Tiger & Other Tales: 11. The Reckoning

                                                                  THE RECKONING

                                                                                 by

                                                                     Srinivas Kamat 

Horona was working in the fields. The blazing sun was beating down on his back. But he was used to it. He was all of eighteen, the colour of ebony, of medium height, well-built and muscular. The sun did not worry him. It was for those who were fair of skin who worried that the sun would make them darker. How much more black could he become than what he was already! And there was work to be done. And that too before the landlord came for his rounds closer when the sun was at its zenith. He had to finish ploughing this field. The planting season was upon them already. The first showers of rain had come a few days ago. It was said that this year also the rains would be copious. The harvest would thus be good. It had been like that for the last few years. But up in these hills the amount of rain was not really the issue. It always rained here during the monsoon and almost all through the year. The rain needed to come at the proper times so that the tender paddy shoots would be able to grow in the intervening few days when the sun came out and then it needed to pour again until the growing paddy saplings was ready for transplanting. The rain had to then stop for a while when they would shift the paddy to the flooded fields. Rain was welcome after that so that the harvest would bloom. Then again towards the end of the season if the hot sun came out it would make the paddy grow tall and green. With the gusty winds that would blow during this time the green paddy plants would bend with the wind hither and thither, as if a wave was passing through the fields. If the rain followed this pattern the rice in the paddy would become all the more plump, more shapely and sweeter. Horona had got this knowledge from the elders who worked the fields with him.  

Horona was an orphan. His parents had died early. He did not remember them. There was no one to take care of Horona when he was small. He had been told that the relatives of his father and mother refused to take him in their fold. Horona guessed that they must have had their own problems of making a life for themselves. Making both ends meet in this tribal area was difficult. Why even if you could manage to get two square meals in a day that was considered an achievement. In these circumstances, how could Horona blame his relatives? 

Thus the small Horona had hung around the landlord’s house. There was an old retainer who took a sort of pity on Horona and decided to take care of him. She used to work in the kitchen. The taking care was limited to giving Horona food. When it was meal times and after everyone had eaten and she was yet to eat. She would go out on the back verandah just outside the kitchen door and yell, ‘Horo! Horo!’ That was all she did. If Horona was within earshot and came, a plate of food would be thrust on to the verandah. Then she would go back inside. Horona as far back as he could remember would pick up the plate wash it afterwards with the water from the well and leave it back at the same place on the verandah. Her name was Renukamma, Horona had been told. But apart from calling him by his name the three mealtimes of the day Horona did not recall of Renukamma ever speaking to him. She was old, thin of face and body and with a back bent with age.

Horona would sleep in the same verandah at the back of the kitchen where the dried fronds from the coconut palms were kept along with the firewood. The dried fronds were used in the kitchen ovens to light the fires. The fronds were also used to make brooms to sweep the floor and the courtyard. It was quite dry where the firewood and the palm fronds were kept. Horona had no problems in making a bed of fronds for himself next to the pile of firewood. It was cosy and warm there and Horona would go to sleep most of the time with the aroma of fresh firewood in his nostrils. It was only during the rainy season and the winter that the open verandah created problems for Horona because of the cold. It was one such day Horona remembered when he was very small. It was very cold that day with the rains driven by the wind wetting the verandah of the kitchen almost completely. Just after the evening meal Horona had gone to sleep. In the winter he would sleep on top of the piles of firewood since it was relatively less colder than the floor of the verandah. After some time Horona had started shivering. His teeth were chattering with the cold and somehow he was unable to stop them from rattling. Today was much colder than other days he thought maybe because it had rained in the evening. Horona had nothing to cover himself with because at other times of the year he preferred to sleep on the floor which was cool and nice. During the rains he could tolerate the cold. That is how tough he had become. This was the first time that he was feeling the cold so much and suffering. There was nothing that he could do about it. Everybody had gone to sleep and even Renukamma also he thought, since the kitchen door was shut. With thoughts like this going through his mind, Horona was in a kind of stupor, half-asleep and half-awake state, curled up on the top of the firewood. Not being fully conscious he did not know when he found a coarse blanket covering him. He pulled it around him though the coarse wool tickled his ears and nose. With half-shut eyes he saw the back of Renukamma walking away from the pile of firewood. Horona closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep snuggling in the warmth that the new-found blanket had given him. The next morning when he got up, the first thing that he did was to fold the blanket carefully and keep it near the firewood, just in case Renukamma asked for it. She never did and to this day Horona was the proud owner of the grizzled blanket. 

Horona had come to the notice of the landlord, Ramakrisna Ballal, when he was very young and had come to stay at the house. He also seemed to be aware of the arrangement of food that Renukamma had for Horona since there was no interruption in the arrangement. Horona from as far back as he could remember would wear a half-dhoti tied around his waist and a singlet to cover his upper body. A cloth, which was also used as a towel, would be wound around his head. Every year just before Deepavali Renukamma would leave two sets of these clothes with his noon meal on the back verandah. Horona would take these away and wear them. The set would generally last him for a year until the next set came. Horona made himself useful around the house doing all the odd jobs. That kept him busy almost throughout the day. As he grew older he started working in the fields, learning from the elder labourers what needed to be done. Keeping himself busy throughout the day had kept Horona healthy. He had not known to be sick at any time. 

Hattigutte the village in which Horona stayed at the big house was a small village nestling in the hills on the road from Mangalore to Karkala. It was surrounded on all sides by forested hills and in the valley in between was the village. Around the village were paddy lands while as you neared the climb to the hills were areca plantations. Coconut palms were planted on the bunds – embankments in between the squares of the paddy fields as also near the houses, the number of trees depending on the amount of land available with the owner. From up on the hills if you looked down at the village and the surrounding lands, it made a pretty picture. With the squares of the paddy fields filled with the paddy undulating in the wind, the brown and green of the coconut palms swaying in the intermittent breeze and then the darker green of the areca palms. Nearer to the village you could see the winding roads separating neat houses with their red Mangalore tiles. But what grasped your attention even from a distance was the big house that stood at a certain distance from the other houses in the village. It was two storied, with multiple gables all tiled with the red Mangalore tiles providing a geometric pattern to the façade dominated by a central triangular gable rising in the middle of the front portico. The house was surrounded by coconut trees all around with a grove starting off at the back of the house after the rear courtyard that ran on until the paddy fields. Part of the rear courtyard was paved with concrete, one would assume to dry the paddy and other produce. The house dominated the other houses in the village both in terms of size and styling. It seemed to belong to someone obviously wealthy. This was the house of the landlord, Ramakrishna Ballal. It was also known as the Doddamane - the 'Big House' - in the village. 

