Destined To Whip

"Maheshwari heard the multiple percussion sounds of the drum and she was scared. She closed her ears and the drum sound was buzzing in her ears. Her eardrum felt like bursting. She did not dare to open the window. She sat on a swing in her room and was lost in her thoughts."

Maheshwari now lived in a plush city but she was born in a village, located in the interiors of Vidharba. She was the daughter of Sarpanch - Head of the village and she could not see the plight of the people, the poverty and the increasing death rates due to epidemics. Maheshwari wanted to be a Doctor but her father Malhar Rane denied her wish.

She was very scared of the Buku- Buku ( The drumming sound )tribe in childhood. The whipping sound and the blood-stained body of teenager boys and men broke her heart. She wanted to do something for the tribe since her childhood.

She wanted to start a school for them since she was in love with a guy who belonged to the Pothraj community when she was just 15.

"Vithoba Konde Malhari was a teacher in her school. He thought them Maths and Maheshwari was a brilliant student. Emancipation of his tribe was not easy but Vithoba had a dream. He would whip himself as a teenager and his body had the traces and those marks were his pride. Maheshwari had seen that marks on his back. She admired him so much that she followed him till his home. Once she had seen him changing his shirt. She was attracted to him but he was her Guru. She tried to be the best student for him and after she cleared her 10th, she proposed to him."

Vithoba was 8 years elder to her. He was a loner and when she threatened him of killing herself, he had said yes to her proposal. She belonged to a rich upper-class family and Vithoba was scared to break the social norms. One fine night it was raining heavily and Maheshwari had lied to her father. She was with Vithoba in his small hut and she told her father that she was with her teacher Siddhi.

Vithoba and she sat on the mudded floor eating bhakri and junka. He had begun telling her the story of his life while making some herbal tea on his Kerosene stove.

"He wanted to be a teacher since childhood but he was born in the whipping tribe. They are not beggars they were born to entertain through the drumming and folk songs. His aai ( mother) carried the diety of Kalu Bhai on her head. They were 6 brothers and their father, a drunkard. They would whip and rip their skin till it bleeds.

"Vithoba was admired by a school going girl with dusky skin and she gave him the old textbooks to study and he would go to night school as his mother wanted him to be something. He was so intelligent that one of his teachers Raj Waghmare had adopted him and took him to a different city. He was kept away from his family and Vithoba had cried several nights without them. He concentrated on his studies and decided to get united with the family but it was too late. They had died in a famine. "

Vithoba had narrated his story and Maheshwari listened to him as if she was a little girl.

She hugged him tight but that hug now aroused Vithoba.

"She too could not control her bodily desire and they committed the sin ; an intercourse without the vow of marriage."

They were in deep slumber and next morning Maheshwari had woke up with a shrilling sound.

She was lying naked in the pool of blood. She was raped brutally by Ajinkya, son of a rich man last night and the proof was a Golden button of a Kurta.

"Maheshwari assembled her torn clothes and ran outside the house. She could not remember the tragedy but the best moments of her bosoms kissed by her love, flashed in front of her eyes."

Stones were pelted on her until her father came to rescue her. She asked her parents where was Vithoba?

There were no traces of him. A month after a hacked body was found in their Village and it was supposed to be of a young man.

"It must be Vithoba," Maheshwari's heart cried.

She was forcefully married off to Vishal Ranade, a young man in his early 30's

Vishal was a software Engineer. She was married to Vishal at 18 and now 20 years of marriage were spent in harmony.

"The Buku- Buku sound still gave her fear and reminded her of that frivolous night that turned her life into a nightmare."

Vishal had never stopped her from doing anything but he stopped her from starting a school for underprivileged children. They had a lot of arguments off late. Their daughter Mandara was a teacher and wanted to set up a school. Maheshwari was supporting her but Vishal was against it. He wanted them to start a school for middle-class children, who could at least bare the fees.

Vishal was a good husband but very stubborn and impulsive in nature. Maheshwari had always feared that he would divorce her. He knew the truth about her.

" Vishal was tall and handsome with his brown shining eyes like a cat; flamboyant in nature, funny in personna and his qualities were loved by his colleagues. She had even seen lipstick marks on this collar. She did not dare to question him and his chastity. She was a sacrificial goat even after being M A in English literature. Her father Malhar Rane had set Ajinkya free and the mystery of Vithoba remained a hidden story."

Maheshwari was burning in a fire to know more about Vithoba. The heat of his body on the cold floor of the hut was still haunting her. Her tears flowed down and the Buku- Buku sound increased. She wanted to kill herself. Her inner voice said to look out of the window.

