Branded Thief

By R.M. Verma

A psychological novel that life and deeds of a man do not match always. A compromise between the two is predictable and illustrated in the book. A psychopath’s life transformation journey!

Dr R.M.Verma, author of the novel titled Branded Thief has been a Clinical Psychologist for more than two decades now. He has also been associated with teaching psychology in the universities of India and Abroad. He had teaching assignments in University of London, Surrey & Antioch International University of America. With his training and post-doctoral research in Clinical Psychology, University of London, England Dr Verma practised in the National Health Services of the United Kingdom as a Principal Clinical Psychologist before coming over to practice in India. He also studied his trade by visiting institutions of excellence in America and the continent of Europe, as well as other countries. His researches in the field have been widely acclaimed.

Zero Meridian was his first fiction in English. Published in May 2011 by Vanguard Press, an imprint of Pegasus Elliot MacKenzie Publishers Ltd, Sheraton House Castle Park, Cambridge, England.

He has authored six books and research papers on clinical psychology, including a novel in Hindi, which have been published and received well by his fraternity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Diamond Books
• Release date: Jun 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9788128835513

Book preview

1

The vast expanse of nothing looked like an endless end, except the shadow of a lone palm tree. The tree neither bore fruit nor provided shadow and seldom attracted a human being. Occasionally, some non-human species with abode in the sky floated over for a transient stay. Down below was the arid land with no greenery which added to the mirage of the sun shine. It was not an uncanny coincidence that RK passed through that area on a train which he had done a few times since he was a kid (eighty) years ago. The time span he had passed over was long rather too long for this trip.

On the other side of the railway track, the empty expanse was also very wide, stretched too far and was hedged by the dark shadow of trees and drowning sky. The train ran between the two divides carrying along RK. Mr. RK’s habitual dreams were engrossed in jostling with the journey’s speed and racing thoughts. The journey, however, was not first time journey, he had done it a few times when he was young. This journey was seemingly different. The train’s coach was different-air-conditioning, full-berth, attached toilet and other amenities were very different from what he was used to, in his younger days.

The trip down the memory lane had always fascinated some people, RK was one of them. At this stage of his life the memories of the past were like a treasure trove for his constant source of inspirations. The long strip of boring space was filled with dreams of past events unlike the journeys of the younger days. Things started reeling off like a film strip. SR and his history loomed large on this mental screen.

RK’s musings made him more confused when he heard the opinions of people, learned and common alike that the history is by gone and past. He thought it was living and kicking as good as ever, the vast gap got smaller and the dim picture appeared brighter. RK suddenly and ceremoniously got the image of SR, a vital member of the trio group in a village. The village was as rustic as one could imagine. For a second he lost himself with the imageries of plain, simple and unsophisticated habitation, close to serene primitive ambiance. A few elite families in the village lived in one corner area. RK, SR and RM grew up in this culture with no awareness of the vast and varied world with veritable sociological milieu.

The trio was very closely bonded. They behaved like relatives as well as friends. One late evening there was much of commotions and shouting in the neighbourhood. The neighbourhood was like strip of posh colony extended out of rustic backward village. There was a school building nearby which attracted enlightened people of the area. Any social stir got magnified there. One night, two men seemed dragging SR’s mother and she, on her part, was making noises. The situation was dubious and menacing and beyond comprehension for RK.

Much later RK heard the gossip of older women and a man relating to that ugly incident. SR’s mother had abandoned her home which was two three miles away from this village. She was a pretty woman of a very high Hindu caste. The family of such caste was extremely conservative. The modus operandi in living was dictated by religious scriptures. Rigid caste structure determined the social hierarchy. Unlike today in post medieval age the caste hierarchy was water-tight. Some of the superior castes were to be treated as godly. Religious practices were their monopoly as if they were pious and superior human beings. SR’s mother joined the family as a bride. She was a very pretty girl to look at. Her husband was a young man who had just crossed his adolescence stage. In those days early marriages were religious requisites and the couple was bound with conjugal knot.

