It was getting late enough to be worried. I once again stepped into the balcony and looked down. Except for a drenched street dog that was lying down miserably near the gate, there was not a soul to be seen anywhere. Rain water had puddled under the lamp post. A breeze ruffled the mango tree in the courtyard and a few twigs fell down and broke. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Did I hear a soft knock at the door? I turned back and went downstairs. I looked at the closed door. It wasn’t locked; surely Baba would know that and let himself in. Another knock. This time it was louder. I ran to the door to open it and almost immediately, Guddu burst into the room.
“What are you doing here, Guddu? Where are the others? Where is Baba? Did you get caught?” Alarmed, I tried to look behind him to see if anyone had followed him.
“Slow down, Billoo! Let me get my breath back...”, Guddu panted.
“Why are you here? Where are the others?” I was perplexed. He was not supposed to be here. I was desperately trying to avoid visualising the worst-case scenarios.
“I will tell you everything on the way. You come with me, fast!”
“Where to? This suspense is killing me! Tell me everything…” I insisted.
“Billoo, your Baba is lying unconscious near the pond!” Guddu cried out desperately.
“What? How did it happen? You did not do anything to him, did you?” I was alarmed. Guddu was my cousin and best friend. But Baba was more important to me. If he had hurt Baba, I would surely beat him to pulp.
“No, no. I did not do anything. It was Bhola.”
“That fool, Bhola! Why, I will crush him with my bare hands…” Bhola was Guddu’s younger brother who always followed us around, making it inevitable for us to include him in all our plans, even though he had a peanut-sized brain. If this time he had caused Baba to get hurt, I would squash him like the annoying gnat that he was.
“Oh no! Bhola did not hurt your Baba!” Guddu cried out waving his hands frantically. “Please Billoo. It is all coming out wrong…” he pleaded. He was still huffing. Clearly, he still hadn’t got his breath back.
“Then why are you trying my patience? What happened to Baba?” I was getting angrier by the minute.
“Please don’t shout. You will wake all the others and then we will have an awful lot of explaining to do. Just come with me. I promise, I’ll tell you everything on the way!”
I shut the door behind me and quietly followed Guddu to our backyard. The rain had lost its intensity by then and had changed into a steady drizzle, which made the ground wet and slippery. The clouds had parted enough to let the moon peek from their midst onto the tree-tops, ultimately reaching the grounds after being filtered through the dense leaves. Though not enough, yet the moonlight was sufficient for us not to lose our footing on the moss-covered dirt floor. We carefully crossed the cow-shed and the toilets and ventured out into the outer grounds.
It was dark, but the outline of the pond was visible in the moonlight. The waters were sparkling under the moon’s reflection giving a sort of serenity to the atmosphere, that was far opposed to the turmoil inside my chest. We did not stop at the ghat. Instead, we followed the dirt path alongside the pond, which was lined by coconut trees. These trees and the pond were in the no man’s land.
Actually, Baba and his younger brother were embroiled in a bitter property dispute after my grandfather passed away without making a will to aid his sons in dividing his wealth among themselves. They had divided everything equally between themselves – the house, the business, the jewellery, the furniture - but could not divide the pond and these coconut trees. In whichever way they tried to divide the pond along with the coconut trees, it would always come to an unequal share. When my grandfather planted these trees, he made a very big mistake. He had forgotten that he had two sons, and had planted twenty-seven trees! Now, however hard they tried, Baba and Kaka could not divide the coconut trees equally.
Kaka had come up with a simple solution to this very grave problem. He had very generously offered to cut down one tree, to help with the mathematics, but Baba had refused to listen. Baba might be unreasonable at times, but he was fiercely protective of Nature. After all he was a Botany teacher in our village school. So, with no solution to the problem in sight, it was decided that till the time a consensus was reached, the pond and the adjoining coconut trees were out of bounds for both of our families. It was a particularly difficult decision for us children. It meant that we could not enjoy the sweet coconuts in the sweltering heat of summer. We also could not take a dip in the cool pond water.
