The Ghost Who Walked With Me

The Ghost who walked with me
I go for a walk in the morning in the forest area near my house as there is lot of greenery available to please the eyes, plenty of oxygen in the fresh air to fill in the lungs for refreshing them and above all no pollution by the vehicles . It also makes it easy for me to manoeuvre my dog moving astride me since he moves unchained. The road passes through some living accommodation then an orchard, a graveyard to the left, through the forests and then to some uneven area finally terminating to the banks of river Ganges. The route is good as one passes through the cross section of the forest where you would find a glimpse of all the wildlife available in Allahabad since they move around in the early hours of the day to answer their calls of nature and look for food before it starts getting warmer later in the day. You would generally find beautiful birds like peacocks crowing in the middle of the forests, the koyals singing sitting on the trees, the eagles gliding high in the sky searching for rats with their powerful eyes, the Indian Maina sitting on the electric high tension wires passing through the forests, jackals speedily crossing the foot tracks as they see you approaching, the leaping long eared brown coloured hare taking long jumps in the bushes and disappearing, the beautiful herds of bluebulls with their tall and handsome king who stares at you if you even think of going towards them and lot of village dogs who start their alarm seeing Jacky, my companion dog with his two pups following him before they even step in their area. The trees look at you : all of them together wishing you a very good morning and welcome with their moving branches which budge with the wind. The ground gives a fresh sweet smell of the morning dew mixed with the loose mud, the cool breeze of early morning caresses your face and the whispering winds give their sweet music to your ears. All these things are a rare commodity in the concrete city and is a privilege of those residing in the cantonment areas and around only. People who have love for nature come and park their cars near the cantonment boundaries , thereafter take a walk and fall back to their cars after refreshing themselves with the walk finally to return back to their homes.
The route I follow is generally not followed by everyone because firstly the area is a restricted one, people are not aware of it, they do not want to venture alone due to fear of wild animals and many such reasons. I however on the other hand have love for the nature and with a company of now three dogs find it interesting to probe into the nature. Moreover the area is also shady so even if I start late in the morning it does not matter much. While starting from my house I blow a long whistle with my fingers in my mouth as a result of which Jacky who is more of an area dog comes running within few seconds wherever he is within the radius of 100m all around followed by his two pups who are about 5 months old now. These pups had lost their mother( Jacky’s companion) about 3 months back and thus Jacky looks after them like their mother: a responsible dog, rather to be more precise a responsible father.
One fine day early in the morning I started off as per my routine with a blow of the whistle and all were with me within a few seconds. Jacky gave happy gestures by jumping and raising his forelimbs so did his pups and with a long ooooooooooooo! voice they started leading the way. I covered about half a km of my walk and had barely entered the start of an orchard of trees that I all of a sudden realised that a person in his white neat dress was accompanying me and started his conversation in very staunch hindi with Jacky,
“Jaao apne samooh mein jaakar milo aap to saakshaat jaanwar ho”( Go and mix around in your group you are a complete animal)
I also laughed it out and he started the conversation with me without any greetings of Hello/Hi or introducing himself. Neither did he ask about me that who I am, where do I work and such questions nor did I attempted to find out who he was as did not feel comfortable asking him thus reciprocating accordingly. He kept discussing about the dog with me. Jacky looked at him with both his ears erect and initially observed him standing still on his three legs with front right limb folded and lifted in air. His tail was neither up nor down but just parallel to the ground indicating the curiosity gesture. He did not bark at him but starred. Thereafter he went astride me and started moving alongwith. The person then started to praise the morning wind, the cool atmosphere of the cantonment area and the pollution free atmosphere not forgetting the clean and broad roads. He started to elaborate on the trends the young people follow today by restricting themselves inside the houses and not adopting the active life of outdoor games played on the ground as he used to follow it in his young days. He appeared to be a man of upper middle age of 50’s as had white moustaches with a clean shaved face and some grey hair. He was swift in walking and had kept a good pace with me throughout the walk. In fact he did not discuss but kept on speaking only not giving me a chance to speak so I also kept nodding and acted as a good listener most of the time. We had bye passed the graveyard by now and were in the orchard where dry leaves were lying and spread like a sheet on the ground. Jacky ran on them making a rhythmic noise as soldiers make while jogging together. I was on the foot track so there was no noise by my feet as there were no leaves on the track. He kept following me on the track. I asked him,
“How do you feel the children of today should be taught so as to encourage them to play outdoors and distract them from TV and computer?”
“You must participate with them in the outdoors so they will be encouraged” he replied at once
“And if your age does not permit you to play with them the games like football which involves too much of running then?” I inquired
“You see you do not have to participate fully only a token participation would also serve the purpose,” he replied.
“You seem to be a very interesting person where do you live”, I asked him
“I live everywhere under this sky all this area is mine only” he answered in a philosophical manner deviating from the specifics.
“Then you are a rich man if you own this area” I told him surprisingly.
“You see it depends on how you think. If you think this land is yours and if even it is not it becomes yours and you feel great. If you think this land is not yours even if it actually is then it is of no use as it does not give you any happiness. So it all depends on how you think.” he gave that mind boggling answer. I interrupted and felt like saying something about myself as he was not giving me a chance to speak,
“I live at----------“
“I know everything about everyone living here,” he interrupted in between my conversation and did not allow me to complete my sentence due to which I had to keep quiet and I felt irritated a bit so I increased my pace to avoid listening to him. I took it that as I will speed up he being old would find it difficult to cope up with me and would thus keep quiet for sometime.