A few years ago Renukamma had passed away.  Her death had hit Horona hard since she was the only woman with a kindly manner that he had encountered in his life. He was also worried whether after Renukamma  the food arrangements would continue. Soon after Renukamma had died the master had brought a younger woman into the house. She also worked in the kitchen like Renukamma and she continued with the arrangement to give Horona his meals. This woman’s name was Radha and she was quite a lot older than Horona. Horona had a few years before Renukamma’s death moved out to a small hut he had built on the edge of a coconut grove that was at the back of the house. The master had not objected to this. The hut could be seen from the rear of the big house.  Horona had hardly any belongings but he kept the hut, both inside and  outside, scrupulously neat and clean. The hut was built on a small embankment so that the water would not flood it during heavy rain. Horona was proud of his hut. Though he had built a small earthen oven in the hut, he preferred to pick up his food from the main house. 

Radha would give him the food as soon as Horona turned up which was around the same time that Renukamma used to call out to him. Radha would sometimes want to talk to Horona but he did not like that. Having grown up alone with hardly anyone to talk to, Horona was reticent and shy to talk to people and particularly women. The labourers in the fields had been saying that Radha had more duties than doing the chores in the main house. She also warmed the master’s bed, they said. Horona was not bothered about this kind of gossip since it did not concern him at all. The master, Horona knew, had lost his wife early in their marriage. His wife had died of complications with her first pregnancy and after that the master had not married. Time passed and the master started bringing women home particularly after Renukamma’s death. But he never married a second time. He was known around the village for having an easy eye on women. But the master was always careful and the women he brought home were not from the village. They came from the nearby town. Radha had been brought to do the housework but one guessed that by sleeping with her the master was killing two birds with one stone. Radha was somewhat younger than the master. No one knew about her whether she was married or not. Those kind of questions about matters relating to his house were not liked by the master.

So the arrangement continued and the gossip of it quietened down once the salacious bit about it fizzled out. Radha had noticed Horona. He was the only labourer who could be seen around the house most of the time. The others would come, work and then go away. She had noticed Horona’s hut near the house. Horona was well-built and his muscles rippled whenever he was doing any manual work. Like chopping the firewood or de-husking the coconuts, Radha would see how his back and arm muscles would glisten with sweat. Most of the time Horona would be going around bare-bodied except for the piece of cloth wrapped around his waist. After some time Radha started taking an interest in Horona. But Horona would not talk even if Radha spoke to him or even provoked him. Like when Horona came for his food Radha would keep him waiting, watching him all the while through the open kitchen window. Horona would stand for a while and seeing that his food was not coming, would come in and sit on the verandah. Radha would leave him like that and after having kept him waiting for a while would come out and give him his food not forgetting to put in some special delicacy that she had cooked that day. The delicacy was Horona’s reward for having patiently waited for his food. 

One day the master had gone to town. It was market day and Radha knew he would be away almost the whole day. Horona had been working in the fields that day as usual. When it was noon and the other labourers had gone home, Horona also made his way to the big house. To his surprise the kitchen door was closed. He waited for a while sitting on the verandah thinking that Radha must be busy doing some other work inside the house. Moreover, today he was early. Radha would come anyway. Almost an hour passed, Horona thought, and the kitchen door remained closed and also there was no sign of Radha. Horona decided to go to his hut and rest and wait for Radha. When she returned he was sure she would call out to him. Slowly Horona made his way towards his hut. 

Opening the door what does he see but Radha reclining in his hut and on his mat. She had a red flower in her hair and a smile on her face. Other than that she was just wearing a blouse and a long skirt. Her sari was thrown across the string that was tied across the wall in Horona’s hut. Seeing Radha there, Horona was nonplussed. He really did not know what to do. Radha called out to Horona, ‘Come! Come and sit here.’ Radha patted the mat near her and beckoned to Horona. Horona was starting to become afraid now. Why was Radha here and in his hut?  Why was she calling him to her? What was he supposed to do now? Not getting any answers to these difficult questions, Horona did the easiest thing. He turned around and just ran. He did not know how long he ran. But he found himself after some time panting for breath near the river which was almost a mile away from the big house. He sat under a tree trying to regain his breath. After having his breathing come to normal Horona looked around. There was nobody there. The running had made him hot, adding to the heat of the sun. He needed to cool off. Horona jumped into the water. The river was cool, the water invigorating. He immersed himself a couple of times. It felt good. Coming out he dried himself with his towel and slowly trudged back to the master’s fields. Horona did not have lunch that day. In the evening also Horona found it difficult to face Radha and did not go to collect his dinner. Horona went without food that whole day. 

The next day when Horona appeared at the kitchen door for his morning tiffin Radha told him that no food would be given him from that day since the master had decided it that way. Horona was shocked. What would he do now? He did not know how to cook. All these years he had depended on Renukamma and lately with Radha, until the incident with the latter. He thought of going to the master and pleading with him. But then he had never been to the master earlier and he did not know what he would say. After all whether to give food or not was the master’s prerogative. Horona therefore kept quiet. But the dilemma continued to haunt his mind. What would he do for food? He would need money to buy provisions and also for cooking utensils.  All that he thought would require a lot of money. Horona had never been paid by the master except that around any festival time Renukamma would drop some coins into his hand and say that the master had given him this money. Horona was never sure whether it was actually the master who gave him that money or Renukamma was just taking the master’s name and giving it to him on her own. This money Horona had safely kept in a tin which was tucked away in the corner of his hut. Horona did not know how much money was there. But sometimes he would take out the tin, open it and run the coins through his hands to get the feel of them. The coins, he saw, were differently marked on both sides. Some of them were small, some large. Horona felt good running them through his hands. It was after all his own money. He actually had no need of money until now and that is why all the money that Renukamma had given him was in the tin. Horona also did not know how to read and write or count and therefore he did not know how much money he had. Whether it was enough for him to buy utensils and provisions, he did not know. The only way out was to go into the village and see if the shopkeeper of the small store there could help him. 

