by Binodini
‘Where are you these days?’
‘I am still at the palace office. One only calls it the palace office, for one day they send me to one place, then I am sent to another place. You have no idea what’s going on, Your Highness. The other time I was asked to go and stay with the queen.’
‘And how is the Lady of Ngangbam?’
‘All right, I suppose she is all right, but these maidens of Ngangbam are all a bit too clever by half.’
‘The Dowager Queen is also a Lady of Ngangbam. If she hears that, you are done for.’
‘But of course, why would Your Highness tell on me. I am just saying so since we are all but one family. And what news of the Saheb?’
‘The Saheb also was ill, he says. We get news from him.’
‘What a dear our Saheb is. There will be no other saheb like him.’
Sanatombi smiled.
‘And my lady Mainu is well?’ he asked, turning to Mainu.
‘Of course, you don’t notice people like us now that you are in the palace office.’
‘No, no, it is nothing like that. … … … Oh, something has come over me remembering the Saheb.’ Not Guilty held his head and sat down. He said, ‘I was really very sad one day. A little bit before the Saheb left I brought his tea and entered his office. The way the Saheb was at his desk with his head bowed! How the Saheb wept that day. That was the very first time I saw the Saheb cry. When I said, “Saheb, I have brought your tea,” he said with his eyes and face all red, “Not Guilty, Sanatombi does not do as I say, Sanatombi does not love me.” Oh, how sad I was. That dear old man, how badly he was treated.’
Sanatombi smiled as she listened to Not Guilty’s story. It was Not Guilty’s conviction that the Saheb was treated very badly by Sanatombi. He continued, ‘If only the two of you had a child. That would be the tops. He would be a princess’s child and could not be the king but how could he have amounted to nothing? The two of you ganged up and did not agree when I said at the time that we should pray to the gods and spirits for a child. He did not believe in it because he speaks another language. But you also went along with anything the other said then.’
Mainu and Sanatombi burst out laughing. One day Not Guilty had brought a witch doctor from who knows where to cast spells for the birth of a child. It would have been all right if only they had come, but Maxwell had been taken aback when Not Guilty had stormed in with all sorts of things, mats and whatnot, that he had bought with his own money, and the witch doctor, wearing his magic herbs, to pray to the stars. Finally, he called Not Guilty aside and gave five rupees for the witch doctor and had him sent away. Sanatombi was quite embarrassed as it really looked like she had set the whole thing up.
After chatting a little, Not Guilty got up to leave and said, ‘I am taking my leave, my lady Mainu. I will come now and then to be of service. Your Highness, when you write to the Saheb please say that Not Guilty asks about him. Please tell him that his servant Not Guilty remembers him night and day, that I offer holy basil leaves for him. How lovable he was. Under which sun and stars shall we see him again? I have not forgotten anything. I was given a new lease of life by the Saheb.’
Not Guilty left talking and wiping at his eyes. As soon as he crossed the gate Mainu doubled up with laughter. Sanatombi also smiled a little.
‘Oh, my goodness, how he came in his orderly’s uniform and all … … … .’ Mainu laughed as she remembered.
It was when Maxwell and Sanatombi had moved into the brick residency at the Konthoujam homestead. This was a house that the Saheb had newly constructed after the British ruled and after the thatched house that Grimwood had lived in had been set on fire by the Meiteis. Maxwell fixed it up a lot. He planted new trees, and flowers, smoothened it all out. An officer brought in droves of convicts to work on the residency.
Mainu had come running in and said to Sanatombi, ‘Your Highness, Not Guilty is among the convicts.’
‘Who is Not Guilty?’
‘The one who was at royal uncle Koireng’s.’
‘Why him?’
‘I don’t know, I went out to gather wild herbs for the hair wash and there he was among the convicts. I was taken by surprise. I would not have known it was him had he not called out to me. He called me first: “My lady Mainu, aren’t you making any tea, how I would love to have some!” Why is he in prison?’
‘Call Ta’Chonjon.’
Chonjon was an old peon of the Saheb.
‘Ta’Chonjon, what is the Saheb doing now?’
‘He is working on some papers, my lady.’
‘There is a man known to me among the convicts—ask him if I can call him and talk to him.’
