Chapter 3 (Radha or Kali?)

At Radha Mine, Bengal,

A dense crowd gathered around the entrance.

The mass contained somber wives and crying children. A group of Sepoy soldiers had to drive the constantly growing mob away.

Ratika, holding her son Muthee, was trying to reach the front of the mass.

“Bang,” “Keep off!” The sound of crushes and fights among the mob and the Sepoys' scoldings were calming compared to Ratika’s mind.

Soon, from the entrance, there came people wrapped in white clothes. Nobody could know if they were dead or alive, but many of them were in miserable conditions. Some lose legs, while some lose hands. There were people with crushed heads or even bodies. Carrying these poor souls took more than hours. Their respective families took the wounded and the dead. Given no care and no family to take, some succumbed while others rotted.

Piled on a corner were the corpses without families (Especially the African slaves bought from Madagascar). Flies and maggots started to come to these corpses, and smell began to appear. The staff and soldiers would cremate these unfortunate ones soon. One by one, the pile became smaller.

Ratika finally found her husband on the lowest of the hoard. His hand was gone, and big flies surrounded the wounds. Silently, Ratika sat near her lifeless husband, covering her face with a piece of Saree. Even though tears didn’t come, her mind was burning with sadness.

“Da Da, Da Da,” 10 years old Little Muthee was crying near his father’s body. His crying fuelled up Ratika’s fire.

The East India Company(EIC) colonized Bengal in 1767. Since then, Under company rules, the British made arduous efforts in mining. At first, they used African slaves as workers. Then, to cost less, the company raided the nearby villages and forced the residents to work in mines. The villagers couldn’t fight back the Sepoy armies of EIC.

Like others, Ratika’s family was not originally mine workers. The rich green paddy fields of southern Bengal were where her ancestors settled. After the conquest of Bengal, the British bought these fields with fruitful values from the owners and forced the workers like Ratika’s family to work in the Radha mine.

The Radha mine was nothing related to its name. Radha is the first love of Lord Krishna and a symbol of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion.

This mine had nothing in comparison to Devi Radha. The only name that would fit the mine is “Kali,” the owner of death and time, the symbol of fear, and the wreath of Mahadevi.

In the Radha mine, accidents occurred every day. Every month, at least ten workers from thousands were injured or dead. It was because of the careless mistakes of tired workers and the selfish deeds of the engineers who built the mine. Thirty percent of the mine workers were underage, adding more to the trouble.

Ratika’s husband had escaped from the inhumane mine through an accident. But his son, Muthee, had to keep on as a worker. The ten-year-old boy would have to struggle with the dangerous gasses of the mine. Ratika herself would have to live in a 9x9 worker’s room. All she could do was blame Karma and the British.

Only Krishna could save them.

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