Maya's Revenge

GAME OF STONES AND BALLS (LAGHORI PITTHU)

Maya observed that the guard every day from then on. He was very disciplined, and kept to himself mostly. His time for arrival at the milk factory, was the same, and he departed also at the same time. In between, he spent some time at the factory canteen chitchatting with people, having a little fun, and singing songs with others. She observed that he was a little bit of a star amongst the factory workers. They used to cajole him to sing at the factory canteen. He used to sing well, Maya observed. Upon a little further inquiry from fellow staff, she got to know that he was single. His father had been a worker with Kumud Singh, who died during one of the opium delivery trades, that was ambushed by the police. Kumud Singh recruited him to compensate his family, but his mother had kept a condition that he would not be forced to work on opium trading related jobs. Kumud Singh had given him the job of the factory guard.

She could also see that he was courageous, as often, he was at loggerheads with those who used to take out milk trucks carrying hidden opium, inside the factory and outside of it. He did not hesitate to get into an argument if their paperwork was not up to the mark. He was a little edgy, she observed. But otherwise, he looked OK. Kumud Singh liked this guard, and he knew that he could be trusted. But Maya felt otherwise, this guard, whose name was Vishal, was waiting to flee on the next opportunity, and he hated Kumud Singh deep down.

Most of the time while at the gate, he used to play with the kids of the factory workers, the game of Lagori or Pitthu. Lagori/Pitthu is an outdoor team sport of using a ball to hit and break a stack of stone discs. After hitting the Lagori—the stack of stone discs—the members of the breaker team rearrange the stack hurriedly while the opposing team catches the ball to quickly hit the members of the breaker team before the Lagori is restacked. He was either playing with them or observing their game as a referee, sitting close to them on a chair, sipping tea in a kullhad. Maya knew this was the way to break ice with him. She was good at aiming, and she could just mingle with the kids and via them with him.

It worked, whenever there was free time from the factory floor, she used to go and play with the kids. In the game of Lagori/Pitthu, aim is critical, as either you aim at the stack of seven stones with a ball or you aim to hit the members of the opposite team, to stop them from re-stacking the stones. Her aim was too good, and soon she became a buzz amongst the kids. Every kid wanted her on their side. Vishal too started watching the game more keenly whenever Maya used to come to play. One day while she was playing, one of the kids who was a very fast runner made a good move to avoid her attempt to hit him with a ball. She shouted, (Ka be itna tej bhagta hai, birpur chor ke bhaagne ka man hai kaa? agar hai to bata, teri madad karenge). "You run so fast, do you want to run away from Birpur itself? If you want to, I can help." This caught Vishal's attention. He noticed that she had used this expression, a couple of times, and it was obvious that she was trying to communicate something, but in a playful manner.

The next time she made this statement again, Vishal retorted (Abe Birpur chorna naamumkin hai, Kumud Singh tumri maa c*** dega) "It's impossible to leave Birpur, Kumud Singh will f*** your mother." Maya retorted (humra nisaana chuukta nahin hai, goli pe ek hi baar maarenge, pakad ke baith jaayega, par koi to ho jo patthar maarne mein madad kare) "I never miss a target, will hit his balls only once, he will cry in pain and fall down. But I need someone who can help me hit the target," she replied.

After having said this, she took a kullhad of tea and sat next to him, observing the game of Lagori/Pitthu. Vishal observed her for a few moments but posed as if nothing had happened. Everybody in the factory knew that she had injured the son of Kumud Singh, so she was well known in the factory. Since that day, Maya and Vishal started talking to each other regularly. One day, they took the kids out for an ice-cream to a nearby shop outside the factory. While Vishal bought the ice cream, he sat next to Maya and asked her. (Kumud Singh ke beta pe patthar phenkna ek baat hai, aur Kumud Singh pe patthar phenkna, aur baat. Nishana to tumra accha hai, par, agar chuuk gaya to zinda nahin bachogi, maa baap ke saath chanda bhi maregi). " It's one thing to injure Kumud Singh's son and one thing to attack Kumud Singh. Your aim is good, but if you miss, you will not live for long, and the Lord knows what will happen to your father, mother, and Chanda." Maya was shocked; Vishal had been spying on her. She was impressed, at least now she knew that she had a companion who had the same motives.

Maya had been spying on him too. She said, (Tumre kamre mein charas aur apheem ki do teen packet the, daaru ke paise wahin se aate hein na. Aur tumri Moni jo Patna mein tumra intejaar kar rahi hai jisko tum call karte ho rehte rehte, uu bhi mar jaayegi tumri raah dekhte dekhte. Dum hai to himmat karo. Patthar hum phekenge, agar tum patthar ka intejaam karo ). " I know you drink liquor from the opium packets you steal from the factory. Also, your girlfriend, Moni, living in Patna, will die waiting for you. I will throw the stone; if you have the courage, help me get the right stone and the right opportunity."