“Principal is dead”, Minhaj said.
“Principal? ….. What?”, Shibly exclaimed.
The news was too shocking to both of them. It took some time for them to return to consciousness.
They remained silent for a few minutes. They didn’t know what they had to do. They helplessly passed their time, overwhelmed within the confinements of their own thoughts.
It was true that Shibly was so offended by the way the principal was handling people. The Principal was so strict and dominating.
The Principal thought Shibly was just another bookworm without any practical skills. He told Shibly not to put his nose into administration. The very thought of working under his leadership was a nightmare.
Despite all this, the news of the Principal's demise was unbearable to Shibly.
****
Shibly's Diary
Death has been a concept that human society was afraid of, throughout its long history.
It's not only about our own death. Not only about the death of our loved ones. The very concept of death is frightful on its own.
I should be honest. I should acknowledge the true fact. He was the best principal our school could ever have. There is no doubt.
I can't deny an obvious fact just because I was personally offended by the way he behaved.
"We have to confirm the news first", Minhaj said.
Minhaj called Fahim Sir. He was unreachable.
I tried Rizwan Sir's mobile.
"It is just a rumour. He isn't dead. It's true someone has attacked the principal. I don't know the details. He was severely injured. That was for sure", Rizwan Sir spoke in a hurry.
The news was so relaxing to both of us. The Principal was alive after all, at least, up to this minute. We had room to place some hope.
"He has been taken to hospital. I am on the way to Vijayapura. Be ready. I will come and collect you", Rizwan Sir said.
Within a matter of a few minutes, Rizwan Sir came in a three-wheeler. Minhaj and I got into this three wheeled-vehicle that was heading towards Vijayapura town.
****
All three of us were sitting silently inside the threewheeler.
Rizwan Sir was the first one to break the silence.
"Any news about the attackers, Nana?", Rizwan Sir asked the three-wheeler driver. Three-wheeler drivers often have first-hand information.
"We can't say anything without knowing for sure", the three-wheeler driver said. "Mohideen Hajiyar's name is on the air. God alone knows the best".
Nobody replied.
"Problems occur everywhere. That's normal. But, attacking a teacher is not normal", the three-wheeler driver commented about the incident.
"Most of the teachers in our school are outsiders. Very few teachers are native villagers. When something terrible happens, any outsider would not get ready to serve here. So, who loses at the end of the day? It is us, Marudur people", he said.
"Yes, Nana. You are right. It's very sad", Rizwan sir replied customarily.
No one of them was ready for any serious conversation.
****
Marudur is still a dull village with medieval characteristics, despite its somewhat dense population. When the three-wheeler got closer to Vijayapura, it was like entering a different world, from Marudur.
Vijayapura was economically well developed. In fact, it was an urban centre to many of the small villages and the hamlets in the neighbourhood.
It looked like an excellent sample for the historical Sri Lankan coexistence of different faiths and ethnicity. It was not uncommon to see a Buddhist and Hindu shrine side by side, and a church and a mosque side by side.
There were shopping malls, supermarkets, restaurants and businesses of various nature.
“This is Mohideen Hajiyar’s supermarket, you know, master?”, the three-wheeler driver asked Rizwan Sir, indicating a supermarket.
“Yeah, I know. I have been there”, Rizwan sir said.
Shibly saw the supermarket. Thajudeen Nana had told him about this big shot ‘Mohideen Hajiyar’. Shibly had imagined this person is someone having a small, traditional-looking grocery store.
Shibly had never thought a grocery store could also be a supermarket. He realised that Mohideen Hajiyar must be an immensely powerful man in the village than he thought.
It was the time of sunset.
Roads were blocked with vehicles. Too many vehicles, like in any other Sri Lankan city. The journey was practically stopped.
The three-wheeler driver was well-familiar with the bypassing routes. He wasn’t a decent driver, either. He managed to take them to the government hospital within a fair amount of time, despite heavy road traffic. They had to thank god for reaching alive. It was such a terrible-driving.
They learned that the principal was taken to a private hospital in Vijayapura.
The distance between the government hospital and the private hospital couldn’t be more than half a kilometre. Because of the road traffic, it was likely to take more time.
There didn’t seem to be any by-passing routes. There was a heavy presence of traffic police, as well. So, the three wheeler-driver behaved himself and pretended to be an innocent driver.
Rizwan Sir and others decided to walk as it was taking more time. Within a few minutes, they reached the private hospital where the injured principal had been admitted.
****
Shibly's Diary
There was a crowd of people in front of the nursing home. With my very short stay at Marudur (it was just twenty-four hours), I could sense at the glance that all of them are Marudur natives.
My slightest doubt disappeared, when I saw Fahim Sir, among the crowd.
Do you remember who this Fahim Sir was? He was the forty-five years old teacher who called the Principal ‘Hitler’. His face was tightly shut for any sign of a smile. When he saw us, he smiled, showing his teeth. It wasn’t a real smile. He pretended to smile and started walking in our direction.
I kept silent, leaving Rizwan sir and Minhaj to have the conversation with Fahim sir. Many others joined them. I was too new to Marudur to understand what is actually going on.
