The hopping men of Bhagpur
Short Story - A fascinating, old phenomenon plaguing the forgotten Indian village
No one knew why the men in the Bhagpur village hopped around on one foot.
But as soon as a male child learnt to walk, he would hop on one leg only. Some mothers tried forcing the other one down to teach them how to walk properly in the beginning. But the poor children stumbled with both their feet on the floor.
The men barely went out of their ground floor houses, taking care of it while the women dealt with the outside matters.
The women drove vehicles, constructed the buildings, worked on farms and went on trading trips to neighboring villages and towns. They taught children in schools, ran the market and were the political heads of the village. It had become one of the rare matrilineal societies in world.
There were many stories people believed in for the village’s predicament. A drunk man relieving himself on the sacred tree inviting its anger, a monstrous man who broke a leg of his wife in rage, cursing the whole village, and the one mostly seen as the truth and told to the outsiders.
One day, a man had started dancing on one foot, admired by all. The professional dancer called by the village headmen felt insulted and she cursed the whole lot of men and their blood born on the land to dance on one foot for their whole life.
The families had tried leaving the lands to give birth to their sons, the situation followed and they rushed back home. Even after generations, it didn’t lessen.
Their ancestors had tried everything they could to break what they thought was a curse to their village, from medicines to month long prayer meets with no visible results or reasons.
It took them a long time to come to terms that their village was quite different from the whole world. The women had been quick in taking up the responsibility where men lagged behind, even encouraging them.
Yet, the men barely went out for fear of mocking.
They had learnt to live with it through different measures including only ground floor houses and public buildings, wider doorways and broad pathways for the ones that preferred wheelchairs.
The families with men in even number barely bought new footwear. It was easy to share, and wearing matching shoes had become a fashion. Disagreements were rare since they switched their chosen legs daily to not put pressure on one.
It was no wonder that the busiest man in town was the orthopedist. Every other man in the village visited his operating table before they turned forty to change their kneecaps. The doctor performed while standing, and the talk in town was he did it better with left leg on ground. He charged more for those alternate days.
Still, the wealthiest man of the area was the cane maker. Every man after the age of twenty had to use the supporting stick even after getting the knees replaced. It was a status symbol and one of the few accessories that men spent on.
Simple bamboo ones were used at home, a bit fancier for work and jewel encrusted gold ones for marriage and retirements.
The cane maker did exclusive editions for the important men of the village who pranced around and knocked it harder on the ground while walking through public places to call attention and invite compliments.
It mainly attracted outsiders like tourists and researchers, doctors and historians, even visiting Godmen that came with promises to change the situation.
Everyone returned with stories, not answers for the men hopping on one leg in the village with the name that meant running.
Kindly share the story so that it reaches more people. Or click on the heart button.
More stories like this
