Which caste?

Bank's branch was situated on slope of a scenic hill. It was in a small bazaar comprising of twenty odd shops and houses. The road passing through bazaar went up towards Lansdowne. If one goes downwards on this road then one may head towards Kotdwar. Two mini buses passed through this bazar once in the morning & second time in the afternoon. 

Branch was on ground floor & residence for manager was upstairs. A room, a kitchenette & toilet on the first floor served as the Taj Mahal of the manager. Banking here revolved around pensioners' accounts. During first week branch had 30-40 visitors daily & by the end of the month one or two.   

On the left side of the branch beyond bazaar a group of smaller huts were visible at some distance. These were said to be of Doms who were of lower caste & did hard labour jobs, scavenging of dead animals etc. From this village a Dom named Bhajani worked as a part time employee for cleaning the branch & residence of the manager. Main village with a population of nearly a thousand people, was situated on the slope of the hill about 2-3 hundreds feet further down. In the village government employees had pucca houses & others had huts built with local stones and slates.

It was a small branch and staff comprised of a manager, an officer, a cashier & a peon cum guard. Sharma the only officer in the branch visited his family on weekends about a hundred km away. However during rainy season commuting became difficult in hilly areas & Sharma stayed back. On the weekends we usually had dinner together. 

One Friday evening it was cold & drizzling. Dark clouds threatened with heavy rain. Sharma decided to stay with me for dinner. We were chatting & having a pegs of rum while Sharma was preparing omelets. Somebody knocked at the door below on the ground floor. It was Bhajani soaked in rain with some eggs & grocery items. I asked him to come up & take payment also. I requested Sharma to give a large peg to Bhajani. Sharma looked at Bhajani then towards me & I nodded yes. He poured a large one for Bhajani who by now had squatted on the floor just outside of door. I gave Bhajni my plate with a piece of omelet. Bhajani gulped down the rum quickly and finished off omelet. After that he quietly disappeared in to the rain & darkness. 

Sharma was not happy on sharing the drinks with Bhajani. He gave a long lecture on Bhajani being a Dom & how the likes of him were not to be treated at par with others. After all there were rules & regulations for the Doms in the society. Our religious books have also explained things which must be followed. Otherwise society might collapse. He said 'You will go back to Delhi & we shall be left to deal with these people here everyday. We can not allow this'. Abruptly Sharma left. 

That evening I washed our used plates & glasses including those used by Bhajani. 
   

Hills & Valleys