I beckoned him with my left hand while facing the front to follow me faster as we entered the forest . I did not hear any sound of his footsteps and after about 10 seconds took a glimpse turning my neck back and was shocked to see that he was missing. He had just disappeared. I tried to call him but as I tried to shout I just could not as I did not know his name even since I had not asked him all this time while I was talking to him so could only do aaaaa! Hey! but that was not enough and there was no one there except Jacky who was busy sniffing the bushes in the forest along with his pups and pissing at the appropriate places suiting him. I wondered where he could have gone in the area which had lot of trees all around. I tried to take Jacky’s help and shooed him so that he runs around and maybe finds him if he is nearby. Jacky trained to charge and chase the moving bird or an animal or any such thing looked with his raised ears and tail, in a ready get set go position looked all around like an owl but could not notice any movement anywhere so he might have understood that I am just pulling a fast one on him just for the sake of making him run as a result looked at me and lowered his years and thereafter started wagging his tail conveying not to fool him further as he has understood there is no one around there.
I then carried on with my walk with the thought that some people have such habit of neither introducing themselves nor observing departure mannerisms like bye, see you etc and he must be one of their kinds since he did not even greet when he met while walking. I soon reached midway from where I turned back. All of a sudden I saw Jacky chasing a herd of bluebulls and following him were his two pups who were learning hunting skills from their father. It was a great sight seeing them chasing the bluebulls at their top speeds with their body adjusting to the position in an aerodynamic way especially while turning with their tail balancing the body while it turned . It was a sight worth seeing live as one sees it on the discovery channel. After that I could see all three of them with their tongues hanging outside their mouth to cool their body. We soon reached back home and carried on with our work. I went to office after getting ready and the dogs to their tasks of guarding the area. The day passed in a routine way and I did not make any mention of the incident to my wife that day.
Next day in the morning we as usual went for the walk again at approximately the same time and took the same route. As I reached the spot where I had met that person yesterday Jacky took the same position on his three legs with his front limb half folded ,ears erect, tail parallel to the body and silent. Later on he loosened his body and suddenly relaxed and carried on moving astride me with his pups . I could not understand his similar behaviour at the same place. My eyes searched from all the angles for that person in white kurta pyjama(Indian dress) but could not as he was not there today. We carried on moving towards the forest and as I neared the grave yard I saw an old man cleaning the area and feeding his two tied up cattle with fodder. He seemed to be the caretaker of that area of the graveyard as his hut was close to the graveyard gate . I went to him and asked about the person whom I had met yesterday to which he nodded in negative. I again asked him,
“Did you see a person about 55 years old with a thin white moustache and grey hair in this area as he had come for a walk with me yesterday and if anyone else comes to this area for a morning walk?”
He looked at me from my head to toe closely as may be having a weak eyesight to identify and asked ,
“What happened why are you asking about him? Is there anything wrong?”
Hearing this I could not resist myself any further so I narrated the yesterday’s incident to him verbatim.
He immediately touched me with his hands and pressed my shoulders and asked ,
“Sahib aap theek to ho na?(Sir are you ok?”)
“Well I am perfectly fine . What made you think that I am not?” I asked him amazingly.
“Sahib woh jo aapko kal mila tha woh Bhoot tha?”(Sir one who met you yesterday was a ghost.) he replied in a low and whispering voice.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”I asked him emphatically.
“No sir believe me I am not lying it is true” he tried to convince me.
“I don’t believe this crap. How can you say this ?” I inquired from him to get a convincing answer.
“Aap parey likho ki yahi ek samasya hai ki buro ki baat nahin manntey hain”.(This is the problem with all you educated ones that you do not listen to the older ones) he said.
“Ok please tell me did he have heel of his foot in the front and the toe to the rear of his foot?” He asked me
“I do not know as I did not look at his foot,” I replied
“Then tell me did you hear the noise of his footsteps while he walked alongwith you as the ghosts do not make any noise while they walk they simply sail on the ground” he inquired from me further to corroborate his thoughts with my statement.
“I did not hear any sound of his moving steps since there were no dry leaves on the foot track on which I walked so how could the sound come.” I replied in his favour with a thought that although Jacky was making a lot of rhythmic sound while he was running astride me but convinced myself with the fact that since I and he was walking on the foot track which had no dry leaves over it so how could the sound be heard.
“Did he tell you about the place where he lived as the ghosts do not give their address?” he probed me further
I said ,”Yes”
“Where?” he asked me immediately
“Everywhere he had told me,” I said and felt that my answer was not convincing.
“Everywhere? Where specifically? Some hut or house or any such place?” he asked again going into the details.
I kept mum now as had no answer.
“Did he wear spectacles because ghosts do not ?” was the next question from him.
I replied ,”No.”
“Did he have his shadow?”He further interrogated.
“He definitely must be having I did not look at it” I said.
“Did he or did he not answer me in yes or no only?” He reiterated emphatically.
“Well I said I do not know as I did not pay attention to looking at his shadow” I replied loudly and angrily.
“That is all the more reason that he was a ghost. Do you need any further clarification after getting all these answers? He definitely was a ghost and you can confirm this from any Tantric ( Person dealing with super powers) in the world” he replied and he terminated his questioning and answering session.
“But all these conditions do not qualify a person for being a ghost” I said to him .
“Then I have nothing to say .Trust is also something which you must have on someone who is old and experienced. If an old person is saying something to help you out you must have some faith and trust in him at least”, he replied in a dejected manner.
In order to thank him for all the time and effort he spent in talking to me it looked awkward if I overlooked his words bluntly so in order to thank him and make him feel happy I asked him,
“Then what is to be done now?”
