The Jugni Read online

  Rosy nodded her head in agreement. Then they both jumped into the jeep. On the way, Rosy asked her, “Where did you learn martial arts. You are very good at this.”

  “I am doing this since my childhood,” Simar replied and a flashback started again. “When I was a little girl, I used to go to the Gurudwara with my grandmother. One day, after the evening worship, my grandmother met with other ladies and started talking. She could not keep an eye on me and I was very naughty. I saw a butterfly and wanted to catch it; but it flew away, I followed it. Doing so, I reached the arena adjacent to Gurudwara. In this arena, people were practicing ‘Gatka’, the ancient Sikh martial arts. Now I think it wasn’t a butterfly, it was my destiny which led me to that arena.”

  “Gatka fascinated me a lot. There were many people who practiced sword fight and the use of other weapons. All were elder to me. By the time I was exploring this new world, my grandmother came looking for me. She said, ‘Simar you are still too young for this; if you want to learn, I will bring you here when you grow up.’ Although we left for home that day, I could not resist the temptation to learn Gatka. I used to go to the arena every day and see people practicing. The head of the arena noticed that.”

  “When it continued for many days, he asked one of his pupils to bring me to him. I was in front of the arena head. He was a big guy with a thick grey mustache and beard and was in his late fifties. He wore a traditional Sikh warrior dress. I stood quite strong in front of him; I was not scared.”

  “Daughter, what brings you here every day?” He asked the little me, nicely. Though his look was scary, he was a nice person.

  I replied straight away, “I want to learn.”

  He smiled and looked at one of his students standing nearby and asked him to call the lady head of the arena.

  He said to her, “Teach Gatka to this girl.”

  “But the weapons we use here are too big for her.”

  The head stood up and went to his cabin. He came back with a small sword and gave it to me. He said to the lady, “This is my sword; when I started, I was younger than her.”

  The lady smiled and looked at me, “Let’s start daughter.” She tied a piece of cloth on my head as it must be covered at all times during the practice as a symbol of respect.

  “My lessons started with a wooden sword. My grandmother came to know about my lessons. At first, she was a bit worried about me if I get injured during those lessons, but she allowed me to continue half-heartedly. She asked for permission from the arena head to do some voluntary work while I had my lessons. She would look after plants, cook for all the students and do little jobs. Initially, I could not hold the sword properly. The head saw me struggling and came to help many times. He liked the way I showed my interest in learning. I was the youngest among his entire pupil group.”

  “Eventually, I learned the fight with a sword. As I was growing up, I was getting stronger. Now, not only I mastered the sword fight, but I could fight with multiple people with two swords in both the hands. Training with other weapons was also going on. I had a special interest in archery. God gave me the power to concentrate like a laser, the ability to judge air flow, the trajectory and calculating the distance, which I did not know before learning Gatka. Maybe because of these I never miss a target. My interest in gatka never faded. I never skipped the classes except on the examination days or the day when my grandmother passed away because of a heart attack.”

  “That means you know how to fight with weapons. But what I saw on the bus was astonishing; you did not use any weapon. How and when did you learn to fight without weapons?” Rosy asked.

  “I am coming to this, wait for it. Everything is interrelated,” replied Simar and continued her story.

  “I continued going my training until I had to go to England for post-graduation. Till then I had learned sword fighting, staff fighting, archery, and many other traditional Sikh weapons. Then came the test day. The arena head would choose the best out of his students.”

  “The rule was simple; who would fight four men at the same time will be declared as the winner for that year. It was not a big competition, therefore, there wasn’t any outside crowd, only the students, who encircled the arena. All wore the traditional Sikh costumes. There were only a few females including me. At the end of this horseshoe circle, the head sat on a big chair on the stage.”

  “The first person came to fight those four big men. He had a choice to select the weapon to fight with. All four men had swords in their hands. So this young boy picked a sword as well. They attacked him at the same time. He wasn’t aware of the fact that they all are going to attack together, so he panicked. He blocked a few attacks but soon he lost the hold of the sword, after being strongly hit. The rule was, whoever loses the weapon, is out.”

  “The students kept on coming but no one could beat the four men. I was observing everything. One boy was good, he got rid of two attackers. He fought well but wasn’t good enough to fight all four. The head looked disappointed with the performances. I got ready for my turn.”

  “Everybody got surprised when I chose a staff while the rest chose swords. I was unsure whether my selection was right or not, but still, I stepped in. The fight started quickly. I stopped the first attack by kneeling and holding the staff from the center and above my head. The four of them forced me down by pressing their swords against the staff. I was thinking to make my next move. Soon, I figured it out. I moved a bit further lower. It seemed to them that I was losing power. I fell on my back with the staff still holding the swords. As I was going down, the men pushed me further down. Now I was on the ground while all men bent to keep pressing the swords against my staff. I kicked one of the men on the knee. He lost balance and fell. I started kicking randomly very fast. Another man fell; I used that opportunity to push the others away.”

  “This must be a very tense situation.” Rosy was completely immersed in the story.

