Bala Pritam was a bright kid who had a glowing face which easily separated him from the rest. He was a healthy chubby boy. And extremely cute he was. His favourite toys were wooden sword, little bows and arrows. It was the effect of the prevailing situation.
Young Bala Pritam or Gobindrai loved to play war games with his pals. More often than not he chose to lead his side. After the games little soldiers used to be treated to some refreshments by Gujri to replenish their depleted energies. She loved to do that.
Kripalchand would watch those war games in a different light. For him they were preplays of the future scenario.
Playful Gobindrai sometimes missed the evening prayers being busy with his pals. War games were not the only plays the boys remained busy in. There were other pranks too they indulged in. Gobind had taken a leaf out of Krishna’s book of childhood.
He too decided that bursting the pitchers of the women could be a great fun. Krishna used to throw stones at the milk or curd pitchers being carried by the milkmaids of Gokul-Vrindavan on their heads. Being made of clay the pitchers cracked open by stone hits spilling the contents which made Krishna and his pals squeal in delight.
In Patna women used to carry water pitchers on their heads. Gobind had become good marksman with catapult. Thus, the boys would score hits with the stones on those water pitchers giving instant baths to the carriers. It would drive the women mad with anger which was a great fun for the naughty boys. When it became too much to bear with, the women started complaining to Gujri about their loss of pitchers and the harassment. Gujri would mollify them by compensating the losses with brass pitchers which would not crack. She knew that the ring leader of the pranksters was her son.
When she gave away too many pitchers Gujri got hold of her son and admonished him, “Bala! It is not the question of pitchers. Suppose some day your stone misses its mark and hits someone on her head hurting her badly or even killing her…then what? Have you ever given a thought to that? I don’t want you doing that again, understand?”
Gobind realised his mistake and promised that he would not hit any pitcher any more. He kept his word and confined himself to other games. Kripalchand too intervened and told his nephew that it was time he started learning letters.
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