Finding Pleasure….The Chottu’s way …!

It was 10.30am and Madam’s Honda city car was nowhere to be seen. The special unofficial reserved space for madam’s car beside the Neem tree will be occupied by any ordinary customer …… Chottu was worried and sad as well. His boss, Ram Lal was shouting from behind “now, stop dreaming about madam ji, go and push the white Maruti car further ahead”. Finding a safe parking space behind the high rise buildings of Tolstoy and Janpat Marg ( New Delhi)  was a privilege. Every inch of the area was gainfully utilized by the expert parking drivers. Chottu was one such aspiring driver without a valid driving licence.

With no sight of his favourite Ma’Am throughout the day, a dejected Chottu was returning back home late in the evening. Half way to his home he encountered a sudden downpour. The un- seasonal rain  in the month of May bought about a positive swing in Chottu’s mood.  With all commuters running for shelter, the empty Hailey road seemed to him like a cricket pitch. He soon imagined himself to be Brett Lee, his favourite bowler and started making shadow bowling actions, taking wickets in every ball. He jumped, yelled, appealed and waved to the people standing on the bus stop, as if they are the spectators and he was the star cricketer. For a while, he felt like a one man performer …..Being Brett Lee cum Jonthy Rhodes cum Harsha Bhogle all in one.

At the small one room hut in the slums behind the headquarters of World Health Organization, a worried uncle was waiting for his nephew. Seeing his happy, smiling, wet nephew, uncle was finally relived. Chottu’s uncle was an auto drive before he met with an accident a year ago. His left foot was amputated. Since then Chottu’s father had dropped him in Delhi to give company to his bachelor uncle. Sixty one years old uncle was fighting a court case for compensation and plans to leave Delhi once the Court gives its final verdict in his favour. But with every passing month his hope of getting compensation appeared to be dipping.

 Every night before going to sleep Chottu’s uncle would ask him what he enjoyed the most or what was his happiest moment of the day. Mostly Chottu while recounting his happy moment, would refer to or rather describe his madam’s new dress or boots or the new haircut. One that particular day without any sight of Ma’am, it was his hat trick wicket in the rain, which was his moment of pleasure. His uncle would always motivate and encourage him, never to miss an opportunity to be happy or enjoy moments which cost nothing.

Next day Madam was slightly late, but still Chottu managed to park her car in the shade beside the tree. Madam, was looking gorgeous in her new hair style and a trendy pair of ear rings.  Handing over the keys Chottu said “Thank you Ma’am”.

Smiling back at Chottu she asked “why is it that you always thank me”

“It is me, who should thank you for managing the best parking slot for me”.

Chottu shyly answered “Because you bring happiness to my day ….. free of cost”

 Confused Mam, putting her keys in her purse asked “Free of cost! How? 

Clearing his throat, Chottu replied “Ma’am, my uncle says, never miss an opportunity to be happy, which cost us nothing”  “You are so beautiful, you dress so well, I feel happy looking at you, so I thanked you”.

Chottu’s reply left Ma’am wondering for hours. For the next few days she kept thinking of Chottu’s philosophy of price-less pleasure.

Professionally, Ma’am was doing exceptionally good, inspiring people to enjoy life in the right perspective. She was a corporate trainer. Her client list includes young graduates to top bureaucrats. However, personally she was going through a tough time managing her own marriage. Chottu’s concept of finding enjoyment & pleasure without spending a penny came as a refreshing idea to her. Thinking of Chottu’s approach to life, she felt good.

A week later she was supposed to address a mixed group of young and middle age executive from a software company. The subject was Gratitude. She decided to play the Chottu card of price-less pleasure and elaborated on the concept. All executive were given 10 minutes to note down three experience through which they must have found pleasure without paying a penny. The class found the concept very interesting. Unique Ideas came pouring in like feeling good in watching  the giant tricolour ( Indian flag) flying at CP central park # pleasure of experiencing  dark cloud in  the sky on a warm summer afternoon# going for an early morning walk #  reading a  travelogue# lunch time humour#  receiving likes on the Facebook pics # , etc , etc .

