I am Rejected at Birth continues......


The ghee prepared in the house was famous for its high quality. When Gopalu and the women-folk were away in the fields or with cattle, I was left at home tied by a string to the cot of the old man. One day I discovered the old man get up from his bed, remove all the cream from the milk and eat it, I got jealous of the old man. In revenge I told Rugtu that the old man had stolen the cream and eaten it up.

My complaints became a standing joke in the family. Mayya would have the last word and declare, “You, young Mahajan! You complain even against me though I am bringing you up.”

When I became four years old I was assigned the duties that a peasant boy has to perform; look after the family goats and sheep, take the cattle to the pasture for grazing, sit on the water mill and the furrows. One evening while sitting at the water mill where flour was being ground from wheat, I threw a stone in the mill and it stopped working. A hue and cry was raised and it was ultimately discovered that the stoppage had been caused by my impish act! Gopalu was too kind to scold-me. But he loved to narrate the story to the Zemindars of the Illaqa and the Mahajans of Nagrota to show how mischievous was the boy he was caring for.

When I became a little older I was employed on the farm in various small jobs and took to them all with gusto. My mother and other kinsmen visited the hamlet occasionally and brought me sweets and clothes. This would not bring them any nearer to me. I looked askance at them and would sometimes ask angrily: “Why do these Mahajans come here? what business have they here?”

By the time I was seven, my father had graduated and become a Mukhtar, a sort of attorney entitled to practise law in lower courts.


To be continued......