CHANDU AND CHANGRU

            Village shepherd, Chandu, who had also been to school up to primary in early fifties, still  carries on with his ancestral job of grazing cattle. A lean and thin character of moderate height with angosha tied around on his head, Chandu is a good man and everyone in the village is satisfied with his services. Humble, faithful and soft spoken,  Chandu always tries his best to be punctual in his duties. Cattles too seemed to be friendly with him as they never disobey or ignore coded commands of their master!

           Another obedient fellow, Changru, a tall, thinny-skinny person, always bare from waist downwards and wearing only a Langer (underwear), shabby military ammunition ankle boots and worn out olive green fuji shirt, sometimes sporting ranks, in white stripes on the right arm of the shirt.  He was always equipped with his drati and saangi and ever ready to take orders. 

          He used to make mud bricks on demand and also bring loads of thorny bush on his head with the help of his ancestral drati and saangi and mended kitchen garden fencings in the village. His utterly poor condition sometimes moved women to donate him old clothes for which he had all praise for them and touched the ground several times in reverence and showered blessings in return until he was out of sight

         There are still others like Chandu and Changru in the village who depend upon firewood and fodder from the jungles. Firewood and fodder is available in abundance on the upper reaches of nearby hillocks stretching few kilometers northwards from Khadiyater Meadow to Domel. In those days, people of all ages used to go in small groups to these slopes early in the morning to collect dry firewood and green fodder.

          Some people bring loads of firewood or fodder on their backs till recently from places as far as five-ten kilometers upstream and sell them in the village in order to earn a living while others stock them for use during rainy days.