He looked at me into my eyes and said,
”Woh jab bhi dubara mile to haath mein ekdam loha pakar lena aur bhagwaan ka naam teen baar lena aur kehna OOM,OOM ,OOM! Aur woh bhaag jayeega”
I nodded in affirmative to him, thanked him for the advice and then came back home. I was thinking on my way back if anything he said would be true then should I act the way he adviced or not? The thoughts of no noise of his footsteps, him not telling his whereabouts and not wearing a spectacle were definitely true but I had doubts on his shadow and the reverse foot since I did not notice it : could be true or could be false. I thus could not convincingly tell my mind that ghosts do not exist for sure. Should I discuss it with my wife or not was the next thought which came to my mind because she would definitely laugh it out and what would the kids think if they come to know that their father met a ghost today. I looked at Jacky and wished if only he could talk and tell me what is what as dogs identify ghosts very soon : I had known this from a movie. I called Jacky, looked into his eyes and tried to extract if he wanted to convey anything from his sixth sense. He only lowered his ears and sat down with his hind legs folded and front straight with his tail wagging and tongue out hanging asking for love. I caressed him on his head and he took a running stance all of a sudden since wanted to play so we reached home jogging and ending our morning walk of the day.
The day passed by and while returning from office I took a route in my vehicle to the place where this incident had occurred to look for any other clue but could not. I came home and in the evening gathered some courage to discuss such a weird thing with my servant and asked him,
“Yahaan koi bhoot woot ki kahani to nahin chalti jungle ke pass jahaan par marunsthal hai?(Are you aware of any story about ghosts near the graveyard)
“Arey sahib wahaan tojab se ek Buddha 4 saal pehle maraa hai hum nahin jaate ,kehtey hai uska bhoot wahan ghoomta hai aur aatey jaatey logon se baatcheet bhi karta hai,”(Sir I do not go there because it is said that an old man had died there 4 years back and his ghost meets the passerby and he even talks to them) he said fearfully.
“Kaisaa hai woh dikhney mein?”(How does he look like?) I asked.
“Arey sahib bhoot ka koi shakal aur roop thodi hi hota hai jiska roop chahey woh dharan kar leyta hai,”(Sir ghosts do not have their own form as they take the form of whomsoever they like) he replied.
This was a vague answer leading to nowhere but his statement that their existed a ghost and correlation of that with an incidence 4 years back definitely forced me to think that there may be something as is known to him also. My wife who was also listening the conversation now probed me through and through to know the whole story which was going through last two days.
Then she asked me ,”What is all this?”
“I told you the story that’s it,” I replied.
“Do you believe all this?” she asked
“No I don’t but sometimes I do because of the evidence I am getting but still I cannot say for sure” I replied in a slightly confused manner.
“Now if that be the case do not go for the walk towards that side from tomorrow” she adviced.
“But that jungle effect is not available elsewhere” I pleaded
“You and your jungle effect should not put us all into trouble, so for some days please change your route” came the instant advice like an order.
“Ok,” I said agreeing to her.
In the night when we were about to sleep my wife called my kids to our room and said,
”Today we will all sleep together”
“Why? Are you afraid of ghosts?,” I remarked
“No but your story makes me nervous and I’ll not take chances with the kids,” and we all were on the two beds watching TV and finally went to sleep .
In the morning it was the third day and I blew the whistle as usual and there came Jacky running with his two pups to join me for a walk. I moved and changed the direction to another side. Jacky was surprised as he was leading the normal route but had to suddenly change the direction since we were to go on the different axis today so he followed me. I today took the main route which has many people walking in the morning, the famous Cariappa road of the New cantt. I walked fast and steady thinking of the same incident and was guessing what that person the so assumed Mr Ghost must be doing there and longed to meet him again but I was not to take chances. As I walked and reached near the Church near the Military hospital on the back side of the mortuary I heard someone calling me from behind on that busy road. As I looked back I was shocked to see that person since he was the same man ,Mr Ghost who was calling me from the rear who seeing me further sped towards me. My legs shaked a little but I did not let my fear come out in open as I was very curious to know the matter.
“Hello sir how are you ?I didn’t see you yesterday Did you not come on this route ?” he said loudly in a fresh voice
Two thoughts emerged immediately in my mind, first, should I grab iron(my house keyring) and chant OOM !OOM !OOM !three times and wait for him to run away and second, or should I greet him back like a man. The time was less to decide but seeing people around walking on a busy road I decided for the second option. I greeted him back and asked shaking hands with him
“Where were you yesterday ?”
I wasted no time in noticing his foot which were intact and like a normal human being, his shadow which was clearly visible, he did not wear the spectacles anyhow, he was in trousers and Tee shirt today (The modern Ghost).
“I had come on this route itself yesterday but I didn’t see you here “, he replied immediately.
“Yes I had gone to the same jungle route so you didn’t see me here yesterday”I replied clarifying him.
My tests for examining him for making sure that he was not a ghost were however in progress at full swing in side my mind. I asked him to thump the ground as an ant is climbing his trouser which he immediately did and I could hear the voice of his thumping clearly . Actually there was no ant, I just said for him to thump the ground so that I could hear the noise made by his foot. We then walked together and now I asked him,
“What is your name and where do you live as I didn’t get your name till now?
“Well I am Mr Pradeep Chaturvedi and I live in that third house adjacent to that crossing which you can see from here.”he replied and that house was visible.
“Oh! Those PCDA houses?” I clarified from him.
“Yes and I am father of Mr Sunil Chaturvedi, who is an officer in PCDA”, he replied smiling.
“I am glad to meet you.” I replied.
“That day you left all of a sudden I didn’t even come to know of it” I said.
“Oh! You are talking about day before yesterday? You were walking so fast, I thought that you wanted to do exercise independently and you did not give me a chance to say bye even as you were quiet ahead of me and so I took a break and went for a loo behind the banyan tree, meanwhile my friend was passing from that road crossing where you left me behind so I took a lift in his car and went away” he replied.
“And you did not even introduce yourself when you met me,” I queried further.
“I introduced my self to your dog you can ask him and he laughed. Frankly speaking I just didn’t get a chance as it happens sometimes,” he continued.
Now my mind was convinced more or less that he was not a ghost. So I narrated the whole thing to him and he burst out laughing .
“Tomorrow we shall meet that old man who convinced you that I was the ghost”, he said showing curiosity to which I agreed.
