The Thought That Breaks the Heart
It was a lazy April afternoon, but when two police jeeps suddenly came and screeched to a halt under the kusum tree on Nehru Road, Basant, who had been dozing on the counter of his grocery shop, sat up. He was the only journalist in
McCluskieganj and was the correspondent of the daily Jharkhand News published from Ranchi. The correspondent’s job was an ill-paid one. That is why Basant had to also work at the family business of the grocery shop. Sitting at the counter, he would get all the gossip and news of the village. Basant saw the Khalari police inspector alight from the jeep along with some seven or eight cops, and immediately his journalistic instinct told him that something was wrong. By then the inspector had walked up to his shop and asked, ‘You must be knowing Majeed’s house?’
Basant played for a little time. ‘Which Majeed? This village boasts of three Majeeds!’ The police got a little confused. ‘Actually there is Majeed No. 1, known as “Anda Majeed” because he sells eggs. Then there is “Light Majeed”, who is so called because he used to repair all kinds of lights including Petromaxes and lanterns. And finally, there is “Canteen Majeed”, who runs a tea canteen at the railway platform.’ After some deliberation, the police inspector, whose name was Rajinder Mahto, told Basant, ‘We are looking for that Majeed whose son Gibrail has eloped with a girl called Shamina and brought her here.’ Stunned by the disclosure, Basant had no choice but to tell them, ‘Then it is Canteen Majeed you are looking for.’
At the time, Majeed was in the canteen. He was busy getting the tea ready for the arrival of the afternoon passenger train. These days Majeed had an assistant in Tuklu Munda, who came to help him with the cleaning of the cups and making of tea. He was sharp and searing as a hot chili. Majeed used to go home leaving the canteen in Tuklu’s care. He had appointed Tuklu on purpose, which was to keep the caste factor at bay, as there were many who did not wish to drink out of a Muslim’s hands. At lunchtime, Majeed would go home, leaving the canteen in Tuklu’s care, who would in turn go for his lunch when Majeed returned. It was at this point, when Tuklu had gone and Majeed was alone, that the police jeep arrived at the McCluskieganj station looking for Gibrail. The inspector and his men rushed towards the canteen. Majeed was pleasantly surprised and offered them tea, but Inspector Rajinder Mahto grimaced and said, ‘We are not here to have tea, Majeed. We have come to arrest your son. Where is he and the girl Shamina? These policemen have come from Delhi.’ Majeed could have just swooned and fallen. After all, his Gibrail had to show him this bad day. He was a simple, God-fearing man, and today because of Gibrail, he was confronted by the police, for no fault of his. Had Carney Aunty been alive, she would have shooed these cops away in a trice. Aunty, who had been so fond of Gibrail, he thought. But Gibrail’s amorous overtures were his own undoing as well as his family’s.
Despite a family of two wives and eleven children, Majeed still made enough to manage his life comfortably. Gibrail’s arrest left his mother Sabina shattered. She wept and wept. Majeed too was devastated. The whole village held Majeed’s naivety responsible for Gibrail’s arrest. The fact was that Gibrail had arrived about a week ago from Delhi with Shamina. It was early dawn when like two young fawns Gibrail arrived with Shamina in tow and told his mother, ‘Tell Abba to solemnize our nikah’. But Majeed was enraged and rightly so. He said, ‘Are all the girls in our village dead that Gibrail should have eloped with this young thing. Think how her parents must be suffering. Tell that loafer to quietly return the girl to her parents.’ But Gibrail was adamant. He told his mother, ‘I have not brought Shamina to send her back!’ This angered Majeed even more. Then Shamina intervened to say, ‘My mother is in favour of my marrying Gibrail. It is my father who disagrees. Maybe if you speak to him things will work out.’ It was then that Majeed first laid eyes on the girl. Though dark, she was quite lovely, and her dimples made her prettier. After hearing Shamina out, Majeed decided to speak to her father, but before that he spoke to contractor Nazrul Khan with whom Gibrail used to work. From Nazrul Khan, he learnt that Shamina’s father had lodged an FIR with the Okhla police in Delhi, detailing a case of abduction against Gibrail. On the basis of this, the police had already arrested Majeed’s nephew, Ibrahim, and Majeed’s brother-in-law, Israel. He obtained Shamina’s father Zahid Khan’s telephone number from Nazrul Khan. The number Majeed had got belonged to a neighbour who, when he received Majeed’s phone, immediately called Zahid Khan. Majeed spoke in detail, ‘Your daughter Shamina has undoubtedly been brought by my son Gibrail to McCluskieganj without your consent, but at the moment, she is with me and is safe. If you do not desire Shamina’s nikah with my son Gibrail, you may come whenever you wish and take her back.’
