Sarkar

It was evening time and I was about to leave for a secret meeting with Sarkar. Suddenly, the lady from our neighborhood caught me at my door and said, "Uncle you are not going out in the evening, right? I am going down to the society common plot to locate Ayush. I don't see him from our balcony. He must be hiding somewhere as usual. If he comes when I am not here, please detain him with you till I return."

I was almost taken for granted. First of all, I don't like this boy Ayush. He is very notorious. At the age of five or six he has all the qualities to become a militant when he enters in his twenties. But I had to oblige to the lady as I couldn't have told her about where I was going.

As expected, Ayush came upstairs the next minute. He saw the closed door of his house and the next moment he stormed into mine.

"Dadaji, I am very thirsty. Give me some water. I will sit in your house till mom comes. I will watch TV till then. Why don't you start Chhota Bheem?"

Just like his mom there was no trace of a request in his tone. I had to oblige to him also. Only consolation was that his eyes would be glued to the TV monitor till the next commercial break occurred. I thanked the producers of Chhota Bheem to successfully mesmerize a wide group of children of all the ages between the commercial breaks once the popular serial started. His mom took about half an hour to return upstairs after finishing her gossiping sessions with other ladies in the society. But finally, she came and took hold of Ayush.

I thought I could leave then for meeting Sarkar. But that was not to be. A colleague of mine who works in the same office from where I retired before  a few years ago appeared without any warning. He was in a great mood and started narrating office gossips and politics the moment he took his seat. I had no interest in those chats. I had erased those things from my memory long back and was happy about my decision. All I was worried about was my planned meeting with Sarkar that time which I could not mention to my visitor. In fact, he would not have allowed me to leave my house on any pretext before he fully discharged the info he had brought in. After getting no response from me on his narration for quite some time, however, he seemed visibly offended. He could not hold back from saying, "Hey, I came to cheer you up. I was told that the retired people always look forward to getting visitors, particularly those working with them earlier as that gave them an opportunity to re-live their past years spent in that office. But you don't seem to be very happy about my visit here. Bhabhiji also doesn't seem to be there. Otherwise I would have left after some chai-nashta. But don't worry, I will leave right now. Hereafter, will come to your place only if you make a call and invite me." He looked quite upset when he left.

I did not mind his blurting out on me. I know very well that he would again come after a few days, uninvited. I also know that he is forced to spend his evenings away from his home like this as his wife returns late from her office on all week days.

After my colleague left, I just locked my house and took the road to the campus where I could meet Sarkar. I did not want any interruption. But I had to walk the distance as it was not advisable to drive my car to the place. I did not want to leave any obvious proof of my visit to Sarkar. Just when I thought that I would be there in a few minutes, another of my office colleague blocked my road and shouted, "Hey, going for an evening walk? At your age you should prefer only morning walks. The roads are less crowded then. In the evenings you are safe from this unruly traffic only if you are driving a four wheeler."

I did not say anything. But he would not leave. He continued his firing.

"Are you saving on petrol? Don't tell me that fuel prices have gone up and you could not afford them now. Don't blame it on the new regime in Delhi. India did not start the Iraq war. Moreover, Govt. pays you enough pension and they revise your DA time and again." Actually, I had to take those words sportively as he could have easily added three more words -"for doing nothing" - to the last part of his comment.

"Anyway, feer milenge kabhi. I need to go. I have a lot of responsibility at home and office. I am not a free bird like you." This remark was uncalled for but I let it go. I was in no mood to argue with him.

I continued by brisk walk. I was almost reaching my destination. Suddenly I saw a police van and a couple of police wireless jeeps and a dozen or so of policemen at the entry point of Sarkar's premises. I was taken aback. I just swiftly took a right turn casually and continued my walk. After a few steps, I met a few regular visitors to Sarkar. "What happened? What the police are doing here?", I asked one of them.

"Sh.... Don't talk that loudly. They are only keeping a watch. They have not entered in yet. Just follow us. No need to show bravery. We will enter the campus from a small gate at the rear side."

I followed his advise and kept walking towards the rear side of Sarkar's campus. When I entered the small gate, I saw many regular visitors to Sarkar. But overall, the place was not crowded as usual. I went further. There, I saw, Sarkar was sitting in a specious chair in his usual pose. I could see his smiling face even from a distance. Visitors were approaching him one by one and greeting him. Sarkar listens to them but rarely speaks. He, at the most, whispers in your ears. The visitors were in no hurry as he would meet everybody, although for a short time. Very soon my turn came.

I bowed my head after I stood in front of him. He gave me his usual smile. I started talking to him in a low voice,

"Sarkar, I have come here with a great difficulty. We have had a very long association with each other. But I doubt whether we would meet again. I am under watch. All of us are under watch. The days are bad. Din achchhe nahi hai!"

Sarkar just gave a smile. I continued,

"They are now after you. They are digging your past. They are out to eliminate you. They will confiscate all of your property. You will be left with nothing. Not even your existence."

Sarkar again smiled but whispered in my ears, "My property? I never had anything. Whatever you see was given by my followers without me asking them to give anything. If they confiscate it I have nothing to lose."

"But they are out to finish you. They are planning to declare you as one of the main conspirators to divide the society vertically and misleading a large population to a wrong and destructive path for years. I am afraid they have already gathered support for this story from prominent people in the society."

Sarkar again gave only a smile on my apprehension. I further continued,

"Hope you will pardon me if tomorrow I am forced to publicly deny any connections with you. I am helpless. But you will always remain in my heart." Saying this, I touched Sarkar's feet and without meeting his eyes turned back with a heavy heart. I started walking towards the gate I came in. After walking a few steps I looked back and suddenly noticed two painted boards hanging on the two pillars on two sides of Sarkar's seat. One read "Shraddha" and the other read "Saburi". Faith and patience. I had seen those boards many times before. But it suddenly occurred to me that that was the message probably Sarkar wanted to give me before I left. "Have faith and patience. They are always indestructible." I felt extremely relaxed. All the black clouds in my mind had completely disappeared.

"Jay Sai Sarkar! Sainath Maharajki Jay Ho!". Saying this I left the Saidham with renewed vigor.