The Hindu family life of superior order was very rigorous and strict. SR’s mother had to work very hard on the domestic front. Being the youngest member of the family, the work load was very demanding and members treated her as family servant. The routine house-hold chores were so absorbing that she could hardly find time to have a glimpse of the outside world. By the evening she found herself exhausted and done with. Young husband was just an immature lad not very competent to bestow love and romance on his young deserving wife, the course of life was extremely monotonous.

As ill luck would have it her husband was taken ill. With the passage of time his illness became serious and complicated. The indigenous management of his illness went from bad to worse and broke the family into pieces. Destiny was so cruel that the poor girl became a living dead. She had to spend sleepless nights for nursing her husband. The icy hand of death could not melt despite doting devotion.

The mountain of miseries fell upon SR’s mother and she was pushed into torturous life stream. She was imposed so many restrictions-could not eat this, could not eat that, could not dress up gaudily in order to avoid attention of the onlooker, particularly of the young folks, could not talk to outsiders, could not participate in amusements etc. the living was full of don’ts. That’s how the young widows of the upper Hindu caste survived. It may sound preposterous to a modern man, but that was the reality. However, she was allowed to observe and perform rituals without constraint.

Time winged chariot moved fast and a non-negotiable turning in her life came round. One of the older brothers of her husband started taking interest in her. He felt so much for the lady and thought that such a charming youth was being wasted. Although the brother was married but he developed fancy for her and felt good. The lady could not imagine such gesture from him and did not show any reaction. Eyes met and turned into stare and lids covered them up after a while.

The family members except the older brother had to go for a couple of days to a relatives place in order to attend a religious ceremony. The day rolled by followed by a soothing moonlit night. It was breezier all round right under the open sky. Little before the midnight the Heaven descended on earth. The brother-in-law and the woman were together as two-in-one in bed. The quiet and reserve court-yard was the only witness to this heavenly bliss. The depth of delight was immense. They forgot for a moment where they were and what were they doing. The following morning brought the world of change in both the partners.

The new chapter of life was about to begin with the day-break. The man went about his daily dos and the woman endeavored to forget the event. She embarked upon the activities absent-mindedly, wishing to forget what had happened. Unfortunately, the more she wanted to shun the idea, the more often that intruded. The evening stalked in and the house resounded with voices of the family members who returned after their excursion. The old order was restored and everyone was up and about with smile on his and her face.

It was late night when members in the family got lost in their dreams except the woman. She was tossing and turning in the bed without a wink of sleep. Further, the man concerned had not returned yet. Perhaps, he had gone on business to a distant village and was not schedule to return that night. Being a joint family, his family did not miss him and other members’ especially older members shouldered their responsibilities perfectly alright. The woman, however, felt insecure for no special reason. While working with the domestic requirements she often paused and looked outside as if she was expecting some one.

The widowhood was a curse for a young girl particularly in the upper caste Hindu family those days. Limited dos and unlimited don’t circumscribed the course of living of those widows. The women were treated as sinners in the surroundings. The impact of religion was so severe that the person appeared as an animated toy. The code of conduct of this caste-group was so defined that a modern man will be dismayed and mystified to find those conditions of living. Whether it was living or living dead, breathing in the whirl-pool of miseries, was not the concern of the casteists.

The situation became worse when the woman after two months started feeling peculiar and getting unwell frequently. However, the man behaved as if nothing had happened. Sooner than expected the woman got the hang of it and accepted that she was carrying. Lo and behold she landed on the marshy land. Joy and sorrow, both, eclipsed her life. Happiness abounded because she was going to be a mother, acquire priceless possession, and sadness because the mountain of miseries might bury her down soon. What a life she whispered to herself such a mighty upheaval was in the offing, family members were unaware of. They behaved as if things were normal.

The time and tide stop for none, and move leaving behind devastation. The man had to go for some business out of the village. The woman found herself in a precarious situation. All kinds of morning sickness of pregnancy possessed her. First, she dismissed everything as a part of superstition, but later succumbed to that. She would not share the plight with anyone else. The embarrassment was so intense that the woman’s agony turned indelible. In the day-time she absorbed herself with chores, although with occasional heart throbbing, but the nights were horrific and dreadful more often than not bringing shivers in her spine.

