JISERI TALAW

JISERI TALAW

CHAPTER – I    KULDHARA

THE WHISTLE OF KETTLE BROKE THE SILENCE OF EARLY MORNING, GAJENDRA WOKE UP SIMUL TANEOUSLY. THIS IS BASED ON A STORY OF A GAJENDRA SINGH RATHORE OF VILLAGE KULDHARA (ABANDONED VILLAGE), NEAR JAISALMER, NICKNAMED THE GOLDEN CITY, LOCATED 575 KILOMETRES (357 MILES) WEST OF THE STATE CAPITAL JAIPUR IN RAJASTHAN STATE WITHIN INDIAN CONTINENT . THE TOWN STANDS ON A RIDGE OF YELLOWISH SANDSTONE AND IS CROWNED BY THE ANCIENT JAISALMER FORT. RAVI AND GAJENDRA USED TO TRAVEL LONG DISTANCES TO FETCH WATER IN HIS TRACKTOR FOR HIS VILLAGE. ACTUALLY GAJENDRA WAS NICKNAMED GAJJU PANIWALA FROM HIS JOB. BUT GAJENDRA LIKES TO BE CALLED BY HIS SURNAME INSTEAD. 

GAJENDRA IS A LATE RISER, HE GETS UP WITH A CUP OF HOT TEA IN THE MORNING. HERE IN RAJASTHAN THE WOMEN FOLKS ARE RESPONSIBLE TO GATHER WATER FROM FAR OF PLACES FROM BIG PERINIAL WELLS, ONE CAN SEE A DEEP TUBEWELL MILES AND MILES AWAY FROM HIS HAVELI, (HOME), WHILE THE MEN FOLKS SMOKE FROM HOOKKAS OR ARE BUSY IN PLAYING CHESS (SATRANJ) OR CARD GAMES WHEN THEY DO NOT EARN MONEY. THE RICH PEOPLE HERE DIG THEIR OWN WELLS, OR HAVE BULLOCK CARTS OR TRACTORS TO DRIVE HOME THE LIFE THE OTHER NAME OF DRINKING WATER, WHILE THE REST UNPREVILEDGED AND MEDIUM CLASSES HAVE TO COLLECT WATER FROM GOVERNMENT/PUBLIC WELLS. TODAY HER BHABI HAD GONE TO A NEARBY WELL TO SEEK WATER AS SHE IS THE YOUNGEST WOMAN IN THE FAMILY OF 5 MEMBERS, GAJENDRA (GAJJU), JITENDRA (JITU) HIS ELDER BRO, HIS BHABI LEELA, AND HIS MOTHER PADMA DEVI AND HIS FATHER DUSHYANT SINGH RATHORE. THEY WERE A WEALTHY FAMILY CONNECTED TO ROYAL BLOOD SOME GENERATIONS AGO. BUT THEIR ANCESTORS HAD LOST ALL THEIR WEALTH IN DRINKING LIQUIOR, WOMENIISING AND GAMBLING. AT PRESENT THEY HAVE LITTLE LAND FOR CULTIVATION AND A WATER HOLE WHICH WAS OPENED TO PUBLIC BY THEIR FOREFATHERS.

CHAPTER – II    LEELA

TODAY GAJENDRA GOT UP FROM HIS BED WITHOUT TEA AND RUSHED TO THE KITCHEN ONLY TO FIND DENSE STEAM (WATER VAPOUR) RISING FROM A BLACKENED KETTLED. HE IMMEDIATELY REMEMBERED THAT HIS BHABI TOLD HIM COUPLE OF DAYS BACK THAT THERE WAS SHORTAGE OF WATER IN THEIR LOCALITY AND SO HE SHOULD FIND A NEW LOCATION FROM WHERE HIS BHABI COULD SEEK DRINKING WATER AND THAT HE HAD FORGOTTEN THE REQUEST HIS BHABI HAD MADE. WATER WAS NEEDED FOR DRINKING, COOKING, BATHING, WASHING UTENSILS AND CLOTHES AND FEEDING CATTLE. HE NOW FELT A LUMP OF HARDNESS IN HIS HEART/ABDOMEN THAT HE COULD NOT DETERMINE, ONLY THE PAIN OUT OF THAT COULD BE FELT. HE UNDERSTOOD HOW MUCH DISSAPOINTED HIS BHABI COULD BE FOR HIS IRRESPONSIBILTY.

