D-Company

IIT-Roorkee…. in a not-so-distant future: A small fire flamed in the dustbin as a handful of people crouched around it, wearing just the bare minimum. They didn’t have the luxury of ruining their remaining, albeit torn and discoloured clothes. As the clock ticked 1 am, one of them retorted, “Is there a class tomorrow?? Any protests by D?” Another one among them replied, “Nah! Class hai!” Just as the first guy started going to his room, he enviously eyed the One… the only guy who escaped the iron grips of the system… who wore the colours of freedom… and clean, un-torn clothes! The only guy who refused the services of the Dhobi from the very beginning and thus, avoided getting sucked into the murky world of the D-Company.

It was not like this always… There was a time when dhobis and students lived in harmony. But as time passed, almost inconspicuously, the power shifted… as those-who-must-not-be-named started realizing that no matter what they did to the students’ clothes, no matter how much they delayed in returning the clothes, there was nobody to scold or reprimand them… Even with the advent of technology that replaced their brothers across the world, this little hamlet was untouched by the effects of those shiny, magical metal thingies that washed clothes on electricity. And soon, the baton had passed. When few of our ancestors tried to free themselves of their clutches, the dhobis launched a protest that shook the very foundations of the Main Building, as even the revered and feared Dean succumbed to their demands in the name of ‘saving the unemployment of the poor and needy’… It came as no surprise when they took control of the Institute’s lives, barring those two islands of KB and SB, that stood unconquered.

Soon, it was not just dhobis… our mobiles stopped working local as the postmen joined the bandwagon. Local calls were replaced by letters and speed post (in case of emergency, you know)! Few people ofcourse got their own pigeons! And soon, time seemed to travelled backwards… we were living the days that we had heard of, from our grandmothers and great-grandmothers.

It’s not just the R-Land that bore the scourges of the dhobis. After all, even as back as the 1930’s, Gujarat experienced this silent transfer of power that made even the well-off Gandhiji to move about in just a dhoti… And when they tried to burn their torn clothes, it became a national movement… But fortunately, even the British were not spared as their clothes were destroyed and mutilated by the dhobi community and they had to sail back to the English Lands!

History is proof of the power that they wielded and the deep imprints that they left on the fabrics of history (pun intended). The dhobis had first reached India along Alexander the Great, when they took a liking to the place and abandoned the great emperor, who then had to discontinue his campaign to conquer the whole world. Rarely anybody knows that the East India Company had bribed the dhobis of the royalty, which consequently led to their yielding to the British. Ofcourse, they were ultimately undone by the dhobis too (as previously mentioned). It’s said that Hitler’s dhobis were Jews… the rest is history!

But all hope is not lost… our chosen leader this year could actually lead a revolt against the established order, try and show some sense to those blind eyes of the administration and who knows, we may see the day when we may be able to buy clothes without the fear of their destruction…May we succeed in bringing down this tyranny! Amen!

Note : This post is not intended to hurt the sentiments of anybody (namely the dhobi community, the descendants of Alexander, the British junta and Jews) or demean any great personality (namely Gandhiji and Alexander). This is only to be taken as a joke… like the warnings and threats of Bal Thackeray or my demands for my very own state (I think I would call it Pandora… you know, I am ‘avatar’… get it? )

Advertisement