The family members of the lady were intrigued by her demeanor and losing health. By now she was sure of her conditions and plights. She dared not to speak about the state of affairs to any one, whereas, she urgently needed extra-care of her health. Outside help became inevitable. Life became a burden on her especially when two souls were to be saved. Nobody helped her in a large family and she was fallen ill.

The widow could not escape people’s eyes and the news spread like fire in the woods. Her illness invited uncalled for visitors with the result that she became a bundle of scandal. It was so hard for the family to cope with. However the mystery shrouding the happening thickened all the more. After all how did it happen? The tongue twisters remarked. The widow was never known to be out going especially after the death of her husband. She was not free to walk or stroll across the boundaries of her house. She did not receive male visitors either. The other members of the family were married except children. The neighbours enjoyed fabricating stories.

The elders in the widow’s family hated her. She deserved no sympathy from anyone. She was a sinner and must die as her deed, according to them, was beyond punishment. The woman, on the other hand, did not give up and vowed to bear everything to live for to save her baby. She went through the physical and mental torture grudgingly. She never believed that she had done wrong and God was punishing her. Though late, older women evinced interest in her and started helping her with no knowledge of the male-members. They thought that the wrong was wrong, but it could be right, too. Some women with the passage of time and watching her conditions developed soft-corner for her and began helping her.

With all that arduous living the widow completed the full-term of her pregnancy and gave birth to a male child. The boy was so charming and gracious that any viewer could not resist praising him. It was quite a site. The mother felt proud of her acquisition and forgot all her miseries. Gradually, the family developed liking for the boy and not his mother. However, the mother hoped that the child will foster union in the broken home. With the passage of time the fissure got enlarged and the woman felt estranged all the more. The family made a departure from its tradition and got into disharmony. Nobody knew what the destiny had in store for anyone.

The SR’s mother decided not to put up with the hellish conditions of living. For trivialities family members quarreled. Personal feuds culminated into family war, some time. At times violence erupted and the poor woman watched as a bystander. Many times she found herself receiving the gamut of anger of the members for no fault of her own and the hapless became helpless and stood still. Sometimes she would sob holding her child in her lap. In her view the economic pressure was taking its toll. The family was on the verge of disintegration and she was in no position to save it. She thought that a crucial point in her life had come and she must take a drastic decision.

One event she could not afford to forget was that her so-called lover’s relative was violent and pushed her down. This he did in order to please his wife. Meddling with the affairs of other he involved his wife and this triggered the widowed brother’s wife’s acrimony. That was it and the widow broke down and left home with her child for an unknown destination with rising rage she walked away through pitched darkness.

She trudged relentlessly till she reached the door step of a village temple. She paused for a while and decided to spend the night under the shadow of God. The child in her lap went off to sleep, but the woman kept wide awake.

Next morning with the rising sun the woman found herself on heels and followed the direction of the path way without knowledge of its goal. On and on she made to a village not far away from the temple. The village was unlike hers. She got the feeling that she was not unwelcome. She looked around and found a middle-aged woman coming out of the door. Good luck she felt and experienced a sort of vibration, congeal to her. She imagined that the other lady had similar vibrations. The other lady could not resist her curiosity and put a direct question as to who she was and what did she want. The answer numbed the lady down, when the woman mentioned that she was an upper caste Hindu and was looking for a domestic job. She further added that she had been widowed recently and got into economic difficulties.

SR’s mother won acceptance and was treated very sympathetically. She was offered a corner room in the house and she gladly accepted the offer. She thanked her star and expressed deep sense of gratitude. However, fending for life was still hanging in the balance. Other women from the neighbourhood popped in and gave audience to her. The village was a happy village and so were the villagers. A sizeable number of people from the village served and worked outside the village keeping their families behind. Since those were the days of joint family system a large number of emigrant workers kept their roots in villages intact. The rural culture was predominantly visible.

* * *

2

The village in question was relatively posh in comparison with the other neighbouring villages. There were educated people, better off, economically. There was a school in the village which attracted enlightened individuals. There was no turmoil. Peace and tranquility prevailed. SR’s mother did not find it difficult to get domestic jobs and make her living. She worked for a few homes and won friendship with other families. By now she lost all ties with her original family and breathed a sigh of relief in her life. Gradually she was accepted as a co-villager and not a stranger. This was the time she felt as her own self.

