11. Asim Returns a Foreigner.
Asim was expected to come from Germany after completing his studies. No one in the family had gone abroad before. Asim was quite close to me and I was delighted to hear this news. I went to the market and got some while knitting wool and managed to finish the half sweater within 4 days. As Ejaz and Nikhat were still young, they were taken along while the elder ones were left behind with the assurance of German toys. By evening we could reach Patna by car. It was a tiring journey so we just met Asim and went off to sleep hoping to have a chat the next day.
“Are you missing Germany?” I asked him teasingly.
“No!” He replied with all the seriousness. “I am disillusioned with this country”.
“The best remedy is to get you married now”. I jokingly suggested.
But he had other things in mind. He wanted to migrate to Pakistan. Anyhow, he agreed to visit Dumka and we bought lots of toys for the children and reached home. All the children came to meet him and the toys were given to them. Asim had got totally changed. The guy who used to laugh so much that tears came out of his eyes, became sullen and morose. The children who were once so close to him, were now treated like strangers.
“I am worried about the future”. He said when doctor Saheb asked him about the work. He then announced that he had plans to migrate to Pakistan. He was carrying no belongings. Doctor Saheb got him arranged lots of things like clothes, towel, suit, mattress etc. Even at the time of his departure, he remained absolutely emotionless. A boy who was once my favorite, got somewhere lost in Germany. He was never his original self again.
We got transfer order for Saharsa when Asim was still there. We got on with the packing. Bakhshish Saheb, Tauheed Saheb and Commissioner Saheb felt very sad to hear this news. But it was not in his nature to even try for getting changed the transfer to an ill reputed place. “In service I have to follow the orders” was his dictum. His final relieving was, however, delayed by a couple of months as the new doctor could not arrive there to take charge from him.
The post of Civil Surgeon was only recently created in Saharsa. Our neighbor was Narayan Saheb SP and other officers too were all Hindus. It was a typical village of across the Ganges. Schooling facilities were not good and there was no school for the girls. There was no power and even drinking water was awful. During the monsoon, the entire village used to become an island. He was provided with eight boat-men to ferry him to the other parts of the area. One of the boatmen knew a little bit of cooking and with some tips from Ansu Bua, he could somehow manage the kitchen. I called for Tahir to take me to Patna.
The flood situation was so bad, the train between Saharsa and Patna had to be cancelled. The only option left was to go via Purnea. It was overnight journey from Purnea to Patna and none of the compartments had light. Fortunately I had taken a torch along. At around 10 at night, 4 men entered our compartment claiming to be policemen and wanted to search our luggage.
“We have been informed that Ganja is being shipped” they claimed.
I could make out that they are just trying to fleece some money from us as they can always plant the illegal objects in our luggage taking advantage of the darkness. God gave me the courage to stand up and shout back at them “ I am the Civil Surgeon’s wife and SP is known to us- so don’t try to play tricks with us”. When they realised it was backfiring, the quietly went away. The ordeal of the journey was still not over. After getting down at Hajipur we boarded the steamer. When it was about to reach Patna, the storm struck. It was so intense that the steamer would touch the jetty and again go back as the winds propelled it back. We had to wait for more than three hours for the storm to subside before getting down the steamer. No one had come to receive and therefore we had to help ourselves. We went to Amman’s place in Bihari Lane. Tahir was Dulha Bhai’s eldest son who lived in Sabzi Bagh. He was almost the same age as Asim. Doctor Saheb was very fond of Tahir.
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Chapter
INDEX.