Fanaticism's Prey

Jigar came to our house frequently during my school days. He was a mason by profession. Any major construction or a even minor repair work, he was the only person who was called. He used to sit at the corner of the floor bowing down his head. Keeping the head down was a part of his personality.We usually chatted with him at the tea time or any gap from the work.The possessed a mild behavior, above all he was abundantly tolerant. I didn’t see even a line of frowning on his face despite provocation. In off hours, when we sat around my elder brother teased him. Though we all shared a light. He said-you are foolish, you are idiot etc. Jigar’s instant response was not more than JI…(it is a word which shows approval  in Hindi.).All of us burst into laughter just after his reply.His simplicity and innocence was admirable. These qualities make him just UNFORGETTABLE. Even now he is remembered at times during any conversation.We also a nice fun time too. We asked him if he knew English. His immediate response was YES. For a fun, we often persuaded Jigar to speak English. He started speaking English boldly PAST INDEFINITE,PAST IMPERFECT, PAST PERFECT…..BEETA HUA ZAMANA…GUZRA HUA ZAMANA….AB KAL AANA (time passed, now come tomorrow).Seeing us laughing he also accompanied us. We enjoyed his company a lot. Meanwhile he lost his mental balance. He used to wander here and there after this state of mind.Despite his mental state he often came to our house. We made him waiting in our house and sent message to his  by any means. In the meantime, the communal riot broke out in October 1989. During that period one fateful day arrive when a fanatic mob lynched him. Killing an insane person cannot be matter of bravery, but a huge blot on humanity. It cannot be glorified by any means. It just compels one to think the humanity is fading day by day.