Same excerpt translated into Gujarati at https://rajendranaik.com/2023/07/25/મોહનિયાનો-ચમત્કાર/
The miracle by Mohaniyo
Manilal, the youngest of the four brothers, wasn’t a farmer
material. Vasanjee had goaded him to study hard at the school and
was barely able to clear the coveted matriculate exam. The Lala Parag clan was
over the moon on this achievement. After all, he was the second
member of the family to have cleared the matriculate exam after Vasanjee.
Tilling the fields, looking after the crops of Chikoo and Mango and other
drudgeries that required dirtying his hands weren’t for him, though he did
accompany his elder brother Bhagu to the field occasionally. His eyes were set
on the lucrative job at the Gandevi cooperative bank that had just opened a new
branch at Gandevi.
Armed with the matriculation certificate, he had promptly applied for the
bank job that alone held out a promise to stay away from the unglamorous
field work.
He headed to the shrine, unobtrusively – to offer a special prayer
to please the deity. It was dusk time and the village womenfolk had all
dispersed after the group chanting ritual.
It was a good idea, he reckoned, to take the priest Ramjikaka in confidence
discreetly – no one else should know why a non-believer like him wanted to
conduct some elaborate ritual. He trudged past the houses lined up along
the way to the priest’s house.
He peeped inside. The outer grill doors were shut but the
main heavier inner doors were open. He could see no one except Mohanio
the little boy of Ramjikaka playing with a doll in the main room. He strained
his ears to hear someone singing some bhajan inside, probably in the
kitchen.
That was Parvati, the second wife of Ramjikaka, young and charming.
Mesmerized by the lilting melody Manilal, stood there motionless for some time,
hoping the girl with the mellifluous voice would come out.
‘Bhai is not at home, what do you want?” the tiny frame of Mohaniyo enquired
from within the house. Manilal had nearly forgotten about him.
“Oh, beta, can I come in, please? Where is he?” Manilal hoped the
conversation would flush the woman out in to the front room
‘Baa………’ the little man yelled, without getting up, in the direction of the
kitchen
‘Someone is here at the door”
A hundred bells rang in Manilal’s mind. ‘The little devil understands my
inner thoughts!’
He had no clue as to what that little devil was capable of doing.
‘Yes?’ a lovely woman materialised in front of the man besotted by her
voice. Could a woman be so beautiful?
“Err.. I guess Poojari jee is not at home but I thought ….”, Manilal’s mind
was busy strategising the next move.
It was hard for Manilal to be so close. face to face with the woman he had
fantasised. The little kid, Mohaniyo, kept his gaze fixed on the man, making him
uncomfortable.
Before Manilal could say a word, Mohaniyo sprang up, saying, ‘I know what
you want, give me a moment’
Mohaniyo opened the grill door, bolted out, went to the shrine, kneeled in
front of the figurine and plucked out a burning twig, held it in his hand and
ran back to where the dazed Manilal was. Transfixed and stupefied.
“Here, hold this burning twig in your right hand and circle it around my
Baa’s face three times and you will realise your dream of landing on that bank
job”
Stunned; Manilal eyed the boy suspiciously, how the hell could he read my
mind, of my material and carnal desires..?’
And while taking the burning twig in his hand, Manilal screamed in pain. It
was just too hot to hold and how that boy could hold it in his hand without any
sign of visible burns? Miracle, miracle!”
Unable to comprehend the situation, he obeyed the boy’s command,
mechanically. Taking the twig in his hand, circled it around Parvati and
hastily gave it back to that miracle boy.
‘Do you still want to wait for my papa?’, asked Mohaniyo with an innocent
but authoritative facial expression that was beyond Manilal’s
comprehension.
He shook his head, folded his hand at Mohaniyo and quickly retreated to his
home, looking back not even once, not even at Parvati.
The real miracle was to happen the very next day. Manilal got the job!
A real fantasy story. The picture of Mohaniyo and the description that he was playing with a doll did not match the later miracles and talks he had. Anyway, it is a miracle story, hence ok.
Thanks, Arun. Mohaniyo, the young toddler, will grow up to become a person with supernatural powers of premonition, clairvoyance. So in this early chapters I am preparing the readers for the future events that will unfold. Mohaniyo has a fascination for doll-like figurine of Merbai and while playing with it he develops an affinity for the deity, together with bhajans he sings along with his poojari father in front of the shrine. Remember my short story Merbai nee Dehri? I am lumping together this and the other two short stories ‘Jamna’ and ‘ The Tawaif of Gandevi’ for my mega novel
The picture I have inserted may not exactly correspond to the essence of the story.
Hi Rajendra, you have introduced a mysterious character in the form of a little child. Now we wait for some clarification (khulaasaa) in the future episodes! Yeh dil mange more, as susual.
Thanks, KK. Mohaniyo, the young toddler, will grow up to become a person with supernatural powers of premonition, clairvoyance. So in this early chapters I am preparing the readers for the future events that will unfold. Mohaniyo has a fascination for doll-like figurine of Merbai and while playing with it he develops an affinity for the deity, together with bhajans he sings along with his poojari father in front of the shrine. Remember my short story Merbai nee Dehri? I am lumping together this and the other two short stories ‘Jamna’ and ‘ The Tawaif of Gandevi’ for my mega novel
The picture I have inserted may not exactly correspond to the essence of the story. He is a precocious child showing signs of clairvoyant powers. That is how he is able to talk with authority uncharacteristic of the boys of his age.