Musharraf Farooqi - Between Clay and Dust

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When Ustad Ramzi next visited Gohar Jan he brought up the subject of the donation and mentioned that he had told Maulvi Yameen who had sent the money.

“He thought it was from me,” Ustad Ramzi continued. “In the past, too, I know you had helped the mosque on a number of occasions. I saw no reason why your name should not be acknowledged.”

“Thank you for delivering the donation for me,” Gohar Jan said. “It was for the best. Please think no more about it.”

As Gohar Jan reached for the sitar, Ustad Ramzi no longer felt sure about the propriety of what he had done.

Powerful and conflicting emotions always made Tamami take the avenue of self-reproach whenever he attempted to reflect on the events of that fateful day when Imama was felled by his hand. He never stopped thinking about that moment. For weeks afterwards, he shrank from human touch.

Tamami could still feel the sensation of his forearm hitting Imama’s skull. He kept recalling that moment of contact and sensing it in the nerves of his forearm. When he resumed grappling in the akhara, he would pull away violently if a trainee caught his right forearm. The time he had spent in the village away from the akhara hardly calmed his nerves.

No new challengers came forward to contest Ustad Ramzi’s title in the meanwhile. But Tamami resumed his training regime to ensure that Ustad Ramzi did not find him remiss in his duties.

His desire to acquire the title of Ustad-e-Zaman had remained alive in him although Ustad Ramzi had not mentioned anything about it since the day Imama died.

Tamami knew that Imama’s death was behind the pahalwans’ refusal to challenge Ustad Ramzi. He was not deaf to what others said about his fight with Imama. A dread sometimes seized him that no one would ever challenge Ustad Ramzi again. As the passing days reinforced this fear in his mind, his strenuous schedule seemed increasingly oppressive and punishing.

He suffered in equal measure from the unspoken stigma of being a murderer and the physical pain of the exercises that increasingly seemed futile to him. A dark void tested Tamami’s will. When he stepped into the akhara he felt conscious of a presence that bore down and suffocated him. Slowly that presence acquired a face. As he recognized the face as Ustad Ramzi’s, base thoughts took hold in Tamami’s mind once more.

He began to neglect his akhara duties again.

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Ustad Ramzi was alone in the akhara in the early hours one morning. An earthy, spicy fragrance rose from the clay that was moist with dew. When he looked towards Tamami’s room he saw that its windows were still dark. The dilapidated building that stood at the periphery of the akhara shielded the trainees’ quarters in the westerly building from his view. However, he could not see any one of them in the akhara. Two trainees had stopped coming altogether in the last few weeks. Later, Ustad Ramzi discovered they had joined Imama’s clan. He felt keenly that Tamami’s behavior was having an adverse effect on the trainees.

These developments convinced Ustad Ramzi that Tamami symbolized everything that had gone wrong with his life. Whenever something was expected of Tamami, or worse, when something was entrusted to him, disaster followed. Ustad Ramzi was reminded of those instances every time he looked at his brother.

some days later, Tamami received a message that Gulab Deen wished to discuss something important privately with him.

“I know that Imama’s death was an accident and what people are saying is false, but there is no stopping their tongues,” Gulab Deen said when they got together. “They say that Tamami has become a killer. Nobody fights a pahalwan with such a reputation. In these circumstances, a pahalwan who agrees to a bout with you should be shown a little respect. Without an arrangement you would not get a fight.”

Tamami listened in silence.

“Sher Ali is still willing to fight,” Gulab Deen said. “But only if you draw out the fight a little, so that the spectators get a chance to enjoy the pahalwans’ engagement.”

Tamami became thoughtful. Gulab Deen cautioned him, “Ustad Ramzi must not learn about this arrangement. If he had meant to get you a challenger himself, he would not have objected to your fighting Sher Ali. Ustad Ramzi wants to take his title to his grave, I’m sure.

“You mustn’t overlook another thing which is to your advantage. If you prolong the fight, you will get rid of the blemish and encourage more pahalwans to try their luck by challenging you. Once your bout with Imama is forgotten, you can issue an open challenge. When you have defeated the challengers, there will be no question as to who must have the title of Ustad-e-Zaman!”

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Tamami did not wish to offend his brother so he asked Kabira to mention Gulab Deen’s idea of an exhibition bout to Ustad Ramzi to see how he would react.

Ustad Ramzi did not comment when Kabira communicated the message, thereby giving the idea his tacit approval.

Tamami was relieved at first. He finally had the freedom to act according to his own wishes and to develop his own exercise regime.

But, as the days passed, Tamami felt that Ustad Ramzi was ignoring everything related to his preparation for the fight. He felt that Ustad Ramzi had been interested in his training only because his own title was at stake. Now Ustad Ramzi did not express interest because Tamami fought for his own name. His older brother left him alone because he did not wish to be part of a process that could ultimately lead to his relinquishing his title.

The brothers seldom spoke, unless it was about something related to the akhara or the trainees. They almost never exchanged any words in private. Ustad Ramzi felt easier addressing Tamami when others were present. Tamami also seemed to prefer it, and answered with less awkwardness and inhibition. The distance between them grew.

During the exhibition bout Ustad Ramzi observed Tamami prolonging the fight with Sher Ali. He angrily left the akhara when he realized Tamami was doing something that he had expressly forbidden him to do. The trainees followed him. Gulab Deen was worried when he saw Ustad Ramzi leave, but when Tamami ignored Ustad Ramzi’s departure and continued with the bout, Gulab Deen did not try to call him back. Tamami won the fight.

There were many spectators. Promoter Gulab Deen was overjoyed.

“I told you,” he said to Tamami after the fight. “Someone who has the art to pin down his opponent within a minute has the art to delay it for a half-hour, too. A half-hour only. A half-hour is all I ask. You saw for yourself. Nobody complained. Everyone will come again.”

Gulab Deen kept Tamami up late talking about the great things that he had planned for him. He told Tamami not to worry about anyone or anything.

When Tamami returned to the akhara, he was satisfied by the decision he had made independently of his brother. For the first time in his life, he had defied Ustad Ramzi and his brother had been unable to do anything.

When Tamami emerged from his quarter the next morning and greeted his brother, Ustad Ramzi did not return his greeting. Tamami felt the trainees also avoided him. Kabira told him that Ustad Ramzi had taken charge of the trainees again.

Kabira told him that the previous night, after Ustad Ramzi returned from the exhibition bout, he had overheard the trainees talking about the variety of holds and locks they had witnessed in Tamami’s fight with Sher Ali. He had been furious.

“A pahalwan does not sell his body!” Ustad Ramzi had shouted angrily. “Tamami brought disgrace to the clan by fighting a fixed bout with Sher Ali.”