Last drops in the leaking bucket of memories

 

Tau Hoshiyar Singh is almost hundred now. There is a langar organized at the village. He was walking in that direction as if driven by the sense of smell. He is nearly blind but still manages to walk in the streets groping the pitfalls of life with his stick. He has four sharp senses to guide him apart from the majorly damaged fifth, sight.

Today he seems to walk effortlessly. Maybe the fragrance of fresh laddoos emanating from the community feast’s huge cauldron did the magic trick, allowing him to walk just like anyone else. I offer him a pillion ride to the destination on my scooty. He smartly clambers for the pillion ride, shaking the scooty with the force of his still reasonably broad skeleton. Clutching my shoulder with one hand, he holds his lathi over my head.

Jat elders have an inclination to prod the ribs of the youngsters with the end of their sticks. I have to be very careful. Beyond all the warnings by the doctors regarding sugar intake he is tremendously receptive to sugar-saturated laddoos and jelabis. At the community feast, he eats with elegance, with methodical precision, out of reverential respect for the prasadam. Not a little crumb escapes his attention. Doing full justice to his generation he has finished six laddoos while I’m still struggling with the first one.

A laddoo is simply a ball of sugar. We have our phobias that restrict us; he has none. Most importantly, the laddoos leave only one effect—on his tongue. On the other hand, we have many in the mind.

‘Tau take two more and put them in your pocket for later use,’ I whisper in his ear. Tau has a loud voice. His whisper comes dangerously close to a public announcement. As a result, the entire gathering takes a mulling pause as Tau is heard saying, ‘Why should I have two in the pocket? I have many in the stomach and have already fixed the desire. Why don’t you take a few in your pocket and fulfill the quota. You have just one in your stomach.’ So he has been keeping an eye on my plate as well! Not as blind as I suppose him to be. Now everyone comes to know what I have been telling him. Many villagers stare at me. Everyone knows what I have been putting into his ears. I’m completely washed with embarrassment. I think Tau has taken revenge; retaliation against my election-time joke at his cost.

The last to last assembly elections took place about nine years back. Tau has been very vocal about support to a regional satrap on caste grounds. He even raised his lathi to strike when I crossed the boundaries of vote-canvassing, asking him to vote for someone else. On the voting day I took my revenge as he lined up to vote very early in the morning. ‘TauI hope you are enjoying casting your final vote in this life!’ I taunted. He was around ninety at that time and I felt sure about my calculations regarding his future voting chances. But he has been around for one more decade  and has cast multiple votes in local, state and central elections. The state and central elections are due in 2024. Now I’m sure Tau will be there in support of his favorite candidate.

PS: He has done it. The vote I mean. The other day I found him negotiating the village street with the help of his last remains of senses and stick. He had gone to the village barber to get shaved. I shouted in his ear and put up a task whether he can recognize me. He dropped the bucket of effort in the deep well of memories. The rusted iron bucket is leaking and by the time it comes out only little dribbles of memory are left. He can just recall my grandfather's name-de-plume Masterji. I'm about to comment on his fading memory but his face is extra stern after shaving and his grip on the stick is quite authoritative. So I let go off my teasing itch.