Bhagwaan Das: Acharya Abhiram's, father of sarpanch Lakshman Acharya, phlegm and perseverance in the governance of this Dugdhu village blessed all of us to prosper in all regions of life. When I used to work as his personal assistant, he taught me the base of good governance was restraining oneself to enjoy the benefits of power and pouring benevolence upon the commoners. On the day of Makar Sankranti, thirty years ago, he had organized a huge fair in this village. All of the villagers and he too was delighted to enjoy the festival with great fervour. The night before the festival, he called me to assign some responsibilities for the festival. He said that it was required to take account of every observer in the festival. Whatever the vendors or the observers brought in the fair should have been examined and there must be a proper indication of the authority on the items once the scrutiny was complete. There must be regular round-up of security personnels in the area. Anyone found to be in suspicion must be directly reported to him. It was must for the vaidyas to take attend the fair. He had devised a proper organisational model of the fair but to our great surprise, there occurred robbery in around seventeen houses in the village that day. It wasn't any thief or looters from any other village but the guests who had come to visit their families after years, robbed their houses and took leave the same night of Makar Sankranti. On that day, Acharya was left heartbroken. He wished to dethrone himself from the post of sarpanch out of regret. With the will and consent of all the villagers, I was elected the new sarpanch of this village. With all my knowledge, I drew policies, orders and obligations to govern the village. There was an account of every visitors into the village viz. their ID card, the purpose of their visit, their duration of visit, the staying place, the signature of the owner of the house of his/her stay at the arrival and departure of their guests. Acharya Lakshman was my friend and he knows it all. The then Government of Bharata had launched a project 'Swachhta Abhiyan' through which an amount of 16.5 lakhs were allocated to our village in the budget. The finance department was governed under Acharya Lakshman's order.
One day, Acharya Lakshman proposed a girl's name to my family for my marriage. As like every parents, my parents wanted me to get married and the girl Lakshman suggested belonged to a prestigious family in Jaigarh City. I don't have to dictate how beautiful my wife was. I was living a happy married life with her. She was well-versed in literature and the art of dance. I had allowed her to take part in the drama session in the village. But I had never known about her greed of wealth. She wanted to look rich and enjoy complete freedom of the dignity I boasted of. And someone had an evil eye on us who destroyed the happiness in our family and the prosperity of the village.
Bhagwan Das paused with tears rolling down his eyes.
The pundit at the Om Temple urged Bhagwan to let him narrate the story onwards, in detail. One of the aged villagers too asked the pundit to narrate what happened onwards.
Pundit ji: Devi Ishika, the wife of Bhagwan Das, was an excellent dance performer and dramatist in the village. On the other side, Bhagwan Das was a noble statesman who served the villagers the utmost of his capacity he is bestowed with. The farmers, the vendors and the businessmen, the artisans, the dairy workers, the officials, the pundits, the security personnel and the housewives were all under the rules and obligations of the village and he was under the obligation of giving justice to every individual in the village. But it was once when Devi Ishika felt that the observers of her drama and her dance performances were getting less in number that affected her income. So, she thought of writing dramas in the romantic genre. She further introduced the concept of adulterers in her dramas which influenced the society towards eroticism. However, it increased her income but degraded the culture of the villagers. There were both boys and girls who enjoyed spending their time in privacy and gradually, the adult fraction of the society too got involved into the culture. The foreseer Bhagwaan Das could procastinate what his wife was leading the society to and one day, their dispute reached to the panchayat of this village. Acharya Abhiram, being the ex-sarpanch, was asked to act as the judge of the dispute. The decision came on Bhagwan's side and Devi Ishika was restricted to play any drama and perform dance performances ever after. Her previous plays were destroyed in fire and the other dramatists were warned to play any drama that had any erotic content. Dissatisfied by the decision of the Panchayat, Devi Ishika secretly met with Acharya Lakshman who had encouraged and praised her drama plays earlier to help her. She was fed up living with Bhagwan Das for he lived like a saint. For months, she schemed many conspiracies against Bhagwan Das but by God's sake, he saved himself each time. Bhagwan Das never iterated about all those conspiracies so that the villagers could have a sound sleep at night. If the sarpanch of the village was under threat, how could the commoners believe on their security? Bhagwaan Das further never talked to Devi Ishika and had her separated to a little corner in the house. They cooked, eat and slept apart. He seldom took care of his wife. But no one was heard talking about their separation so Bhagwan Das believed that his governance was under control. However, an unborn fire was slowly igniting in the village.
I asked him to take pause and let me tell the further story.
Me: I, Mohini-putra Agastya, solemnly vow that the story that I have heard from Bhagwan Das, shall reiterate you the same without any kind of editions from my knowledge. I request Mr. Bhagwaan Das to let me tell the story onwards. (He asked me to take the story to conclusion as soon as possible for he was not willing to remember what had happened.)
