Penalty Jurmana
Munshi Khairat Ali Khan
was the inspector of Sanitation and hundreds of
sweeper women depended
on him. He was good-hearted and well thought
of--not the sort who cut
their pay, scolded them or fined them. But he went
on regularly rebuking
and punishing Alarakkhi. She was not a shirker, nor
saucy or slovenly; she
was also not at all bad-looking. During these chilly
days she would be out
with her broom before it was light and go on
assiduously sweeping the
road until nine. But all the same, she would be
penalized. Huseni, her
husband, would help her with the work too when he
found the chance, but it
was in Alarakkhi's fate that she was going to be
fined. For others
pay-day was an occasion to celebrate, for Alarakkhi it was
a time to weep. On that
day it was as though her heart had broken. Who
could tell how much
would be deducted! Like students awaiting the results
of their examinations,
over and over again she would speculate on the
amount of the deduction.
Whenever she got so
tired that she'd sit down a moment to catch her
breath, precisely then
the Inspector would arrive riding in his ekka. No
matter how much she'd
say, 'Please, Excellency, I’ll go back to work again,'
he would jot her name
down in his book without listening. A few days later
the very same thing
would happen again. If she bought a few cents worth of
candy from the
sweets-vendor and started to eat it, just at that moment the
Inspector would drop on
her from the devil knew where and once more write
her name down in his
book. Where could he have been hiding? The minute
she began to rest the
least bit he was upon her like an evil spirit. If he wrote
her name down on only
two days, how much would the penalty be then! God
knew. More than eight
annas? If only it weren't a whole rupee! With her
head bowed she'd go to
collect her pay and find even more deducted than
she'd estimated. Taking
her money with trembling hands she'd go home, her
eyes full of tears.
There was no one to turn to, no one who'd listen.
Today was pay-day again.
The past month her unweaned daughter had
suffered from coughing
and fever. The weather had been exceptionally cold.
Partly because of the
cold, partly because of the little girl's crying she was
kept awake the whole
night. Several times she'd come to work late. Khan
Sahib had noted down her
name, and this time she would be fined half her
pay. It was impossible
to say how much might be deducted. Early in the
morning she picked up
the baby, took her broom and went to the street. But
the naughty creature
wouldn't let herself be put down. Time after time
Alarakkhi would threaten
her with the arrival of the Inspector. 'He's on his
way and he'll beat me
and as for you, he'll cut off your nose and ears! 'The
child was willing to
sacrifice her nose and ears but not to be put down. At
last, when Alarakkhi had
failed to get rid of her with threats and coaxing
alike, she set her down
and left her crying and wailing while she started to
sweep. But the little
wretch wouldn't sit in one place to cry her heart out; she
crawled after her mother
time and time again, caught her sari, clung to her
legs, then wallowed
around on the ground and a moment later sat up to start
crying again.
'Shut up!' Alarakkhi
said, brandishing the broom. 'If you don't, I’ll hit you
with the broom and
that'll be the end of you. That bastard of an Inspector's
going to show up at any
moment.'
She had hardly got the
words out of her mouth when inspector Khairat Ali
Khan dismounted from his
bicycle directly in front of her. She turned pale,
her heart began to
thump. 'Oh God, may my head fall off if he heard me!
Right in front of me and
I didn't see him. Who could tell he'd come on his
bicycle today? He's
always come in his ekka. ‘The blood froze in her veins,
she stood holding the
broom as though paralyzed.
Angrily the Inspector
said, 'Why do you drag the kid after you to work!
Why didn't you leave it
at home!'
'She's sick, Excellency'
Alarakkhi said timidly. 'Who's at home to leave her
with!'
'What's the matter with
her?'
'She has a fever,
Huzoor.’
'And you make her cry by
leaving her? Don't you care if she lives?
'How can I do my work if
I carry her?'
'Why don't you ask for
leave!'
'If my pay is cut,
Huzoor, what will we have to live on?'
'Pick her up and take
her home. When Huseni comes back send him here
to finish the sweeping.
She picked up the baby
and was about to go when he asked, 'Why were
you abusing me!'
Alarakkhi felt all her
breath knocked out of her. If you'd cut her there
wouldn't have been any
blood. Trembling she said, 'No, Huzoor, may my
head fall off if I was
abusing you.
And she burst into
tears.
In the evening Huseni
and Alarakkhi went to collect her pay. She was very
downcast.
'Why so sad?' Huseni
tried to console her. 'The pay's going to be cut, so let
them cut it. I swear on
your life from now on I won't touch another drop of
booze or toddy.'
'I'm afraid I'm fired.
Damn my tongue! How could I....’
'If you're fired, then
you're fired, but let Allah be merciful to him. Why go
on crying about it?’
'You’ve made me come for
nothing. Everyone of those women will laugh
at me.
'If he's fired you,
won't we ask on what grounds! And who heard you
abuse him' Can there be
so much injustice that he can fire anyone he pleases!
If I'm not heard I’ll
complain to the panchayat, I'll beat my head on the
headman's gate--'
'If our people stuck
together like that would Khan Sahib ever dare fine us
so much''
'No matter how serious
the sickness there's a medicine for it, silly.'
But Alarakkhi was not
set at rest. Dejection covered her face like a cloud.
When the Inspector heard
her abuse him why didn't he even scold her? Why
didn't he ~re her on the
spot! She wasn't able to work it out, he actually
seemed kind. She
couldn't manage to understand this mystery. She was
afraid. He had decided
to fire her- that must have been why he was so nice.
She'd heard that a man
about to be hanged is given a fine last meal, they
have to give him
anything he wants-so surely the Inspector was going to
dismiss her. They
reached the municipal office building. The pay began to
be distributed. The
sweeper women were first. Whoever's name was called
would go running and
taking her money call down undeserved blessings on
the Inspector and go
away. Alarakkhi’s name was always called after
Champa's. Today she was
passed over. After Champa, Jahuran's name was
called, and she always
followed Alarakkhi.
In despair she looked at
Huseni. The women were watching her and
beginning to whisper.
One after another the
names were called and Alarakkhi went on looking at
the trees across the
way.
Suddenly startled, she
heard her name. Slowly she stood up and walked
ahead with the slow
tread of a new bride. The paymaster put the full amount
of six rupees in her
hand.
She was stupefied.
Surely the paymaster was mistaken! In these three
years she had never once
got her full pay. And now to get even half would
have been a windfall.
She stood there for a second in case the paymaster
should ask for the money
back. When he asked her, 'Why are you standing
here now, why don't you
move along!' she said softly,
'But it's the full
amount.’
Puzzled the paymaster
looked at her and said, 'What else do you want--do
you want to get less!'
'There's no penalty
deducted?'
'No, today there aren't
any deductions.
She came away but in her
heart she was not content. She was full of
remorse for having
abused the Inspector.
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