The list seemed to be endless. Madam, was happy that she succeeded in making an impact with her new found idea which by then she coined as Chottu Therapy …. She further elaborated “Life has so much to offer but we hardly feel or get to enjoy all the pleasures…an act of kindness, a visual delight, gratitude, appreciation or a simple smile can be the reason of abundance pleasure”.

She finally informed the class how she realized about priceless pleasure from the parking boy Chottu. She explained Chottu’s pleasure moment of looking at her new hair cut or ear rings. How her perspective to life had changed after meeting Chottu.

Soon, Chottu Therapy (CT) became famous in her classes. Her trainees started playing Chottu Therapy card. Many started writing mails to Ma’am sharing their best CT moments. A women who was having trouble with her marriage, wrote an e’mail to Ma’am elaborating how Chottu Therapy saved their marriage. She narrated how after marriage she and her husband   incurred huge debt. As a result of which they could not go out on holidays or stopped dinning out in restaurants. After attending one of her classes the couple decided to play Chottu Therapy and soon found pleasure in almost everything they did together. They realise it is not money which dictates our pleasure but our lack of finding pleasure from price- less things. She even conceived a baby by following the act of price-less pleasure!

A senior executive of a multi-national company and his professor wife narrated their price-less pleasure moment. On a Sunday morning, the couple left out from their posh defence colony bungalow carrying only a hundred rupee in cash. They left behind their car, mobile, help, cook, driver and the children at home. The first thing they did was boarded a DTC bus and purchased a full day ticket for Rs 40 each. For the next 8 hours they were on the move. The plan was to visit all the holy places of worship of different religion. They started from Jamma Majsid and by the time they had Langar# at Bangla Sahib Guruduwra they were completely exhausted. Before returning home they took a walk through the Raj Path holding hands. Suddenly they realized, it was years since they last hold their hands, spend quality time together or had a walk near the India gate. They relived their college life, as if they are madly in love once again. After months of hectic work schedule, they spend one of the best day of their life together. The couple had attended many parties together, had dinner in finest restaurants, had access to the best clubs of the city but never experienced such priceless moment.

“Chottu Therapy is not only about realizing the price-less pleasures but also about appreciating life in the right perspective” is what madam once explained to a group of young executive.

Madam, concept of Chottu Therapy received wide recognition. She started receiving mails from happy trainees every week. Finally, she decided to write a book titled Finding Pleasure…The Chottu’s  Way. For the next few months she had a busy schedule meeting people, sharing experiences, coordinating with publishers. All these months she hardly got the time to meet Chottu. So, when the book was finally ready for publishing, she went to invite Chottu for the launch event. But, Chottu was nowhere to be seen. The parking contract was taken over by a new company. She somehow managed to locate Ram Lal, Chottu’s ex-boss. From Him, she came to know that Chottu lives in the slum behind the World Health Organization office.

Next morning, she navigated through the narrow lanes to reach the  area. Walking through the railway track, she spotted a group of elderly people sitting near a tree. They were listening to a young boy of around 16 years old. It was Chottu, reading aloud the morning newspaper to the old people. On seeing Madam, Chottu was overjoyed. He introduced her to all the elderly people, including his uncle. Chottu, shared with her of his job loss and about his uncle losing the court case. Financially they were going through a tough time and was planning to leave the town in the next two –three days. 

Ma’am, understood the gravity of the situation and felt very emotional. She instantly decided to dedicate a percentage of  the royalty amount of the book to Chottu’s family. She invited both Chottu and his uncle for the event.

At the party lawn of  Krakojia  Embassy on the World Gratitude Day (21^st Sept)  the cover page of Finding Pleasure …….The Chottu’s  Way !  was unveiled jointly by the chief guest Ratan Denanath Ta Ta  and Chottu’s uncle Shri Desbandhu Shastri. Madam received a standing ovation from 200  odd gathering.

Ratan Ta Ta, in his closing speech expressed his moment of priceless pleasure in listening to the first chapter of the book. He offered a scholarship to Chottu to continue his education and his uncle financial help to start a paper recycling business.

Finally, Ratan Ta Ta concluded his speech by saying “There is pleasure and happiness hidden everywhere around us, we only need a bright attitude to find them, otherwise our life will be a long list of complaints”   

Abhijit Bhattacharya

Delhi