And prostitution was secretly reorganized in the village who Bhagwan Das was unaware of. Devi Ishika was secretly called to the place where the whores gathered in the village. The guest house of Acharya Abhiram that he had recently built near to his field was the location. The same day Acharya Abhiram wished to visit his guest house so that he could ready it up for some of his upcoming guests. When he reached there, he saw the door was opened. He was suspicious of what was happening inside. As he entered into the house, he saw Devi Ishika comforatably sitting on the sofa while she was waiting for the one who had called her. Acharya Abhiram was furious and he doubted more on her. Meanwhile, some young boys and girls appeared out together from different rooms and this shocked both of them. Acharya Abhiram thought Devi Ishika was carrying out the occupation secretly in the village and moreover, she did it in his home. Before she said anything, Acharya Abhiram called Bhagwan Das to his guest house but until he reached there, Acharya was killed and Devi Ishika had run away in order to save her dignity. Acharya Lakshman gifted the witnesses many presents to keep silence of what happened. When Bhagwaan Das reached there, there was none other than the dead body of Acharya Abhiram. It was thankful to God, that one of the security personnels was with him else, he would have been convicted of the murder. However, he carried out investigations in the village but couldn't conclude it. The funeral rites were conducted and on the thirteenth night, Devi Ishika couldn't handle to keep silence on the case. She ran to her husband and cried a lot. Bhagwaan Das calmed her to ask what had happened but she couldn't tell. She apologized for all the mistakes she had done before and wished for 'abhaydaan' to speak up. He asked her to speak fearlessly. However, she had handled Acharya Abhiram to calm down and think on what was happening around, Acharya Lakshman abruptly came up and threw a loaded gun towards Devi Ishika. Seeing this, Acharya Abhiram took his knife out to attack on Devi but at the same time, she fired it on Acharya Abhiram. Her confused state led her to fire the gun in defense. She further stated how cruel and cunning Acharya Lakshman was. Bhagwaan Das couldn't figure out who should he consider as trustworthy. But, Devi Ishika vowed of her chastity on her truth. If the next morning led her to the darkness of prison, she wouldn't get any chance to serve her husband furthermore. So, she wished to be his wife for the last time. The next morning, when Bhagwaan Das woke up and thought of presenting the convict in front of the Panchayat, he came to the conclusion that the case would lead to anarchy in the village. There was none who could take the responsibilty and he wouldn't be believed worthy to perform the duties of sarpanch. Presenting Devi Ishika as the convict wouldn't be the justice, too. Acharya Lakshman plotted more to incite Bhagwaan Das to investigate deeply. One day, Bhagwaan Das gave a hint to this Acharya that he knew what had happened and this menaced him.
A year later, Devi Ishika gave birth to a baby boy who was named Durjaya during the ceremony. On the same day of the naming ceremony, two members of the central bureau of investigation appeared in the village to raid the tax collection department. The financial statements dictated by Acharya Lakshman and the tax collector tallied with the collected tax amount but the budget allocations that were provided by the government on various programmes and schemes were not mentioned in the accounts. The generals answered it straightforward that they never received any grants from the government. They further stated that on the contrary, their sarpanch provided aids to the government programmes out of the collected tax. But neither the citizens receive any support nor the government receive any aid while it was all trapped by someone. On the final day of the court's decision, Bhagwan Das fled away alone and hid somewhere.
Devi Ishika was left alone in the village with her infant child. She faced the outrage and abomination from the villagers and until Durjaya was 6 years old, she fought with all the criticisms but couldn't survive enough. Durjaya was further brought up by a sex worker in the village and he became a police personnel by some means. But his Don Juan attitude made him flee too.
On the other side, Bhagwan Das kept hiding in various places. He camouflaged like a saint and lived on the bhiksha that he received on the streets of the temples. He introduced himself to the priests in Brij and became their servant. He further helped them in the management of the temples. He couldn't stay at one place and was referred further to the priests of other places. He travelled to other religious places and lived like a saint. He returned back to the Om Temple to have a clear observation on the conduct of Acharya Lakshman in the village. When the pradhanacharya of the Sanskrit schools in this state informed me about his presence, I came to meet him with an assurance that the culprit will be jailed and the villagers will get just.
