Albela , Bela , Al-bela

There is an old Bollywood number – socha tha kya, kya ho gaya- sung beautifully by Surayya , the melody queen of yesteryears. This  starting line  has become  my favourite these days , as  I also  repeat to myself – socha tha kya , kya ho gaya,  instinctively. After  slogging     through   for  thirty five years of  bonded  service life, I had hoped for a happy retired life of a vagabond or  an Albela i.e. a self willed person who is free to do or not to do   anything ,  as he likes- with no boss overhead to control or  dictate. These last about  seven- and -a -half  months of retired life  have earned me  the epithet – ‘bela’  courtesy my  ever inventive ‘ well educated ‘  wife  who  repeats or rather parrots  the expression a  score  of times every day , not entirely jokingly , much to my annoyance  and  consternation . Now ‘bela’ is a distortion of Punjabi  word  ‘ vehla ‘    meaning ‘ idler ‘  with nothing to do  and has all the spare time or   ‘ vehal ’  on his hands . I do not know  what she expects of me in the twilight years of my life , though   mercifully I  enjoy good health,  thanks to – more than anything else- my devil- may- care attitude. Now who can tell her, a typical housewife that a person has to  pass  through  &  bear with much in life to  ensure  a superannuation pension to  spend the rest of life peacefully  and in cool comfort. Instead  she  has  made me feel like not only an idler  but the epitome of  one so much so  that   I am   forced to go a   step further and call myself  Al- bela   a  la  other  expressions  with the Arab  prefix  Al .

Now here is a call from me to  all my fellow   ’ belas ‘  to unite   and become  a  Valentine unto one another , as there is little hope elsewhere !

Any takers  ?

Happy Valentine Day  !