CHAPTER VIICHILDREN IN HINDU HOMES
Evenin high caste homes, where the women are never allowed to leave their own dingy part of the house, little girls, while they are still very young, play freely with their brothers. They are never thought of with pride as the boys are, and they must keep in the background when a visitor comes, for a father does not like to take any notice of his daughters when a stranger is there, though he will call his boys to speak to his friends. Yet boys and girls together have a happy time. They make mud pies and romp about, and tumble over each other all day long.
Indian boys are very fond of flying kites. Their kites are square, and many of them are different from those we see, in another way, for Indian boys like to make their kites fight with each other, and in order to make the fight keener they draw the strings through a mixture of crushed pieces of glass and starch. After the string is dry, they run off with their kites. If they cannot find a better place, they climb on to the flat roofs of two houses near each other, and send off the kites, and then the fight begins. There are the two kites high up above the trees, a blue oneand a green one. The green kite hits the blue, but neither of them is hurt. Then they dodge about in the air for a long time, for each boy is managing his kite well, and it seems as if neither would win, when suddenly the boy of the blue kite gives a sharp pull. His string has caught the string of the green kite and cut it, and the green is dropping to the ground out over the rice field yonder!
There are many curious sights for children to watch in India. One of these is the snake charmer, as he carries his strange pets in a basket or wound round his body. It is not only for his own amusement or for the pleasure of the little crowds that gather round him that the charmer plays. A good Hindu will not kill a snake, nor any other animal. But he is greatly afraid of serpents, so if he sees them near his house, or in his garden, he may send for a charmer to come and play his weird music till the snakes are fascinated, and wriggle to him, and let him shut them up in his basket. When he has carried them away he will take out their poison fangs, and keep them to add to his other pets.
A SNAKE CHARMER
Here is another tamer who has only a sparrow. He carries it safely in the folds of his robe, and when he wishes to show it to anyone he lays it down on the ground. It does not fly away, but hops about till he lays down a heap of beads, which have been hidden in another fold of his garment. Then he holds up a thread in the air. All is ready now, and the bird catches the dangling end, and climbs up the thread and down again. Then the little sparrowlifts the beads one by one, and threads them on to the string. It is all done in the cheeriest way, and the bird seems as happy as the little children who watch him.
If a boy lives near the jungle he may see the taming of a herd of elephants. First of all he will help to build two great strong fences in the forest. At one end the two fences are quite near each other, but at the other end they are far apart, so that there is a mile or more of jungle ground between them. At the narrow end of the fenced-in ground, there is a large enclosed space, and just where the two fences open into it there is a great scaffolding high up in the air. When all is ready the fence round the enclosure is tested and tried to make sure that it will not give way. Elephants roam the forest in herds, only now and again a lone elephant is found, and he is generally a very fierce one, whom tamers would not wish to capture. After all is ready at the Kheddah,[3]the hunters watch for a fine herd of elephants. When the message comes that there is a herd near, men go out into the forest. They separate and go quietly till they have formed a ring round the herd in every direction, except the one towards the wide opening to the fences. Then when the ring is complete, the men begin to close in towards the herd with shouts. The shouts come to the elephants from every direction except one, and as they seem to hear so many foes they do not know which to attack, and so they rush on wildly in the one direction from which no noisecomes. The men close in towards the fences very carefully until the whole herd of elephants is within the wide end of the fenced ground. Each moment the yelling of the beaters seems nearer, and the herd rushes on wildly. Beyond the narrow end of the fences, they see what seems like open ground, and they rush for that. As the last one passes through the narrow space the great scaffolding is allowed to drop, and the elephants are prisoners.
But that is only the beginning of the work, and by far the easiest part. The taming has still to be done. After the herd is captive, tame elephants with riders on their backs tackle the full grown elephants of the herd one by one. Even a strong wild elephant is not a match for two or three tame ones, and the trained ones know their work so well that they soon get the wild creature they are surrounding close to a tree. That is their bit of the work. Then the mahout,[4]who has been on the back of one of the tame elephants, lets himself down to the ground. The tame elephants still keep the wild one close to the tree, and hem him in to keep him from attacking the man who is on the ground, for he is in great danger. He has to slip ropes round the legs of the wild elephant and fasten him to the tree. The first ropes are the most dangerous ones, for when the great beast feels that he is caught, he is desperate, and strikes out in every direction; but the drivers are quick and clever, and soon their prisoner is tied so tightly to the tree that he can do no harm to anyone. Then when he is firmly fixed there, themahouts try to make friends with him. They bring him fruit and sugar-cane, and all the things he likes best to eat, and they stay by him, talking to him and singing till he grows quite at home with them. Sometimes they can loosen his cords within a fortnight, and lead him off between two others.
There are many other strange sights and sounds in the jungle, and some of them are greatly feared by Indian boys. Though there are many Hindus who will not kill any animal because of their caste rules, there are others who do, and some of them are very clever in catching and killing tigers.
