Eight Billion! So What ?

I need my morning cup before I can function properly. Since I was alone at home I walked over to Lachhu’s tea-shop for the morning cuppa. The sun was already up and the day had begun as it does in any Indian village. I sat down on the bench, nodded my head towards Lacchu and started scrolling down the messages that had come from the early risers.

I had not taken more than a couple of sips, and my sleepy ganglia had just about risen from their torpor when Kannu came up the hill obviously agitated. ‘There you are daksaab. Did you see this news today?’ He said waving his phone at me. ‘Kya hua?’ I asked. ‘Did you know the world population crossed 8 billion yesterday. What will happen now? And the news says that India’s population will become bigger than that of China in one year’s time. We are going to the dogs. No one seems to be doing any thing in Delhi!’

Since it was morning there was some activity at the cluster of four shops that goes as the market of our village. Some people were enjoying the sun and a cup of tea while waiting for the jeep to Haldwani and some had come with their morning milking to the coop collection centre. Others were enjoying a smoke and the sun before they went back home with whatever they had come to buy. As Kannu sat down on the bench across from me Devi swinging his empty milk can joined the conversation. ‘Kannubhai why are you looking so agitated?’ he said. Kannu looked it me ‘Daksaab you tell him, I am not sure I can explain it well.’ When I explained to Devi that Kannu’s problem was, Devi also nodded sagely. Then he suddenly jerked his head up and said ‘Are you sure it’s not fake news?’.

I assured them, that no it was not fake news, and the population of India was actually going to exceed that of China very soon. Seeing the three of us deeply engaged some others gravitated towards our bench. Ramesh had overheard our earlier conversation and joined in ‘It is true our population is growing very fast, we read about it when we were in school.’

I felt it was time for a small mental exercise. ‘Okay tell me one thing, most of you have have children, right? How many children do you have. Kannu what about you, and Ramesh you, and you Devi?’ So the count began. Kannu had two daughters, Ramesh one son and one daughter, Devi had just had his first son. Pappu who had two sons added jokingly ‘Daksaab we will all have two children but Kannu, he will have more. He has two daughters you know, he needs a son. Don’t you Kannu?’

‘We will talk about sons and daughters later, but now tell me how many brothers and sisters each of you have?’ So the count began once again. By now some more had joined our group and every one joined in this game. People helped each other out with names of brothers and sisters who had left or were working in Delhi or Chandigarh or Surat or were married. Ramesh suggested that we also add the siblings who had died. We had to ask Lacchu for a sheet of paper to jot all the numbers and using the mobile phone calculator soon the score card of siblings was ready. Among the group assembled at the teashop the smallest number of brothers and sisters anyone had was four and the largest was eleven. ‘What happened to your generation? Did you guys lose steam compared to your parents?’ ‘What are you saying Daksaab, its not steam. How do we raise so many children now? Where is the land where are the jobs? Its difficult to keep more than one cow now, who will get the fodder?’

Addressing Ravi, who had just spoken I asked ‘Do all you five brothers have the same kitchen?’ ‘No Daksaab, my older brother has built his own house, my second brother lives in Gurgaon and the three of us have made our own rooms and kitchens in the main house.’

‘Kannu, do you see what is happening in your village?’ I asked. Kannu shook his head ‘Nowaday it is not possible to live together. Everyone has their own tastes, their own times, and their own money.’ Ravi agreed ‘That’s why I needed to separate my kitchen.’ ‘What else is happening? Devi what do you think?’

Devi had twice failed his high school. He had told me earlier that the exams clashed with the farming season and his family owned the only oxen in the village so he had to do tilling duties to augment the family income and couldn’t prepare. Since then power tillers had made oxen redundant and Devi was now a fullfledged farmer. ‘Farms have become smaller, but still there are no hands for farming. Now our village has many homes, but the families are smaller and the men are all out of the village. Women don’t like working in the cowshed anymore and are joining their husbands in the cities.’

The jeep for Haldwani came and some of those who were milling around left. A pickup came trundling from the other direction. Poles were sticking out from the back and it packed high with red plastic chairs. Kannu explained ‘This pickup is coming from the tent-house in Bhateliya.’ Though no one had asked him. ‘Next week its Sher Singh’s daughter’s wedding, you know.’ ‘This month are there many weddings in the village?’ I enquired. Kannu continued ‘Didn’t you get a card from Sher Singh? We are now in the month Mangsheer, its an auspicious month, there will be lots of marriages.’     

Devi, Kannu, Ravi, Pappu and I were now the only one’s left. ‘I must now go, but tell me what do you make of our conversation and all these calculations? I asked. ‘Everything seems confusing. I can’t get my head around it.’ Ravi said slowly. ‘I don’t understand whether our population is increasing or decreasing now. There are many marriages, families are becoming more, but families now have far fewer children. And children are being born but our sons and their wives don’t want to live in the village any more. Our village will soon only have older people.’ ‘And some like me and you who never managed to finished high school’ added Devi.

‘Kannu, have you figured it out now. What are you going to tell the Delhi wallas to solve the country’s population problem?’

I slowly got up and bidding them goodbye started walking home.