Naushati Lal would often recall later seeing Kichlu that night. He remembered that Kichlu came to him when he had fallen asleep under the tree and tried to wake him up. When he opened his eyes he saw Kichlu standing near him, whispering in his ear.
A loud thumping noise woke Naushati Lal up. He got up immediately and looked around. He saw something running and hiding itself in the bushes behind the tree. He could not see the little creature clearly for it was still dark. Before he could move, he heard a loud howling from the nearby field. Naushati wasted no time and ran towards the bushes to save the little creature. He found that it was not Kichlu. He looked at it for sometime, smiled as if he had recognized it, then took it in his arms and carefully came back to the tree. “Don’t worry Bhoora, I will save you from the jackals. You are my new friend.” He decided not to risk Bhoora’s life on his way home should the jackals attack him again. He hid him in a large cavity in the tree trunk and covered the hole with a stone as big as he could lift.
When Naushati reached home, it was broad daylight. He found his mother waiting for him, sitting on the steps outside the house. Her eyes were red and swollen. She could not sleep but cried for the whole night. When she saw Naushati, she ran towards him and hugged him. She cried for sometime, before Naushati told her that he was hungry. Torn down by hunger and fatigue, Naushati Lal ate and slept like a pig.
Later that day, he decided to bring his new friend home. It was just after sun set when he came back with his friend. When he couldn’t find food or water for Bhoora in the house, he decided to go to Karchhi Chachi’s place despite being scolded several times in the past for doing so. He found no one in the house but a large cauldron filled with water and potatoes. Happily, he kept Bhoora in the cauldron and covered it with a lid lest Karchhi Chachi should find his friend dining in there. Then he left to look for his mother and tell her about his new friend.
When he came back shortly afterwards, to his utmost horror, he found the cauldron kept on a fire. The sound of water boiling inside the cauldron made his worst fears come true. When he tried to lift the metal lid, he burnt his fingers and gave a loud shriek. The lid made a louder noise when it fell down. Karchhi Chachi came running towards him, calling him names, and slapped him as hard as she could for entering her house again. She pushed him hard and threw him towards the gate. She lifted the lid and was about to cover the cauldron when she looked inside it. She gave so loud a shriek that it would have brought the dead to life. It was the last sound she would ever make for shortly afterwards she fell down, lifeless, in shock. She accidentally hit the cauldron and spilled the contents all over the place. By this time, almost whole village had reached there. They had never seen in their lives, at one place, so many boiled potatoes spilled over a dead old lady, a crying little miserable child and a half burnt human head rolling here and there.
Naushati Lal would often recall later what Kichlu had whispered in his ear, “Don’t worry Naushati, I will never leave you again.”
(End of Episode 1)
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
The Life and Adventures of Naushati Lal- 1.2 Lost and Found
Naushati Lal couldn't remember when he fell asleep but when he opened his eyes Kichlu was nowhere to be found. Confounded as he was, Naushati Lal left in search for his only friend- the piglet, which his mother bought as a birthday gift for him.
A lean clumsy figure, wearing only a long ragged shirt covering him till knees, he wandered in the village for the whole day. By the time he reached home, he had stopped crying. Face- covered with layers of dust and trails made by tears and running nose- was no better than his feet. He heard the voice of his mother scolding him for being lost the whole day, when suddenly he spotted dried blood in the corner where Kichlu often used to hide. The memories of last night flooded his mind. Next moment Naushati was on the streets again, only this time he was not crying but was red with rage and hate.
By the time Naushati reached the woods outside the village, the sun had already set. He kept running towards the thick woods on the terribly rough road. He fell three times, injuring both his knees, before reaching the woods. He cried aloud his friend's name repeatedly. He kept wandering into the woods, crying and often wiping his tears to keep his vision clear. He would run for sometime and would stop sometimes trying to hear his friend's voice or the hunter's. By the time it was dark, he could take it no longer. He stopped near a big tree, ran around it few times until he stumbled and fell. He gave a loud shriek. Naushati Lal then stood up and stared at the tree for sometime. He picked up a stone and hurled it at the tree. And as if taken by a fit of rage, he continued pelting stones at it.. He then ran towards it and started pushing it, hitting it as if trying to root it out. Failed, and overwrought, he sat down under the tree. He cried for some more time before falling asleep.
When Naushati Lal was born, he was upset. His mother lay unconscious for more than a day and there was no one to hear him cry. How Naushati survived that day was no less than a miracle. It was at a nearby clinic where his mother looked at him for the first time. They would later say, "he was no more than a skeleton, with head as big as a two kg melon, and arms so long that they were reaching his toes. No one could dare look at him." His mother looked at him, held him close to her bosom and smiled as if she was laying eyes on the most beautiful thing in her life.
The tree, that was as silent and calm today as it had always been, was equally silent and calm when the new born Naushati cried for almost a day under its thick branches before being spotted by an English lady who also happened to be a doctor.
A lean clumsy figure, wearing only a long ragged shirt covering him till knees, he wandered in the village for the whole day. By the time he reached home, he had stopped crying. Face- covered with layers of dust and trails made by tears and running nose- was no better than his feet. He heard the voice of his mother scolding him for being lost the whole day, when suddenly he spotted dried blood in the corner where Kichlu often used to hide. The memories of last night flooded his mind. Next moment Naushati was on the streets again, only this time he was not crying but was red with rage and hate.
