Ek bankla bane nyara

Ek ‘bank’la bane nyara

Bruce Springsteen proudly declared, “Born in the USA…I was born in the USA…”, and all Americans loved him. Why, teens all over the world loved him. We are born in India and are also very proud of this ancient bhumi. But where in India we are born, is also important for us. Being born in the north, south, east or west determines the characteristics of the person. Being born rich or poor brings its own challenges. Being born in which caste is important to the caste as well as to the nation. Any government form will ask so many things, caste, religion, language, state, city, taluka, zilla parishad, it goes on and on. And within families they also ask or discuss about the place of birth, whether in a hospital or at home. But a lady delivered in a bank last week and a new paradigm was established. Now, you are supposed to go to a bank either for withdrawal or for deposit but a new word got associated with the bank, called delivery. One day or the other it was bound to happen.

Since the last one month, the banks have become a the centre of attraction for all the denizens of India, whether rich or poor, irrespective of language, caste, creed, or religion. In fact, if any one from the house or office goes missing for a long time, no one misses him or her. For they are sure that the person would be found at  the nearest ATM or bank. And since so many people started spending so much time near the bank or the ATM, all the four stages of life, why, the very beginning and end of life itself, was bound to happen near the vicinity of the bank or ATM. Thus we had people falling in love in a line, entertaining each other to while away the time, and unfortunately losing their life, in the line of duty, all things, whether good or bad, started happening there. Not before long, some beautiful baby was bound to be delivered in the bank and it happened last week. I am sure some adventurous couple would get married outside, waiting in a line. Though I am not sure, how the Saat pheras would be taken by them. Perhaps they would make the pradakshina of the bank itself. They will surely find some bhatji in the line itself. He would be happy to kill two birds in one shot, withdraw from the bank, at the same time attend to his mantric duties.

But one thing is sure. Almost all banks had their small branches or ATM’s near to the hospitals for the benefit of the patients and their relatives, who could withdraw the required amount without having to go far away. Now the time has come for the hospitals to reciprocate this gesture, considering the high number of births and deaths which have started happening, people waiting for their own turn, whether to withdraw or to die. Each hospital should have its own ambulance giving live treatment then and there itself, to the millions waiting in the queue. Like every school has its own medical room, so too should a bank or the ATM.

Yatindra Tawde