An Astrologers Day and Other Stories Part 18

So young !

she whispered to me, and to think that he should be left at this age without a father or a mother !

she sighed. He had made himself lovable in a dozen ways already. He had taken my little son out for a walk. The youngster cried as aoon as he came home,

Let Ramu stay in our house.

He is great. He knows magic and can tame tigers and elephants. Ramu walked into the kitchen and offered a.s.sistance. At first my wife protested, Why wont you allow me to go near the oven, A CAREER 117 Mother ?

he asked.

Is it because you think I cant cook ? Give me a chance and see.

He. made a dash for the bathroom, turned the tap on himself, and came out dripping. He took a handful of sacred ash and smeared it on his forehead. My wife was tremendously impressed. She let him do the cooking.

He prepared delicious food for us. We were all very pleased. After that he helped my wife with all the cleaning and scrubbing. He slept at night on the bare floor, refusing the mat and the pillow we offered.

He was the first to be up next morning. He lit the stove and woke up my wife. At midday he brought me my food. While I ate he attended to the school children, who came into the shop. He handed them their knick-knacks with an expert hand. He charmed and amused them. He made them laugh. He beguiled them with an alternative when he had not on hand what they wanted.

It was inevitable that in a month he should be sharing with me the shop work. He had attractive ways about him. Customers liked to talk to him.

Within a short time there was not a single home in the Extension where he was not treated as a member of the family. He knew the inside story of every family. He served every one to the best ofhis capacity.

Here he helped a man with his garden, and there he pleaded with a housebuilding contractor and had an estimate revised. He patched up quarrels. He tamed truants and sent them to school. He took part in all the extra-curricular activities of the Extension Elementary School. He took an interest in the Club Movement. He dressed himself up for the occasion when the inspector visited the school, and arranged u8 A CAREER for the supply of garlands and flowers. And all this in addition to a.s.sisting me in the shop. He went every day to the market and purchased provisions from the wholesale merchants, sat down for hours on end in the shop and handed out things to customers, pored over the accounts till late at night, and collected all the bills.

As a result ofRamus presence my business increased nearly tenfold. I had abundant rest now, I left the shop entirely in his hands. I went home for food at midday. After that I slept till three in the afternoon.

And then I went to the shop, but stayed there only till five oclock, when I went to an open s.p.a.ce near by and played badminton with some friends. I came to the shop again only at seven in the evening.

Once or twice I and my wife talked over the matter and tried to fix up a monthly pay for Ramu. We felt we ought not to be exploiting Ramus friendliness.

But when the subject was mentioned Ramu grew red in the face and said,

If you dont want me to stay with you any more, you may talk of salary again .

Five years pa.s.sed thus. He aged with us. He lived with us through all our joys and sorrows. I had four children now. My business had prospered enormously. We were now living in a bigger house in the same street. I took the shop building on a long lease. I had an immense stock of all kinds of provisions and goods.

I extended my business. I purchased large quant.i.ties of b.u.t.ter in all the nearby villages and sold them to b.u.t.ter and ghee merchants in Madras. This business gave me large profits. It kept me running between the villages and Madras. The shop was entirely in Ramus hands.

A CAREER 119.

At Madras I used to stop with a merchant in George Town. Once work kept me on there a little longer than I had antic.i.p.ated. One evening just as I was starting out to post a letter for Ramu, a telegraph messenger stepped off his cycle and gave me an envelope. I tore open the cover and read : Father dying of cholera. Must go at once. Return immediately.

Ramu.

The next morning at five oclock I got down at Malgudi. Ramu was at the station. He was going to Trichinopoly by the same train. The train halted only for a few minutes. Red-eyed and sobbing Ramu said, My father, father, cholera. Never thought he would get it . I consoled him. I had never seen him so broken. I said feebly, He will be all right, dont worry. I had hardly the heart to ask him about the shop. He himself said, I have handed the keys to mother, and all the accounts and cash also .

All right, all right, I will look to all that. Dont worry, I said.

The guard blew his whistle. Ramu jumped into a third cla.s.s compartment. The train jerked forward.

He put his head out of the window and said, I will be back tomorrow by the night train, if my father gets better . Whatever happens, I wont be away for more than fifteen days. Kittu has asked me to bring him his voice and face receded a wooden elephant on wheels. Please tell him that I will surely bring it. My namaskarams to mother .

Tears rolled down his cheeks. Even long after the train had left the platform he was still looking out of the window and gesticulating to indicate I will surely be back soon .

120 A CAREER.

Having some unfinished Madras business on hand, I could hardly go near the shop for a week. When I reopened, the first thing that I noticed was that the shop was empty. Except for a bag of coa.r.s.e rice and a few bars of cheap soap, all the racks and containers were empty. I picked up the books and examined them. The entries were all in a mess. I put them away. Replenis.h.i.+ng the stock was more urgent. I made out a list and went to the market.

Sadik Sait, my wholesale supplier, squatted amidst his cus.h.i.+ons and welcomed me warmly. I owed my start in life to the unlimited credit he allowed me.

