Footprints on Zero Line by Gulzar

Author:Gulzar
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: null
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers India
Published: 2017-01-10T05:00:00+00:00

Smoke

THE TALK had caught fire very slowly but soon enough its smoke had filled the entire qasba.

The chaudhry had died at four in the morning. By seven, when his wife, the chaudhrain, had regained her senses after a prolonged bout of crying, the first thing she did was send for Mullah Khairuddin. The servant was given strict instructions not to say anything to the mullah. After the servant escorted the mullah into the courtyard and went away, the chaudhrain took him to the bedroom upstairs where the chaudhry’s corpse had been removed from the bed and placed on the floor. A pale white face draped in white sheets, it had white eyebrows, a white beard and long white hair. The chaudhry’s face emitted an other-worldly glow.

The mullah saw him and immediately recited ‘Inna lillahe wa innalillahe rajaoon’ and offered a few token words of condolence. He had barely sat down when the chaudhrain took out the will from a cupboard, showed it to him and made him read it. The chaudhry’s last wish was that he should not be buried; instead, he wished to be cremated and his ashes strewn in the river which watered his land.

The mullah read the will but remained silent. The chaudhry had done a lot of good in the name of religion in this village. He was known to give equally to the Hindu and the Musalman in the name of charity. He had had a proper brick-and-mortar building constructed for the makeshift village mosque. What is more, he even had a regular concrete structure erected at the cremation ground of the Hindus. Even though he had been sick for many years now and confined to his bed, he had given instructions to the mosque authorities for the iftari to be made for the poor and the needy at his expense every Ramzan. The Musalman of the neighbourhood were devoted to him and had great faith in him.

Now, reading the contents of the will, the mullah was worried. What if it caused trouble? As it is, things were bad in this country: the Hindu had become more Hindu and the Musalman more Musalman!

The chaudhrain said, ‘I don’t want to have any religious ceremony. All I want is that arrangements be made for him to be burnt in the cremation ground. I could have told Pandit Ram Chandar but I didn’t call him because I don’t want things to take a bad turn.’

But things did take a bad turn when Mullah Khairuddin sent for Pandit Ram Chandar and gave the following prudent advice: ‘Don’t allow the chaudhry to be burnt in your cremation ground, for it is possible that the Musalman of this neighbourhood might create trouble. After all, the chaudhry was no ordinary man. Many people were associated with him in different ways.’

Pandit Ram Chandar assured him that he didn’t want any mischief in his area. Before the news got any further, he too would explain matters to some of his specially chosen people.

But the spark had been lit and before long the smoke began to spread.

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