Whenever Ram Bharosa had a headache, he applied a leech to his throbbing temple. Some of the older people still believed that being bled by leeches was a remedy for various ailments. They fell off by themselves just as soon as they’d had their thimbleful of blood, but you didn’t know they were on you until they fell off and then, later, the skin became very sore and itchy. It was a beautiful season, except for the leeches.Įvery day, Binya came home with a couple of leeches fastened to the flesh of her bare legs. A white mist coiled and uncoiled as it floated up from the valley. Giant lilies reared up like leopards from the tall grass. Ferns sprang up on walls and tree trunks. THE rains set in, and the sun only made brief appearances. Ram Bharosa was astonished to see Binya’s blue umbrella.īinya gave the umbrella a twirl and smiled at Ram Bharosa. He also kept sweets and toffees, and when Binya or Bijju had a few coins to spare they would spend them at the shop. He kept a few bottles of Coca-cola too but as there was no ice, the bottles got hot in the sun and so were seldom opened. Once a day, the Tehri bus stopped near his shop and passengers got down to sip hot tea or drink a glass of curds. Old Ram Bharosa (Ram the Trustworthy) kept the tea shop on the Tehri road. That patch of skyblue silk could always be seen on the hillside. Whenever Binya went out-whether it was to graze the cows, or fetch water from the spring, or carry milk to the little tea shop on the Tehri road-she took the umbrella with her. Sometimes Bijju snapped it shut, complaining that it got in the way. Even when she had it in the house, she left it lying open in a corner of the room. The town, five miles from the village, was also a pleasure resort for tourists from all over India.īINYA seldom closed the blue umbrella. It was only when she was in the market-town, jostled by the crowds in the bazaar, that she felt rather nervous and lost. Binya belonged to the mountains, to this part of the Himalayas known as Garhwal.ĭark forests and lonely hilltops held no terrors for her. The cows preferred having Binya with them, because she let them wander.īijju pulled them by their tails if they went too far. Sometimes her brother Bijju went with her, but these days he was busy preparing for his exams and didn’t have time to help with the cows.īinya liked being on her own, and sometimes she allowed the cows to lead her into some distant valley, and then they would all be late coming home. If the cows didn’t come home at the right time, Binya would be sent to fetch them. They were fond of wandering off on their own, down to the stream or into the pine forest, and sometimes they came back by themselves and sometimes they stayed away-almost deliberately, it seemed to Binya.
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December 2022
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