The family members of her village forgot about her existence and never bothered to establish contact with her. At the new home she felt good and started relating herself with the understanding landlady. They got on well together. As a matter of fact the landlady used to live on her own. Her husband served at a different place and used to visit regularly especially on festive occasions. She used to live like other women in the village whose husbands were working at other places. Of course, young children gave them company. This was the situation in the widow’s new home. The landlady lived with her grandson in a big house and the company of the widow and her son proved boon for her.

The woman was very protective and did not allow her son to play freely with other children of the village. They could play near home and were not permitted to go beyond reach. She was apprehensive that her relatives might take him away. As a precaution she took him along to her work place. The boy was happy in those conditions because he found other children to play with while his mother performed her duties. On her part, she never felt shy in doing household work even menial one, although she belonged to a superior caste and class. She was a very courageous woman and had experienced odds of group interactions.

Rural settings are different from the urban one. In those days the difference was more acute than today. The living conditions were frugal. Simple living was considered virtues. SR’s mother fitted very well in the framework. Her only mission and ambition was to become the mother of a rich and powerful man. She could do any kind of job to fulfill her ambition. Luckily she had come to the village where obstacles in her pathway were minimal. She had found a congenial shelter and amicable atmosphere. The belief was that with the propitious opportunities, individuals flourished. SR’s mother found herself lucky to find such a place. People were nice and kind and above all, there was a school in the locality.

The noisy event of the dark night that happened some time ago was a singular occasion when the widow was approached by her relatives of the original village. They were trying to take the child back with them. The widow fought tooth and nail to prevent that from happening. That was the first and last of occurrences. However, the memory of the event was embarrassing. Although she still remembered, the neighbours forgot all about that. By now, the child grew up and the bond got strengthened between them all the more. The villagers were not sorry to have them in the village.

One fine morning when she visited her work place, she found women folks engaged in discussing something aloud. She joined her employers and found out that all the commotions were about the impending religious festival. In those days such activities were associated with spirituality. For middle class people those functions were symbol of righteousness, purity, as well as status. Lower class people were not so keen about it. This was considered above politics and economics. Religiosity and rituals were enforcement of moral values of Hindu culture. The discussion on the subject by the family members brought back the living memories in her. She had in her ingrained disposition for such functions.

She resumed her duties and found herself preoccupied with the idea of oncoming festival. In a way she was physically present but was mentally absent. In her original home and amidst her family members, the festival used to be celebrated with gala opening and exuberance.

She recalled her own role and participation in the show. The whole village looked forward to this kind of festivity. On these occasions, the widow’s family received the limelight and took pride in exhibiting their leadership. The widow was reliving herself in fantasy at the same time walked along her way. This was a novel experience for her.

The woman reached home with a new vigor. She decided to follow the rules of her family traditions to offer prayer and ritual for her son. The belief was that by observing the routine God will be helpful. The divine power will exonerate the sinner of the sins. When she arrived home she could not resist but broach the subject with the landlady. The landlady was pleased to hear her decision. As a matter of fact the landlady herself was contemplating to perform the ritual. She was not alone in taking this decision, but the whole village was inclined to go through the process because it was the dictate of Hindu culture.

SR’s bad days were over. He started to grow naturally. When the husband or the landlady came back home on holidays, each of them fell for the boy. The boy was charming looking. He was pleased to find that the widowed mother and the child were given shelter in his house and they were assimilated in the family. He decided to extend all help that was necessary for their living. He agreed to fund his education. He treated this infant at par with his own grandchild who used to live in the family. Thus, the family consisted of five members, three adults and two children, including SR. Unfortunately, he could not stay for long at home as he had to go to a different towns to make his living. The family had to manage without a male guardian.

The village accepted the emigrant as a co-villager. The neighbourhood was very permissive and shared joys and sorrows together. The duo became trio when a boy from the next door joined the group. As usual the children became good friends and worked together as a team and fought like dogs to unite again. They were lucky in the sense because there was a good school in the village and parents did not have to worry about the schooling of their children. In the course of development it became noticeable that SR was growing as an aggressive child. He would not tolerate frustration. With friends he