The Deception

“Hey Ram, Garlands are not ready and it’s time for Netaji to come. Bring them fast!”

The  head  of  Madhavpur  village  in  the  district  of  Kalahandi  district  in  Indian  state  of  Odissa said in hurry. He was serving the village for more than 10 years, tall, healthy body, muscular arms and a serious face with a calm nature. Everybody in the village revered him for his acumen. 

The  village  is  a  typical  example  of  an  Indian  village  with  lack  of basic  infrastructure. There was a primary school in a small building of two rooms with children like cattle  packed in a cow shed. Two wells -one for the upper caste and other for the lower caste people, are  the main  source  of  drinking  water;  people  depend  on  the  rain  God  for irrigation completely. This time the rain God seems unhappy with this village; the only road to the nearby city was looking like excavation of an ancient civilization.

  

People  know  how  to  read  and  write  just  to  increase  the  literacy  rate  of  the  state.  Educated youth did not find the farming work up to their standard, and they used to go  to  cities  like  Surat  (Gujarat)  to  get  some  work  in  textile  mills  and  coals  fields  of Chhattisgarh or Jharkhand.  

 “Yes Sarpanchji, they are ready with me. I will be back within a minute.” 

After the elections, the village was to be fortunate enough to have Netaji on its soil at least  after  three  years.  The  whole  village  was  waiting  eagerly  to  have  a  look  of  him  from morning. The school was closed, as it was before some days on Polio Day then panchayat elections followed by legislative elections. Today people were asked not to go  to  work;  men,  women  and  children  were  in  colorful  dresses, women  had  finished their work. The school was well decorated up to the school road; sitting arrangement is also so nicely arranged.  

Just in front of the stage there are children standing in rows, then chairs for women  followed  by  men.  Everything  was  nicely  planned  and  the  credit  goes  to  a  group  of people  who  came  to  the  village  yesterday  morning  with  everything  with  them,  from decorative things to chairs. Everybody was eagerly waiting for Netaji.

The dreams, which Netaji showed before the elections when he came to this village last time on an election campaign, were still fresh in the minds of the people. It was the month of May, the temperature was 44 degree, and there were hot winds all over the area. No one could dare to go outside in the Sun, so the life used to be started long before sunshine and then when it was 8-9 am, the life ceased until 4 pm.  

There was no one you could find except a group of youth was playing cards under a  tree near the school as school was closed in the summer.

“Hey, a group is heading towards us.” someone of the group said looking towards the road. 

“They must be going to the fair in the nearby village, see they are wearing all white.” 

With in some time, a group of people in white and white was in front of them. They were puzzled to the number of people in the group. None of the group had any idea about anybody of the group coming.  

“Hey Suresh, how are you! You don’t remember me?”, someone in white and white said. 

“He…..llo uncle, sorry I could not see you.” Suresh stuttered.  

He continued, “We just got frightened seeing such a huge group with you, what is the matter?” 

“We are here for the election campaign, we are campaigning in all the villages in the district on foot for one month, and it is our last village as I am from this village, we will take rest after in our home. Please go and call Sarpanchji.” Netaji said wiping his sweating.

Within sometime many people were gathered on the school ground. All were happy to see  Netaji after  so  long  and  to  know  that  Netaji and  his  group  were  on  foot understanding their problems, going village to village for so many days. After a brief speech, all were convinced to cast their vote in favor of Netaji. 

Netaji, before  entering  into  this  profession,  was  a  part of  this village. When  he  got failed in higher secondary for the third time, he went above the worldly attractions of working  in  the  field  and  studying.  He  had  only  one  work  of  sitting  on  the  village Chaupal with his friends all day long and talking about some serious topics. Only these things had sent him to the state capital from the village Chaupal.

  

Today even the electricity was there from early morning to welcome Netaji. However, it used to be there for sometimes in a day to offer tribute to Edison.

“Sir,  it’s  time  for  you  to  go  to  Madhavpur  village.  Car  is  ready,”  Netaji’s personal assistant said.

“Hey, what is the need of hurry?  Can you not see I am watching ‘Tour to Switzerland’ on  Discovery? You want  to  go  there  in  this  summer  or  not?” Netaji blasted  without losing his concentration from the TV.

The  garlands  lost  their  fragrance  and  the  children  got  exhausted  standing  on  their ground for so long without playing. The movie songs, which the people were enjoying, now were irritating them because they had enjoyed them for more than five times, they could even sing the whole song by themselves. 

