TOPI

When I pick up books or stories to read I usually look at the title which doesn’t give away much but still gives me a sense of what the story maybe about. So when I saw the title ‘topi’ for the first time I thought it would be story about two friends and the growth of their relationship around this ‘topi’. But writer Sanjay Sahay represents the Topi in a way that I hadn’t really thought off.

Topi is a story about a common man named Ramai who struggles to makes ends meet. The loss of this job only makes his problems worse. His nagging wife, the judgemental society and the local goon have made him meek, timid and someone with low self – esteem. His frustration and angry about being a poor commoner come out only when he drives the DSP’s jeep through town. This ride although momentarily, changes his life.

The story is set in a small town of Bihar (probably) given that our author Sanjay Sahay is from Bihar at a time when poverty, corruption, unemployment etc. were at it its peak or should I say quite prominent. The writer beautifully brings out the regular struggles of a common man and the dominance of power both legal and illegal and how they affect the thought process of not only an individual but also the society at large.

What I liked about the story was that along with the representation of power and struggles of the common man it also brought out the beauty of a small town. When Ramai is laid off he is given a uniform for the work he did and also maybe because the union couldn’t do much for him and the others like him. Another aspect was a small town which was seen was that the news about Ramai unemployment reached the others even before he reached home. You could say that there is no level privacy in such towns but at the same time there is a feeling of oneness among the people maybe because they amount of fear they have for the local goon Baalu and the DSP are on the same level.

The main characters of the story are Ramai and the Topi itself. The DSP and Baalu along with the society help build Ramai character and in a way make him who he is. Both these characters (DSP and Baalu) represent both legal and illegal power. The Topi represents this power. For example, when Ramai goes to the DSP along with his mama the DSP knows that he can’t really do much for poor Ramai but instead of helping him looks at Ramai as meat or “prey” who is walking into the lion’s den willingly. In my opinion we can see this level of corruption even today. Even if one wants to take the right path or the path of honesty he is only hurt more. An honest individual has no place and as a result this honest person also takes the route of bribery and corruption in order to get work done. (I say this after personal experience.)

There is a flat character in the story named Babban, the local goon before Baalu, who is part of the assembly or is an MLA. We see this even today. The people at power are local goon or people with connections to local goons and have criminal records that are never ending. This is another reason why power is misused more than it being actually used for the benefit of the common people. So when you give power in the hands of those who only want to use that power to fill up their pockets (Babban and Baalu) while the common man (Ramai) struggle to make ends meet the future of not just our country but any country that functions in this manner is bound to have high level and deep seated corruption which is very difficult and close to impossible to eradicate.

The first time Ramai wears the Topi is to protect himself from the cold and doesn’t really realise what he had done and the power of the topi until the traffic police saluted him and pretended to do his job. But even after he realised the power one Topi he didn’t take it off instead kept it on and wanted to see how else or what else the Topi could do. At this point every action and thought was no longer Ramai’s but was of the Topi. It was as if the Topi and its power had consumed the under confident and meek Ramai and transformed him into a person full of confidence and so much power that it even made Baalu change his colours momentarily.

In my opinion the Topi came as a ray of hope for Ramai as he had begun thinking about mustering money for the bribe so that he could to wear a topi. All the time he had the Topi on his head he was respected. More than anything else he was respected as a human being and I think that’s what we all want. But power is something that doesn’t allow for this to happen. Why is it that the common man has to depend on someone with a “Topi” just get what is his right? Isn’t power for the deserving too? Aren’t hardworking, honest individual entitled to respect and a respectable life?

Once you understand what role the Topi plays in the story you tend to overlook certain things that the writer has added just to bring out the theme of the story. During our discussions we questioned if Baalu hadn’t recognised that it was Ramai who was wearing the DSP’s Topi? And when he did why didn’t he do anything about it? Also, given that Ramai was a meek and timid person how come he didn’t take off the Topi when he realised what he had done? Why did he keep it on? Where did he get this sudden confidence from? It looked like as if some parts of the climax were forced just to convey the message behind the story.

His form of discussion of text really helps as it brings various views to the table. It help me reason out my own views regarding the story and also added perspective to it. Initially I didn’t look at the Topi as a character but merely an object around which the story was centred but it was through these discussions that I was able to understand the text better.

This experience was great fun and I think we should do this more often!!