5. God Lives in the Panch dies i ‘iin i i cre L IL ASSIGNMENTS () Alagu and Jumman were close childhood friends. They used to till their land in common, were partners in money lending business and used to take care of each other’s household, in case of either’s absence. (i) The secret of their mutual trust and confidence was their mutual outlook and a community of ideas. (ai) Jumman’s father was a strict disciplinarian, who believed in the precept, “Don’t spare the rod, or you'll spoil him.” As a result of his precept, his son grew up to be a fine scholar, who was unequal in the entire village for drafting petitions or drawing up a deed. (iv) Alagu’s father believed that a teacher’s blessings are necessary for transforming a student into a fine scholar and that his blessings can be attained by keeping his hookah fresh and feeding his chillum regularly. Alagu continued with his father’s advice and spent his time serving his teacher by keeping his hookah fresh and feeding his chillum. Consequently, Alagu failed to acquire much education. (v) Alagu was respected in the village for his wealth, whereas Jumman was respected for his learning. () The old lady was Jumman’s maternal aunt and Jumman was her nephew. There was an agreement between the two that the old lady would transfer her property to him on the condition she would be looked after by Jumman and his wife. (ii) Before the deed was signed, the old lady’s every wish used to be fulfilled without askance. Jumman was obliging towards herI. (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) Gi) (iii) (iv) and considerate of all her needs. After the deed was registered, Jumman became indifferent towards her and used to illtreat her. The nephew’s wife’s name was Kariman, She illtreated the old lady and continuously nagged and insulted her. She never served the old lady her meals without uttering remarks full of bitterness and insult. The old lady patiently bore all the insults and daily humilation as long as she could. But ultimately she demanded that she should be given a small allowance so that she could set up a separate kitchen for herself. Her newphew reacted indifferently to her demands and said that the money did not grow on trees and taunted her that she had not conquered death. The old lady threatened her nephew that if he would not fulfill her demands, she would take her case before the panchayat. No, the old lady’s threat did not affect him in anyway. This was because all the members of the panchayat were his friends, whom he had obliged at one time or the other. He was sure that they would not go against him. The old woman was Jumman’s maternal aunt, who used to live with Jumman and his family. She went from villager to villager to narrate her tale of woe, comprising humiliation and insults hurled on her by Jumman and his wife The incident of Jumman’s aunt threatening Jumman of taking her case to the panchayat, if her demands were not fulfilled and Jumman’s indifferent attitude to the threat is referred to here. Most of the villagers offered their verbal sympathy to her. Some of them cursed the hard times which had brought the old woman to such a miserable state, whereas others advised her to patch up with her nephew. At last, the old woman approached Jumman’s friend, Alagu. She requested him to attend the panchayat, when her case comes up in the panchayat. Alagu agreed to attend the panchayat as per the old lady’s request but asked her to excuse him from being part of the proceedings in the panchayat. The old lady, who has called the panchayat to take up her case against her nephew, is the speaker in these lines. The speaker is Jumman’s maternal aunt.(i) The speaker was constantly nagged and insulted by Jumman and his wife. She was not served any meal without abuses being hurled on her. She was denied the basic necessities of life like food and clothes. (iii) The speaker demanded that justice should be done to her. If she was in the wrong, she should be punished, but if her nephew, Jumman was wrong, he should be corrected. (iv) The panchayat was held in the evening under the village tree Jumman made all the arrangements for the panchayat such as getting the carpet laid and providing a good supply of pan, elaichi and hookahs to those present in the panchayat. (v) The panchayat held under a tree after the sun set, presented a strange sight. In one corner of the panchayat, live charcoal was kept glowing to feed the ‘chillums’ of the guests. In another corner, the village children were shouting, crying and quarelling with each other. Yet in another corner, the village dogs had assembled in full force, thinking it was a day of feasting, There was excitement and disorder all around. (i) Alagu Chowdhari became the head-panch when he was nominated by Jumman’s aunt, as the panchayat system stipulated the nomination of a head-panch, acceptable to both the parties Jumman’s aunt nominated him because she was sure that Alagu will not kill his conscience for the sake of his friendship with Jumman, (i) Jumman was delighted at Alagu’s nomination as the head-panch because he knew that Alagu, being his intimate friend, would not go against him. (iii) Jumman did not propose anybody’s name as nominee for the head-panch because majority of the people, who attended the panchayat did not have a favourable opinion of Jumman. (iv) Alagu told the old lady about his friendship with Jumman and indirectly reminded her