Punyasloke Bose

Fantasy

3  

Punyasloke Bose

Fantasy

The Divine Intervention

The Divine Intervention

8 mins
274


Bhigu was a devout farmer and invoked Gods and Goddesses to get a bountiful harvest to keep his family afloat in the sea of debt. He specially celebrated Chhatt puja with great devotion and fervor. Chhatt is an ancient Vedic festival practiced in the Eastern state of Bihar and bordering areas of Nepal. It is dedicated to Hindu solar deity Surya and Goddess Shashti or Chhatt Maiya in order to thank them for bestowing the bounties of life on earth and to request the granting of certain wishes.

Bhigu was a small-time farmer with minuscule landholding and was categorized as a marginal farmer. He had a big family of wife, a son, and twin daughters to support. The yield from the land was barely sufficient for the family's sustenance. During the time of his father, they had to depend on the local money lenders for financial support. But now due to the availability of easy finance from many banks and financial institutions, the financial condition of Bhigu and other farmers were better. 

But still, Bhigu had to avail services of the likes of Madho and Sheolal. Madho was the broker or dalal attached to the mandi or the agri market and Sheolal was the local neta or politician who brokered the financial packages from the various financial institutions. The services rendered by these middlemen came at a big cost for Bhigu as the cut money paid to them was huge. This made the likes of Madho and Sheolal very rich and powerful. 

But Bhigu was a diligent parent also. He undertook great pain and hardship to educate his son Kushal who had now graduated in Agricultural Sciences. He was the first graduate from his family whereas his father was a school dropout. The coming of age of Kushal did a world of good for Bhigu. Kushal had got a smartphone from his father at his graduation. Through the help of the phone, Kushal could help his father in many ways. He guided his father in farming patterns and weather systems and the agri marketing prices. Earlier Bhigu used his ingenious mind to do all the mental arithmetic although being limited by education. With the inputs from Kushal, Bhigu dependency on Madho and Sheolal was becoming lesser and lesser. 

The government was now bringing dynamic reforms to the agricultural sector. Previously the farmers were induced to making plantation decisions based on the minimum support prices or MSP, fixed by the government. Also, the farm produce used to be mandatorily sold to the government-regulated agri markets, but now the farmers had the freedom to dispose of the products according to the market price dynamics. This was done to reduce the clout of the middlemen like Madho and Sheolal. 

Madho and Sheolal and others like them were feeling the heat. They were now aware that the beginning of their end had started. So they tried new ideas to extort from these farmers by blackmail and coercion. Bhigu was a simple man but knew how to tackle such menaces. He was also ready with his defenses. Kushal was slowly learning the processes of the coercion and exploitation his father faced and thinking of ways out from this mess. 


 Bhigu was worried about his twin daughters. The daughters had been born to his wife after some years after the arrival of Kushal. By the time Kushal had entered his high school. The daughters were now growing up and would soon enter junior school. Bhigu knew of the risk of a growing daughter in their household as they were Dalits or the lower castes. The girls and women from these lower caste families were considered as consumption material for the men who were rich and powerful. It was considered that by satisfying the desires of the rich the Dalits were purging themselves of their bad karma. Even in these modern times, such archaic thoughts prevailed in rural areas. 

The daughters now being aspirational were into serious education. They used to go to school regularly on cycles provided by the government. After school, they had their tuition classes. The government had provided school-going girls with bicycles as an incentive to continue with their education. Bhigu wanted his girls to be educated and financially able. But he feared for their safety. Because his enmity with the likes of Mahato and Sheolal was growing as the growth and prosperity of Bhigu the farmer was eating into their profits. 

Kushal's ability as a tech-savvy agriculturist was helping Bhigu to grow as a farmer. With his help, Bhigu could now increase the farm acreage and help consolidate the land holdings. Many small farm owners were selling their little holdings and migrating to the cities for better work opportunities. Kushal was on the lookout for such opportunities to buy out their landholdings. In the times to come the stature of the farmer Bhigu had grown. He was no longer a marginal farmer. 

Madho and Sheolal were observing the Bhigu growth story. They often sat down together to discuss ways to bring about the downfall of Bhigu. But they were not being helped by fate. They knew that Kushal was the secret trump card of Bhigu. 