Suddenly, there was a sound of motor in everyone’s ears; suddenly there were many cars before them. The front car’s door opened and two men come out to go to the next car  and  open  the  door.  This  was  probably Netaji’s  car  as  it  was  a  bit  different  from others to have a red light. All this happened like work of Djinn.  

Netaji came  out  of  the  car  with  a  man  with  arms  and  he  was  following  him  like  his  shadow. Netaji was  leading  his  friends  to  the  school  ground.  The  whole  picture  was  similar  to what  happened  in  campaign  time  but  the  behavior  of  Netaji  and  the  men coming with him.   Children,  youth  and  the  old  with  open  hearts  welcomed  Netaji and  his caravan.

Children’s  hands  were  now  free.  After  formal  introduction  and  welcoming  program, Sarpanchji  invited Netaji to the dais. Netaji with his shadow guard went to the dais and before starting his speech, he said something in the ears of his assistant Mr Mohan.  

Netaji started his speech- “Dear brothers, sisters and mothers; I thank you from the core of my hearts for your valuable support and trust on me….” There was a big round of applause from people side. He smiled as the acknowledge, then continued, “…I beg your pardon for coming late today. However, since you people have entrusted me  for  serving  you,  I  was  busy  in  your  work  until  now.  Even  before  coming  to  the village, I talked to the electricity department that this is my area and everyone should  get electricity. I can understand the importance of electricity in your lives….”

He stopped to have a sip of water. Then continued, “….That is why, I am late, please pardon me. I am in politics just to serve the people and serving you people is my karma and everything for me…. Now there are so many employment opportunities for you because of the industries around our village…. It was my  responsibility  to  get  the  employment  for  our  youth,  I  insisted  the  government  to have new industries here…..”  

This  made  the  youth  somewhat  disappointed,  as  it  was  true  that  after  the  elections there were many new industries came up around the village. It seems the local people were not eligible for the job, as they did not have the security money and the so-called extra money for other services. Therefore, there were outside people who came for the job.  

Netaji stopped for a while and there was thunderous sound of clapping and it went on without stopping for a second, even the children were giving a great response though they were not getting the base of the matter. However, it seems everyone was enjoying the speech.

There was a sudden music, which came altogether from nowhere. It gave a pause to the enthusiasm of the audience. All were looking surprised. Netaji took out a small box like instrument from his pocket and went back from the mike. The audience could hear only the whispering sound of Netaji. Netaji talked about some two minutes and after having finished the talking, he talked to his assistant in ears and he again came to the 

dais.  

“Dear brothers and sisters, there is an important meeting with the chief minister today about the rural development programme and the drought case. I regret; I have to leave for the meeting now. I promise, if you have any problem; you are always welcome to come up with your problems. The doors of my house in the capital are always open for the common people especially for you whose blessings are always with me…..” 

The assistant interrupted, “Sir, vehicle is ready.” Netaji with his friends marched towards the car. Everyone was watching the group and the car entered into the pool of dust and was out of their sight within no time.  Some people were looking sad but there was a wave of happiness in the children, who had not to wait for long now for getting the sweets.

“Yes, Mr. Ramesh the timing was good. I was not getting anything new to speak when the  by  heart  speech  was  over.”  said  Netaji while talking  in  his  mobile  when  they stopped in the nearby city near a bar. The whole troop had some food; they bought some colorful bottles from there, got some chicken, and again started their journey.

After  the  meeting,  the  village  came  back  to  its  original  life.  The  problems  were  not stopping even for a while. Because of the drought, everybody was in trouble including cattle.  All  the  water  resources  were  thirsty  themselves,  without  power  it  was  not possible  for  the  people  to  use  the  irrigation  facilities  they  installed  after  spending  so much  money  and  time.  Finally,  it  was  decided  to  report  all  these  to  Netaji  and Sarpanchji set off for the capital.  

It was early in the morning; some women were sweeping their courtyards, some were fetching  water  from  the  well.  He  was  on  foot  to  the  nearby  village.  Walking  on  the rough road was not so easy and the pain he was feeling, was the proof of it. The mist was all over the trees like a white blanket. He was thinking about the problems all the way and you could see the Sun at the horizon when he reached the village.  

He had to wait for an hour to get the bus to nearby city. The bus was all full; some people including women were hanging like the branches of a tree, it was as everybody was preparing for the bus from night itself. Sarpanchji, anyhow manage to get some space on the roof of the bus where some people were already there with their stuffs.  

The bus took two hours to travel hardly 10km from the village to the city. All the way, it was moving like a ship on the ocean. People on the top had to bend themselves many times when there were electric poles crossing the road, branches of trees hanging to the road and the subways. There could be a danger to people’s lives but they are quite accustomed  with  all  these  things.  They  were  enjoying  the  ride  with  their  talking listening to the songs on the local radio station. 

