Gopal finished his breakfast of two rotis and daal, picked up his files and called his wife, "do you have the sweet box ready?". "Just two minutes more, the barfis are still hot". "OK, I will wait". He started reading his files while waiting for his wife to bring the box of barfis. "Here you go", said his wife, handing him over a box of barfis. "Great, I hope sarpanchji would like them. I will leave now." Gopal left his house and started walking towards sarpanch's house, which was near the village center, not very far from his office. Gopal was the only lawyer in the village of Karmpura. He had a small office near the village center, where he did legal paperwork for villagers, which, most of the times, was related to buying or selling of farmland, a house, some well, or cattle. Sometimes he would interpret notices issued by the district government for the Panchayat. Today, like every year, with the advent of the winter season, he was taking the first batch of sweets to the house of the sarpanch, Kishanlal. Kishanlal had been the village sarpanch for 20 years now. When Kishanlal was first elected the sarpanch 20 years back, he had decided to start an education fund to promote bright kids of the village to go to the city for higher studies. Gopal was one of the first beneficiaries of this scheme. He was identified by his teachers as a bright and enthusiastic student. Unfortunately, the village school had classes only upto class 5. So, Kishanlal arranged funds for Gopal to go to the city. After finishing school in the city, Gopal enrolled for a law degree in a college. There were no courts in the village of Karmpura. But, after finishing his studies, Gopal decided to return back to his village and serve his fellow villagers.
Gopal also owned three buffaloes and a small farm. His wife would milk the buffaloes everyday and sell milk. Before the start of the winter season, she would make barfis to sell. As a mark of respect and for seeking new year's blessings, Gopal used to take the first batch of barfis every year to sarpanch's house. Gopal had lot of love and respect for the sarpanch, for if it was not for him, he would not have got the opportunity to go to the city to study. He would have remained an illiterate farmer like his childhood friends had become. Gopal can never pay back what the sarpanch had done for him, he thought. "Namaskar sarpanchji, how are you?" "arre, Gopal, come. Good to see you. Have a cup of tea". "Sarpanchji, I have brought some sweets for you from our first batch this season.". "Oh Gopal, you and your wife take so much trouble for an old man like me. I am quite content with the little I have and my happiness is my children around me. The entire village is like my children. If they are are happy, so I am." "Sarpanchji, this is your love for us which we all feel so strongly, which has bound us all together in this village. This is just a small token of our gratitude". "What gratitude Gopal? I am like your father. I am actually elder to your father. I do not desire gifts from you. But, to be honest, your wife's barfis are always very tasty and I can never say no to them", he chuckled and Gopal smiled with gratitude. "Gopal, now that you are here. I have a small work for you. I am planning to buy some farmland on the south side of the village. Can you please complete the paperwork for me?". "I would be grateful sir", replied Gopal. The sarpanch asked his servant to bring a file from the other room and handed it over to Gopal. "Here you are". "Sarpanchji, I will finish this today only, and drop it back to your house while returning home in the evening". "Dhanyawad Gopal, I am glad we have an able lawyer like you in our village. I hope more children of the village go to the city to get educated to become teachers, doctors and engineers. They can come back and improve the condition of our village. We need a school to teach kids up to class 12 or even a college. We need a doctor with knowledge of modern medicine. Our vaid is good, but modern medicine has progressed a lot". "Sarpanchji, you are a visionary. Your ideas and policies will transform our village into a modern town". "Gopal, there is a lot I would like to do for my children of the village. Anyway, you must be getting late for your office. I will see you in the evening then". Gopal left sarpanch's house for his office. The road went along a small canal. This canal was linked to the Gudgu river, which is 65 kms from the village. The canal was dug up as part of the Indira Gandhi irrigation scheme to bring large farm areas under irrigation. As per the first draft of scheme, the village of Karmpura was not included, as it was small village and the available funds were not enough. But Kishanlal had put-in lot of efforts by meeting and petitioning to many high-level officials in the capital and district offices to get Karmpura included in the scheme. It had taken two years of pursuance to get the canal approved. If it was not for the sarpanch, the entire village would have had a hard time farming their fields, especially during the periodic droughts their village faced. The villagers owed their prosperity to the sarpanch for his valiant efforts to get the canal to the village.
