Bholu’s Rain Rumpus
“Deenu Kaka, first eat this halwa,” insisted Sneha. “It’s very yummy.”
“Bitiya, you’re very generous. Dhanyawaad,” Deenu Kaka said sitting on his haunches and tucking in.
“Do you like it?” asked Sneha.
“Hmm… very tasty. Bhojai is the perfect form of Devi Annapurna!” Deenu Kaka said, eating the sooji halwa with gusto.
“The others will be coming soon. Which encounter you’ll tell us about today, Kaka?” queried Jai, squatting beside the older man under the Neem tree.
“Kaka, you must tell us about Bholu. It’s been quite a while we heard of his antics,” chirped Sneha.
Deenu smiled at the young girl and said fondly, “Bitiya, whatever you say. Let me think of an incident.”
He spooned some more halwa into his mouth thoughtfully.
“We’re here!” called the others just then.
“Come quickly!” replied Jai. “Deenu Kaka will begin in a little while.”
“Would you all like to have some halwa? Amma has prepared sooji halwa. It’s very yummy!” offered Sneha.
“I wish we could,” Somu said dolefully. “Amma prepared dal dhokla. All four of us ate like greedy pigs. There’s not a corner left vacant in our stomachs.”
“Dal dhokla! You didn’t get any for us!” complained Jai.
“Sorry brother! Next time for sure. We polished off everything amongst us. We were that hungry!” Gopi said humbly.
“Deenu Kaka, what will you tell us about today?” asked Gauri.
“About Bholu!” Deenu Kaka said. He wiped his mouth and burped loudly.
The six children looked at each other and giggled.
“Hurry, Kaka. Tell us about Bholu,” Jyoti urged impatiently.
Deenu Kaka looked around and peered into the dense foliage of the trees. He cleared his throat and began, “So, this incident occurred many years ago. I was quite young then…”
“You aren’t very old now, Kaka. You still look quite young,” said Sneha kindly.
“Bitiya, you’re such a sweet child. Even the halwa fails to match your sweetness,” Deenu Kaka said with a benevolent smile.
Jai hid a smile and urged him to continue, “Kaka…”
“Ah -Yes… So, it was ten years ago and we hadn’t had much of rainfall for two years. It was getting difficult. Wells were drying up; the river had shrunk to a narrow stream. The lake had become no more than a shallow pond…It was becoming difficult to farm our fields and water our cattle. Sarpanch Ji called upon Pandit Ji and asked him to offer special prayers for rain. Some of the village elders suggested that donkeys should be made to plough the dry fields at night to urge Indra, the rain god to end the dry spell. Others suggested that a ‘Gulab Jamun feast’ should be adhered to…”
“Gulab Jamun feast! Wow! That must have been so much fun. How is that celebrated?” asked Somu, eyes shining.
“It’s not what you’re thinking, beta ji,” grinned Deenu Kaka, exposing teeth with yellow stains.
“Meaning?” queried Jai.
“It’s an ancient tradition in which donkeys are fed special sweets like gulab jamun as a totka to end a dry spell,” supplied Deenu Kaka.
“Totka? What’s that?” asked Sneha innocently.
“Its’s a superstitious remedy,” Deenu Kaka enlightened her.
“Ohh… But why are donkeys chosen and not any other animal?” Sneha queried again.
“Bitiya, the belief is that if a humble and much neglected animal like a donkey is treated luxuriously then maybe the Gods too will be enticed to treat the earth with lifegiving rain.”
“Oh… I see!” nodded Sneha. “But aren’t we humans selfish to do this, Kaka?”
“Well…. They’re considered to be partners in farming…” Deenu Kaka began.
“Sneha… Deenu Kaka… We’re waiting to know what Bholu did,” Jai interrupted.
“Yes, yes. I was just coming to that. So, I remember… that year when the sun set after blazing all through the hot day donkeys were led to parched fields. They were adorned with garlands and their foreheads marked with a tilak. They looked quite grand. The innocent beasts of burden that they are, they stood quietly as ploughs were attached to their backs. Initially, everything seemed to go off quite well. The animals were driven through fields, the plough making neat furrows in the dry soil. And then…” Deenu Kaka paused.
