MYSELF - UNDER TWO YEARS OLD
In summers, during the months of June-July, in mango season, all bua's families used to come to Ladori. This time too, all had come to Ladori to enjoy varieties of desi mangoes available in the village. Only Fufa Vasdev from Chabhkhra Murada had not yet arrived. My amma had made me sit at the varanda near the main entrance of the Manjhol House. Suddenly, I saw a person entering into our house and walked along my side, where I was sitting waiting for amma to come, and take me for bath. In the meantime, I thought I must enquire about this man and said:-
Me: "Oye, idhar dekh"
He: "Kaun hai?"
Me: Me, ha ha ha. This is me, Amrtu......Amrit Lal!
He: "Kaun Amrit Lal, tu toh Fauku hai"
Me: Ni, mein Amrit Lal hun, my Dadu gave me this name. Isn"t it beautiful name?"
He: "Yes, indeed! said Fufa Vasdev
I am the smallest of all children in the house. I am under two. Everyone in the house call me Fauku. They say I always cry, cry and cry all day long! That is why they have nick-named me Fauku because, they say, yeh larka har waqt rota rehta hai. Jab dekho Feh...Feh...Feh. crying like a hungry fox. Actually, my name is Amrit Lal, mind it.
I am sitting here on the varanda of my Dadu's house at Ladori, all alone! Amma made me sit here to give me bath but she left me here and gone away. Now she might be busy with some other household chores and forgot about me. I pee here, I am wet, dirty, smelly and my whole body is smeared in dirt. I am stinking badly. My hair is entangled, sticky, unkempt and clumsy.
He: "Kaun hai?"
Me: Me, ha ha ha. This is me, Amrtu......Amrit Lal!
He: "Kaun Amrit Lal, tu toh Fauku hai"
Me: Ni, mein Amrit Lal hun, my Dadu gave me this name. Isn"t it beautiful name?"
He: "Yes, indeed! said Fufa Vasdev
I am the smallest of all children in the house. I am under two. Everyone in the house call me Fauku. They say I always cry, cry and cry all day long! That is why they have nick-named me Fauku because, they say, yeh larka har waqt rota rehta hai. Jab dekho Feh...Feh...Feh. crying like a hungry fox. Actually, my name is Amrit Lal, mind it.
I am sitting here on the varanda of my Dadu's house at Ladori, all alone! Amma made me sit here to give me bath but she left me here and gone away. Now she might be busy with some other household chores and forgot about me. I pee here, I am wet, dirty, smelly and my whole body is smeared in dirt. I am stinking badly. My hair is entangled, sticky, unkempt and clumsy.
My big brothers and sisters in the house like Didi Swarno (Dano Chachi's), Ladori, Rajjan (Manglo Bua's), Chabkhra, Tamba (Soma Bua's), Dah, Chiru (Soma Bua's), Dah and Bhiya Ram Rattan (Taro Bua's), Gangath, Gorkhu (Taro Bua's), Gangath, Deep (Manglo Bua's), Chabkhra, Rattan (Manglow Bua's), Chabkhra, Raju (Dano Chachi's), Ladori, Ram, my elder bro. None of them picking me up. They are making mouth and shrinking nose at me and also teasing me while making noisy terrible sounds!
I am crying for the last one hour. I am crying very loudly but no one is ready to listen. My throat has started paining. They all say that I have nothing to do but weeping all day. What do I do. No one loves me. Only my Dadi loves me very much but she is also no where to be seen around today. She must have gone on village round as usual.
This is how I live here and being treated always like this. I am being brought up in an environment of poverty, paucity, backwardness, under miserable and unhygienic living conditions prevalent in the village in 1946 era!
There are some ants that have started pinching me at my bottom. Clouds of home flies can be seen buzzing around and sitting all over me. There are two crows that are trying to come near me. I am very much afraid. I am unable to call help as I am too small. I can only cry and cry loudly in which I am perfect, as they all say. My small mouth gets open wide to the last extent showing hanging tip in my throat and my upper front two small teeth, which have not yet fully grown. Now I am feeling tired and sleepy. I may fall flat on my back any moment and go to sleep on the litter scattered on the varanda's floor. I have gone to sleep really! Amma is not coming, no bath!
Quite sometime later, I woke up and found myself lying on a small, partially broken and unsteady small cot, wrapped in a torn but clean rag. The difference, this time, is only that now I look a bit clean with a washed frock on, and of course, kajal in the eyes and a spot on the left hand side on the forehead. Now again, I am feeling hungry and need sucking milk. I hope someone come in and take me out to Amma in the court yard and also show me cows, calves, sparrows and squirrels!
I am crying for the last one hour. I am crying very loudly but no one is ready to listen. My throat has started paining. They all say that I have nothing to do but weeping all day. What do I do. No one loves me. Only my Dadi loves me very much but she is also no where to be seen around today. She must have gone on village round as usual.
This is how I live here and being treated always like this. I am being brought up in an environment of poverty, paucity, backwardness, under miserable and unhygienic living conditions prevalent in the village in 1946 era!
There are some ants that have started pinching me at my bottom. Clouds of home flies can be seen buzzing around and sitting all over me. There are two crows that are trying to come near me. I am very much afraid. I am unable to call help as I am too small. I can only cry and cry loudly in which I am perfect, as they all say. My small mouth gets open wide to the last extent showing hanging tip in my throat and my upper front two small teeth, which have not yet fully grown. Now I am feeling tired and sleepy. I may fall flat on my back any moment and go to sleep on the litter scattered on the varanda's floor. I have gone to sleep really! Amma is not coming, no bath!
