meri back....teri back.....

rahul chaudhary called today. his phone call rekindled the panga compromise days in some corner of the mind. if you were a hot blooded male, living in rohtak during 1993 to 1998, panga and compromise meant a lot. it meant a lot more than whose penis is bigger. here is a couple of personal pangas, compromise and 'back'.
1. zyaada aashiqui chal rahi hai aaj kal!!!!
location:
red brick house, next to the model town post office
players:
a.) an XI class student, who went to the post office to drop a letter for ragini, probably written to her cousin in bangalore
b.) pappa, incredible hulk look alike, moral policeman, model town ki top (cannon), taken very seriously by the likes of above mentioned XI class students and respected by some senior badmaashs
dialouge:
'kya kar raha tha?'
'post office gaya tha'
'na, woh toh theek hai....ragini se kya baat kar raha tha?'
' woh.....usi ka letter post karne gaya tha'
' meri baat sun...aaj ke baad, yeh joh teri scooter ghumane ki aadat hain na, chhod de...maan ja...saale tera bhoot bana dunga'
'pappe, panga mat kar...main bhi ......'
dialogue is broken off due to some mumbai underworld moves shown by pappa.
the student walks off, wearing the bruise like a badge.... he tells every one in colony and school, 'pappe se panga ho gaya tha yaar, ragini ke chakkar mein'. in the meanwhile, ragini is unaware of the student's presence, in fact if she had decided to ask anyone for a small favour in model town, she could consider it done, hell, even if she wanted someone to commit harakiri...
2.' woh meri friend hai, saale galat mat bol'
location: som sweets
players:
a.) 2-3 students of , you guessed it, class XI
b.) a student of class X, ajay balhara, has some serious psychological problem, known to show off a pistol in class
dialogue:
'yaar, tumhari class mein ladkiya sexy hain'
'ajay, teri senior hain be, dhang se reh'
'abe woh anisha badi chalu hai, maine suna hai....shantanu ke budday pe bhi aayi thi'
'ajay, meri dost hai, aukaat mein rah'
'abey senior hai toh kya ukhaar loge......'
a major scuffle follows with the students engaging ajay and pappa, who incidently got caught in the cross fire. the shows ends with an item number by sheelu dahiya, who declares to entire model town, 'jo guddu ko haath lagayega, main use chhodunga nahin'
3. ragini
this type of panga never has a fixed cast of players. class X, XI, XII students, local milk man, colony chiefs, Nikhil Mehta (son of ragini's teacher in VPS), vivek varma (sindhu family's relative from out of town, who happened to live in sindhu mansion opposite ragini's house). the list is endless. if any one wanted to be known as one of ragini's suitors, all he had to do was start a panga with any one who happened to be in 5 kilometere radius of the light grey corner house in subhash nagar. poor girl never knew that about 4500 fights took place in rohtak because of her. or maybe she knew, and took pride in it.
Compromise:
1. pappa was politely pointed out that the class XI student he bashed up was a friend of sheelu dahiya, a trigger happy psychopath who never hesitated before hurling bricks at any one, even his father.
2. ajay balhara and pappa were put back in their respective, much deserved places by the class XI students, navdeep and gaurav rana, champions of street fight. the third student being the one who, by default, was known to have a great 'back'.
back= list of strong arm men known to you directly or indirectly who would rush to your aid if you happen to be engulfed in a panga.

last time i went to rohtak and tried to stare at some mean looking guys in model town, i got a 'namaste bhai saab' for my effort. i think i still have that 'back'.

in case you are wondering why write about 'back'? the answer is simple. it was important then and in a way, it is important now. it is reassuring to know that there is a maniac, ready to protect you if pappa decides to rearrange your face. and it is reassuring to know that a few, very close friends will do whatever it takes to help you out, whether it is the ever present money crunch, or an even more depressing 'long time, no action' crunch.
rahul chaudhary wrote the names of people he considered his 'back', on the last page of his maths register. i featured in that list, a little lower than i would have liked at that time.
my register had navdeep's and sabharwal's number. i still have the register. i still remember showing off my bruises. i spoke to ragini, got my arm twisted real bad, my face scratched on a brick wall, walked home smiling. one week of glory.