They say that where there is the will, there is a way. Therefore, the rule of the pond could be broken easily. We would enjoy our swim when Kaka was away at work in the daytime. Kaka had a grocery shop where he sat attending to customers from morning till evening. He would come home in between, for only about an hour to have his lunch. After having a heavy meal, he liked to take a nap, thus, posing no real threat to us. On the other hand, Baba was a teacher in the same school where Guddu, Bhola and I studied, so he would reach home at the same as we returned from school. Yet, being of a very considerate and soft-hearted nature, he never meddled in our fun-time. He always says that young boys should be let free to participate in lots of physical activities, and what better way to have a full-body workout than a nice long swim in the cool waters of the pond!
But the coconut trees were a different proposition. Both Baba and Kaka would keep a count on the number of coconuts. If ever the coconut-count decreased, each would accuse the other of not adhering to the rules. Thus, every day whenever we passed these trees, they seemed to beckon us with their leaves, drawing attention to their heavy-laden fruits. We would watch them with watering mouths, but could not find the courage to reason with Baba or Kaka.
At last we had had enough. Myself and Kaka’s sons, Guddu and Bhola, decided to steal the coconuts. We planned for two whole days and decided to carry out the job this night. Since I could not climb trees, I was made the lookout. I would keep a watch on Baba. Guddu and Bhola enlisted the help of Kalia, the village ruffian. In return, he would take a one-third share of the coconuts that we could bring down, along with twenty mangoes from our tree in the courtyard. We thought that it was a fair enough bargain and took him onboard.
Kalia came with his repertoire of tricks. This meant that the actual act of stealing became Kalia’s headache. We let the expert do his work! He planned to tie a strong rope from the top of the tree and take it across the pond to the other side. It was decided that Bhola, being the best climber, would climb up a tree and secure the rope. Then he would hack at the base of a bunch of coconuts with a knife and ease it onto the rope. The bunch of coconuts would slide down the rope and reach the opposite bank, where Kalia and his sidekick would be waiting with a huge sack, to break the fall. Guddu would stay hidden at the base of the trunk and be on guard. He would look out for Kaka. If need be, he would join to help Bhola on the tree. We would give the same treatment to as many trees as we could, one by one. And then we would have so many coconuts to last us for days together!
We had agreed to give our sisters some of the share, on the condition that they would not expose us in front of Baba or Kaka and let us stash our loot beneath their beds. No one would suspect them of any mischief and our secret would be safe under their beds, since that was the last place anyone would think to search when the theft was discovered.
We had everything planned so well, that we were waiting for sundown for the whole day. Our mothers suspected that we may be up to some mischief, but they could not make any one of us to spill the beans. We were all bursting with suppressed enthusiasm. Oh, imagine the thrill of it all! But it all came to nought just some time ago. It had begun to rain all of a sudden! So, my poor friends must have had to work drenched wet. Moreover, while stealing, they were not careful enough and a coconut must have fallen to the ground making a loud enough noise to attract Baba’s attention. Hearing that sound, Baba had created a ruckus and went out to investigate. I was worried that our plan might backfire, so I went up to him with my maths homework, asking for help, just to distract him. But he told me to hold it till his return and went outside. I could not argue with him lest he suspect that I was purposefully trying to keep him from something. Thus, all I could do was wait and watch and chew my finger-nails off. I even tried to call upon a few gods for help, but I was sure they wouldn’t listen… After all I always ate up the sweets before they could be offered to them! It was quite justifiable on their part to be cross with me! This is why they say – Sinners beware!
Guddu and I were now moving at a steady pace alongside each other.
“Bhola had just cut a heavy load of coconuts, when Tau and Baba arrived here shouting “Thief!”. He couldn’t contain the bunch with his feet and it slipped away across the rope. Then we heard a loud noise and saw Tau lying on the ground.”
“So, you both were caught!”
“No, no. When Tau fell down, Baba ran towards your house to call for help. But by that time, we both climbed down from the tree and ran to Baba, telling him that we had heard the noise from inside our house and had come out to investigate.”
