SYED WALIULLAH THE STORY OF TULSI PLANTS The house stood about a hundred yards i brick-and-mortar bridge that curved like : od uteced and large, it rose steeply from the road. There was no practice of leaving space for pavements along the road in this country. The house had also not shown the courtesy of leaving any land in the front. But there was a lot of land behind: the house. Stretching beyond the inner courtyard that was ringed by the bathroom, the toilet and the kitchen was an extensive area covered by a dense, almost impenetrable, grove of fruit trees. The tough Tong grant bed woven. tick canopy sith ta aly pow ;jamun and jackfruit trees, imparting to the place the eo? dusky gloom of sunset even under the bright mid-day sun, and © pet making the earth exude a damp and musty smell., ah When there was so much land, why couldn't some space have been left in front of the house for agarden) they wondered? Even if there was no garden, had there just been some open ground, they could have made a little garden themselves, thought Mateen. Planted with care some lovely seasonal flowers, fragrant gandharaj, bakul, hasnahana and a few roses. And rested there in the cool evenings after an exhausting day at office. wan of They could have bought a few comfortable cane chairs or canvas ea) armchairs and sprawled around in relaxed abandon, making « pleasant conversation. Amjad was fond of his hookah. In wee keeping with the ambience of the little garden, he could have bought himself a gargara, an elegant ornamental one, with a long pipe, ideal for the leisure of the long tranquil evenings. Kader could tell an interesting story. In the cool, light breeze of the evening, fragrant with the smell of flowers, his story would have been touched by the magic aura of fantasy and become by spell-binding. Or, on a moonlit night, there would have been ne ‘ need for a story at all. Wouldr’t it have been enough to sit in id quiet solitude, gazing at the moon as it climbed the horizon oggre | 192 SYED WALIULLAH —_ | Bhis grew more le longed to climb ain road onto the ith it? — such thou, } slowly and come face to face with it’ suc | insistent after an exhausting day at the office. H those steps that rose almost straight from the m; second storey of the house. ldsaicael Ashen ‘They had seized the house. Tt was Rot as if they had to fj i iO 1, fon gtupalon or ad spon en aren Afb | ‘- Qf their_physical prowess. aving come int © city it the | aftermath of the Partition, they had been Searching frantically fo |_| shelter and had come upon that house quite by chance one day. | e huge house stood empty, totally deserted, They had initially |_| oy Gecitaea in a) Then they had surged forward wild with | “excitement. They Rad broken the lock and entered the hy \ \O" iitiven by such thoughtless frenzy — like child a \ en collecting ray, mangoes scattered by the Tough winds of bais i — that their action ddr ye dayligh tions « A yligh Had a sense of _/ guilt tried to Creep into their mi: nds, it would have been coont away by the shrieks of derisive laughtefyc, a In the afternoon when the news reached the city, unwanted visitors had started arriving in hordes — all in search of a Toof | o over their heads. But they had resisted them defiantly and were he 4_belli {What was this, a feetoralf Later, calmly and coo! e cyt” beady key ears efor there ismomore place | — all the rooms are full. Even that small dark room has four cots, each three-feet by two-feet. Ifa few chairs and a couple of tables are added to it, there wouldn’t be any space to move." They had ' also expressed sympathy. "We understand your difficulties; why, haven’t we undergone such travails ourselves? But brother, you are unfortunate. Had you come but four hours earlier... why four, barely two ho urs ago, that fat gentleman from } the accounts office took that small toom in the corner downstairs. The room is adjacent to the road but that is nota Problemy. Tt has the advantage of having a government lamp just oufeide the | P window. There will be no problem if the current goes off." \ The entire country was in a turmoil, experiencing, great | ry upheaval and change. But it wasn’t as though law did not evail in these parts. So the police duly arrived to investigate the matter. The erstw! mer of the house had not appealed to | overnment for reclamation, Uni ftohadknown, | was improbable that he would have, even if he ha ewe | Was indeed too much to expect of a man who, in aeetrace,trom | y managed to disappear with his large family without a trace,THE STORY OF THE TULSI PLANT 193 country within a couple of days. at hadn’t been able to reach the ite two hours earlier, because they had b elsewhere in the city. But talking of sheer luck, who knew when misfc pefall them? They had to be vigilant. Despiération foncea a the meek to take up arms. A physical confrontation might reall not be necessary, but they were prepared to face the worst. z The circumstances were explained to the police i tactful way that the sub-ins pector did not raise further Ciontiene and returned with his team. He submitted his report in which he, of course, described all the complexities of the case. His complex report was best shelved thought his superior officer, to avoid having to simplify it. Besides, what was the hurry?