GaiDi ka Gadan: The Marghat (Part I)

‘Marghat’ is a fascinating word most likely a combination of mar -> dead and ghat -> a contraction of ‘ghaat’  a sort of small pier on a river bank. So it means ‘pier of dead’ but its significance should not be lost. A pier is a place where people are ferried to places far away across a body of water therefore ‘marghat’ is a place where dead are ferried to destinations across unknown monolithic space, we can only speculate …….

GaiDi of course is a name of some individual and as you all know ‘gadan’ is dry river bed with scattered boulders of various sizes but rounded off due to years of erosion.  GaiDi ka gadan was a quiet marghat. Daand house was unique in the sense it had its share of arrogance. Built atop(daand) a hill away from the cluster of houses down below declaring pompously I am different and exalted.  The house was not built atop the tallest peak but a wedge like feature protruding like appendix from the high mountain (Chandakhal). The wedge like feature afforded panoramic view of the village below on the front and ‘gaiDi ka gadan’ on the rear. Sometimes when the darkness descends on the valley and quiet is disturbed by crackle of fire down below at the ‘marghat’ consuming the dead, you are bound to be psyched, get an eerie feeling especially when the house is barely populated……….