प्रथम मैथिली पाक्षिक ई पत्रिका

World Peace

Jagdish Prasad Mandal (Original Maithili Short Story)

Rameshwar Prasad Mandal (English Translation)
 

World Peace

Returning from school, Adauriya said to his mother- “Ma, tomorrow morning I will go to Guru Uncle’s house.”
The name of Guru Uncle set Aparajita thinking, as she tried to recall who he was.
Sensing her uncertainty, Adauriya asked- “You do not know Guru Uncle?”
Aparajita replied- “I cannot remember just now.”
Adauriya explained- “The one who lives in Uttarwari Tola.”
At the mention of Uttarwari Tola, Aparajita said- “Now I remembered.”
At that moment, she went to the courtyard trellis, cut a gourd, plucked about two kilos of brinjal, pulled up ten or twelve radishes, removed their roots and leaves, washed them clean, and placed them in a bag.
Early the next morning, after completing his daily chores, Adauriya came to his mother and said- “Ma, I am going to Guru Uncle’s house. I have a question to ask him. If I return late, I will not go to school; if I am back in time, I will attend school as well.”
His mother simply acknowledged his words without adding anything more. When Adauriya was about to leave for Guru Uncle’s house, she said- “Son, there is a gourd, and in the bag there are radish and brinjal. Take them with you and give them to Guru Uncle.”
He hesitated for a moment, slightly puzzled, but his mother repeated gently- “When you go to someone older than yourself to seek guidance or advice, you should take a gift as an offering.”
Until that moment, Adauriya had never truly understood such a gesture, but that morning it became clear. His father Sukhdev’s words came back to him: “Son, in our time, and even before, when teachers did not receive a salary, the children—the students—would bring them a shanichara, a pice and a quarter kilo of rice.”
Once, Adauriya had asked- “Why give them money and rice?”
Sukhdev had replied- “If you receive knowledge from someone, you must give something in return. When knowledge is taken without any offering, its worth begins to fade.”
Back then he had heard his father’s words without understanding them. But now, seeing his mother’s actions, his father’s meaning returned to him with sudden clarity. Holding the gourd in one hand and slinging the bag with brinjal and radish over his shoulder, Adauriya set out for Guru Uncle’s house.
As soon as Adauriya reached Guru Uncle’s doorway and saw him, he said- “I bow to you, Uncle. I have come to know the answer of a question.”

While lowering his gaze Guru chacha blessed Adauriya, but he noticed the bag slung over Adauriya’s shoulder and the gourd in his hand. His eyes lifted in surprise. It reminded him of an old tradition long observed here: whenever one received knowledge from someone, one would offer a token of respect in return. Even Dronacharya had taken Eklavya’s thumb. Yet, another thought stirred in his mind—that if, in exchange for giving something, one always received something in return, if one taught only to be paid, then it became a transaction. The gift of knowledge is the highest of all gifts, and its sanctity remains only when it is given freely, without taking anything in return. Otherwise, it turns into an act of buying and selling.

Guru Uncle was still lost in his thoughts when Adauriya entered the courtyard and placed the bag of radishes and brinjal, along with the gourd, on the eastern verandah, saying to Guru Uncle’s wife- “Aunty, here is a gourd, and in the bag there are brinjal and radishes. Please keep them.”
Hearing this, Sarojini guessed at once that her husband must have sent the boy, so she took them silently without comment.
Returning to the doorway, Adauriya touched Guru Uncle’s feet in reverence. Guru Uncle reconised him by his face that the boy was from Southern colony, but he did not know exactly who he was, whose son he might be, or what his name was. Without knowing, he blessed him much as Ramananda Swami had once said to Kabir- “Child, recite Ram-Ram,” saying- “Be well, child. May you be blessed.”

Inviting Adauriya to sit before him with a gesture, Guru Uncle watched as the boy sat down and said- “Uncle, I have come to ask you the answer to a question.”
Hearing this, Guru Uncle thought to himself that he did not know the boy well, nor his true nature. In such a case, how could he decide what kind of answer would be right for him? The world is what it is, full of both good and bad. If he were to call bad what is good or good what is bad, that too would not be right.
Caught in this uncertainty, Guru Uncle decided it would be better to know the boy before answering his question. So he asked- “Child, what is your name?”
With the tone of a small child answering proudly, Adauriya said- “Uncle, in school my name is Adaurilal. My friends call me Adauri, and my parents call me Adauriya.”
Guru Uncle asked- “Your father’s name?”
Adauriya replied- “Sukhdev.”
The moment Guru Uncle heard the name Sukhdev, he recognised him. Sukhdev from Southern colony was Adauriya’s father. Guru Uncle had once given Sukhdev a cow to tend. As long as the cow remained in milk, Sukhdev kept coming to Guru chacha’s place. When the cow grew old and died, that arrangement came to an end.
Guru Uncle asked- “What is your question, Adauri?”
Adaurilal said- “Uncle, the day after tomorrow there will be a programme at our school. The Education Minister will also be coming. All the teachers and students of our school will be present. There will be a seminar on the topic of ‘World Peace’. The teachers will take part, and some students have also been given five minutes each to speak. I am one of them, and I have come to you for guidance.”
Hearing the boy’s question, Guru Uncle thought to himself that the greatest scholars of the world have pondered over this subject, and here was a child wishing to speak on it. Yet he reminded himself that even if the universe and the divine are infinite, it does not mean a young mind cannot grasp them in its own measure. In school, in the village, and in the home, children constantly listen to and absorb what their elders and teachers say.
Guru Uncle asked- “Son, which class are you in?”
Adaurilal replied- “I am in the ninth.”
On hearing “ninth class,” Guru Uncle considered what the boy’s level might be. At least he would have heard the seeds of greater thoughts. Hearing is one thing, understanding another. Even if Adaurilal might not yet fully comprehend the subject, he had at least heard of it. Everyone knows that knowledge is of two kinds. One is verbal, and the other is practical. Verbal knowledge comes first, and when it is put into action, it becomes practical knowledge, which is the truest form of learning.
Guru Uncle said- “Son, do you understand the two words ‘world’ and ‘peace’?”

