One fine morning, I was planning to go market. Baba (my
Grandfather) wanted me to bring some articles for him from the market. He
prepared the list, handed me over it and he proceeded to temple (part of my
house) to worship. I put the list in my pocket, took a carry bag and went
outside. The moment I opened the gate, I saw Puran, a fellow villager
standing at the door. Before I could say anything, he asked ' Is baba (My
Grandfather) in home?'
‘Yes, he is in temple, worshipping God’- I replied.
Still he was standing at the gate. I added- ‘He just went inside the temple, it
will take at least one and half hours’
‘No problem. I shall wait for him’
‘But what work you have with Baba. Tell me, if I can do that work for
you’-
‘oh! That works only Baba can do in this village.’
I became very curious. What work he is telling that no one but only my
grandfather can do in this village. I told him to sit on Charpoy and asked
again about the work.
When I persisted then with a faint smile on face, he told –‘I want Baba
to write/ issue a notice to pests. Last night I observed many pests in my
field. If notice is not given to pests, they will destroy the crops’.
What! Notice to pests- I could not resist laughing, but he was serious.
‘Spray pesticides in the field, that will help your crops’- I advised.
‘That I also will do, but these pests must be given notice first’ – he replied.
‘Ok- but why baba? you can tell anybody to write the notice’-
‘Only Sarkari karamchari ( Government official ) can write notice for
this purpose’
‘but there are many government employees in the village’
‘but notice written by other Sarkari karamchari are not so effective . Moreover, nobody
knows ‘kaithy language’ in the village. Notice must be written in kaithy
language. Then he kept on telling how such notice helps to keep away pests from
the field. What I could fathom from his talk that, my grandfather was an ideal retired
Government official for writing the notice.
I remembered Kaithy was the official language of that area before independence.
All land related documents (before independence) used to be written in kaithy
only. As my grandfather knew kaithy well, many people used to come to him to
understand the documents. He had resolved many land related disputes in the
village. Nevertheless, notice to Pests in kaithy – this whole episode was
amusing for me. I did not go market immediately, waited for my grandfather too.
When his worship was over, he came out of the temple. I informed him about Puran
and notice things. He smiled. He told me to bring a writing pad, notebook
and pen. He wrote the notice on the paper and handed over to puran.
The content of the notice (written in Kaithy) was -
Shriman Lohtan singh & Party,
It has been observed that since yesterday you and your party have attacked the
standing crops in the field belongs to --son of----, village ---, tahsil---. –
is an honest farmer and he pays his tax on time. Attacking on field is amount
to attacking sarkar bahadur. You and your party, hereby, directed to
vacate the field with immediate effect. If you fail to do so, you will be
punished severely.
on the behalf of government & farmer
-------------
I laughed when my grandfather read out the content for me. Puran took
the notice, stitched that notice to a red cloth and at the end the cloth he
made a loop and tied it with a long staff. Then he straightway went to field to
put that staff in the field. My grandfather told him ‘this notice is not enough
for pests. You should use pesticides or any other alternative for pests’
control’.
When Puran left, I argued with my grandfather.
‘What do you think this notice will drive away pests from the field’- I asked.
‘I am afraid, they won’t. Not a single pest will be able to read my notice. Illiterate lot’-
my grandfather mused. Seeing me serious, he told me –‘see, thousand times I
told those who come for such purpose that notice, paper – these are just superstitions.
These things do not have power to control pests. Pests are controlled by Pesticides ,
spraying neem, hot ashes or other scientific methods. Here, many farmers of my generation
believe in notice system. They also
understand that without doing scientific method pests will not go away, then
also they use notice too. I do not want to be rude or impolite; I do it for free
and do not forget to give advice that pests can be killed / controlled through scientific
method only’.
This incident took place almost fifteen years back. My grandfather died in October
2008. Since then, very few times I visited the village. Hope, by now this weird
system of sending notice to pests must have stopped in the village.
~~~ Ramanuj Dubey
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