‘Two men came on a motorbike and hit him with a cricket bat and flew away. The Principal’s son, Hamzi, and some others have witnessed the attack. There was also a CCTV footage. Attackers could not still be identified”. This was the grasp of their conversation.
****
It was a hot day. Teachers and staff left the school soon after the school got over at 2.00 pm.
“It was the habit of the principal to leave the school premises at last, after everyone left”, Fahim sir said. Moreover, there was an important meeting the next day.
“It was one of his good habits to prepare before speaking in a meeting. I have never seen him speaking in a meeting without preparatory notes”.
Shibly found it strange when he heard all the good qualities of the principal. Someone has to die, at least face near death, for their good character to be acknowledged…! How strange…!
“The principal was working alone this afternoon. Our gatekeeper, Suhail Nana, had gone away to take medicine for his wife”.
These are usual occurrences in Marudur. It was just a village with slow-moving time and a remarkably safe neighbourhood. Security wasn't their primary concern. Sometimes, people sleep at home, especially during summer, leaving their windows opened.
So, none of these things was unusual.
Fahim Sir continued his story. “Finally, around four thirty in the evening, our principal got out of the school and closed the school entrance with his own hands. A motorbike suddenly appeared from a shadow hiding, two men appearing to be youth hit the principal with a cricket bat. Then they escaped through the walking path. They must have gone to Kopiwatta (Coffee-garden)”.
Kopiwatta, literally meaning coffee garden, was the neighbouring village. The path that was connecting a major street in Marudur and the school entrance was an old walking path connecting both Marudur and Coffee-garden. This path had existed since time immemorial.
This was the only path that Coffee-garden had, to access Vijayapura town in the old days. This was the story at least fifty years before. However, later the shortest concrete road was constructed connecting Coffee-garden directly with Vijayapura town.
Soon the walking path lost its significance.
Not many people use the path nowadays. With the passage of time, the connection between both the villages had almost faded away.
People rarely use the path nowadays though, the path still exists. You could ride a motorcycle towards Coffee-garden and Vijayapura on this path, though with some difficulties.
Motorcycle men, who attacked the principal, ran away riding their motorcycle in this path.
“Some people had seen that the principal was being attacked. The Principal’s son, Hamzi also has seen”, Fahim sir said.
It had taken a few seconds for all of them to realise what was actually going on.
“The principal remained bleeding and unconscious”, Fahim Sir said. So the immediate attention was paid to the principal. Only afterwards, efforts were made to capture the culprits. Five or ten minutes had already been wasted before people began to chase culprits.
Some people rode along the walking path. They expected that the culprits would be heading towards Vijayapura. Some others had gone to Vijayapura through the main Marudur route. But the road was so trafficked. They couldn't reach on time.
Both the groups of Marudurians met in Vijayapura. It was so frustrating for them the culprits were not caught red-handed.
“Any Marudurians in Vijayapura got alerted?”, Rizwan Sir asked.
“They were, but, you know, most of them are working in shops. Getting out during busy hours wasn't easy. They had to get permission from their bosses. We all had a few minutes at hand”.
“Were you there with them?”, Minhaj asked.
“I joined them in Vijayapura. Actually, I had come to buy some stuff in Vijayapura when I got the news”.
“There are only two possibilities. Culprits must have gone to either Coffee-garden or Vijayapura. Anybody went chasing them to Coffee-garden?”, Minhaj asked again.
“No. Everyone had an intuition that attackers should have gone to Vijayapura. The question of Coffee-garden never occurred. If they had gone to Coffee-garden, they would have escaped at the very first point. Folks realised the possibility when they were sure the culprits had escaped”.
“Did anyone go to the Coffee-garden afterwards?”
“No?”
“Why?
“Most of the people wanted to go. But, Mohideen Hajiyaar said not to go”.
“So, no one went?”, someone asked in a mocking tone. Fahim sir understood the tone. But, he pretended not.
“Mohideen hajiyar is our village head. We had to listen to him and there must be some wisdom behind what he said. And the reason he said made sense. If the culprits have been caught red-handed, it is a different story. If we try to get into the Coffee-garden as a team in this emotional climax, it might lead us into unforeseen problems. The culprits would have a chance to mobilise many others for their support. We don’t want that. The problem has gone out of hand. So, we responsibly decided to be idle, until Mohideen Hajiyar arrives”.
It made sense to Shibly. In this hour, they can not search for the culprits in a neighbouring village. If any legal problem arised, it would work against them.
They didn’t have the authority to search. Police and law enforcement agencies are there for this duty. It was not sure how far the Coffee-garden villagers would cooperate with them for this matter. The culprits could easily manipulate the situation, to make it a problem between the two villages. So, having been idle at the situation in fact sounded a responsible behaviour. However, many people in the crowd did not take it in this way.
“So, you have acted so responsibly, being idle, ah?”, a man asked in a sarcastic tone and laughed loudly, "everyone knows your responsibility is to protect whom".
((To be continued))
* Characters, events and the places in this story are fictional and a mere product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to real-world events or characters is merely coincidental.
** Viajayapura and Marudur are fictional places
Riza Jaufer
Akurana - Kandy,
Sri Lanka