Gopal reached his office, dusted his desk, lighted an agarbatti to the photo of the deity on the wall and settled down to work. By noon, he had finished the documents for the sarpanch. He ate his lunch in the office and then went out for a walk and a cup of tea. When Gopal returned back to the office, he saw someone sitting inside. "Who is it?", asked Gopal. The lady turned around. She was Geeta, daughter of Maniram and care-taker of grandsons of the sarpanch. "Arre Geeta, what brought you here? Want my advice on something?", asked Gopal. "Yes", she replied, looking down. "What is it Geeta? Is something wrong?" "Gopal, I need to tell you something. You are the most educated man in our village, You understand law and the system. You have always been fair in your views". "Yes, Geeta, of course, I will do whatever is needed, what is it?". "Gopal, the sarpanch molested me yesterday night". "What? What are you saying? How can this be?". "Yesterday night, after making bed of the grand kids, I was about to head out for home, when sarpanchji held my hand and tried to grope me". "Oh Geeta, our sarpanch is an honorable man. He treats the entire village as his children. He can never do such a thing". "Gopal, why would you think that I will lie? I have no one else to ask for help other than you. Look at these wounds on my wrist, waist, neck and shoulders. Don't you think the wounds tell my story?". Gopal looked at the wounds. It did appear that someone had physically misbehaved with Geeta. "But Geeta, this is hard to believe. Sarpanchji would never do such a thing. I am shocked. Can you further elaborate on what happened yesterday night?". "When I was trying to free myself, Chandi came to the room, saw me and gasped. Seeing Chandi sarpanchji were a bit startled and I was able to run away. Chandi met me later in the night near my house and told me that I should stay away from sarpanch's house for some days and try to forget what has happened". "Geeta, will she be able to corroborate your story?". "I don't know Gopal. Her livelihood solely depends on the work she does in sarpanch's house. She may like to stay away from this issue". "Did anyone else saw this?". "Sarpanch's servant Ramu saw this too, but he went about doing his business as if nothing was happening". "I don't know what to tell you Geeta. My mind is becoming numb. While your wounds and your teary eyes corroborate your story, but this is almost unbelievable. A man of such honor and integrity to whom the whole village looks up as a Godfather could not have done such a thing. I don't know what to tell you". "Gopal, help me please. Who else can I go to in this village? No one would even tolerate listening anything against the sarpanch". "Geeta, if it was not for the sarpanch, we would all have struggled to even grow crops for subsistence. If it was not for him, I would not have got the opportunity to go to the city and study law. I owe everything good in my life to him. How can I ever stand against him? We all have grown up looking at him as more than our father. What you are asking me to do is to implicate my own father. Geeta, we have grown up together and you are like my little sister. I understand your feelings, but my hands are tied". "Gopal, imagine my situation, imagine what mental agony I am going through. How can I live without any hope of justice? I know if I stand against the sarpanch, I will be alienated by the entire village. Nobody will dare to marry me. It is more difficult for me than you can imagine. But, I cannot reconcile with the incident". "Geeta, everything that you say is true, but my mind is numb now. I never imagined to be in a situation where I will be asked to take a stand against the sarpanch. I am just incapable of such an act. Geeta, I am sorry. Please go home and try to forget this as a bad episode. For the greater good of the entire village, we need visionaries like our sarpanch, or else, we will remain poor and medieval in our mindset. As a responsible villager, I would prefer a greater good of many over justice to an individual. Your demand for justice for yourself appears selfish to me as it will damage the future of our entire village. Don't get me wrong sister, swallow your indignation and forget this episode. You need not return to sarpanch's house. I, myself, will find you a new job in the village, but please do not ask me to take a stand against the sarpanch". "Gopal, I had come to you with hope, but all you tell me are reasons for your inaction. I do not harbor any hard feelings against you. I will probably go in a recluse and help myself when no one else is willing to help me", and Geeta left Gopal's office. Gopal sat on his chair stunned. How can all this be true? How can the sarpanch do this? He was unable to do any work for the rest of the day. At five o' clock, Gopal picked up sarpanch's file and left his office for sarpanch's house. The sarpanch was sitting in his living room. "Namaste sarpanchji", "Arre Gopal, come, have a seat". "Here are the papers for the property you intend to buy". "Dhanyawad Gopal, what would this village do without you". Gopal could not look into sarpanch's eyes. After the casual conversation with the sarpanch, the entire discussion with Geeta appeared surreal.
It took a few sleepless nights for Gopal to come at ease with himself again. He had forgotten Geeta's episode as if a bad dream. He continued to serve the village and the sarpanch like before. What he had done was for the greater good of the village. How many people in the village like Geeta would have starved if sarpanchji were not there to protect them How can he drag him down to the courts and the police for providing justice to one individual. If he did, he would not be a responsible citizen of his village as this will do more damage than good. Didn't kings have many wives? Wasn't Draupadi guilty of so many deaths in Mahabharata?
