Proto comes from a remote village, where his father owns a sugarcane farm. Had he not graduated he would have ended up in the farm with the pair of castrated Oxen owned by his father. Castration is the process of removing the male reproduction organs. This is a purposefully executed procedure on animals usually to develop a desired habit like ploughing the farm or pulling the cart.
The oxen were used to pull the cart loaded with the canes after the yield is harvested. While before the harvest for all obvious reasons they were used to plough the land. During childhood Proto supported his father after his school hours. His job was to look after the oxen and the cart. Sometimes he ties them to the plough or the cart as desired by his father.
By the time both of them came home after work their legs would have been caked in mud and they spend enough time to get the dried mud removed from their legs. On arriving home he would tie the oxen near the water tank to bathe them and provide them with grass and water. He would then help his mom with the preparation of rotis and serve it to his father. Late night; he studied in the dim shaded light of the kerosene lamp and listened to the songs of crickets, frogs and other humming creatures.
Image courtesy internet
In the metro he misses his usual frivolities and his village gang of boys with whom he played and taunted with. He hated the choked living space of 10ft x 10ft room attached with an Indian styled closet on the top floor of a 3 storey – old building. It could probably be called the leaning tower of an Indian metro, which waited its turn to collapse and get grounded with mud and blood.
Proto was unusually anxious about his first day to work and adding to his anxiety the attached bathroom tap refused to supply water; instead it whistled the air out. He had to manage in a bucket of water which he had saved last night.
As he walked towards the office, his heart ceased multiple times, but he manages to make it on time. Anto and damsel had already reached when he arrived.
Excuse me! A shattered non confident voice
No one hears
Excuse me Sir! He makes it a little louder this time around.
Yes. May I help you! Damsel, asks as she is lifting herself up from beneath the table. She was trying to get the power plug in order to get her PC straight.
New Joinee Sir! He couldn’t get the words straight in nervousness
He instantly corrects it. Sorry Madam
She smiles and requests him to wait until the Boss arrives. Neither Damsel nor Anto was aware of a new recruit in the company.
Proto waits!
Let’s join his wait. To be continued…
Theme of the Episode: Leaning Towers of India
Photo courtesy Internet
Paving way for the elections in 2014, the UPA government is all set to impress the voting community (Farmers) in our country. UPA 1 waved off the Farmer loans worth Rs 68,000 Cr. Now UPA 2 is gimmicking the past by coming up with the new land bill which will provide the farmers 4 times the market rate for the land bought for Industry and Infrastructure. In my view: On one hand this will pave way for more and more urbanization. Farmers will be motivated to sell off their land and move into a metro. As a result, our country will stop producing agricultural products.
On the other hand politicians and industrialists will continue to exploit the poor. In the coming days our country will see more illegal constructions, more murders for land grabbing and many more buildings will continue to fall. A poor farmer will not be able to raise his voice; if an industrialist even encroaches into his land or kills him for the same. No one will ever come to know if a poor guy is killed in this country.
If you echo my voice then; Let it rise! Let it rise! and Let it rise!
Read Jacob Hills