The Saheb said it would be all right and so Chonjon brought Not Guilty with him into the bungalow. Not Guilty was embarrassed when he saw Sanatombi. It seemed to be mainly on account of his uniform. Sanatombi found out that Not Guilty had been behind bars for about three months because Not Guilty had found some bullets when he was wandering around with his friends. It would have been fine if he had stayed quiet after picking them up. But Not Guilty had taken the bullets around, showing them off to one and all. When word got around, he was hauled up before the Junior Saheb one day.
The Junior Saheb asked, ‘Where are these bullets from?’
Thinking it might be to his advantage, Not Guilty answered, ‘We have a lot of these Martini rifle bullets.’
‘Who are you?’
Not Guilty thought he would scare the Junior Saheb and answered, ‘I am Not Guilty, servant of Crown Prince Koireng.’
They proceeded to interrogate him closely. But what misfortune, for it would have been better if he had simply told the truth. Not Guilty did not give consistent answers to any of the questions asked of him. In the middle of such an important investigation, Not Guilty looked up at the face of the Saheb. As he looked at his red face, his blue eyes and big nose, he burst out laughing. After that there were no more questions, he was marched straight off to jail. Not Guilty wept and said, ‘Your Highness, I did nothing wrong. As Lord Govinda is my witness, I truly merely found the bullets.’
Sanatombi heard these words and said, ‘That son-of-a, how dare that saheb do as he pleases.’
Sanatombi went in to have a word with Maxwell. She came out and said, ‘Not Guilty, you may go now. You have been released. The Saheb has written to the Junior Saheb, he has also written to the jailer.’
Not Guilty prostrated himself in front of Sanatombi and went out weeping.
Mainu came to Sanatombi in the evening and said, ‘Your Highness, Not Guilty was released way back. He is refusing to leave. He went to the jail for a while, and then he came back with his things. He has been sitting with me all this time. He says he will meet Your Highness and then he will leave if he must. Shall I call him in?’
Not Guilty came in. He kowtowed to Sanatombi again and said, ‘Your servant cannot leave the Saheb and Your Highness. I will not go home. Please do not abandon your servant.’ Sanatombi talked with Maxwell. From that day on Not Guilty stayed by Maxwell’s side. Mainu could not forget how he got his uniform the next morning, with white clay marks upon his face, wearing a brass nameplate, Not Guilty gave his first salute to Sanatombi as her peon. She had laughed remembering that. The meddlesome, work-shirking new peon much beloved by the Saheb was called ‘Boss Not Guilty’ by all in the residency. But he cared not a whit. His real name was Tomei.
The royal sons of Chandrakirti, notably Prince Pakasana and Prince Koireng, selected only well-built, tall, strapping men to be on their staff. They did not keep men who were not fit to be in the army. Among Koireng’s men was Yengkokpam Kongyangba from Mayangimphal. He was a champion wrestler. Kongyangba was with Koireng at the time when the rivalry between Pakasana and Koireng was building up during the reign of Surchandra. One day Tomei, his wife’s younger brother who was about twenty years old, came to him and said, ‘Brother-in-law, please take me in to be with Prince Koireng.’
His brother-in-law looked hard at him an
d said, ‘Get out of here, a guy like you cannot be in the employ of the palace.’
‘What’s wrong with me?’
‘How can a puny guy not taller than a hand like you fit in? Didn’t you say you were going to learn the pena, and what’s happened with that?’
‘Who the hell becomes a pena balladeer, people will only look down on you. Would you please arrange for me to stay in the palace?’
‘Go away I said. You will only be a nuisance, go home and go to the fields and join the farmers, you idiot. You’re not getting any taller as it is.’
‘What are you saying? Short people cannot be employed in the palace? There are many short people who go to the royal court.’
‘I am telling you, no. I am saying you cannot. I cannot back you,’ his brother-in-law replied.
Tomei refused to leave. He kept standing there. After a while he said, ‘There is one job in the palace I would like very much, and this one is also all right for short people.’
‘And what job is that?’
‘I want to join the dancers’ council.’
‘You? Get out of here, I am not listening to this any more. The dancers’ council takes in boys between the ages of twelve and sixteen. They have to be good-looking, and have good singing voices. You are none of that.’
