A Jinn with a Dream

Veenu Sandal Till he was almost fifty four, Ram Chariter lived a contented life in a small village in Bihar. He wasnt rich, ut he had enough fields to feed his family of seven! two aged "arents, a wife whom he loved dearly, and three sons. They had cattle too, and they never had reason to com"lain that #od or life had not een good to them. The sons were o edient, and did as Ram Chariter had envisaged. $%ui""ed with a school education, they got &o s in the city, which was a milestone in the family. 'o ody efore them had ever een a le to get a &o in a town or city. Ram Chariter and his wife waited im"atiently every wee( for the "ostman to arrive and ring them news from their eloved sons. )oon, they egan thin(ing of the time the sons would e married. *e have only one hut, they reasoned, so we must "re"are se"arate huts for our sons and their wives. +t gave Ram Chariter something new he could ta(e u". He collected stones, he collected tim er, ut the ric(s he found were too e,"ensive. +ll ma(e and fire them myself, he decided, and thats when his life changed most une,"ectedly. Dus( was falling, as he lined u" the ric( moulds, when suddenly he felt a weight descend on his ac( and felt some ody reathing down his nec(. A thic( guttural voice informed him that the hut he was thin(ing of uilding wasnt good enough. He must go to town and earn money for it and he must leave the village efore the day on the full moon. Ram Chariter was terrified, ut still managed to stutter and as( %uestions. He learnt that he was dealing with a &inn, who had een a human in this very village many centuries ago. -nfulfilled desires which death hadnt een a le to snuff out remained with him and over time, he too( the sha"e of a &inn. But he had now got tired of floating around on earth. The only way he could rea( away from earth was through fulfillment on the strongest desire he had "ossessed in his life time, and that ha""ened to e the same as Ram Chariters, to uild a good hut. Ram Chariter found over the ne,t few days that getting out of the clutches of a determined &inn was not an easy matter. At an age when most "eo"le retire, Ram Chariter found himself eginning a new career in a city, as a night watchman, all ecause he had to earn enough to uild the (ind of hut a &inn wanted. ./eo"le as( me why + want to wor( at this age,0 he told me, . ut if + tell them its ecause of a &inn who wants a hut, no ody will elieve me.0 +t too( Ram Chariter almost two years of wor( in Delhi to collect the amount of money needed to uild the (ind of hut the &inn wanted. He left the security agency he was wor(ing at and returned to his village, ut was ac( within a month. The &inn was more demanding than efore, and wanted a cemented roof for the hut instead of a "lain wood and thatch one. 1nce again, Ram Chariter collected the money, and once again he returned to the village, and once again he re&oined the security agency. This time, the &inn wanted a water "i"eline instead of a sim"le hand"um" or well. The &inn also wanted an ela orate fencing around the hut. Ram Chariter was ir(ed, ut each time he consoled himself with the thought that in the end, it would e one of his sons who would get a swan(y hut to live in. At last, there came a day when the &inn was satisfied that the hut which had een constructed was his "ass"ort to the ne,t world. Ram Chariter and his wife re&oiced. But that was si, months ago. 'ow, they are des"erately trying to re2esta lish contact with the &inn who has de"arted, ecause they find that they cannot occu"y the hut. They fall ill the moment they enter it and feel so restless in any case that it is not worth staying there. .+t turned out to e a ad argain,0 says Ram Chariter, . ut theres nothing + can do. The &inn got his hut, and +3 All +ve got is heart rea(.0 4