By the time Naushati reached the woods outside the village, the sun had already set. He kept running towards the thick woods on the terribly rough road. He fell three times, injuring both his knees, before reaching the woods. He cried aloud his friend's name repeatedly. He kept wandering into the woods, crying and often wiping his tears to keep his vision clear. He would run for sometime and would stop sometimes trying to hear his friend's voice or the hunter's. By the time it was dark, he could take it no longer. He stopped near a big tree, ran around it few times until he stumbled and fell. He gave a loud shriek. Naushati Lal then stood up and stared at the tree for sometime. He picked up a stone and hurled it at the tree. And as if taken by a fit of rage, he continued pelting stones at it.. He then ran towards it and started pushing it, hitting it as if trying to root it out. Failed, and overwrought, he sat down under the tree. He cried for some more time before falling asleep.
When Naushati Lal was born, he was upset. His mother lay unconscious for more than a day and there was no one to hear him cry. How Naushati survived that day was no less than a miracle. It was at a nearby clinic where his mother looked at him for the first time. They would later say, "he was no more than a skeleton, with head as big as a two kg melon, and arms so long that they were reaching his toes. No one could dare look at him." His mother looked at him, held him close to her bosom and smiled as if she was laying eyes on the most beautiful thing in her life.
The tree, that was as silent and calm today as it had always been, was equally silent and calm when the new born Naushati cried for almost a day under its thick branches before being spotted by an English lady who also happened to be a doctor.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
The Life and Adventures of Naushati Lal- 1.1 Beauty and The Beast
“Amma, am I not beautiful?” Naushati Lal would often ask.
“Yes, you are.”
“As beautiful as Kichlu is?” he asked.
“You are the most beautiful my son.”
Naushati Lal looked at Kichlu. Then he took Kichlu in his lap. “No, Kichlu is the most beautiful. I am next to him. Am I right Kichlu?”
When Naushati Lal turned three, he met his first friend- a piglet. It was a birthday present. He named him ‘Kichlu’. The two became best friends. Neither could live without the other. Naushati Lal found himself in Kichlu. “We are very much alike,” he would say, “He is the most beautiful and I am the second.”
“But Naushati, the pig has a tail and you do not.” Naushati would think and reply, “That’s why Kichlu is more beautiful.”
One night a squeal woke up Naushati Lal. He opened his eyes and did not see anything but a pair of amber eyes. He heard the squeal again. There stood a jackal hardly five hands from Naushati with Kichlu in his jaws. One thing that Naushati did not know was fear and the poor hunter was not aware of this ignorance. Naushati gave a loud cry and pounced on the jackal. In a moment he was lying over the poor canine pumping fists into his belly and had already broken some of his bones. He stopped when he heard Kichlu squealing again. As soon as he moved towards Kichlu, the jackal limped itself out in the dark. Kichlu kept squealing for rest of the night, Naushati Lal kept crying and the poor jackal kept howling.
Next morning Kichlu was gone.
“Yes, you are.”
“As beautiful as Kichlu is?” he asked.
“You are the most beautiful my son.”
Naushati Lal looked at Kichlu. Then he took Kichlu in his lap. “No, Kichlu is the most beautiful. I am next to him. Am I right Kichlu?”
When Naushati Lal turned three, he met his first friend- a piglet. It was a birthday present. He named him ‘Kichlu’. The two became best friends. Neither could live without the other. Naushati Lal found himself in Kichlu. “We are very much alike,” he would say, “He is the most beautiful and I am the second.”
“But Naushati, the pig has a tail and you do not.” Naushati would think and reply, “That’s why Kichlu is more beautiful.”
One night a squeal woke up Naushati Lal. He opened his eyes and did not see anything but a pair of amber eyes. He heard the squeal again. There stood a jackal hardly five hands from Naushati with Kichlu in his jaws. One thing that Naushati did not know was fear and the poor hunter was not aware of this ignorance. Naushati gave a loud cry and pounced on the jackal. In a moment he was lying over the poor canine pumping fists into his belly and had already broken some of his bones. He stopped when he heard Kichlu squealing again. As soon as he moved towards Kichlu, the jackal limped itself out in the dark. Kichlu kept squealing for rest of the night, Naushati Lal kept crying and the poor jackal kept howling.
Next morning Kichlu was gone.
Friday, March 5, 2010
The Life and Adventures of Naushati Lal- 1.0 Prologue
Naushaati Lal and Munnat Lal never met each other in their whole life. In fact the two lives spanned mutually exclusive territories on the calendar.
Naushati Lal, as they would say, was the second most strong man in the village. It was said that he had killed an elephant with his bare hands. Naushati Lal was also the second most fast man in the village. He was once chased by a locomotive but he easily outran the machine. When Naushati Lal died, he was happy. Naushati Lal, as they would say, was the most unintelligent person in the village.
Munnat lal despised the English so much that he did not take his sick wife, who was in labor, to the only clinic in the vicinity. The clinic was run by an English lady. Munnat Lal, rather, decided to take his wife on a drive in a bullock-cart on a dreadfully rough road to help her in the final stages of the labor. Munnat Lal, as they would say, was the strongest man in the village. He was also the fastest man in the village. Munnat Lal, who was the father of Naushati Lal, was also the most intelligent man in the village.
When Munnat Lal died, he was happy too.
End of introduction.
Naushati Lal, as they would say, was the second most strong man in the village. It was said that he had killed an elephant with his bare hands. Naushati Lal was also the second most fast man in the village. He was once chased by a locomotive but he easily outran the machine. When Naushati Lal died, he was happy. Naushati Lal, as they would say, was the most unintelligent person in the village.
Munnat lal despised the English so much that he did not take his sick wife, who was in labor, to the only clinic in the vicinity. The clinic was run by an English lady. Munnat Lal, rather, decided to take his wife on a drive in a bullock-cart on a dreadfully rough road to help her in the final stages of the labor. Munnat Lal, as they would say, was the strongest man in the village. He was also the fastest man in the village. Munnat Lal, who was the father of Naushati Lal, was also the most intelligent man in the village.
When Munnat Lal died, he was happy too.
End of introduction.
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