We had neared the last of the coconut trees by then. I could make out Baba’s prone figure on the wet ground. Kaka was crouched beside him, trying to wake him up. Seeing us approaching, he looked up and I could clearly see the fear written on his face.
“Oh Billoo, you’re here! Come, help me lift your Baba!” implored Kaka.
“How did this happen, Kaka?” I asked, even though by then I had guessed about what actually might have happened. When Bhola had let loose the bunch of coconuts across the rope that was invisible in the darkness, Baba and Kaka must have mistaken it for some supernatural occurrence. It is certainly not common to see a bunch of coconuts flying across the night sky. I knew Kaka to be superstitious, but Baba was of a scientific disposition; so, I was quite surprised that he had lost consciousness instead of investigating the matter any further.
“Dada had heard some noise. So, he suspected some thieves must have come to steal the coconuts. He called out to me and both of us had come out here to investigate. But what happened after that is too strange to be put into words…”
Just then Bhola arrived, carrying a bucket of water. Kaka took some water in his palm and splashed it on Baba’s face. He repeated this procedure for a few more times before Baba regained consciousness.
“What happened…..Oh….Why are we still here? Billoo, why have you come here? Come, come… Let us all go from here…”. Baba tried to get up quickly, but could not. He still looked shaken and was dripping wet from the rain as well as from the water that had been sprinkled upon him. I took his hand and helped him stand up.
“Yes Baba, I have come to take you home.”
I looked at Kaka to find him moving forward to help me with Baba. This was a welcome though uncommon sight, since they had been fighting with each other for quite a long time – long enough for us to forget how they behaved as loving brothers.
Kaka and I supported Baba between us and began to slowly yet steadily walk him home. On reaching the ghat, I remembered about Kalia and his sidekick waiting at the other end of the pond. Even though nothing was visible farther than a few feet from us, I craned my neck to see if they were lurking anywhere nearby. But knowing them, on hearing the commotion, they must have turned tail. Good for them, since I did not want Kaka or Baba to unleash their wrath upon them at this time, which would invariably cause us to get a sound beating from all quarters.
After we were seated comfortably in our living room, Baba began his story. By this time all the other family members had heard of what had happened and had gathered around us with anxious faces. By then he had changed his clothes and dried himself. He had also made sure to stop by the puja room for a considerable amount of time, which was in itself a rare occurrence.
“You know, we all are fools! We take pride in our education and knowledge. But we don’t even know about half of the workings of the universe. There are still many things in this world that cannot be explained by science…” He paused and took a sweeping glance across the room, as if explaining a difficult matter to a group of students. He let out a small cough for added effect and then continued.
“God surely finds a way to put us in our rightful place… When I heard the noise today, I thought I would catch the thief and teach him a good lesson. But what I saw at the bank of the pond, has made me question my beliefs… I never ever believed in ghosts. But today I saw a bunch of coconuts flying across the sky…”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” someone exclaimed. It was Ma or Kaki; I am not sure. Almost immediately a murmuring wave of whispers rippled across the bystanders.
I threw a warning look towards Bhola and Guddu, who were trying hard to contain their snigger. They took the hint and got back to the proceedings with a straight face. No one would suspect from our expression that we were responsible in any way, looking at our innocent faces.
“You don’t believe me? Ask Birju here. He was with me the whole time…”
“Yes, yes. Dada is right. I also saw it with my own eyes… At that moment lightning had lit up the sky. So, we could see it all quite clearly,” agreed Kaka.
Hearing this, all were quietened. Then Baba spoke again.
“I was wrong in not letting anyone eat the coconuts. Nature taught me today that who are we to fight over It or try to divide It? I was wrong… I was really wrong… Dear Birju, my brother! Let us not fight anymore over the pond and the coconut trees… Both of our families will enjoy their benefits equally from now on… Let Nature stay the way It is. It is made by God and we are only allowed to use It. Let us not try to possess Nature… Oh what a lesson have I learnt today! Ram…Ram…Hari…Hari…!”
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