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.In regional languages of Pakistan, Sindhi has producted shortstories which can be favourably compared to any good one inany other language, of the world. Ghulam RabbaniAgro has thereputatio"n of being a Sindhi short story writer of great merit.The Perenial Malady (onginal title "Dharti Ka Roag") is consi-

~ dered one of his good stories which represents his typical styleof weaving tales around simple characters which are rooteddeeply in the soil of rural Szndh. It reflects what happens to apoor,man when destiny engulfs him in a devastating flood andthe o~inous shadow of the land lo~d falls on him.

THE PERENIAL MALAD Y

Ghulam Rabbani Agro

His hut was on the bank of the Naulakha river which flowedthrough the jungle of the Brohis. During day time he wbuld go tothe dry elevated land for his livelihood. Late in the evening whenthe tired sun would be ready to disappear for the night beyondthe misty horizon, he would return. That was also the time whenthe women of the village would emerge out of the forest drivingtheir cattle back.

Throughout the year he travelled back and forth between thewet and damp and dry land. No sooner sawan, the month of therainy season set in, floods in the river would invariably follow.

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If the great Master and the rich and powerful land lord were kind,then there would b'e some hope for him to survive. If not thenhe had to abandon his hearth and home and shift for one wholemonth to the dry land which was commonIy known as the

" pakka.

Life in the jungle was horrid. After sun-set in a vast areawhere breeze could hardly find its way in, swarms of hungry,blood-thirsty mosquitoes would ravage the sleep of those who

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the distant horizon, Essa would get up and go to his friend Musa,who used to catch the delicious palla fish from the river. Fromhim he would collect a basket full of fish and move toward dryland to sell it. If he was delayed he spent the night on the out-skirts of the jungle.

On the days his children got fever, he would take the fish as; usual but would go to the other side of the embankment, to the

village where the Bhattis lived. He would present the basket offish to Hakim Khushi Mohammad. The herb doctor would then

~ give Essa quinine tablets in exchange for his favourite fish. Essawould give his children the precious medicine to help them getrid of the fever. .

This year too there was the danger of another._pevastating.flood. But it was feared that this time it would be worse, as

calamitous as the Day of Judgement. The fishermen were say-ing. 'We have spent a lifetime on this river, rowing our boats inall seasons and at all times. But we haven't seen such rough andangry water. Now only Allah can relieve us from this distress.'

Listening to such depressing, disturbing talk, Essa too wouldbecome restless. He was not oblivious of what was building uparound him. In his da~y wanderings he too had observed thatthe river looked different. The fury of the water was slowlyand steadily on the rise. He knew that the increase in its inten-sity would bring many serious problems for him, the worst andthe most painful being the ceaseless attacks of the mosquitoes.Their swarms would multiply rapidly.

Next day, two of Essa's daughters and a son fell ill. Afterspending that day and the following one in distress, he decidedon the third day to go to the village with two baskets of fish.

When he woke up next morning, the sky was turning pearlygray of dawn. Without disturbing others, he got ready, harnessedhis faithful donkey and drove it through the jungle. He then leftit to graze beyond the embankment. Then he went straight toHakim Khushi Mohammad. He found the hakim as usual in hisdingy dispensary, which he proudly called his matab. He seemed

~ to be waiting for his regular patients.As was customary, Essa greeted him by touching his feet.

Then he offered him the basket of fish which he had collectedfrom Musa. Wiping his forehead with his turban, he then narra-

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ted his tale of woe, describing the symptoms of his childrens'ailment, which were usually the same. Feigning interest in whatEssa was saying and nodding his head several times, the hakimlistened to him. When Essa had finished, he offered him theusual quinine tablets, which were always in gI'eat demand inthis part of Sindh. He then advised Essa. "Give one tablet daily,evening and morning, with water or milk. Don't let them eatmutton, beef, fish and yogurt."

"But, Sain that is what we eat. That's our diet ...yogurt ordiluted o.rdinary milk and jau ki roti (barley bread) in the morn-ing and fish at night," Essa reminded him.

"That's no concern of mine. My job is to prescribe medicineand yours to abstain from foodstuffs which I consider harmful,"replied the hakim, looking bored. "If you really need the medi-cine, take it. Otherwise you may leave. I have other patients toattend to. I am not forcing you either to take my medicine orto follow my advice."

