IN simple medical terms it is just a malformation. But for residents of this otherwise sleepy township, it is easier to believe in the supernatural than the logical. And so, thousands of them today thronged the ancient Basanti Devi Annapoorna Mandir in Neem Wala Chowk here, where a boy with three so-called similarities to Hanuman, the Hindu deity, was the special invitee at the centenary celebrations of the temple.
The child, who was delivered by a Muslim lady Salma Begum at Nabipur village in Fatehgarh Sahib district on February 15 last year, was brought here by his mother, maternal grandfather Iqbal Qureishi, and some other close relatives. He had a tail, a mark of Gana (a thread Hanuman used to tie on his left arm, according to popular images) and an injury mark on his left foot (Hanuman is supposed to have sustained a similar injury when Bharat shot at him with an arrow).
As news of the abnormal child spread like wildfire and soon, crowds of the blatantly curious and the blindly devout began to throng the ancient temple. He has never been taken to a doctor.
With no voice speaking up for logic or medicine, superstition has run rife. The eleven-month-old child is referred to as Bajrangbali or Babaji, some sadhus of Hardwar and Rishikesh have even hailed him as an avatar of Hanuman. So-called devotees have also constructed a shrine near his birthplace, and offered huge sums as donation.
Iqbal Qureishi keeps the myth alive in his own way. He says the child neither cries nor laughs. He doesn’t even blink his eyes, he claims. However, on seeing the reporter interacting with Iqbal, the baby let out a very normal lusty cry and started bawling.
The child’s maternal grandfather says, his mentor Bashir Ahmed Sabri, priest of Hazrat Bandgi Sahib Sirhind Sharief, has instructed him to keep the child’s mother and father apart for 15 months, and to take utmost care of the baby.
This translates into keeping the child away from any medical treatment. It is the blessings of the Almighty, he says stubbornly, when it is suggested that the baby be subjected to a medical examination. When contacted, the medical experts say it could be a congenital deformity either due to an extension of the coccyx (the tail-bone) or a soft tumour. They also said the boy’s abnormalities could be due to some congenital deformation or a deformity of the spinal cord.
The child should be examined immediately by an expert paediatric surgeon, asserted the experts.
But in the present circumstances, that might be asking for too much. The abnormal child is scheduled to stay here tonight before leaving for Nabipur tomorrow, informed Qureishi.