It was night by the time Jojo entered home. Her father was walking to and fro, while her mother was sitting on a cot. ‘...I warned him that you people dare not touch our well. Go drink from the pond at your end of the village or dig another well. Why should we bother if their well has dried up. But you should have seen his attitude. He said, all are equal now and he doesn’t fear us. Huh, filthy people, I tell you’ Jojo’s father was in a rage. Jojo gently asked her father “Do you know any of those people personally? Have you been to their houses or eaten with them?”. Her father gave her a strange look and said “No- I don’t know any of them personally. Why would I eat with them, when I don't even want to meet them? Why did you ask such a silly question?” Jojo replied apologetically, "Nothing in particular..just like that.’’
She slowly sat down to eat as mother started up, ‘His daughter is mischievous too. I have seen her riding her bicycle ringing the bell all through the village. There are elders sitting, men in the streets, but she cares for nobody. She laughs around with boys and acts as if she is also one of them. A girl should know her place. Jojo, don’t tell me you spend time with her.’
‘No, No.’ Jojo replied hurriedly.
‘You dare not. Else you will become like her.’
‘I stay with Mapuii,’Jojo said to calm her mother. Jojo had never seen Afaki’s father. But her parents often spoke ill about him, his community and the place they lived in. Not just her parents, but most people in her neighbourhood felt the same way about people from Afaki’s community. They often used swearwords or demeaning words to refer to them. Jojo had seen the place in her rare visits and she didn’t like it at all. She felt that there was something wrong with those people and they were not as good as the people who lived in main part of the village.
[Contributed by ankit.dwivedi@clixindia.org on 19. November 2024 13:50:29]
It was night by the time Jojo entered home. Her father was walking to and fro, while her mother was sitting on a cot. ‘...I warned him that you people dare not touch our well. Go drink from the pond at your end of the village or dig another well. Why should we bother if their well has dried up. But you should have seen his attitude. He said, all are equal now and he doesn’t fear us. Huh, filthy people, I tell you’ Jojo’s father was in a rage. Jojo gently asked her father “Do you know any of those people personally? Have you been to their houses or eaten with them?”. Her father gave her a strange look and said “No- I don’t know any of them personally. Why would I eat with them, when I don't even want to meet them? Why did you ask such a silly question?” Jojo replied apologetically, "Nothing in particular..just like that.’’
She slowly sat down to eat as mother started up, ‘His daughter is mischievous too. I have seen her riding her bicycle ringing the bell all through the village. There are elders sitting, men in the streets, but she cares for nobody. She laughs around with boys and acts as if she is also one of them. A girl should know her place. Jojo, don’t tell me you spend time with her.’
‘No, No.’ Jojo replied hurriedly.
‘You dare not. Else you will become like her.’
‘I stay with Mapuii,’Jojo said to calm her mother. Jojo had never seen Afaki’s father. But her parents often spoke ill about him, his community and the place they lived in. Not just her parents, but most people in her neighbourhood felt the same way about people from Afaki’s community. They often used swearwords or demeaning words to refer to them. Jojo had seen the place in her rare visits and she didn’t like it at all. She felt that there was something wrong with those people and they were not as good as the people who lived in main part of the village.