See, my friend Dakshit has come with the files and documents of the properties of this fraud Acharya Lakshman. Everyone knows about his past and his income too. How can he be the owner of a total of 20 acres land and have a bank balance of 50 crores in total with just the salary of Rs.6000 per month? He is the one who received the budget amount but didn't maintain in the accounts and he is the one who was supposed to provide the necessary aids to the government in its various programmes but he cheated everyone. He is the one who organized the prostitution in this village and he is the one who conspired for his father's murder. If he was wandering with all of you to get rid of the oligarchy of Roopasthali Co., it was fear and pride of a sarpanch that collided with the giant but not his benevolence on you. It's the crime of Acharya Lakshman and his companions Saran Sut, Chintamani Gupt, Fatehjung Ansari, Nayana Kulpa and Shukraraj Seth. I have all the necessary proofs and witnesses who will roar the facts in the court. That court which was willing to punish the innocent on the basis of the facts provided by its nincompoop lawyers will, now, have to give justice to the pains of the villagers and Mr. Bhagwan Das. I warn every conspirator of his/her further interference in the justice that you have no idea what else proofs, witnesses and arguments can I put forward in front of the judge to have the actual culprit be punished. Be ready to accept the crimes and the punishment! HUH!
The police sub-inspector who had heard all the story and read all the proofs I had put forward in the VDC meeting arrested the named culprits and presented them in the court the next day. Acharya Lakshman was ousted from the post of sarpanch and punished life-time imprisonment while his companions were punished fifteens years of imprisonment and respective penalty amounts.
Learning about all the facts, Durjaya came to meet his father Bhagwaan Das in the village. Bhagwaan Das was disappointed by his behaviour towards the villagers and the use of sly tactics in governance. I, Bhagwaan Das, Dakshit, Jaidev and the pundit were sitting in a room where Durjaya entered to see his father for the first time in his life. The eyes that were gasping to look into the eyes of nobility drenched in tears in the first meeting. However, Bhagwaan Das was unwilling to hear him but the pundit made him remember that the vile criminal should also be let the opportunity to state his/her opinion before giving justice on his/her conduct. The pundit asked Durjaya to explain why would Bhagwaan Das excuse him and accept him as his family. Dakshit put forward a question on the future. "As a mayor, will you be able to bear the nobility of your father?"
Durjaya wanted all of us to hear how his past went and what future he belonged to.
Durjaya: I can remember that when I was just three years old, mom Devi Ishika cried every night for being unable to provide any food to her son. No one in the village gave her job and no one was there who had sympathy over her. When she carried me along the streets of the village to ask for some food or milk for me, she was seldom provided with half-rotten fruits. She hideously eat the flowers and some leaves like tulsi and neem to keep herself alive. Whenever anyone saw her consuming the leaves or the flowers, the villagers scolded her and sometimes beat her. Under the shadow of the peepal near the temple, she had prepared a soft bed of grass in its trunk to let me sleep there. We were deprived of this house and our fields too. Acharya Lakshman and his companions illegally took control over all our possessions. But she never left to sing your glory, dad. Some time later, she was seldom called in some of the houses in the village for sweeping and cleaning jobs. But she was brutally behaved if there was any mistake. Later when pundit had built his residence here, mom worked as a permanent servant but being bounded by the villagers, he couldn't let us sleep or be provided with adapt nutrition. However, he secretly did and when the villagers noticed satisfaction in mom's face, they were agitated. Pundit ji too faced disputes with the villagers and he left his residence for rental premises and settled back in premises of Om Temple. Some scoundrels who had an evil eye on mom called her for cleaning jobs but misbehaved with her. Mom allowed them to misbehave for one-time lunch for her child. Dad, there was a moment when I saw mom helplessly serving a group of five men for their lunch leftovers. She wished to die most of the times but she didn't just because of me. When I was six, I once asked her about my dad to which she replied, "The one who governs all the creatures on the earth, the one whose strength is his commitment to his duty and his forces are as pervasive as the air, the one who imparts his knowledge and its benefits equally to the commoners, the one who is spirited in his job, the one who has his eyes and ears always open to look into or hear the inner voice, the one who is as tranquil as the moon, the one who is abled to direct you even in the darkest of times, the one, however latent or visible, who is with you, inside you, is your dad." I could see her involvement into the memories with you dad. Her wide open eyes suggested me her deep involvement into you but at the same time, she had her soul depart from her body. I cried at her to wake her up but she replied nothing. I am grateful to Acharya Lakshman to help me conduct the funeral rites of my mother. He gave me an axe to chop the large woods and do all the necessary jobs for the funerals on my own. He didn't charge me a penny. I did it somehow but when I moved to get other requirements, some people came and took the chopped woods. I did it for the second day and had the funeral rites done by the evening. There was none who could provide me some food. I wandered along the fields where a sex worker lived. She fed me with whatever she had. I heard the people who came to visit her. I learnt about the distinction between the males and females, the families and the societies, the business mindsets and the political tactics. When I turned fifteen, I did the matriculation and joined the police training. It's true that I was a skirt-chaser until I became a havildar. When the Manohari Garments Factory was brought to shut down, I was the one who helped the cunning businessman Visvarak escape from the dread of the villagers and thus, couldn't return. Months later, he was bitten by paralysis. I had no other option than to get a job and study further. Four years later, I appeared the UPSC exams and cleared it. I know you are not happy with my way of conduct dad, I have no other option now. Visvarak is a cunning guy and he won't let me escape from the politics. Not only Visvarak, but the ministers in the state too, won't let me an easy escape from the administration. So far nobility is concerned, I can happily bear it to face the punishment or die.
