A HEAVILY armed, sturdy young man dismounted from his horse and looked around the hilly tract of land. His weather-beaten face showed traces of immeasurable agony. He had strayed into a territory about which he knew nothing. He had lost his comrades-in-arms in the maze of forests. And he was thirsty.
Suddenly he saw a milkmaid descending from the mountain. He impatiently waited for her. When she came close by, he asked her if he could get some water.
“No way. You can‘t get a drop of water here. There is no human habitation in the neighbourhood,”the woman replied.
“But without water I will face instant death,”he said.
“I have some milk. You can drink it. It will help you for a while,” the man could not help appreciating her concern and generosity.
When he drank the milk contained in an earthen pot, he felt relieved. In a jovial manner, he asked the woman,”O, kind-hearted woman, tell me what can I do for you. What is your wish? I will try to fulfil it.”
The woman laughed and said,”What can you do for me ? What can you give me? You are yourself so helpless. Only a moment ago you were dying from thirst. You could not procure water for yourself. If I had not given you the milk from my pot, you would have been a dead man by now.”
The man smiled and said,”It‘s all true. Even then ask whatever you want.”
His insistence irritated her. To clinch the issue, in a sarcastic tone she said,”As you have seen, I have to climb the mountain all the way to reach this place to sell the milk.If you could make a pathway between the rocks, I will be spared the agony of climbing the mountain and descending from it to reach this place. I know you can‘t do it, but as you insist on doing me a favour, this is the only thing I can think of.”
The young man bowed down in gratitude, mounted his horse and galloped into the forest towards an unknown destiny.
He was Sher Shah ,the valiant son of Sasaram in Bihar who had, only a few months back, defeated the Mughal army and was now on the run for his life. (Among other things,the famous G.T. Road that passes through Pakistan is his monumental achievement).
Soon after his encounter with the milkmaid, fortune again smiled on him. He assembled his troops, defeated Humayun‘s army and once again became the ruler of India.
After assuming power, the first thing that he did was to order the government functionaries to make a pathway in the mountain by cutting the rocks. The mission was completed within days. The poor milkmaid could not believe her eyes. Now she would not have to climb the mountain. As she was thinking about the thirsty young man, a soldier came to her with a message from the king. She was invited to the king‘s court.
When she appeared in the court, Shershah paid respect to her and said he was happy that he had fulfilled his promise.
Though the mountain has been denuded and fortune hunters have used dynamite to break the stones, the passage which the king had made for the milk woman stands to this day. Even today this is known as Gowalin ka darra, (the milkwoman‘s pathway), at Sheikhpura, in Bihar state of India.
This historic relic remained buried for centuries. Now the Bihar Legislative Council has stepped in to preserve the historical site. A plaque is to be erected at the passage with the legend engraved on it for the posterity.
A HEAVILY armed, sturdy young man dismounted from his horse and looked around the hilly tract of land. His weather-beaten face showed traces of immeasurable agony. He had strayed into a territory about which he knew nothing. He had lost his comrades-in-arms in the maze of forests. And he was thirsty.
