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I knew clearly the dangers of village duty. It was a perpetual noose
<http://cudepteng.blogspot.in/>
I knew clearly the dangers of village duty. It was a perpetual noose
around the neck of a Mahar! My father was crushed flat by this
duty. Here is the story of one of his experiences — a near fatal one.
I still shiver at the thought of it.
It was our turn to do the customary duty at our village, Kamat. We
had a house there. I, was summer, so I was home on vacation.
A corpse was floating in an abandoned well near the village. It had
bloated and risen to the surface. The Patil, the village chief, had
already received the news in the evening. The Mahars and the
Kamoshis too had got the news. Anna, my father, as the Mahar on
village duty, and one of the Ramoshis, had both reported at the place
where the corpse lay. Anna and the Ramoshi stayed up the whole night
by the well, guarding the corpse.
Then it was the morning of the next day. The head constable and
another constable were expected from the police post, to conduct an
initial inquiry about the corpse. Till then, as per routine, the Mahar
and the P.amoshi would have to guard it. My mother knew this was
so. But now the night was over, the morning sun, too, had begun to
descend and it was afternoon; yet father had not reurned home. So
my mother sent mc to the well with bhakri wrapped in a cloth for Anna
to eat. I hopped towards the well like a bounding deer. Seeing Anna
sitting close by, I went to him and said, ‘Anna! the night is over. The
day’s nearly gone. Mother is waiting for you! When are you coining
home?’
He glanced at the well and replied, ‘But the chief constable and the
constable arc yet to arrive! They will carry out the inquest; only then
can the Mahar rest. So go and tell Mother that I’ll be very late.’
Ile took out a pipe from his pocket and filled it with tobacco. He
lit it with a flint and started smoking. I (eh he was suppressing his
hunger with jt. I quickly said, ‘Anna I have brought bhakri for you.
Do eat it!’
‘No, son, ¡‘Il only have time to eat my bread when everything is
over with this corpse. Not before tha!’
‘But when will it all be over? And how long will you go without
food?’ To my questions, Anna replied, ‘The village chief was here a
little while ago. He told me that the head constable has arrived in the
village. But he is dining. He’ll come only when he has finished eating
and drinking. When the corpse is fetched out of the well, the inquest
will be heW. Then we’ll be free.’
Looking at the village chief who was sitting under the shadow of a
distant tree, I said, ‘Anna’ The constable will come after his meal.
The village chief has also filled his belly. Then why can’t you too eat
your bread? Why must yçu remain hungry?’
‘Oh, they are officers! How can they work without food?’
‘Then why should we work on an empty stomach? We’re human
beings, too.’
‘That’s what village duty is, my boy! Who cares if a Mahar lives or
dies?’
Then I suggested a way out. ‘Anna, you have your bread! I’ll stand
guard with the Ramoshi till then.’
At this Anna said rather vehemently, ‘No! No village duty for you.
it’s had enough that we have to endure it. Once you’re saddled with
the village duty, you’ll be stuck with it for life! That’s the tradition!
That’s our doom! You go home. I’ll eat when it’s time!’
While I was talking to Anna two constables in uniform marched
up to us, their hob-nailed boots clattering on the ground. No sooner
had they reached the well, than the head constable came pounding up
on his horse. All the people around made way for him. The Ramoshi
paid his respects from a distance, The village chief stood up and
saluted him. Anna bowed in a deep johar. The Ramoshi tied up the
horse to a tamarind tree. Anna fetched water in a pitcher from another
well, which was in a field by the stream. He poured it ¡mo the iron
trough in front of the horse. Since they were expecting the head
constable to come on a horse, the Mahar and the Ramoshi had made
all arrangements for the horse’s care. They put before the horse a sheaf
of green maize shoots which they had brought from the field near the
stream. The hungry horse greedily began to munch the fresh green
grass.
The head constable, spinning his baton, took a stroll around the
well. He peeped into the well, then looked around it and again into
it. He walked towards the steps of the well The upper steps were
buried ¡n the soil. Some lower steps had slipped into the water. Somesteps were about to fall away from the level. It was an abandoned well;
the structure was oid. Inside the rim one could see overgrown,
yard-long dried grass; shrubs had sprouted in the dilapidated
portions. The upper part of the well had collapsed in ruins and its big
long stones were scattered around. Green moss floated on the unused
water of the well, and foliage from the trees near the edge had fallen
into it and rotted. The well was quite deep. I-low to remove the corpse
from such an awkward well? That was why the head constable looked
like a man with a problem. The constable suddenly whispered
something to the village chief. The head constable had a secretive
discussion with the constable and the village chief about how to
remove the corpse. ‘l’hen coming forward, the constable yelled at
Anna. ‘What are you wailing for, Mahar? Jump in. How long must
the officer stand here?’
Anna immediately replied, ‘Constable, the Mahar’s village duty is
only to guard the corpse. How can we touch it? What would the heirs
of this corpse have Lo say?’
Then the head constable said sharply to Anna, ‘What would they
say?’
Anna replied, ‘The heirs will say, “Were we dead, that you touched
our kinsman’s corpse?” and they will have a grudge against us
Mahars!’
‘But I’m ordering you to! What are you afraid of?’
‘Sarkar, you will go away from here. You will leave this poor Mahar
to his fate! We want to go on living in this village’
I was listening irnently to this dialogue between Anna and the head
constable. Suddenly, the head constable thundered, ‘You lump of
dirt! Arc you going to jump, or do I have to whip you?’
