FOR THE LOVE OF POMEGRANATES

Sometime ago in a certain private school in Rainawari, Srinagar:

Today’s morning assembly was very important. The principal was to make a very important announcement. All the boys from class 1 to class 10 stood stoic and still in the assembly. The principal got the mike closer to him and declared, “Dear children, the school has arranged for a picnic for children from all classes. Children from classes 6, 7 and 8 shall go to Mahadev Peak for hiking. We shall leave on this Saturday morning and return on Tuesday evening. For the rest of the classes the picnic will happen on the next Saturday”

Hearing this proclamation, the excitement of the boys from classes 6, 7 and 8 knew no bounds. They knew that this kind of outing was a very rare thing for the school boys, especially after the last exchange of anger and physical fight between the school boys and the locals of Kukernag. The school boys had since earned a repute of vagabonds and rogues. Keeping this in mind, the school administration had sensibly discouraged any outings till everything had settled down.Post assembly, the boys went back to their respective classes and the day ended with routine teaching, chirping, shouting and lunch break. 

In one of the sections of class 7, there were two best buddies, Suren and Sumed. Actually they were partners in all the mischief and menace that would happen not only in the school but also in the locality where they lived.

As Suren and Sumed were walking back from school, they had but, of course, only one thing to talk about –The Saturday Picnic. They promised that they would not misbehave or do anything that would bring dishonor to their school.

Now in all this planning, the most important component could never be missed out.   This was the food and the snacks, to be rationed for the picnic. Now Suren and Sumed surprisingly had a taste for pomegranates. They both always ate lots and lots of this fruit.  They had been responsible for many pomegranates orchards getting vandalized. In fact, if their mothers and their neighbors were given a chance to speak, they would need a long log book to mention the number of pomegranates stolen and the places from where they were stolen. Interestingly Suren and Sumed were harmless, and did not mean any damage to anyone. But it was only the love for the juicy fruit, which drove them to adventures and misadventures.

