I am that man (Part 2)

This is the the continuation of my previous post . . . a translated article from the Malayalam daily, Mathrubhoomi . . . 

 . . . ‘My daughter’s blood were on your hands. It’s a blessing to have kissed them’.

The next day was the 8^th anniversary of Sr. Mariya’s death. Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil initiated the procedure for proclaiming Sr. Rani Maria  a saint in the memorial program.

Sr. Rani Mariya’s family gave it in writing that they have forgiven Mr. Samundar Singh. After a long legal process, Mr. Samundar was released on 22^nd August 2006. The next day, he reached the grave of Sr. Rani at Mirzapur near Udayanagar. He cried loudly in front of the grave. Later, he went to the Nachanbor hillocks, to the place where he had stabbed the nun to death. Later, he reached the convent where Sr. Rani lived, asked the nuns for their forgiveness and had food with them.

Later, Mr. Samundar reached Kerala along with Fr. Sachidanandan, popularly called Swamiachen to visit the place where Sr. Rani Mariya was born. On 20^th January, 2007, in a scene akin to the return of the prodigal son in one of parables of Jesus, with folded hands, he begged forgiveness from the debilitated father of Sr. Mariya, Mr. Pylee and her mother Mrs. Eleeshwa. The elderly couple places their trembling hands on the forehead of their daughter’s murderer and blessed him. Sr. Rani’s siblings and other relatives took good care of him. They had prepared a great feast for him. Mr. Samundar could not bear the goodwill that everyone had towards him. He wept like a baby. Then, he proceeded to bite and injure his hands. Mrs. Eleesha embraced him and urged him not to do so saying, ‘Never, son. We all have forgiven. If you cry, we shall feel sad. Aren’t you also our son?’

It was a tearful sight. Samundar visited Sr. Rani’s parents once more along with Swamiachen.

I saw this Samundar standing with a rose flower in front of Sr. Rani’s grave. Now, Samundar is a farmer. He has cows and buffaloes. Whenever he gets time, he reaches the convent. Sr. Selmi is the Mother Superior in the Sneha Sadan convent. The congregation allowed Sr. Selmi’s request to allow her to serve the same area that her murdered sister served. Whenever Samundar visits the convent, he does not forget to take some fruit or other agricultural produce from his fields for Sr. Selmi.

On February 25^th, 2015, Samundar had brought fruits from his fields as thanksgiving on Sr. Rani’s memorial day.  He fell on the feet of the chief celebrant, Cardinal Mar George Alancherry and asked for forgiveness. Those who came from Pulluvazhy village had started Rani Maria Foundation and Mr. Samundar was the first member.

On asking Mr. Samundar on what he felt now, after he remains silent for some time, he says, ‘Sometimes guilt fills my heart. I feel that it may be better to die. Later, I think. Everything is God’s plan. I’m just an instrument in God’s plan. I’m baptised in the blood of the Sr. Rani. I’ve learnt that if you do good, you’ll be happy and peaceful. I pray in the church and the temple. We’re all brothers. We’re all children of one God.’

He continued, ‘I would like to go back to Pulluvazhy village. Sr. Rani’s mother is not keeping well. I would like to see her. I would like to see my accomplices in the murder to have a change of heart and visit Sr. Rani’s home at Pulluvazhy village. Then, I want to see Sr. Rani beautified. I pray to God for that everyday. That way along with Sr. Rani, I would also be remembered’ . . . Samundar concluded with a mournful smile.

As I returned I told myself – This is also Easter. Not of the Son of God, but of a poor son of man. Where else can one find a better meaning for the word, resurrection? 

I am that man . . .

This is the translation of a news item that was published inthe Malayalam daily ‘Mathrubhoomi’. I thought that the piece was worth anEnglish translation for the benefit of people who do not read or understand Malayalam.

On the occasion of Easter, here is the story of the resurrection of a son of man. This is Mr. Samundar Singh. He stands in front of the tomb of a Malayalee nun, whom he murdered. The author pens the story of the change of heart of Mr. Samundar Singh who hails from Madhya Pradesh after he met him.

His name was Samundar Singh. I met him on the 25^th of February at Mirzapur village in Madhya Pradesh. It was the 20^th anniversary of the death of Sr. Rani Mariya, who hailed from Kerala. He held a rose in his hands and was on his knees praying in front of the grave of Sr. Rani Mariya. His eyes were filled with tears. In between, I saw that his body was trembling. The rose he held in his shivering hands also trembled.

He shivered not because of the late winter chill. The hands that held the rose today was not trembling 20 years back when they stabbed Sr. Rani Mariya 20 years back. It was not one or two stabs, Mr. Samundar Singh’s dagger stabbed Sr. Rani’s body 54 times.

The incident happened on 25^th February 1995. Sr. Rani Mariya, who hailed from Perumbavoor Pulluvazhi in Kerala was killed in the midst of a journey from Udaya Nagar to Indore. After being stabbed multiple times inside the bus, she was thrown out of the bus. As the bus traversed through the remote Nachanbora plateau, Samundar Singh was accompanied by Jeevan Singh and Dharmendra Singh who planned the murder.

