Neela: Victory Song

The Secret Guest

Neela is emptying a heaped basket of hay into Budhi’s feeding tray. She’s mixed some fresh grass and leaves into it with some grain and roots from her teacher, Panditji. Her teacher also serves as the village apothecary and vet, and has been very helpful to Neela and Mother during Father’s absence.

Budhi moves loudly and pushes against Neela, trying to get at the food. Neela thinks how simple Budhi’s life is. As long as Budhi is given something to eat, tethered to the mango trees, and taken him to the pond for her bath, she’s happy. Neela wishes she could be like Budhi. She whispers to Budhi that she’s so worried about Father. He’s been gone a week, and they’ve heard nothing. Mother thinks that Neela is silly to worry. She thinks he’s been delayed because of all the rail lines that were destroyed by freedom fighters. But Neela has a bad feeling about it.

As Neela turns to leave, she hears a hollow cough behind her. She spins around to see Budhi chewing contentedly. The coughing seems to come from behind the stacks of hay. Could it be a wild animal like a mongoose or a fox? But how could that be? She always latches the door after she milks the cows in the evening. She hears the sound again, followed by wheezing. Her heart beats fast, and she picks up a piece of bamboo and tiptoes to the stacks. She pokes her stick in the space, ready to run, but instead of an animal, she hears a male voice.

Neela demands that the thief stays where he is. If she can keep the man in there until the farmhands come, they’ll give him a beating. The voice says that it’s not planning to move. It sounds weak. Neela glances at the door. Where are the farmhands? Maybe if she screams really loudly they’ll hear her.

And then, the voice says Neela’s name. The person says that they heard Neela’s father say it to her on the day of the wedding. The voice says that he was the freedom fighter who was collecting the valuables. Neela gave him her gold chain. The boy explains that he was hurt in an encounter with the police. He’s too hurt to travel, and he can’t go to a hospital because they’ll throw him in jail. So he came here. He’s hoping that Neela’s father doesn’t turn him in.

Neela asks the boy to come out from behind the hay. He comes out slowly, and Neela draws in a breath at how ill he looks. The soot has worn off parts of his face, and his skin is pale. Parts of his clothing are red with blood, and she can see makeshift bandages of rags tied around his shoulder. His wound is dry and crusty, but even slight pressure makes him groan. When Neela touches his forehead, it’s hot with fever.

What should Neela do? She doesn’t have the skill to nurse him. But Mother doesn’t have much sympathy for the freedom fighters, especially since Neela gave away her chain. Besides, Mother would be unwilling to harbor somebody the police are looking for. If the police find the boy in their home, Neela’s family is sure to be punished severely.

The boy faintly asks if Neela can get him some water. Neela jumps to her feet and rushes out the door to the pump where she fills a bucket. She sees that the kitchen is empty, and she grabs a glass and a couple of wheat rutis that the cook roasted. She goes to her room and finds an old shift of hers.

Back in the barn, she gives the boy the water, holding his head so he can drink. She washes the boy’s face and undoes the bandage. His wound looks terrible, with its torn and swollen flesh. The blood has dried and there’s dirty, crusty patches around it, and it makes Neela dizzy. But she takes a deep breath, tears a strip off of her shift, wets it, and tries to clean the wound as best she can. It seems to hurt a lot because the boy stiffens his whole body and bites his lip to stop himself from crying out. Neela isn’t sure if there’s something in the wound, perhaps a bullet, but she’s too afraid to ask. When it looks slightly better, she bandages it back up and breaks the rutis into small pieces for the boy.

The boy says he’s very tired and asks Neela to let him rest. Neela feels that his forehead is hotter than before. What should she do? She rearranges the bales of hay loosely around the boy, hiding him again. She feeds the buffaloes so their cries don’t attract Mother to the barn. Neela closes her eyes, and prays to her father’s face, hoping it gives her a hint of what to do. But instead, Neela sees the face of her teacher. She’ll have to trust him. There’s no one else.

Neela runs to Panditji who is resting in the cool darkness of his room after his midday meal. He is surprised to see that Neela ran all the way here. Panditji pours a glass of cold water from the earthenware pitcher in his room and hands it to Neela. But Neela can’t wait. She tells him that she has a secret. It’s a boy, and he’s badly hurt. She lowers her voice when she says that he’s a freedom fighter.

Panditji’s face grows anxious. Neela says that he’s very sick, and Panditji must help him. He says if the police come looking for the boy, they will all end up in jail. But after a moment, he gives a resigned sigh. Panditji cannot just let him die.

Panditji washes the wound with warm water and examines it to make sure nothing is lodged inside. He says the young man is lucky. If there was a bullet, he would need an operation. But it seems like the bullet glanced off of him. He lost a lot of blood, but the wound isn’t deep. When the boy tries to speak, Panditji holds up his hand and says he doesn’t want to know what happened. The boy takes a couple of fever pills to chew, and is told to drink a lot of water. When the fever goes down, he can have some rice and fish soup.

Panditji said he’s going to tell Neela’s mother. Neela doesn’t really know her mother if she thinks she will throw a sick boy on the street. Panditji said he’ll come back tomorrow to make sure there’s no infection. Neela will be able to take care of him after that.

Neela carries a milking pail to the barn. Inside the pail is a large bowl of rice and lentils, and another one with fish curry. She has learned that the boy’s name is Samar. As he eats, she washes the dishes in the pond when no one is around and sneaks them back to the kitchen. Mother said that she doesn’t want anyone else to know about the boy. She agreed to Panditji’s request that she let Samar stay until he’s healed. She says she doesn’t even want to see him herself. That way if the police question her, she can truthfully say she never set eyes on such a person. She also tells Neela not to spend too much time with him. Neela has enough rebellious ideas in her head already.