Next day we met at the fixed place and went for the walk in the old route and reached the graveyard. There was a young boy who was cleaning the area today and I asked him about the old man whom I had met him yesterday.
“Yahaan to aisaa koi aadmi nahin rehta”(There is no such person like that who lives here),” he said.
I was shocked to hear this and I tried to convince him further that I spoke and discussed all about ghost and he had briefed me about it.
The young boy said amazingly while looking at me,
“Sahib kahin woh bhoot to nahin tha?”(Sir was he not a ghost?)
“Did you see his foot, shadow and noise made while walking” he queried further from me.
“I did not notice again as I did not expect him to be a ghost”, I replied.
Mr Chaturvedi interrupted ,”Now this is another story of the ghost.”
Meanwhile a small girl came running and said to that young boy,
“Abhi sandesha aaya hai ki hamaar Nana ji jo parso aaye they oo thek thak baliya pahunch gaye hai” (a message has come that our maternal grandfather who had come day before yesterday has reached Baliya town safely )
And soon the confusion was clear since the young boy was not aware of his grandfather’s presence yesterday as might be out at that time and it thus got confirmed that he was the same old man who spoke to me yesterday was very much a man and not a ghost.
Mr Pradeep Chaturvedi and I then had a good walk without any tension and while we reached back at the point where Mr pradeep had met me first, Jacky again stood on his three legs with his front limb folded and ears up and tail parallel to the ground .This was the last doubt which also had to be cleared and I stood still there to watch what it was. I saw a squirrel run into the hole and now Jacky chased but she was in the hole of that tree and Jacky could only bark. It was this squirrel which he always looked with that stance as it was her home inside that tree.
I reached back home and explained everything to my wife. So she finally said,
“Remember one thing always “
“What?”I asked .
“Sardaron ko kabhi bhoot nahin dikhtey,”she said.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because they don’t believe in it” she replied simply.
“But that day you called for the kids in our room to sleep together. Why ? Were you not afraid?” I asked her
“That is due to psychological fear because of your story” she replied
And we both laughed it out.

The Punishment

THE PUNISHMENT
In 1995 I was posted at a place called Tissa in Arunachal Pradesh. It was located in a central place from where two routes bifurcated to two different directions both about 60 to 70 Kms to the farthest point from there. There were no proper pucca(permanent) bituminous roads as they were freshly cut for paving them later on. When a fresh cut is made with a heavy earth moving machinery like the bulldozer it is generally kept idle and subjected to weather in the open for 2 to 3 years so that the soil settles down on its own and the base compacts to its maximum limit to avoid any differential settlement later on which may otherwise result into sinking of soil or lead to cracks. As a result of these uneven roads the speed limit could not be attained more than 15 to 20 Kmph in the vehicle which as a result increased the travel time to about 3 to 4 hours one way. One road led to a place called Wakka and the other to Pongchau.
Midway to Wakka was a place called Nginu where we had a detachment for meeting our administrative requirements like fuel, water, food etc with some stores required for construction of roads : Bitumen drums, tools etc. This detachment had one in charge with about 6 to 7 men to look after it. They were completely secluded from us and higher Headquarters. We were mainly on communication with radio sets which if would become faulty would render us to be totally out of contact. In order to deal with such situations with the resources crunch we followed a Phantom style of communication of a ‘Tom Tom’ runner system, where a labourer would be given a leather bag who would slung it across on one of his shoulders with the necessary document /paper containing message in it and was thereafter asked to go running to the next detachment where another person waiting for him would carry on this relay race till such time the message finally reached its terminal destination. This would take 6 to 7 hours. When the det incharge wanted to relax and not be disturbed he would switch off the radio set or spoil it by short circuiting and sleep to glory . Since all the time round the clock vigil could not be maintained so they had adequate opportunities and freedom for doing any such mischievous work at times.
The area was very remote and people were years beyond civilisation of modern India. So much so that they had not yet started to wear clothes even. All a male person wore was a small cloth around his lower body just bare enough to cover his genitals (like a langoti) in the form of a belt inside which he would tuck in his Dah (about one and a half feet steel blade fixed over a two feet long bamboo shoot) with which he used to do all his work right from making smallest art pieces of wood to hunting of wild animals. They belonged to the traditional ‘Wanchu’ hunter tribes. Their rules and regulations were very strict and everyone worshipped their village chieftain, called the Raja like a God. He could even order the harshest of the punishments to those found guilty: even death by execution as there was no one to check them. Although the area was divided beat wise by the police but neither did any policemen visit such a remote location nor they wanted to interfere in the village administration as they were themselves from those places and secondly they had a resource crunch with no vehicles to ply on those roads. If the vehicle went off road their then you are on the mercy of God because no civil aid was available. In case of very essential cases only they intervened and that also after taking help from the local army, border roads and Assam rifles units. So jungle rule prevailed but one could rely on their system as was speedy, fair and just unlike our modern system being followed. If you had left your wallet or dropped some of your document while travelling and go searching it back even after couple of days you would still find it there unless some wild animal had lifted it up.
The females also sailed in the same boat as they wore what the men wore with no exception to cover upper part of their body except the local jewellery made of bones and bamboos. Their breasts were visible as were not covered and it looked very odd especially to the newcomer in the area seeing them running with their dangling organs . When we visited the civilised area in between after a considerable gap and see men and women in clothes we started feeling out of place as had got used to see the half naked bodies. They were however dirty as hardly took bath on daily basis and accumulated black dust could be seen clearly on their body. They covered themselves with the hanging conical basket on their backs in which they carried 3 to 4 pieces of huge bamboo shoots which were hollow and hence used for carriage of water inside it. One bamboo shoot had enough capacity to hold about two to three buckets of water inside it. The womenfolk were very hardworking like ants and did the major household work . The men were lazy: they would only do hunting and have drugs all day. The men were basically warriors and every old one of them had killed at least two to three other men of opposite tribes during their fights and after that got those many lines tattooed on to their chests in the form of V as a lady wears a necklace. These were considered their medals of bravery and was clearly visible to everyone. They (both men and women) would also cover their teeth with a thick black shiny coating in order to preserve their teeth which would thus remain no longer of white colour. The younger generation who were out in the cities however were devoid of this due to being slightly educated.
