Sagam Lal Mahato Dhanusa
“Father might have angered the Gods that he could never walk with a straight leg after the accident. He must have sinned said the neighbours. Gradually, we became poorer and poorer. There was no earning man in the family. What would Mother do? She washed dishes and clothes for the neighbours and every penny she made went into buying medicines for her poorly fed children. Father started roaming around the village begging. Whatever rice he brought home was never enough. We would mostly sleep hungry. One day a man came asking for the money that father had loaned. He demanded that father return the money or that he let him take me to Punjab to help him with his work. He told Father that he would give me food and a floor to sleep. So I was sent away. I slaved in Punjab for a few years looking after the man’s house and his animals. When I finally managed to leave the man’s house, I came home to find that Father was still begging. He was getting old too and had lost one of his eyesight. As a son, it was hard for me to witness the destitution. I knew I had to do something or else. So, without so much of a plan, I returned back to India and told my story to some of the friends I had made. They cried when they pictured the plight of my father and mother. And they were willing to help me find work. Whatever came their way, they would pass it on to me. Fixing doors, carrying goods, selling fake watches at train stations, gatekeeping were some of the work I did. I knew that I could not be away for long or else my parents would die, so after saving some money, I returned home. The next day, I went to a friend and showed him the money I had earned in Punjab. I told him it was not enough for the small roadside shop I wanted to open. Without saying a word, he went inside and came back with a bundle of notes and handed it over to me. He just said, “I trust you”. Within a weeks time, unbeknownst to Father and mother, I opened a small shop. The next day as father was heading out to beg, I stopped him and asked him if he could come with me. He silently obeyed and sat in front of my bicycle. On the way to the shop, I told him that his days of begging were over and that I was going to feed the family from that day on. When we arrived at the shop and I unlocked the shutter, he just stood there still, cane in one hand and amazement in his eyes. I told him, ‘No more begging Father’. As he stood there in disbelief, I saw tears run down his face. That day, he put his begging bowl in the corner, never to pick it up again, sat in front of the shop, and watched people come and go. That day, for the first time in my life, I saw happiness on my father’s face.”
