This Above all
Call of Nature
Khushwant Singh

DURING the hot summer afternoons when hillsides of the Shivaliks bask in sunshine, a call most frequently heard is of black partridges. It is a raucous cry beginning with a squeek and goes on to what sounds to my ears as karach-a-jack jack. Bird watchers have different interpretations. The commonest among local Paharis is:

(Garlic, onions and ginger

Are God’s gift to Nature)

It makes good sense to me as it lauds three items which add flavour to food and are good for digestion. Unfortunately, the first two leave an unpleasant odour in the mouth and are, therefore, disdained by social elite as well as those who want to make love. Since I do not belong to either category, besides ginger, garlic and onion, I love an even smellier item, heeng. There are Marwari vegetarians like the Birlas who serve tasty food cooked in shudh (pure) ghee but rigorously exclude the four items from their diet.

Praises of the medicinal qualities of garlic have been sung since time immemorial. My mentor Ashutosh Tuli sent me an article by K.A. Josekutty of the Spices Board, Cochin, on the legends of garlic.

One is about Lord Vishnu slaying a demon who had stolen a clove of garlic from the gods and swallowed it. Its severed head spilt out the garlic. So besides its medicinal qualities, it acquired demonly tamsik qualities of foul smell and lust.

There are many other fables about garlic in Greek, Roman and Egyptian mythology — mostly built round garlic’s ability to ward off evil and cure diseases, including high cholesterol and kidney stones. One that sums up good and bad points of garlic runs as follows: "In order to control his cholesterol level, a middle-aged man used to consume garlic milk daily in the night. Days went by and his cholesterol level started decreasing. But his beloved wife denied giving it to him further."

There is a reason behind my entitling this piece "Call of Nature". We Indians use the expression for evacuating one’s bowels (oddly enough never so used by the English). I did so deliberately because garlic does help keep my bowels clean.

Everyone who has read, or tried to read, Asadullah Khan Ghalib’s works (1769-1809) should be familiar with the first couplet of his Diwan which runs as follows:

Most translators, including T.N. Raaz of Panchkula, allude to an alleged custom followed in the courts of the Shahs of Iran of petitioners having to wear paper robes (kaaghazi pairahan) when they presented petitions asking for favours from the ruler.

I wrote to Ralph Russel, Professor Emeritus of the London School of Oriental and African Studies, regarded as the greatest authority on Ghalib, and a few others but got no satisfactory answers to my question. Ultimately I come to the conclusion that the couplet had nothing whatsoever to do with the ancient Iranian custom and simply meant that a painting or a masterpiece of art speaks for itself and should not rely on an art connoisseur’s explanation. I venture to give my own version:

Some weeks ago I had asked readers to enlighten me about the genesis of these three words being put in the order they are now. Though all three appear in our sacred texts, they appear separately. I was flooded with learned comments by scholars explaining what they meant — everyone knows what they mean — and where they were to be found in the Vedas.

Only two readers threw some light on the subject. Biresh Kumar of Birpur, Begusarai (Bihar), gave a direct answer to my question. He writes : "These words, in fact, are translation of I.A.Richard’s terminology: ‘The true, the good and the beautiful." But who was I.A.Richard and when did he write these words ? I wish Bireshwar Kumar or someone else would further enlighten our readers.

The other was Professor Darshan Singh of Hoshiarpur (Punjab). He maintains it was an Aristotelian concept taken on by German scholars and later translated into Sanskrit by Guru Debendranath Tagore. He does not give his sources for saying so. And I am no wiser than I was before.

Wanted a man to take care of a cow that does not smoke or drink.

Three-year old teacher required for junior school. Experience preferred.

Dinner special — Turkey $2.50, Chicken/Beef 2.50, Children $2.00

Khushwant Singh is away. There will be no column next week.

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