Sardar 'Oye'

Bhajji swings a doosra abuse - calls Andrew Symonds a Monkey! Symonds blamed Bhajji of racial abuse. Was i witnessing a reality joke or was it a figment of my imagination. A man who belongs to the community which is a target of racial abuses, swings the ball on to the others, was an obnoxious slur in itself. I wasn't sympathetic for Symonds. The case was heard in court and when the proceedings were churned out by the media, word by word - I, like the whole of India was in splits.

Sardars have borne the brunt of being the target of jokes for quite a long time. They now laugh at themselves, because of the realization that this is a part of their existence. But then, we Indians laugh at every other community. That's the essence of being an Indian. The image of a sardar is of a large hearted man with a turban on his head. His dedication has transformed the whole transportation industry into a mostly one community ownership and 'chicken ki tang' and the patiala peg are synonymous with the Sardar on a truck. A sardar is also a man who adapts to any state of the country without any hassles. In Orissa, they speak fluent Oriya. In Bihar- bhojpuri, In Maharashtra it has to be marathi and in Chennai it would be tamil for sure. I remember travelling in a remote town of Arunachal Pradesh and we lost our way. There were three families who were travelling together in a convoy. And, lo and behold! we spotted a sardar. smiles and cheers knew no bounds and the two punjabi families who were travelling with us jumped at the prospect of having found someone who would bail us out. We stopped. "Sardar ji", said one of our fellow travellers. The man stared back. "Ye road kithhey jaati hai dar ji", the question was repeated. "mishmi language only", the sardar smiled back. We laughed and waited for someone else to pass by.

Why talk only of India, let's see kaneda (Canada) or ingland (England). What Punjab is to Biharis, Canada to Sardars and it is a known fact. England too has been almost taken over by the 'chikan tikka'. The versatility of the Sardars and their adaptability in all circumstances make them the wonderful people they are. If you do have a sardar friend, it's almost certain that you won't be let off without eating 'desi ghee ke parathey and lassi'. The warm hug that follows is almost unescapable.

When we laugh our heads off at lil tid bits that is only akin to these folks - especially the 12:00 'o' clock jokes, little do we realise that these are te same people who have been easy targets to wars that rummaged their existence. History has proof of the atrocities that they have had to undergo. But, the true Sardar, like his name fights to the end and succeeds all odds. Call him Lovely, Happy, Bunty or Santa, he simply smiles and walks on.

If you wave out to the sardar and think your day has come to an end, you are in for a surprise. The day wouldn't end without a piece of news I have about a certain Happy singh, whom I met the other day. This Happy singh wanted to get married, so he went and proposed to a girl. She refused. "Why wouldn't u marry me?", asked the sardar sadly. "Because I am a lesbian", replied the girl. The sardar scratched his head and quizzingly asked " what is a lesbian?" , "who does it with a girl", replied the girl a little shyly. The sardar burst out in joy " Oye! no problem at all! we can still get married.. I am also a lesbian!!".
The End!!