Scavenger-Indian Panorama-Short Stories-Part Two
Scavenger-Indian Panorama-Short Stories-Part Two
By Raja Sharma
Copyright@2011Rajasharma
Smashwords Edition
Preface
The world of stories is so enchanting and vast that there is always scope for innumerable new ideas and styles. Some write to give vent to their emotions and it is a kind of catharsis to them, some write to instruct and teach and it is a platform whence they are able to show their superiority over millions, and some write to leave their mark on the posterity, but I write for the sake of writing for I don’t know anything else, and it gives me extreme satisfaction.
I am a kind of scavenger and I am often successful in picking the shreds mostly left by others. With a little effort I join the pieces and create something that delights me and my readers.
In this book, I have a few stories which will acquaint you with the contemporary life which the Western World is mostly ignorant about.
Raja Sharma
Chapter 1: Militant He Never Was
It was like it had happened yesterday because everything is so fresh in mind. He had tried to persuade himself many times that past could not be altered but he was actually not ready to listen to the voice of his heart. He remembered everything.
The entire town was stunned when his friend’s pictures were flashed on the TV screens, and then newspapers wrote all sorts of adverse things against him. They were trying their best to prove him a terrorist.
People were talking everywhere and everyone had his own surmises and arguments. Generally, people love adding details from their side and in no time a minor incident becomes a major event. This is the power of crowd mentality.
“It is unbelievable. Isa’s son Musa was a terrorist!”
Isa was a very simple weaver from the middle class locality of the town.
Thank God the old man had passed away long before his happened.
“All these Muslims are terrorists!” said Mishraji, thus blaming the entire Muslim community. He did not realize what he had said and what its consequences could be.
‘Mirror’ had printed the news on front page. It had the heading ‘Terrorism Raising its Head in Town’. The editor had used Musa as a pretext and written a long editorial about terrorism and its spreading wings. The editorial claimed that most of the Islamic Madrasas were the training schools for terrorists. In such places, young boys were educated about ‘Jihad’ under the veneer of religious teachings. The editor said that this minority community was blackmailing the political parties in India.
When he read this report, he was naturally surprised because he knew Musa very well and he knew that Musa could be anything but not a terrorist. Musa was his bosom friend and they had studied together. They used to share everything with each other. He was sure that there was some mistake.
Such relations are gradually lost into oblivion because of other pressing requirements in life. Marriage, business, political beliefs, and social responsibilities very often take us away from our childhood friends.
Yes, Musa was a Muslim, and, perhaps, that was the only point that spoke eloquently against him and indicated that he was a terrorist.
He was from a Hindu family and he had been conditioned to treat Muslims as untouchables. But, Ramesh never saw any difference. The only physical difference he found was that his Muslim classmates, boys, had circumcised penis. Through history he had come to know that during the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb, millions of Hindus were forced to adopt Islam as their religion if they wanted to save their heads. Some of them were lured to adopt Islam for monetary rewards.
Ramesh remembered how angry faced Mr. Rastogi, their Hindu History teacher, used to be while describing the atrocities committed by the Muslim rulers. Though he never said, it was quite obvious that he did not like Muslim boys in his class.
What added to his fury was the timing of the daytime Azan which echoed from the nearest mosque right at that time when he would be ready to start his class. “Allah Ho Akbar!” was the phrase he hated the most. He would say to the students, “Children, look their Mullah is giving Azan. The Muslims in this country never take the name of Shivaji, Maharana Pratap, Guru Gobind Singh, and other great men but they praise Akbar and Babar even today!”
The entire class would laugh at his angry facial expressions which developed with the sound of the Azan. He was a fundamentalist, a snake who could only spread poison; his interpretation of the Azan was nonsense; he would take Akbar for Emperor Akbar, never ever thinking that Akbar means supreme.
Ramesh would look towards his three Muslim classmates. They would sit like culprits during that period of History. Even after that particular class, they stuck together and never tried to join other groups of students.