  “Yes, it was. I had never fought those many people before. Yet, I kept on fighting.”

  “What happened after that?”

  “I stood on my feet again. I hit the nearest man on hand with my weapon, he lost the sword and was out. I moved the staff on my hands and around myself. Waving the cane around gives me confidence and gives the opponent a message that the fight is not going to be easy.”

  “There was a shine in the eyes of the head. After moving the staff, I stood in the attack stance and invited other men to attack me with my one hand while I held the rod with other.”

  “They attacked together but I tackled them with a different strategy. I blocked two and attacked the third. The third one lost his sword. Again, I did the same, blocking one and attacking the other. The men kept on losing their swords. After a difficult fight, I got rid of all of them one by one. I was the winner, the whole arena applauded and cheered my name. The head walked to me and looked at me with wet eyes.”

  “The head patted on my back. ‘I can still remember that little girl who could not hold a sword properly, who today has defeated my best four men’ he said proudly.”

  “He hugged me with affection and presented me with his favorite weapon, a ‘Chakra’. A Chakra is a big ring like structure, it has a solid bar running across the diameter. Fine but strong ropes are tied along the circumference and these ropes radiate outwards giving the illusion of sun. Each rope connects at an equal distance so that it does not get tangled and at the end of these, hangs a small but heavy object at every connection. This weapon was used to fight multiple people at one time in ancient times. I felt very happy and proud to receive it as a prize.”

  “I always carry that Chakra in my bag.”

  “Have you ever used it?” Rosy asked with curiosity.

  “Not yet, I haven’t been attacked by so many people yet.”

  “Apart from Gatka, you look quite fit as well. What you do?”

  “I used to participate in sp
orts as well. I was a state level athlete and represented my district in many events. I got a gold medal in Archery once. However, I did not proceed from state level to the national level because of my interest in studies. Playing in national events would require a lot of time which I could not provide.”

  “With good marks in school, I managed to get admission in a good college. I was a good student in the college as well. As I was an athlete, I had a very attractive and fit physique.”

  “You still do,” Rosy complimented.

  “Oh, thank you, it’s so nice to hear,” Simar accepted with a smile.

  “Whenever I used to enter the college on my motorbike, not only boys but girls also used to check me out. People in the college used to call me Jugni.”

  “Jugni? What does that mean?”

  “Which state you come from, Rosy?”

  “Uttar Pradesh, why?”

  “Because all Punjabis know the word ‘Jugni’. It is a word in the Punjabi language for female firefly. Not only that, Jugni is an imaginary character in Punjabi culture as well. Jugni is an attractive girl who rules the hearts of all men. Singers had made numerous songs on her. I came to know somehow that people call me Jugni. I did not mind. Many boys wanted to be my boyfriend, but I was very focused towards studies and future. I only had a few genuine friends. No mucking around, just straight to classroom then back home. After three years of Bachelors when the result was announced, I got highest marks in the state; because of which I was offered a scholarship to pursue my post-graduation at the Cambridge University of England.”

  “Wow! That must have been very exciting.”

  “Well, it was very exciting for me but not for the family. Initially, they did not agree to send their girl alone to a foreign country. I had a hard time motivating them. Jaspal veerji was okay with me going to England. It was my mother and other relatives, who were not. My mother knew if I would not have got a scholarship, they could not afford overseas education for me and it was a good chance, but she was a bit overprotective. It took lots of persuasions when they all finally agreed. I happily started the process. I got the visa within a week. My whole family and relatives came to the airport to see me off. Mother had her eyes wet with worries, but I was looking forward to my future.”

  “I reached London airport along with other international students. We were received by University representatives. After half a day’s orientation, we were shown our rooms in the student accommodation. I got a room which was to be shared with another girl. She was already there; I put my bags aside and introduced myself to that beautiful white blonde girl, blue eyes and a little chubby.”

  “Hi, I am Simar Kaur from India.”

  “I am Kara Martin from Canada,” she replied.

  “We shook hands and started to manage our stuff after a short chat. Studies were supposed to start in a few days’ time so I had time to explore England with Kara. In these few days, we became good friends. Studies started with a bang. We had a very busy schedule because of presentations, assignments, and projects. It was full on, but I was enjoying it. I could steal time for my physical activities. I used to jog in the university stadium.”

  “Sorry, I think you missed the martial arts part,” Rosy asked with a bit of hesitation as she wasn’t sure that Simar might get angry.

  “No, I haven’t… its next,” Simar replied calmly.

  “One evening, Kara and I were walking to our student accommodation from the nearby market after buying some groceries. On the way, we saw three boys trying to steal money from a girl. Kara and I were at some distance.”

  “Let’s go, Kara, we should help her.”

  “Are you a fool? Simar, they are three and they might have some weapons with them.”

  “So what? That girl is alone, and she needs help.”

  “We can call the cops if you really want to help.”

  “Okay, you stay here, I am going.”

  “I am not going if you want to go, be my guest.”

  Kara hid behind one parked car. I ran to the spot and said to the boys, “Is there any problem?”

  The girl said with ‘stop gesture’ with her hand, “Stay away, I can handle this!”