They would make the house of Raja in one day if required. The manpower for such a work would involve each and every person of the village in hundreds who would work together in an organised way, cut a huge tree trunk, place it as the pillar at various places equidistant from each other in a single line and there after covered the roof with thatch to finish the work by evening. The size of the hut used to be not less than 70 to 80 m in length and about 7 to 8 metres in width . It had lot many no of rooms inside it like a steamer ship where there would be place for all the queens as a Raja had about 15 to 20 wives with a room for each. There would also be a place for the cattle in the same hut and a big room at the entrance with a fire burning in the centre around which all the queens and the men with Raja sitting on a special elevated place with his guests used to sit . A big animal properly skinned down would always be hanging over the fire like a barbeque which was continuously smoked to keep in ready to eat state and well maintained hygienically. All the side walls contained huge bison (Mithun) skulls hung systematically all around. The men and their ladies would eat and drink their special wine called ‘Lopani’ (You would vomit if you smelled it) of white colour made of rice and what not. They also had a peculiar tradition. All the Young boys and girls of the complete village used to sleep in a separate long hut made for them and after the girl would get pregnant they would get married to the so called illegal Father in our language.
We had to employ local casual paid labour for our work so the right source to ask for them would be this Raja only who would sent a team of his men whom we would enrol for work like clearing of landslides, road and bridge construction etc. It was his local law that one person of Raja would always be kept on the rolls whether he works or not but in return of that he would help us in all the administrative and management matters related with the labour force and provide the necessary firewood for our use which was thus justified so no one tempered with that old tradition.
At Nginu there was one person named Ashok who although was good by nature in general but would remain good only in presence of his detachment in charge and if he got the opportunity of being alone he would make best use of it to the best of his advantage whether the action would be legal or not. The men were away from family so longed for the leave to go home. Although all attempts were made as per the policy guidelines in vogue to send every person on leave after every 5 months in order to keep them away from frustration and be happy but since there was no other source of entertainment in the middle of the jungle except for playing carom and cards in the spare time for recreation or to watch TV for a short period of time with the help of the truck battery since there were no dish TV’s in 1995. The men spent their time after the days work in refreshing themselves after bathing with these facilities and in the night with a drink or so before going off to sleep.
Ashok had a habit of watching the local ladies passing in front of our roadside detachment (det) and felt uncomfortable starring at their naked body parts hence seeked the first opportunity to contact them. He would at once come and start sweeping the det area in front of the gate from where these girls passed in order to show to others that he is working and at the same time would make use of this opportunity to watch them more closely. The girls would simply laugh at him and would run away in shyness as a result.
One day when the det Incharge was away for some work, Ashok happened to be alone with some two old personnel in the det. When the girls passed carrying water on their backs Ashok made some remark and beckoned one of them to come near him, seeing this the girls laughed and one of them beckoned him in reciprocation just for fun sake. Seeing her respond he approached her by going closer to her and all of a sudden embraced her due to the momentarily created emotional outburst, the action in which he also fondled with her breasts. As a result of this sudden unexpected action she got annoyed, shouted, as a result of which all her companions joined her in hitting him hard on his head, pushed him back and throwing away all their stuff they ran away from there. Ashok quietly came back, had a drink and lied down to sleep. After about half an hour there was a village crowd which quietly besieged the det from all around and their head came to the gate shouting for the det in charge. Since he was not there so the next old man went out to inquire the matter and when he came to know what they had come for he was shocked. They did not listen to him and threatened him that they would take him instead if the right person is not handed over to them. So fearing this he called everyone out. As they saw a small skirmish on his head they asked him to confirm what he had done to their village girl. He in fact rather than apologising blamed the girls for provoking his sentiments and being hit by them in a group. This was enough to convince and identify the culprit. So without saying a word they tied him with jute ropes and forcibly took him in the village to their Raja. The old man who was officiating as the det in charge could do nothing but request them to pardon him but they did not pay any attention to his pleadings. Unfortunately the radio sets were also down and there was no labour available for carrying the Tom Tom phantom message even although one of them was present but he refused to go fearing the Raja as it was now a matter of the prestige of the village. The old man thus had no choice and started to walk down himself for 12 kms leaving just one other old personnel behind to look after the det. He started off in the night all alone by himself to Tissa with no weapon but just a lathi ( a big stick) and a torch in his hand to deal with the wild animals. While he was on his way about 4 kms from Nginu towards Tissa he met three labourers enroute who were coming towards Nginu itself but were not knowing about the incident so he immediately told two of them to return, take the written message and handover to the officer at Tissa. He explained the gravity of the situation to those runners by mentioning it to them that the message is very urgent as someone is lying unconscious in the det who needs immediate medical and police help. Hearing this both the runners immediately started back towards Tissa for handing over the message to me late in the night. Meanwhile the old man returned to the det with one labourer. On the way when he narrated the actual incident to the labour accompanying him he got petrified with fear as he told him that in such cases the Raja orders killing by Dahs (long blade) and if something is not done soon he may be killed by next evening as the time between verdict and execution is not wasted after the verdict is given.
