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Nigana legacy with politicians now

Human brain is unique. It stores many old memories. Ostensibly forgotten, these re-emerge from the sleep mode and get refreshed off and on. I spent my childhood in a village in what is now Haryana.

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Raj Kadyan

Human brain is unique. It stores many old memories. Ostensibly forgotten, these re-emerge from the sleep mode and get refreshed off and on. I spent my childhood in a village in what is now Haryana. It was a large village of nearly 2,000 houses. Most dwelling units were made of mud bricks, with roof of thatch and mud. Every year after monsoon, women would put a refurbishing layer of a mix of dung and mud on the walls. Husk was also added to give the coating better durability. Though the village now has cemented houses, that dung smell of post-monsoon streets comes back whenever I visit.

Law and order was a recurring problem, making the daroga a frequent visitor. On more serious occasions, the SP would come. He was called a poolice kaptaan, as in the British times an SP was equated with an Army Captain. The term is still used by the elderly.

Theft was common. Since people did not have much cash, stealing was mostly of food grain or cattle. The thieves would strike at night, dig out a big hole in the wall, or the roof, and decamp with sacks full of grain. About 10 km away was the village of Nigana. It was inhabited by those who were converted to Islam in Mughal era. They were referred to as Ranghads in local parlance.

Nigana was notorious for stealing cattle. If a missing bullock or a buffalo was to be searched for, Nigana was the place. Victims approached village elders, who would condescendingly tell them that their londey might have done it and they would try to find out. They would then advise the victims to return after two days. On the second visit, Nigana elders would confirm that the cattle in question was/were indeed ‘brought’ by their londey, adding that the latter were demanding phirauti for their release. Phirauti, ransom for the release of stolen property, varied, and was the highest for milch cattle. The owner already knew the norm and would have carried the money. After negotiation, the amount was settled and the cattle were restored to the owner. 

It was a smooth operation without violence, or even visible rancour.

Cattle were stolen during the night, early enough so that the thieves could re-enter the seem (boundary) of their village at darkness. As a precautionary measure, our village started collecting the cattle head in a central place or gher, and put guards at night armed with sturdy bamboo sticks. For further security, these pens were frequently changed. Those that did not send their cattle to the gher remained vulnerable to theft and had to dish out phirauti.

The Ranghads migrated to Pakistan en masse in 1947. My village no longer maintains or needs the gher. But this concept has been adopted by the political parties.

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