On reaching the city, he had some breakfast and then waited for another bus to the state capital.

Soon there was a call.

”Bhubaneshwar….Bhubaneshwar,”  

He  went  inside  the  bus  and  took  the  window  seat  in  front  row.  As  soon  as  the  bus started, Sarpanchji had  a  deep  sleep.  The  ride  was  so  smooth  that  it  did  not  bother anybody’s sleep. The road was no more the village or state highway, it was now on the national highway. You could easily guess the development of the country by seeing the quality of the roads, which were a part of the golden quadrilateral project connecting all the four important metros.

It was like a nap for Sarpanchji, when someone awoke him.

“Sir, we have come to Bhubaneshwar,” 

He collected his small bag and left the bus to take a rickshaw to the Netaji’s house.

He was on the gate when the guard asked impolitely, “Who are you?”

“I  am  the  Sarpanch  of  Madhavpur  Village,  I  want  to  see  Netaji.” Sarpanchji replied calmly.

“Do you have an appointment to see him?” Guard inquired. 

“No, I do not have. I am from his village, he surely will meet me” He replied. 

“He is busy for the entire week, come next week” Guard said. 

“I came from a distant place; you please go and inform Netaji, if he says he cannot see me, I will go” He said in somewhat angry mood.

“Sir, I am saying He is busy with some meeting, he cannot see you now.” Guard said with respect this time.

Netaji was seeing all these from his window where he was busy with watching some programs on the TV.  He called his assistant and said,” Go and ask Sarpanchji to come and wait in the guest room. Tell him I am busy in an important work.” 

Sarpanchji was now allowed to enter the house.

There was greenery everywhere; he was influenced by the automatic sprinkler system, which  was  watering  the  grass  continuously  in  all  directions.  There  were  beautiful flowers of different colors, which were enhancing the natural beauty of the place. On the side of the house, there were some cars with different models; all were kept in a very nice manner.

One could get the feeling of being in a car show room while looking into them. Out of all those, one, which he had seen when Netaji came to his village, was also there. Near the main door, there was a big black dog; it was looking like a leopard without stripes. It was the first time he was seeing such a dog.

The  assistant  accompanied  him  to  the  guest  room,  and  asked  to  wait  there,  where some people were already waiting. On seeing the crowd, one could understand easily, how important Netaji was. People were waiting there watching TV and commenting on the program, talking, etc. There were two big TVs for the public, who could see it in either ways. All were enjoying watching TV; it was as if they have come to watch their favorite programs there.  

Sarpanchji saw Mr. Mohan coming into the house. He recognized him as he was also there in the troop when Netaji came to his village. 

“Namaste,Mr. Mohan!” He greeted.

“Namaste… Sarpanchji, how are you and your village?” Mr. Mohan replied politely.

“Our  village  is  on  the  verge  of  destruction  that  is  why  I  am  here  to  see  Netaji.” Sarpanchji replied disappointedly. 

“Do not worry; everything will be all right soon” Mr. Mohan said and went to Netaji.

“Sir,  Sarpanchji  from  Madhavpur  village  has  come  to  see  you,”  Mr.  Mohan  said  to Netaji.  

Netaji’s concentration was on something else. He repeated, “Sir, Sarpanchji from Madhavpur village has come to see you.”

“Can’t you see I am busy, oh, one more shock for England! These days our boys are really doing well in cricket…” Netaji said in jolly mood.  

Mr. Mohan was standing without saying anything.  

“Ok, ask him to wait for some time, let me finish the match.” Netaji said without turning his eye from the television. 

Sarpanchji waited for about 5 hours. Netaji was preparing for rest after heavy lunch.  

“Listen Mr. Mohan, go and ask him to come after a week as I have to go to Delhi for an important meeting.” Netaji said at last, so that he could have a nap without anything in mind. 

Sarpanchji was dying of hunger and it was unfortunate of him that even after waiting for a long time he could not meet Netaji. He was thinking about the problems of the village all the way to the village.  

“How can our problems be solved?” He whispered.  When he reached the village, it was the time of cattle returning to home, some people were also returning with wood and some were coming from the city with their items.  

As usual, there was no power. He could see the dim light of lamps from the road. He disappointedly entered his home. His wife got the water for him, without a word he sat on the chair.  There  was  some  light  in  the  kitchen  room,  because  of  the  wood  fire  and  in  another room; his younger son was struggling to study under the earthen lamp.