Someone knocked my door at about 11pm in the night and I got up to see who it was and after opening the door I saw a TomTom message labourer who told me what had happened as the officiating det incharge had briefed him and he handed over the message slip to me . After going through it I understood the whole situation which was amply clarified in it. Immediately I went to my friend cum colleague Kashmir singh, discussed the matter and we chalked out a plan . He gave me a radioset and I told him that I am leaving right now and if need arises I will inform him over the radio set whether police help is required or not as if the matter could be sorted out at our level itself it was no use advertising the issue as would bring bad name to the unit and would reflect poorly on the management of man on our part. So I told my wife that I would be back as soon as the matter is sorted out and I can be late also so not to worry about anything. I took my essential stuff, called the driver and along with the Tom Tom labour started off in the vehicle to Nginu. I reached there within an hour and inquired about the latest situation. The incharge there was petrified with fear but was stable. He was worried that if anyone would have harmed Ashok by now .The situation soon became amply clear to me and it was our man’s fault but the matter had to be dealt in such a way that he is able to come back in one single piece somehow as otherwise the things would become serious. The labour knew the way to Raja’s house which was about 4 kms from our det by walking as the vehicle could not be taken there being a hilly foot track. So I along with two labourers and one detachment in charge started off in the middle of the night to Raja’s house. We travelled through the the forest, the cricket noise was at the full, jackals howling could be heard from the distance and only whispering winds passing past the tree branches could be heard. One labour with his Dah was in the front followed by me, the det incharge and the second labour in the rear which comprised the complete patrol. The weather was cold so we were wearing our jackets but the labourers were wearing nothing except their loin cloth. While on the way I kept discussing about the Raja’s habits and his likes and dislikes as it all depended on him to diffuse the situation. He was fond of rum I already knew so had carried three bottles in my bag held with the labour following me. I also had carried some cash which although was of no use as it did not carry any meaning for him since he would convert it into liquor immediately as I had seen him during the paydays. We reached at around 3 o clock in the morning. The Raja was in his hut sleeping near his fireplace with two of his queens by his side over a bamboo mat. On knocking by one of the labourer he spoke loudly in his language to come in . We all entered and he got up and shook hands with me welcoming in hindi which he knew a little bit,
”Aoo Sahib baitho”(Come sir please sit down)
he said pointing towards the wooden stool,
“The det incharge told me that one of our men had misbehaved with one of the girls of your village after which your men had brought him here as a captive” I started off.
“Yes Sir he is locked in the cellar where we keep our cattle fodder and his punishment will be decided tomorrow in the morning after those girls come and give their statements in front of everyone”, the Raja said.
There were few more hours for the outbreak of dawn and the place was stinking inside except for the fireplace where one could have a feel of the smell of the burning wood which subsided the bad smell as a result and was cosy so I pulled the stool with my hands near the fire and sat down to enjoy its warmth in the cold. Later the Raja told me to relax on his coir mat bed to which I also did not hesitate to so just lied down as was feeling sleepy. I also did not wanted that he should get annoyed further as the ball was in his court. It was about 4 am in the morning, the fire was burning both outside and inside me as I feared any stupid decision from his side would put me also in trouble if some harm comes to Ashok. While lying down near him I casually asked him ,
“What decision is expected in such cases if proved guilty?”
The Raja said,” Had he been one of his own men it was death for sure”
“And if he is an outsider?”I asked
Then as the men decide which may also be death or amputation of some body parts like fingers, limbs, ears, nose etc” he replied.
“But are you sure he committed the act alleged on him?” I asked again.
“That is the thing on which everything depends but we believe our girls” Raja continued.
“What if they tell lies and thus result into punishment to the innocent?” I tried to probe further.
“No we do not go by that, their statement is considered to be final as there were three girls along with the girl affected” The Raja clarified.
“Will you have a drink at this time ?“I asked him to divert from the issue for the time being to relax and to poke on to his weakness.
Smilingly he said ,”I don’t mind as your Rum is very tasty as usual”
I asked one of the helper along with me to take out the bottle and pour two large neat pegs without water for the Raja as they did not use water with the drink. Soon he had two pegs in his bamboo glass and sipped it cheerfully.
“What about you ? “he asked me
“As you know I don’t drink at all since I do not like its taste, I’ll have plain water with lemon” I said.
My helper was already ready with the lemon drink by then which he handed over to me from my back side.
“Can something be done for the alleged culprit to free him after giving a minor punishment for the sake of our friendship of two years here?” i asked the raja with a hope.
“Minor?” he said loudly
“Ok major,” but I have a request.”I said emphatically.
“What?”He asked with a deadpan face.
“I’ll punish him if you permit in front of all of you but you should not do any physical harm to him as in turn I will be punished from the authorities for not reporting the matter to the police or the army and you know the procedures there are very lengthy which would infact be a more harassment to me rather than the culprit himself” I tried to convince the Raja with my restraints.
“Sahib itna fikar mat karo usko punishment lene do usne galat kaam kiya hai”(Sir do not worry so much let him be punished as he has done a wrong act)
Said the Raja in half drunk state and sipping the remaining rum from the glass.
“There would be a problem for you also along with your men”I said to the Raja to bring him slightly on to the defensive
“What to me? How ? “ Asked the Raja curiously.
“Yes if the matter of physical assault reaches the higher authorities there would be investigations in which you all will be called at the office to give your statements and that is not one days job it may take more time and you will have to come forcibly because it will be done by the Defence authorities and Assam Rifles will be deployed in case your men offer any resistance”I explained it to him to put in the fear of Assam Rifles from which they usually shook.
“So I was thinking why not to clear the case at our level itself since it is between You and me only till now,”I added.
Raja was lost in thoughts for some time as was mum for few moments.
“Ek aur peg daliye“(Pour in one more peg please), he said
And two pegs were immediately poured out of the Old Monk bottle into his bamboo mug.
He was four high now with his eyes slightly turning red into a joyful mood but slightly worried this time.
I could soon hear birds chirping due to outbreak of dawn.
He called for his men to gather along with those girls and within half an hour the village elders had started appearing near his hut.
