In north Indian families, people generally call a boy Lallu if he does not fit in the definition of a boy born with normal mental faculties. In other words, he is a bit dull and duffer in his studies. Lallu was born to a father who remained unemployed all through his life and therefore dependent on his elder brother for all his needs. As his name indicates Lallu took more than one year to pass every grade signifying his name. Since Lallu's father never made any earnings, his children had to be dependent on others in the extended family for their all humble needs. In old days traditional Indian families all the children grew together irrespective of the financial conditions of their parents. Lallu was also growing up along with his several cousins. As his name suggests he was always made fun of by his cousins and other pears besides that being the son of a poor father was in itself enough to lead a cursed life.
Lallu had one sister and one younger brother Tara who was no better than Lallu. Lallu was always made to work as help by his cousins who asked him to do this or that for them like washing their clothes or spreading them under sunlight to dry and keep watching continuously so that monkeys do not tear them away. Lallu was made to do all the menial chores while his cousins studied. Leading a contemptuous life all through created a silent rebellion in Lallu who started nurturing a dream that one day he would teach them a lesson. He always went into an imagination that he had a lot of money and those cousins who always insulted him, were humbly standing before him begging for some money.
Apart from his mental faculties, Lallu was also very unlucky as for as his physical looks were concerned. Though tall enough he was a black jet in color and his face resembled a rugged terrain while his cousins were quite fair and bore good looks. Lallu's physical appearance also invited sarcasm from the people around the village which in the course of time made him nurture a grudge against all and sundry. Lallu was not someone who let out his feelings in public but rather a silent elephant waiting for the opportunity to hit back. Lallu kept growing and gradually reached like many others the age of marriage but no proposals in sight. People came to visit Lallu's house with the proposal of marriage but after having a glimpse of Lallu and meeting his good-for-nothing father, they returned with no signs of coming back. The time went by and Lallu was again made fun of for not getting a suitable bride when all the boys of his age group had fathered children. A hectic hunt was launched by the elder brother of his father to find a bride for sex-starved Lallu who was desperate to marry anyone who is just having all the organs of a female body.
Finally, the efforts of his father's elder brother bore fruit and a girl was found belonging to a very poor family from another village a few kilometers away from his village Devkali. Though very poor, the girl was very beautiful which made Lallu extremely happy and feel lucky . Lallu as usual got lost in his dreams visualizing everything he was deprived of. In traditional Indian marriages grooms take a marriage procession comprising of relatives, friends, neighbours etc, to the house of bride where a sumptuous feast is arranged by the family of bride and the marriage is solemnized in the presence of elders .
A number of rituals are performed during the marriage. In one ritual when groom arrives at the door of the bride some offerings are made to God while a worship is performed and women and girls from the side of the bride throw flowers on groom and generally girls make funny remarks. Bad luck was something which never left following Lallu . While other women and girls were offering flowers and making funny remarks , one elderly women among them commented about the rugged terrain of Lallu's face and his shining black colour. She not only commented but commented loud enough to reach the ears of Lallu in no uncertain terms. Lallu again like on many other occasions drank silently the contemptuous remarks and vowed in his broken heart to never visit his in-laws place again . Any way Lallu was finally married which ended his long sex-starvation and he lost no time in fathering four children. Getting a govt job was next to impossible for Lallu but one of his distant relative was a lawyer in some High Court who arranged a clerk's job for Lallu in govt's wine and bear department. Though his salary was meagre but he made extra income by giving undue favours to wine contractors . The wine contractors are generally very wealthy and they are known in their areas for wielding muscle powers. They offer bribe to govt staff specially lower level employees to get their work done. All the well educated cousins became teachers earning meagre monthly salaries while Lallu got apart from regular salary quite handsome income from bribes.
टिप्पणियाँ
एक टिप्पणी भेजें