The village was a mile away. Horona reached the shop. The owner, Prabhakara Nayak, looked at the tin that Horona handed over to him. He took out all the coins and dumped them on a cloth in front of him. He then separated the big ones from the small and stacked the coins according to their denomination and size. Once he finished doing that he started counting each stack and writing down something on a piece of paper. Finally the counting was over. Horona watched all the while to make sure that shopkeeper counted all the coins. Prabhakar Nayak when he finished adjusted the glasses that had slid down his nose and set right the cloth on his shoulder that was always slipping off and peered at Horona, saying – ‘What do you want?’ Horona recounted to Nayak his sad tale and said that he wanted all the basic items with which he could start cooking for himself. Nayak knew that Horona was illiterate and did not know how to count. He said – ‘OK! I will see what I can do. But remember all this money you brought will not get you everything that you need. I will give you whatever I can so that you can have food for a few days. But then if you want anything more you will have to bring more money. Understand!’ Horona nodded his assent. Nayak’s men then brought out some earthen pots, some small ladles, a couple of serving spoons and a bundle in which Horona saw was some rice, some dal – pulses, some salt, some potatoes, some onions, some spices like mustard, chili etc. and a little bottle with oil in it. Horona was happy that all this would get him going on the road to making his own food. Nayak then handed over the empty tin to Horona saying, ‘If you need anything more next time, bring more money.’ Horona looked at the empty tin and saying, ‘Yes, Sir!’ – he started trudging back to his hut. Looking up at the sky he saw the sun was moving down westwards. Horona was also hungry, thirsty and tired to boot. There was no question of him going to work anymore in the afternoon. He would go straight to the hut and cook something for himself.

Horona reached his hut and had hardly lit the fire in his cooking hearth when he heard a voice outside calling out –‘Horona! Horona!’ Horona recognized the voice of the man who used to supervise their work in the fields for the master. ‘Ho! Gopalanna! I’m coming! I’m coming!’ – saying this Horona hurried outside. As soon as Horona went outside, Gopalanna burst on him like one of those torrential downpours in the rainy season. ‘What do you think of yourself? Why have you not come for work today? Become a big boss, have you? Thinking that someone else will do your work for you? Who else will do the work? You think we are your servants while you stay at home and lord it over. What will I tell the master if the fields are not harvested in time?’ Horona was almost at the point of tears. He told Gopalanna about his plight. How he had not had a bite to eat since morning? How he had gone to the village to get provisions and cooking utensils? And how he had just got back and lit the fires to cook something for himself. Gopalanna heard the plaintive voice of Horona and his pleading face now with tears streaming down it and judged that he was telling the truth. In Gopalanna’s books Horona was a good, hard-working boy always ready to do any kind of work and one who was capable of finishing anything assigned to him in time and without complaining about it. He should not have been treated like this. Gopalanna had not been able to understand this morning why the master had called him to tell that hereafter Horona would also be paid in cash every week like the others and any favours like food that he was receiving from the main house would stop. The master had also told Gopalanna to pay Horona for last week’s work immediately. Things were now falling in place in Gopalanna’s mind. It must have been that woman Radha who must have poisoned the master’s mind about Horona. And that is how what Horona was saying had come to pass. In any case for Horona, Gopalanna thought that this was better since he got wages like the others and also got to live on the property. When God does anything, he looks more after the interests of the poor!  Gopalanna nodding his head at that thought told Horona – ‘Here keep this money! Master told me to give it to you this morning. This is for last week’s work. From now on you will be paid like the others every week on Saturday. And don’t forget to come for work tomorrow morning. I do not have the time to come chasing people like you at home. You understand!’Horona could only say – ‘Yes, Gopalanna! Yes, Gopalanna!’ and see the coins in his hand. He also thanked God. He had just gone in the morning and gave all his money to that shopkeeper Prabhakara Nayak and by afternoon he had more money given him. The pangs of hunger in his stomach were more tolerable now. 

Horona’s experiments with cooking did not meet with any great success. For the fire in the oven hearth to sustain was a big problem at the beginning. He got over that hurdle. Then he did not know how much water to put for the rice to cook. If he put too little water, the rice would burn at the bottom of the pot and if he put more water then it would be like kanji – the rice broth. Practical man that Horona was, he opted to put more water and have the rice like kanji because he did not know how to flip the pot over and dry the rice by draining off all the broth from it. With kanji Horona could just put some salt and slurp it up. The hot broth going down his throat and settling down into the pit of his hungry stomach was a happy feeling. Making anything else was turning out to be difficult since when he tried to make any vegetables it would all burn up in the pot. Putting in all that effort and then having nothing to eat was something that put Horona off from making any vegetable dishes. The rice broth was nutritious and filling and lately Horona had got to putting some dal – pulses along with the rice and some green chili, ginger and garlic which made the broth more flavoursome. Horona could also drink off the soup from the top and eat the mash of rice and the dal at the bottom. Horona would eat directly from the pot. No need for a plate leaving him with a lesser need of utensils and also lesser work to wash and clean up after the meal. Moreover cooking all this did not take more than half an hour and thus did not take much time for Horona or keep him away from his work in the fields for too long. For the first month this was the extent of Horona’s experiments with cooking. Horona as said earlier was a practical man and he did not need any special taste buds to satisfy and he learnt to manage with simple fare. Though off and on he would be reminded of Renukamma’s dishes and think of them nostalgically.

The woman Radha had thought that by banning serving Horona from the food from her kitchen, she would bring him to heel. But from the kitchen door of the main house, she would day after day see the wisp of smoke from Horona’s hut rise during meal times. That smoke maddened Radha no end. She had to speak to the master again and banish this fellow, Horona from the property completely. It was only then that Horona would realize how powerful she was. After all she had the master’s ear. But Radha still had a soft corner for Horona. The youth was built like a demigod, the rippling muscles on his body, the way he carried himself, the hair slicked down flat with coconut oil, attracted Radha to Horona no end. Rather than take an overtly aggressive approach Radha reconciled to try and win over Horona one more time. Just before his meal times, she would go across to his hut and leave a covered plate of any delicacies that she had cooked that day. Horona was no longer a man that could be bought. He was enjoying living on his own. The first day he saw the plate he did not know who had kept it there. Opening it he saw that it was some fish curry. Looking towards the main house, he thought he saw Radha disappearing behind the open kitchen door. He did not show any sign that he had seen her. After finishing his meal of broth, he picked up the plate that Radha had left for him uneaten and kept it on the back verandah at the same place where earlier his food would be kept. He made sure it was covered exactly as it had been left at his hut. He then left for his work in the fields. Radha after her lunch came out and saw the plate on the verandah and thinking that Horona had eaten the fish, did not bother to see in the plate and took it inside the kitchen. Going in she felt that the plate was kind of heavy for an empty plate and opening the cover, she saw that Horona had not even touched the fish curry. Radha was furious. Her plan was not working it seemed. By evening her anger had cooled off. She realized that she needed to go through this with more deliberation than just rush through it. She would try to get Horona to talk to her one more time. If that did not work then she would tell the master to throw him off the property and demolish Horona’s hut. Radha was getting tired with warming the master’s bed because he was old. Moreover the master was using her just like a body to satisfy his needs without caring for Radha’s sentiments or even satisfying her. While Horona being younger would be a better man to take to bed is what Radha thought. But this fellow Horona though unattached was not even looking at her. After a couple of days Radha again left a covered plate on the porch near the door of Horona’s hut. She had made that day mutton sukha, a dry curry preparation with lots of spices. It had come off well. Radha was sure that the look of the dish and the aroma would entice Horona to eat it. She had also decided that today she would watch Horona from the kitchen window and see what he did with the plate. Horona came as usual around noon and went into the hut without looking at the plate kept on his porch near the door. Radha thought that he had probably missed seeing it. After a couple of moments Horona came out after having kept some implements he was carrying inside and wiping his bare upper body with a piece of cloth. Radha could see the muscles on Horona’s body move under his ebony skin. He looked down now at the plate on the porch. Then he looked towards the main house staring at the open kitchen door. Radha moved a little back into the shadow from her position at the kitchen window so that Horona would not be able to see her. He then picked up the plate and without even looking at what was in it brought it up to the main house and left it at the verandah near the kitchen door. Seeing this Radha completely lost her temper and banged the window shut. Horona heard the noise and looked at the window with both surprise and alarm writ on his face. As for Radha she decided that this was the last straw. Horona would have to be thrown out from the property and also maybe from the employment here is what Radha had decided. She would find an opportune moment and speak to the master. 

