High up in an unseen village in the upper Himalayas...
Bhoora has four donkeys. He comes up every day to the great old peepul tree at the edge of the cliff and sits with Pahadi Jito, the very old blind woman whose house has been built into a cave on the side of the mountain at the cliff. Bhoora would join Pahadi Jito with his four donkeys. Every day, he would bring up some food for Jito from his house and they would eat together.
The donkeys would graze nearby, quiet, for it was almost like they knew that they should not disturb the old lady. At just about noon, Bhoora would help Jito to return to her house and take her nap while he would continue to sit below the peepul tree.
He did this every day as he had no work to do unless and until someone needed to hire his donkeys to go down the mountain to the villages in the valley and to bring back goods and stuff. On those days, Bhoora's wife, Rajjo, would come up and sit with Jito.
Bhoora had been born at Trishul-ki-chatti but he could not remember his parents. They had died in the great epidemic that had hit their village and nearby valleys. Many people had died, it seems, but nobody knew for Trishul-ki-chatti was an unseen village in the higher Himalayas, somewhere where the mountains range amidst India, Nepal and Tibet.
His parents had named him differently but the villagers called him by 'Bhoora' right from his childhood. His skin was pale white, fairer than the others and his eyebrows also had white hair. The villagers never knew of such a pale person but he was one of the village and they accepted it. They knew him as he was and they took care of him and the other children who had been orphaned during that epidemic. There was hardly any possession of value and Bhoora was allowed to live in and given his parent's house, a largish hut, when the villagers had thought it fit for him to stay by himself.
They had their reasons to ensure that Bhoora had a house to live in for there was word that a family in a valley village of these high Himalayas had a daughter to be married. There was no better assurance to convey about an orphan boy other than that he had his own house and that the entire village had recognised his right to live in it.
Bhoora would have been 14 years old when the family came to visit with their daughter and other relatives. They had checked out the house and approved of it. They found Bhoora's very pale skin to be fascinating. One very oldish relative in the family spoke of how he had met two Russian explorers who had come walking in from Tibet, lost and without any of their belongings. They had claimed that it had been stolen by a lama in a Tibetan village that had a woman as the headman. The oldish relative had announced that Bhoora had a complexion similar to the Russians but he could not ever remember if they had white eyebrow hair.
The villagers of Trishul-ki-chatti were happy. So what if Bhoora looked like a Russian or two Russians. Anything was ok as long as Bhoora brought in a bride to their village. The news would spread and other families would perhaps agree to give their daughters in marriage at Trishul-ki-chatti. They had found it difficult to bring in new brides to their very remote and unseen village after the big epidemic. Families did not like to give their daughters to a place where they could not visit regularly. Bhoora had been happy about it though he had no idea of what a marriage would mean.
Bhoora had been fourteen when he had got married and Rajjo, his wife, was only twelve years old. The wedding was done but the girl's family took Rajjo with them back to their village with the promise that she would be brought back in a couple of years. Rajjo's elder brother and maternal uncle had stayed back at Trishul-ki-chatti with a team of four persons from their village. They stayed with Bhoora and worked on all the repairs to be done on his house and also taught him a great deal about house construction in the Himalayas. This is not taught in engineering schools or colleges and there is no such academic program. This can only be learnt from the most experienced from the same area.
They went about the high mountains in search of good stones and clay mud and helped Bhoora strengthen his existing house. Two additional rooms were added and a good roof was put in place. The villagers of Trishul-ki-chatti were quite happy about it. Most of the elder masons and roof makers and craftsmen had died in the epidemic and they had been struggling. This was an opportunity to learn and they helped Bhoora and the team on the work in his house.
Bhoora spoke to Rajjo's maternal uncle about Pahadi Jito, the very old blind woman who lived by herself in a cave near the great old peepul tree at the edge of the high cliff above the village. Rajjo's uncle was very curious and they went up to meet Pahadi Jito. She welcomed Bhoora and Rajjo's relatives and the entire team and told them stories of earlier times and made them feel very happy. They had never met anyone like her in the valley villages. She spoke of the mountains, of her Himalayas, and the sound of the rivers flowing in the valleys below. She spoke of the peepul tree and of how Aurangzeb's warriors had camped nearby in the days gone by.
