Singh Saheb helps Danaram in his time of need - Village stories from the upper Himalayas

High up in an unseen village in the upper Himalayas, somewhere where the mountains range amidst India, Nepal and Tibet...

Danaram was upset with Lakhan Guruji, the resident priest at the Bhairav temple on the outskirts of their Trishul-ki-Chatti village. The priest had publicly identified Danaram’s family to provide the grains, rice, jaggery and wheat for the festivities next week. In the usual village gathering to identify and hand out tasks to various families for the great festival, Lakhan Guruji had pretended to select random persons. But, Danaram knew that it was not so. It was revenge. The priest was taking revenge on Danaram’s poor family in the knowledge that they could not afford to make the offering.

The fight had started over seven days ago when Pramila Devi, Danaram’s wife, had not participated with the other women of the village in helping the priest’s wife in cleaning, tilling and planting vegetables in her small plot. Lakhan Guruji always assumed that it was the duty of all families in the village to do voluntary and gratis seva at his house, temple, vegetable garden, cattle and poultry sheds and in taking the cows and goats for grazing in the forests nearby.

Most of the villagers at Trishul-ki-Chatti were resentful of these demands on their services but did not have the courage to oppose Lakhan Guruji. They needed him to talk to their ancestors who had long gone. The priest was also an important person in any and all of the rituals in the village and it could not be done without him. And, it seems, that he came at a reasonable price, as he always reminded them.

He would often declare to the reluctant, vehemently, “Just you go down to the larger village of Ratnapura and see the amount of money that the priest at the temple will ask of you for even a small puja. I am kinder and do not ask you to pay any money if you cannot. You should of course understand that my family needs your help in small errands and minor works that I would otherwise have to pay to workers if I were to hire them.”

Danaram was in a fix. He wondered how to avoid handing over the offerings of grains, jaggery, wheat and rice. The priest had also specified the amounts. They were all in the range of two to five to ten kilos. These amounts were not available at the village grocery shop that was run by Singh Saheb. He would have to go down to Ratnapura and enquire about the costs and see if they could be obtained by taking a loan to be repaid later. Much later, if possible.

He went up to meet Singh Saheb who knew all about the games and tricks of Lakhan Guruji. “Come, Danaram. I can guess the problem that you are in. All our villagers put together, and even if they eat twice over, we will not need that amount of wheat and rice. But what can you do? Nobody will protest and nobody will support you. Do you have the money to purchase all the stuff?”

“Singh Saheb, you know that I do not have the money. I do not mind taking a loan and purchasing all the food and inviting the entire village for a feast. I am not upset about that. But I am very angry at our temple priest. He knows that I cannot afford the offering and that it would destroy my finances for the entire coming year. Our family will have to sacrifice to save for expenses by eating less. What do you think? What should I do?”

“Is there any reason that he should harass you and your family like this?”

“Yes. My wife, Pramila Devi, who is a very good friend of your wife, had not been able to help in the work at the vegetable garden of the priest’s wife. So did some other women, but Lakhan Guruji had an argument with my wife and got angry with her. This is his manner of taking revenge.”

Daljeetji, Singh Saheb’s wife, was sitting at the cash counter and listening in. She exclaimed angrily. “That is not correct. Singh Saheb, you should help this poor brother and his family. You must use all your thinking and intelligence and make sure that this family does not suffer. You must.”

Singh Saheb smiled and laughed and smiled and laughed as he was known to do. “Come then, Danaram. Your problems are over. The two of us will take Bhoora and his donkeys and go down to Ratnapura and purchase all the items that you need. I will pay for them as a loan to you and you can work it out or return it when you can. We will walk back and we will enjoy that walk up and down our own Himalayas and will talk about this after some years and we will know that it was not much.”

“You will do that, Singh Saheb? Why? Why will you help me in this manner? You know that I may not be able to pay you back. Even if I work it out for the entire year and even if my wife works at your house for the entire year, we will not be able to pay up the entire money.”

Daljeetji smiled at Danaram’s protest. Singh Saheb laughed once again. More loudly. “Oye, Danaram. Do not kill me and my Daljeet with your claims on your poverty. You are giving me a blessing, that’s all, by allowing me to help you. All I know of my God is to give, and I know that your God is not different from mine.”

5 October 2019