‘Just how bad looking am I? As for my voice, didn’t I study the pena? The age thing should be all right, I am so short, we can fudge it here and there.’
Kongyangba’s annoyance knew no bounds. He didn’t like Tomei much. He could never do anything properly. Even though Tomei was his brother-in-law, Kongyangba did not want to bring in a wastrel like him into the palace. He thought it would only discredit him. As his brother-in-law would not take him seriously Tomei went away, close to tears. Kongyangba was also unhappy but there was no choice, one could not do something that would bring disgrace.
About a month later, Tomei came all dressed up. His brother-in-law asked, ‘Where are you coming from?’
‘Brother-in-law, I am now attending the dancers’ council. The teachers have shown me favour, there is no need for you to try on my behalf any more.’ And saying this, he strutted away.
‘Oh well, do a good job then,’ was all his brother-in-law could say. But he did not like the sound of this. He thought, ‘How long is he going to last anyway?’
Kongyangba’s doubts were borne out. One day after Tomei had been attending the dancers’ council for about three or four months, he was arrested for stealing sweet limes from Prince Koireng’s estate. Kongyangba’s shame knew no bounds. Although he had grown up in a village, Kongyangba always conducted himself with great honour. All this time he had been in service to Prince Koireng, he had never even picked up a stray stick of firewood. He lived with great dignity even if he lived under the roof of another. What his brother-in-law Tomei had done today made him almost die of shame.
The dandy Prince Koireng loved flowers and fruits and kept his orchards and gardens beautifully. The orchard behind the house, a flower garden in front. He even got seedlings of foreign flowers and fruits from the residency and had them planted. Koireng loved his orchards. For all the enormous number of lemons and sweet limes on the trees, no one was allowed to touch them until they ripened fully on the branch and were about to drop. Nobody was allowed to pluck them until they had been offered to Lord Govinda. When one spoke of orchards, Prince Koireng’s were held up for their beauty.
For about a month now, the keeper of the orchard had been seeing signs of someone picking fruit from the orchard and eating them. He had been hiding in wait at night but had failed to nab the culprit. He would sometimes come across salt and chillies and rinds of sweet limes on the ground. It was clear that someone was taking salt and chillies into the orchard to eat. That person turned out to be Tomei. Tomei was seized and brought to Koireng by the orchard keeper. Koireng knew Tomei’s brother-in-law was Kongyangba and so he sent for him.
Upon hearing of this matter, Kongyangba leapt at him to strike him without even asking anything. Tomei only survived because Koireng stopped Kongyangba. Koireng asked him for an explanation.
Tomei shook in fear as he answered, ‘Your Highness, I am not guilty at all.’
‘He says he is not guilty even though he has been stealing. I will kill you. Please hand him over to your servant, my lord. I will take care of him,’ Kongyangba said in fury.
‘Wait. Why did you steal my fruit?’
‘Your servant did not steal. I just wanted to eat some. The kids at the dancers’ council said, “Tomei, your brother-in-law is there, why don’t you bring some lemons and sweet limes from His Highness”—and so I plucked some for them. Your servant is not guilty.’
‘Why couldn’t you ask and then pick them, you thief?’
‘I did not steal, I am telling you. Is picking because I wanted to eat some called stealing?’
‘Just listen to him! He is even turning around and challenging me. Didn’t I tell you never to come around here?’
‘What council is he in?’ asked Koireng.
‘I am ashamed to even say this. At first, he came asking to be in your service, Your Highness. I had chased him away. Later, I do not know who he went and talked to.’
‘Oh that, that was Teacher Keipha,’ Tomei interrupted helpfully.
‘Shut up you … … … . He showed up saying he was attending the dancers’ council. I had told him not to come fooling around in our colony. I have no idea when he slipped in to steal. I never saw him coming.’
‘You didn’t want me to come at all so I came when you were not here, didn’t I? Did I also not prepare the tobacco pipe for His Highness?’ Tomei said in his defence.
Koireng said, ‘Well, it seems he is not guilty ever. Call him Not Guilty. Not Guilty, you may stay here.’
He went in after saying this. Fingers itching, Kongyangba managed to box Tomei’s ears.
