Chapter 9 (Radha Putrah)

At the worker’s place in Radha Mine,

Everyone was in a struggle. The sepoys were capturing the child workers like animals.

The sound of parents’ strugglings, sepoys’ beatings, and children’s cries repeated like an apocalypse. The sepoys caught and restrained as many kids as they could. Parents couldn’t ask the reason. “Master Ji’s order,” were the repeated replies of the sepoys. The funny thing was the Bengali Sepoys were catching Bengali children because of an order from a British “Master,”

The Sepoys tied the children with ropes and took them to a field like cows. The parents gathered around the scene. The sepoys made barricades to prevent them from coming.

One brave parent ran through the blockage because of grief. And the sepoy shot that parent in the head to scare the others. That unfortunate victim was Ratika. The parents were frightened and the children cried after hearing the gunshot. Little Muthee in the field was speechless to see his mother’s demise. The children's cries filled the scene.

“Bang,” “Shawmp,” “Quiet!”

The sepoys yelled while beating the children with whips. The whip hit the faces and arms of the children.

“Find the one who laughed Yesterday,” The Master, Mr. Gratville, ordered the sepoys. Yesterday’s incident embarrassed the Master. “These miserable creatures wanted to revolt,” The Master thought. He was determined to show the company’s power by punishing the child workers (who started laughing) as an example.

Most of the time in the colonial era, some British bureaucrats tended to think of themselves as Maharajas and did as they wanted because there were no higher officials to control them.

The sepoys beat and kicked the children, asking, “Who started laughing,” Children could only cry. The parents could do nothing due to their fright of guns. At this time of struggle, Muthee made a serious decision.

He stood up and said, “I am the starter of laughter,” Muthee had to yell for the sepoys to hear him. The sepoy grabbed him by the arms and took him to the Master. Mr. Gratville grabbed his pistol and said,

“You, little abomination, haven’t your parents taught you to behave well,”

“My father has died due to the accident, and it was my mother whom your sepoys shot dead,”

The brave reply and behavior of the boy shocked and angered the Master.

“Why did you laugh?”

“You are funny. What more fun is how fragile ones like you could enslave us,”

The boy bravely said. His words ashamed the Master and his servants. The Bengali sepoys, standing at attention near the Master, didn’t know what to shame. People were amazed by Little Muthee’s actions. Even the little god (Deav) who arrived in time was ashamed of himself for the boy’s bravery. For what boy should he bless except this little boy?

Angrily, Mr. Gravtille aimed the boy’s chest with his pistol.

A skinny, dark-skinned boy bravely stood at the gun tip of the fat white Master. The unashamed sepoys still stood at attention. The master pulled the trigger.

Just then, a strong wind blew, causing the gun in Gratville’s hand to fall. The wind shooked big trees from their roots.

The nearby forest was yelling loudly by the wind. Sands covered the whole scene.

“Stop standing! Go! Fight!”

Like a lion’s roar, a boy’s voice appeared from nowhere. The parents and the workers grabbed the weapons from nearby sepoys and began their attacks. The wind-blown sand couldn’t stop the workers from the darkness.

Mr. Gratville’s greatest fear was happening. The workers were revolting. He shot his pistol randomly but shot the sepoys instead of the workers.

Within a few minutes, the battle was over, and the results appeared. Sepoys layed on the ground, and the master, Mr. Gratville, found himself surrounded by a group of workers. Their eyes were flaming red. The Master couldn’t think of getting killed by miserable workers. With the last bullet in his pistol, he took his own life.

The aftermath

After the revolution, the workers went into the nearby forest. When the army of sepoys from Calcutta (Kolkata) searched the place, they found no traces of the workers. The revolting workers formed a secret organization called “Radha Putrah,” A.K.A “The sons of Radha,” When Little Muthee grew up, he became a leader in that organization. The Radha Putrah organization secretly worked for the independence of Bengal and later, the whole India.