_ Ti waste sympathy on those who had run at was foolish and not pressed im, th € on unnecessa’ jesides, those clerks were decent, harmless fellows, not the unscrupulous kind to sell the door an: window panels or the beams of the roof in the Chorbazaar. The house grew animated overnight. In Calcutta, many of hem had lived in the dingy and filthy areas around Blockman ane, Khalasipatti, Kamru Khansama Lane or in the musty and noisy surroundings amongst the book-keepers in Baithak-khana or the tobacco-sellers-in-Syed-Saleh Lane. The.spacious rooms of the house, wide windows opening onto long verandahs reminiscent of the bungalows of the indigo overlords, the open yard backed by the wooded orchard, exhilarated them and_ filled them with inexpressible delight. Though they couldn't occupy separate rooms like lords, the airy rooms, full of light, gave them immense pleasure and the chance, perhaps, to live again. They felt that the breath of freshness would fill their bload with new.vigour and vitality, give their faces the healthy lustre of the hazaar-do-hazaar-walas, free their bodies of the debilitating germs of malaria and kala azar. Yunus, for example, had lived in Macleod Street. Inspite of 8 Poihe anglicised name, the street was veritably a dustbin )}™ “ overflowing with the morning garbage. He had lived in : tottering and dilapidated double storeyed building with some | tather merchants from Kutch. He had once heard somewhere hat the smell of leather was beneficial, it killed tubercle’ germs. At least the noxious and rank smell of leather overcame stench of the open drains. Why, it was overpowering enous The informants were those Se in time, four hours, even een too busy planning a raid194 SYED WALIULLAH to conceal the stench of a dead rat or a cat lying in the corner of the room decomposing for days. So Yunus had found living with leather expedient. Moreover, that point about the germs bein, destroyed was advantageous. Physically, he was rather frailang eak; he was not in good health either. Now, lying in a pool of large, south facing,.second storey room of the house, Yunee w ee sunlight pouring in through the wide windows® of the shuddered at the memory of the nightmarish days in Macleod Street. He wondered how much harm had been done already, Had he some money, he would use it to get ; It was better to be careful than sorry. By the side of the kitchen, in the left co his lungs examined, rer of the courtyard was a foot-high brick platform bearing a small tulsi plant. One morning, Modabber was strolli a neem twig for mechchowak, tulsi plant. It was strange that was rather an excitable sort, slightest matter. All of them came down to cause of his agitation was. aA lt Modabber pointed at the tulsi plant. ted immediately. As the current occ {v they could not tolerate any signs of Hindui: They looked at the little tulsi plant. The spreading tint of brown had made the dark green le ing around the courtyard, chewing | Suddenly his glance fell upon the | he had not noticed it earlier. He often creating a furore over the | see what the a That plant had fo be ‘upants of the house, ism") aves dull and lifeless. Grass and weeds had grown around the base within a few days of its neglect. But it was strange how it had remained view for so long, around in stupefacti idden from now catching them unaw: The dK. O ca The house had Semed so empty. Except for afew names scratched in an immature hand on the wall along the stairs, the house had seemed unpossessed, abandoned. | That assumption underwent a subtle change and stirred deeper levels ote awareness. By revealing.itself, the tulsi disclosed another story Seeing their hesitation, Modabber roared again. What was v, there to think about? The plant had to betp They did not know much about Hindu rituals, vaguely plant had sudden! fs i i hold, t " collecting that at dusk, the mistress of the Hindu housel | lf the grihakartri, lit the lamp at the base of the tulsi. ehe Pulled | the end of her sari around her. covered head, touche | w forehead to the platform and prayed for the well-being of her ———— |THE STORY OF THE TULSI PLANT 195 family. Surely, someone had als. pase of that neglected tulsi plant. gars an evening lamp at the star dazzled in solitary splendour in when the lone evening deepening shadows, the lambent flames of that lag then in the brighter at the devout touch of somebody's bl lamp had grown Had it been so lit, year after year? The winds Pees sindoor, have swept through the house, the lamp of someone's lif conta have been extinguished, but.the ritual of lightin the 1 scan evening had never stopped, even for a day. g the lamp every, She 0 RRS there was the mistress’ of thé house i ‘ who had placed the lamp at the base of the tulsi Beet gear une ne? "Why had she left? Where had she gone? Mateen had worked in the railways once. He wondered if she was in Calcutta or Asansol or Baidyabati or Howrah — or perhaps Lilna — where she could be living with relatives. Beside the vast railway yard a voft_red-bordered sari hung on the clothesline. Perhaps it had belonged to the mistress of the house that they now occupied. But wherever she was, when the shadows deepened every evening, her eyes would be brimming with tears atthe memory of the deserted tulsi plant in the house far away. © n feeling well since the previous day. He lant remain? What difference would it make anyhow, they were not going to offer any puja. In fact, a tulsi plant was good to have at home. The extract of its leaves was useful for the treatment of colds and coughs. Modabber looked around. Everyone seemed to agree with Yunus. Bearded Enayat had the temperament of the maulvi among them. Not only did he read the namaaz religiously five times a day, but also spent the morning reading the No ee he was silent. [Was he also thinking of the tears that aon uf ie eyes of the grihakartri every evening when she remembere abandoned tulsi plant?, Fi wd + ws So the tulsi remained unhurt. The atmosphere of the house va tin Calcutta had aderie — In listlessness and apathy thi i ane aaa a. Time passed in grea camara Spirited discussions and heated argu! iC) unalis Social, political and economic interest. debated __ Yunus had not bee: said, why not let the p! s sWaulating. The . ffenders- Hindus of being the oasularity- heir orthodoxy 47 'Modabber accused the artition was the result of tme %, 196 SYED WALIULLAH cited innumerable instances of their prejudice and