Page 1 : 199, 4,14 DROUGHT, , ‘« Sarat Chandra, , 4.14.1 INTRODUCTION, , 7 Sarat Chandra Chatterjee's ."Drought” gives us a graphic account of the, miserable conditions of a poor labourer living in a Bengal Village called Kashipur., The writer makes a scathing attack on the sham morality of priests and landlords., The so-called followers of traditional orthodox principles were really inhuman and, barbaric in their attitudes towards poor labourers., , 4.14.2 OBJECTIVES, , The story aims to depict the inhuman and immoral attitude of priests and, landlords towards poor labourers. Gafur, a poor labourer is tortured here to such, an extent by a priest and a landlord that Gafur escapes from the village at midnight, , with his little daughter, and prefers to work n the industrial town of Fulbere., 4.14.3 CONTENTS, , Gafur, who lived in abject poverty, had to look after his motherless daughter., The thatched shed that provided shelter for him and his daughter was not strong, , enough to withstand heavy rain. His only property was a bull called Mahesh. The, drought had caused him great hardship and suffering., , Tarkaratna the village priest, who was returning from the house of the, Zamindar after performing some religious services in connection with the birthday, of the Zamindar’s son, saw the starving Mahesh. He immediately rebuked Gafur for, not feeding the bull properly. Gafur told him that he was down with a fever and, that was why he could not take his bull out for grazing. If he let the bull loose he, would start eating other people's paddy and create problem for him. The priest, warned him severely that the Zamindar would take him to task, if the bull died of, starvation. The landlord who employed Gafur as a labourer did not give him his, share of straw. The priest was not satisfied with the reply but went on accusing, Gafur. He pretended to be a lover of cattle, but he was really not sympathetic, towards the bull. The priest did not want to give the bull a bundle of hay., , “> i’y*, , Gafur was perturbed because his bull was missing. His daughter Amina, informed him that someone had sent Mahesh to the police pen. He rushed to, Banshi's shop, pledged his brass plate for a loan of one rupee, dashed to the police, pen and paid the fine. The bull was released and Gafur was happy to see the bull, back in its usual place. He had an idea of selling his Mahesh and also received an, advance of two rupees from a prospective buyer. But he loved his bull so much that, he could not part with it. He refused to sell his bull and returned the advance, , amount., a4 % i t. The prolonged spell of unemployment, G tried in vain to seek employmen ., rouge suffering upon Gafur and his daughter. He scolded his daughter, when she told him that there was no rice in the house. There was not even a drop, , , , Scanned by TapScanner

Page 2 : 200, of water in the hut, Water was scarce in the village because of Ce ere in the, earthen pitcher she went out to fetch water ftom the public tank. etn f ths, Village dried up in summer, A few holes had been dug up at the an Wie im, tanks, but there was such crowding and jostling for water eee ticle, Amina,could nat even go near the tank, She stood for hours and some one P y, on her and gave her water. Meanwhile Mahesh broke loose from the tether . ite, the garden of the landlord, had eaten up flowers and destroyed the corm. one, tried to catch him he had hurt the landlord's daughter and had escaped. The, landlord summoned him to his house but Gafur sent word saying that ne S . net, his slave. Enraged by Gafur's impudence, the landlord punished him Severely., While Amina was returning home, the bull in its violent thirst knocked Gown the, pitcher from her hand. Gafur who was in an extreme state of distress struck the, poor bull violently with a ploughshare and unwittingly killed it. He did not know, what he was doing and Amina burst out weeping. A chill of remorse ran through his, mind when he realized what he had done. The tanners came and carried off Mahesh, on a bamboo pole. Killing a sacred animal was a sin and Gafur would have to pay, penance for his wicked act. He did not want to face the landlord and the priest who, would treat him as the worst criminal. At midnight he woke his daughter up and, left for the jute mill at Fulbere. He knew fully well that he had to suffer a lot at the, jute mill. However he preferred the industrial town Fulbere to the village., 4.14.4 REVISION POINTS, , 1. Gafur lives in poverty with his motherless daughter, and his only, possession, a bull named Mahesh., , 2. The severe drought in the village of Kashipur badly affected his living., , 3., , One day Tarkaratna, the village priest abuses him severally for letting his, bull to starve. The police arrest the bull and release it for a payment., , 4. Amina finds it difficult to collect wate from the tank., , 5. Gafur, in a fit of anger kills the bull for trespassing into the Zamindar’s, garden., , 6. Fearing capital punishment, Gafur and his daughter leave at midnight to the, Industrial town of Fulbere., , 4.14.5 INTEXT QUESTIONS, , 1) What was the attitude of the Zamindar towards Gafur and his bull?, 2) Why did the priest rebuke Gafur?, , 3) In what circumstances did Gafur kill Mahesh?, 4.14.6 SUMMARY, , This story deals with how the wealthy landlords nad influenti, society llike temple priests ill-treated the poor villages, especially even in adverse, situations like a drought. Here, one can see how poor Gafur and his motherless, daughter are fleeced of their money by captivating this bull and releasing it only, after a payment. One can also see how the poor people of the, , : ; village have to jostle, for hours together for a pitcher of wate since. the villge is hit by a drought Finally, , al people of the, , , , Scanned by TapScanner

Page 3 : a How did Gafur often land irfto'trouble due to Mahesh?, : bo What forced Gafur to kil Mahesh? |, + Why did Gafur and his daughter leave the village?, 4.14.8 SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS, , ® .y None, 4.14.9 ASSIGNMENTS, , 1. +oSketch the characters of the Zamindar and the priest., 4.14.10. SUGGESTED READING/ REFERENCE BOOKS, , 1. Read “Stories from the East and West”, ed. By Dr. R. Ganapathy, Emerald, Publishers, madras., , 4.14.11 LEARNING ACTIVITIES, , 1. _Expore the web and get to know the problems caused by severs droughts, and how they affect the life of poor people., , 3, 4, S, , 4.14.12 KEYWORDS : |, 1. Drought - A period of dryness due to below average rainfall :, 2. Rebuke - Harsh criticism ae, 3. Accuse - To blame or find fault with, 4... Pledge - Tq deposit something as a security, S. Prospective - Likely or expected to happen or become, 6. Jastling - To push or shove 7, 7. Unwittingly - Unintentional act, 8. Remorse - A feeling of regret oover sinning, 9. Penance - A self —- Imposed punishment for wrong doing, , Scanned by TapScanner