Horona went back to his hut and got involved in making his midday meal. While cooking he was thinking – What was wrong with this Radha? Why was she doing all this? Horona liked to be left alone. Having grown up alone, he preferred to be left to himself. Horona was also not much of a talkative person. For him the talk with anyone was limited to what work was required to be done and a few words about the work if he had not been able to understand anything about it. Again most of his interactions up to now had been with men like the supervisor and the other workers in the fields. He had rarely talked to any women except for Renukamma and that too very limited dialogue about the plates being washed and left on the verandah after he had finished eating. So he was shy with women and preferred not to talk to them at all. That time when he saw Radha in his hut almost half-naked. He was scared out of his wits and that is why he had taken to his heels. After that he did not want to have anything to do with her. And that is why he was returning those plates of food that she had started keeping for him at his hut. 

Horona’s cooking skills had developed to the extent of after putting dal – pulses along with some spices while boiling rice, he had experimented with putting diced onions and potatoes into the broth. Surprisingly the hash tasted nice! He had also learnt to evaporate the water out from the top of the boiling rice mixture so that the broth became thicker in consistency. Horona found that it became all the more tastier when he slurped it down. It was only a matter of time before he would know how to invert the boiling rice, drain off the water and make proper rice. But who was there to teach him?

A few weeks later Horona was surprised to see an elderly man approaching his hut in the morning. The harvest was over and the work in the fields was less and Horona was in his hut attending some odd jobs. The elderly man was dressed in their tribal fashion, Horona noticed. A half dhoti strung around his waist, a piece of cloth wrapped around his head and he was wearing a half-sleeved jubba – a kind of vest as his upper garment above the waist. On his right shoulder was slung an umbrella, the U shaped wooden handle he was holding with his right hand. His face was kindly with a stubble on his chin. The eyes were old and friendly, crinkled at the edges and were looking at him enquiringly. When the old man was near, he called out to Horona, ‘Are you whom they call Horona? The master Ramakrishna Ballal’s man!’ 

Horona responded, ‘I am Horona. But what do you mean by Ramakrishna Ballal’s man. I only work for him here.’  

The old man, settling down in front of Horona’s hut, said, ‘I am from the village across the hills. My name is Golurappa. I used to know your father. That was a long time ago. We are from the same tribe. Recently someone from here came to our village and he said that you had grown up on your own and was working for Ramakrishna Ballal. That is why I came to see you.’ Looking at the hut and its proximity to the master’s house Golurappa was pleased. Chuckling to himself, he said, ‘You seem to have done well for yourself. Good! Good!’ 

Horona remained silent not able to understand what the old man wanted.  Saying – ‘I will have to leave in a short while for work. Tell me what you want so that I can see if I can help you.’ He was somehow warming up to the old man and his manner was likeable.

‘No! No! I do not want anything. Actually it is about my granddaughter that I wanted to talk to you about. Her name is Sitani. Her father is no more. There was an accident in the forest when they had gone to cut down some trees. The tree fell on poor Hariappa and he died on the spot. This was quite a while back. My daughter then came with Sitani as a baby back to me. They had no one to look after them so I have taken care of them up to now. Sitani has become of marriageable age. She is beautiful. She knows cooking and all the work of the house. Her mother has trained her well. So if you agree we can give her in marriage to you.’ Golurappa got it all out at once so that Horona was clear about the intention behind his visit. 

Horona was somewhat taken aback by this sudden proposal. He stammered, ‘What? Marriage! No! No! I am happy the way I am. There is no need for all that.’ 

Golurappa continued in his elderly manner, ‘That is what they all say. Marriage is necessary for both man as well as a woman. Some day you will want to do it. So why not now? You are young and healthy. You have a job. You have a place to stay. All you need is a woman to share this hut with. My Sitani fits the bill. And we are from the same tribe. So there is no reason for you to say – No.’

Horona wanted this conversation to end. So saying – ‘I have work. I need to go now.’ He made as if to go inside the hut.

The old man was not one to give up and getting up he came near Horona and said, ‘I know. This has been rather sudden. You will need some time to think about it. Do so! Our village across those hills is Teganhalli. When next someone is coming this side I will ask them to come and meet you. You can tell them what your decision is then. You will have to see Sitani before you can agree, I also know that. She will also want to see you. So after you have thought about this you can come and visit us and have a look at Sitani. Or if you have made up your mind you can come to our house anyway and we can then wrap up the other arrangements for an early wedding. So let me know. I will go now.’  Golurappa then got up and went away.

Horona forgot about the old man’s visit. He got absorbed in his work. He had settled down to his routine of work, making lunch and dinner and then sleep. Get up again and go through the same cycle. There was rarely any time to think about anything else. His culinary skills had not gone beyond making the khichdi – the broth of rice, pulses, onions, potatoes and some spices. He was happy with that. After the last incident with Radha, there was no further effort on her part to give him anything. And then someone came looking for him from Teganhalli. He was not at home and could not meet the person. The supervisor gave the message to Horona telling him that Radha had told him so. Horona now knew that Radha may have got an inkling that there was a marriage proposal for him. Horona also got to thinking about the marriage matter. If he got married, he would solve two problems. The first was of his cooking. He would not have come home from the fields and then again start lighting the fire in the hearth. Food would be kept ready by his wife, whosoever she may be, and all he would have to do is eat. He would be able to get some rest also before he had to go back to the fields in the afternoon. The second problem, he would solve is that of Radha. She would not dare to try and contact him in any manner once she knew he was married. Horona was pleased with himself having finally come to a conclusion on this issue of marriage. He would go to Teganhalli as soon as possible to see Golurappa’s granddaughter. 

