A Kanglei life
- Part 3 -

By Nameirakpam Bobo Meitei *

How Useful Those Poles Although They Couldn't Carry What Burden People Needed, At Least, They Made Themselves Useful In A Time Like This. People Were Accustomed To This And They Knew What To Do And It Had Become Mechanical.

The Head Of The Village Would Arrive At The Community Hall And Then The Able Men And Women Would Gather Below A Pressure-Lamp. Then The Local Legislature Would Come In His White Ambassador Car Guarded By Scattered Security Guards In Olive Green Uniform. He Would Say 'I Will Certainly Wait On The Chief Minister And Let Me Ring Up The Superintendent Of Police.'

He Would Litter Names In Front Of Those Innocent Villagers. When Nothing Had Happened The Enraged Villagers Would Block The State Highway, There Would Be Logs And Boulders On The Block Road, Tyres Would Be Burned And The Smoke Would Rise High. Then The Brave And Nasty State Commando Force Would Arrive, Many Would Be Chased And Many Would Be Bludgeoned.

The Army Would Categorically Deny Their Involvement Saying 'Our Soldiers Are Highly Disciplined And The Most Professional Kind In The World. This Is A Tactic Employed By Anti-State Elements To Tarnish The Image Of The Defenders Of Democracy.'

In The Damp Cold Cell He Was Dragged Down And When They Let Go Of Him He Slithered Like A Serpent And Fell Coiled On The Damp Floor. In This Cell Lighted Up A Yellow Bajaj Electric Bulb. The Bulb Holder Was Nailed To A Sturdy Wooden Pole Which Stood In The Middle Of The Room. The Pole Was Bound In Robe And At The Foot Of It Sat A Metal Chair, Its Back Tied To The Pole.

Few Feet From The Pole Was A Crude Wooden Table Bearing Some Clubs And A Sack And What Stood Between The Crude Table And The Wall Was A Life-Size Water Drum Filled Up To The Brim With Icy Water. The Reflection Of The Bajaj Bulb Could Be Seen On The Surface Of The Icy Water.

The Major Threw His Glance At The Coiled Figure On The Floor. He Beckoned His Men With His Fingers And They Hurried To Pick Up The Man. He Was Frozen To The Point That To Say The Words He Wanted To, So Desperately, Was Simply Impossible. His Teeth Clattering He Was Picked Up And Placed On The Metallic Chair Where His Frozen Hands Were Taken Up And Bound To The Sturdy Pole Over His Head.

And To Ensure The Frozen Person Didn't Escape His Feet Were Also Bound In Robe Around The Ankles. This Was Followed By One Of The Major's Men Throwing Some Icy Water Over His Face To Unfreeze His Mind. Before His Awakened Self They Brought Out The Same Masked Man And This Time The Masked Man's Face Was Unmasked.

The Revealed Face, The Face Of A Youth, Who Had Been Beaten And Pushed From One Brute To Another ,And There Among The Brutes He Had Been Living As A Zombie Who Could Still Take Orders. He Was Ordered To Ask To Assist In This Sensitive Interrogation And The Zombie's Head Nodded And The Face Remained Pale And Rigid Only The Unslept And Bloodshot Eyes Rolled From Side To Side Indicating He Didn't Trust Anybody In This World.

When He Walked Past The Major His Head Slopped On One Side And His Eyeballs Rolled And Remained On The Corners Staring At The Major With The Mistrust And Extreme Fear.

He Asked In The Hunted's Native Language 'Where Are The Men?' This Sound Of His Own Language In The Middle Of Dreadful Strangers Came As A Big Relief That He Smiled At The Man With The Rigid Face, Whose Face He Had Seen Wrapped In Mask, But He Couldn't Calculate The Consequences Of His Smile; The Humiliated Major Lifted His Heavy Leg And It Flew Straight To The Young Man's Face And The Face That Produced Smile Now Was Splashed With Blood And This Sight Of A Bloodied Face Tempted The Major's Foot And Also His Hands And They Flew At Great Speed Accompanied With Great Power And In This Process The Young Man Didn't Even Have Time To Take His Face In His Hands.

The Back Of His Head Had Been Banged Against The Pole So Hard That He Suddenly Lost The Fragile Agility Brought Back By Chilled Water. The Man's Colour Was Quickly Transformed To Wet Red. It Was On His Face, It Was On His Neck, It Soaked The Grey Woolen Sweater And Then It Ran Down To Cover Up The Trousers. Who Could Have Imagined A Man Could So Quickly Resemble The Fountain Of Blood.

But Men Are Known For Their Miracles. A Tiger Won't Tear The Flesh Of Its Kind But A Human Would Greedily Tear Off The Flesh Of Another For The Victim Poses As A Threat To Him. A Beast Would Lick Its Own Bloodied Paws And It Wouldn't Disown Its Conducts, But Man Would Slaughter For No Rhymes Or Reasons And When The Fun Is Over He Would Do Everything In His Disposal To Erase Every Trace Of His Crime So That He Could Disown It.

Blood On The Face, Blood On The Throat, Blood On The Sweater And Blood From The Trousers Now Dripping. The Cold Damp Floor Had Been Splashed With Icy Water Rendering Two Effects, Washing Off The Blood And Bringing The Young Man To His Conscious State, Conscious Enough To Feel The Pain So That He Could Confess To The Crime They Wanted Him To Be A Party.