I asked him to take me to the place where Ashok was kept as a captive as he had refused me to show him during the night on my arrival since it was slightly far away and the route was slushy. I went with him to the hut located about half a km away from the main hut where 3 of his guards with Dah were standing outside to prevent him from escaping. As we entered I saw Ashok lying on the thatch without his shirt and with his face and body swollen at places due to mosquito bites and shivering with cold. His eyes reflected the fear clearly. As he saw me he came running to me and started to cry like a child holding my leg pleading himself partially guilty. I felt pity on him but did not express myself as would have infuriated the Raja. I rather scolded him and said after kicking him on his backside with my right toe
“Tere ko aisa kaam karte huay sharam nahin aaii ab maro yahaan par”(You didn’t feel ashamed while doing such an act now you die here only)
“Nahin sahib main to uske hansne aur bulanay par hi uskay paas gaya tha”( No sir I went to her only after she reciprocated with a smile and beckoned me) he said honestly trying to convince me of the true fact.
After that we came out I could make out from the expression on Raja’s face that he was satisfied more than I expected with such an act of mine which further clarified my mind how to proceed ahead.
I asked Raja to start the process and finish off the decision soon so that we can go back to our place for the work. He ordered some of his stooges to collect the old men and those girls quickly into his hut. As we reached back to his hut they all had already reached there and the girls were waiting outside chatting with each other. The Raja meanwhile told other men to bring Ashok also after giving him his clothes. I went and asked those girls,
“Kiske saath woh cherchar kiya tha?”(With which one of you did he misbehave?)
They just laughed and ran away inside the hut. Seeing me the Raja also laughed and said smilingly,
“Woh aapko dekhkar Sharma gayee hai”(She is feeling shy after seeing you)
They were shy because they saw a stranger in me seeing a turban on my head as they had never seen a sikh like me generally and not because they were half nude.
Anyway everyone was seated around the big fire burning in the middle of the room. The Raja with one head queen adjacent to him, some old men of the jury, other queens, me diametrically opposite facing the Raja in the circumference and some other people as mere spectators. The girls were first called in and were asked to narrate what happened . They all said what they saw but in their language of which I could not make a head or tail of it except for the fact that they were not serious enough as if it was some game going on which I could not digest. I asked the labourer sitting next to me who had poured rum for the Raja earlier who translated it to me that one of the friends of the girl is stating that she liked Ashok’s action so she beckoned him. This was indeed the point to be noted and I noted it properly in my mind to blurt it out at the right opportunity. After the girls gave their statement they went out and the Raja discussed the matter with his old men who discussed seriously as it appeared from their expressions. Then Ashok was called who by then had reached the hut and was waiting outside to be called in. When he came in he was made to stand in the centre of the circle. I missed no time in getting up and again slapping him on his face to gain public sympathy for him from all those present who took me respectfully back to my seat to calm me down as I was expecting. Ashok was down with shame as the scene had been created to soften the judges to some extent. He was then asked to narrate the incidence and he truth fully narrated everything which was corroborated with the evidence of the girls and the matter was very ambiguous. It came out after discussion that the girls were at fault of beckoning him who never expected that he would catch hold of them but Ashok was more at fault as he had lost control over his mind and could not resist temptation so deserved punishment.
Now the million dollar question was what quantum of punishment?
The jury again went into discussion in their language so I asked the same labour what were they upto and was shocked to hear from him. He said,
“They are discussing about the no of his fingers to be chopped off with which he had touched her body “
I was losing my patience now as such a thing would take a very serious turn later on . So I interrupted in between and told them if such a punishment can be avoided by them because the girl was equally at fault since she provoked him with her smile.Had she been really serious she would have got angry or might have abused him in return but she never exhibited any such act and if in lieu I can punish him that would save my face also and I would give them whatever is within my means. They were lost into thoughts once again and this appeared to be diverting them from their plans of punishment. They again went into discussion. Meanwhile I got a message on my radio set from my friend Kashmir singh at Tissa
“Oh sort out ho gaya ki pheja ik platoon .Assam rifle da company commander mere naal hi baitha cha pi riha hai”( Has the matter been sorted out or should I send about 40 men as I am sitting and having a cup of tea with the officer from Assam Rifles? )
I replied, I will tell you after about 15 minutes and closed the radio set.
This gave me quite a moral strength as I was feeling very lonely till now. So I told the Raja
“Kya socha hai tumne. Woh log isko dhoond rahey hai aur agar sham tak yeh nahin mila to Assam rife wale idhar aa jayaengay”(They are searching for him and if he does not return by dusk then Assam Rifle men will come here )
This had some effect on the Raja and he conveyed the same to the jury of old men sitting there. I could make out that their thoughts were softening on the issue as they also did not wanted to raise the issue and invite unnecessary trouble for themselves as the girls were also at fault. I told them to hurry up . After some time the Raja went out of the hut and called me to discuss the matter alone. I also went out and the Raja clarified the situation and said that they are planning to give punishment in which his five finger nails will be removed instead of chopping his fingers and this he has got it reduced as a special case and the matter will finish after that. I was still shocked as there was no treatment which could be given to him in the state of bleeding fingers and moreover that involved violent pain which would be difficult to bear. I at once denied in anger and said that I will protest to the jury and tell them in clear terms that he should be handed over to us otherwise I will call the security through my radio set. The Raja at once replied not to adopt this way as it will lead to fight since the honour of the village was concerned. They were all really very serious so I also cooled down a little. The Raja tried to convince me that such an act cannot be even thought of by him but Ashok had done it so he deserves to be given adequate punishment. Now I clarified to him in clear terms without any hesitation or shyness and said,
“You have never lived without your queens even for a single day as are always with 18 of them together each day and each night and if you are told to live without any of your queens for 5 months at a stretch, at a place like our det will you be able to live without any such thought as Ashok had in his mind and that also after being provoked by a half nude girl the culture to which we are not accustomed to ?”
