QUEST FOR JUSTICE

Sage Suryananda took his seat beneath a banyan tree and looked at his students who were eagerly awaiting his recital of a new story that evening.  All of his stories taught the children to follow good principles and be virtuous in life. Suryananda smiled at his students benignly and addressed everyone in a crisp voice, “Dear students, always give equal respect and honour to everyone.  Never encourage caste system in a society.  This forms the base of my story that I am going to narrate to you today. Listen!”

A young boy in his early twenties was sweeping the floor when his eyes fell upon a child who was playing with a knife in the kitchen.  Alarmed, he called out aloud, “Malik!  Malik!”  Getting no response, he ran into the kitchen, took the knife from the child and kept it away from him.  As the child looked at the boy stunned not knowing how to respond, his father came there from the bathroom.  He was furious to see the youth in the kitchen.  “Shubam, what are you doing here?”
Shubam explained to him all that had happened. Instead of being grateful to Shubam for the presence of mind he had displayed, the child’s father snarled at the youth!

“So what if he was playing with a knife?  Had he got hurt, it would have restrained him from doing this act again in the near future!  That’s how children start learning what they should do and what they should not.  Do not forget that you are a Shudra and we, Brahmanas, can never tolerate to see you in our kitchen!  We consider it to be an evil omen for us.  Tomorrow, if something inimical happens to my family because you have entered my kitchen, who is to be held responsible?”

Shubam was upset to hear these words of the Brahmin.  Still he did not speak anything and stood looking at the ground.  “This time I am leaving you.  But another time, be careful!  Now, please get out of this kitchen.”

Shubam walked off silently and after finishing his work went to another Brahmin’s house where he was employed to clean the floors and wash utensils.  As he left this house, the Brahmin handed him over something which was neatly wrapped up in a paper.  “Take it, Shubam!  I have packed some ‘Sita’ fruits for you!”

“Sita fruits!”  Shubam exclaimed.  “So kind of you, Malik!”

Shubam took the fruits gleefully and came to his small hut where he resided in his village of Ramnagar.  He eagerly opened the wrapped up paper but was dispirited to see that the four sita fruits inside appeared very withered and stale. His fears were proved true when he tasted one of the fruits which was so repulsive that he had to spit out what he had eaten!  Disgusted he threw all of them in a waste bin and sat on the floor seething in anger.   Thoughts like “why are we being treated like this?  Are we not human beings?  That brahmin gave me these fruits because they were rotten and not fit for his eating!  When he could not eat them, how could he expect me to do the same?”  Shubam thought in these terms for some time.  He, then, picked up two earthen pots and went out in the blazing sun.  After walking for a very long time, he came to a large pond whose crystal clear water sparkled in the refulgent rays of the sun.   He greeted some of his villagers who had gathered near the pond.  As he was about to dip one of his pots in the water of the pond, some Brahmins came there accompanied by some strong looking men.

“Stop taking water from this pond!  Leave this place immediately!” one of the Brahmins shouted.

Shubam and the others from his village were perplexed to hear this.  An elderly woman came forward and spoke with the brahmin, “Sire, we are allowed to draw water from this pond only during the afternoon.  Therefore, we have come here at the appropriate time to take water.  Thus, what wrong have we done that you are asking us to leave this place?”

“Do not argue with me.  When we say you have to leave, you have no other option.  Don’t you see that the water in this pond has come down drastically this year owing to scanty rainfall?  If you take all the water from this pond, what will we do?  We are certain that God Indra is angry with us for allowing you people to take water from here which is why he has punished us with little rainfall this season!”

“But, sire….” Even as the lady was about to say something, the stout men who were with the Brahmins came forward and pushed her with such force that she fell to the ground.  Shubam instantaneously came to her rescue.  He helped her to stand on her feet and turned to the Brahmin.  “Sire, this is gross injustice.  If you stop us from taking water from this pond, where would we go?  Our village is devoid of any ponds and wells which is why we come all the way here for taking water.”

“That is not our problem.  But from today onwards you will not come here.”  The Brahmin responded hoarsely.

Shubam and his villagers were pushed and even beaten till they moved away from the pond.  Fortunately, no one was grievously injured.

As all of them were slowly moving towards their village distraught with grief, one of them asked, “Now what do we do?  How can we survive without water?”

“Let’s go to our village Sarpanch and air our grievances.”  Shubam opined to which all of them consented.

On reaching the house of the Sarpanch, Shubam told the guard who was standing on vigil outside, to go and tell his Malik that all of them had come over to see him and complain about the injustice which was being meted out to them.