fहndi - Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya

'So what happened?''Nothing happened. He went away.’As night approached, Rakkha, as usual,came out of the lane and sat down onthe front plank of the corner shop. Everynight he would accost the passers-by andgive them tips about the local stockexchange or the secrets of good health andnostrums which served as short-cutremedies for various chronic diseases. Butthat night he narrated to Lachcha the storyof a pilgrimage to Vaishnav Devi he hadmade fifteen years ago. After parting fromLachcha as he entered the lane he saw LokuPandit's buffalo tied on the rubble plot.As he did daily, he began to drive it awaytut,tut! After driving it away he sat downon the door frame for a short breather.The lane was deserted and since there wereno street lights it grew dark in the evening.At the edge of the rubble heap there wasa drain in which scummy water flowed,gurgling as it went. A medley of soundsrising from the rubble merged into thestillness of the night... chic... chic... chic...chir... chir... r.. ri... ri... ri,.A crow appeared from nowhere andsat down on the door frame, scatteringwood scantlings when it flapped its wings.A dog which was sleeping in a corner wokeup and started barking at the crow. Thecrow sat there, undecided whether to stayor fly away and ultimately flew awayflapping its wings and perched on thebranch of the peepal tree near the well.After the crow had flown away, the dogadvanced a few steps and resumed itsbarking facing the wrestler. The wrestlertried to shoo the dog away in a lazy,ponderous voice 'Get away, dum, dum,dum.' "Wow, wow, wow, wow!' "Get away!...Get away! ...dur ...dur ...dur...' But thedog drew nearer and continued to bark.The wrestler picked up a clod of earth andthrew it at the dog. The dog retreated astep or two but did not stop barking. Thewrestler abused the dog and then slowlyrose from the door frame and walking upto the well again, lay down on the parapet.After the wrestler moved away, the dogentered the lane and facing the well, againstarted barking. It kept barking till it sawthat nothing and no one was stirring inthe lane. Flapping its ears, it returned tothe rubble heap, where it lay down in acorner and set up a low, continuous growl.Mohan Rakesh, (1925-1972) was a prominent author and champion of the Nayi KahaniMovement in Hindi. He was an equally important playwright with memorable plays like'ashadh ka ek din' 'lehron ke rajhans' and 'adhe adhure'. He taught Hindi in several collegesbefore joining as editor of the literary magazine 'Sarika’ from Times of India, Mumbai. Someof his famous books are 'andhere band kamre", 'na ane wala kal', 'ek aur zindagi', 'faulad92 :: April-June 2013fgndi •