THE THOUGHT THAT THE OTHER MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY TOO MIGHT HAVE COME TO KNOW ABOUT HIS IRRESPONSIBILTY BY NOW, HAUNTED HIM. SO HE WENT TO THE KITCHEN AND FOUND THAT THE KETTLE WOULD RUN DRY IN JUST FEW MINUTES , AS ALL THE WATER WOULD TURN UP INTO WATER VAPOUR. HE UNDERSTOOD THAT HIS BHABI WENT OUT FOR MORE THAN 30 MINUTES. HE RAN OUT OF THE HOUSE GOT HOLD OF A BRANCH OF NEEM TREE BROKE A SMALL TWIG AND STARTED TO RUN TOWARDS THE WATER HOLE NEAREST TO HIS HOUSE. HE REACHED THERE IN FEW MINUTES ONLY TO FIND OLD PEOPLE DISCUSSING WHERE THEY COULD FIND WATER. 

CHAPTER – III OASIS AT JISERI TALAW(OASIS)

SEEING GAJENDRA COMING TOWARDS THEM THEY REQUESTED HIM IF HE COULD FETCH A WATER ON HIS TRACTOR FROM DISTANT PLACE. GAJENDRA NODDED HIS HEAD AND ASKED THEM WHETHER THEY SAW HIS BHABI LEELA, THEY ANSWERED AFFIRMATIVE AND SHOWED HIM THE ROAD AHEAD IN THE DIRECTION HIS BHABI HAD GONE. GAJENDRA RETURNED TO HIS HOME CHEWING THE NEEM TWIG, WASHED HIS MOUTH, TOOK THEIR COUPLE OF CAMELS AND RODE OF IN THE DIRECTION THE OLD MEN HAD SHOWN. RIDING FOR MORE THAN 3 KILOMETERS, HE CAME TO THE ADJACENT VILLAGE WHERE HE GOT TO KNOW ABOUT THE NEAREST WELL. HE QUICKLY RODE IN ONE OF HIS CAMEL AND THE ROPE OF THE OTHER ONE WAS IN HIS HAND. AFTER REACHING THERE, HE SAW VERY LITTLE WATER WAS THERE IN THE WELL. MAYBE BY NOW THE WATER STARTED TO BECOME TURBID. STILL FEW WOMEN COLLECTED WATER FROM THAT WELL. BUT WHERE WAS HIS BHABI? HE CAME DOWN FROM HIS CAMEL AND WENT TOWARDS THE WOMEN WHO WERE FILLING THEIR PITCHERS WITH WATER. GAJENDRA ASKED IN THEIR MOTHER TONGUE ABOUT HIS BHABI. THEY ANSWERED HIM THAT HIS BHABI HAD COME HERE, BUT AS THE QUALITY OF THIS WATER WAS LITTLE BIT FOWL, SHE ALONG WITH FEW OTHER WOMEN WENT TO THE NEXT VILLAGE.

               GAJENDRA THANKED THEM AND RODE OFF QUICKLY TO THE NEXT VILLAGE. IT WAS A LONG DISTANCE, TO THE NEXT VIILAGE AS HE HAD TO COVER THIS VILLAGE WHICH WAS MORE THAN 7 KILOMETERS AND THE JISERI TALAW (OASIS) AT A FAR OFF PLACE WAS AGAIN 14.3 KILOMETER AT THE END OF THE VILLAGE WHICH HE WAS NOW VISITING. 