She opened the window and saw the little Pankurri, standing on the opposite window, throwing alms at the man who was whipping himself brutally. His dusky body was bleeding. His children were picking up the coins. Maheshwari could hear the jingles of his beads on legs.

The man had colored his face with Red and White dots adorned his forehead.

" We are not beggars but we are an artist. We are destined to be whipped." Vithoba had told Maheshwari that night.

His words were ringing in her ears. She ran down in her cotton maxi with a ten-rupee note. She patted the dusky man with frizzy long hair. His eyes said he was Vithoba. She hugged him tight without realising she is on the road of a plush locality.

He pushed her tight and ran...

"Vitobha - Vithoba," She screamed. He ran faster and faster...

She was sure it was him and caught hold of his youngest child who could not pace with his brother. The 2-year-old baby wailed in her arms. She took him home and cleaned him. She did not have an answer to give to Vishal. She knew Vithoba will come in search of the child. Vishal did not come home two nights and Mandara was busy with her studies that she did not notice a baby at home. She was now wanting that drum sounds.

Vishal returned home and he accused Maheshwari for getting a filthy child home.

" He even called her unworthy and dirt of a gutter. She could not take it more. She took the baby and with the help of legal documents planned to adopt him. She straight away went to her village home. After her father's death, she had never been there. It had been 10 long years. She had her father's property and she decided to start a school for this tribe. She named the baby as Swapnil. - which meant a dream involved."

She divorced Vishal and Mandara too could not understand her mother.

She took in charge of her school for 15 years and now she handed it over to her Sarpanch friend Priyanka.

Swapnil was a topper that year in class 12th.

Maheshwari had her dreams for him...

Maheshwari knew Swapnil had Vithoba's brain.

++++

It was her 56 Birthday and Swapnil had organised a surprise party. Maheshwari was rubbing her chest. She had a severe pain. The postman rang the doorbell. He handed over an inland letter.

Maheshwari coughed and she opened the letter.

It read:

Dear Maheshi,

I am Vithoba, the reason for all your worries and troubles. That night my desires were not forgiven by Kalu Bhai ( Goddess) we had made love on the cold floor and I have felt the blood of your virginity.

I was a cursed moment when I went out to pee, covering your half-naked body in the blanket. I saw Ajinkya was ploughing the opposite farm and hiding something under the ground. I was curious to know what it was? I confronted him and there was a fight. He and his friends hit me brutally and cut my tongue. I was half dead and they threw me into a Veer ( Well).

I was saved by a good Samaritan. I was in vegetable state but Kalu Bhai saved me. When I came back to the village, your father threatened to kill me. I knew you were happily married to Vishal.

I have lost my talking capability and I decided to go back to my tribe. I married a girl in our community and totally erased my mind. I was no longer an educated teacher. I again transformed as a whip man or a rope man as you called us.

I decided to punish myself and every whip I took day by day was for you. I know you were defiled by Ajinkya and I have burnt him alive at my hut. He was charred into ashes and now you are reading my letter at this very moment, pray for my soul as I am looking at you from above.

"Maheshwari fell down on the ground. Her heart just burst and the beat broke like shattering mirror with the news of Vitobha leaving for heavenly abode and may be the almighty took her life too.She was dead and gone."

Swapnil and his friends had come with a big cake with Priyanka Tai ( sister) but Maheshwari was motionless with the letter in her hand. Swapnil did not know what was the letter about? He was sad about his adopted mother's loss. He always thought she was his mother and maybe his father was dusky so he is dark in complexion.

+++

Swapnil heard the Buku - Buku sound on the 7th day after Maheshwari's death. He was feeding some villagers as a ritual for his mother's soul.

A tall man who looked similar to him, dusky and tall was whipping himself with a baby in hand.

He gestured for some food.

Swapnil snatched the baby and said:

" This baby is not destined to be bleeding in the future. " He was talking to his own brother Goti Konde. He did not know his nephew was wailing in his hands. He had kissed that stinking and dirty child. Blood is thicker than water."

Disclaimer: This is purely my imagination and the tribe referred to is to shape the story. It does not aim to hurt any regional or tribe sentiments. Coming from a literature background I have loved reading Mahashweta Devi's stories, Dalit literature, and Jejuri poems. I have spurred my imagination with a thriller feel. Hope you enjoyed my story. I will edit it again once I get time. The folk tale being the theme, I am writing this story.