A SAND HOUSE
Original Hindi: Goverdhan Yadav
Translation: Dr. Gobardhan Sahu
Soon after the rainfall ceased, children came out of their homes, gathered at a place and shouted merrily. Hopped across the pool of muddy water, jumped here and there making their dresses dirty with sprinkling of dirty water. As the ditch water gets dried up, remains as there wet sand. Covering t`heir little feet with thick sand, they make the muddy sand houses by removing the feet slowly there from. Little thin wood pieces are used for the doors of the houses. Moving around the sand houses, they clap joyously.
I don’t know why I used to play with Mitu (efceleg) and make sand houses together. We remain aloof from the group of children and make our big sand house. Make our own garden by transplanting grass and saplings. Sometimes, we make our own trains, joining match-boxes, pass them through the entrances of the hollow sand house. Mitu plays with me happily.
As clouds disappear, the sky looks clear, the sun shines and the rainbow looks colourful. I finger at the rainbow and say, “Mitu, look at the rain bow…what a nice one.” She holds my hand and says, “Don’t finger at the rainbow, it is sinful !” whenever I behold a rainbow, it reminds me Mitu’s serene and sentimental face.
Transformation was evident in nature. The land around us was covered with lush green grass. Saplings were laden with twigs and flowers. Multi--coloured butterflies were hopping hither and thither. I felt tempted to catch hold of a couple of butterflies, showed them to Mitu. She took them from my hand and let them fly into air. With feigned anger, I warned her not to play with me anymore. She covered her bulging eyes with tiny soft palms. I laughed, I cajoled. I expressed my fun and told her not to weep on trifle things.
Catching hold of my hand, she asked innocently, “Are you sure?” In the name of Goddess Saraswati, I swore to assure her of my joke. She smiled heartily, wiping tears with her frock.
As I sit on a piece of mat for study, she also joins me with her satchel and mat. We repeat and practise the elementary multiple table loudly together like parrots. While we memorise our lessons, in between, she draws palatial buildings, lawns, trees, a flowing stream across a mountain behind the building with her pen on the mat. Showing the drawing to me, the large-eyed Mitu tells me eagerly, “we shall build a bungalow like this behind which there would be a mountain having a flowing river or a rivulet”. I do corroborate her aspirations.
Time has wings. With its passage, we grew up. I started developing little moustache and Mitu was in her early teens, resembling a chubby toy. She looked plump and attractive. I replaced the half pants with long trousers, she replaced the frocks with sarees. Having no separate schools for boys and girls in our small town, we studied together. We plied to school together. Whenever she failed to comprehend a lesson, she used to rush to my room. She sat on a chair in front of me and got clarified her doubts.
Our examination was drawing near. So we studied diligently and performed very well in all the papers. When results came out, I stood first in the class. Both the families celebrated the happy occasion distributing sweets in the locality.
During the summer vacation, Mitu’s eider father’s family came to her house. My mixing talking, laughing and association with Mitu was as usual. But I was surprised, why her elder mother took our relation as an exception. She cautioned Mitu’s mother and warned her against Mitu’s free mixing with me. As the girl was coming of her age, she should not laugh and talk to others freely. She also informed Mitu’s mother that she had initiated marriage negotiation with a family and they were likely to visit to see the girl. Shyam should be desisted from meeting and moving with Mitu freely.
I was inside a nearby room and going through a piece of newspaper. Every word of Mitu’s elder mother pierced my heart. Probably Mitu was sitting over there who ran away blushing. I also hurriedly rushed to my house. Listening to elder mother’s words, Mitu must have been irritated but she was speechless. When she met me, she wept profusely. I consoled her telling that the elders are always our well-wishers. We needn’t be so much sentimental.
When I was taking some food in the evening, mother added fuel to the fire and advised me to stop mixing with Mitu. I was grown up and after a couple of days, the bride-groom would come to see Mitu.
I could not swallow the first morsel of food. Some kind of strange bitterness filled in my throat. Without any word, I got up from my seat, washed the hand and went out. I did not pay any heed to my mother’s loud call.
In a few minutes, I reached the nearby river. I sat on a large piece of rock where I used to sit in childhood with Mitu. Series of thoughts came to my mind, as if I was watching a film. I failed to realize the sunset. Darkness enveloped and the birds started flying back to their nests. Beetles’ sharp cry broke off the serenity. Returned I home gloomily. Is spite of mother’s affectionate attempt to feed me, I could not eat anything and slept silently. Stray thoughts engrossed my mind and I had a sleepless night. I left the bed wiping my red eyes. Mother enquired if I had been sleepless but I was speechless. Somehow, washing the face, I stood up near the window. As I visualized towards Mitu’s house, I felt she tried to conceal herself. Probably, she wanted to evade my vision. Otherwise she used to wave her hands to greet me. This unexpected development, crushed my heart. Perception was that time was at stand still, having no movement.
Later when I came across her, she receded abruptly. She absolutely stopped visiting our house. As she did not come across me, I failed to unravel the expression of her face.
