GOPAL GOES FISHING

                 "Can you recount any adventure of your childhood"? I once asked Gopal. He had lost his mother when he was a small child and, like many children placed in similar situation, had a father who was over possessive. Father in such a situation creates in him a kindly mother as well and rears up the child the way his mother would have liked to. Gopal was eight years old and the family's Man Friday, Kunjia, appeared to Gopal as the most capable person on the earth. Kunjia would work in the field; sow paddy; harvest the crop; tend the cattle; manage the manure pit; run an errand; and even catch fish when catch is easy in Kimiria river close to Gopal's village Baniari in Barchana Block of Jajpur District. The village is near Balia village, home of the celebrated Odia poet of the 18th century, Abhimanyu Samanta Singhar.

             Inquisitive Gopal yearned to learn catching Pohala fish from the flowing Kimiria the way Kunjia did. "Can you make a "Polua for me? Not a big one like yours. I want a smaller one that I can handle," Gopal had requested Kunjia. Polua is a fish catching device made of flexible reeds tied like a cross with a piece of cloth tied to the four ends of the reeds. Polua is to be placed into the water by two swift hands when the prying eyes notice movement of the unseen Pohala cruising like a submarine. The Polua is lifted as dexterously as it is lowered.

               On an important afternoon while Gopal's father was having his mid-day seista and obedient Gopal was lying near him, daydreaming his exploits in Kimiria, Kunjia arrived quietly and showed the tiny Polua, specially made for Gopal.. It had the same effect on him as Krishna's flute had on Radha. He, like Radha, left home on the sly and Kunjia led the way.

               Sensing emptiness in the bed, Gopal's father soon realised that his tender child was missing. He apprehended the worst and looked at every corner of the house. Gopal's sister-in-law would not tell a lie to her father-in-law when asked if she had seen the child. "Gopal has gone to the river with Kunjia" she said. The angry father waited with a cane. An elated Gopal returned with a kilogram of Pohala-- his own catch-- on his maiden attempt. Instead of appreciation, he got a couple of smart lashings and the wailing child dropped his catch on the floor. He promised that afternoon that he will never be a fisherman but would study well.

            Gopal kept his promise. He did not catch fish thereafter; but grew to love fish curry. Even now I would see smiling Gopal on his scooter go past me on many mornings telling me that he was on his way to the fish market.

 (Jan18, 2015)

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