बीच में हैं बाबाजी

The story behind the poem

My Babaji was a perfectionist—disciplined, multitalented and remarkably skilled. He was one of those people who seemed to know how almost everything ought to be done and, more importantly, how it ought to be done properly. Half-hearted work was simply not his way.

There is one little incident from our childhood that has somehow stayed alive in the family.

Papa had called a carpenter home to make a study chair for us. The carpenter made a mistake somewhere in the work. For most people, perhaps, it would have been just an imperfect chair. For Babaji, it was unacceptable craftsmanship.

Babaji stood at the centre of the proceedings, examining the carpenter’s work. My two sisters and I—the three chelas—had gathered around him, watching Babaji, the carpenter and the unfortunate chair under scrutiny.

Rather than letting the moment pass with mere criticism, Babaji gave me an assignment: express the whole situation in a poem.

So I did.

बीच में हैं बाबाजी

बीच में हैं बाबाजी,
तीन तरफ़ तीन चेला।
कुर्सी को बनावा,
ना तो पड़ी दू ढेला।

I do not remember what eventually happened to that chair, but somehow these four lines survived.

They carry the soil of Bihar in their language—the teasing rhythm, the “बनावा” and the “दू ढेला”. And they carry Babaji too: demanding, involved and wonderfully particular about how things should be made.

Looking back, I think the lesson was never only about a chair.

If you make something, make it well.

And if it is not made well, apparently, write a poem about it.

— Pankaj Kumar Singh