Scantily clad in soiled clothes, his long hair dishevelled, the boy climbed up the tree like a monkey, clutching a packet of leftover food in his hands. He sat on forked branches and lapped up the eatables in no time because he had been starving. Like any animal, he looked around to ensure that nobody was eyeing the food.
That particular tree had become his abode where he remained perched virtually the whole day. Villagers say he even slept there. He was not a jungle boy like Mowgli. He was no wolf-boy either, who had been fed and fostered by them and who had surprised the outside world by his wolf-like behaviour.
This boy was born to Ghasi Ram’s wife in a remote village in the mango belt in northern India. The child looked normal but was born deaf and unable to speak — a fact discovered very late by the poor, illiterate couple.
The twosome worked as daily wagers on farms and in groves of the area’s landlords. Ghasi Ram’s main job was to act as a scarecrow. He beat a tin canister or howled to deter pigeons and other birds from nibbling at and damaging the fruits.
Whatever little the couple earned was insufficient to make ends meet. Somehow, Ghasi Ram had been able to raise for his small family a thatched hut where the boy was born. He was named ‘Bholu’, which, translated crudely, meant simpleton.
Being poor and ignorant, Ghasi Ram could not do anything about his son’s impairment. His mother died of some ailment without receiving proper treatment. Such cases come to light even today from far-off inaccessible places.
Saddled with his growing son’s needs, Ghasi Ram struggled harder but health failed him. Malnutrition and desolation caused by his wife’s death severely affected his frail body. He lived for about six months after, leaving the boy in the lurch.
As an adolescent Bholu had nobody to support him and nothing to eat and wear. Mercifully, some noble souls in the village gave him some old clothes. Some would give him leftover food that he took to his hut to eat. After some time, some bully razed the hut and grabbed the small piece of land.
The boy’s problems were not at an end. Now he had lost his little hut. Bholu’s inability to express himself, his unusual responses and reactions to things happening around him were made fun of by village kids. They ridiculed the boy, called him ‘lunatic’ and even assaulted him without any reason.
Bholu would squirm and seemed to wonder why he was being treated as an outcast by other children. He had always wanted to play with them and share the joys of childhood but was shooed away. In the caste society, Bholu stood at the lowest rung of the social order — the reason for being maltreated by boys from other castes.
With nobody to protect him, the boy only squeaked and screamed whenever assaulted. With his hut gone he had no place to seek refuge. Once, when chased by his tormentors, he climbed up a tree and became inaccessible to the urchins. The idea clicked. Bholu carved out a place to sit and even slept on the branches. But that earned him the nickname “Bandar” (monkey), which the boys below would chant to tease him.
Kind-hearted villagers started bringing food and water for him. After initial hesitation, the fearful Bholu did come down but rushed back to his new abode. Villagers said the boy used to come down quietly after dusk and before dawn.
The orchard owner did not mind Bholu perched on the tree because he was unwittingly playing scarecrow. In fact, he also sent him food and jute sacks to lie on. That was a small ‘investment’ for him.
The boy had developed love for his new abode, which villagers respected, more because the ‘Monkey boy’ was drawing curious onlookers from neighbouring villages.
But the show came to an end when weather and malnourishment took the toll of the young monkey boy and his body had to be brought down.
