|
come back, then who will? We will all go
down and farm ourselves!�
Everybody got excited. Mountain top fort
was emptied. Available livestock, men were rounded up. Blacksmith
which was making weapons till now, started making farming equipment.
Rain filled the river Kukdi. And then one auspicious day tilling
started, soil was being turned over. Seed was sawn. Land started
looking green.
Countrymen who had left their villages
because of the draught were returning, and after seeing luscious green
farms they too were participating in the effort.
Shivaji had become Vishwasrao�s shadow.
He was following him everywhere, may it be rain or hot sun! Jijabai
said,� seeing him like that I sometimes fear that he is going turn out
to be a farmer.� To this Vishwasrao replied, �nothing wrong with that.
Leaders like me are common, farmer leaders are rare.�
After seeing that things were settling
down, Umabai got ready to leave. She urged Jijabai to go with her, but
she declined, she said, �I am not happy here either, but how can I
leave without Shivaji�s father�s consent?� Umabai exhaled, blessed
Jijabai and Shivaji and left for Verul.
By the end of the year Jijabai went back up on the fort again.
Shahajiraje had left Mogul employ and had joined Nizam. But king of
Vijapur joined the Moguls. It was difficult to and stand against two
of them together, Nizam lost. Then Shahajiraje raised his own army and
stood against the Moguls, which was very rare. Unfortunately, within
next two years Shahajiraje and his army was defeated, and Shahajiraje
was forced to accept an
employment again. This time it was king of Vijapur.
And he did that for next six years. In
the mean while, Shivaji was growing up. He was riding his pony. He was
getting to knowthe surrounding countryside. Shastriji was teaching him
how to read and write. Thus another year passed. And then one day a
package came for Jijabai. Shahajiraje was given governorship of Pune
province,
|
|
and he had sent horses and some
trusted men to take Jijabai and Shivaji to Pune. One of them was �
Dadoji Konddev!
Jijabai asked Dadoji to appear before
her. Dadoji came and bowed to Jijabai. Dadoji was middle aged, fair
skinned person. He was wearing a head gear and dhoti -kurta. He had a
broad head, and very sharp eyes. Jijabai touched his feet in respect
and asked Shivaji to do the same. Dadoji said, �no madam, I should bow
to you, not the other way round.�
�I know your importance Dadoji.
Shivaji�s father would not have sent you here to take care of me and
his son Shivaji unless he trusted you�
�When should we leave for Pune?�
�Whenever you say. Where is Shivaji�s
father now a days?�
�He is currently busy with a war against
Karnataka. He would have come himself he had time�
�After all he went through; he had to
accept somebody else�s employment again!�
�Madam politics is not easy. It is very complicated. Politics changes
according to the situation. It was this politics that turned Murar
Jagdev into Shahajiraje�s friend, who had earlier destroyed Pune. His
golden statue was constructed under Shahajiraje�s leadership in a
town called Nangergaon. And because of that now
Nangergaon is called �Tulapoor�. But wind of politics changed again
and Murar Jagdev was viciously killed by Adilshah.�
�And Shahajiraje?�
�He is very worthy, strong and important man. He earns
12,000 coins. He is called �Raje�. He is healthy, wealthy and lives in
Bangalore.�
Within two days Jijabai was ready to leave. During last
six years everybody in the fort had become like a family member for
Jijabai. It was heart wrenching to take leave of these family members.
Jijabai gave small gifts to everybody, prayed to Goddess Jijai, and
left the fort with a very heavy heart.
Go
to Previous Page |
Sheet
Music