On the day of Chhatt puja, it seemed like an opportunity for Madho and Sheolal. They now worked in tandem. Bhigu and his wife had gone to the river early in the morning to make their offerings to the Sun God and Chhatt Maiya. Kushal's twin sisters had gone out to attend their tuition classes. Kushal was alone in the house. 

Sheolal had appointed his henchmen to apprehend Kushal's sisters on their way from the tuition classes. The sisters were cornered on their return and took away as captives to a godown at a remote location a little out of their small town. Then they were made to call their brother over their cell phone to Kushal to come and help them. Kushal was in a dilemma because his parents were at the river ghat to make their offerings for Chhatt. So he sent a friend to tell his father about the impending danger and himself headed to the secluded godown. 

Bhigu got the terrible news and became cold with fear. His very endearing daughters were in grave danger. Bhigu temporarily put his fears to the background and concentrated on the puja to the Sun God and Chhatt Maiya. 

Kushal on reaching the godown was quickly overpowered and imprisoned in the godown. There he found his twin sisters tied to a wooden pillar or stake. They all stared at each other with fear laced on their faces. Some five hardcore criminals were guarding the three under the leadership of Bhola, the trusted assistant of Sheolal. After tying all the three Bhola called up Sheolal to give him the news. 

Sheolal was then on the way to the godown along with Madho in tow. They were headed to the godown to 'enjoy and devour' their ' prey'. The prey being the twin sisters because rape and molestation was a common happening and the law would be a laggard when a Dalit is subject to rape. Bhola and his accomplices were also excited because they would also get to enjoy the 'leftover' after their masters have satisfied their lust. Kushal was watching the things in stony silence. He had become pale-like death horrified on the thought of the fate his twin sisters were facing. 


Bhigu quickly finished his offerings and told his wife to return home. Then he gathered his friends from the river bank who also had gathered there for Chhatt festivities. With the help of this group of about two dozen people, they marched to the Police station to register a general diary of a criminal case. The Police didn't show too much alacrity in registering a case because of a Dalit involvement but ultimately did the needful considering the huge crowd gathered there. 

Then Bhigu led this group to the lonely godown. At the godown, Bhola and his accomplices waited impatiently for their masters. Kushal was panicked to his bones and his sisters now started crying in distress. Bhigu could imagine the dire straits his children were in. Constantly on the march towards the godown which he could now see in the distance, he constantly said silent prayers to Sun God and Shashti Maiya to save his children from this calamity. He became more panic-stricken when he could see the vehicle of Sheolal in the distance. 

Then a sudden dramatic turn of events occurred which Bhigu would remember till the last day of his life. The friends accompanying Bhigu were equally puzzled. From nowhere a breeze started blowing which very soon took on gale-force like qualities. The Chhatt puja Sun was suddenly covered with deep black clouds. With the help of the strong winds more clouds accumulated and a thunderstorm started. Everyone started looking for cover but Bhigu being completely drenched marched on towards the godown which was just a stone's throw away distance. 

Their vehicle had just been parked near the godown and Bhola was receiving his masters. When a big bolt of lightning struck the abandoned godown. Due to many years of misuse, the lightning conductor of the building had become loose and was swaying in the storm wildly. At that very moment, Bhola was leading Sheolal and Mahato into the godown to the prize that was awaiting their desire fulfillment. In a jiffy the lightning conductor got swayed after the thunder passed through it transmitting towards the ground, it broke and fell on the vehicle from which Sheolal and his friend Madho had just alighted. The vehicle with a huge burst went up in flames. Bhola and his masters were flung up in the air high and thrown away hither and thither. 

Bhigu saw this spectacle with utter shock. His companions were now with him seeing his bold resolve in not taking shelter. They all were in absolute disbelief and watched as dumb spectators. They soon entered the godown. There Bhigu saw his three kids tied hands and legs into three wooden stakes. Bhola's accomplices seeing such a huge crowd tried to flee but the Police which was following close by took them into custody. 

Free from the bondage Kushal and his sisters fell into the open arms of their father and collapsed in exhaustion. Bhigu shed tears of joy and relief. He silently thanked Chhatt Maiya for saving his children's lives. Bhigu's friends cried out in unison saying that it was due to the Divine Intervention that the children had been spared. 


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