Rain Song

-6-

Raghu raised his head and looked at the sky, the sun over his head shining fiercely. He wiped the beads of sweat with his gamchha and raised his palm over his eyes so as to form a shadow from the blinding sunshine. No trace of cloud anywhere. He sat on the mound nearby with hands on his chin and got buried in his worries. The landlord would snatch the piece of land if he failed to repay the debt, his ailing daughter required to be treated in the town, she had recurring fever and had turned skinny with freckled body. He had not been able to buy new clothes for anyone at home for last two years. Only good rain for crops would draw him out of this misery and rain god had been shying for the last two years now. He had one son and daughter; son was 7 years old and daughter 8. He had put his son in the village school and his love for studies had opened a world of anticipatory happiness for him. He had dreamt of sending him to good school and college and had often smiled at the thought of his son becoming the first graduate of his village.

The cultivation season was passing with no sign of rain; he had borrowed more money for his daughter’s treatment with no sign of her improvement either. It was in the middle of the night when she breathed last and he helplessly let the death deity take her away leaving an indelible scar in his heart. Raghu failed to reconcile with the loss. His young son “Nagesh” had to shoulder the responsibilities of his deranged father. Nagesh was given a job in a tea stall in the town and he toiled from early morning to late evening cleaning the tables and scrubbing the tea utensils.

Sarkar Babu visited the tea stall daily on his way to the land revenue office ,where he worked. He wore impeccable white dhoti-kurta and sipped tea from the saucer while reading newspaper through his thick black framed glasses. Nagesh got a home when Sarkar babu hired him as a domestic help. Mr and Mrs Sarkar had no children and were sympathetic towards the shy and timid boy. Back home, Nagesh’s mother worked in the fields and pulled on life like a burden. His salary went straight to his mother which was not enough for his father’s drinks which he had taken up lately.

The kind hearted Sarkars had put him in a school and life was gradually taking turn in Nagesh’s life. Nagesh became the first graduate of his village but his father died without realizing the pride his son had brought to him. Nagesh had not only earned admission but also scholarship for Management Studies.

Nagesh arrived at the hostel with his baggage and could hear someone singing aloud “Rim jhim gire sawan, sulag sulag jayee maan…”. It was Sandeep Bandhopadhyay singing from the bathroom. Sandeep the singing guy.