Adaurilal was a straightforward boy. A child’s mind is simple by nature, and he was the son of such parents and such a family where deceit and intrigue had no place. His dealings and thoughts were open and honest with everyone. Deceit and manipulation creep into families where stomachs are always full and business runs on a grand scale.
Adauriya said- “Guru Uncle, Master Sahib told us that everyone will have to speak for five minutes on the topic of world peace, so I have come to you to understand what I should say about it.”
Hearing the boy’s thought, Guru Uncle reflected that what Adauriya said was indeed correct. As he had heard from his teachers, so he understood, and so he spoke. He could not be expected to grasp that where each individual’s life is filled with unrest, bringing peace into the minds of all the world’s people is not child’s play. If the hope with which Adaurilal had come were not fulfilled, the boy might leave in disappointment.
Guru Uncle asked- “Adaurilal, who all will be present at the programme?”

Adaurilal replied- “Uncle, the chief guest will be the Honourable Education Minister. All the teachers of the school will be there—eleven in all—along with students from all four classes.”
Hearing this, Guru Uncle thought to himself that five minutes was hardly enough time. It was barely the time taken to sip a cup of tea.
Guru Uncle said- “Adaurilal, any speech begins with a salutation. Then comes the main subject, the matter you have to discuss, and finally you conclude your speech. So first tell me how you will give the salutation.”
Adaurilal said- “Guru Uncle, Master Sahib wrote it on the board and had us all copy it.”
Guru Uncle asked- “What did he write?”
Adaurilal took out the piece of paper from his pocket and began to read: “Respected Honourable Education Minister, Government of Bihar. Respected Principal Sir, respected Ravindra Babu, Khushilal Babu, Kedar Babu, Vimal Babu, Rudrachandra Babu, Singheshwar Babu, and Shubhkant Babu. Along with the present students and…”
Hearing this list of salutations, Guru Uncle realised at once that nearly four of Adaurilal’s allotted five minutes would be spent just on greetings.
Adding his own suggestion, Guru Uncle said- “Son, add one more line at the end: ‘In today’s world, unrest is the greatest problem of life. Without peace in life, peace in the world cannot be achieved.’”
By the time Adaurilal had finished writing, Guru Uncle felt a quiet relief. Yet his mind told him that on the subject of world peace, he should also speak to Adaurilal directly. He asked again- “Adaurilal, are you done, or do you wish to add more?”
Guru Uncle reflected that Adaurilal was still a child. If he gave him more to write, especially things whose meaning the boy could not understand, the audience might simply conclude that the speech had been copied from a book or dictated by someone else. In that case, a third suspicion might also arise. He decided it would be better to let the written part remain as it was and explain verbally what the world is and what peace is, thus keeping his own conscience clear.
Adaurilal had no real sense of what five minutes meant, how much could be spoken or done in that time. He only felt vaguely that his speech was too short. He said- “Uncle, please add a little more.”

Seeing the boy’s curiosity, Guru Uncle felt not displeasure but satisfaction. Displeasure would have come only if the boy had been shirking work, which he was not. The eagerness to learn was alive in him, and that gave Guru Uncle contentment. Smiling, he said- “Son, first listen carefully to what I say. Later, if you feel like adding something from your own thoughts, you may add much, as you want.”
This thought arose in Guru Uncle’s mind for two reasons: first, he could meet the measure of the boy’s curiosity without leaving him the impression that his elder had been careless in guiding him; second, the deeper ideas he held within himself were not yet within Adaurilal’s reach. If the boy could not truly grasp them, then how can he prepare more.
Adaurilal asked- “Shall I hear it, Uncle?”
Guru Uncle said- “What do you mean by the word ‘world’? What is the world?”
Adaurilal replied- “The world means the earth and all that is in it.”
Hearing the answer, Guru Uncle smiled inwardly, knowing that the boy was repeating exactly what he had heard from people’s lips and from his books. He had no idea that the world is the composite of three elements: Brahma, the soul, and Maya. Brahma is the essence of knowledge and bliss; the soul is the essence of life; and Maya is the essence of action and manifestation. Together they form the world.
In the same way, peace has its own nature. When knowledge transforms into trust and grows, peace is born in the human heart. That peace, as it deepens and matures, becomes a state of profound tranquillity.
Guru Uncle said- “Adaurilal, you do not have a watch, but there is one hanging on the wall. Look at it, then read aloud the speech you have written. From that you will know whether it fills five minutes or not.”
Hearing this, Adaurilal began to read. Being a child, he was not yet skilled at reading smoothly, and that too added to the time. By the time he finished his prepared text, the five minutes had been completely filled.
 

अपन मंतव्य editorial.staff.videha@zohomail.in पर पठाउ।