered in his long career are those which are never written. So it was with Maheshwari, but these true tales were saved in a merry corner of his mind and come to light in a delightful collection- bringing to the reader a merry reading, flavoured with small town life to the human dilemma and agony and humorous anecdotes that make for rich reading. Commenting on the collection, Mahmood Farooqui, writer, actor, director famous for his Dastangoi, says: “A delightful, breezy and joyous...it is a deeply original celebration of the ordinary, the quotidian and the earthy that makes India!”

It is great reading for all, but more so for those in the profession of journalism. Just a sampler here of the spirit of the story about nose picking and its perils on a young heart. Set in a Meerut high school, it has for its protagonist an English language and literature teacher called Shatrughan Nigam. Although ordinary to look at, he had a way with his students and groomed them well.

This inspired a rich mill owner to ask him to tutor his daughter Sushila for the board exam. He did so to his best ability and the girl picked up well and the teacher, admiring her beauty and spirit, soon fell in love with her. Finally one day, summing up courage he reached out for her hand, but the lovely Sushila withdrew her hand saying: “Masterji, how unhygienic of you! A few seconds ago, I saw you picking your nose, and now you are holding my hand with those same fingers. That’s just gross!” Such are the perils of nose-picking and this is just a sample of a great collection of anecdotes.

nirudutt@gmail.com