QUEST FOR JUSTICE
-2. In Quest For Justice

The guard went inside and returned in a few moments only to inform Shubam and his men that as the Sarpanch was busy in a meeting, they would have to wait for him.  As a rule in that village, sudras were not allowed to enter the house of the sarpanch.  Therefore, all of them had to wait outside in the sweltering heat for hours together to meet the Sarpanch. Much to their disappointment, their long wait did not bear any fruits as the guard later told them that as the meeting may continue for some indefinite period, the Sarpanch had asked them to come tomorrow.  They had some argument with the guard which served no purpose and finally all of them returned back to their homes with glum faces.  Luckily, some of them had saved water on the previous day including Shubam.  The noble boy shared his water with his fellow men even if that meant that he himself had to go without this precious commodity for the rest of the day. 

The next day, all of them assembled together and once again went to the house of the sarpanch.  More people had gathered today which was a good sign for it showed their unity to protest against the injustice that was being done to them.  But alas!  The guard told them that the sarpanch was indisposed and therefore was not in a position to meet them.  Shubam turned to the others, “It seems that the sarpanch has decided that he would not meet us.  What do we do now?”  In a short while, all of them made up their mind to go and meet a member of the Panchayat.  They walked to his house but alas!  They were told that he, too, like the Sarpanch was busy in a meeting and had no time to see them on that day.  This infuriated all of them and they, at once, decided to see the King himself and address their problems.

After a long walk under the blazing sun, they reached the palace of their ruler, King Rajneesh.  Although the King did not bother about the welfare of this unfortunate community, he had instructed his guards and ministers to welcome his visitors, no matter whoever they were, with utmost honour.  Thus, as soon as they informed the guards that they wanted to seek an audience with the King for airing their grievances, they were immediately led to the Durbar where Rajneesh was seated in his majestic throne alongwith his council of ministers.  The King had a charming personality with thin eyebrows, big serene eyes, broad lips and curly hairs.  He smiled as his visitors greeted him.  “Who are all of you?  Why have you come here?”  he enquired in his deep voice. 

Shubam spoke on behalf of the others and filled in the King in detail about the  event which occurred yesterday in the pond and the refusal of the village sarpanch and a member of the Panchayat to see them.  As soon as the ministers present in the durbar learnt that they were sudras, they looked upon the villagers with disdain.  Shubam finally concluded his narration, “…O Maharaj, we all have come here to seek justice from you.  Please come to our rescue.” 

King Rajneesh thought for a while and then said in his deep voice, “I need some time to arrive at a decision.  Till that time, you are free to use that pond in the afternoon.  As for today, you can take water from it in the evening.  I shall make my decision known through my drummer very soon and therefore there is no need for you to come here so afar from your village.  Alright?” 

The villagers heaved a sigh of relief and applauded the King’s verdict.  However, Shubam only nodded his head in the affirmative but did not express his happiness like the others.  Immediately after they had left, the King, through his drummer, announced that the shudras of Ramnagar should be allowed to use the pond till he took a final decision in this matter. 

After the Durbar proceedings were over, Rajneesh retired to his chambers and was lost in deep thought.  He, then, called over two of his most trusted ministers and asked them, “What do you feel about this Ramnagar issue?” 

One of the ministers spoke softy, “Maharaj, if you take my advice, please do not fall in this controversy.  If you rule in favour of the shudras, the Brahmins who are in a clear majority in our kingdom would turn against you.  Is that what you want?  Tell them resolve all their differences and problems by themselves.”  The other minister consented with this view and the King nodded his head in understanding.

Meanwhile, the Ramnagar villagers walked back to their homes in a cheerful mood barring Shubam.  While the others celebrated the King’s latest move, Shubam walked silently.  When asked by someone, he spoke his mind, “The King has only offered us a temporary solution.  I will not celebrate till the time his final decision in this issue does not fall in our favour.” 

“Oh!  Come on!  He cares for us or else he would not have allowed us to use the pond!  I am sure that he has taken some time to decide so that he can discuss this matter with his ministers and may be even listen to the Brahmins of our village.  What the Brahmins say is illogical and therefore he will rule in our favour!” assured a villager. 

“Let’s wait and see!” Shubam responded.

As soon as they reached their home, all of them quickly picked up their pots and went to the pond.  There were some ladies near the pond who went away as soon as they saw Shubam and the others coming in that direction.  After filling in their pots with water without any interference, Shubam and the other villagers retired to their homes.  That night all of them were called over to see the village Sarpanch.