To start with, both the friends met up in the evening next to the local bakery shop to finalize their action plan.  The mathematics was done. Considering that they would be at Mahadev Peak for four days, they had estimated a count of thirty pomegranates. Looking at the number of pomegranates, it was of course a lot. Sumed and Suren did quite a bit of scheming. After much thinking, Sumed had a brain wave, “Listen, Suren, do you remember the deserted house towards the other end of the river?” Suren replied, “Well yes, the one where the old man lives with his only son. Why are you asking? What has he got to do with our picnic” Sumed said, “Listen fella, he has a huge orchard gleaming with red, juicy, blossomed pomegranates.  If we can somehow manage to get our loot from there, then we would be stocked up.”  Suren got up from his seat and started to scratch his head and then patted Sumed for this very bright idea, “Hey, yes of course, we can do that. But we have to be very clever and discrete. That old man is very cunning. Remember what he had done to those boys when their ball had erroneously got in his orchard?” Sumed replied “I remember that episode. Anyways, let us brace ourselves for an attack tonight. The sooner we do, the better it is”. Suren vigorously nodded his head and both got started with the blue print.
As dusk approached, both the boys left their house, under the pretext of going to the temple. They met outside the bakery shop and started to walk in the direction of the targeted house.  While they were walking towards their destination they were abstaining from looking around, to avoid any interaction with anyone around. Their gait was casual but very conscious. They both had a big bag inside their kurta. This bag would be handy to keep their loot in.
On reaching close to the dilapidated house, they both started to get nervous. The dusk had changed into dark night. They were dreading the fright of being caught.  They gave a glance to each other, as if trying to say “don’t worry brother all is well”. The house was fenced with a thick hedge. The boundary wall was made out of a solid concoction of mud and hay.  In between the hedge stood an old wooden door, the hinges to which were rusted. Without making much noise, they opened the door of the orchard and stepped in.  They were sweating in the pleasant weather. The lights of the house had been switched off. Even the neighbours had switched off their lights. This indicated that the residents were sleeping.  Since the days are short in cold regions, people go to bed early and wake up early in the morning.
Comforting themselves completely, Sumed rushed to the nearest tree and plucked whatever possible pomegranates he could. Suren was on guard; therefore he did not participate in plucking.  The adrenalin rush was high. Sumed continued to move from one tree to other like a terrestrial monkey, taking and hoarding as many pomegranates as possible. In their quest for the pomegranates, they realized they had reached too close to the room of the old man. Suren warned “Hey Sumed, let’s take this loot and go. “Are you crazy, aren’t you getting tempted by the look of these pomegranates. Let me take a few more” said Sumed.  Suren agreed with what Sumed was saying and did not disturb Sumed.
As they were saying this, Suren saw a dark human contour standing in the shade. From where he was, he could make out the hunch-back, the thin profile and thin arms stretching out. Just with the right amount of decibels, Suren shouted “run Sumed run, the old man has gotten up and he is coming this way”. Poor Sumed, ran as fast as he could towards the exit gate. He dropped all the pomegranates which he had fleeced from the tress.
Sumed and Suren ran as fast as they could towards the exit door. They did not even dare to look back. They were palpitating and had fallen short of breath but did not stop. The orchard was big enough and running from one end to towards the gate took a while. As they reached the wooden door, they leaped out and thought that they were in safe zone.  Sumed out of sheer decency turned back to close the door, when he noticed that there was no one following them. And out of curiosity he peeped inside to see and check what exactly was the figure.  Ensuring that he was outside the boundary of the old man’s house, he saw that there was actually no one standing near the window of the house. It was nothing but the shade of the tree branches and the trunk which from the distance looked like an old man’s figure. The ruined nest of the bird on the top of the tree easily was mistaken to be the turban of the old man. This was a hilarious illusion for the two friends. They had a hearty laughed at their misadventure but did not dare to go back and take their booty.
Nest day Suren and Sumed met at the school. They looked distraught but where firm about charging a strike on the pomegranate farm again.
As the evening appeared, they set off on their mission. They followed the same track and the method which they had applied on the previous day. They got inside the house. They ensured no one is around and got started.  They had swapped their role this time, Sumed was on guard and Suren was plucking the pomegranates from the trees.
After a good fifteen minutes inside the farm, they had collected some ten pomegranates in all. Sumed wanted to take a break and jumped swiftly from the low lying branch of the tree.  But to his utter shock his foot had plunged into a thick cake of cow dung. OOPS!! This was the last thing to happen to them. Sumed rushed to the nearest bush and attempted to wipe the filth. He was cursing his luck and timings. But his dear friend Suren was having a riot of laughter. He was rolling on the ground and teasing Sumed for the mishap. Though Sumed was upset but together they both laughed it out LOUD. There was the end. The people in the old man’s house heard these shrieks and yells. They woke up and switched on the light of the verandah and the corridor. The old man opened his bedroom door and started to check out the orchard holding the ancient kerosene lamp in his hand.
Both the boys ducked and were shivering at their places. They stood still for some time till the old man returned to his house.  As was to be, Suren and Sumed quietly and consciously jumped out of the orchard from the nearest mud wall. They were brooding over the episode, but were still thankful for not being caught by the old man.
Next day it was Wednesday and the school was busy getting the logistics ready for the picnic. On witnessing this preparation in the school, Suren and Sumed felt the stress and wanted to accomplish their task as soon as possible. They crossed their hearts and promised to plunge into the farm again in the night.
As was the routine for the past few days, Suren and Sumed met at the bakery shop and started their walk to the pomegranates farms. So far all was good and they could get inside the orchards. Without wasting any time and consciously not talking, they both started to collect the pomegranates from the source. They individually had a stock of some fifteen pomegranates and hid them inside their shirts. Their lean figures were bulged out with the steal of pomegranates inside the shirts. Upon being satisfied with their job, they explicitly winked at each other and stared to walk towards the exit gate. They were happy and elated. Their joyous stride was suddenly interrupted by a haggard person waiting for them at the exit gate. Now they were caught. Oh Dear! The old man and his son caught both the boys by their hands. They took the loot of the pomegranates and kept them aside in a bag. Suren and Sumed were still like frozen ice. They old man and his son caught hold of the thickest bunch of nettle grass and bashed both the boys left, right and center. The old man asked his son to call the parents of Sumed and Suren. It was a day that they both would never want to reckon in the rest of their life.

Disheartened, they reached the school the next day with bruised and inflamed arms, and shoulders. They stood looking remorse in the morning assembly. The principal, vice principal and the staff stood equally remorse and sad on the dais.  Both Suren and Sumed were wondering why they were looking sad - Did they also lose their loot of pomegranates!! Then came the announcement by the vice principal “with deep sorrow and grief, I had like to share with you that our dearest principal, has lost his grandmother.  And in lieu of this, we are cancelling the picnic proposed for Saturday”