INCIDENT WITH A MISSIONARY
It happened one day that while our men had assembled at the foot of the Parvati before our arrival there, they saw a native missionary accompanied by a friend passing by. One of them had a double-barrelled gun in his hand. Taking the men to be pervert, our boys began to jeer at him. But they, through fright, took no notice of the jeers and went their way. When we two brothers came there afterwards we were informed of the incident, when we censured the boys for what they had done and advised them not to embroil themselves with any one without any reason. After giving this advice we started to return to the city in batches as usual. We both of us, accompanied by two or four boys used to start after all had left. While we were on our way back into the city as usual, we saw coming from the opposite direction along the bank of the Parvati tank, the two men who had been jeered at by our boys. On catching sight of them, our companions showed us by signs that these were the same men. They too recognised our companions, and with a view to pick a quarrel with us, seeing that our number was small at the time, demanded of us why we were abusing them. Thereupon, although the fault lay primarily with our boys, we took their side thinking that they had been (sufficiently) censured in secret and that it would be undignified on our part to remain aloof at this time, though our party was in the wrong.
We, therefore, addressed the (two) men as follows: —" Sir, (sic) go your way quietly. How could we be abusing you now, when we were not speaking about you at all ?" An altercation then took place between us, but it would be out of place to describe it here. In the end, they challenged us to dare to go to the hill the next day if we were true Brahmins. We retorted that we were always in the habit of going there, but if they were genuine perverts, they should dare to go there the next day. Such were the hot words exchanged between us. The next was a Sunday.
Having assembled all the members (of the club) at 2 p.m., we exhorted them not to flinch, as that was but an ordinary occasion on which their progress in the art which they had been learning was to be put to the test. After this exhortation, I explained what tactics were to be adopted. Four boys of insinuating and polite address were stationed at the principal post in the vicinity of the Maruti, with instructions to resort to conciliation alone and to send the men away. The rest of the boys were kept concealed in hollows and depressions of the ground, with orders not to make use of their slings as far as posible. At the most they were to throw stones with their hands, but they were not to show their slings. We took this precaution because we did not wish to make it known that we were practised slingers. Having issued detailed instructions as to which batch was first to attack our opponents if they voluntarily showed an inclination to fight, and as to the order and manner in which the other batches were to follow in the onset if the first batch was repulsed, we both of us, dressed like gentlemen, seated ourselves at some distance at a place from which we could clearly see all the operations. Our object in so doing was to intervene in the fight, posing as gentlemen, immediately after (our opponents) had received a thrashing, and to put stop to the quarrel by exhortations to both the parties. For, as we had to pass many days in that place, it was not desirable in our interests that any serious mishap should occur to our opponents. It was for this end in view that we resorted to this mild course of action.
Having made the above preparations we waited (for our opponents). They, however, did not turn up even until nightfall. At last, the three boys whom we had posted on the road as scouts came in and informed us that those men, who had four Mussalmans with them had been frightened away at the sight of our position. Hearing this, we returned to our respective homes. Then in order to avoid a repetition of such troubles, we strictly forbade our boys from needlessly interfering with other people.
THE EUROPEANS SCARED AWAY
After this, two Europeans came for a stroll along the canal, when even we ourselves lost our self-control on seeing them, and urged our men to attack them. But as they were at a considerable distance from us none of our stones struck them, but as the stones fell near them, they took fright and ran away. We heard afterwards that a short time after this an English newspaper, called the Deccan Herald, published a complaint against our club.
Some reformers (too) used to come for exercise in the open air to that part of the town. We had taken care to know all about the reformers as we looked upon them as our implacable enemies. We know the names of all of them, but I need not pollute this memoir by mentioning them in this place. We used to come across these irreligious reformers during our strolls in the city, and the members (of the club) were fully at liberty to jeer pt them. After this state of things had continued for some time, the reformers got vexed and suggested to the Police, through the medium of the Dnyan Prakash, to put a stop to the doings of the urchins. When this complaint appeared in that newspaper, we had an apprehension that our satisfaction might perhaps receive a check from that quarter.
A STRANGER WAS STRUCK
While such anxious thoughts were engaging our minds, the abovementioned auspicious day
for the consecration of the Maruti arrived. On the preceding day all the members (of the club) were
in high spirits. The work of building a shrine was in progress by using the water of the canal just
below, and a pole having been fastened to the nim tree beneath which the shrine of Maruti was
built, it was surmounted by a big banner of red-ochre colour. On that banner were written the
following words :—
“Better to stick to our own religion until the end ;
the religion of others is full of peril. May Gophnys Maruti triumph.”
Many of the boys were practising sling exercise, and everybody was in a joyful mood, when, as God would have it, I was informed all of a sudden that one of the passers-by had been hit by a stone. Thereupon we both of us went to the place and found that he was, in his exasperation, pouring forth a torrent of abuse. We went up to him and tried to pacify him. We also promptly treated (his wound) with the drugs in our possession. But the man was inexorable, and left us with a threat to report the matter to the Police. Having guessed that the man would have to go into the city before he could give information to the Police, we determined to leave the place within that interval.
CAUGHT BY THE POLICE AND LET OFF
So we sent away the boys by different routes as usual. First of all we sent away all the slings with a boy. We left last of all with some boys, but were soon arrested by the Police. I said to the Police sepoy, " We did not strike him with the stone. If the fact that I treated his wound constitutes any offence on my part, then there is no help in the matter. I had gone there to take a stroll with no particular object in view, when, having, heard some noise, I went to see what the matter was, and finding this man wounded I benevolently treated his wound in the manner I knew, and that has landed me in this trouble." The sepoy then asked me to point out the boy who had hurled the stone, so that he may arrest him. But as I did not like to see a boy of tender age given in charge of the Police, I offered to go with the sepoy to the Faraskhana. While on our way, I flattered the sepoy in various ways, when he remarked that as a complaint had been lodged, he was helpless in the matter and was bound to take me (to the Faraskhana).
I then turned to the boy (who had lodged the complaint), and reminding him of the fact that he was a Brahmin by caste, pointed out that the wound which he had received not being of a serious nature could be healed in a day or two. It was in consequence of the use of the three expedients, namely, conciliation bribery and discord, that the boy (relented and) told the sepoy to let us go, as he wished to withdraw his complaint. The sepoy, however, now assumed an air of self-importance and declared that it was not in his power to let go a culprit whom he had once arrested. I thereupon eulogised him again, when he said that he would ask the complainant’s father whether he would like to have the complaint withdrawn. I felt much relieved at these words of his, because Brahmins being always very considerate, (I was hopeful that) he (complainant’s father) would pay some attention to what I intended to say. I, therefore, went to his house. The surname of this man is Sathe, and he resides in the Jogeshwari’s Bol. On going to his house I told him that I did not know who had thrown the stone (at his son) and that I had merely treated the wound. Hearing this, that amiable gentleman at once told the sepoy that he had no complaint to make against me. The sepoy, therefore, could not do anything more and so he went away. I was overjoyed to see that we had got out of the clutches of the Police in a very ingenious manner. For we had made it a point of honour not to get into their clutches. It was our fixed resolve not to have our names in their books.
After this, we gratefully praised Gophnya Maruti for rescuing us from the above-mentioned danger. We, however, postponed the consecration ceremony which was to take place the next day. Having determined not to use again a locality which had been polluted by the Police, we informed ell the members (of our club) that we had given up the place. When all of them came to know of this Police affair, many of them became frightened and severed their connection with our club.