The dark night, fire, and somersault

This was the time when our street had only two streetlights and there were rumours about witches, who roamed about the streets at midnight and wreaked havoc on anyone who faced them. The cynosure of our street was a temple and an upper primary school with a patch of narrow road sandwiched between them.

In the evening, when the lights of the temple were switched off, the entire area used to turn pitch dark. That was the time for open defecation for few families. A particular family used the gutter beside the compound wall of the school as their toilet and created unhygienic conditions in the street. They used early hours between 3:30 am. to 4:30 a.m. when the entire street was in their deepest slumber.

Now introducing Bula Bhai, the protagonist of this episode, a fitness freak, and an early riser. He was the spinal cord of the mini gymnasium nearby the temple. Every morning, on his way to the gymnasium, he used to feel disgusted with obnoxious odour and human excreta and decided to find the culprit.

One fine day, early morning at 3:30 a.m., Bula Bhai with four of his gym buddies, met in front of his house. Few minutes later, two persons came out from Tanka Babu's house, holding aluminum lotas and squatted adjacent to the gutter. Bula Bhai turned furious, he took out a small pack of incense sticks and a matchbox from his pocket and lighted, put the incense sticks in the mouth from the non-lit side, with a quick somersault turned upside down, and walked towards the school with his hands. As his fit body neared, a screeching sound was audible as the squatted people ran to their house.

The same day there was gossip in the street, that our street was attacked by a witch with a huge fire in the mouth and had a stature of 15 feet. Bula Bhai's mother too warned him not to go for exercise early.

The street and the gutter adjacent to the school seemed to be clean for few days. After around three weeks, again the old routine of open defecation resumed. Bula Bhai, too, repeated the same action. Tanka Babu's family appeared to be unhappy.

The next month when the same thing repeated, this time the story changed a bit, as one of the fellows from the gym, turned out to be a stool pigeon and informed Tanka Babu, that it was not the witch but Bula Bhai, who scares them. Tanka Babu used to be a petty politician, after listening to the information, he was extraordinarily relaxed and waited for the moment to catch Bula Bhai red-handed. It was early hours of a Saturday, around 3:40 a.m., Tanka Babu's family members were on their mission . They saw someone, coming upside down, having a fire in the mouth and marching towards them. They stood up with the stick and yelled "Arey Bula, come here, we will give you left and right." But the fire seemed to be larger, and it came jumping towards them by somersaulting with a delighted cackle. Tanka Babu's family members ran for their lives desperately.

Around 11 a.m., Tanka Babu with two of his followers reached Bula Bhai's house, summoned his mother, and complained that she should control his son as he scared his daughter, as she was out of home due to some indigestion issues. By this time two neighbours too joined the gathering. Bula Bhai's mother with confusion in her demeanour replied, "How Bula can do this, he left for his uncle's house on Thursday and will return next Tuesday." The neighbours too seconded her statement.

The next morning, a conical heap of sand and a cubical heap of bricks was noticeable in front of Tanka Babu's house, as he was constructing a septic latrine.

As Bula Bhai returned, his mother never allowed him for gymnasium before sunrise. The gutter adjacent to the school compound seemed to be clean and the municipality too installed another streetlight nearby.