The Unmasked Man With The Rigid Face Was Pushed Forward And Now He Acted Like A Remote Controlled Toy, The Major Pressing The Joystick; Jumping And Pulling His Rigid Face To Ask The Tied Up Mangled Young Man, ' Tell Me Where Are They? Where Are The Rifles? Sorry, I Mean Where Are The Ammunitions? Speak! Speak! Speak!' The Mangled Young Man Responded ' I Don't Know. Please Don't Hurt Me. I'm Just A High School Student. Please, Please.'

As Though The Joystick Wasn't Sufficient The Major Jumped Forward To Stick His Foot To The Unmasked Man's Arse And This Made The Man More Ferocious Looking Resulting Him To Pour His Punches Landed On The Mangled Young Man's Body. After This Ferocious Application Of Power The Mangled Body Ceased To Moan And There He Lay With His Head Dangling, Chin On The Chest, And From The Mouth Pouring Out Blood And Saliva.

This Sight Made The Major Stand With His Hands On His Hips And Tongue Clicking, And He Spoke ' Arey! They Bugger Didn't Confess Anything. Now We Have To Make Another Trip To Get Rid Of The Cunt..Hmm. I'm Sleepy.' He Stood There Fumbling His Pockets And Not Finding What He Was Fumbling For He Shouted At One Of His Men ' Arey! Where Are My Fags?' While He Was Shouting He Didn't Stop His Hands And The Right Hand Brought Out A Packet Of Navy Cut 'Fags.'

A Cigarette Stick Was Planted Between His Parched Lips And He Struck A Matchstick And The Light Clearly Exposed The Drunken Eyes And Soon The Drunken Eyes Were Concealed By The Smoke Rising Through His Lips. The Smoke Rose And Lingered As Though Waiting For More Smoke To Be Released So That Together They Could Fill Up The Room.

To Avoid This The Major Waved His Left Hand And The Smoke Dispersed. After Having Had Enough Of Smoke He Spoke To The Men Who Had Been Standing To Take Order From Him ' We Can Get Rid Of The Sucker Somewhere. Think! Think! And Let Me Know. I'm In The Bar.' At The Dense Foot Of A Hillock They Dumped Him In The Darkness Of Night.

There They Wanted Him Rot Undiscovered, Leaving Him To The Slugs. There He Lay In The Cold For Hours Abandoned And Not Be Found. It Must Have Been The Cold Which Had Hardened His Skull And There Preserving The Brain From Serious Damage. Around Midday When The Sun Rose Struggling Its Way Through The Mist He Moved His Eyes Rolled But He Was Sufficiently Conscious To Feel What Had Been Inflicted On His Body.

He Knew He Couldn't Move, But He Should Move. At This Point He Had To Apply His Mental Strength To His Mangled Body. His Hands Grabbed On The Long Dry Grass Which Had Been Beaten Down By Winter Cold And He Crept And Crept Until Where He Found Himself In A Wide Open Area. After This Struggle He Was Certain There Was Nothing More His Mental Strength Could Do Except To Feel The Pain And Lay There On His Back.

The Sight Had Drawn The Attention Of Crows And Eagles And They Began Hovering Over And Finally Landed Close To Him. This Swarming Of Birds Had Further Drawn The Attention Of Some Dog From A Distant Hut And The Reliable Dog Had Brought In Its Master. In The State's Only Reliable Hospitable The Primitive Doctors Who Walked Around With Their Pompous Air Asked His Parents 'Do You Want Us To Take Out The Bad Eye And Replaced It With A Beautiful Marble?'

The Mother Said 'Educated Doctors He Isn't A Doll He Is My Son. We Will Take Him To A Better Place.' She Meant It And For This She Had To Get Rid Half Of The Land And He Was Flown Into The Capital City Of The Largest Democracy. There The Doctors With Wagging Heads 'Scooped Up' The Bad Eye And Stitched The Eyelids And After A Long And Healthy Bill He Was Discharged. He Said With His Damaged Jaw 'Mother, I'm Glad That We Are Finally Going Home.'

His Mother's Face Was Stern When He Declared This And She Declared ' No, You Should Stay Here And Do What You Want To Do.' 'Mother, Who Is Going To Afford My Stay Here And Who Is Going To Be With You And Father?' He Retorted With His One Eye Blinking While The Stitched Up Eyelids Twitching. His Mother's Eyes Were Fixed On The Twitching Stitched-Up Eyelid And Soon Her Eyes Were Welled Up With Tears Reflecting Deep Sorrow And She Stamped Her Foot And Pronounced Her Verdict 'You Will Remain Here And This Is My Decision. I Don't Want You To Be Slaughtered There.'

Like Any Good Son He Gave In To His Mother's Verdict And Said 'Yes, Mother. I Shall Remain Here To Evade The Ubiquitous Death.'

The End

Nameirakpam Bobo Meitei

* Nameirakpam Bobo Meitei, a resident of Bangkok, contributes to e-pao.net regularly.
The writer can be contacted at bobomeitei(at)hotmail(dot)com
This article was webcasted on December 14 2010.