Persecution, His fulminations made the others furious. Maqsood Miyan, wry had leftist inclinations, tried to neutralize the charges. No. the Hindus were not entirely to blame, besides how were the uslims any better, he argued. Modabber snarled at him, The so-called leftist’s needle of allegiance wavered. After all, nobod: could be certain about such things. If they swore that the others were responsible, couldn’t the others also do the same? The matter was quite complex and could not be so easily resolved. Perhaps what Modabber said was tight. How could all of them be wrong — did they not understand their own people? The needle oscillated before settling finally to the right. its impulsive and illogical tendency was responsible for often discrediting it and branding it leftist. On the way to the washroom by the side automatically fell upon the tulsi plant. ‘hen, the eye had cleared ad watered it and was caring for it — not openly of course. The , outward appearances had to be kept up in society, after all. ty, the weeds. The leaves which had been turning a dry brown, te looked revived and had regained their rich colour. Somebody Yunus had thought that he would never have to return to full of freshness and light, i qurgitthe filthy lodgings of the leather merchants in Macleca Street, it and that he had at last found a shelter y and the chance to live again. But he was wrong. Not only Yunus, but all of them who had believed that, even though good food was scarce in that house, they would enjoy that precious commodity of life — comfort — each of them was wrong. But they had been saved from making another error. Had there been some open space in front of the house, they would have made a little garden there and then the marigolds would have grown tall and blossomed. That would certainly have been a big mistake. Modabber came in anxiously and announced that the police had arrived. But why? They rationalised that the police might be pursuing some wily thief who had slipped into the house. That would be like the story of the rabbit. Unable to escape from the hunter, the rabbit sat cowering; it closed its eyes and thought that nobody could see it. The real thieves were those who did ‘(not merely hide, but also kept their eyes closed. The sub-inspector held his old-fashioned hat under his aaa and wiped his brow. He looked rather helpless. Two arme: constables stood behind him. Both sported flowing moustede but looked even more helpless. They were looking up anTHE STORY OF THE TULSI PLANT 197 eemed to be counting the beams in the ceiling. perhaps watching the pair of pigeons, one white ne ved rey, Which was busy building their nest in one of the ventil other The constables had their guns handy. ilators. Mateen enquired pc'itely, "Whom do you want 12" Al you," came the answer. "You have occupied the house itteyaly and must vacate it within the next twenty-four hours." The sub-inspector showed them the order. . They imagined that the owner of the house had returned He must have come to the house directly from the station, and having taken note of the situation, rushed to the police station. ‘Afzal craned his neck to see if the owner had also come along. But there was no one else other than the two constables. Why, had the owner complained, they wanted to know. No, the government has requisitioned the house, came the answer. & [Lney stood silent in shock. Fin we are also the government's people! [z How stupid people can be sometimes! Even the constables 1 Mateen protested, "but | | | | | lowered their eyes from the ceiling and stared in surprise. Their amazed eves spoke volumes. ] er A shadow of gloom descended uponthe house. There was’ no end to anxious speculations. Where could they go, they wondered. Some of them declared furiously that they wouldn’t go anywhere. Whosoever tried to forcibly remove them and dared to cross the threshold would first have to step over their dead bodies! They recalled that somewhere, some students had occupied a house by force and had exasperated all attempts of the big bosses of the government to oust them. The angry talk made their blood warm. They decided that they would not leave. Those who came would have to ste theit ies to take possession of the house. ould not eat, “Their blood boiled fc They ¢ | Jood boiled for several days. They could 4 could not sleep. There was just talk, bitter and fiery Ce Eventually, the talk petered out. And when the talking stoPP&% it didn’t take long for the blood to cool. proudly announced to They were not students. They had ‘ Olice the other day who they were- They had been upc n ar that the government had requisitioned the house, the pSS Mernorer | 198 SYED WALIULLAH they had claimed loudly that they too were the people. One day they all left. They went like a storm, leaving * behind parts of old newspaper, frayed pieces of a clothes-line yw” wW its of bidis and cigarettes, a tattered shoe. The doors ang ‘windows of the house made in the style of the indigo overlord’; bungalow, stood wide open. But they would not remain so fey 4 long, colourful curtains would hang there very soon. ie : government's Co : By the side of the kitchen in the courtyard, the little Mic} v plant was drying up again. Its leaves were turning brown, Nobody had watered it from the day the police had ordered the house to be vacated. They-di hey-did not remember the tulsi plant, Did,’ s they not remember the tearful eyes of the hy grihakartri either? Why they had not remembered, only the tulsi plant.could: tell. \t could be nurtured if they so wished; it could be destroyed in a moment if they wanted to destroy it.\In other words, the life and well-being of the tulsi plant could not be insured by its own |", ww ] powers of self-protection. It was vulnerable. 4 oe “ Original in Bengali. * ‘ __ Translated by Tutun Mukherjee. ¥ i formule a 7 ly fer tee oth Ve