आप सब यही सोच रहे होंगे कि भाई ये 'लिटिल-लिटिल' क्या चीज़ है ? आप मानिए या ना मानिए पर अंग्रेजी का यह छोटा सा शब्द बेहद नशीला है । शब्दकोश के अनुसार हम सब जानते हैं कि little-little यानी थोड़ी-थोड़ी। मुझे बाकी दुनिया का तो पता नहीं पर हाँ , हमारे इस छोटे से प्रान्त 'हिमाचल' में इसका सिर्फ एक ही मतलब है - little-little = 'दारु' । मैं अक्सर कई हर्षोउल्लास भरे समारोहों में देखता हूँ कि बूढों से लेकर नौजवानों तक सभी इस 'little-little' के शिकार बन जाते हैं । बात लिटिल-लिटिल से शुरू होती है और अंत में नौबत यहाँ तक आ जाती है कि आप अगर गलती से पीने वाले का नाम भी पूछ ले तो वो 'Barack Obama' से नीचे नहीं बताता ।
बात सिर्फ नशे की नहीं हैं, बात तो है इस लिटिल-लिटिल की अविश्वसनीय ताकत की । भाई आप ही सोचिए कि हिमाचली होकर आपने अगर दारु नहीं पी तो भला और क्या किया । 'दिलजले’ फिल्म का एक डायलॉग मुझे बेहद पसंद है- " जीने का मज़ा तो खट्टे में है" । हम हिमाचलियों का भी यही मानना है, मगर खट्टे के रस से ज्यादा हमें दारु का रसिल्ला नशा भाता है । शायद ये नशा ही है जो हमें दुनिया के महानतम शिव-भक्तों की श्रेणी में शामिल करता है । गौरतलब है कि पीने के बाद आप कई भक्तों को 'Bob Marley', जैसे उच्चकोटी अंग्रेजी संत के शिव-संगीत का उच्चारण करते पायेंगे ।
लेकिन दोस्तों ये ऐसा नशा है जिसका असर पीने के बाद ही नज़र आता है। मगर सबसे बुरा नशा तो है राजनीति का। हिमाचल विधान सभा चुनाव के नतीजे जैसे ही बाहर आये ,राजनीति का नशा हर जगह देखने को मिला । आम जनता से लेकर चुनावी प्रतिनिधियों तक सभी इसे नशे में डूबे थे । दारु तो बनती है भाई, किसी के जितने की ख़ुशी में तो किसी के हार के गम में ।
Out of so many things in the world, one thing that you will find common in all Himachalis is their eagerness to search for ‘reasons’ to counter any small or big happening. From ‘mandayali’, ‘kulluvi’ to ‘kangdi’, one thing that unites us all is the search for the otherwise undiscovered, real or virtual, explicit or implicit -‘reasons’ to smile or to cry. But there’s another side of this ‘reason’ which unites us with a much stronger bond and that is – whether the ‘reason’ brings happiness or gloom, in both cases we get a reason to taste the so called ‘little little’…………. दारु.
If you ever happen to visit a marriage ceremony in Himachal, and you are a lover of this ‘little little’-there you go; you have landed at the world’s most appropriate place and infact hit a jackpot because “No one in the world is as sweet as we are and believe me no one in this world is as fast as we are in drinking this ‘little little’ from our throats to our intestines. Some take ‘little little’ out of happiness and some take ‘little little’ out of gloom but one thing still remains the same and i.e. ‘The reason which makes this ‘little little’ to happen’. 20th December- It wasn’t any international day, neither was it a day of some historical importance in our country nor it was the birthday of any celebrity but still, you would have found an atmosphere of hullabaloo everywhere in our little Himachal. Everybody seemed to be over-excited, some rejoicing and some in absolute melancholy but all completely ‘टली’-drenched in political inebriation. It was on this day when the Himachal Pradesh State Legislative election results were announced. Across the state you would have found an absolute fervour of political intoxication. From a small five year old child to a ninety year old man, all were anxiously awaiting the results. It seemed as if the candidates fighting elections were reduced to students and were eagerly waiting for their report cards.
In my own constituency, I witnessed a procession of thousands yelling “ हमारा नेता कैसा हो, ठाकुर गुलाब सिंह जैसा हो ”, some screaming “जीतेगा भी जीतेगा सुरेन्द्र भाई जीतेगा” and a few joining the troop only for the sake of merriment. We often compare Indian politics and world politics at large. If I am to relate politics with the so called buzz word ‘दारु’, then surely, in my context Indian Politics is like the देसी दारू fermented illegally but is portrayed in a manner which makes it no less than the leading alcoholic brands may it be 8PM or Royal Stag. The question that I would like to bring forth to the readers is that whether our political leaders are truly drenched in their motives to uplift the downtrodden condition of society or this ‘नशा’ is only of looting the masses. Is this an intoxication of ‘Service’ or a drunkenness of ‘pillaging”? Is this ‘नशा’ to serve the people or to use them?
Akshay Thakur
