India Parks

Chapter 5: The First India Park.

I found a white dhoti kurta hung in my closet. I brushed, took a shower and got ready. All the elements within me today were Indian. I spoke Hindi with Jaideep and asked Madhu to light a couple of incense sticks. Raqeeb and Zukeen came home at 10.30 and we left together towards the designated spot. The place was an hour’s drive from home which seemed like a day to me. Finally we reached there and found approximately 800eyes waiting for us. Without any further delay, I laid the foundation stone with Raqeeb and hugged him. Everybody present there was given sweets and the ceremony ended with the recitation of my National Anthem.

After 8 months

I was discussing something with Madhu as my cell phone rang.

“Hello!”

“Haan Sir, Main Sharma bol raha hun sir! Jaise maine aapko promise kiya tha aapka “Park” ya job hi kuch aap bolte ho woh ready ho gaya hai sir”.

“Oh!” I was all smiles and Madhu had her question mark expression on. I tried to make the words INDIA PARKS IS READY but she couldn’t get it.

“Haan! Sharma! Hum log aa rahen hain! Abhi!”

By the time I cut the call, Madhu had already grasped the news and went to the kitchen and came out carrying sweets. We reached in an hour, there was a huge gate which still dint read anything. Sharma was standing right next to the door. This Indian import did exactly what I had asked him to do, behave like an Indian! He gave me a big smile as Madhu and I entered.

What we saw inside took us by shock. The houses were of different colors with God names on them followed by the Hindi word Krupa. There was a deserted huge water storage building. I started walking in disbelief when suddenly Madhu shouted

“Watch out!”

I stopped and realized there was a big pothole with dirty water in it. I looked at Madhu, gave a superior smile and stepped into the pothole and said loudly “That’s the point Madhu!” A couple of buildings were created and instantaneously destroyed. A lot of walls were built on which the words “Please do not stick bills” and “Yahan pishaap karna hai” needless to say “Not” word was striked out. Good work Sharma! There were 46 houses that Sharma had constructed. 24 double stored, 2 huge apartments naming them Shantiniketan I and II, somewhere Shobha and Ekta kapoor were smiling. The market area was a pleasant surprise. An Udupi idly sambar stall, a pav bhaji center, a cold drink house, a biryani center and a vacant building stood tall. I turned towards Sharma and asked him “Yeh kiske liye hai?”

“Haan sir yeh maine socha hai!”

“Lekin kya hai?”

“HFC hai, Hindustan Fried Chicken”

It was in our blood. We were all Indians there, Sharma, Madhu and myself. I took Madhu ahead to show her my masterpiece. We were in front of a small shop on which the word PHD was written.

“Let me guess!” said Madhu and thought about it everything from a degree college to a clinic to treat infertility issues.

“Ha! Ha! No”

“This is the official hair cutting saloon of India Parks and it is called PRANAV HAIR DRESSERS”.

Her eyes were moist; she came to me smiled and said “Lets stay here forever”.

“We will” I said, and we went back to the car out of India Park and back to US.

Adequate measures to market and publicize the part were already made. The response was overwhelming. We decided to start with a 3-day package then the 7-day as the Indians in the US were still more US, less Indian. A batch of 120 people were the first visitors to the INDIA PARK. They were 120 Indians none of them were US citizens. That disappointed me but Madhu said that this park would be a bigger hit among the US crowd. The park was a huge hit. All the 120 desired to come back to the park and said they waited for the next long weekend. They were stinking of sweat and carrying rotten bananas in their bags.

Well! That was the point!