Thus it was that Horona found himself trekking to Teganhalli when it was a holiday. After enquiring about the whereabouts of Golurappa’s house, he presented himself there. Approaching the hut he saw a slight girl picking some flowers from a shrub near the house. She looked towards Horona as he came near but did not say anything. She was waiting for this oddly dressed visitor to speak first. Horona was dressed in his usual half-dhoti but considering the occasion he had put on a blue shirt and a red cloth was tied around his head. On his feet were chunky leather chappals – slippers. In one hand was a chicken that he was carrying with its feet tied and with its head downwards. In the other hand were some four coconuts, yet to be shelled with their stems intact. He had been told that he should go bearing at least some gifts considering the occasion. This he had been told by his fellow workers in the field. They had said that it would make a good impression. 

Sitani regarded this visitor and thought of the pretty but comical picture he made. Horona was also waiting for her to speak first since he had rarely talked to people and women at that. Finally, he blurted – ‘Is this Golurappa’s house?’ Sitani had decided to have some fun so she said –‘And who may I know is asking this?’ Horona had not expected this reply. He had thought that the girl would reply either yes or no. No harm in telling her his name. He said – ‘I am Horona from Hattigutte.’ Sitani was not one to stop there. She persisted with her enquiries. ‘And why may you be wanting to see my grandfather?’ Things fell into place now for Horona. This must be the granddaughter that the old man had been talking about. Horona had forgotten her name though he remembered that the old man had mentioned it. This girl seemed to be the talkative type. Asking questions and also not directly but in a different kind of way. Horona decided to have a close look at her. Not very tall, slender, dusky complexion almost tending to very dark, big eyes, twinkling and mischievous, set in a round face, with two pigtails tied high on either side of her head with red ribbons. She was dressed in a half-sari that was the custom among their families. A full skirt over which a piece of cloth would be tied at the waist and carried up to put on top of the blouse. It was called a half-sari since the covering cloth was half a sari length which left a lot of the full skirt exposed at the front. It was mostly worn by adolescent girls maybe to signify that they were on the threshold of full womanhood when they would wear a full sari. She was carrying a small bamboo basket in her hands in which she was putting in the flowers that she was picking from the shrub. She looked pretty as a picture to Horona. ‘Will you tell your grandfather that I have come to talk to him about the matter for which he had come to my hut in our village some time back.’ Horona said this in one single burst without waiting to take a breath because he wanted to finish all that he wanted to say at one time. Sitani upon hearing this blushed and quickly went into the house. Horona guessed that the grandfather must have told her about his visit to Horona and thus she now knew why he had come. In a few moments Golurappa came out of the house. Standing near the door he looked at the sight that Horona presented. He was also thinking that finally Horona seemed to have taken the bait. He was a good boy nonetheless and had to get married, in any case, one day. Seeing Golurappa, Horona was relieved. At least he was there. If that girl had come back and said that he was out of the house then the wait for Golurappa would have bordered at torture in the hands of that wisp of a girl. Golurappa saying -‘Oh! It’s you Horona!’ – came down into the courtyard. Horona again stammered, ‘You had asked me to come, remember!’

‘Yes! Yes! Good that you came.’

‘I brought these things for you.’ – Horona said extending the chicken and the coconuts. 

‘That’s nice of you.’ Then turning towards the house, he called out, ‘Sitani! Come here, my girl! And take these things from Horona. Bring some water for him and some jaggery. He has walked far.’ The slender girl came out and without looking at Horona took the chicken and the coconuts and went back inside the house.

Horona now knew for sure  that this girl was Golurappa’s granddaughter, Sitani. Golurappa and Horona settled down on the front porch of the house. Sitani came out in a moment with water and jaggery for Horona. Once Horona had finished them, Golurappa asked him, ‘So. What brings you here?’

For Horona this was a major shock and he almost fell off the porch. This old man asks me to come and then he questions me as to why I have come? Seeing Horona nonplussed, Golurappa proceeded to put him at his ease, ‘So you have decided to get married. How did you like Sitani?’ Horona was unable to say anything but looked down at his feet with his head bent. Golurappa took this probably for Horona’s assent. He got up and went into the house, saying – ‘I will just come. Wait!’ Golurappa was away for some time and when he came out a big smile wreathed on his face. ‘Sitani also says that she likes you. So we have no problem. We can decide on the wedding quickly. For today you have lunch with us and then you can go so that you reach home by sunset.’

Horona thus got married and brought Sitani home. The hut built for one suddenly seemed small. But it was cozy. The first few days for both of them passed off in marital bliss. Horona found now that he had more time on his hands having been relieved from the cooking chores. The hut also looked tidier inside. Outside Sitani had dug up some patches in the front and put in a few flowering shrubs. At the back of the hut also she had put in some vegetable plants like brinjal – aubergines and ladyfingers - okra. Things seemed to be going well, Horona thought. He was being teased in the fields about his new wife and how they passed time together. Horona ignored these remarks and concentrated on his work. Now he had to look after Sitani so he had to work all the more and harder. 

Radha had noticed Sitani’s coming. She was no longer jealous. Now that Horona was married she had lost interest in him. He was Sitani’s now. But she was very much interested in Sitani. She had seen Sitani dressed in the tribal fashion with just a sari wrapped around her waist pulled across her chest and then over her left shoulder with the other end again tucked in at the waist. She did not wear a blouse. But there was always one or the other flower in her hair. Radha liked what she saw of Sitani. She thought she would have someone to talk to and spend time with when she was done with her household chores. So one day in the afternoon she went across to Horona’s hut. Sitani was working on something or the other. Radha said, ‘I am Radha. I stay at the big house.’ Sitani looked up at Radha and said, ‘I know. I have seen you there.’ They got on well with each other and after that it was either Radha coming to the hut or Sitani going across to the big house. They would sit on the verandah outside the kitchen and chit-chat. The first day that Radha had come Sitani had mentioned it to Horona. Horona was quiet for a while. He did not really know how to handle these things. Why should Radha come and spoil their happiness, was his first thought? But then Sitani seemed to have liked Radha’s company. But it was better that he tell Sitani about Radha. So he told Sitani about what had happened earlier with Radha. Sitani did not seem to take offense at what had happened. She just giggled and knowingly smiled at Horona making those big eyes of hers. After some time Sitani had come and asked Horona, ‘Nothing really happened between the two of you, no!’ Horona had then blushed and had said, ‘Are you a fool? Could you not make out?’Sitani had giggled again and the matter was forgotten.

