Children Stories
9:26 PM
Chal bo, Chal Jhadama Buro [ଚାଲବୋ, ଚାଲ ଝାରମା ବୁରୋ]
It is the month of January. Like all other
years me, my family and the two dogs are getting the stone pelting everyday even
while at home. No it is no revenge from the neighbors, but from the children of
the neighborhood. Every noon after
returning home from school they gather in groups to target the ber (Zizyphus) tree that we got at the backyard, which bear the small, but the most delicious tropical fruits at the end of the
winter.
Yesterday noon these children expedite to the other side of the compound wall and started pelting pebbles, stones, rocks and even brickbats to pluck these sweet fruit. Soon Dany and Diana raised the alarm by barking. And my Amma assigned me to go and nab the children. I went to open the rear gate, but I was helpless. Because these children were clever enough to lock the door from outside. I was as helpless as these two dogs were. We were all locked inside our own fort. After a while Ladoo came running to the window and shouted, “Chachu Chachu…. those Oriya kids are stealing your buros”. I asked him to open the door and he unlocked it. But by the time I step outside, those kids were chu champat (fled) the place.
Ladoo
the four years old Marwadi kid is the unofficial spy of mine. He reported it
was the gang of Oriya kids of the other street. In the mean while Piyush, Ayush, Chotu and Vivek with a broken elbow
gathered with us. They showed their
concern for my safety and told not to worry and they will guard the back street.
I was moved by their word of assurance. I asked them to wait for a while. I went
inside the garden and gathered all the fallen fruits and distributed to these
Marwadi kids for their solidarity. And these kids started shouting in a chorus,
“Kiran Chachu Jindabad Jindabad, Kiran Chachu Jindabad Jindabad”. I was much pleased to get the laurels, even
when my action had no political motive.
In this winter the asbestos roof of our abandoned store room has been completely
destroyed due to the pelting of the brickbats and the rocks by the street kids.
My father declared to execute the buro tree. My Amma expressed her resentment
as every plant and the tree in the garden are being grown by her caring hands
for the past ten years. Apart from Dany
and Diana garden is her first love.
[Monkeys while invaded our residence complex to steal the buros on a winter noon] |
I do believe it is not only my nephew Sreyanshu
and niece Srestha, but every bird, monkey
and the children of Barpali got the equal
right to relish these delicious small
fruits. Definitely it’s a nuisance, but we have to live life on this earth
while giving space to others to grow. Its evening hours and play time for the
street kids. I could hear one boy is shouting as :“chal bo, chal jhadama buro” which means, lets
go and pluck the berries.
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E.Kiran Mohan(The Blogger)
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Dist. Bargarh, Odisha, India