Such curt replies usually made Essa feel weak and helpless.How could he afford to displease the hakim who was the onlysource of medicine for the poor in the whole area?

"No Sain ", he replied immediately. "How can I not takeyour medicine? I'll certainly see that the children do not eat '

what you have advised." So saying, he meekly got up and tiedthe tablets in a knot at the tail end of his turban.

"What's the water level now?" Hakim Khushi Mohammadasked. "Is there any hope of its receding? I have plastered thisside of the embankment with lime. But God forbid, if the waterlevel rises, everything will be washed away in just one torrent. I

When I passed by the embankment this morning, I met SulaimanMachera. He told me that the flood waters have already crossedthe triangular track. There is great apprehension that it maybreak through the embankment any moment. It seems t11111 thepressure is steadily mounting from the direction of Sukkhur "

town. That is why so many government officers' cars have beenseen running lately over the embankment."

Adjusting his glasses on his nose, he asked. -"What would youdo then Essa?" He looked at Essa closely, then advised. "Whydon't you do something quickly? One assault would wipe outthe Naulakha dam. Why don't you leave your hut, shift to the

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I: pakka and spend some days here on dry land?"

.Essa could not do that on the spur of the moment. So hei said. "1 think I'll watch the force of the flood waters carefully

and then shift here. Thank you Sa in for the suggestion. Pleasepray for me Saine Maula have mercy on us."

"Don't worry Allah will certainly be merciful. Can youdo something for me Essa? On your way back, convey mysalams to Rais Khan Mohammad. That wadera is a strangeperson. Lives on the other side of the embankment and is neitheraffraid nor worried about the impending danger ." This request ofthe hakim's was fraught with danger for poor Essa and he suddenlybecame pale.

"I am not going that way Sain ", he replied quickly. "Ido not like the landlord. He seems to be a difficult person.People usually feel sorry for the poor and look toward them withcompassion. But the wadera's approach is upside down. Hisways are awry. He is your friend Saine 1 am rather frank andstraightforward. I will speak what is true. The wadera doesn'thave any sense of honour for any human being. A few days ago,he sent a man to fetch me and my donkey. When I reachedthere, he told me. 'There's manure lying outside the village.Go and shift it to my farmland.' I worked for him for full fivedays, hauling up the stinking manure from morning to evening,hoping that after the completion of the work he would paY.mesomething. But do you know Sain, what he did on the sixthday? He said. 'Achcha Bhai! Thank you. You can now rejoice.Your job has been well done. Shabash Bravo. Khuda Haafiz!'

It infuriated me so much that, shocked by his callous atti-tude, I bit my tongue. This injustice and outrage in this world!Think of it Saine I have a family to sustain. The land lord's ironsafes are full of gold and currency notes. But after five daysof labour he didn't pay me even a rupee for the hard work I

-had done for him..."Essa stopped to wipe the beads of perspiration from his

1 forehead. Outwardly the hakim seemed moved.;t "Bus Bhai", he stopped him. "The ways of the rulers are

~~t' strange. But Essa, one should not talk in this vein about the big'~r shots of the village. After all you are under their shadows." .

.~tt~ "What? Under his shadow?" exclaimed Essa. "How can"1~i';1

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f! ' toes had also become unendurable. The children, burning rest-r lessly in high fever wept bitterly off and on. They could clearlyi hear the terrifying noise of the falling tress which could not! withstand the pressure of the floodwaters whose terrifying noise\:- ~as stea~ily becoming louder and louder, as though it was com-

mg toward them slowly but surely.I In a little while the rain began to lash their cottage. Though.{ it. was dark and the sky was overcast, Essa could see from hist WIndow that there was water all around. As far as one could

see, they were surrounded by a gigantic sheet of water as thoughtheir hut was just a small island. It seemed as if their world wouldmost certainly be submerged in the hungry, merciless waves of

, floodwaters that night.

Many distressed hours passed before dawn came. The suntried to peep out of the clouds which were still floating all overthe sky. The rain had stopped in the twilight of the early morn-

.f ing. Essa came out of his cottage to see the ,damage. But theret was nothing except water as far as he could see. The situationI seemed desperate. To waste even a moment here was to invite

death. In haste he h~essed his donkey and left for the village."Please hurry," his wife called after him. "Every moment isprecious." She wanted to remind him of the danger which lurkedall around them. As his donkey began to wade through the water,Essa shouted back. "Don't worry. I'll be back soon. I'm going tothe hakim. He has a safe place for all of us. Have no fear." And.the donkey began to splash through the shallows.