Rajjo's maternal uncle was a rather very practical person. He looked about the cave and of how she had made makeshift arrangements with whatever she could find to close up the opening and of the temporary tin sheet door without any latch or lock and of all the other temporary furniture that she had. He looked at her stoves and a cooking platform that looked like it could fall apart any moment. He asked Jito if she had problems in the winter and if she went away to stay with others.
Bhoora explained that it was he who had insisted that Pahadi Jito stay with him at his house during winter as he was living all alone. He was not frightened of having an old blind person live with him unlike most of the other villagers who were terrified or superstitious about her. Her presence in the long winters helped him in the days of confinement and Pahadi Jito said that the young boy was always a good listener. He would cut up the vegetables and soak the lentils and rice and knead the wheat flour and the old lady could put it all together and make splendid dishes and that it probably was better than most of the other houses who would feed him out of charity.
Whether it was out of concern for the very old blind woman or worried about the eventual disruption in Rajjo's privacy, her maternal uncle had decided that hey would construct a house to cover up the cave opening and provide warmth and security during the entire year. Pahadi Jito could later decide by herself if she would want to stay at the cave in the winter or with Bhoora and Rajjo.
The villagers of Trishul-ki-chatti were very curious to know how this would be done and were keen to learn about the stone work and crafstmanship that would be involved. But before building the house, Rajjo's maternal uncle declared that they would travel with Bhoora to the valley below and transport up some much needed lime and mortar and wooden windows and doors as this would be very necessary.
Bhoora traveled to the valley with them and very fascinated he was by all that he saw. It was his first journey away from Trishul-ki-chatti and the expanse of the world in the valley below was awe inspiring to him. This was a very different world. Rajjo's relatives had several shops in some of the villages and they were all involved in house building and carpentry works. One of the relatives had returned from a big job in building a primary health care centre at the tahsil headquarters that was a walk of four days south if you could walk that fast in these upper Himalayas.
He had ten donkeys that had been used to carry supplies and the rich Punjabi contractor had allowed him to take them away as it was illogical for him to take them all the way back to Beas. Rajjo's relative had happily accepted but now he was worried as it was a lot of work to take care of the donkeys. He suggested that he would give away the donkey's to Rajjo's uncle if they promised to purchase all their supplies from his shop and no one else.
Bharat Bhushan D#1+2
Bhoora has four donkeys. He comes up every day to the great old peepul tree at the edge of the cliff and sits with Pahadi Jito, the very old blind woman whose house has been built into a cave on the side of the mountain at the cliff. Bhoora would join Pahadi Jito with his four donkeys. Every day, he would bring up some food for Jito from his house and they would eat together.
The donkeys would graze nearby, quiet, for it was almost like they knew that they should not disturb the old lady. At just about noon, Bhoora would help Jito to return to her house and take her nap while he would continue to sit below the peepul tree.
He did this every day as he had no work to do unless and until someone needed to hire his donkeys to go down the mountain to the villages in the valley and to bring back goods and stuff. On those days, Bhoora's wife, Rajjo, would come up and sit with Jito.
Bhoora had been born at Trishul-ki-chatti but he could not remember his parents. They had died in the great epidemic that had hit their village and nearby valleys. Many people had died, it seems, but nobody knew for Trishul-ki-chatti was an unseen village in the higher Himalayas, somewhere where the mountains range amidst India, Nepal and Tibet.
His parents had named him differently but the villagers called him by 'Bhoora' right from his childhood. His skin was pale white, fairer than the others and his eyebrows also had white hair. The villagers never knew of such a pale person but he was one of the village and they accepted it. They knew him as he was and they took care of him and the other children who had been orphaned during that epidemic. There was hardly any possession of value and Bhoora was allowed to live in and given his parent's house, a largish hut, when the villagers had thought it fit for him to stay by himself.
They had their reasons to ensure that Bhoora had a house to live in for there was word that a family in a valley village of these high Himalayas had a daughter to be married. There was no better assurance to convey about an orphan boy other than that he had his own house and that the entire village had recognised his right to live in it.
Bhoora would have been 14 years old when the family came to visit with their daughter and other relatives. They had checked out the house and approved of it. They found Bhoora's very pale skin to be fascinating. One very oldish relative in the family spoke of how he had met two Russian explorers who had come walking in from Tibet, lost and without any of their belongings. They had claimed that it had been stolen by a lama in a Tibetan village that had a woman as the headman. The oldish relative had announced that Bhoora had a complexion similar to the Russians but he could not ever remember if they had white eyebrow hair.
