प्रीतम Pritam

हजेरी घेताना शिक्षिकेला 'प्रीतम लुथरा' हे वेगळे नाव लक्षात येते. तो किरकोळ अंगाचा, दीनवाणा, मान खाली घालणारा मुलगा असतो.

While calling the roll, the teacher notices the unusual name 'Pritam Luthra' among the Joshis and Kulkarnis. Pritam is a thin, downcast boy who stands with his head bowed.

काही दिवसांत कळते की प्रीतम एकलकोंडा, अबोल, कुणात न मिसळणारा आहे. कोणत्याही उपक्रमात भाग घेत नाही आणि कसाबसा पास होतो.

Within days the teacher realises Pritam is a withdrawn, silent, friendless boy. He joins no activity, barely scrapes a pass, and stares blankly out of the window during lessons.

निबंधातील चुकांवरून शिक्षिका रागावते आणि पालकांना बोलावते. तेव्हा प्रीतम सांगतो की त्याची आई वारली आहे, वडील सरहद्दीवर सैनिक आहेत आणि तो मामा-मामीकडे राहतो. त्याला मराठी नीट येत नाही.

Angered by the many mistakes in his essay, the teacher summons his parents. Frightened, Pritam reveals that his mother died four years ago, his father is a soldier on the border, he studied earlier in Bengal and Punjab so Marathi is hard for him, and he now lives, unwanted, with his uncle and aunt.

प्रीतमचे दुःख ऐकून शिक्षिकेचे काळीज हलते. ती त्याला जवळ घेते आणि दुपारच्या सुटीत मराठी शिकवू लागते. तीही पोरकी असल्याने दोघांत आपलेपणाचा धागा जुळतो.

Moved by his story, the teacher's heart stirs. She draws him close and begins teaching him Marathi during the lunch break. Having lost her own father, she feels a shared bond of orphanhood; her few kind words and caresses give the boy new life.

शिक्षिकेचे लग्न ठरते तेव्हा मुले तिला भेट देतात. प्रीतमजवळ पैसे नसतात, म्हणून तो आईच्या जुन्या बांगड्या व अत्तराची बाटली भेट देतो. मुले हसतात, पण शिक्षिका त्या बांगड्या हातात चढवते.

When the teacher's wedding is fixed, the pupils hold a small farewell and give gifts. Penniless Pritam offers his late mother's old Hyderabadi bangles and a bottle of attar. The others laugh, but the teacher scolds them, wears the bangles, and praises the fragrance.

प्रीतम मॅट्रिक व बारावी होऊन एन. डी. ए. मध्ये जातो. सेकंड लेफ्टनंट होतो आणि 'पासिंग आऊट परेड'ला तो शिक्षिकेला आईवडिलांच्या जागी बसवतो. तो म्हणतो, गेल्या जन्मी मी तुमचाच मुलगा होतो.

Pritam passes matriculation and twelfth, enters the N.D.A., and is commissioned a Second Lieutenant. At his Passing Out Parade he seats the teacher in the parents' place of honour, bows his head over the bangles on her hands, and says, 'In my last birth I was surely your son.'

चार वर्षांनी प्रीतमचे लग्न होते; तोवर वडीलही वारलेले असतात. लग्नात तो शिक्षिकेला आईची साडी देतो आणि पत्नीला सांगतो की या बाई म्हणजेच त्याचे एकुलते कुटुंब आहेत. बांगड्या तिच्याजवळच राहू देतो.

Four years later Pritam marries; by then his father too has died. At the wedding he makes the teacher accept the saree meant for his mother and tells his wife, 'This lady is my only family; without her Captain Luthra would not exist today.' He lets her keep the bangles and says, 'Call me as your son and I will come running.'