The Crow Baba
Gopi used to skimp in getting up early in the morning, but nowadays even the sluggish dawn of summer was feeling cheated to stop him in bed. As if that old man of eighty has become young again by throwing the cloak of his old age. Every day before dawn, he would have been fully prepared to take up his front like a soldier. With a dhoti and turtleneck shirt on his body, a white cap on his head, and a bamboo stick in his hand, he would slowly walk towards the fields, looking for his destination. His mango tree in the fields was fully laden with ripe mango fruits. The poor fellow was unmarried, but if anyone dared to stone his mango tree, he would leave no stone unturned to play the role of a father. Because of his fear, no one dared to get close to his mango tree. Gopi's attachment to this mango tree was not without any reason. It was an unbreakable relationship that contained the incorporation of the memories of his ancestors. This was also natural because his mango tree was a reminiscence of his great-grandfather. This tree was spread over two bighas of land, with its heavy trunk and huge branches. Its shadow was so dense and cold that even the heat of the summer seemed to feel helpless in front of it. Because of his unwavering relationship and deep love for this mango tree, people had given him the name-Crow Baba. In their eyes, he was not less than a crow bird sitting on a mango tree.
The dry and lazy morning of the month of June was totally ineffective on Gopi. It was but natural; the mangoes on the tree were ripe. He was ready quickly. He wrapped two loaves with salt in a small piece of cloth and then put them in a bag with onion and hung it on the shoulder. Holding the long-necked water pot with the left hand, he picked up a bamboo stick with the right hand and then slowly walked the street with his small steps to go to the fields. Like every day, some boys of the village were busy plucking the mangoes even before Gopi's arrival that day. Suddenly a boy saw him. He whispered:
‘Run, Crow Baba has come.’
‘Where is it?
‘He is coming. Hurry up, run away.’
With these voices, boys started running like monkeys, jumping from the mango tree.
‘You scoundrels,stop, where are you running?’ Gopi shouted, hitting the stick in his hand on the ground.
The boys had become accustomed to these things. They felt immense pleasure from his monkey rebuke. They ran and hid behind a tree. Gopi went to the mango tree and gently put the long-necked water pot down and then straightened the cot with his free hand. After taking off the bag from the shoulder and placing it on top of the cot, he started walking around the tree to take stock of the loss of mangoes. He was short of sight. When he realized mango kernel under his feet, he bent down and touched it by hand and mumbled:
‘The miscreants have crossed all the limits. They are not ashamed at all. They are considering as if this mango tree has been planted by their fathers. If they come here again, I will break their legs one by one. If there was so much desire to eat mangoes, then they would have asked me for it. I never refused them. But these miscreants have the habit of eating it by stealing.’
Talking to himself, Gopi wandered around the mango tree and completed the circumambulation, and then came back and sat on the cot. After a short interval whenever a ripe mango would fall down, Gopi would lift his stick and would go in the direction of the voice, and finding it he would put it in his bag. Thus there was a good amount of mangoes, falling from the mango tree, in his bag till the afternoon.
The schools were closed due to summer vacations. Therefore, the children had complete freedom of pleasure. They were trying to trap Crow Baba. So, one boy got the idea. He said:
‘You stay here; I trap Baba in my trick. If my trick is successful then you will all have fun. The condition is that you will not move from here until I come back.’
‘Okay, we accept your condition.’ All spoke in one voice.
The boy, making a distance, reached the Gopi by the way of the village and said:
‘Crow Baba, Namaskar.’
‘Long live my son, may God bless you a long life. How did you come, say, my son?’ Gopi said, rolling his right hand over his head as a blessing.
‘Baba, I was passing from here, looked at you, and came to meet you. It is said that happiness is found in the shadow of elders. Just came to get your blessings.’ He said, wearing a cloak of decency over his slyness.
‘Your parents are fortunate, who have given birth to such a good child like you? Otherwise, the children of these days are not less than the children of a devil. Son, I will tell you the naughtiness of those rascals. This morning, when I reached here from home, they, offspring of the monkeys, had wandered over every branch of this mango tree. On seeing me they absconded speedily.’
‘Baba how was this marvel? Where did monkeys come from here? This is very bad; they will not leave even a single mango now.’ He said in astonishment.
'Oh, my son! You remain innocent. I'm not talking about those monkeys. I’m talking about those rascal boys who have run away by stealing mangoes.’ Gopi said with a laugh.
‘I see… Baba, I was thinking they were really monkeys.’
