So, while others had names, with which they were known and called, this human flesh then weighing 1-kg was not given any name. There were rumours that going by his weight, most people including the headman thought that this boy won't survive and perhaps that's why, the headman didn't bother to make a serious effort. After all, how can one who has all the words with him and a magnifying glass too, fall short of one word? This theory also gained ground, when the next day another woman delivered a healthy female and the headman, gave her parents two names to choose from. But he never bothered to check his dictionary again for a day-old somewhat famished boy.
Some years ago, that is quite a few days after the headman died and passed his legacy to the next in number, this guy who by now well understood the importance of names, tried his luck with the new headman. But to his surprise, the new one refused him, point blank. His argument was that he wanted to carry the legacy of the previous headman as the earlier one had also done the same. And in no case legacy can be toyed with unimportant issues such as name.
After this incident, this guy who had till now seen almost 18 years of monsoon and five floods never attempted again to ask for a name. Being nameless was fun and he realised that. He had his point because villagers quite a few number of times complained that he doesn't respect them or bother when they call him. But not having any name worked to his advantage as he defended saying, how will he know whether they were calling him or someone else? And hence, the headman who had already shown his inclination towards maintaining a legacy turned a deaf-ear to the villagers.
There were even attempts by a few young guys to rebel against their parents if they were called by their name. It looked that being nameless was in-vogue at least in that village. However, after some time, these self-styled nameless people started feeling that they were neglected by their parents and relatives for unlike him they were used to being called by their names. Hence there remained one person in that village who didn't have a name.
Name or no name, this guy had dreams like his peers. While, all of them received love notes addressed to them from other belles of the village, he never received one. This was his major concern for a very long time and it was only when he desperately wanted a name. To his surprise, these love birds gave new names to their love interest when they already had one. This made him realise that people have a habit of wasting everything including names.
So when the government official who was posted to this village, to build a new school and renovate the old dam, decided to completely break down the school, this guy disagreed. According to him it was a complete waste of existing resources. The official though then chided this naive young villager but later realised that what he was saying was also true to some extent and he decided to hire this guy as local support. The only problem was that if he has to hire him, he has to put his name on the government register, showing that he was hired and paid.
When the official discussed this with the headman and told him that they can assign him a number if not a name, the headman refused, to the extent that neither the dam nor the school will be built if they assign a name or number to him. Finally it was decided that instead of him, the headman's name will surface on the government's register, while the payment will be made to him.
It was the 20th monsoon of his life and it appeared that will also be sixth flood that he is to witness. The dam was finally constructed and was to be inaugurated by scion of a well-known name as it was to be named on the surname that he and his family have inherited.
The official was concerned as big names were coming along and he don't want his name to drown. So as an extra precaution, a night before, he sent him to check the northern end of the dam.
Next day, the inauguration went as usual except the name issue. The papers in the city were selling like hot cakes as everyone wanted to know that why the scion had decided not to name that dam.
The report read like this:
The well-known name of the country's political party, whose family is a known name, when it comes to giving credit to other names, has set up a new benchmark. This happened in a village where a dam was to be inaugurated. It came to picture that a night before, there was a surge in the northern end of the river. A young 20-year-old man, who was guarding that area used his presence of mind to close the fusegates. He, however was unfortunate to get an electric shock in the process. Till last reports came in, his body was brought to the city hospital and his name was yet to be verified.
The leader, who came to know of this just before the inauguration immediately decided not to name the dam unless the name of this courageous person is known. A government official who wished to remain unnamed, confirmed that the headman and the government official in the village were taken into police custody. It is believed that both were involved in some corruption regarding fudging names on the government's register.
One of the scientist explained that fusegates allow to increase the normal pool of the dam without compromising the security of the dam because they are designed to be gradually evacuated for exceptional events. And had not this unidentified person closed them it could have turned into a major disaster.