Neela is very grateful that Mother is letting Samar stay. During the first few days, he is too weak to say much. But after he recovers a little, he talks to Neela as she does her chores in the barn. After a few more days, he’s able to help her with some chores. Perhaps he is just as lonely and bored as Neela. Samar tells her about his group of freedom fighters. He says there are twenty. Their leader’s name is Biren. He is a kinder and braver man than Samar has ever known. Biren was a schoolteacher in Calcutta before he became a swadeshi. But one day, someone introduced him to Netaji Subhash Bose. He is one of the greatest leaders. He comes from a rich family in Calcutta and studied in London. He declared he’d never be a slave to England, even though he could have been in civil service. He is afraid of nothing. Biren and Samar have sworn to follow him to death.

There’s such conviction in Samar’s voice that it makes the hair stand up on Neela’s arm. Neela asks Samar how he became a freedom fighter. He explains that his parents died when he was little. He was living with his uncle in Calcutta and going to school where Biren was a teacher. He hated living in his uncle’s house. His uncle is a judge at a big courthouse in Calcutta and he’s very pro-British. He even has pictures of the viceroy and His Majesty hanging on the living room wall. It sickened Samar. He says that his cousin, Bimala, is like an older sister to him, and she’s the only person who still cares for him. She knows what it means to be lonely and unhappy. Samar still keeps in touch with her from time to time.

Samar explains that he had to train to become a freedom fighter. They had to walk from one end of the city to the other in the height of summer with no shoes. The pitch melted and stuck to the soles of their feet, burning them. In monsoon season they went without umbrellas and remained in wet clothes all day to make them strong. They practiced wrestling and martial arts with staffs for hours. They also had to starve themselves for days. They were taught to disguise themselves as peasants, old people, and even women. And they were taught to make bombs and use them and guns. Neela asks if he’s ever fired a gun. Samar says that he has, but he’s not sure how he’d feel if he had to shoot someone. He hopes it never comes to that.

Neela confesses that father went to Calcutta to help with the independence movement too. Samar looks concerned. He says that there’s been a lot of trouble in Calcutta lately. But it’s best to not worry until she knows for sure that there’s something to worry about.

All that evening, Neela feels comforted as she remembers Samar’s words.

Neela wakes up with a jolt to somebody banging on the front door. Who could be here at this time of night? She hears her mother’s voice calling for their manservant. Neela follows them, her heart tight with fear. Mother opens the door to see four or five constables in khaki uniforms. They’re carrying rifles. The constables don’t answer Mother’s questions and instead step right into the house.

The leader says that they heard information that they are harboring a terrorist. They’re going to search the house. Neela’s mother says they may search. Neela can see that Mother is trying to act as though she doesn’t care, but there’s a quiver in her voice. Neela looks around to see if there’s a way she can go and warn Samar. But the Constable points at them and tells them to sit down and not move. He warns them that if the terrorist is found here, things will go bad.

Mother stands up a little bit to the constables. Neela is impressed. Panditji was right about how tough Mother is. Then, Neela realizes what Mother’s doing. She’s trying to delay the start of the search. Neela feels pride for her clever and brave mother. But her efforts don’t work, because the constables don’t even bother answering her. They’re already crashing through the house, checking under the beds, knocking over furniture, throwing down pots and pans. One of them even runs his bayonet through a large sack of rice, spilling the grains onto the floor.

The men call back that there is no one here. Mother coldly says that she could have told them that before they made a mess. The Constable asks if there are any other buildings nearby. Neela suggests the outhouse. They are welcome to look there.

A constable is sent to look in the outhouse, but he reports back that there is no one there. Then, the constable goes outside and shines his flashlight around. He asks what the big, low building to the side is. Neela says it’s the barn. She says it casually, but she worries that they will search it. He barks at the men to go take a look.

Neela explains that they will disturb the cattle. Neela should go first to settle them. She steps to the barn, but the constable grabs her arm. He doesn’t let her move. Neela forces herself to speak. She says that if the buffaloes break their tethers, and come after the constables, then they shouldn’t blame her. The constables all look at each other. One of them says that they can’t shoot at the buffaloes either. Hindu scriptures clearly declare that all cattle are sacred. If one kills a cow, they will go straight to hell.

The leader concedes, and tells Neela to come with them. Neela tries to make as much noise as she can as she walks with the men. But is it enough to warn Samar? She isn’t sure.

As soon as they reach the barn, the constables fling open the door and rush in. The frightened cattle start mooing loudly, and the buffalo stomp and snort. Neela tries to calm them as best she can.

A man answers that it doesn’t look like anyone has been in here in a long time. By the time the constables leave, grumbling and complaining, it’s almost dawn.

Neela stays in the barn, her arms around Budhi’s neck. she’s too weak with relief to move. Samar had heard them, and managed to escape. Probably through one of the windows. And he removed all traces of his stay so Neela and her mother wouldn’t be found out. Neela’s heart is filled with thankfulness, but also with worry. Will he be all right?

Out of habit, she reaches under a rope tied around Budhi’s neck to scratch the soft skin beneath her cow’s throat. She feels something crackling against her hand. There’s a scrap of paper wrapped tightly around the rope. Neela reads a thank you message from Samar. He says if she ever needs help, she should go to Bimala at 99 Milford Lane, near Park Street.

Neela cries with joy at the thought that he took the time to write a note for her, even though his life was in danger. She memorizes the address and then tears the paper into tiny pieces and puts them in with Budhi’s feed.