Part 15

Part 15

They had reached a small hamlet.  Bijoy made some weird whistling, which reverberated through the valley.  Dhatri imitated giggling.  “Shuu… stop! No!” Bijoy stopped her and stood still listening to the responses.  He heard percussion instrument drumming and he turned his face to smile at her. 

“Baby… let us go!” he said gazing at the setting sun.  “Ok. Good boy!” she wrapped her tender hands around his neck and locked her legs around his waist.  He picked up speed in that dense engulfing night. 

“No….!” she held on to him tightly when a women tried to separate from him.  “No….Awaaaaa….!” she was loud enough to gather the crowd.  Bijoy patted her fondly and talked to the woman with an unknown tongue…. Dhatri didn’t understand.  The woman caressed her cheek to her horror “Paapu Mari…!” she said pressing her fingers to her lips.  Dhatri turned her face still mounted on the back of Bijoy. 

“Good boy…!” she started crying.  In fact she was hungry, being starved for a day but unable to understand what it was.  Her stomach growling, she cried loudly.  Bijoy said something to the woman.  She went inside hurriedly and brought something in her closed fist. 

“Have this… sweet…!” Bijoy pulled Dhatri from his back and kept her down.  She was not ready….”No…” she jumped on him holding him tightly.  Another old lady came up.  She had a close look at Dhatri and pulled them apart.  Dhatri cried her heart out stretching her hands. 

“Shuuu… baby… stop crying…!” Bijoy held her closer.  Bijoy, a boy of eighteen was recruited by naxals when he was just eight.  A thoroughly brainwashed with Maoist ideology he picked up weapon against the Government at the age of only 12.  He was taken on smaller gorilla attacks on the Government offices and officials.  But was never included in actual attack.  He was used as informant and spy.  Being young and innocent looking, he was a perfect camouflage to gather information.  He was taught English and Telugu, besides his dialect Gondi, to be able to merge in the crowd.  He took pride in working as naxal.   He was told that being Maoist, he could do justice to his community, peasants and tribal people oppressed for ages.  He was one of the backward “Halba” community, most of them were living in small settlements and cultivated paddy in the fragmented clearing of land in the dense forestland and gathered jungle timber.

Men were hunter-gatherers. They went out and hunt animals like bison, deer, monkeys to bring meat home! A primitive community in all sense.  Naxals had a great influence on the youth of the community to fight off barbarian Government officials and law. They cultivated on the open grass lands so that the family did not starve.

 Soon his tribe became a synonym of peasant revolt.  The pro-Charu Mujumdar group of naxals captured the entire settlement and every male member of that small hamlet became a staunch naxal, shedding blood for the peasants revolution with violence.  Bijoy being skinny and small in appearance was not taken in direct assault.  This was his first mission where he was asked to kidnap a five year old.  He was shaken to the core.  He thought he was involved in a noble cause for the tribal but when he saw the girl being kidnapped he lost his heart.  Guilt was eating him alive.  He was asked to take her to the training camp for recruitment.  Grumpy came to his rescue and they had a plan to save the kid.  Bijoy was astonished by her super natural ability when she healed his wound almost killing herself in suffering.  He had talked to the grumpy, his leader and grumpy had understood why she was kidnapped. 

“No..!” she was crying refusing to leave Bijoy, her good boy.  He sat on the ground holding her and pulled the woman beside “Mother…my mother…!” he said trying to wipe off her tears.  She stopped crying.  “Your mother?” she asked.  “Yes!” he said hopefully.  “Mamma…” she missed her mamma….! She started crying.  The lady took her away from Bijoy stuffing a piece of jagerry.  Dhatri stopped at once with the sweet taste in her mouth.  The woman smiled kindly Dhatri smiled back.  Bijoy disappeared somewhere.  Three other children gathered around the new kid.  The woman gave her puffed rice and jaggery to eat.  Dhatri liked it. 

“Good Boy!” Dhatri jumped up in his arms when he returned. He was the only familiar face for her.  “Ate?” he asked.  “Yes, aunty gave me nine hundred twenty eight grains and a big piece of sweet…!” she said animatedly. Bijoy giggled with her like a kid.  Other kids laughed pressing their hands on their mouths.  Bijoy looked at the lit lantern.  He saw their shadows on the wall of his one room hut and grinned.

“Baby…!” he touched his middle and ring fingers with his thumb raising his index and little finger and pointed at the wall with other hand.  Dhatri looked up and her face lit up.  “Deer!” she screamed giggling in excitement trying to do the same to create deer on the wall with her tiny fingers.  Other kids followed her.  Soon, the wall was full of shadow deers all over.  Then there came a series of shadow plays of different animals by the kids.  Bijoy laughed with happiness.  Dhatri was laughing and giggling with other tribal kids.  Dhatri forgot to cry and Bijoy forgot worry about the baby.