“And then?” echoed the children impatiently.
“And then, Gajendra’s donkey started braying loudly. Gajendra tried to calm him down but he wouldn’t keep quiet. He seemed to be struggling with his plough; he just couldn’t move forward. Everyone hurried to help them out but nothing seemed to work. The poor beast was miserable. It was as if an invisible force was holding him back…”
“Bholu?” whispered Gauri.
Deenu Kaka nodded. “I was suspicious but not sure. My suspicions were confirmed when I heard a quiet giggle and then another and another.”
“What happened then? Was the ritual completed?” asked Jyoti.
“What happened next was even more crazy! Now just imagine everyone was tugging and pulling trying to help the animal move forward, get the plough unstuck… And suddenly…”
“… suddenly?”
“Suddenly, the plough got unstuck and everyone helping out including Gajendra and me, we tumbled onto the dry soil. It was a sight to behold! Dressed in white shirts and dhotis with brightly coloured turbans we lay in the mud. The donkey seemed to have grown wings. He was first levitating and then racing to and fro across the field like a rocket that goes berserk during Diwali. Braying loudly the animal just rushed around crashing into other donkeys who panicked and started dashing about, dragging their masters with them through the dust,” Deenu Kaka said, hands waving frantically to explain the confusion.
“And, in the midst of all this hullaballoo I could clearly hear Bholu cackling. He was really enjoying himself dragging Gajendra’s poor terrified donkey from pillar to post.”
“But couldn’t the others hear him?” Somu queried curiously.
“They could but they couldn’t understand what or who was laughing. They thought it was some children hiding behind the thorny bushes around the field,” Deenu Kaka said, solemnly.
“Ohh… then?”
“Just as suddenly as this commotion started, it ended. The exhausted donkeys and their masters sank onto the dust of the dry field. Even the wind dropped. Unexpectedly, everything fell silent except for Bholu’s soft giggling sounds. Out of the blue, a bi-i-g-g-g drop of water fell on Sarpanch Ji’s nose just as a huge flash of lightening lit up the sky and the thunder rumbled loudly. It began raining! Big drops came tumbling down from the heavens.”
“Really?”
“Yes, it came down pouring. All the villagers bowed down praising and thanking the Rain God, Indra.”
“But Kaka, didn’t you tell them about Bholu?” asked Gopi.
“How could I? Who would have believed me? They all believed that Gajendra’s levitating donkey was a good omen. Indra Dev was happy by what had happened and hence blessed us,” Deenu Kaka shrugged his shoulders helplessly. “Frankly speaking it hardly mattered to me. It had finally rained, washing away the scarcity of the past two years. What else could anyone have asked for?”
“True!” agreed Jai.
“Kishore Bhaiji switched on the stereo system on his tractor and everyone began dancing in the rain,” Deenu Kaka reminisced.
“What song did they dance on?” Jyoti inquired excitedly.
“Baras Baras Mhara Inder Raja…” quipped Deenu Kaka. “It’s a popular Marwari folk song invoking Indra Dev to shower his blessings in the form of rain bringing good harvest and happiness.”
“I’ve never heard of it,” Sneha said, wrinkling her forehead in thought.
“Never mind. Now that you’re here, you’ll hear lots of it and we’ll all dance to the song when it rains,” Gauri said with a smile.
“Deenu Kaka, what happened to the gulab jamuns?” asked Jai, suddenly remembering.
“What happened to them?” Deenu Kaka queried, confused.
“How would we know? You were there, you’ll have to tell us,” grinned Jai.
“Which gulab jamuns?” Deenu Kaka asked, puzzled. He scratched his head in confusion.
“The ones which were to be fed to the donkeys,” Gopi said, helpfully.
“Ahhh…those gulab jamuns! Bholu made a game out of them…”
“Did he? What did he do?” queried the six children, eagerly.
Deenu Kaka smiled and gazed in the distance…