Before the sun emerged from the clouds, Essa was out of thewoods. Then he remembered that Hakimji had told him to givehis salams to the wadera. "If I go to him now for help he willsurely ask about that. That will be very embarassing for me.After all, my route passes by the wadera's lands. Why not con-vey the hakim's salams to him? That would please the hakim."

Essa felt relieved at having come to a decision. He went onand in a little while met the land lord outside the village. A fewof his men were work,ing and he was standing near them, super-vising their work. When he saw Essa, a broad smile appeared onhis lips. Essa greeted him respectfully and touched his feet.

"Yau are in time Essa," said the wadera. "I am short of wor-kers. I also need donkeys desperately. Shabash. You can help my

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think. 'At this rate I might have to spend the night here. Some-how I must try to escape. Allah knows how my wife and childrenare. By now they must be worried to death.'

The thought of his children sent a streak of pain throughhim. Desperately he thought for a while. Then, leaving the

\ donkey on the site and making sure that the foreman was on the1 othe: side of the pile of stones, he slowl~ and stealthily beganI moVIng away along the embankment. But it was barely minutes( before the foreman noticed unusual movements.I "Where do you think you're going Essa?" he shouted." "Nowhere Sain," Essa replied, startled. "I'm just going toI ease myself." He tried to reassure the foreman by speakingl normally. Without turning his head or looking behind, he con-1 tinued to take long strides.II "Why' don't you ease yourself somewhere here? No one

will look at you," the foreman shouted. His voice had becomej harsh. But Essa was not prepared to take any chances. He ignor-1 ed the foreman's warning and suddenly began to run. Withinj minutes he was out of their sight.j' Just then he heard shrieks. Outraged, the foreman was

shouting at the to~ of his voice. "Al~ of you over there. R~n

" and catch that SWIne. Don't allow hIm to escape... Damn it,t h ' t f t ? "f W Y can you run as er ~ But nothing could dampen Essa's mad desire to escape.

t Nor did he feel frightened any more. He ran faster and fastertill he reached the outskirts of the jungle. There he suddenly

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~ stopped because the water was knee-deep. The pathway hadt vanished. By now the sky was once again overcast with darkt menacing clouds which were sending down large, thick drops~ of rain. Within minutes it began to pour heavily.

All around him he could hear nothing but the maddeningnoise of the floodwaters. Wave after wave was rising at a speedwhich was alanning. He could hear the deafening wail of animals,wild and domestic, struggling to save themselves from drowning.The whole atmosphere rang with their loud moans. Unnerved bywhat he saw and heard, Essa dragged himself through the watertoward tl1e direction where he thought his abode lay. Some-times, when a Kabuli bairi tree got uprooted and fell into therushing water before his eyes or lightning flashed and thunder

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90.roared, he would stop for a moment. Then once again he wouldplod forward in the knee-deep water with panic in his eyes.

Soon he reached that spot where the river Naulakha camedirectly into contact with the embankment. All the landmarkswere there. But where was the embankment? It had vanished i

~ completely, just wiped out like that! God knew when the violentwaters of the river had crossed the bank and moved forward.

Dumbfounded, Essa stared at the sight before him, obli-vious of the fact that the water level had now reached his chest,oblivious of the; heavy raindrops which were falling on his faceand then slipping down into the foamy floodwaters. He stoodthere a~ if he !lad been turned to stone. Then suddenly, fromnowhere it seemed, something white appeared from the waterand began movin~toward him. Desperately, Essa stopped andcaught hold of it with both hands and picked it up. It,was Moti,has dog!

The animal immediately recognised its master and beganto mo an and lick his hands as though it. was wailing and asking .its master. 'Where were you? Why were you delayed? Wh)T did Iyou come so late? Why, master, why?'

And there, amidst the downpour of rain and the fury of theviolent, fast rising floodwaters, Essa began to shed tears, silently,bitterly, for he had read the terrible message in Moti'5 anguished Ieyes. I

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