As we entered the highway the ride to Cuttack was pleasantly fast, though in spite of the fairly light traffic, I saw many driving in middle of the lane. A few ran across the road, safety be damned. Someone riding a Scooty suddenly entered from the right, right in front of us to make the driver of my vehicle deftly swerve to avoid a collision. Whew...
It was a slightly cooler day. We drove past mountains of apartment complexes on both sides of the road, floating in a sea of mist and smog. It was a cloudy, hazy, dust laden morning. Soon the sun peeped through the curtain of haze, revealing vast stretches of barren land with interspersed trees swaying under a cool morning breeze, akin to the hues of brown and green turbans seen in a rally of Sikhs. The Coconut trees seem to be smiling and waving at us with their large branches.
On the way I saw a lot of Auto showrooms, e.g. Ford, Toyota and Suzuki. As we got closer to the Cantonment road near Barabati Stadium, the traffic started to crawl through the labyrinths of narrow streets - very typical of the city of Cuttack. We trudged ahead on the road filled with potholes, amiably shared by homo sapiens and animals alike - numerous stray dogs, cows, buffaloes, goats, a mother monkey with her baby tucked to her back. I always whine about the Bhubaneswar traffic. But trust me, compared to Cuttack, the traffic in Bhubaneswar is a walk in the park. We passed by sluggish Kathajodi river which struggled to flow, looking more like a dirty cesspool and a swimming pool for buffaloes at a corner than a water body which can be called a river. From a distance I saw a washer woman was seen barging cloth on a stone on the river bank.
I enjoyed the caressing of the dust filled cool air through the clogged Cuttack traffic with various street vendors, kiosks, food stalls on both sides of the road.
Finally I managed to reach my destinstion of the government LAR & R (Land Acquisition Relief and Rehabilitation) Court-cum-Office, a walkable distance from the Barabati Stadium. This particular government office was bit different from the others, being newly constructed and devoid of any betel stains at wall corners. The Clerk downstairs wasn't available on his seat. He came back 15 minutes later and directed me to the Courtroom upstairs to get my case id.
I went upstairs and requested another Clerk to get my case id from the computer. No sooner he started keying in my credentials to get the case id, than the judge arrived. Everyone in the Courtroom stood up in attention. The judge, the Presiding Officer from Odisha Judiciary Services requested all to seat down. The Computer Clerk told me to take a seat and wait until all the hearing in the court ended. I asked - "How long this proceedings will take" ? He replied - "It will take an hour to three, add an hour of lunch time in between". I requested - "It should take couple of minutes to pull out my case id. I have no business in these court proceedings. I have come a long way from Bhubaneswar. If you can just give it me what I need, I will be done and go back". The clerk said - "Saare Asi Galeni, the Sir has already arrived. I have to record the court proceedings. You can eat your lunch, come back and wait".
I had no other option. After eating my lunch at "Golden Spoon", a restaurant near Barabati Stadium I was back to the Courtroom, sitting on last row near the whirring wall mounted AC, dozing through the boring court proceedings until it suddenly became interesting. A brother and sister were involved in a litigation over landed property. The sister came to the witness box and got emotional - "My brother was a gem, made of pure gold. My Bhauja (sister-in-law) is both "Dahani and Chiriguni" (Witch and Devil) rolled together. She has brainwashed him against me". In our society it's always the outersider to be blamed, especially the daughter-in-law who spoils the lily white brother. The audience murmered as the chagrin and conquerer mixed look on Bhauja's face sitting close by was apparent and visible. The judge shouted - "Order, order".
Suddenly the Judge noticed me and asked me about my case. I started to explain myself in Odia while still being seated when the judge interrupted me by retorting back - "You should stand up and speak in the court. That's our decorum". In English I replied - "I am sorry. I didn't mean any offense as I am new to all this. In fact, I have nothing to do with the court proceedings going on here, rather I am an inadvertent onlooker just waiting for my case id. I will leave this room as soon as I get it". The Judge got a little curious now. Giving me an "odd man out" look he said - "You don't seem from here. We are about to take a break, but you are free to meet me in my room". Not sure if it's going to get good, bad or ugly for me I followed him to his chamber.
The Judge gave me a fair private hearing after offering me a seat and ordered afternoon tea. During our tate a tete-a-tete we discovered that we live 2 lanes apart in the same locality in Bhubaneswar. It was a huge coincidence and became a binding factor between us. Then he told me clearly - "You issue won't be fixed by just getting the case id. You will be forced to come time and again. There are a lot of paperwork to go with this process". Then he rang his bell. And orderly arrived promptly. The judge told the man to take my credentials, make photocopies of them and bring those to him to sign. He continued - "Tomorrow is the 2nd Saturday, a holiday in government offices. I want to finish this for you before the end of the day so that you don't have to come back again".
As the clerk went ahead with my paperwork, the friendly judge asked me about life in America and the ubiquitous question asked to those from Indian origin living in USA - "I know my friends and relatives who went to the States (as USA is commonly addressed here) never came back. Are you going to follow their footsteps ?" Instantly came my reply - "There is a reason why NRIs are called Non Returning Indians". He laughed.
Finally done with all papers signed, I entered the clerical chamber to take the final copy of the order. As I offered my thanks to the staff, one of them stepped forward - "Agyan Kama Ta Heigala. Tike Cha, Pani - Your work is done. How about some Tea and Water !" I got the hint and prompy obliged, unsure and without clue about the right amount of "Tea and Water". But from the look of satisfaction on their face it could be presumed that I sure "Teaed and Watered" them well.
On my way back home from Cuttack we drove through Tishulia on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, followed by Barang, Patia, Nandan Kanan - the later looked quite different from my childhood days. Patia used to be a snake infected area. During summer vacation of 1984 after our CBSE Board exam, I as part of a group of friends bicycled all the way to Nandan Kanan. On our jouney back home it was getting darker, so we pedaled as fast as we could we were scared of Elephants and Leopards which galored that area. Now the place harbors swanky malls and expensive real estate. We live in changing times. More later...
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