It was this gentlemanly act of Majeed’s that precipitated the arrival of the police from Delhi and led to his son’s arrest. The police took custody of both the boy and the girl and returned to Delhi by train, after which Gibrail was immediately sent to a lock-up in Tihar Jail. The punishment seemed too cruel and unrealistic, thought Majeed. He should have hidden the two in the surrounding forests, the police would have never been able to find them. But Sabina thought Majeed’s decision to be honest had been prompted by his second wife Shahida, who cleverly manipulated the whole thing. Such are the complexities of the politics of the family. Actually the romance between Gibrail and Shamina had been going on for some time. Once earlier, he had tried to flee with Shamina, but they had been overtaken by Shamina’s father at the station. Majeed had never known of this incident. He learnt of this sometime after Gibrail’s arrest from a letter that his brother’s son-in-law, Israel, had written to him. It was at Israel’s behest that Gibrail had gone to Delhi. Israel had enticed him saying, ‘How long do you intend to wash soiled utensils in your father’s canteen? Come to Delhi with me and I will get you a good job.’ Majeed was not in favour of his son’s going; nevertheless, Gibrail did go. At first, he worked at a tent house with Israel. They later switched over to a construction firm. In fact, Gibrail worked gratis for Israel, all he got was his food and lodging, and this he resented.
Gibrail resided with Israel and his own cousin Ibrahim in Jamia Nagar. It was there that he met Shamina, who lived with her family in the neighbourhood. Shamina’s father Zahid Khan was a small-time electrician, who, because of the contractual nature of his work, was mostly away from home. Thus developed a romantic relationship between the two. Shamina’s mother was quite fond of Gibrail and even thought that a marriage alliance between the two would be a good idea. Shamina’s mother had broached the subject to her husband, but he had rejected it outright, ‘Are you mad? I’ll never marry my daughter to a Bihari boy!’ he had said. Still the closeness between the two grew. However, the episode of elopement and the subsequent bringing back of the two by Zahid Khan from the station abruptly halted the romance between Shamina and Gibrail. Gibrail was given a stern warning not to ever enter the house of Zahid Khan, and Shamina was ordered not to go out unnecessarily. Gibrail was told that should he ever dare to come near Shamina, his parents would be informed of his waywardness.
Somehow, things started slipping, what with Zahid Khan’s work and Shamina’s mother’s softness, and the young lovers started meeting again. And one day when Zahid Khan had gone out of the city to attend a marriage, they eloped.
But the love story of Gibrail and Shamina took a tragic turn when Gibrail was arrested and sent to Tihar Jail. Shamina was made to change her stand in the court under duress. She had to say, ‘I donot love Gibrail—on the contrary, Gibrail had forced me to flee with him, and he has also, on two occasions, had sex with me against my wish.’ All this Shamina said with her eyes averted. There was so much pain on her face, Gibrail realized that she had no choice but to say all this. He remembered the song that the Mundas and the Oraons used to sing: ‘Oh my queen how could you abandon me. My heart breaks. We were a pair of inseparable swans but you abandoned me and the very thought breaks my heart!’ Gibrail had never paid much attention to this song earlier, but today in the loneliness of the prison cell, he couldn’t help but remember. Majeed went to bail out his son a number of times, but the court insisted that he deposit his property papers as well as bring a guarantor from Bihar, along with innumerable other conditions which he could not fulfil. Majeed felt like burning his face in the stove of his canteen, because he held himself responsible for Gibrail’s fate. Shamina, on the other hand, was quickly married off and, when she was leaving her house for her husband’s, she buried her face in her mother’s breast and wept inconsolably. Shahana could see Gibrail’s face in her daughter’s tears.