of the repercussions of appointing him as the head-panch. The old lady replied that she was well aware of Alagu’s friendship with Jumman and she also knew that Alagu won't kill his conscience for the sake of his friendship with Jumman. (v) As the head-panch, Alagu began the proceedings by addressing Jumman and telling him that although they had earlier helped each other in times of difficulty, but now since he was the panch, both Jumman and his aunt, were equal in his eyes(vi) Jumman’s first reaction to Alagu’s proceedings was that Alagu was only pretending to be fair and just. In his defence, Jumman said that he had been carrying all his obligations towards his aunt like a son would be doing for his mother. He accepted the fact that there had been occasional quarrels between his aunt and his wife. However, he could not afford to pay a monthly allowance to his aunt. VI. (i) He’ in the extract refers to Alagu. He gained knowledge of law by visiting the courts often in connection with his business and by observing the legal proceedings there (i) Ramadhan Misra was the resident of another village. He bore a grudge against Jumman for the latter had settled some of Ramadhan’s tenants in his own village. He was excited to see Alagu defeating Jumman in his cross-examination. (i) Jumman was wondering how his friend, Alagu, who was talking to him cordially a moment ago, was now trying to bring before the panchayat his faults. He found it difficult to understand for which old grievance, Alagu was trying to take revenge on him. He was wondering like that because Alagu was his close friend and he had thought that he would favour him, rather than his aunt. (iv) The panchayat’s verdict was that Jumman had to pay a monthly allowance to his aunt. In case of non-compliance with the Panchayat’s verdict, the deed transferring her aunt’s property to him will be declared null and void. Jumman was stunned to hear the verdict. He could not understand how his friend, Alagu, whom he trusted so much had suddenly turned into an enemy by pronouncing a verdict against him, (v) The villagers were full of praise for Alagu for his sense of fairness and justice. They said that Alagu had separated truth from falsehood as a swan separates milk from water. (vi) The verdict spoiled the relationship that existed between Jumman and Alagu. The two friends avoided seeing each other, and if they happened to meet by chance, they behaved like enemies, Jumman kept on thinking about how to take revenge on Alagu and waited with baited breath for such an opportunity to come his way. Vil. (i) Alagu purchased the pair of bullocks a year ago from the Bateshwar fair. The bullocks had beautiful long curved hornsand were of western breed. They were so attractive that they remained the envy and the rage of the whole village for months together. (i) The death of one of the bullocks further strained the already strained relationship between Alagu and Jumman, Jumman connected the death of the bullock as God’s punishment on Alagu for his treacherous conduct of giving the verdict against him. Alagu, on the other hand, accused Jumman of poisoning his bullock. (iii) Alagu sold the other bullock to Samjhu Sahu, a cart driver, The bullock was sold at one-hundred and fifty rupees. It was agreed that Samjhu Sahu, the buyer would pay the price in a month’s time, (iv) The bullock led a miserable life at his new master, Samjhu Sahu’s place. He was overworked and forced to undertake three trips to the town without any rest and full feed. Consequently, the bullock was reduced to a skeleton and could hardly drag the cart. VIII. (i) Samjhu Sahu nominated Jumman as the head-panch. He did so because he was aware of the hostility between Alagu and Jumman and thought Jumman would not favour Alagu and so the verdict would go in his favour. (i) On hearing Jumman’s name as the head-panch, Alagu’s heart began to sink, his face turned pale and looked as if he had received a sudden blow. He felt so because he was aware that Jumman had been waiting for an opportunity to take revenge on him. (ii) As Jumman became the head-panch in the Alagu-Sahu case, he realised the gravity of his office. He knew that since he was sitting on the throne of justice, he should not utter anything but truth. He was conscious of the fact that as a judge, his words carry the same respect as the words of God. He realised that he must not allow his personal feelings of hostility towards Alagu to interfere with his duty of dispensing justice (iv) The members of the panchayat differed on the issue of whether Alagu should be paid the full price of the bullock, or whether there should be any reduction in the price, taking into consideration the loss suffered by Sahu (v) Jumman pronounced the verdict that Samjhu had to pay the full amount for the ox he bought from Alagu, because when he bought the cattle, it was in good health and the ox died of slow(vi) starvation and ovework. Had Samjhu paid the amount at the time of purchase, the present situation would not have arisen Yes, Jumman’s verdict was absolutely fair as it was Samjhu Sahu’s greed to earn more profit that made him overwork his ox, without giving the animal rest and proper food. The verdict once again brought the two friends close to each other. Alagu was ovewhelmed at Jumman’s fairness in dispensing justice. He broke down and wept on Jumman’s shoulders. They embraced each other and renewed their friendship.