Musa was not in that group and that could be the reason Ramesh liked him. Musa didn’t mind what Rastogi Sir said. Musa had a wonderful sense of humour and, like the Punjabi who cut jokes on themselves, he rejoiced in entertaining the students through his jokes. Ramesh remembered that except for Musa, all other Muslim boys urinated in seclusion, hiding their penis but Musa was not like them. In the toilet, sometimes, he would unzip his pants and show his penis to all of them. He was not ashamed that he had a circumcised penis.
Everyone in the class liked Musa because he always did the pranks which entertained the students and made them laugh. He was really a lovable character.
Musa was the name given by his classmates because he was like a clever mouse. In local language ‘musa’ meant mouse.
Though Rastogi Sir did not like other Muslim students, they did not say anything to Musa because he very obediently brought cane, which was used by the teacher to punish the students, and chewing tobacco. The teacher had no complaints against Musa.
Now Ramesh feels that Musa also used chewing tobacco in school days. People had seen him smoking the butts of the cigarettes thrown by teachers.
In rural schools there were no uniforms, no homework, nothing of the sort that is compulsory in the name of discipline in modern schools. There used to be two exams: half yearly and annual. Even the best of the students would fail the half yearly exams.
The parents had given absolute liberty to the teachers to cane their wards for their betterment. After regular beating and punishment, most of the students would begin to study attentively to pass the final exams at any cost. This was the method that was applied by the teachers. Ramesh was also not an exception; he had also been punished innumerable times by the teachers. Now he is thankful to those teachers, at least on this account, for whatever he has come to be in life is the result of that regular caning. In those days, the parents were not much demanding and they did not want ninety percent marks from their children; a pass mark-sheet was enough to satisfy them and they would be proud of their children.
Musa had a very sharp brain. He passed with flying colours though people did not expect much from him because the whole year he would be involved in his tricks and pranks.
Chapter 2
How had Musa become a terrorist? Ramesh was not ready to believe it. The news had disturbed him very much and he was unable to erase the memories of the times when Musa was his best friend.
Musa was a regular visitor to his house. They would sit together and chat for hours on various subjects. But, one day, one incident changed everything. After that day, Musa refused to take tea in Ramesh’s house.
Ramesh was from a very religious family and his mother was a conservative, religious housewife. She never liked that her son should have a Muslim friend. Even for the friends of Ramesh’s father, there were separate cups and plates and his mother would never allow those utensils to enter her kitchen. She would never wash their used utensils. She waited for the maid to do the job.
One day, the mother was frying potato patties. Musa was with Ramesh in his room. They were about to go to the playground to play football. The mother had never asked Musa’s religion before. That day when Ramesh told her to bring some patties for both of them, she asked his religion.
She did send the patties but Ramesh received the patties in a stainless steel plate and Musa was given a few patties on a piece of paper. Likewise, tea was provided in two different tumblers, one made of steel and another of glass.
Musa was clever enough to see that discrimination and he pretended that he had stomach ache. He refused to eat anything.
Ramesh finished his patties in silence and after some time they were out on the road. Musa’s eyes did not escape those patties which Ramesh’s mother had thrown out of the window and they were lying on the road. The dogs were ready to fight over those patties.
Musa was hurt and he could not control himself. He said to Ramesh, “If I come to your house, please, don’t force me to eat anything. If you want, we can always go to the nearest restaurant.”
On the other hand, when Ramesh visited Musa in his house, Musa’s mother offered him sweets and other delicacies with a mother’s love. She felt very happy to see Ramesh eat.
Sometimes, Ramesh would think that Hindus were wrong because they discriminated against Muslims but he was always loved by his friend’s parents. They never hated him because he was a Hindu.
Chapter 3
He tried to find one single point which could give him a clue to lead him to the reason that made Musa a terrorist. He failed to find any. Musa was always present whenever there was any social, cultural, or religious programme in the locality. He would willingly participate in all Hindu festivals and religious ceremonies.
The children had their own ‘Children Club’ in that locality and Musa was the most active member of that club.
He was a wonderful decorator, and he would be delighted while decorating the images of Hindu Gods on raised platforms which were erected during Hindu religious festivals. Using cotton and paints, he would create wonderful scenes of the Himalayas. People praised his art.