CHAPTER – IV   WATER SUPPLY

               MEANWHILE GAJENDRA CALLED ONE OF HIS FRIEND RAVI, A LOCAL VENDOR AND REQUESTED HIM TO TAKE HIS TRACTOR AND COLLECT WHATEVER DRINKING WATER HE COULD GET THAT COULD LAST A WEEK AHEAD FOR COUPLE OF FAMILIES SURROUNDING HIS HAVELI. HIS FRIEND ASKED HIM AT WHAT PRICE HE COULD BUY WATER AS THE PRICE OF DRINKING WATER COULD BE HIGH BY NOW IN THE TOWN. GAJENDRA TOLD HIM TO TAKE 20 LTRS. DRINKING WATER CONTAINERS (AT EVEN HIGH PRICE UPTO RS. 150 PER JAR). IT TOOK HIM LITTLE MORE THAN 40 MINUTES TO REACH THE OASIS. THERE WAS A DHABA TYPE EATERY. GAJENDRA WAS VERY HUNGRY. HE WENT STRAIGHT TO THE EATERY AND FILLED HIS STOMACH AND TOOK SOME CHAPATIS, CURRY AND GHEE LADOOS FOR HIS BHABI. THEN HE HEADED TOWARS THE WATER POOL. HE HAD COME HERE WITH HIS FATHER FOR A COUPLE OF TIMES, BUT NOW HE NOTICED THAT THE WATER IN THE POOL ALSO HAD DECREASED. THE PEOPLE WERE PERFORMING HAWAN’S (FIRE WORKS TO ATTRACT GOD’S ATTENTION) AND BRING RAIN. LAST YEAR BY THIS TIME THE RAIN HAD ALREADY STARTED. IN RAJASTHAN, EVERYONE KNOWS THAT DURING THE DRY SEASON, IT IS HARD TO SEEK WATER. EVERYTHING CHANGES WITH THE COMMENCEMENT OF RAINY SEASON.

               GAJENDRA WAS CONFIDENT THAT HE COULD FIND HIS BHABI HERE. HE SPENT MORE THAN AN HOUR, LOOKING EVERY CORNER OF THIS PLACE BUT SHE WAS NO WHERE AROUND. BEING UPSET , HE CALLED HIS BROTHER, AND REPORTED HIM THE WHOLE INCIDENT. HE FELT VERY GUILTY, AS IF IT WAS DUE TO HIM THAT BHABI HAD TO FACE SUCH CONSEQUENCES. ON THE OTHER HAND, JITENDRA WAS WORRIED OF HIS WIFE AS WELL. BY THAT TIME, HE HAD ARRANGED SOME WATER FOR THE DAY. TILL NOW, THE TENSION WAS FOR WATER, BUT AFTER LEELA WENT MISSING , THE FOCAL POINT OF TENSION HAD CHANGED TO HIS BHABI. THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY TOO WERE WORRIED ABOUT BOTH OF THEM, GAJENDRA AND HIS BHABI. HIS BROTHER ASKED HIM TO RETURN TO HAVELI, WHILE HE WOULD GO TO THE POLICE CHOWKI AND ASK FOR SOME HELP TO FIND HIS WIFE.

               GAJENDRA WAS VERY WORRIED ABOUT HIS BHABI. HE WANTED TO SEARCH OTHER PLACES TOO, BUT AS HIS BROTHER HAD ASKED HIM TO RETURN HOME IMMDIATELY, HE LISTENED TO HIS BROTHER. HE STARTED RIDING BACK HOME. AS HE CROSED THE VILLAGE SATA

 AND WAS RIDING TOWARDS HIS VILLAGE, HE COULD SEE AN OUTLINE IMAGE OF FEW MEN AT A LONG DISTANCE. BY AND BY AS HE CAME NEARER TO THEM, HE COULD OBSERVE THAT THEY WERE WOMEN IN GHUNGHATS (SARI COVERED OVER THE HEAD) AND THAT, THEY WERE WALKING IN THE SAME DIRECTION.

FINALLY, HE CAME NEAR THEM AND WAS VERY MUCH SURPRISED TO SEE HIS BHABI. HE COULD NOT CONTROL HIS EMOTIONS, TEARS RUNNING DOWN HIS CHEEKS, LIKE A SMALL CHILD. HE REQUESTED HER BHABI TO GET UP ON THE SECOND CAMEL, SO THAT THEY COULD QUICKLY RETURN HOME. BUT HIS BHABI REFUSED TO COME AND IN RETURN, TOLD HIM HER SIDE OF THE STORY. SHE ASKED HIM WHETHER, HE KNEW MUSTAQ. MUSTAQ WAS GAJENDRA’S FRIEND, WHO HAD RECENTLY JOINED INDIAN ARMY. HIS BHABI TOLD HIM THAT MUSTAQ’S WIFE, NOOR JAHAN HAD HIGH FEVER FOR COUPLE OF DAYS. AS MUSTAQ’S MOTHER HAD DIED, HIS WIFE HAD TO LOOK AFTER HER TINY KID AS WELL AS HER AILING FATHER-IN-LAW.  LEELA’S KITCHEN WINDOW WAS FACING NOOR’S KITCHEN WINDOW , SO THEY WERE GOOD FRIENDS. LAST NIGHT, LEELA HEARD NOOR CRYING. SHE IMMEDIATELY WENT TO SEE WHAT HAD HAPPENED? LEELA FOUND OUT THAT THEY WERE STARVING. SHE COOKED MEAL FOR THEM AND PROMISED TO VISIT NEXT DAY. TODAY LEELA PLACED A KETTLE OF WATER FOR MAKING TEA AND LEFT FOR NOOR’S HOUSE, WITH VERY LITTLE WATER THAT SHE HAD IN STORAGE AND SOME LAST NIGHT’S EXTRA FOOD.

