Misti Sarkar

Tragedy Fantasy Others

4.2  

Misti Sarkar

Tragedy Fantasy Others

A Child's Innocence

A Child's Innocence

7 mins
350


During the days when there were no rush in the lives of people, no deadlines for the youngsters and no pressure on the children, something worse was sitting on the backs of every youngster and elderly. There prevailed a feeling of fear even amongst the most fearless souls.

None was to be blamed. The times were tough and so was the humility. Belonging from one of the colonies of the sahebs wasn't something not to worry about.

Nitai, the son of a farmer and a down to earth homemaker had a vast imagination in his mind. Not about the sufferings but about the possibilities. Not about the saddening news of the humiliation, but about the new dressing sense and new ideologies which he never saw before in his motherland.


Often his mother found him trying to speak English in the accent of the sahebs, trying to know more about their language. Nitai often observed his friends were scared to talk about the colonizers. And their parents often scolded them a lot for even talking about them. Nitai was never able to understand why was it this way. His parents never talked to him about the sahebs. He just saw a smile on their face when he used to derive his hopes from them. He always wanted to be educated in their language and wanted to teach the villagers. He often tried different home remedies of his mother to get the light skin. He wanted a moustache like the sahebs. His parents never discouraged him. Maybe they loved the way their child's dreams sparked every time.


 "Rakshas hein kya woh log?", often Nitai questioned his friends but his friends would reply with a nod. That was it. And he tried his level best to prove them wrong with the points he had observed. "Unke zevar,tevar itne aache,itne alag...kabhi jaake hum bhi unse milenge. Baat karenge. Humko bhi saheb banna hein" Nitai's eyes sparkled with motivation and innocence while he said these words while not knowing how beautifully his innocence had covered up his mind. And when Nitai was lost in his words, his friends just looked at him with a numb face and questioned out of a sudden,"Woh saheb jaise banna hein tujhe?tujhe bharat maa pasand nahi?". Nitai was confused. He was completely unaware of what his friends were talking.


 "Are pyaara hein unko bharat maa isiliye na aaye hein,unka seva karne". He tried his best to convince them. His friends, without talking any further about this topic started leaving the place while Nitai was still having a smile on his face.

 While going, one of his friends looked back at Nitai and said "Pyaar karte toh mere baapu ko ghar aane dete. Aur Ramu ke maa ka laaj na cheente unse. Samajh ja. Tu bhi karega aise kaam?".


 Nitai didn't pay attention. He was convinced sahebs weren't that bad. They just wanted to punish the wrongdoers. They must have done something. Maybe ignored the sahebs. And who likes ignorance? "Galati unki nahi hogi" he reminded himself while walking towards home.

 Nitai's home was still far away. On his way, he often sat near the lake or started playing with some other children. Trying to copy the sahebs or just trying to pull his sisters' legs and laughing his heart out. He loved it all. And walking amidst the open sky and the fields on both side were his favourite.

 

But while he was enjoying the view and walking towards his home, he saw something he had a wish to see but would never want to see. A Saheb riding a horse. He was excited to see the saheb come towards him but then he saw all his neighbours bowing down before them. His neighbour, Ramesh dadu had severe backache but Nitai was shocked to see him bowing down while he could feel it was hurting dadu badly.

 

The saheb.got down from the horse. Nitai decided to hide behind the bushes to see what was happening. But something wasn't right. Even the elderly people bowing down, the woman crippled in fear, the man trying to stay as close as he could to his woman and the children bowing while holding on to their mother's saree.

 

The saheb was walking past each of them, observing them. Looking at the man bowing down with utmost concentration. Nitai thought he felt sympathy for the man bowing down and wanted to help him out...but suddenly the saheb landed his foot on the man's back as if it was nothing but just a wooden stool. The man shouted in pain but the saheb started putting more pressure on his back until he started begging to leave him. His children got up and rushed towards him but as soon as they tried coming close to him the saheb took his whip out and started beating them as if they were the wild to be tamed.

 Nitai had no words. In a moment his innocence was ripped apart. His eyes were teary and his skin was safe from the humiliation but had more of goosebumps while his body was trembling with fear. He was not able to breathe properly. He was in shock.

 The man was still bowing down and was under the saheb's foot. His wife was crying her heart out but didn't have the courage to raise her head in front of the colonizer. Her hands were trembling and her fear overpowered her emotions while her husband was pulled by his hair, forced to stand up and was dragged behind a tree. The children sat numb and dumb with the bruises which were deeper than they looked while they asked their mother to stand up. To revolt. To save their father. But the woman was scared to death.

 Nitai thought of coming out of the bushes to comfort the woman. But he saw dadu, still bowing down with his ache holding his daughter in law's hands as if asking her not to get up.


Just then there were sounds of whip falling like a beast on the man's skin as his screams traumatized every human in that place. His screams were more than agony, more than just pain and more than death. The saheb dragged his body in front of his family while Nitai saw him being alive somehow, looking helplessly at his wife. The saheb burst into laughter. Enjoying the scenario. He came towards the woman, dragged her up and made her sit on the horse while he got up and was about to leave the place but he did so just after shooting the man to death.

Nitai was sitting there like a statue while he saw it. He lost his senses. He didn't even have the courage to help them

  

The children were crying. Dadu was beating his chest while his son was lying dead with more pain he didn't deserve.

After an hour Nitai finally got the courage to stand up. Decided to run as fast as he could. He wanted to hug his maa and pour his heart out. He was breathless. Helpless. That's how he felt.

As soon as he reached towards his home he felt a second of relief as he saw a crowd near his house but then.."maa baba!" He shouted as he noticed there was a huge crowd near his home. "Kaku, maa kaha hein? baba hein na andar? aap sab yaha kyu hein?". He was trembling. None could answer the child's innocence. He searched for his mother and father in the crowd. That sense of security was needed by him but he was not able to find it.


He went on to ask everyone what happened until he felt a warm wind..a loo...a heatwave. He turned his head to find out his house set on fire. His parents to be found nowhere. He heard the crowd saying that his family had the courage to refuse the sahebs and they had to pay the price for it. They weren't scared so they made to feel the fear. Nitai was reminded of the family he saw on his way back home. They weren't courageous but still, they were made to feel scared. Was it not a question of courage? Or was it killing and agonizing people just for fun. If yes, why?


He ran towards the warm wind as he felt it getting hotter and hotter. And next what he saw was his home, burning...

They were burnt alive said the crowd. He was pale and sat on the ground. No tears, no fear. He could just see his innocence, hopes, motivation, family burning in front of him..ALIVE.


He knew his role models were the real culprits. They were more of demons for him now. His innocence was burned and he couldn't react to it.

A child's heart was again, defeated by an adult's intentions.

And he learned how culture was a weapon to cover someone's uncultured approach.


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