Even Mr. Joshi, the editor of a Hindu magazine, was his fan and once he had published an article about Musa. He had proudly written that a Muslim boy had decorated the stage of Durga Puja (Worship).
Though Joshi was a devout Hindu, Musa liked him because Joshi arranged programmes to highlight patriotism and brotherhood. Musa began to write poetry under his guidance. Once he recited his poem that denounced Pakistan and the terrorists who had turned heaven like Kashmir into hell, Joshi embraced him and praised him in his articles.
After that poem, Musa had overnight become Musa Bharati (Indian). He began to write in Mr. Joshi’s magazine. The Hindu organizations welcomed Musa with open arms and they wished other Muslims had that sense of patriotism in them too. Musa was honored by many Hindu organizations.
But Musa was disillusioned only after a few months. His honeymoon with Hindu organizations finished a little too quickly.
It was the time of uncertainty and no one knew where the country was heading. Poverty, hunger, unemployment, corruption, and other burning issues had, as if, disappeared from the mainstream culture. Now people talked about the Ram Mandir (temple) and Babri Mosque.
Musa was in favour of the construction of the Ram Temple in Ajodhya but at the same time he was not ready to accept the demolition of the Babri mosque.
Slogan shouting processions began in Northern India and the demand for the temple was rapidly growing. Then came the eventful day, 6th December, 1992 when Babri mosque was demolished.
Hindu-Muslim riots broke out and everywhere there was the environment of fear and uncertainty.
After that incident Musa began to remain gloomy, as if his naughtiness had been snatched away from him.
Then came the Bombay bomb blasts which took the lives of hundreds of innocent people who were not even remotely related to the issues of Northern India. Most of them didn’t even know about Babri mosque and the riots in Northern India. Peaceful life cycle of the people in Bombay was shattered.
On 7th of December Musa and Ramesh visited Mr. Joshi in his house. Joshi seemed to be satisfied that one task was over. They remained silent for quite some time.
Mr. Joshi said, “I have the correct information that even the Hindu organizations did not know that Babri mosque would be demolished.”
Musa did not utter a word.
Suddenly, he got up and said, “Let’s go.”
Ramesh and Musa came out and began to move towards Lucky’s tea stall. Lucky was their former classmate but he was forced to discontinue his studies for lack of funds.
Lucky brought us two cups of tea.
After that day there was a strange change in Musa. In those days, Ramesh and Musa were the students of B.A.
Ramesh’s elder brother, comrade Pradeep, had a great following in that area. Pradeep would gather people around him and discussions would continue for hours on national and international politics.
Musa began to attend comrade Pradeep’s meetings. He was trying to understand the minds of the people around him.
One day, Pradeep said, “America is spreading its wings and one by one enslaving the small countries but we are involved in Hindu-Muslim problem.”
Musa said, “For you there is no problem. You need not prove that you are a patriot because you are a Hindu but we have to prove because we are Muslims! People believe that we are pro-Pakistan. They want proofs of our patriotism. You won’t understand our problem!”
After a few days, Musa stopped attending Pradeep’s meetings.
Chapter 4
After the completion of B.A., Ramesh had gone to Delhi for the preparation of a competitive exam. He was successful and he was selected for police training in the capacity of an officer. He knew that his father had bribed the senior officers and made things easier for him.
After the death of his father, Musa had taken over the father’s weaving workshop. He had tried many times but he was unable to get any job. According to him, his religion was the main obstacle in the way of success.
“No, Musa, if a person is efficient, these companies don’t pay attention to religion,” said Ramesh.
“No, brother, the first thing they ask is religion. You see, Muslims are involved in small jobs like electrician, plumbers, mechanics, and manual labourers but Hindus controls big businesses!” Musa was really angry with the system.
Ramesh remembered that Musa talked about changing the system. He said that Muslims were treated like aliens in their own country. He had tried to convince him many times that it was not so but he was not ready to listen. At least, he had never treated any Muslim badly. It could be the feeling of the Muslims and maybe he was right.
Ramesh stayed there for two days and then went back to Delhi. He had to join his training.