The Inexistent Highway..(Ep-24)

The other day we had our next court hearing, this was the day when we had our last chance to prove our innocence. All the villagers covered the court, the meeting had almost started, but Mr. Garang could not be seen anywhere. The judge gave us some time because the initial call would be ours, but he didn't come. It was finally decided to call off the hearing, and when suddenly a voice came from behind, it was him, our lawyer.

The meeting started. He showed the lab reports to the judge who in turn noted something in the register very carefully. The word fight soon began between the opposition and Garang. After two hours of this constant fight, the lord decided to announce the binding decision by the end of the current month. We knew that Garang did very well in the court. It was only because of him that we could represent so well in the court; he made us realize that we had more powers than the officers. We were blessed to have a lawyer like him.

Then came the day of the final court hearing, the day which would decide our lives. The villagers decided to start the day with Ganesh puja and then drift to the court. We did what was resolved, and the decision of the judge as expected was with us. We won the case. Nothing on earth could be better than this. There was an air of happiness in the village. The women sang songs of harvest, though there was no harvest, the men did 'Megha puja’ though there was no rain. The farmers in this country are rarely happy, and this was the rarest of all situations.

In the evening, the women decorated the vessels, and we performed aarti. We thanked Garang for standing with us when there was no one. Garang greeted with a smile and told us that there are some legal procedures which need to be performed to get the money from the government.He discussed with the head of the village all the formalities we need to do before filing our documents altogether.

The next day each one of us, including even the most impoverished farmers were invited to the office to file our money ownership that was due with the government. Garang did half of the paper formalities, and the rest half by the head. The only part left was to put our thumbs on the paper to verify our land.

After all the formalities were over, we were told to return to the village and come the other day to receive our papers back. Usually, Garang came with us after every meeting, whether official or non-official, but this time, he didn't come along.