Unencumbered (Part II)

 The main road of our village was named after the father of the Jamindar; Abinaswar Kumar Path. And, the other less important roads are named after other well-known people of the village, who were known as the friend or advisor of the former Jamindar. One such path was also named after my grandfather, which proves that my grandfather too, was a friend of the former Jamindar.

Perhaps my father was a friend of the present Jamindar and I was a friend of Jamindar's son, probably, to maintain that tradition. There was no one else in the village; with I had friendship or acquaintance.

My father was a well-known person too, in the village. We were not the Jamindar but we had a well-spread business. We had different businesses, but we mainly had rice mills. In fact, the whole rice of the village was supplied from our warehouse. We used to import rice from various places. But I had no interest in these businesses. How much land is being cultivated! Where are the new shops opening! What is being bought or sold, etc., nothing draws my mind. I had a good reputation in the village. Everyone knew me by a good name. Despite being the only son in the aristocratic businessman, no one gave him the notoriety of ‘Dulal of Alal’s house’. Neither anyone slander ‘Nanir Putul’. But my father and my mother took good care of me and maybe that's why I was different from the other five boys in the village. The mangoes, the jackfruits, or the guavas on the trees of the other villagers, did not catch my eyes, neither had I steal them.

There was only one ordinary government school in our village. I call it "a broken plate to throw ashes" for its condition. There wasn’t any convent or English medium or in the village. I and all my peers used to study there. I had my primary education from there.

We had a wonderful hand pump, which would not pump out water even if you pump for hundreds of years. And the bathroom had no comparison. Once in, it is doubtful whether the man will be able to get out of bed for a few more years. The government used to give a mid-day meal in the school but it was not as clean as it is now. Rather, many of the time it contained corpses of lizards, cockroaches, or mice.

What if the school supplies were like this? The teachers were educated enough and very good. They loved and cared for all the students. If someone was sick, they would visit them. If the family of the student was unable to bear treatment, they would arrange diet and treatment. They were all modern versions of the Guru described in ancient India.

Our math teacher was the best among all of them. He paid special attention to the students. He would give special time to the student who showed signs of being weak in math. I too was his special student; because I was also weak in the numbers. I didn't particularly like mathematics. I'm a bit lost in that! Only if He, in particular, would explain to me for hours, I could understand the sums. I was very angry with these mathematicians, what is the need for such a troublesome formula and arithmetic? Sir would not take leave even on a rainy day. His only goal is to educate the students. The school also had a large number of students just to be present in his classes.

Our Sir is an old man. Everyone treats him with the utmost respect. Our English teacher Shri Banshadulal Babu used to say to Sir, “Sir you are great. I'm afraid of numbers." We were having fun days at the school with these kinds of fun; incorrect, wrong, and right. And we continued to acquire knowledge from our Master.