Sovan Dev Das

A Land Of Life


A peasant ran from the steps of his house to the trip of wheezing. The lords of the reign have allowed the Firangis of incubus to tread on his land. The provincial is fed with sedition of nuisance.
 

 
" What a loss !! " , the voice of lives uttered.
 

 
 The God of Nation has the choice to it. As the film of Ray's always want for the actual , so the Jalsaghar of Indian life has been real. Truth perceived and testified through experiments of generations rule the life of them. The cry of Swadeshi and Bande Mataram has been dried in the throats of driven and losers. The Darogas dreamt of the legacy of law in their hands yet Sidhawanath Mukherjee had his own armed guards to protect him and his loot from Battle of Plassey. Penalties after penalties , monopolized the Diwani and Nizamat adalats of Hastings. But the decision of lords is never to be challenged.
 

 
The house of the peasant reverberates with pangs of pathos . The grains of last days are yet not suitable. The soul of the household is yet not prepared for the gorge of Bhupatinath , Ramlochan and Nishikantha . But the doom of Bengal is behind the skull. Careless peasant's wife seized the dhoti of her husband. The terror in livelihood has creeped into the discipline of mind. The font , the results have one symbol - end. Duties are carried out , yet to one they are germination procedure of misery.
 

 
The family is too big for the remains. The proportion of what is to be given doesn't educate them. They all know we retain less.
 

 
" What else we could afford for Bimal , Ram and Savitri ? Death."
 

 
Rumours spread . Anupkanthi had gone to Baghbazar , leaving the duties of growing , harvesting and paying to the peasant's family. The luxury of Calcutta is too enormous. The fertility of the land impoverished owing to the little developments on it. Yet the peasant cannot embark on it . On the other hand specified efficiency is anticipated from the pasture to give literal amount of proceeds to Cornwallis.
 

 
Now the time of demise has come. The peasant thought to sell his cows to gain yield . His thrashed his folks to go with it. Nobody could stop him.
 

 
He returned home with sound of coins. But he has forgotten , the hunger of the family is in darkness. The sound of coins entices him to money. The coins persuade Minu to live. She snatched away the money from the hands of her husband. " Rice , rice , rice !!" , she muttered.
 

 
The moment of destiny has come. "What ? Rice ? What good rice is for if I don't pay the revenue? Rice can come , but not my land. " , the peasant shouted.
 

 
" You are a fool. If we don't eat who will cultivate the land . Land can come , but life is one." , replied Minu.
 

 
Anupkanthi has sent a ravenous message . " Send me 9/10th part of the revenue , I will allocate it to Sahib. " The peasant lost his system. He sought after selling the remaining stale grains of the house. He forcibly did so .
 
"At least the half of money can be send . " , relieved the peasant.
 

 
The entire household is starving. The sweat of the peasant is tasty for his appetite. Work and sweat. Minu cried to Maa Durga . But gods help those who help themselves . No single grain is left . The children ran to the pond to drink and eat.
 

 
 The peasant has decided to the send the money to Anupkanthi through the officials of Sahibs.
 

 
" Please send the money to Babu, instantly." , the peasant said.
 

 
Three days have passed . A short telegram has arrived from Anupkanthi .
 
 
 
" Scalawag , where is the money? "
 

 
The peasant got stupefied .He has counted each and every coins and send it , but how babu is denying it. He went to the official of Sahib responsible , and questioned him. The infuriated official denied the fact of any cash transactions of the sort. The red power of villagers is instilled in the peasant . He abused the official and asked about the matter. But the peasant only earned slangs and insults in the hour. The situation turned worse. The peasant in mêlée sliced the throat of the official with his sickle. News spread. All the firangis , kotwals and darogas rushed to the place. The peasant was asked the reason.
 

 
"I have killed him for my land."
 

 
Minu madly ran for the place. What she saw and heard was afar her expectations? She angrily fussed . She asked one of the Kotwal to allow her to talk to her husband behind closed doors. The official showed little mercy for the ragged - tagged woman . She was permitted to have a minute's talk in the adjoining room.
 

 
A minute has passed.
 

 
Minu came from the room.
 

 
One of the darogas asked " Where is yours husband?"
 
She replied wordlessly : "Inside."
 

 
Two of the officials went inside with arrest warrant. But they didn't find him , but his body. He has been stabbed with a kitchen-knife.
 

 
The body of the peasant is brought from the room . Minu fell down to tears. Her world has ended . The dream of life has concluded with freedom from the clasps of the patriarchal society. The lady was asked the reason.
 

 
"I have killed him for my rice."
 
 
 

All rights belong to its author. It was published on e-Stories.org by demand of Sovan Dev Das.
Published on e-Stories.org on 05.08.2012.

 
 

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