Sitani never realised when she started going to the big house and started doing the chores there. At first Radha had asked for some help and Sitani could not refuse her. And then Radha was not well for a few days and Sitani found that she was managing two kitchens. Her own as well as at the big house. At these times there was a boy who would carry the food to the master or carry messages to her when the master would want to have some coffee or tiffin. Radha became better and then things were back to normal. Normal meaning that one or the other time Sitani would still find herself doing some work or other at the big house. Sitani actually did not mind since she had got to liking Radha and what was there if you could not but help out a friend. Radha would give Sitani some titbit that she had cooked or some coconuts or some fruit when she was returning to the hut. Sitani for all the times that she had been inside the big house had not come across the master. Radha said that he rarely came to the rear part of the house. And Sitani had never been to the front part of the house having been carefully managed by Radha to avoid any meeting with the master. Radha had her own reasons for doing this. Things went on like this and then it was the day of the Janmasthami festival. Radha had a lot of work to do at the big house and as usual Sitani was helping out. It was early in the evening and the puja was supposed to be at midnight, the time Lord Krishna was supposed to have been born. Some guests of the master had arrived and they had to be given coffee. The boy who normally helped Radha around the house had gone out on a last-minute errand. There was no one to carry the plate of coffee to the front porch of the big house where the master and his guests were sitting. Radha was in her work clothes which were also messed up with the work she had been doing. She was thus feeling shy to go out in front of the guests like that. The task of taking out the coffee seemed to finally come on Sitani. Sitani herself did not want to go but there seemed to be no choice in the matter. She was also feeling nervous since she had never gone to the front of the house and also appeared before the master. In fact for the few months that she had got married to Horona and was staying at their hut, she had never seen the master. But she understood Radha’s predicament and accepted to go.

The verandah as Sitani saw after coming out of the main door was wide. It was cool and shaded by the eaves to protect it from the rain or sunshine falling on it. On one side a few comfortable chairs were placed with a table moved along a wall. In the chairs five persons were sitting. All men who seemed to be in high spirits, talking and laughing. When Sitani came out from inside all conversation stopped. Whether it was Sitani’s imagination, she felt all the five pair of eyes boring into her. She was wearing a sari, as usual, draped around her in the tribal style with no blouse and thick silver anklets on her feet. A big, round red vermilion dot on her forehead complimented her dusky skin. These men staring at her made her all the more nervous. After the first glance at the people Sitani was walking slowly towards them with her head bowed looking at the coffee glasses on her plate. One of the five, she suspected must be the master, said – ‘Bring the coffee here and leave it on the table. We will help ourselves.’ It was just a few steps now to reach the table and put the coffee plate down and then rush back to the safety of the kitchen and Radha, Sitani thought. But she found that her hands were trembling and the plate was shaking with almost a life of its own. The coffee glasses of steel were also wobbling on the plate by this vibration and clinking against each other. Sitani had hardly reached the table when one of the glasses from the side of the plate fell to the ground spilling the coffee. Sitani was now completely shattered. Her legs seemed to be giving way and her hands were trembling uncontrollably. Somehow she managed to reach the table and put the coffee plate on it. The man whom Sitani suspected to be the master said, ‘Now, look what you have done. Thank God, the hot coffee did not fall on any one of us. Now go and get another empty glass and a piece of cloth to clean up this mess.’ Sitani mumbled something under her breath and picking up the fallen glass, she almost ran to the safety of the room inside of the main door. The last she heard while escaping inside was the laughter of the men sitting on the porch. Sitani was ashamed, hurt and almost in tears. She frantically rushed into the kitchen and told Radha what had happened and that she would never go out there again. But Radha remonstrated with her and reminded her that she could not go out herself and Sitani had to take a spare glass out and swab the coffee on the floor.  Sitani again had no choice and rushed back out with a glass and a piece of cloth. While coming out onto the porch, she heard the men outside talking. Sitani feeling shy hesitated to go out and paused by the side of the front door. She had no alternative but to hear what they were saying. A first voice was saying, ‘You have quite a collection of women, Ballal! Where did this latest one come from? We have not seen her earlier.’ The voice that Sitani believed to be the master’s said, ‘I do not know myself who she is. I am also seeing her for the first time.’ There was then a chorus of voices, ‘Do you expect us to believe that, Ballal?’, ‘It is almost as if you have kept the best for last for us to see!’ The master then said, ‘It’s nothing like that.’ One of the voices then again piped up, ‘Ballal, if you are also seeing her for the first time, tell us what you think about her. Did you like what you saw?’ The master seemed at a loss to answer and in that lull Sitani came out on the porch. This time again as soon as she came out all conversation stopped. This time again all five pairs of eyes tracked her from the door up to the table where Sitani left the spare glass. She had kept her eyes lowered as the last time. Her other hand was carrying a rag to clean up the spilt coffee.  When she bent down to get onto her haunches to reach the floor, she again felt the five pairs of eyes tracking her movement. The coffee had spilt near the chair of the master and when she had to reach close to his feet to clean it, she looked up for a moment. She found him looking at her. He seemed to have kindly eyes. From what she remembered from that glance was that he was fair with a square face and wavy black hair that fell on his forehead, bushy eyebrows and a bushy moustache. There was a smile on his face. He moved his foot away a little so that Sitani could clean up properly. But for the master Sitani felt that the other four men were leering at her. Their eyes were hot on her bare shoulder and back. Sitani hurriedly finished swabbing and went inside, glad to get away from the men’s eyes. When Sitani came home she told Horona about the first look she had of the master. Horona listened round-eyed because all these years he had not even gone near the master let alone talk to him. 

Days passed and Sitani as was now becoming common was always working at the big house. She had forgotten about the incident with the master and his friends at Janmasthami. One day she was sweeping a room at the big house when she sensed a movement at the main doorway of the room. It was a room with a lot of closets and almirahs and had two doors, one the main one leading to the front of the house and another was a side door which led to the kitchen. Sitani had come in from this side door and was absorbed in sweeping the floor, when she felt someone looking at her from the main door. She looked up, bent with the broom in her hand. And what does she see but the master standing there looking into the room! Seeing the master, Sitani hurriedly put her head down again and swept faster so that she could finish and go. When she went back to the kitchen she told Radha about the incident. Radha listened quietly but did not say anything. Sitani concluded that the master must have been wanting something from the room and seeing her there, decided to wait until her work was finished. Again when she went home she told Horona about the incident. Horona as usual did not say anything because he did not really know what to say. 