The murder of was the ‘prize’ that Sr. Rani Mariya, daughter of Mr. Pylee and Mrs. Eleeshwa of Pulluvazhi Vattalil, who was a Franciscan Clarist nun, received for her social service. Sister Rani taught lessons aimed at self sufficiency to the very poor who were used to dragging the plough along with the bullocks. Most of the villagers were agriculturists who were doomed into poverty by cut throat money-lenders. Sr. Rani empowered them by teaching about loans from the bank and new agricultural practices. She succeeded in organising them into co-operatives and self-help groups. She taught hygiene and sent their children to schools. She held special classes for the women. To those who were dragged into lawsuits by rich landowners, she provided legal help. As a natural course of events, her actions embittered a section of the society which ultimately led to her gruesome murder.

Samundar and his friends were arrested. However, only Samundar was convicted . . . for life imprisonment. Those who schemed with him escaped for lack of evidence. His friends did not care for him. His wife left him. Samundar lived in the Indore Central Jail.

21^st August, 2002 was an unforgettable day in Samundar’s life. It was Rakshabandhan day. A guest came to visit Samundar around 5 pm. It was Sr. Rani’s younger sister, Sr. Selmi. She tied rakhi on the same hands that drove the dagger into her sister’s body, thereby accepting him as her brother. She kissed the hands that shed her sister’s blood. A shaken Samundar held her legs and asked for forgiveness. Crying loudly, he wailed, ‘Forgive, sister . . .forgive me’.

‘I forgave you long time back’, Sr. Selmi told him. ‘God would have forgiven you. You should not give up. We’ve been praying for you everyday’.

After sharing the sweets Sr. Selmi had brought, as Samundar left back to his cell, he was a changed man. The meeting between Sr. Selmi and Samundar was arranged by Fr. Sachidanandan, who devoted his life to the service of the jailed. Sr. Selmi later commented about the occasion as a deep experience of love and forgiveness.

More memorable days were in store for Mr. Samundar. On the 24^th of February, 2003, Sr. Rani Mariya’s mother Mrs. Eleeshwa and brother, Mr. Stephen came to meet Mr. Samundar. Sr. Selmi accompanied them. Mr Samundar burst into tears as Mrs. Eleeshwa kissed his hands and told him, ‘My daughter’s blood were on your hands. It’s a blessing to have kissed them’.

The next day was the 8^th anniversary of Sr. Mariya’s death. Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil informed the audience on . . .  

(I shall continue the translation of the article some other day. It's been quite a busy day. You can read more about the story in other websites . . . 

1. Asianews

2. Wikipedia

3. Indian Express

4. Film: Heart of a murderer)

Barsati's Garden - Roses 7

More and more roses . . . 

Barsati's Garden - Roses 6

Yes, we had quite a lot of roses this year . . .

Long forgotten . . .

Over the last 2 weeks, I've stumbled on some great information about finger-millets. 

Earlier, we only had information about pearl millet being grown in the communities around. However, we were surprised to know that even finger millet was cultivated here a long time ago.

The information came from two sources. 

The first source was a class I took for few people from the community on nutrition. I was narrating about crops which were cultivated earlier which are not done anymore. While I was narrating about millets, one middle aged man asked me whether I knew about samai, kodo and madwa. 

That was music to my ears. As we discussed, it dawned to me that all three millets used to be cultivated before 40-50 years in the communities of our region.  

The second source was one of our staff, who hails from North Eastern Uttar Pradesh who returned after a short visit to Vellore, Tamil Nadu. I had requested him to get us couple of kilograms of finger millet powder as we were finding it difficult to cope with our kids' demand for ragi porridge. 

He brought us the couple of kilograms all the way from Vellore, but also told us that few people cultivate the thing in his native village, about 150 kilometers from here. However, he also told us that the cultivation of the crop was slowly decreasing. 

Later, I had discussion about the crop with few of our retired staff. They all fondly remembered these crops. Further discussions were very similar to those which our team at NJH had with the local villagers. 

Now, we need to take a call on whether it is worth the effort to try to bring back finger millet cultivation in this region. The effort is going to be massive. 

The major hurdles - 

- In Palamu, it was only about 10 years since the local communities stopped madwa farming. Therefore, the memory of cultivation was very much there. Here, I don't think we would find anybody who'll have any knowledge about the cultivation, leave alone having had a taste of the millet. 

- We'll have to bring the seed from elsewhere. 

- We'll have to develop the taste of the local community to eat foodstuff made from madwa. 

The plus points are many - 

- It gives an alternative to the community in their diets

- Considering that there has been much crop losses due to vagaries of the climate, finger millets are a resilient crop. 

- It is poor friendly as it is not dependent on irrigation. 

- Of course, it is much more nutritious than other cereals. 

- It scores over bajra as it can be eaten all the year around. 

The big question remains on whether it would be worth the effort . . . God gave us success in Palamu . . . Requests your prayers as we plan ahead . . .