There was no colony that Not Guilty did not get into or wander in. He went into them all. People also liked him. He did not attend the dancers’ council properly. When he did go, he would prepare tobacco pipes for the teachers, or fool around, but no one considered the transgressions of Not Guilty to be transgressions. But Not Guilty had one big and powerful enemy. Who would look at him with hatred like Tapta the Sprite—his brother-in-law Kongyangba. Tomei said to one and all, ‘That big stupid lunk even thinks of challenging me. He has no idea whom he is up against. If I were to yank my sister away from him he would crumple to the floor.’
But Kongyangba’s troubles when it came to Not Guilty did not end there. In those days, the stables of Prince Koireng and Prince Pakasana were filled with horses. The two horse-loving princes owned the choicest steeds. They kept horses only of the best pedigrees and true colours.
One day Prince Pakasana’s servant scrubbed and brushed a copper polo pony of the highest quality and left it to dry on the bank of the big river. He was only gone for a little while to relieve himself by the river, and the pony was missing when he came back. Then he came across Not Guilty leading the horse, and brought him into the presence of Prince Pakasana. There was also a copper pony that belonged to Prince Koireng and Not Guilty had fetched this horse thinking it was that pony. How he was beaten that day. When he said he was a servant of Koireng he was even branded on his thigh with hot branding irons. Actually, it had not been that long ago when there was a huge dust-up between the servants of Pakasana and the servants of Koireng about a theft of horses. Starting with the alleged theft, and for hiding a pony that belonged to Koireng, two servants of Pakasana were beaten mercilessly by Koireng. In this way, whether at the dove fight, or at the polo ground, there were often incidents of fierce fighting, not just between the masters, but between their servants as well. In the middle of these fights, Pakasana had thought it was deliberate when they came across Not Guilty leading away his horse. That was why Not Guilty was treated very badly. Hearing the news, Koireng himself came on foot and after speaking somewhat harshly to Pakasana brought Not Guilty away. From th
at day on Not Guilty had given over his life to His Highness Lord Koireng.
Today his brother-in-law was no more, his Lord Koireng was no more. Kongyangba died when the foreigners fired at the house of Crown Prince Koireng. That day his hated brother-in-law shook Not Guilty hard to wake him up: ‘Tomei, get up, the sahebs are firing at us.’ Not Guilty hid, bleary-eyed. After a while he came out crawling on his belly, thinking he would at least try to get to the palace, when he came across Kongyangba leaning against the brick wall. Not Guilty said, ‘Why are you sleeping now of all times?’ He prodded him and his brother-in-law’s dead body fell to the ground. How he wept, crying, ‘Brother-in-law, brother-in-law.’ This daft fellow, this garrulous Not Guilty, took many secrets of Koireng to his grave. He hated the sahebs but Not Guilty loved Maxwell. Sanatombi knew this. As he had been to his prince, he was beholden to Maxwell for the rest of his life for releasing him. He remembered it even today.
The Saheb also always said, ‘He is a well-meaning person.’
CHAPTER 12
It had been about two months since the princesses had gone to meet Maxwell but there was no news from the Saheb. Even if she wanted to know, the Dowager Queen, the Lady of Ngangbam, remained silent. She exhibited little of her desire to know anything about it. The Lady of Ngangbam steered the conversation away even if her younger sisters brought up the subject. She was also a little chagrined by their lack of interest. Sanatombi came every now and then but she never once mentioned this matter. Neither did she reveal how the Saheb had brought her on horseback about a month after the meeting. The queen especially did not wish to bring up the matter of the paddy fields with her because Sanatombi had not liked the idea of going to meet the Saheb in the first place. Moreover, the queen had heard about how she had spoken out of turn.
One day, Manikchand really did bring a letter written by the three princesses to be submitted to the Viceroy. It was a letter written in consultation with Haodeijam Cheiteino. Not only was Haodeijam Cheiteino celebrated as a writer but he was a well-connected man, a man of repute. This man, who had been richly rewarded by the Grand Queen Mother, the Lady of Meisnam, for writing the three books, Victory over the Chinese, Victory over Tripura and Khamba and Thoibi, was a very close friend of Manikchand. Manikchand took his counsel very seriously. But when her signing the petition was brought up, Sanatombi said, ‘Let us wait a little. It won’t look very nice for us to do this on our own. Let us also consult the Dowager Queen.’