At these words, Anna remained silent. Seeing that the head
constable was enraged, he did not open his mouth. The constable and
the village chief started bombarding Anna with threats and curses.
They charged at him, overflowing with abuse, but Anna stood like a
pillar. Perhaps Anna felt that if he said one word, if he said no, the
constable wouldn't stop till he had drubbed him soundly. That must
be why he kept quiet. In those days the oppressive power and prestige
of the head constable were tremendous. Against this power, a Mahar
was a mere wisp of straw.
Seeing and hearing all this was a shock to my young mind. I heard
their curses, their threats, their shouting. I thought, whose dead body
is this anyway? Whose well? Why should my father have to be cursed
and threatened because of them? This was rank injustice to my father;
I was old enough to understand that and also had some education to
my credit. So I could see clearly the injustice being done to my father.
He had not done anything wrong. His only crime was being the Mahar
of the village. I was enraged at what was happening; my gorge rose
with anger. In my rage I pushed into the argument. ‘What reason have
you got to abuse my father? The corpse’s relations will come. They
will remove the body. Otherwise, if the government feels like
removing it, let them remove it themselves! Are you threatening my
father just because he’s the Mahar on village duty?’ I let out this spate
of words in one breath.
Suddenly, like a wildcat, the head constable spat threateningly at
me, ‘Who are you, you little worm?’ And he said to the constable,
‘Catch him! Give the bastard a good beating!’
At this signal the constable charged at me, raising his baton. I
moved back a couple of steps, closer to my father. Anna clasped me
to him. Then he too said in a raised voice, ‘Shut up, son. You’re not
old enough to understand. Don’t say a word. I’ll have to bear whatever
happens.’ From Anna’s words, it was obvious that be had no
alternatives left. Everyone was up against him, pushing him into a
corner. He got up, removed his clothes, laid them to one side and put
a stone on them. Then he went near the well, looked into it from the
side which was still strong, and threw a rope down into it. Then he
slid down the rope, about halfway down the well. I stood by the rim
of the well looking down at Anna. My gaze wandered over the well.
Suddenly, I saw a long, slender creature inside. I shouted, ‘Anna.
there’s a snake below! A snake!’ Hearing me, Anna stopped moving
and hung dangling OH the rope. He looked at the water below.
Horrified, I shouted, ‘Anna! The snake has moved towards the corpse!
From under that stone! See there! See below! Come up. I’ll go down.’
Feeling the vibrations of my shouts, the snake retreated halfway from
the water. 11e went back into the hole and lay peeping out. Anna was
still dangling from the rope, looking at the snake. My shouts had
drawn everyone’s attention and they were craning into the well.
Looking at the snake, the village chief said loudly, ‘O Rama It’s
not a snake, it’s a reptile! It won’t bite!’ I answered his words of
wisdom with, ‘Why don’t you go down yourself. You’ll soon find out
what it is!’
‘You talk too much,’ the head constable said, glaring at me angrily.
He issued a command. ‘Mabar! Get down there! I am getting late!’
y blood boiled; I swore at him silently, ‘Curse this head constable!
Was he born oía man or a beast? Thom did his mother lie under?’ I
would do nothing else to him. But I looked at Anna and shouted,
Anna, don’t go down. Come up. I’ll be down there in a minute.
Whatever happens let it happen to me. Our family will be helpless
without you.’
Anna looked up at me, and said, in despairing anger: ‘Son! if it is
to happen let it happen to me! Let the village know that the village
Mahar Rama died of snake bite. Died while removing a corpse from
, ruined well, while he was supposed to be doing his village duty. Let
he village know! Let the government know! Let the whole world
know!’ With these last words, and without further thought, he took
us life in both hands, and climbing down the well, went to the other
side. Then he tied the legs and neck of the corpse with another rope
which had been thrown down. Tied the knot hard, and shouted, ‘Yes!
now pull!’ The others on village duly pulled our the corpse, for three
other Mahars had by now arrived at the site. Inside the well, Anna
had been keeping an eye on the reptile, for fear that it would wrap
itself round him and kill him. Now with the agility of a snake, he
swifit1y climbed the rope. The reptile moved from the hole and went
slithering through the water, towards the stairs.
The threat to Anna’s life had passed. My terror subsided. My eyes
had filled with tears. Then Anna held me close to him. I wiped my
yes.
The dead body was bloated. It looked hideous and smelt foul. All
had covered their noses. The preliminary inquiry was conducted oà
the spot. The Mahars shifted the corpse into the bullockcart brought
from the farm, and scattered over it neem leaves that covered the body
completely. Then they took it along a can-track to a doctor about eight
miles away for a post-mortem. Anna as the village Mahar., another
Mahar, two Ramoshis and a policeman went along with it. Anna
wrapped in a fold of his dhoti the bread which I had brought for him,
and said to me, ‘Now for heaven’s sake go home! Tell your mother
that I am going to the dispensary along with the corpse.’
Anna set out. The cart disappeared along the road; then Anna
this appeared too. Then I went home, numbed.
A storm of thoughts swept through my mind about the dangerous,
deadly work involved in village duty. Why do Mahars do this kind of
work? I asked myself. But the Mahars had moved the High Court
fighting for the Mahar vatan share, a quarter of the share.
Only after I myself had become an advocate did I learn thai for the
sake of this hereditary right — this worthless right — the Mahars had
played the game of litigation right up to the High Court.
Translated by Priya Adarkar
An extract from Taral-Antrala