  I was so surprised by that response from that girl in that situation, where three boys were confronting her.

  “Excuse me; I am just trying to help!” I Said.

  “I don’t need any help!”

  This tall African girl, sharp features and curly black hair looked very confident. She was casually dressed and carried a bag on her left shoulder.

  Then one of the boys from a gang of three said, “Bitch, just give me the money in your purse.”

  The girl said, “Earn your money!”

  The second boy with messy hair and wearing a dirty brown jacket said, “Shut up, you! Handover the money or get killed.”

  “Oh, can you? Just try it, believe me, you cannot!” The girl said to the boy.

  “I was so amazed by that girl’s courage. I wanted to help but I was just a bystander. All of a sudden the third boy tried to grab that girl from the neck. As his hand approached near her she grabbed it, twisted strongly and pushed him away. The boys sensed that the girl had got some skills, so she would be difficult to deal with. One of them waved to his other friends sitting in the car. More boys of similar age came out of the car and ran to the site.”

  I asked that girl again, “Are you sure you don’t want any help?”

  The girl said, “Just go away, I don’t need any help, I told you already. I know how to defend myself. Stay out of the trouble.”

  I stepped aside and said, “As you wish.” I did not go very far, I had the curiosity to see how she can defend herself.

  “Three more boys come to that place. They were all ready to attack the girl. Now there were five boys in total because the one with a broken wrist was out of this. One attacked; she blocked the punch with her left arm and punched him in the abdominal area with the right. With that punch, that boy stooped with pain with both hands on the stomach. He did not know when a strong knee blow hit his nose and knocked him down.”

  “Then two of them attacked together. The sequence of blocking, punching, and kicking started from all sides. She fought well but one punch in the face made her giddy. Still, she kept on fighting. The blocking was getting slower and the number of punches she was receiving, increased. I could not hold myself anymore and there was no sign of cops yet. The man punching that girl stopped and the other one gave him a dagger.”

  “He was about to stab that girl when his hand was held from the wrist strongly right in front of the abdomen of the girl. I was able to intervene just in time. I did not waste any time and pushed him away. The second man attacked me. As I was not good at hand to hand fight, so I fought in a resistive manner. The other girl fought back as well because she had some time to recover.”

  “The other men figured out that the girls were not giving up easily. They wanted to finish it fast. One of them brought an iron rod as a weapon from the car. I saw that and smiled, this was what I wanted. I concentrated on the guy with the iron rod. He tried to hit me with it. I moved away from the rod and pushed him with my body weight. I got hold of the rod from one end. The boy wasn’t going to just give away that rod easily. I judged that quickly and punched him on the nose, which loosened his grip. Now I had that rod.”

  “I jumped in front of that girl facing those men. I moved that rod around with one hand and then with both hands and stood in an attacking stance. Those movements with the rod in the air left the boys and the girl bewildered. I attacked them one after another. One got hit on the head, one on the neck. I hit the other two on legs. The other girl wasn’t going to stand still. She joined the party as well. The Police siren was heard from a distance. The boys ran away before the police cars came.”

  “The Police came and chased them. After our statements, we wer
e free to go. Kara and I were talking when that girl came to us.”

  She brought her hand towards me for an introduction, “I am Samantha.”

  “I am Simar,” I replied and shook her hand.

  “You are very brave.”

  “You are very brave too. Hey, can you teach me the fighting skills?” I asked before Samantha could say anything.

  “Yes, but on one condition.”

  “What is that?”

  “You will teach me to fight with a staff.”

  “Ok, tomorrow six AM in the University stadium,” I said. We both smiled while Kara looked startled.”

  “This was the beginning of a new friendship for me, and for Samantha. She worked as a nurse in the University College, London hospital, and lived near our accommodation. We would see each other at the stadium every morning. We would practice as much as we could before my class and her shift. I taught her how to fight with weapons and Samantha taught me Karate. Samantha introduced me to a local karate club. It was very hard to learn a new skill simultaneously with the studies. But it was all about time management.”

  “A Chinese guy used to teach us martial arts at the club. Initially, I got punched and kicked often. I would go to the class in the university with a black eye, cuts, and bruises on the face, sometimes. One day I went to the class limping on one side because I had to perfect a kick and my teacher asked her to practice again and again. I perfected that kick but my legs went sore. In those two years, not only I managed to do my post-graduation, but I was also able to achieve a black belt in karate. This is how I learned to defend myself and help others.”

  “Sister, what I noticed today that you have not only got skills, but you are very brave as well. You were not concerned about the number of men you are fighting with.”

  “Look, Rosy, the fight is a mind game. If you are mentally strong, you can do anything. We must address our fears and tackle them head-on. I always test my limits, both physical and mental. When I was learning martial arts, I did the same thing. Once I won the fight with one guy, I asked my teacher if I could fight with two fighters. It didn’t go well initially, I got badly beaten. But I kept on pushing my limits. Eventually, I could fight with two; then three, after that four and so on. This shattered my mental barrier of whether I can fight with more than one person or not.”