A Tale Of A Society......

By G Yashaswini Patel

Gangapur is a small village in the coastal region of India. Madhavan was an educated government official who used to collect revenues from all the farmers in his village and pay them to the government. He was a large farmer with five sons and three daughters. He used to grow food, cereal, and sugarcane crops and also used to do silkworm rearing. The labourers working under him were fifteen, which meant his family was a prosperous agricultural family. He was a man of kindness, courage, and devotion to God. With time, his children grew up. He got his daughters married to farmers in distant and neighbouring villages. His sons were studying. Madhavan and Kalyani loved their last son more than all of their children. When Sushant was in sixth grade, Madhavan passed away due to a

prolonged illness. When the villagers got this news, they didn’t let Sushant’s family bring his father’s body inside the village, as he had died outside the village in a hospital. When Sushant heard this, he was shocked because those villagers who were even scared to look into his father’s eyes or even speak against him were now not permitted to take the body inside the village. Sushant’s eldest brother, Ram, performed the last rites for his father. Eleven days after his father’s death, there was a ritual in rural areas for his mother to become a widow. When the ritual was done and he was returning with his mother, he saw the villagers celebrating the festival of Sankranti and forgot about his father’s death. When the villagers saw them, they stopped but later continued with celebrations. Sushant got to know the harsh realities of society. After his father’s death, his brothers started dividing their property, which had belonged to his father. During this process, his brothers just gave Sushant 5 acres of land out of 65 acres. Now he understood that his brothers never cared about him or his mother; what they cared about was only money. His two brothers were working in government offices, and the other two brothers continued farming, but none of them helped with his education. Slowly, he started realising that what his brothers, relatives, and this society would do for him was only possible if you were in power and had money. He got to know that the one person who loves and cares for him unconditionally is his mother. Due to all of these incidents, he took it as a challenge and studied well. He got his degree in science. He knew that only this degree would give him power in this society. He tried the civil service but failed twice. Later, he entered the political field, where, due to his caste, he was not given proper opportunities by party leaders. He fought all the odds and gained the trust of his people. With the people’s and one of the leaders' support, they knew that if he got a post and job in the political field, it would be a benefit to the party as well as for the people. He became a Senate member at Bangalore University twice. He helped a lot of students who came from poor backgrounds. After his tenure as a Senate member, he stood for election and became a ZP member. He helped a lot of people who came asking for help. He helped people by conducting marriages, helping them financially, etc. He was again in power like his father, and no one dared speak against him. No matter how society looks, you should be strong and face all the problems strongly. You are the only person who can help yourself.

By G Yashaswini Patel