Generation Gap

P: What is that book about?

 

MSK: The Bombay mafia.

 

P: (SCOFFS) it is Mumbai, now.

 

MSK: It is a book written about a period when Mumbai was Bombay. Either way, it had a world class mafia and was pretty nasty. (Regrets saying it afterwards!)

 

P: I worked in Bombay when all the Mafia dons roamed free.

 

MSK: Really? Must have been nice.

 

P: (Laughs!) I saw Dawood growing up as a most dreaded Don.

 

MSK: Must have been quite an experience. (Can’t resist the urge to bring sarcasm!)

 

P: We used to discuss in the office about who would get killed and when… (Laughs)

 

MSK: I’m sure it was more exciting than doing crosswords!

 

P: Your generation knows nothing about living among animals…

 

MSK: That I’d like to object. We just learn to ignore even though sometimes we get cornered.

 

P: You read those books and form an opinion… we saw it happening.

 

MSK: I am actually quite grateful that I wasn’t around. (Smiles)

 

P: Your generation have computer, mobile phones and stuff that make you look stupid. Nobody reads or anything.

 

MSK: Um… I believe I was reading a book before I was interrupted for this short biography or witness record.

 

P: I could have become a Don too in the area where we lived in Mumbai. All the Malayalees tried to make me one because I stood up against many injustices.

 

MSK: Really? (Tries opening the emergency exit but fails to remove the hatch!)

 

P: Yes. If it wasn’t for that upstart Tiger Menon, I would have become a Don.

 

Tiger Memon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

MSK: Tiger… what?

 

P: Menon.

 

MSK: (picks up the book and reads it, just to confirm) It is Memon. Not Menon. Tiger Memon is a Muslim. Not a Hindu Menon…. He didn’t have anything to do with Malayalees or Kerala. If you want I’ll agree with you about that ‘upstart’ part…

 

P: See… this is the problem with your generation. All facts have been screwed up so much that you don’t know what to believe. What a cursed, confused generation. I’ll go to sleep now.

 

(The train went on and on.)

- Manu

 

 

 

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