The villagers of Trishul-ki-chatti were happy. So what if Bhoora looked like a Russian or two Russians. Anything was ok as long as Bhoora brought in a bride to their village. The news would spread and other families would perhaps agree to give their daughters in marriage at Trishul-ki-chatti. They had found it difficult to bring in new brides to their very remote and unseen village after the big epidemic. Families did not like to give their daughters to a place where they could not visit regularly. Bhoora had been happy about it though he had no idea of what a marriage would mean.
Bhoora had been fourteen when he had got married and Rajjo, his wife, was only twelve years old. The wedding was done but the girl's family took Rajjo with them back to their village with the promise that she would be brought back in a couple of years. Rajjo's elder brother and maternal uncle had stayed back at Trishul-ki-chatti with a team of four persons from their village. They stayed with Bhoora and worked on all the repairs to be done on his house and also taught him a great deal about house construction in the Himalayas. This is not taught in engineering schools or colleges and there is no such academic program. This can only be learnt from the most experienced from the same area.
They went about the high mountains in search of good stones and clay mud and helped Bhoora strengthen his existing house. Two additional rooms were added and a good roof was put in place. The villagers of Trishul-ki-chatti were quite happy about it. Most of the elder masons and roof makers and craftsmen had died in the epidemic and they had been struggling. This was an opportunity to learn and they helped Bhoora and the team on the work in his house.
Bhoora spoke to Rajjo's maternal uncle about Pahadi Jito, the very old blind woman who lived by herself in a cave near the great old peepul tree at the edge of the high cliff above the village. Rajjo's uncle was very curious and they went up to meet Pahadi Jito. She welcomed Bhoora and Rajjo's relatives and the entire team and told them stories of earlier times and made them feel very happy. They had never met anyone like her in the valley villages. She spoke of the mountains, of her Himalayas, and the sound of the rivers flowing in the valleys below. She spoke of the peepul tree and of how Aurangzeb's warriors had camped nearby in the days gone by.
Rajjo's maternal uncle was a rather very practical person. He looked about the cave and of how she had made makeshift arrangements with whatever she could find to close up the opening and of the temporary tin sheet door without any latch or lock and of all the other temporary furniture that she had. He looked at her stoves and a cooking platform that looked like it could fall apart any moment. He asked Jito if she had problems in the winter and if she went away to stay with others.
Bhoora explained that it was he who had insisted that Pahadi Jito stay with him at his house during winter as he was living all alone. He was not frightened of having an old blind person live with him unlike most of the other villagers who were terrified or superstitious about her. Her presence in the long winters helped him in the days of confinement and Pahadi Jito said that the young boy was always a good listener. He would cut up the vegetables and soak the lentils and rice and knead the wheat flour and the old lady could put it all together and make splendid dishes and that it probably was better than most of the other houses who would feed him out of charity.
Whether it was out of concern for the very old blind woman or worried about the eventual disruption in Rajjo's privacy, her maternal uncle had decided that hey would construct a house to cover up the cave opening and provide warmth and security during the entire year. Pahadi Jito could later decide by herself if she would want to stay at the cave in the winter or with Bhoora and Rajjo.
The villagers of Trishul-ki-chatti were very curious to know how this would be done and were keen to learn about the stone work and crafstmanship that would be involved. But before building the house, Rajjo's maternal uncle declared that they would travel with Bhoora to the valley below and transport up some much needed lime and mortar and wooden windows and doors as this would be very necessary.
Bhoora traveled to the valley with them and very fascinated he was by all that he saw. It was his first journey away from Trishul-ki-chatti and the expanse of the world in the valley below was awe inspiring to him. This was a very different world. Rajjo's relatives had several shops in some of the villages and they were all involved in house building and carpentry works. One of the relatives had returned from a big job in building a primary health care centre at the tahsil headquarters that was a walk of four days south if you could walk that fast in these upper Himalayas.
He had ten donkeys that had been used to carry supplies and the rich Punjabi contractor had allowed him to take them away as it was illogical for him to take them all the way back to Beas. Rajjo's relative had happily accepted but now he was worried as it was a lot of work to take care of the donkeys. He suggested that he would give away the donkey's to Rajjo's uncle if they promised to purchase all their supplies from his shop and no one else.
Bharat Bhushan D#1+2
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