The Raja was speech less.
I carried on further, ”If then such a girl passes in front of your house and beckons and smiles at you what would you do? Ashok had been living away from his family for the past 18 weeks without his wife can you now think of his state he would be in when he took that action on provoking. I agree he has committed a mistake but is this severe punishment commensurate to his act keeping his state of mind at that time ? ”
“Sahib aap to dimaag ko ghuma rahey ho? “(Sir you are boggling my head)he said to me.
“Nahin main tumko bata rahan hoon jo baat theek hain.”(No I am telling you what is right)
I also gave him assurance that I will get some of their village work also done in the bargain with my available resources if his men would cooperate in this. So told him to advice them accordingly. I also told him that I had come to sort out the matter with faith in him and thereafter had planned to celebrate with these two bottles of Rum and barbeque as a token of our friendship to make him emotional but it seems he is not interested to help me in sorting out the matter.
Hearing this he caught hold of my hand ,lowered his head ,smiled and pulled me towards he hut to enter in. We both entered the hut and he got into detailed discussion with his old men. After some time he came to me and again asked me to come out . We both came out and he said that they have agreed to the following conditions
1 Ashok will be thrashed by the girls in open in front of everyone for half an hour.
2 You will have to give Bulldozer for a day for making a route to our village from the main road.
3 Ashok will no longer be seen in this area thereafter or else he will be killed without informing anyone by our men.
“I cannot do anything more than this as otherwise I would lose the credibility of being their Raja” said the Raja raising both his hands up.
I ,seeing the situation agreed but told him that the girls will not use any object to hit him which may cause injury and secondly I will myself punish him first and if the girls still feel they can join hands with me to which he agreed.
We both entered the hut for the last time for the day and after discussion the jury told the Raja to announce the punishment. The Raja said in clear words which everyone understood and clapped giving a loud applause but I understood nothing. I only assumed that he must have said what he had discussed with me outside as the language was chinese for me . But the labourer who was sitting next to me smiled at me and raised his hand towards me in happiness conveying that the matter has ended at last which was reasonably acceptable .
Now it was the time to execute.
Ashok was nearly half dead by now but had yet to undergo about one more hour of torture and humiliation for him to come out of the rut in which he had got himself entangled. He was taken out in an open ground and asked to stand. I now had to take the initiative of punishing him such that the punishment should look like a punishment and also to take care that no severe injury is caused to him. I asked him to start rolling on the ground first so that his state becomes more pitiable. He was hardly able to walk as was having sleepy eyes, swollen face and totally demoralised. He started to roll, then side rolled, then into a rooster position which he could hardly do and fell no of times resulting into entertainment of the villagers. I went and kicked him, slapped him, threw him onto the ground to pass time so that he is away from their punishment for that much of duration. While I was doing this the girls came forward and they took on. They hit him with their bare hands on his stomach, chest , face as a result he bowed down and finally fell flat on the ground. It was then a bashing by them with their heels on to his stomach which he even got two near his groins and then turned over with his back facing the sky . The process continued for good about half an hour and soon everyone was tired of bashing. One of the girl fetched a long bamboo seeing which I indicated to Raja not to allow this and he stopped that girl.
After that I could see sense of relief in everyone’s eyes and they were satisfied. The men appeared to be furious still so I went again and slapped Ashok and made him fall down for the last time and kicked with my toes. The anguish reduced and I could now see all eyes satisfied and that was the end of his punishment. I asked the Raja to let us carry Ashok now so that he is given some water lest he may fell unconscious again and he agreed. He was carried by two men and he walked with them in limping position with his arms on to their shoulders for the support and was taken towards the stream flowing nearby. The crowd dispersed and everyone went for their work. I quietly asked Ashok
“Are you ok”?
He nodded in affirmative with his head hanging down.
He washed his face and lied down there in pain.
I allowed him to rest for 15 minutes undisturbed to allow him to be out of shock and asked the labourers accompanying me to help him out. I meanwhile went to the Raja and thanked him handing the remaining two bottles of rum so that he does not come back to his senses for the next 24 hours and remains in the jovial mood. I also told him not to worry about the village road and we will provide all the necessary help thereafter said bye to those girls watching and they waved back smilingly which gave me an impression that they were satisfied with the punishment now and have nothing against him. I then took Ashok and asked him to move immediately from there and we were on our way back. With great difficulty we could bring him dragging all those four kms till our det where our vehicle was standing. On the way we had to literally lift him at times as I did not allow them to stop or take rest . Immediately on reaching I put him in the vehicle, took his essential items and started from there to reach Tissa and by lunch time I was back. He was immediately given dressings on his invisible swelling wounds and bath and asked to doze off without speaking a word to anyone if he does not want to get into further trouble and he did exactly what we had asked him to do.
I narrated the whole story to Kashmir Singh and he listened to it like a child listens a demon tale. Soon everything was normal and the next day Ashok started showing sign of improvement and within next three days he was in a presentable shape.
I asked him then “What if that female asked you to marry her and you had no way out what would you have done”
He said,
”Sahib ab bus bhi karo mujhe woh din yaad mat dilao aur yahaan se dusri det me bhej do (Sir I have had enough please do not make me remember those days and have me shifted to some other det)
The labouer who was listening to this said,
” Woh aise nahin kehti” (She would not have said that)
“Why?”, I asked him curiously
He clarified that because she did not get pregnant and only a pregnant girl can ask for marriage as per their rules.
“Oh ! I see so he would have to stay there for becoming eligible to get married” I said to him to which he nodded and said ,
”Yes”
Strange traditions indeed.
When I narrated this to my wife she said
“Aisi chittar parade to Punjab, Delhi aur UP area mein honi chahiye do din mein Hindustan sudhar jayega”(If such a punishment is given in Punjab, Delhi and UP area India will improve within two days)
An effective punishment indeed.