A Winter's Night: Page 5

All of a sudden, Jabra let out a stream of barks and ran towards the field. Halku got the impression that a herd of animals had entered his field. It was perhaps a herd of Nilgais. Halku could clearly hear the sounds they were making. Then he could hear them eating the crops in the field. "Chop-chop", the sound was easy to distinguish.

But Halku did not want to believe his ears. "No. With Jabra around, no animal would dare to enter the field," he said to himself. "I am only imagining things. There is no sound now. I cannot hear a thing."

He called out aloud, "Jabra, Jabra."

But Jabra kept barking and did not come to Halku.

Then, yet again, Halku could hear the sound of chomping coming from the field. This time, Halku could not deceive himself. He did not wish to leave the orchard; he was feeling so comfortable. He felt it would be foolish to go to the field in such cold to chase away the animals. He did not move.

He yelled at the top of his voice to scare away the animals. "Liho-liho! Liho!!"

Jabra once again let out a stream of barks. The animals were grazing. The crops were ready for harvesting. It was such a good field; but these bad animals were destroying the crops.

Halku got up with grim determination now and walked a few steps. But a sudden cold blast, like a scorpion's sting, hit him and he returned back to the dying bonfire. He stoked the embers and began warming his cold body.

Jabra was barking his head off; the nilgais were destroying the crops; and Halku sat peacefully by the dying bonfire. Lethargy, like a rope, had bound him tight.

After some time, he covered himself with the shawl and lying down by the side of the ashes, fell asleep.

When he rose in the morning, there was bright sunshine all around and Munni was saying, "Aren't you going to wake up today? You are sleeping here, and there the entire field has been destroyed.

Halku got up and asked, "Are you coming from the field?"

Munni said, "Yes, the entire field is in ruins. How can anyone sleep so soundly! What has been the use of your staying up in the field?"

Halku pretended to be sick. "I almost died, and all you can think of is your field. I had such a severe stomach ache - only I know how dreadful it was!"

Both of them went to the field and saw it was completely destroyed. Jabra was lying under the cot fast asleep, as if he had no life in him.

Both of them were looking at the destruction. Munni was downcast and there was a gloomy expression on her face, but Halku seemed to be happy.

Munni, her voice filled with concern, said, "Now you will have to pay up the land tax through your labours."

But Halku was happy. A smile lit up his face as he replied, "At least, I don't have to sleep out here in the cold anymore."

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Summary

This story tells about the poverty of farmers. The farmers work hard, yet they receive hardly any income from their produce.

Halku is a tenant farmer — he grows crops on the land belonging to a landlord.

The landlord comes to collect his dues. Halku has only three rupees; the money is with his wife. Munni refuses to give the money because she wants Halku to buy a blanket. Munni knows of the hardships her husband suffers during the cold winter nights while guarding the crops against intruders and animals.

Munni wants Halku to give up farming because it does not help in making ends meet. She wants Halku to work as a labourer so that he can receive regular wages.

It is a cold winter's night, and Halku is out in the field with just an old shawl to protect himself against the biting cold. Apart from depicting the plight of the farmer, the story also tells about the friendship between man and dog. Jabra is unclean, and his body stinks, yet Halku finds the dog to be the most endearing companion. Disregarding the stench, Halku picks up the dog and presses it to his own body; the warmth provided by the dog's body is very comforting!

Halku enters a mango orchard near his field. He gathers up the dry leaves and lights a bonfire. The master and the dog warm themselves by the fire. The faithful and dutiful dog, however, becomes aware of grazing animals destroying their crops. He leaves the warmth and darts out into the cold to chase away the animals. But it is so chilly that Halku is unwilling to leave the warmth of the bonfire. He pretends he has only imagined that Jabra is barking his head off for nothing.

But, finally, Halku cannot deceive himself any longer; he knows for sure that grazing animals are destroying his crops. He must get up and chase them away. Halku does make an effort to leave the warmth, but the chill forces him to return to the bonfire, and he soon falls asleep. He is woken up in the morning by his wife. Munni is sad because the crops have been destroyed. But Halku is happy! The reason: he won't have to spend the cold nights in the field anymore because there were now no crops to guard!

Some useful links for your career:

Union Public Service Commission - www.upsc.gov.in
IIT-Kharagpur - www.iitkgp.ac.in
Indian Statistical Institute - www.isical.ac.in
Indian Institute of Technology Madras - www.iitm.ac.in
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad - www.iimahd.ernet.in
Indian Institute of Mass Commission - www.iimc.nic.in
IIT Bombay - www.iitb.ac.in
Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad - www.ismdhanbad.ac.in
Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi - www.bitmesra.ac.in
Central Institute of Fisheries Nautical and Engineering Training - www.cifnet.nic.in
Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad (Deemed University) - www.iiita.ac.in
Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi - www.cmfri.com
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai - www.tiss.edu