The tiger is a very cruel creature that will kill even when he is not hungry, and if one begins to eat men as well as cattle the villagers live in terror of him. He watches warily by the roadways for any stray passer-by, and he will follow a bullock cart for miles in the hope that some one of those who walk by it will fall behind, and give him the chance of attacking him alone. And so men learn to fear the “pug” marks of the tiger with a terrible fear, and to shudder at the thought of his silent footsteps. When the villagers find that there is a tiger making his lair near their village, and coming to it day after day to steal their cattle or to carry off their children, they first find out where he drinks. That is easily done, for the soft clay near the bank of the river keeps the marks of his paws. Then when they are sure of that, they get three strong nets and hang them from upright bamboos across the path by which he must come to drink. The tiger comes quietly along, andere he knows he is entangled in one of the nets and has pulled down the first pair of bamboo poles. The more he struggles the more the meshes trouble him, and if he does manage to break through, all trammelled as he is with the broken net, it is only to dash into the next one. There he lies wild and helpless, and struggles till he is worn out. In the evening, the villagers come with their spears and attack the prisoner, but they do not like him to be too quiet. They like him to growl at them, and to try to leap at them. It seems too easy a victory if he is dull and stupid ere they reach him.
The jungle is full of interesting plants and animals, and we could fill a large book with their names and habits, but we must only take time to speak of one other creature. It will form a link for us between jungle sights and sounds, and the splendour of the courts of the olden rulers of which children may still see relics in some parts of India. The animal that links the palace with the jungle is the cheetah, for six cheetahs have been taken from their wild haunts to guard the Uzar Bhagh Palace in Baroda. Through the day they are muzzled, and wander freely in the gardens. They are like small leopards, and they steal about amongst the trees or lie sleeping in the sun through the long hot hours. But each evening they are shut up in the palace. Their muzzles are taken off, and all night long the fierce creatures wander through the passages and halls. For within the closed doors that they guard, the jewels of Baroda, the richest in all India, lie. In the collar of state alone, there are fivehundred diamonds, and some of them are as large as walnuts. Round the edge of this collar three bands of emeralds run, and each emerald in the outer row is about an inch square, while a great diamond, that is called the star of the Deccan, hangs down in front. There are many other treasures there besides the wonderful collar, and the most interesting of them are a rug and two pillow covers. The rug is more than ten feet in length and six feet wide, and it and the pillow covers are made of strings of pearls woven together and decorated with diamonds. These jewelled cloths brought the present ruler of Baroda to his throne in a strange way.
Baroda is a native state, whose princes are called Gaikwars. The word Gaikwar means cowherd really, but for hundreds of years it has been the royal title of the rulers of Baroda. These men trace their family far back into the times of the ancient stories, for they believe that they descended from a Hindu hero called Rama, who is now worshipped as a god. This belief strengthened their power, because no one dared to oppose anything that was done by the children of a god, and sometimes they used their power very badly. The British Government tries not to interfere with the Indian rulers, so it honoured this ancient house, and whenever the Gaikwar came to state ceremonies he was received with a salute of twenty-one guns. But though the Government acknowledged the ruler of Baroda, it did not wish cruelty and wrong to go unpunished in the lands it protected, so there was always a representative of the Viceroy in each protectedstate. During the reign of Malar Rao, the last Gaikwar, Colonel Phayre was the British Representative at Baroda, and while he was there he heard terrible stories of the heartless cruelty of the Indian ruler. He was sure that many of these stories were true, but it was difficult to prove anything against a man who was so powerful.
There was an arena at Baroda where elephants, tigers and lions had fought in former days to amuse the court, and in front of this old arena, Malar Rao built a palace. It was exquisitely finished and very costly, and at the main entrance there were two guns of solid gold, mounted on silver carriages. Not far from the city there was an ancient idol, and at its shrine the Gaikwar built a splendid temple. Those who know about these things say that though it is modern, its workmanship is as wonderful as that of the famous old temples of the land. As Colonel Phayre saw all this, and far, far more, his heart was hot within him, for he knew that the Gaikwar was building all these things with money that he had stolen from his people by taking bribes and by cruel taxes. But the Englishman did not see that he could prevent it, until he heard of the pearl and diamond rug. The jewellers of India searched for three years in order to get the gems that were needed for it and for the pillows, and when at last all were finished the Gaikwar made arrangements to give them as a gift to one of his favourites. When Colonel Phayre heard that the woven jewels, the cost of which had been wrung from the people, were to begiven away, he refused to allow it. He said that the jewels belonged to the state of Baroda, and were not Malar Rao’s to give.