In a couple of days, guests were supposed to visit her home. Therefore, the house was nicely furnished, screens and bed-sheets were renewed. Mitu’s father was busy in setting everything right. I wanted to help him in his arrangement. Maintaining all courtesy. I wanted to know from him what was happening over there. Clearing his dry throat, he informed me that guests were coming to see Mitu that day. I commented, “It is very nice. I would like to take part in the treatment of the guests. There should not be any lapse in it”. Babuji did not react.
Guests arrived on time. Mitu was wonderfully dressed up for presentation before them. Her braid was tied with beads of jasmine flowers, eye-brows beautifully tweezed, face applied with powder, an lips were reddened with lipstick--the make-up was amazing. On one sofa were seated Mitu’s parents, on the other were seated the would-be groom and his parents. On a third sofa, my parents were seated.
Mitu’s mother called Mitu with trembling lips. She entered gently, carrying refreshment and tea kettle on a tray. Her walk resembled the movement of a deer approaching a lion. I could not bear with the sight of tumbling tray and helped her put it on the table gently. Mitu’s mother signalled her to serve the refreshment and tea to all. With trembling hands, the girl began serving the eateries. Mother profusely showered appreciation on Mitu, “All these things are prepared by Mitu herself.” With shivering hands, Mitu offered plates to each of the guests without staring at them. She did everything like a robot as if properly rehearsed much earlier.
After sometime, the groom’s mother opened her mouth, “We have chosen your daughter to be our daughter-in-law. She would be a wonderful match to our shyam.” Mitu blushed so much that she couldn’t raise her face. She gently entered the house. I also couldn’t bear with this sight and returned home. Whatever they discussed ,I did not know.
Later I learnt that the groom was an air force officer with a fat salary and a nice bungalow. After a couple of hours, the guests left Mitu’s house by their car. The house emanated great happiness. A bunch of old and young ladies of the locality gathered around to celebrate the happy occasion by organizing a musical performance.
It was not known how Mitu suddenly succumbed to high fever. She started babbling. In spite of the treatment by quite a few doctors, her fever did not recede. For several days, she had been under the grip of unknown sickness. It was believed that she suffered from diphtheria. I also frequently visited to see her. Whenever she shivered in acute pain, my ached. It was not known how she felt when she found me in front of her. She wept profusely. It was very difficult her to stop hiccup and weeping.
After a lot of treatment it was learnt that Mitu was speechless forever. She became completely dumb. The family became terribly impatient and shocked. Nobody could imagine how it occurred. Time is a great doctor—it wounds and heals. It poses and solves great problems in life.
Now Mitu had completely recovered from fever but she remained totally dumb.
After some days, her father informed the unfortunate matter to the groom’s father but did not receive any reply. Mitu’s father again wrote a letter explaining the details of Mitu’s dumbness. The groom’s father didn’t come to see Mitu, rather he wrote back a sarcastic and denial letter. He cancelled the proposal stating that he didn’t like to wed off a dumb girl with his only son.
The parents of Mitu had thought that the proposal would be materialized in spite of her painful dumbness. But the unexpected denial of the proposal made them weep along with Mitu’s loud cry. The tongue and hands of such people, I feel, may be amputed, who neither can speak soothingly nor can write hopefully. The horrible storm of anger engrossed me and cooled down thinking that I was least concerned to all those people.
Time went on. It applied balm to the wounds and after a while, the storm subsided. Situations became calm and normal. Mitu’s parents silently bore with the daughter’s agonies but couldn’t confront her to soothe her.
With the passage of time, came summer and came the rainy season. The sky was full of bulging clouds. It started raining cats and dogs, followed by lightering. It seemed, heavy rains would cause deluge on earth. After some time, how ever, the rainfall ceased followed by a noisy procession of happy children. Some of them frisked water with feet and some other skipped on the water stream. At one place, there happened to be a wet sand heap. If a few kids built their sand houses, the other created their gardens and yet others built tiny trains with watch boxes.
Soon after the ceasing of rains, I stood near our window. Saw that Mitu too was glancing at the children play merrily. She must have been nostalgic of our past fun. She might have stood before her window since long but due to water drops I couldn’t see her earlier. Now we both glanced at each other. She signalled me towards the children making sand houses, reminding me that we too used to make such houses in childhood.
There was a flash of light at my heart. I surreptiously rushed towards Mitu’s house and wept copiously, clinging her, like an ox clings a sapling. I failed to realize how all these strange things happened. Listening to our weeping sound, Mitu’s parents came towards us. Seeing us embracing each other, they must have blushed. We disengaged ourselves perceiving their presence. I touched the feet of Mitu’s parents involuntarily and begged them the hands of Mitu.
Both of them glanced at each other, speechless. Babuji embraced me tightly, nodded as a stamp of consent. Tear drops rolled down his cheeks, perhaps out of deep happiness.
The sky was crystal clear. Rain-bathed sun was shining brightly. A radiant rain-bow was in its full glory. Unconsciously, I lifted my finger to show Mitu the rain-bow. But she held down my lifted hand. Perhaps she wanted to remind me that it is sinful to finger at the rainbow.
The translator is a former Associate
Professor of English, D.A.V. (Auto) College,
Titilagarh, Odisha, Ph.No.9437429489
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