The Much- Awaited Day! 18th June 1946 (A short-story)

(In the village of Assolna, June 1946)

As the rooster crows at 7a.m, Maria screams at the top of her voice, “It’s already 10a.m. Are you going to sleep the entire day? Oh Flavia? Can you hear me or are you pretending to be asleep? I guess I’ll have to let your brother, Tony accompany me to Margao”. 

Little Flavia, about 8 years of age is woken up by her mother’s constant blackmailing words. Her eyes wide open, she throws the bedsheet aside and runs to the front door to find out if they had really left. 

Stunned and shocked Flavia cannot believe her eyes. Her mother had really left without her. She thinks to herself, “How can they do this to me? I’ve been waiting for this day since forever and all I get is abandonment?” Her wide sparkling eyes begin to shrink in disappointment and tears roll down her pink cheeks as she runs back to her bed sobbing. 

By this time Maria walks along with her son Tony and reaches the village bazaar. There she meets Pedro, the poder who asks excitedly, “Oh Maria! Margao?”  

To this Maria replies with a broad smile and pride in her eyes, “Yes. Today is a very important day. Isn’t it? Our very own Dr. Juliao and Dr. Lohia will be addressing the Goenkars at Margao. I am eager to know what our Baab Juliao and Dr. Lohia have planned for us”. As Pedro happily nods his head and slowly starts paddling, with a basket full of freshly baked hot bread on his bicycle, she continues to walk to the bus stop.

Maria remembers her husband once telling her where exactly to wait for the Margao bus. Just then she hears a man screaming, “Margao! Margao! Margao!”  “It’s coming. The Bus is here” Maria exclaims as she recognizes that it’s the bus conductor. Her son looks at his mother’s face and smiles as if he understood what she had just said. 

Just then Maria spots the blue bus with bright red strips arriving at the bus stop. With Rs.5 in her tightly knotted kerchief, she gets on the bus as instructed by her husband who has been working in Bombay for the past one year. Luckily, she finds herself a seat in the crowded bus and sits comfortably there with her son in her lap.

When the bus crosses the Assolna bridge, the conductor begins to collect the bus fare. Maria who is seated on the third seat of the tiny bus awaits her turn. The conductor squeezes himself in the crowded bus and puts forward his palm expecting the fare. Maria hands him the money and with a proud smile she says, “Margao”. The conductor, on hearing this, feels even prouder!

It was the 18^th of June 1946, the day a meeting was scheduled at Margao under the leadership of two men. One was a Goan, Dr. Juliao Menezes hailing from the village of Assolna and the other was Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, from Akbarpur (present day in Uttar Pradesh). 

Dr. Menezes came in contact with Dr. Lohia at Berlin when the former was pursuing his studies. This friendship grew and when they returned to India, Dr.Lohia visited his friend’s place in Assolna where they planned to take steps against the Portuguese rule in Goa in the form of civil disobedience. 

Both the men had a meeting at Panjim three days back. This was the first time ever that such a large number of Goans came out in big numbers for a meeting and due to this overwhelming response, they had decided to do the same at Margao. 

The people of South Goa were eagerly waiting for the day to arrive as the Goans were sick of the colonial rule and considered it a cancer which they wanted to do away with. And, finally these two men came with a ray of hope.

Flavia had heard her mother conversing over the local phone at the shop in the bazaar about this day, with her father who was in Bombay. Her father encouraged her mother to attend the meeting and claimed that it would be a day we would make history for sure. 

Hearing this Flavia’s jaws dropped in excitement, not knowing exactly what it meant but surely aware that it was something very grand!  Her whole village of Assolna had been talking about it for days, even Santan, the fisherwoman who came early morning to sell fish, was aware of it. And Dr. Juliao being a villager of the same village created a great sense of pride among Assolnakars and they did not want to miss the meeting. 

Maria who had already begun her journey with her 2 years old son, reached Margao. As the bus entered the city, all she saw was people, lots of people gathered around the two great men. They were holding banners and shouting slogans, “Dr Lohia-ki Jai! Dr Julião Menezes-ki-Jai!” And all she could hear is, “Dr Lohia-ki Jai! Dr Julião Menezes-ki-Jai!”

Just then, the slogans hit her ears and she woke up, Flavia saw it all happen before it really did but, in a dream, while her mother, Maria continued to nag, “Flavia, Oh Flavia, we are really leaving without you.” 

Flavia smiled to herself with a sense of relief, she ran in the living room to see the clock hanging opposite the altar. She figured out the time by looking at the hands of the clock as taught by her mother. It was 7a.m still. 

Flavia realised that she had no time to spare and began to get ready for the journey. She had her rice bakri and sipped the hot tea in a hurry as she did not want to miss the big day, in reality!

(A short-story penned by Ms. Fritzell Andy Almeida)