Bairi Sanam: The hate of a lover

Chapter IV: Zameen

Ketaki

The chores of the day began with the first ray of sun. I stretched my arms waking up to the sounds of birds chirping after getting only few hours of sleep last night. Pushing away the thin blanket that covered me, I took my clothes out of the unkempt closet. It had chipped wooden doors and the hinges made screeching sounds every time I'd open or close it.

Taking the earthen pot from the table, I went outside the house. Standing by the door, I called my friends out.

"Subhadra, Reva, let's go," I yelled. Reva came out hurriedly listening to my voice and stumbled on air that made her matka fall onto the ground and break. I sighed observing her clumsiness while Subhadra came out of her house in the meantime and smiled calmly at us.

"Satyanaas."

(Complete ruin)

Reva said slapping her forehead and went inside her house to get another one. Ignoring her, Subhadra and I began walking and giggled when we heard her running steps.

"Wait for me," she yelled from behind, making us two laugh.

She soon matched our pace and tried to catch her breath while panting heavily. Reaching the river side, we hung our clothes on the tree branches and lowered the pots to the ground. I took the dupatta off me and dipped into the coldness of the water with the rest of my clothes on. A shiver ran down my spine, but it was refreshing. My body slowly adjusted to its temperature, and I splashed some water on my face. I sat up at the edge of the river with my legs dipped in the water. Taking some Multani mitti from the bowl that I had brought with me, I rubbed it over the length of my arm, starting from the wrist up to the shoulder.

(Fuller's earth)

Scooping some more in my hand, I lathered it over my neck and upper chest followed by the feet and legs underneath my skirt. It had a course texture to it that my soft skin loved. I washed it off by taking some water from the river in my hands and then jumped into the river again to wash off the rest. Subhadra and Reva repeated the same thing, and we came out after some time. I changed into a green skirt that ended at my calves. I placed the maroon-colored cloth over my chest and moved towards Reva to ask for help. She tied it into a knot, leaving the longs ends hanging on my bare back. I fixed the green dupatta around me in the same way and added the waist chain that had few bells on it to complete the look. Leaving my wavy wet hair open that ended at my lower back, I began collecting flowers.

Taking the end of my scarf, I spread it on my hand and delicately placed the pink and white flowers on it. Tying them into a loose knot, we began moving towards our houses. We stopped at the small temple just before entering the village. I slowly untied the knot of my dupatta and released the flowers.

Placing them near the feet of the idol of Maa Uma, I adjoined my hands and closed my eyes. Feeling fulfilled in the lap of nature, I did not desire anything materialistic. All I asked was for the strength in order to fight the demons prevailing in the society and within oneself. As I opened my eyes, panditji placed a red dot on my forehead using his finger.

(Priest)

"Ketaki ka pushp to tum swayam ho. Roz roz phool tod kar laane ki bajaye apne aap ko hi samarpit kar do beti," he said.

(You are the flower of Ketaki itself. Surrender yourself to the Supreme instead of plucking and offering these flowers everyday daughter.)

A sudden realisation hit me when I heard his words. When God prevails in everything He has created, then why do we perform these shallow acts of offerings? He is even present in the flowers that I pluck every day. They bloom when they are connected to its plant and die instantly when we detach them from its origin, then why do I do such act?

I nodded in understanding and left as Subhadra and Reva were already waiting for me outside after finishing their prayers. Reaching home, I noticed that daadi was still sleeping. I quickly prepared food for her so that she won't complain again when she'd wake up. After doing that, I took a sickle and a tokri and ran towards our farm where chacha ji was already working.

(Wooden basket)

Tejasvin

I opened my eyes feeling refreshed to the rays of sun falling on my naked back. It warmed up my skin, so I rolled over on my bed and my torso was now getting soaked in the sunlight. The sun rays of Raghavaiah were hitting different. Pushing my hair back from the forehead, I got up to shower. I came out tying the towel around my waist and found my clothes already laid on the bed for me. Picking up the perfectly ironed white kurta- pajama from the bed, I changed into it. I rubbed the towel against my wet hair that messed them up completely. Standing in front of the dressing table, I looked into the mirror and fixed my hair by raking my fingers into them.

I walked downstairs while buttoning up the cuffs of the kurta. I saw one of the helpers, who was a middle-aged woman, setting up the table. She saw me coming down the stairs and adjoined her hands to greet me.

"Chhote sarkaar," she said with a huge smile as I neared the table.

Putting her hands down, I bent down to touch her feet, but she took few steps back before I could.

"Kaki, I'm still your baba who used to hide behind you every time maa would come after me," I said and bent down again. This time, she didn't move back, and I felt her shaky hands on my back.

"You're all grown up now," she said as I straightened myself up. She had few tears in her eyes now. "Savitri would've been so happy to see the little boy she gave birth to, who has turned into such a brilliant and handsome man now."

Hearing my mother's name, a feeble smile came across my face. I pulled out the chair and sat at the breakfast table while waiting for everyone else. Kaki put a plate in front of me and served me some rice and curry.

"Chhote sarkaar you can begin. Bade sarkaar has already left for today's panchayat and maalkin has gone to the temple with Smriti baby."

(Village council)

"Call me baba, kaki. And you were the one to put the clothes out on the bed for me, right?" I asked.

She nodded and said, "just like I used to do it when you were little."

After I finished eating, I decided to take a stroll around the village. I went to the village square where panchayat was taking place. It was being held under the shade of a huge tree that was surrounded by a low ceramic wall on all sides that they sit on. I saw dad and four other people sitting beside him, known as panch or a group of five people who make up the village council. The rest of the people were sitting on the ground in front of them, listening to them carefully. My father looked tensed as one of them stood up to say something. They were in the middle of discussing it when someone spotted me standing at some distance.

"Chhote sarkaar," he said loudly, and everyone turned their heads in my direction. They all stood up and adjoined their hands while some even bowed to me. I moved towards dad, and he stood up from his place.

"My son, Tejasvin everyone," he announced proudly and joining my hands in front of my chest, I greeted them all.

"Govardhan," he called one of the people from the crowd. He quickly came out and stood in front of him. "Go and show him around the village," he ordered.

We both walked away towards the farmlands as he kept telling me about who the farms belonged to. He also informed me about the types of crops that were being grown around this time of the year. I began feeling hot as we kept walking for some time, so I opened the cuff buttons and rolled up the sleeves of the kurta.

I stepped inside one of the lands to explore more. The soil underneath me felt soft and it left imprints of my shoes with every step that I placed in it. The farmland was divided into two parts, the one that I was standing on had dry soil while the other half was puddled. It was necessary for the rice plants to be planted in this type of soil in order for them to grow.

"Whose land is this?" I inquired picking some of the soil in my hand. I inspected it closely and it looked healthy, capable of producing a good yield.

"This belongs to Hari. He must be working around here," he informed me. I hummed, dropping the soil off my hands, and clapping them together to get rid of the remaining.

"I want this land."