Bhagwaan Das couldn't imagine of the situation that his wife and his child faced after he fleed away. The whole of the family was doomed to face the worst. Only the noble was returned his prosperity while the others were destined to carry the burden of all their misdeeds. No words can actually draw the true emotions of Bhagwaan Das when he heard of his wife. Each of us gave condolences to Devi Ishika by keeping silence. When I looked towards Bhagwaan Das, I felt like:
"The clouds that had gathered together from all directions, charging and pushing themselves to the fields that were thirsty of the ale fermented and purified of all it's dross, were striken and further petrified by the lightening to shatter and flee away once again; the sun that had risen to show and assure that despite the night grows darker and fearsome, it culminates once if an individual is directed of his/her wisdom, was entrapped by the shades of agony; the force that provided an upthrust to those whose were drowning in the depth of distress to let them destress was being consumed by the ponderous memoirs of its failure; the spirited and resolute river that went through every regions just to quench the thirsts of all then freezed to move an inch knowing the fact that its confederate was lost in the way; the pure and sweet voice as like the staunch waterfalls that efficaciously relieved one from his/her worries was absolutely soaked in by the henpecked and impotent cries it forgot to address."
When Pundit ji tried to wake him out of his imaginations, he fell down on the earth the same way Devi Ishika crossed the great divide and passed away. We were all shocked of his sudden demise. Dakshit tried to call ambulance help but he had taken his last breathe. Durjaya couldn't control himself and cried a lot. Durjaya was hit hard and that attack almost led him to be a cynic. His body was trembling high as like he was dipped into freezing ice and tormented as like he was immersed into the boiling oil. He couldn't tolerate the fact. Both of them i.e Devi Ishika and Bhagwaan Das, died while remembering each other. The resolution that the couple had taken to befriend each other and if failed, would shuffle this mortal coil was fulfilled. However, Durjaya felt like he was the sapling that dared to grow on the rocky hills but was later crushed down by the giant stones rolling down the cliff. During the obsequies of Bhagwaan Das, Durjaya felt the torch as heavy as lead. With the help of villagers, the further processions for twelve days were done.
The wife and daughter of Acharya Lakshman came to visit and feared to confront with Durjaya. When they recalled of how they behaved with Devi Ishika and Durjaya years ago, they were afraid of his vengeance. They hesitantly came forward to apologize to Durjaya for whatever misbehaviour they had done with Devi Ishika and him. Pundit ji requested Durjaya to act noble.
Durjaya: Acharya Lakshman is punished for what he did to my dad and the village. Devi Kritika, you scolded my mom calling her an adulteress. You said she was a woman of evil disposition. Having said this, you never remembered what you are. Today, you fear that I may behave alike you and thus, you came to beg sorry for whatever happened. Those who do not learn from the history are doomed to repeat it. I excuse you for all the mistakes you did in the past and I have a proposal that you may hear. I have heard that your daughter Mansi is divorced. Jaidev was in love with your daughter but you didn't marry your daughter with him calling him a lower caste. I propose to have your daughter Mansi married to him now.
Jaidev was happy hearing his proposal. Devi Kritika was in confusion first but later agreed to organize the function. She further announced to provide Jaidev half of her property on her will. This news was informed to Acharya Lakshman in the prison where he responded a short letter:
"Choice is of one's will but s/he should be ready to accept it as whole. My life until now can be summarized to this morale: If you are wishing to be a plutocratic when you are just a proletariat, be cautious when you become a bourgeois. I am happy that both Mansi and Jaidev love each other and are willing to get married but I want them both to draw their attention towards their conjugal life and become the first priority to each other. Go ahead Kritika and live happily!"
Still, the village didn't get its new sarpanch who would govern the village on the norms and policies drawn by Acharya Abhiram and Bhagwaan Das. It was a question to all but none in the village seemed willing or eligible to form the Panchayat. A group of young people under the command of Jaidev, namely Shruti Dwivedi, Vinaya Chauhan, Aham Bagrry and Premnath Nandi, were chosen to function as the Panchayat and the Utkarsha would act as watchdog on their governance.