Ramagya Pathak’s family was known as the Mahadeva family
in McCluskieganj. They had a Shiva temple at their very door. It had been constructed by his grandfather. The Pathak’s were practising Brahmins who were responsible for all the ceremonies noted in the Hindu almanac, both in
McCluskieganj as well as around it. Although there was another Brahmin family in the village, it was the Pathaks who were looked upon for all religious rites. Ramagya Pathak himself was quite mystified as to how his family could enjoy so much importance in a place that was almost full of Adivasis and Christians. He was sure that the day was not far when he would become redundant.
The story in question revolved around the story of Annakut. Annakut is a festival that is celebrated the day after Deepawali in honour of Lord Vishnu who is worshipped with grains. Deepawali in Chhota Nagpur is celebrated as ‘Sohraie’, which is in fact a worship of animals. Many festivals fell in the month of Kartik, that is, October–November. As a result, Ramagya Pathak got very busy then. The Anglo-Indian community watched his antics with lively interest. On Annakut day, he had to feed five Brahmins, but as McCluskieganj did not have the required number, he would make do with stopgaps. So
Mr B. Mendez got included in the guest list, because although the postman Bhola Tiwari was a regular, once the latter was away, Ramagya was in a quandary. It was then that
Mr Mendez had said, ‘Why don’t you add me to your group? I am B. Mendez, B for Brahmin. Ha ha ha.’ Ramagya took his cue from this suggestion and from then on Mr Mendez became an invitee to the feast. This is why Mr Mendez had endeared himself to the people in McCluskieganj. He mixed freely and the residents felt that should they ever elect a mukhia, headman for the village panchayat, the obvious choice would be Mr Mendez. After all, it was his family which was perhaps the oldest in McCluskieganj. Although Mrs Mendez strongly disapproved of her husband’s involvement in local politics, it was difficult for Mr Mendez to be indifferent as he was very sociable by nature.
All the problems of McCluskieganj seemed to find their way to him, whether it concerned the water supply for irrigation or disease and ailments that beset families from time to time. The village had no doctor on call and Mr Mendez tried ever so much to get the government to appoint one. Mrs Thripthorpe too took great interest in the affairs of McCluskieganj, conferring always with Mr Mendez whatever the problem. The chief crops of the village consisted of rice, corn and mahua. As these were heavily dependent on water, their growth would be good if the rains were sufficient. But more often than not when the rains failed … The other major problem of McCluskieganj was with regard to land feuds. The arguments that started during the time of the last headman, namely P.K. Roy Chaudhury alias Roy Babu, still prevailed. Everything boiled down to there being no headman. The panchayat elections had not been held for ages. God knows why this was so in Bihar. The power of the panchayat was now all in the hands of the block development officer (BDO) and the local MLA who were reaping a rich harvest of commissions and were therefore in no hurry to conduct the elections.
It was the general feeling of Adivasis and Anglo-Indians alike that Mr Mendez, upright as he was, should stand for the panchayat elections. He was sure to win by a huge margin because most of the voters were of the Anglo-Indian community and were interrelated. Mr B. Mendez’s father, late Harry Mendez, was proud of his large family. In his time, Harry Mendez was a well-known figure and was the supplies contractor of the Ramgarh Military Cantonment. He also had a bus service operating between Khalari and Ranchi. His was the richest family in
McCluskieganj having several sources of income. But like all good things, his good days too came to an end. With no resources for engaging a driver, Harry Mendez himself started driving his own bus. A story goes that Harry Mendez was also some kind of a hunter, and it is reported that should someone even mention while he was driving the bus, that a tiger had been sighted close by, he would just abandon the bus with its passengers. Wherever they may have been going, Mr Harry Mendez would just jump off, leaving his passengers in the lurch often for hours on end, while he himself would go off sniffing the tiger’s trail. Now to get back to Mr B. Mendez, he was in the Indian Air Force. Even then whenever he got leave, he would visit McCluskieganj with his children. So his proximity to the village was always maintained. At one point, after he and his family had settled in the village, Mr B. Mendez and his wife decided to use their retirement money and settle in England. They had almost clinched the matter, sold their furniture, house, etcetera; the goodbyes had also been said when suddenly in the midst of all these high emotions there was a change of heart. Mr Mendez turned and addressed his Adivasi servant, ‘Bumpkin Pumpkin, open the door. We are not leaving. This parting is too traumatic. Where there is so much love, how can we just go off to a totally unknown place? And why?’ So the Mendez family continued to stay in McCluskieganj, much to the relief of all around. Mr Mendez went to the extent of saying, ‘I have by the grace of God saved myself and my family from a
great mistake.’
Mr Mendez, being from a large family himself, became the patriarch of a family of three children. He was highly regarded by the Anglo-Indian community, among whom he found matches for his own children. Because of his warmth and pragmatism, both the Adivasis and Anglo-Indians wanted him as their mukhia. In fact, the clamour for him to become the headman was growing by the day. McCluskieganj had one menace greater than others, which was felt by the residents of the village, namely the presence of snakes. There were gehuman, rattlesnakes, kraits, all kinds of slithery reptiles, which were a source of great anxiety and fear. Yet Khushia Pahan threw a challenge to Mr Mendez saying, ‘Mendez Sahib, these fears can easily be handled, but what of snakes like Duti Bhagat? Will you scorch that bastard when you become
the village headman?’