Wednesday, September 5, 2007

An early summer - I

In the small border village of Sultanpur in Punjab there was a horrifying hush. The village Panchayat was convened hurriedly. The Sarpanch, Bhim Aggarwal, a short man with a pronounced cut on his forehead, dressed in his typical Swadeshi attire, slowly made it to the raised platform under the village banyan tree. Surrounded by the other panchs, he began to speak only to flutter and look for support.

Summer had declared its arrival a little too soon that year. It was the year of the first democratic elections of independent India, 1952. India was looking forward to being one of the world’s strongest democracies, reaching a stage of self-autarky, stifling the internal bickering. While the country was gradually coming to terms with the newly-found freedom, the freedom struggle and the culminating partition-riots were still green in all minds. The memories of the ‘inquelab zindabad’ rants were stained. Gory images from the greatest human transfer stained those memories. Communal rioting had subsided but communal hatred remained a menace that threatened the peaceful existence of civil society. Bitter memories were hard to let go. India was five years young, struggling to walk.

Shattered (Sultanpur) villagers were gathering in the village temple’s courtyard. Women flocked towards one side and men stood in front of the raised platform. Whispers were now flying fast; the gravity of the matter did not escape anyone.

‘We are gathered here to mourn the passing away of our beloved Rajbir Singh, the cynosure of our eyes; the son of Sultanpur. The young kid freed us from shackles, taught us to live harmoniously under one roof, filled many a dry and enraged eye with tears. His loss is today threatening to take us back to the dungeons he took us out from, even while his memory pleads of us to stand for what he died’, said the Sarpanch.

He continued, ‘I have no commandments for you today, the candle’s endless flicker is no more, and that has left us in the dark, the choice is yours, either wait for dawn or set the sun on this village forever. Let not posterity remember Rajbir as a wasted prodigy!’

Sultanpur, now a battered border village, was once at the heart of united Punjab. It was often called the ‘purveyor of hearty revolutionaries’. The freedom movement that saw the emergence of a steely Indian resolve ended rather glumly with what came to be known as partition. Partition was not the end of the misery. In the years that followed the partition there were frequent riots which shook the country. Unfortunately, Sultanpur too was not to be spared.

The year was 1951, month December, while tending to his cattle a farmer from the village strayed into Pakistani territory. Torched. His body was found a few days later with a message, ‘Hindus who dare to taint our land will be charred to death’.

To be continued....

6 Comments:

At September 5, 2007 at 11:28 AM , Blogger Akhil said...

You can grow into a master story-teller...keep up the good work!

 
At September 7, 2007 at 4:01 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

hmm...we can see vikram seth in making...waiting for part 2.

 
At September 9, 2007 at 2:25 AM , Blogger Unknown said...

i am glad you posted this one despite your earlier hesitation. it is very well written as usual; wonder when are you going to publish despite my constant bickering about the topic. :) finish part 2 soon and post it.

 
At September 11, 2007 at 5:30 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

hhmh quite interesting..phir kya hua?

 
At September 13, 2007 at 11:01 AM , Blogger Unknown said...

interesting...waiting for the rest

 
At September 22, 2007 at 10:28 PM , Blogger ivid said...

Hey dude no doubt you are a good story teller. but i dont want you to be like other indian authors who have over sold india's poverty and ethnicity. similarly the traumas, dilemmas of the times of partition and in the times to follow too have been oversold. it seems more unreal because none of us from our generation were actually a witness to the era of which you have written. Personally I liked your previous writings more as they could be identified with and were more contemporary. I might be holding this view as I know you personally. nevertheless great work buddy...When would the second part see the light of the day?

 

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