One day after some time Sitani found herself swabbing the main porch of the big house. It was mid-morning and Sitani was in a hurry to finish this for Radha, who as usual had been complaining of back pain, and then go back to her hut and cook lunch for herself and Horona. Sitani had reached the porch with her bucket of water and a piece of cloth. She had hardly put the bucket down outside the main door when looking towards the chairs she found the master sitting there. Leaving the bucket and cloth where she had put them down Sitani ran back to the kitchen and told Radha, ‘The master is there, sitting on one of the chairs!’ Radha said, ‘Oh! He has not gone out today. Go back and finish the work. After seeing you come out to swab, he must have gone into his room by now. Go, my dear! Do not be afraid. What will he do, eat you?’ Sitani and Radha laughed at that and Sitani went back out. When she came out she found the master still there but reading some paper that he had in his hand. Sitani decided to ignore him and started swabbing the porch from the end furthest from where the master was sitting. She also consciously put her back towards him. Like this Sitani had finished half the porch and had to now go towards the end where the master was sitting to finish the swabbing. She had dipped the cloth into the bucket, rinsed it and squeezing it dry, made to go towards the chairs and the table. It was then that the master got up and went past her. Sitani was relieved. She could now finish her work and then go into the relative safety of the kitchen. Moving the chairs to get between them, Sitani involuntarily looked back and saw that the master had not gone in, but was standing near the steps that led from the porch to the courtyard below. And he was not looking out across the courtyard but was looking in and at her. Sitani was flustered by the direct stare. She had felt that the master was watching her when she had been swabbing the other side of the porch earlier but had ignored the feeling. Now there was no doubt that the master was directly looking at her only. When the master had passed Sitani she had glanced at him and now she had a better view. Actually he was not bad looking as Sitani remembered from the last encounter. But this time he was standing up. He was not as tall as Horona. Like the other day he was all in white wearing a half-sleeved shirt and a mundu – a piece of cloth half the length of a dhoti wrapped around and tucked in at the waist. But he was nice looking. Sitani quickly finished her work and went in. The master was still standing there near the porch steps when she left. As usual Sitani confided to both Radha and Horona about what had happened. Horona was silent. Radha it seemed after that incident stopped calling Sitani over. 

It was a few weeks after that Radha while cooking in the kitchen found the master come in. All the time she had come to stay at the big house, Radha had never seen the master come into the kitchen. But today, there he was. And he was asking her, ‘Where is the young girl that you had working for you? I do not see her these days.’ Radha said that she had not been coming for a while. The master continued, ‘I know she is Horona’s wife. Ask her to come from tomorrow. Give her something to do and also some money. Whatever she asks! Understood!’ Radha looked curiously at the master. Saying this he was gone. Radha did nothing about his instructions to call Sitani. The master also did not pursue the matter with Radha.

One day Sitani was in her garden tending to some of her plants in the afternoon. Horona had come for lunch and had gone back to the fields. Suddenly she had the eerie feeling that someone was looking at her. Looking back she found the master at the corner of the big house from where the coconut plantation began, with an umbrella planted on the ground looking intently at her. When he saw that Sitani had noticed him, he smiled at her and then left. Sitani was at her wit’s end trying to understand what was going on. She again told Horona what had happened when he came home. But as usual Horona was silent. 

The very next day Radha was again taken ill with the aggravated back pain that she normally had and Sitani was called over to the big house to help her with the house work. Sitani blithely accepted the chores. She was supposed to sweep and swab the rooms. She had gone into the store room kind of place with all the closets and almirahs. She was singing in a soft voice to herself while sweeping the floor when she saw the master again standing in the doorway which led to the front room. She ignored him but stopped singing. She had finished sweeping and was bending over to pick up the swabbing cloth from the bucket of water when she found a hand clasping her elbow. Looking up Sitani saw it was the master and he had a queer smile on his face. At first Sitani did not know what to do but involuntarily she screamed. The master put a hand to her mouth and pulled her into a rough embrace. Sitani twisted out of the master’s grasp and ran for her life, out the side door and into the kitchen. Radha saw a disheveled and distraught Sitani rushing in, saying – ‘It is the master! The master!’ Radha in a trice knew what was going in. She pulled Sitani to herself and tried to console her. Sitani was taking deep breaths and sobbing. Radha said, ‘Now! Now! Do not cry. And don’t worry, he will not come here. You are safe now.’ Radha could feel Sitani relaxing in her arms. Her sobs had also stopped. Radha said, ‘I will give you something to have now. Drink this glass of water. And then I will give you a hot cup of coffee. Sit by the door and have it quietly. And then go back to your hut. Be sure to latch the door from inside and do not open it for anyone but me and Horona. Understood!’ Sitani could only mutely nod her head. 

When Horona came for lunch, she again told him everything that had happened. Horona was again silent. He was seething from inside. But what could he do? The master was everything to him. He had no one else to have any regard for. But for the master he would have been an orphan waif going from door to door begging for food. By the time he was as old as he was now, maybe left on his own to fend for himself; he would be dead by now. He was obliged to the master. He was bonded to the master! Not that he had met the master and had developed any personal liking for him. In fact he had not even talked to the master all these years. He had seen him a couple of times and that too from a distance. So when Sitani had come back from the big house telling him about her meeting the master he was proud, jealous and at the same time afraid. Afraid of what the master would do to Sitani. Afraid of what the master would do to him! His working here would stop. And with that the hut which he had built and which was the only thing he could call his own. He did not want Sitani to get hurt in all this because he had become really fond of her. He had come to depend on her. If the master did something to hurt Sitani then Horona would not be able to take it. Sitani had cried and cried that night. And Horona could not see her cry. He was helpless but not impotent to act. What he would do, he did not know but then he would definitely try to do something!

