panchayat S1E4

The episode premise rests on a local official calling up Abhishek and threatening him with disciplinary action. Apparently some slogans need to be painted on the village walls and it hasnt been done as yet. Abhishek heads over to the site with the entire Panchayat. The slogan is about family planning. Chahe munna, chahe muniya Do bachchon ki pyaari duniya. The deputy comments that slogans like these make no difference. After all, people will produce as many kids as they want to. HIs sarcasm is disarming. Abhishek is trying to buy milk from the Chief which his mother is worried hes not drinking enough of. But its not a simple - Can I please buy milk? - conversation. Theres the question - Does he want cow or buffalo? Which type of buffalo? (In case youre wondering there are three types). And when Abhishek says half a litre, the chief forces him to take more. The little details in these conversations are wildly amusing. They arrive at the next sign which says: Do bachche hain meethi kheer Usse zyada bavaseer. I read that and wondered. What does Bavaseer mean? So I switched on the captions and discovered its translated as piles. Oooh! Thats harsh! Prahlad is concerned about the extremity of this message. But Abhishek and Pradhan are okay with it saying that no one really reads these signs and no one pays attention. They dissipate off to their respective days. Pradhan jis wife is upset that hes offered free milk to Abhishek. Shes concerned about mounting expenses and their daughters impending wedding. I like how these two wind each other up. Elsewhere Abhishek is back at the site taking a picture of the painted slogan when a villager appears with his three children. He reads the slogan and gets very offended. His third and youngest child Pintoo is not a bavaseer he exclaims. His elder children start making fun of and bullying Pintoo. Uh oh! Is this going to cause all the third and counting children to be ostracised? The villager, Bhushan, tells Abhishek to remove the slogan, but Abhishek says he cant do so because he has orders from the top. This infuriates Bhushan who collects the nearby villagers and promises that he will not vote for Pradhan ji in the next election. The crowd, most of whom have several children agree. Abhishek takes this issue to Pradhan ji who immediately wants to remove the slogans. But Abhishek is concerned because the orders have come from the top and if he doesnt follow them he could get fired. While they are discussing this, Pradhan ji gets a call regarding this same issue. He starts calculating how many votes he is likely to lose and is visibly panicked. Abhishek says that he will try to speak to the higher ups and see if they can be convinced otherwise. Pradhan ji steals a lauki from his farm, much to the anger of his wife. He sends it with Abhishek to convince the higher ups to repaint the slogan. Abhishek enters with the lauki and the official is not impressed. Its interesting to see how an elected officials responsibility differs drastically from a government officials. Abhishek asks the official to convince Pradhan ji, but he says its not his job. They also discuss that the word bavaseer is offensive and the official clarifies that it is meant to be that, so that people will learn and not have that many children. This logic is so bad. I can see this backfiring in a big way. The official leaves them with the threat of the District Magistrates authority and wrath looming over their heads. Abhishek is back at Pradhans home. They are discussing how they should proceed next. Pradhan tells Manju Devi that she will lose the next election. But Manju Devi points out that while men are protesting this slogan, if you ask the women, theyll all share that having more than two children - raising them, caring for them - is a difficult task. They would actually appreciate this slogan painted. She further goads her husband telling him that he is too scared to stand up for whats right. For instance, he wont ask for the money for milk, and he wont let the slogan stay up. This triggers his male ego and he decides to do the right thing. The next morning, Pradhan ji calls a ward meeting and stands by the slogan. The wards are concerned that this will affect their votes. However, the Pradhan ji agrees to take full responsibility for the decision. The entire Panchayat stands behind him. These guys are quite endearing I must say. They convince the wards and adjourn the meeting. Just as the meeting finishes, Abhishek gets a call from the BDO saying that the slogan caused arson in a nearby village. Therefore, theyve decided that the slogans are no longer mandatory. Abhishek freaks out and immediately asks for a reversal of the decision. But Pradhan has now put his full force behind it. He also knows that the folks in his village arent going to burn things down. He explains that whatever the outcome, theyll know in the next election. And then he a