               AS SHE RETURNED HOME, SHE FOUND GAJENDRA STILL SLEEPING. HIS HUSBAND WAS ALREADY OUT WITH SOME WORK. SO SHE WENT OUT TO FETCH SOME WATER. THE REST IS ALL KNOWN TO GAJENDRA. MEANWHILE, HIS FRIEND RAVI CALLED HIM TO SAY THAT HE HAD STRUCK A GOOD DEAL. HE BOUGHT 100 JARS (20 LITERS) AT RS.120 AND SOLD 80 OF THEM FOR RS.250. STILL, HE HAD 20 JARS FOR GAJENDRA AT FREE OF COST.

CHAPTER – V RAIN DANCING

             GAJENDRA THEN CALLED HIS BROTHER AND GAVE HIM THE GOOD NEWS. AFTER THE TENSION OF HIS BROTHER WAS RELEIVED, HE THEN CAME DOWN FROM THE CAMEL, GAVE THE FOOD TO THE STARVING FOUR LADIES AND ASKED THEM TO RIDE ON CAMEL’S BACK TO THEIR DESTINATION. HIS BHABI RETURNED WITH OTHER WOMEN TO THE HAVELI. SOMETIME AFTER, HIS BROTHER TOO JOINED THEM AT HIS HOUSE. EVERBODY FELT PROUD OF LEELA. THEY WERE HAVING NICE TIME, DISCUSSING THAT GAJENDRA HAD GROWN UP AND BECOME MORE RESPONSIBLE. ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE EVENING TURNED GLOOMY, NO ONE KNEW FROM WHERE THE CLOUDS CAME IN. ALTHOUGH IT WAS A COMMON SIGHT HERE, THE CLOUDS COME AND GO WITHOUT SHEDDING A DROP OF WATER. GAJENDRA WAS STILL WALKING. HE FELT, AS IF, HIS ROAD WAS NEVER ENDING. NOW, HE WAS VERY EAGER TO MEET HIS FAMILY. SUDDENLY, THE DAY LIGHT DECREASED, AS THE SUN WENT BEHIND THE CLOUDS . GAJENDRA STARTED TO INCREASE HIS PACE, SINCE HE DID NOT BRING UMBRELLA WITH HIM. IT TOOK HIM NOT MORE THAN 15 MINUTES TO REACH HIS HOME.

        A VERY PLEASANT THING HAPPENED AS GAJENDRA WAS NEARING HIS HOME. HE FELT THAT IT COULD START RAINING JUST NOW. REALISING THE SITUATION HE THOUGHT OF RUNNING, BUT BEFORE HE COULD RUN, IT BEGAN TO RAIN ABRUPTLY. HE LOST HIS THOUGHTS, HE THOUGHT ONLY ABOUT HOW TO AVOID BEING DRENCHED IN THIS SHOWER. WHEN HE WAS IN THIS DILEMA OF WHETHER TO RUN OR TO STAND UNDRENEATH A SHADE, HE COULD HEAR VOICES COMING FROM THE OUTSKIRTS OF HIS HOUSE. YES, ONE MORE THING ALTHOUH NOOR’S WAS WEEK HER FEVER WAS GONE. AS HE CAME NEAR THE GATE OF HIS HOUSE, HE COULD SEE WATER EVERYWHERE. HE SAW THAT HIS BROTHER, THE OLD MEN, THE THREE LADIES ALONG WITH HIS BHABI, MUSTAQ’S WIFE WERE WATCHING MUSTAQ’S TINY KID DANCING IN THE RAIN INFRONT OF HIS HAVELI.