BHAGTU

His parents may have named him Bhagat Ram or even  Bhagat Singh , after the great martyr, but  to all of us in the neighbourhood, he was Bhagtu , for short or as an endearment. He was just 12-13 years of age , i.e. 3-4 years older  to me  and worked as a  domestic help  with three bachelor  or  छड़े  officers  working in   AIR, Public Relations and Publicity  Department. , who   shared a spacious flat on the upper storey of  “Colonel ki Kothi”  across a small  playground  . Since his employers were all non fussy, the least demanding sort, Bhagtu had all the time to play with us when we were back from school. He was   from some village in Kangra district, which at that time was a part of Punjab, but later was merged in Himachal Pradesh. He was ever smiling and  his sweet nature had endeared him to all. My mother would look upon him as another of her own  children and would keep aside a share for him whenever, there was something special to eat. As is common with children, once I had a minor scuffle with him during the course of play, or may be perhaps he had unwittingly hit or hurt me . In anger I made some indiscreet remark calling him a naukar or a servant , at which , he ran away  sulkingly.   This earned  me the ire and anger of all  especially my mother and I got a thrashing of my life  and I was made to apologize  to Bhagtu.

For me this was lesson for life, and to this day I  take special care, nor to hurt  anyone, with words or deeds. Even the address ‘tu’  is  only for my wife, my kids & their friends , otherwise it is ‘aap’  irrespective of age or standing. Similarly , all my acquaintances are uncles and aunties for my kids , whom they greet with folded hands.