Quite sometime later, I woke up and found myself lying on a small, partially broken and unsteady small cot, wrapped in a torn but clean rag. The difference, this time, is only that now I look a bit clean with a washed frock on, and of course, kajal in the eyes and a spot on the left hand side on the forehead. Now again, I am feeling hungry and need sucking milk. I hope someone come in and take me out to Amma in the court yard and also show me cows, calves, sparrows and squirrels!
My big brothers and sisters have come to me and start fighting among themselves in order to snatch me from one another and in the melee, they sometimes dropped me down on the floor and no one is ready to accept their mistake. I, then start crying again at the highest pitch and the sound of my cries reaches in the neighborhood. My neighbourer are quite familiar of my cries and they say that I always keep crying whole day long. They say that I always keep crying without any reason!
Let me tell you the truth and genuine reason why I generally remain crying, that hardly anyone in the house know. Bigger children always keep dragging me from here to there. Jab unka dil karta hai, mujhe ghaseetate rehte hain, uthate hain aur jab dil karta hai, mujhe wahin par patak dete hain aur rota hua chhorkar bhag jate hain. Then what I do except weeping? I am being brought up this way and also think that this trend is likely to continue for ever until I grow bigger and take care of myself
My Buas' love me very much but, at times, they also shout at me and say that "Jab dekho tab yeh larka fekta rehta hai Fae...Fae...Fae like a hungry fox. Therefore, they also named me Fauku and started calling me so. Now all big children call me Fauku and tease me except my Manglo Bua and sisters Swarno and Rajjan who love me so much and hold me always and never call me Fauku. I do not like to be called by this nick name. I am Amrit Lal. My Dadu gave me this beautiful name! This way, days, months and years gone by and I also kept on growing big and bigger and a bit taller. Walking, talking, running and also crying is all my pastime..
Not to talk of my nick name alone, there had been a long time practice in the Manjhol Kutumb and the families closely connected with it, to keep Ajab-Ghajab nicknames of children. I may take you all in the time space of 60-70 years back introducing you afresh with the nick-names of both the sides of Manjhol Kutumb i.e. own side and Buas' side. You know their original names, I may leave it to you to guess :-
Manjhol Parivar
Rukko, Chanda, Kisso, Udho, Chakra, Bhau
Baddi, Dano, Lilo, Bhagwati, Pragya
Gard,Swarno, Chiru
Fauku,Mandri, Raman, Kaku, Nikka
Luru, Chuie, Guddu, Guddi
Mundu, Gopa
Chochlu,Ghoga, Shungad, Manjul
Buas'
Taro,Nanak,Bantu, Gorkhu, Sattu, Duff, Bounu, Makodi, Bobo
Soma,, Daulat, Thappo, Tamba, Chiru, Darshan, Khukhar, Kuttu
Manglo, Vasdev, Rajjan, Deep, Rattan, Paishan, Kaka, Ruggal Veeru, Guddu, Bholi
Sarvato, Bhagwant, Ashu, Kuka
Ramkali,Hanso, Shiv, Ghoga, Ghik, Billu
Let me tell you the truth and genuine reason why I generally remain crying, that hardly anyone in the house know. Bigger children always keep dragging me from here to there. Jab unka dil karta hai, mujhe ghaseetate rehte hain, uthate hain aur jab dil karta hai, mujhe wahin par patak dete hain aur rota hua chhorkar bhag jate hain. Then what I do except weeping? I am being brought up this way and also think that this trend is likely to continue for ever until I grow bigger and take care of myself
My Buas' love me very much but, at times, they also shout at me and say that "Jab dekho tab yeh larka fekta rehta hai Fae...Fae...Fae like a hungry fox. Therefore, they also named me Fauku and started calling me so. Now all big children call me Fauku and tease me except my Manglo Bua and sisters Swarno and Rajjan who love me so much and hold me always and never call me Fauku. I do not like to be called by this nick name. I am Amrit Lal. My Dadu gave me this beautiful name! This way, days, months and years gone by and I also kept on growing big and bigger and a bit taller. Walking, talking, running and also crying is all my pastime..
Not to talk of my nick name alone, there had been a long time practice in the Manjhol Kutumb and the families closely connected with it, to keep Ajab-Ghajab nicknames of children. I may take you all in the time space of 60-70 years back introducing you afresh with the nick-names of both the sides of Manjhol Kutumb i.e. own side and Buas' side. You know their original names, I may leave it to you to guess :-
Manjhol Parivar
Rukko, Chanda, Kisso, Udho, Chakra, Bhau
Baddi, Dano, Lilo, Bhagwati, Pragya
Gard,Swarno, Chiru
Fauku,Mandri, Raman, Kaku, Nikka
Luru, Chuie, Guddu, Guddi
Mundu, Gopa
Chochlu,Ghoga, Shungad, Manjul
Buas'
Taro,Nanak,Bantu, Gorkhu, Sattu, Duff, Bounu, Makodi, Bobo
Soma,, Daulat, Thappo, Tamba, Chiru, Darshan, Khukhar, Kuttu
Manglo, Vasdev, Rajjan, Deep, Rattan, Paishan, Kaka, Ruggal Veeru, Guddu, Bholi
Sarvato, Bhagwant, Ashu, Kuka
Ramkali,Hanso, Shiv, Ghoga, Ghik, Billu
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