After some preliminary, inconsequential talk, I put before him the list. He scrutinized it gloomily and shook his head. He said, You want goods for about three hundred rupees. I wouldnt advise you to put up your dues. Why dont you take fifty-rupees worth now? I am suggesting this only for your own convenience This was the first time in my life that he had spoken to me in this manner. And he explained, Dont mistake me, friend. You are a business man, so am I. No use talking indirectly and vaguely. I will tell you what the matter is. Your account with us stands at Rs. 3,500 and if you had paid at least a single instalment for these three months, we should have felt happier .

But, Sait, last month I sent four-hundred to be given to you, and the month before three-hundred and fifty, and the month before . There must be only a balance of. He took out his ledger.

There was only one payment made for four months when the bill stood at about a thousand. After that there had been purchases almost every day for about forty rupees.

A CAREER 121.

The young fellow said that business was very brisk and that you would clear the accounts when you returned from Madras.

My head swam.

I will see you again,

35.

I said, and went back to the shop.

I once again examined the books. The pages showed a lot of arrears to be collected. Next day I went round to collect all my bills. People looked surprised, There must be some mistake. We paid our bills completely a fortnight ago. Otherwise Ramu wouldnt leave us in peace.

My wife said, In your absence he was coming home nearly at twelve every night. He used to tell me that the accounts kept him late.

How was business today ?

I unfailingly asked every day. He replied, 6 Business is good, bad, good and bad. Dont worry.

Leave it all to me. I will manage.

An old man of Lawley Extension asked me, Where is that boy you had ?

I told him.

Look here, the old man said.

Keep this to yourself. You remember there lived next door to us those people from Hyderabad ?

Yes, yes .

Your boy was gadding about with them a little too much. You know there was a tall, pretty girl with them. Your fellow was taking her out every evening in a taxi. He closed the shop promptly at six in the evening. Those people went back to Hyderabad a few days ago.

Later on I made enquiries in Market Road and learnt that Ramu had had st.i.tched four tweed suits, eighteen silk s.h.i.+rts and other clothes worth about a hundred rupees, purchased leather suitcases, four pairs 122 A CAREER of pump shoes, two pairs of velvet slippers, a wrist watch, two rings, a brooch, silk sarees, blouse pieces, and so on. I got in touch with a near relative of Ramus employed in a bank in Madras. I learnt that his old father was hale and hearty, and there was no mention of cholera. Above all, Ramu was never known to have visited Trichinopoly. His whereabouts were unknown. The letter concluded : Someone recently returned from a tour mentioned that he thought he caught a glimpse of Ramu in a large gathering during some music festival in Hyderabad.

He was, however, not very certain about it .

I sold my shop and everything, paid offmy creditors, and left Malgudi. I was a bankrupt, with a wife and four children to support. We moved from place to place, living on the charity of friends, relatives, and unknown people. Sometimes n.o.body would feed us and we threw ourselves down in a dark corner of some rest-house, and my ragged children cried till sleep overcame them. I neednt weary you with an account of my struggles. It is another story. I must tell you about Ramu. I have to add only this about my own career. Four years later I came across a coffee-estate owner in Mempi Hills, and he gave me a fresh start ; and I must say, thanks to him, I have done very well indeed in the coffee trade.

Now about Ramu. A year ago I was panting up the steps of Thirupathi Hills. I had a vow to fulfil at the temple. I had pa.s.sed two thousand steps when a familiar voice a.s.sailed my ears from among the group of mendicants lining the steps. I stopped and turned. And there he was, I could hardly recognize him now. I had seen him off at Malgudi station ten years before. His face was now dark, scarred and A CAREER 133 pitted. His eyes were fixed in a gaze. I should have pa.s.sed him without noticing if he hadnt called out for alms. His voice was still unchanged. I stopped and said, Look here.

I cant see, I am blind.

Who are you ? Where do you come from ?

I.

asked in a voice which I tried to disguise with a little gruffness.

Go, go your way. Why do you want to know all that ?

he said.

I had often boasted that if I met him I would break his bones first ; but this was not at all how I had hoped to see him again. I felt very confused and unhappy. I dropped a coin on his upraised palm and pa.s.sed on. But after moving up a few steps I stopped and beckoned to another beggar sitting by his side. He came up. I held up an anna coin before him and said, You may have this if you will tell me something about that blind man .

I know him, said this beggar, who had no arms.

We keep together. He has arms, but no eyes ; I have eyes, but no arms, and so we find each other helpful. We move about together. He is not a beggar like me, but a sanyasi. He came here two years ago. He had once much money in Hyderabad, Delhi, Benares or somewhere. Smallpox took away his sight. His wife, a bad sort, deserted him. He is vexed with the world. Some pilgrims coming from the North brought him here . But, surely you wont tell him I have spoken all this ? He becomes wild if those days are mentioned .

I went back to Ramu, stood before him and watched him for a moment. I felt like shouting.

Ramu, G.o.d has punished you enough. Now come with me.

i

124 A CAREER.

Where is your sweetheart? Where is my money?

What devil seized you ?

But I checked myself. I felt that the greatest kindness I could do him was to leave him alone. I silently placed a rupee on his outstretched palm, and raced up the steps. At the bend I turned my head and had another look at him.

And that was the last I saw of him. For when I returned that way four days later, he was not to be seen. Perhaps he had moved on to another place with his armless companion.