stairs to the terrace and laid Imrat on the cloth mattress, pleased when the child rolled over onto his torn shawl and continued sleeping.
Well, you can imagine how his wife shrieked the next morning when she discovered what Master Mohan had done. As the days passed her rage did not diminish. In fact, it got worse. Each day Master Mohan returned from giving his music lessons in the city to find his wife waiting for him on the doorstep with fresh accusations about the blind boy's insolence, his clumsiness, his greed. She carried her attack into the kitchen when Master Mohan was trying to cook food for himself and Imrat, chasing behind him up the narrow stairwell so that everyone could hear her abuse raging over the rooftops.
When Master Mohan continued to refuse her demand that Imrat be thrown out into the street, Dolly and Babloo triumphantly joined in their mother's battle, complaining they no longer got enough to eat with another mouth sharing their food. In the evenings they placed their gramophone on the very top step of the stone staircase just outside the terrace, so the child could not hear the fragile drone of Master Mohan's tanpura strings giving the key for Imrat's music lesson. They teased Imrat by withholding his sister's letters, sometimes even tearing them up before Master Mohan had returned to the house and was able to read them to the waiting child.
Somehow Master Mohan discovered a strength in himself equal to his family's cruelty to Imrat. He arranged for the child's letters to be left with the paanwallah, and on the rare occasions when he entered the house and found his family gone to visit friends, he gently encouraged Imrat to stop cowering against the walls and become a child again. He would cook some special dish, letting the boy join in the preparations, encouraging him to eat his fill. Then he would take the child onto the roof terrace. After allowing his fingers to play over the strings of his tanpura until he found the note best suited to the boy's range, Master Mohan would ask Imrat to sing.
Hearing the clear notes pierce the night, Master Mohan knew he had been made guardian of something rare, as if his own life until now had only been a purification to ready him for the task of tending this voice for the world.
Then one day the music teacher returned late from giving a music lesson and found his daughter holding Imrat down while his son tried to force pork into the child's mouth. The child's sightless eyes were wide open, tears streaming down his
t
cheeks. For the first time in his life Master Mohan 7
struck his children. "He's only nine years old. How can you torture a child so much younger than yourselves! Get out of this house until you learn civilized behavior!"
With those words war was declared in Master Mohan's household. His wife accused Master Mohan of striking his own children out of preference for a blind beggar, unleashing such furious threats at the child that Master Mohan was worried Imrat would run away.
Mohammed-sahib would not agree to let Imrat live in his house, despite the music teacher's eloquent pleading. As he listened to Mohammed-sahib's elaborate excuses, Master Mohan realized his friend wished to avoid the unpleasantness of dealing with his wife.
"I warned you, Master," the paanwallah said with satisfaction when he heard of Mohammedsahib's response. "That man is just good for free advice. Now there is only one thing to do. Go to the park in the early mornings. Only goats and shepherds will disturb you there. Don't give up, Master. After all, there is a whole world in which to practice, away from the distractions of your house."
So the music teacher woke his young charge before dawn and they boarded the first tram of the morning to reach the great park that is the center of Calcutta city.
When they arrived at the park, Master Mohan led Imrat by the hand between the homeless men and women wrapped in tattered cloths asleep under the great English oaks turning red
Well, you can imagine how his wife shrieked the next morning when she discovered what Master Mohan had done. As the days passed her rage did not diminish. In fact, it got worse. Each day Master Mohan returned from giving his music lessons in the city to find his wife waiting for him on the doorstep with fresh accusations about the blind boy's insolence, his clumsiness, his greed. She carried her attack into the kitchen when Master Mohan was trying to cook food for himself and Imrat, chasing behind him up the narrow stairwell so that everyone could hear her abuse raging over the rooftops.
When Master Mohan continued to refuse her demand that Imrat be thrown out into the street, Dolly and Babloo triumphantly joined in their mother's battle, complaining they no longer got enough to eat with another mouth sharing their food. In the evenings they placed their gramophone on the very top step of the stone staircase just outside the terrace, so the child could not hear the fragile drone of Master Mohan's tanpura strings giving the key for Imrat's music lesson. They teased Imrat by withholding his sister's letters, sometimes even tearing them up before Master Mohan had returned to the house and was able to read them to the waiting child.
Somehow Master Mohan discovered a strength in himself equal to his family's cruelty to Imrat. He arranged for the child's letters to be left with the paanwallah, and on the rare occasions when he entered the house and found his family gone to visit friends, he gently encouraged Imrat to stop cowering against the walls and become a child again. He would cook some special dish, letting the boy join in the preparations, encouraging him to eat his fill. Then he would take the child onto the roof terrace. After allowing his fingers to play over the strings of his tanpura until he found the note best suited to the boy's range, Master Mohan would ask Imrat to sing.
Hearing the clear notes pierce the night, Master Mohan knew he had been made guardian of something rare, as if his own life until now had only been a purification to ready him for the task of tending this voice for the world.
Then one day the music teacher returned late from giving a music lesson and found his daughter holding Imrat down while his son tried to force pork into the child's mouth. The child's sightless eyes were wide open, tears streaming down his
t
cheeks. For the first time in his life Master Mohan 7
struck his children. "He's only nine years old. How can you torture a child so much younger than yourselves! Get out of this house until you learn civilized behavior!"
With those words war was declared in Master Mohan's household. His wife accused Master Mohan of striking his own children out of preference for a blind beggar, unleashing such furious threats at the child that Master Mohan was worried Imrat would run away.
Mohammed-sahib would not agree to let Imrat live in his house, despite the music teacher's eloquent pleading. As he listened to Mohammed-sahib's elaborate excuses, Master Mohan realized his friend wished to avoid the unpleasantness of dealing with his wife.
"I warned you, Master," the paanwallah said with satisfaction when he heard of Mohammedsahib's response. "That man is just good for free advice. Now there is only one thing to do. Go to the park in the early mornings. Only goats and shepherds will disturb you there. Don't give up, Master. After all, there is a whole world in which to practice, away from the distractions of your house."
So the music teacher woke his young charge before dawn and they boarded the first tram of the morning to reach the great park that is the center of Calcutta city.
When they arrived at the park, Master Mohan led Imrat by the hand between the homeless men and women wrapped in tattered cloths asleep under the great English oaks turning red
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