The afternoon before the felling Nimu, Babulal, Meghraj and Dhanesh congregated at the spot. Meghraj scrutinized the tree from all sides and pointed out that the tree after a vertical rise up to fifteen feet or thereabout had arched distinctly to the north-east and the largest branch containing most of the minor branches had spread in that direction. Meghraj emphasized that if the trunk of the tree was cut halfway through at the opposite side of the inclination, the enormous tree would crumble on its own weight. Examining intently everyone subscribed to the view and Meghraj drew two parallel semi-circles with chalk to pinpoint the region to be cut through.
The ground encircling the tree was slushy even after stuffing it with sand and they felt that it would be necessary to construct a cemented platform around the tree before the felling commences. Bricks and cement were carried by vans from Meghraj’s shop and sand from the river bed and the mason constructed a strong platform encircling the trunk in a few days. The felling was to start on an auspicious day. Meghraj had already brought along the almanac and after close inspection of the book, he selected the auspicious day for felling and Dhanesh and Nimu wholeheartedly accepted his choice.
It was early dawn on the auspicious day when Dhanesh with his axe arrived at the spot. Nimu had rented a part of the storehouse of grain of a Rajbonshi landlord at a village close to the tree for night-stay of Dhanesh. Nimu stayed in the upper storey for the night before the felling started and came to the spot before day break along with Dhanesh. Biscuits and other dry food were stored in Dhanesh’s room and he took some along for breakfast. Lunch would be sent by his men, Nimu told. Cocks in the villages crowed to greet the onset of dawn and streaks of mellow light made their first onslaught on the nocturnal darkness. Dhanesh requested Nimu to take rest and Nimu told that he would make occasional visits to see if Dhanesh encountered any problem and he also told the latter not to exert too much and perform his task with ease as Nimu was not in much hurry.
Nimu left and the eastern sky became brighter as the onslaughts of light swept away the dollops of darkness congealed in the crevices of the forest and the bushes and everything around were now distinctly visible. Dhanesh took up his axe, examined the handle, cleaned the head with a napkin and as he looked up he became morose to behold the lonely tree standing alone in the cleared land. He put down his axe, genuflected and muttered with folded hands:
‘Forgive my friend; I’m doing this cruel job to save my son, daughter-in-law and the kids.’
The morning breeze wheezed through the thick foliage and Dhanesh could hear the deep sigh of the giant tree that swirled around and faded into the distant forest. After the first sign of senescent debility Dhanesh used to sit at the bottom of the tree and was amazed at the affinity between them, the loneliness and sense of abandonment of old age. He used to tell the tree the nostalgic stories told by his father and in his delusive distraction could hear the tree telling its tales from its century long storehouse of experience.
II
A large squirrel scurried down the trunk of the tree and perched fearlessly on Dhanesh’s arm, looked up with its round deep eyes at his sad countenance and then glided down his body raising a tickling sensation and started feeding on the crumbs of biscuits scattered on the cemented platform. Its beautiful large tail was scrubbing the floor like a hairy broom. It finished eating and then hurried up the tree and lost in the deep foliage. Soon the secure den of the beautiful squirrel would be demolished. Dhanesh felt a sense of guilt.
His mind drifted back to the past, to the tribal life of Santhal Pargana and beyond to the war with the Turks at Rohtasgarh. His grand father Somra Oraon, a poor Kurukh, was a menial at a village near Deoghar of Bihar and like all other tribal menials, lived from hand to mouth. Sitaram Bhagat, the intrepid boy who had left home in quest of fortune, came back and brought good news of bright future in Bengal and Assam for all the Kurukh youths. His extravagant attires, stylish gait and smoking of foreign cigarettes made the gullible young ones trustful to his stories of opulence, highly paid and dignified jobs in tea gardens in northern Bengal and Assam – brick-built houses, delicious food, the fatherly treatment by the employers and the prestige and dignity there. He raised hopes in the hearts of the hitherto morbid Kurukh youths and ignoring the note of caution of the Pahan and the elderly Kurukhs, they started enlisting their names for migration to Bengal and Assam. Visit of an Angrej (English) sahib, his assurances in broken Hindi and Bhagat’s English conversations with the sahib removed all the doubts from the minds of the cautious ones and they too queued up for enlisting. Thereafter, agents from other companies started pouring in, competing with each other with stories about prospects of the laborers in their respective gardens.
Most of the youths recruited by the agents of different companies belonged to the Kurukh tribe. Santhals and Mundas had long been settled in agriculture and it was at first difficult to lure them to a distant place. The wives of the married ones accompanied the husbands as the agents assured that female workers would also be needed for plucking tea leaves but pregnant females and ones with young children were discouraged considering the difficult journey.
III
The initial enthusiasm started fading off as soon as the difficult journey on foot, carts and at times packed-up trucks, commenced. They were well guarded by the goons of the company, who checked the list from a register in the temporary tents set up after they had halted at the end of day’s journey. Many coolies fell sick on the way. Some tried to flee averting the strict watch of the goons but were apprehended by the police and forced to return and the goons whipped them and forced them to drink their own urine. The chief agent read out the contract form on which each of them had put their thumb impression and read out the Hindi translations of the relevant legal provisions and explained to them that it was a punishable legal offence to breach the contract by fleeing away. After learning about the contents of the forms they had blindly given thumb impressions on, out of enthusiasm to get lucrative jobs, many of the youths repented but there was no way back now. They felt they had been tricked into a horrible snare.
Occasionally, the sahibs of the companies used to come to inspect if everything went on well. Some Kurukhs died on the way. While Dhondro’s wife died he wanted to return home but the cruel agent did not permit. After they had reached Shakrikali ghat of the Ganges, it was found that many of the conscripts had died on the way and a large number were sick. Still the laborers enjoyed the crossing of the river in packed up steamers and they offered pranam to the holy Ganges; some enjoyed the sight of the commotion generated in the water by the gigantic wheels of the vessel. From Manihari ghat they were packed up like cattle in an Assam bound train; the sick ones were dropped at Siliguri, Udlabari and Alipur Duar to be sent to the adjacent gardens and the rest to Assam.
Somra was among the former. Upon reaching the gardens, shabby dwellings, low pay, long hours of tedious work and ill treatment by the managers and coolie sardars and flogging at the slightest fault made them realize that they had been deceived. But now they had no way out. The chowkidars always kept strict watch on them so that they could not escape and even if their watch could be averted, it was difficult to reach the rail stations. The gardens were in remote places close to the forest and far off from the localities. The nearest railway stations were ten to twenty miles away and the adjacent forest was infested with tigers, leopards, elephants, wild buffaloes, wild dogs, wild boars and venomous snakes. Some coolies attempting to escape into the forest were killed by wild animals.
Like the other entrapped Kurukhs, Somra had to accept the new life in the new world far away from the peace and quietness of Chhotanagpur and soon like the other coolies he got accustomed to the new life. The adjacent forest was free from restrictions and they could hunt in the evening or collect firewood, herbs and ground potatoes. This gave them some pleasure of transitorily getting back to their life at their homeland. Dhanesh’s father was born at the tea garden s
hanty and a Rajbonshi dhai (nurse) from the nearest village five miles away helped the delivery. His mother was very sick and anemic after child birth but soon recovered and joined her job of plucking tea leaves. While working she used to tie the child with a piece of cloth on her back.