Sacrifice

Yashwant Singh and Gurpreet Kaur are emigrants from Punjab. Yashwant is a truck driver. Baljinder and Sukhvinder are their sons. The couple had sought domicile in Kharagpur, the city of Joy with the hope of giving the best education to their children. They manage to accommodate themselves in the Khokhar Villa as a tenant. All of them are pendu(coming from a village)in culture and tradition.

Yashwant is always in his pathani suit while Gurpreet gracefully dons the Patiala salwar kameez. One can never find her bare-headed. She wraps a phulkari dupatta around her head and shoulders perpetually. She is a typical sardarni and Yashwant, an imperial Sardar. The kids wear pyjama and kurta. The family speaks theth(pure) Punjabi which is difficult to deduce. Hindi is a foreign language for them and they have landed into a Bengali speaking population.

The couple wants to get their sons enrolled in an English Medium School. Their language and timidity act as a barrier for any perspective.

Gurpreet slips into her landlady's apartment. She calls for Minu, the graduate daughter of the owner. Minu was very excited about the arrival of the new tenants. She was inquisitive to explore Punjab from their eyes, as she had never been there. She is happy and greets her heartily. Gurpreet displays her agony in a flimsy tone,

"Minu, l want to admit my sons into a good English Medium school. Can you help me in finding one? You know, your uncle and l had never been to school. We are uneducated and thumb impressionists. We don't want our sons to suffer. Please assist me."

Minu is a quite generous girl. Since it was the month of December, she was aware that the admission processes must be going on in full swing at various schools. She implied,

"Don't worry aunty Ji, The Christ Of Our Day Convent School, had released their forms. Yesterday l purchased one for my tuition student. Tomorrow l will go and fetch two more forms for your sons. How old are they?"

A spark of joy twinkled all over Gurpreet's face. She retorted happily,

" Baljinder is six years old and Sukhvinder is four years old."

Minu was flabbergasted to learn that they had never been to school to date. She checked her temperament and remarked,

"It's already late aunty Ji, I will purchase a class 1 and L.kg form respectively."

Gurpreet's eyes welled up with tears for specific reasons. The next moment she narrated her tale,

"I know we are late. My in-laws died within a gap of one year. We had to sell our ancestral property. My husband was working as a truck driver for a zamindar in Punjab. It came to be difficult to make both ends meet with a precarious remuneration. My husband purchased his truck for his good and came here. We sacrificed our land, home, animals, comfort, happiness everything for the sake of our boys."

Minu felt a prickling sensation all over her body. There was a lump in her throat after being enlightened by the lady's state of affairs.

Yashwant and Gurpreet were ecstatic to finalize the admission process of their sons. All the paperwork was conducted by Minu. They thanked her wholeheartedly. It took a very long time for the kids especially Baljinder to adjust to the school environment but they tried their best to adapt themselves.

Gurpreet was unable to keep a check on their academics. She could only read Gurmukhi as she had attended free classes in the local Gurudwara during her childhood for some time. She was an alien to other languages.

Calculating the monthly income and expenses, she managed to appoint Minu as her kids home tutor. Minu kept the kids under strict guidance and control as they were least affected by the howling of their parents. Baljinder dared not speak a word before Minu apart from his studies. He shivered merely at Minu's sight.

Yashwant was prospering in business. The kids were doing well in academics and extracurricular activities as long as Minu was their mentor. A day arrived when Minu got married and the kid's interest in studies went downhill. Baljinder lost total interest in his studies.

On reaching adolescence, he bunked his classes tricking his parents. For him, no tuition meant no studies. Finally, he dropped out of school at the age of fifteen without the knowledge of his parents. It was due to an acquaintance, they came to know that Baljinder was not attending his regular classes in school. He became a vagabond. The parents were helpless. Meanwhile, Sukhvinder continued studiously.

After five years

On a fine chilling winter morning, Gurpreet returned from the Gurudwara and shouted her lungs out,

"Jindiyaa, Oye Jindiyaa, where are you? I have brought Prasad for you. Come soon."

There was no reply whatsoever. Sukhvinder appeared from the washroom brushing his teeth,

"O, Bebe! Baljinder left early morning with his friend in his truck. They were talking about visiting the khasayi Nadi. The truck was loaded with people and Veera(brother) mounted on the uppermost cabin of the truck."

Gurpreet joined her hands and sent a silent prayer to God," Waheguru Ji Mehar Kari." (Holy God shower your blessings). She made herself busy with household chores. The whole day she was preoccupied musing about the well-being of her son. Night fell and yet there was no sign of Baljinder. Gurpreet becoming restless, enquired the neighbours about Baljinder. Yashwant surveyed him everywhere. Sukhvinder interacted with some of his friends. Baljinder was nowhere to be found. The family waited desperately, hoping for some miracle.

They failed in their attempts. A sense of uncertainty and dullness prevailed among the three faces. The darkness of night kept plaguing them in suspense. Sukhvinder glimpsed the blinking red light of an ambulance approaching their house. The buzzing noise of the siren seized the attention of the neighbours. People started gathering around his house. He rubbed his eyes twice to make sure, it was not a dream. The ambulance halted at their threshold. The hospital people laid the shrouded body of Baljinder on the ground.

Gurpreet removed the white cloth from Baljinder's face and started kissing him hard. His face and neck were bloodstained. Her pain was unfathomable. She screamed, tears rolling down from her eyes,

"Jindiya, why did you leave us so soon. You promised me to gift you a house of our own. What about the promise. How we are going to survive without you. My life is useless without you......."

The policemen arrived in a jeep. The DSP informed them out of duty,

"Your son was badly injured by the electric cables running above the roads. The truck was moving at full speed, the boy was seated at the top of a truck. His neck collided with the cable and he collapsed receiving a shock. His friends rescued him and admitted him to a hospital but unluckily he died on spot. We have conducted the postmortem. Send someone for the reports after a couple of days. "

It took several months for the couple to cope up with the untimely loss of their firstborn. They regarded Sukhvinder as their world. They admired his junctures. Sukhvinder obtained his higher secondary education and started manoeuvring as a clerk in a private bank. He had lost the spark to study so he decided to work. His parents had high hopes and aspirations for him. Sukhvinder also tried his best to fill the void in his parent's life. He worked hard. Gurpreet spent most of her time reading the scriptures. Yashwant inherited a habit of drinking to dissolve his grief.

There was a bolt from blue again when Sukhvinder died of a fatal road accident. The couple was devasted. They were shrouded with clouds of misery. An invisible dagger had been pierced in their hearts. The wound was deep and irredeemable.

Yashwant wanted to jump into the funeral pyre of Sukhvinder. The thought of his wife left him wretched. He cursed his sins and asked God for his mercy," Rabba Meher Kari. Bhul chuk maaf Karni." (God shower your blessings, forgive the sins).

The lonely couple didn't find anything worth in life thereafter. They have become childless despite giving birth to two sons. Yashwant sold his truck, abandoned the rented house along with the belongings. He and Gurpreet took shelter at Chanderkona Gurudwara Sahib as Granthis(ceremonial readers of Guru Granth Sahib). They sacrificed all the worldly pleasures and became Amritdhari Sikhs. They garbed the traditional spiritual Sikh attire. They accepted physical and spiritual discipline in the role of Granthis. They rendered their valuable services to the Gurudwara. They sacrificed themselves completely to God.

THE END