Photocopying at Musafir Memorial Central State Library

For all the ills of India, I am glad it has given this city a big library. I love the library. I am a library member. I even remember my library card number - 19527. But this love is not blind. I can see the library is not heaven, at least when you want to photocopy something.

Here is a short guide to photocopying in the Musafir Memorial Central State Library:

Write an application on a piece of blank white paper with a blue ballpoint pen and get it signed from the chief librarian, who looks down on you because she does not comprehend why someone will waste their time in a library.

You are awarded the owner of being looked down only if the short lean person sitting on a wooden bench just beside the door of the chief librarian's office lets you in. 

Then you have to bring that signed piece of paper to a junior librarian who tells you to call the person who operates an old photocopy machine. 

You call him. He comes with you, chats with the junior librarian, examines the application before returning to the machine and start photocopying. 

After he has photocopied, he sends you to another room to collect photocopied papers because he is not allowed to hand them over to you. 

You go to that other room to find four-five employees chatting over tea on rickety chairs. One of them nods you to wait. You wait for a few minutes. One of them finally stands up from his or her chair and makes your a receipt.

Process over! You are a free man now!

taksīm = division

A story of Sadaat Hassan MANTO in Roman Urdu / Roman Hindi with definitions of difficult words.

taksīm

ek ādmī ne apne liye lakṛī kā ek baṛā sandūk muntakhab kiyā jab use uṭhāne lagā to vo apnī jagāh se ek iṃc bhī nā hilā

ek śakhs ne jise śāyed apne matlab ki koyī cīz mil hī nahī rahī thī, sandūk uṭhāne kī kośiś karne vāle se kahā, "maiṃ tumhārī madad karūṃ?"

sandūk uṭhāne ki kośiś karne vālā imdād lene par rāzī ho geyā. us śakhs ne jise apne matlab kī koyī cīz mil nahī rahī thī apne mazbūt hāthoṃ se sandūk ko jinbaś dī aur uṭhā kar apnī pīṭh par dhar liyā.

dūsre ne sahārā diyā, dono bāhar nikle.

sandūk bahut bojhal thā. us ke nīce uṭhāne vāle ki pīṭh ciṃkh rahī thī, ṭāṃge doharī hotī jā rahī thīṃ. lekin inām kī tokā ne us jismānī maśakat ka esesās nīm mardā kar diyā thā.

sandūk uṭhāne vāle ke mukāble meṃ sandūk muntakhab karne vāla bahut kamzor thā. sārā rasta vo ek hāth se sahārā de kar apnā hakk kāyam rakhtā rahā. jab dono mehfūz mukām par pahuṃc gaye to sandūk ko ek taraf rakh kar sārī maśakat bardāśt karne vāle ne kahā. bolo is sandūk ke māl meṃ se mujhe kitnā milegā.

sandūk par pehelī nazr ḍālne vāle ne javāb diya, ek cothāyī.

bahut kam hai.

kam bilkul nahī, zeādā hai. isliye ki sab se pehele maine hī is par hāth ḍālā thā.

ṭhīk hai, lekin yahāṃ tak is kamar toṛ bojh ko uṭhāne ke liye kon hai?

ādhe ādhe par rāzī ho?

ṭhīk hai. kholo sandūk.

sandūk kholā geyā to us meṃ se ek ādmī bāhar niklā, hāth meṃ talvār thī. bāhar nikalte hi us ne dono hisedāroṃ ko cār hisoṃ meṃ taksīm kar diyā.

muśkil alfāz ke matlab

muntakhab karnā = cun nā

imdād = madad

jinbaś karnā = hilānā

tokā = umīd

nīm mardā karnā = kam karnā

How is Manmohan Singh related to me?

It turns out the current Indian prime minister is a distant relative of mine. He is the son of the sister of father of the father of the husband of the sister of the father of me. This image will help you visualise.

Updated photo

 Old photo (when I did not know the names of three missing relatives.)

EDIT -

Unnamed one is Kalyan Das Chadha.
Chaddha is a typo. Please read Chadha.