(Recap — In the previous episode, the stone kept on narrating about his experiences it happened to pass through in the life as a stone. Then he was to narrate about the check dam, on the side of which he was lodged….)
Since, I still maintain the memories almost of all of my past life story barring a few one, no matter I been destined or accursed to get lodged here as such. As I told, I was an adolescent boy in my last life of this very village in this high land. Though my this high land country side is arduous in its location but not as much as that of other villages that have been cradled, up and up on more high altitude lacking so many amenities. As for example, my this country side had had proper electricity supply whilst in afar villages this facility yet had not been facilitated. Secondly, its just located at a moderate altitude from the terrain region. Down at the terrain there runs across a main road from thither my this village had a distance of about one and half Km. A meandering path way is easily visible from the main road that approached my village.
Adjacent to the terrain region runs a river. To say its perennial. But in the name of running water stream, that remains modicum in volume during the rest of year but monsoon season. In monsoon season, this river inundates in a rough way in the manner as all the hilly rivers swells owing to continuous heavy torrents. After monsoon season it gradually recesses into a dry river, leave apart some weak streams on its sides. In the dry season it’s enchanting to watch this river with its wide open basin filled with boulders, small stones, pebbles and sand. Hither and thither dry logs of big trees drifted with monsoon water often caught the sight with their twisted, ill shaped stump or big sprawled roots.
In the dry season government permits mining contractors to pick boulders and sand from the basin. Whole through the width and length of the river side a good deal of number of loading trucks are visible engaged in loading boulders and sand. Not long ago, government too issued a licence to run a stone crushing plant on its bank. For that purpose, the proprietor too had set up an enough big infrastructure with all the viable machines. It begins to operate with the wintry season and kept on running till the advent of monsoon. After that the giant machine comes to a stop for some months.
Now about the check-dam about which I was to narrate at first but deviated from the topic. This check-dam was built by a well-off family of my village. In fact that family had a legal land ownership over the area where this check-dam locates. Besides, the same family had had considerable arable lands in the terrain side. This location was suitable for the construction of the check-dam. It was naturally in the lap of a hillock that stretched further to a hilly area covered with dense woods. The location basically was like a miniature valley suitable to construct a check-dam. The land owner merely had to erect a strong front wall, from this flank to another flank of the miniature valley. That owner did as well giving it a shape of a small reservoir to contain rainy water.
At the bottom of the front wall, at one side a small sluice gate with lid (like shutter) was left to facilitate the water run through an aqua-duct. After meandering down a considerable distance, this aqua-duct fetched the water to the terrain side’s arable lands of the owner. At the beginning, I mean long ago, it was hand dug rough aqua-duct. Later on government in its Small- irrigation-Scheme reshaped this with concrete construction. Now this helps in saving time to reach water down side rapidly and without wastage. In rainy season, overflown water automatically sweeps down side the hilly slope on the side of aqua-duct. In the old villages of hilly side, one may find such type of construction of old era still in operation.
Finally, the aqua-duct is destined to merge into the river, that runs adjacent to the terrain. In case, when rain is in abundance, as in monsoon or in winter season’s heavy rain, this aqua-duct is left opened to release the extra water to get merge in the river. The water system of reservoir is managed by family of owner of check-dam carefully and articulately in dry season. In sultry season, occasionally this check-dam water dips down to the bottom level and dries up. My this village was my native place where I was born and reared up. I clearly remember, just I had cleared my Intermediate class education and had sought admission in a degree college so afar from my native village.
It was a thrilling experience of going to a city based degree college for a boy like me, who belonged to a hinterland. There for the first time in the life, I witnessed a big, well managed library with ample amenities for students and that’s too almost free of cost. This library, beside providing curriculum books also offered facility to peruse all kinds of daily newspapers, weekly, fortnightly and monthly magazines of various subjects. I had had a literary bend for books and this ever prompted me to collect books on different subjects to quench my bookish thirst. I had developed a hobby to roam about a market that was popular as “knackerred market.” Here, every sort of used old goods and books were available at a thrown away price.
But my attraction to visit this market were solely those shops which dealt in old literary books and magazines of old time and buy them. In one of those old magazines, I had gone through the story of the same callous, debauchee, profligate criminal. The same, who was accursed to turn up into a huge rock for his sins. My this habit of books collection were so exaggerated that when my friends preferred to waste their pocket money on watching movies in Cinema hall, I opted to invest my money in buying old, useful, entertaining books. In short, I owned a small library of such collection in my room at my place in my past life. I hope still that will be maintained. Though I remember almost many things of my past life, but it astonishes me, why I can not recall when I died and how it happened. This intricate riddle keeps me swing between past life as a boy and this life as a stone piece. (End of the 3rd Part. Cont’d.) Penned by — Vinay Pharasi —–
