The Night of the Incident – Part 1
Find Episode 2 here : Episode 2
The dead human body does not start disintegrating quickly. It
did not at least in the case of Giridhar. It was a rotten mess. Much like his
life. After life had start similarities. The following day was a plethora of
emotions for the village. The killer was out alive. Fear was natural. What was
also natural was the chaos that would ensue when Prajwal would find the body
next to Titu.
**
The previous night after Giridhar had dropped Titu on the
floor and hurried out the front door, Champa had done two things. She had
finished eating the four chapatis from the plate while Titu lay on the floor
crying for attention. She had then got up, picked the green shiny kurta and
placed it right in the back of the alaa, where from it was invisible to a
passing eye. Then she had smiled and caressed Titu. “Kahaan janam liya re tu…kapoot ke ghar kahaan phool khilta hai.. sab
maaya hai..” (How come you ended in that family? Flowers don’t bloom in a
thorny estate… It is all God’s will though). The poor child kept his cries at an incessant high, and
continued sobbing for some time while Champa made milk for him in the kitchen.
Devesh walked in later with fresh meat from the day’s hunt.
He looked frenzied and confused unlike other days. He had run into Giridhar on
his way into the hut and had stopped for a momentary chit chat which was rudely
denied. He was the last person to see Giridhar alive. Or so the villagers were
supposed to think the following day.
“Ka hua.. Ei
Giridharwa bada jaldi mein laga aaj saala…”(What happened? Giridhar seemed
in quite a hurry) were his first words when he was inside the kitchen. The
fumes from the freshly baked chapatis had filled the entire hut but the aroma
was intense. Champa ignored the question and continue teaching Titu the nursery
rhymes that every one learnt in the village when they were kids..
“Ek tamatar laal laal…
uske andar laal laal..
hum bhi khayen… tum
bhi khao.. sab ho jaayen laal laal”
(One red tomato… all
red inside…
Let us share and
consume… and be all red likewise )
She finished the rhyme with an evil grin
on her face as she looked at Titu… “Ei..
tera baap kaisan tamaatar jaisa laal ho gaya.. dekha..”(Did you see your
father walk away all red??) Titu
never understood the metaphor. Or the evil grin. Devesh stood unmoved. The confusion on the face was now
replaced with disgust.
“Kitni baar kahe hain
amma.. bacha ke saamne itna mat bola karo.. Umar hone lagi hai sasure ki..
samajhta hai.. baap ko bak dega kisi din” (How many times have I told you
mother? Not to speak such foul in front of the kid.. he is getting older..this
asshole.. Will go complain someday)
“Arre abhi to bacha hai..
Deva.. par humne dekha hai shaitaan kutte ki aankh mein.. “ (He is only a child
Deva.. But I have seen Devil in his father’s eyes)
“Amma.. kabhi kabhi to
darte hain hum tohre se.. Us din to tum bhi wahin thi na.. Babuji ka haija to
uparwaale ka diya hai.. kahe bakwaas karti ho..” (Mother, you scare me
sometimes.. You were there in person that night.. Father’s illness was god’s
doing… Why do you speak this rubbish?)
“Chhod pagla.. tu nahi
samjhega.. Girdhar par shaitan ka haath hai…” (Let it go.. you won’t get it.
The devil reigns over Giridhar)
Titu stopped lapping the milk from the flat bowl and looked
up in dismayed affection.. “Humra baap
shaitaan hai…” (My father is a demon..)with the smile of a six year old..
unaware of what he had just said. Both wondered if it was a question… perhaps.
“Hutt pagle.. Doodh
pi.. chal chhode aata hun tere babu ke paas khaana khaaye ke… Amma tum bhi na..“
(Get lost.. and drink your milk.. I will go drop you at your father’s once I finish
eating.. Mother.. you are a pain..) murmured Devesh in a fumbled voice and sat
down next to Titu. Champa had poured the sabji and chapatis on a steel plate
and Devesh started eating hungrily. What had happened in the morning today in
the adjoining forest was equally horrifying. But mentioning it to Champa would
mean more explaining and he was utterly tired since the events in the forest.
He finished eating quickly and got up to wash his hands in the backyard. There
was no light in Giridhar’s hut in the distance but he could faintly smell the
weed. “Bastard has no vigour to work for the child but smokes weed like a
chimney” he thought as he came into the hut.
Champa was still adjusting the shiny green kurta. “Babuji ka kurta kahe nahi jalne di us din
tum.. ab isko kya saath le ke hi jaogi?” (Why did you not let Father’s kurta exhume
that day? Will you now die with it?) His frustration was valid. He lit the
incense sticks and repeated the hanuman
chalisa (a prayer to Lord Hanuman) in his customary speed as Titu started
to snore lightly on the floor.
Devesh woke the kid up to drop him at his father’s place
when Champa held his hand. “Let him sleep here tonight.. I don’t feel very good
about the night sky.. there is no light in his hut and it would be filled with
the smoke of weed.” The resistance was impregnated with purpose tonight. Like
never before.
He pushed her back and woke him however. Titu was stammering
in his sleep and his teeth made a weird clattering noise like kids’ do when
they are bordering on sleep and wakefulness. He woke up with a start like a bad
dream had come to an inconclusive halt. The dream would come back he feared.
**
As the moon started to cross in the second quarter of the
night, Devesh and Titu walked humming tunes. Devesh hummed a tune he had heard
recently at Lakhan’s shop on his radio on Vividh Bharti. Titu sang the recently
learnt rhyme in broken verse “Ek tha
tamaatar laal laal.. uska andar bhi laal laal… hum sab khaayen laal laal.. woh ho
jaaye laal..” (There was a tomoto.. all red.. we ate it all.. and the
tomato was all red…)Devesh did not care to correct the mistakes but lit a beedi on the way. He finished the song
with a long burp and followed it with a ‘Hari
om’.. It was a weird custom but everyone did it in the village. It was a
noisy gratitude for a fulfilling meal to the Gods above… But tonight the Gods
slept up above in their humble abode while demons walked on the streets of
Badalpur.
“Chacha.. tani ta..
ruk jao.. mutna hai..” (Uncle wait a minute.. I have to take a leak) Titu
complained holding his groin in one hand and tugging Devesh’s hand in the
other. The undiluted presure on Devesh’s little finger hinted at the intensity
of the impending interval and he stubbed his bidi under his Lakhani chappals.
While Titu relieved himself by the tree, Devesh jumped and
picked him up and put him on the empty side of the road. “Pissing at the bottom
of a tree in the night invites demons Titu.. you want them to come take you
away?” he scolded the little kid. Titu just winked at him. Devesh could swear
he saw a scorn on his face for a split second.
In the next few minutes Devesh and Titu reached Giridhar’s
hut. There was a strong smell of weed. It seemed Giridhar was smoking two days
worth of ganja. He left Titu at the
door and walked away.
“Chal jaa.. apna babu
ke paas.. aur so jaana chup chaap.. koi awaaj nahi.. babu soya hoga.. jagana
mat” (Now go to your father.. And sleep quietly.. don’t wake him up and no
noise..)He left with half a warning and half a suggestion.
Titu tried to push the door open but it was locked. Devesh
had reached the end of the front yard and calling out for assistance seemed
irrelevant. He went around and climbed into the window and quietly settled into
the open floor in the hut. The room still smelled of the ganja.
From the corner of the dark room, Titu could see the burning
end of a chilam. The scorn had
returned on his face.
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