Now the Gaikwar had set his heart on giving this present to his favourite, and he was so enraged that nothing was too wild for him to attempt. He asked to see Colonel Phayre, and with every show of friendship he invited him to drink his health. The cup of pomola juice was handed to the guest, but an instinctive feeling of suspicion warned the Englishman, and he refused to drink. And it was well, for in the cup there was the dust of diamonds. Once before the Gaikwar had served his end by ground jewel dust. He had killed his brother so, and had ruled in his stead. When he was brought to trial, this and many other things were found out, for his brother was not the only man whom he had killed unjustly.
When he was condemned, the widow of the brother whom he had poisoned was asked to adopt a son, to be the ruler of Baroda, and the boy whom she chose grew up to be a clever and an able man. He has changed the whole life of the state, for he thinks of his people, and seeks to give them many things to make life brighter and easier for them. And as Baroda is called the “garden of India,” the children who live there enjoy much of what is happiest in Hindu life. Famine scarcely ever comes there, for the Nerbudda river waters the valley, and the rain clouds that cross the ocean are never spent ere they reach it.
Many children in India now go to schools that aremuch like our own, but in the far-off villages, the master still sits on the ground, under a broad tree, with his scholars round him. The little boys sway their bodies backwards and forwards as they sing out their lesson, or bend over the sandy ground, to trace the outlines of the Sanskrit letters there as they shout out the names of them after him.
So the days of childhood pass when all goes well, but if illness comes there is terrible suffering. The best that can happen to a Hindu child when he is ill, is to be left alone to get well or to die. If there is something very serious wrong with him, his parents may think there is a devil in the boy, and send for the barber, who does a great many things in an Indian village besides cutting hair and shaving chins. One little boy was getting better after a fever, but though the fever was gone his eyes were still very sore indeed. The barber was sent for, and when he came he did not bathe the sore red eyes, nor do anything to soothe the pain. Instead of that he began to burn the top of the wee boy’s black head, to pull the devil out by the burn! So the poor little fellow had to bear the pain of the burn as well as the pain in his eyes, and though the barber’s rough treatment was of no use, the father and mother tried no other plan. They let the eyes grow sorer and sorer till the boy was blind, and then they thought that Brahma must have written with his golden pen that their little son would lose his sight. So they did not trouble more about it, but began to think how they could make him earn money. They knew he would never be ableto work. So they took him to a large town that he might beg, and make people pity him because of his blindness. But the boy need not have been blind.
Another child called Yogina was very ill indeed. She lay in a fever, and as the fever raged, she said strange wild things, for her mind was wandering, and she did not know what she was saying. The other girls in the house were in terror. They thought some demon had entered into her, and they feared that it might leave her and go into one of them, so a priest who said he could force demons to leave those who were ill was asked to come and cure her.
This man had learned how to say “Am, Im, Um, Em, Aim, Om, Aum, Tam, Tham, Dam, Nam, Pam, Pham, Bam, Mam, Jam, Ram, Lam, Vam, Sam, Ham, Ksham,” over and over again, each of them in a special tone and way, and that proved to everyone who heard him there that he was a very marvellous man who could do miracles. His name was Mantra Shastri. When he came to the house where little Yogina was lying in her fever, he bade the other women of the house clean out the court, and make a pattern on the wet floor with fine white powder. When this was done, little Yogina was dragged into the court, and set down opposite the white markings on the damp floor. Yogina could not sit up. She was too weak, but Mantra Shastri would do nothing for her if she lay on the ground. So the other women of the house gathered round her and held her up. Then the devil-doctor began his work. He went out and walked round the house several times, andsprinkled evil-smelling water as he went. Yogina cried out louder, for the effort of sitting up made her fever more burning, but all round the house the harsh sounds of tom-toms rose and the child’s screams could not be heard. Then Mantra Shastri came into the inner court again, and the women walked in a circle carrying trays of fruit and flowers and leaves and rice. The tom-toms still beat on, and their noise only made the sick girl wilder. She did not know anything of what was going on around her, but she fought blindly with those who tried to hold her up.
The priest took little heaps of rice from the trays the women carried, and set them down in front of Yogina amongst the white marks on the floor. One heap was of white rice, one of yellow, and one of black, and when he had laid them there he spoke to the demon in the sick girl and said:—
“Oh Spirit of Evil, where do you come from? What do you want?” The women who were round Yogina were so eager to hear what she would say, that they forgot to hold her up, and she fell forward on the rice.
Even when they raised her she had no answer for the priests’ question. At last he seized a cane, and beat her to make her speak, and as the blows fell on Yogina’s back she started up and ran twice round the court. Then she fell. A shout rose from everyone there, for they believed that the evil spirit had left her at last. But it was life that had left her, and the little child, who might so easily have been nursed back to health, had been killed.
That is one story of one little girl, but it is not unlike many, many others that might be told, not only of girls, but of boys and men and women, who die because there is no one who knows how to nurse them, or to help them to get well. And many who do not die are ill all their lives afterwards, because of the way in which they have been treated.