‘Ha… Ha… Ha… son, they are really monkeys. It is said that there is no difference between children and monkeys. If they stop doing mischief, then it is considered that they are not well. Son, I feel good about their mischief too. I only get angry for pretence. Have I to carry these mangoes on my head? These are only for children. But the crooks eat stealingly and this is the thing that displeased me. Son, now you have come, I feel very good. Take this mango, son, and eat it.’ He said, taking the mango out of the bag.
The boy's eloquence had shown its colour. After relishing the mangoes, he said goodbye to Gopi and sneaked into his party. They had found this good and easy way to eat mangoes without stealing. Turn by turn, they started approaching Gopi and without doing any hard work, started relishing the mangoes he had collected. For a few days, this sequence continued uninterrupted. One day the boys got into a quarrel over some issue. A boy secretly revealed the whole thing to Gopi. What was it then? As soon as a boy approached Gopi, Gopi welcomed him waving his stick. The whole plan was out. Therefore, meetings started being organized to solve the problem. After all, they got an idea; why not take advantage of the noon. And thus they solved the problem.
Every day, after eating food in the afternoon, Gopi used to sleep on his cot to rest. He ate the food he took with him that day too. After drinking water from the long-necked pot, he hangs the mangoes bag on the cot leg and fell asleep. Making good use of the opportunity, the boys slowly, without making any clack sound of footsteps, stood next to Gopi's cot. When it was ensured that Gopi was fast asleep, they climbed on the mango tree like monkeys. By plucking the ripe mangoes slowly, they would put them in a bag hanging on a branch of the mango tree. In between, one or two mangoes were also sucked by them. After sucking, they used to place the kernels on the thick branches of the mango tree, so that the sound of falling kernels on the ground below would not cause Gopi to wake up. In the same action, a mango kernel slipped from the hand of a boy and fell on the Gopi. Gopi's eyes opened. He lifted the kernel up with his right hand and then held his eyeglass with the left hand and looked at it. On realizing the kernel, he threw it aside and then with the neck up, looked at the mango branches and said:
‘Squirrels, joking with the aged, these are Gopi's mangoes, eat with care, overeating will not digest.’
Hearing Gopi's naive self conversation, the boys could not control themselves and laugh loudly. Gopi became cautious after hearing the sound of laughing. Getting down from the cot as he lifted his stick, the boys jumped like monkeys from the branches and ran away.
‘You scoundrels,where do you run? Come tomorrow then I will see you. There is some limit to shamelessness. I’m now familiar with your intention of deception. Now I will not let any of your tricks work. Scoundrels and rogue creatures.’ Gopi alone continued to mumble for a long time.
Gopi had become very cautious now. The boys also didn’t come to his mango tree for two-three days for the purpose of bluffing him. How could the tongue of the children be able to rest for a long time? The taste of sweet mango juice was intermittently making them impatient for eating mangoes. So they became ready to go to the mango tree. With all their force, they reached the mango tree. But the cot of Crow Baba was lying empty today. Under the mango tree, there was complete silence. The happiness of the children turned into mourning. Why didn't Crow Baba' come today? What has happened to him? Without him, it seems completely desolate here. No one has even picked a mango since morning. All are lying on the ground. There was a lot of confusion for a long time. The craving for mangoes whose taste had made them impatient now was starting to feel tasteless. Oh! It was the sweetness of the Crow Baba’s rebukings that used to make these mangoes delicious; otherwise, without him these are worthless. After being dejected they collected mangoes lying on the ground and then picked them up and walked towards the house of Crow Baba, being utterly silent, quiet and speechless. Nobody uttered a single word across the way.
When they reached the house of Gopi through the narrow streets of the village, there was complete silence. Gopi was groaning on a cot placed in a corner of the room squeezing his legs to the chest. Seeing this state of his, first, the boys stood as mute spectators, but then with courage, a boy said:
‘Crow Baba,are you sick?’
‘Who is it?’ He said without looking at them.
‘Baba, we are.’
‘Son, I have a very high fever. I’m not able to open my eyes. I can't see you. What have you come for? Son, tell me the same.’
‘Baba, we are the boys who steal your mangoes. The mangoes were lying under your mango tree. We have collected them and brought to you. Baba, we are very ashamed of our actions. Baba, forgive us. We pledge, never steal your mangoes from now on.’
‘Son, don't say that. If the children don’t do mischief, then who will call them children? This is the identity of their childhood. My sons, I used to do a lot of mischiefs when I was your age. I could remember my childhood only after seeing these mischiefs of yours. Son, there is no need to panic from me. That mango tree is now yours, take as many mangoes as you like without fearing it. This is my last stop now. I don’t know whether I will be able to reach the tree or not. Now you have the entire responsibility of protecting the mango tree. Son, see no one shoots it a stone.’
Hearing these words came from the conscience of Crow Baba, their eyes filled up with tears and they started sobbing.
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