With Radha and Sitani being close, after the time that the master was seen looking at Sitani near her hut, Radha had told her to be wary. Radha had also told Sitani about her life and how she had arrived at the big house. Radha’s husband had been addicted to liquor. This addiction had cost him his work as well as the relationship with all his near family. Radha had been an orphan losing both parents quickly when she was small. Thus from her side of the family she did not know many of her relatives. When her husband lost the ability to earn money, the drunkard’s condition of the addiction taking control of his life started. When he needed money for liquor, he pestered Radha to give him the few ornaments she had to either pledge or sell so that he could sustain his vice. When Radha objected to giving the ornaments she would be beaten black and blue. That was the situation even otherwise since after consuming liquor and coming home drunk, her husband would beat up Radha. Radha was sick of it and one day after a particularly bad day with her husband she decided to leave the home she thought she had and was her own. She was still young. She did not know where to go. But she would find her way in the world, she had resolved. Walking up to the highway from her village was easy. It was just about fifteen miles. She was carrying nothing with her except the clothes which she was wearing and some food for the way. This was to avoid raising suspicion with her husband that she had left home for good. Not that he would notice anyway. Her intention was to reach the town of Kundapur which was about thirty miles along the highway. She had heard that it was a big town and she was sure she would find some work there. By the time she had got to the highway it was late in the afternoon. It was also the rainy season and with ominous dark clouds overhead, it had become suddenly very dark. It was not very long before the rain came pelting down. Radha was still about twenty miles from Kundapur. The rain was heavy and the large drops were splattering on the black tarmac of the highway with a clattering and rhythmic sound. It reminded her of the kettledrums that would play at the temple festival. When the rain started she had enjoyed it at the beginning. Revelling in her new-found freedom by getting wet in the rain. It was also said that when it rained it was a good omen and that the work taken in hand would be successfully completed. There were few vehicles along the highway and even then mostly trucks. They were all driving with their headlights on. For Radha it was an eerie experience. It was dark for some time and then suddenly when a vehicle passed the headlights would light up the lines of the driving rain angling down to smash themselves in the ground. And after the vehicle went by it was dark all over again. Radha would be blinded by the headlights coming towards her while those coming from behind her illuminated the driving rain like in a cinema, to vanish as quickly as it had come on. By this time Radha was tired from walking. Though she had rested for a while and had had some food that she had brought, the walk had been long and she had not expected it would be so tiring. She was also not used to walking such long distances. The rain had made the ordeal worse. It had become really dark by this time. Radha was drenched to the skin with the clothes sticking to her body. She was staggering ahead rather than walking. Anytime she would fall, she thought. The semi-stupor that she was in was being overcome only by her will to put as much distance between herself and her husband. What was driving her was also the obsession to reach Kundapur with a promise of work there and a new and different life. 

Going along in this daze, Radha did not realize when a headlight that had passed her on her side of the road and had stopped a little ahead. Looking at it she saw the faint outline of an Ambassador car and two red lights spaced out at the back. The red lights then started to move back towards her. Radha was scared now. In the frame of mind that she was in, she thought it to be some monster coming after her and she hurriedly got off the road. Standing with her back to the road she heard the sound of a car door opening and closing and then someone seemed to be calling out to her. ‘Where do you want to go? Do you need help?’ Radha could only mumble, ‘Kundapur!’ Radha heard some shuffling steps and then some low voices. Then the voice said, ‘Come! We are going that way. We will drop you at Kundapur. Not safe for a single woman at this time and in weather like this.’ Radha turned and saw this man standing on the edge of the road with an umbrella and behind him there was an Ambassador car with its headlights on. The man gestured for her to come up and then shepherded her into the front passenger seat. Closing the door he went from in front of the headlights and got into the driver’s seat. Radha guessed that he must be the driver. There was someone sitting in the back but Radha was too scared to even look back. This was also her first time in a car and she was sitting on the edge of the seat, away from the door and with both hands collected in her lap. The driver while starting the car said, ‘My master is at the back. He is the man who agreed you to be taken to Kundapur with us. Say namaskaram to him!’ Radha without looking back, mumbled, ‘Namaskaram!’ - in an inaudible whisper. The car started with a jerk and Radha was thrown in front with her head hitting the dashboard in front. She also slipped from her seat and fell in the narrow space in front of the seat. The driver said, ‘Sit comfortably! Lean backwards on the seat, then you will not fall.’ Radha in her confusion did not say anything but got back onto the seat and sat as advised by the driver. There was no reaction from the person sitting in the backseat of the car. The car droned on through the heavy rain with its headlights on showing up the raindrops falling in a steady and unchanging geometric pattern. Occasionally in the hazy light, one could see scenes flashing by of someone walking by the side of the road umbrella held close to the head or the outline of a tree or the lights in the front porch of a house or some shops that were open. Radha found the inside of the car stuffy with all the windows pulled up except for the driver’s which let in a bit of the air along with a lot of the rain where it was open a little at the top. Compared to this walking in the rain was more comfortable, what with the wet cooling rain on your face and body. Inside the car the front glass would fog up occasionally and the driver would reach up with a piece of cloth and wipe it off. Sometimes he would hand over the cloth to Radha asking her to wipe the glass on her side. But other than these interludes, the droning of the car’s engine was monotonous and was making Radha drowsy. She had found many a time her head lolling toward the door when she had dozed off only to wake up with a start. After some time Radha just curled up in the front seat and nodded off.

Radha was dreaming. She was seeing a big house that she was entering after climbing a flight of steps. Going through a main door into a hall which was made almost completely of wood with pillars supporting the ceiling on all sides. There was a small passage running behind the pillars and the wall along all four sides. Straight ahead was another door leading to the inside of the house. On the left and right were also doors leading off to other parts of the house. The ceiling of the hall was high partly covered by rafters just above the main door and partly with a wooden floor further in, on which there was a balcony looking onto the hall from upstairs. Radha was standing in the middle of this hall looking up and around and wondering, ‘Is this all mine?’ Her dream was rudely shattered when the driver opened her side door and shook her awake. Radha rubbed her eyes with one hand and found that the car had stopped. The rain had also lessened. They were in front of a large house. Radha stammered, ‘Have we reached Kundapur?’ She was shivering now with the wet clothes she had on and a stronger breeze blowing. The driver said, ‘No. We will go to Kundapur in the morning. There was a problem with the car. It is too risky to go now in the night. That is why we stopped here.’ Radha was feeling scared now. She asked, ‘Which place is this now?’ The driver reassured her with a crooked smile – ‘Don’t worry! This is the master’s house. You are safe here. Come now! I do not want to continue getting wet standing here talking to you.’ Radha knew something was wrong. But she could not for the life of her understand what it was. Finally she convinced herself that anything was better than that drunken husband of hers and her life with him. What could they do to her? At most rape her! She shrugged and got out of the car. The driver had his umbrella open and led Radha through the rain to the back of the house. 

He opened the back door and went in putting on the dim light as he did so. It seemed to be a kitchen Radha thought but it seemed to her that it had not been in use for a few days. Through the kitchen was another smaller room to which the driver took her, saying – ‘Stay here for the night.’ Gesturing toward a tin trunk lying against one of the walls, he said, ‘You will find dry clothes in that to change in. Here take this. It is some food that we bought on the way. Water you can find in the kitchen.’ Radha looked at the trunk and a roll of a mattress that was near it. At least the night was taken care of. There was a musty smell in the room as if it had not been used for some time. She was shaken out of her thoughts by the driver continuing, ‘Come now! I do not have the whole night to stand here and talk to you. Come after me and close the kitchen door from inside. I will see you in the morning. Put off the lights as you go in.’ Radha followed him to the kitchen door, closed it and came back to the room she had been shown. Shutting the door she started to change but then as an afterthought decided to look first into the tin trunk. Inside it were two or three dark coloured saris, a few blouses, some trinkets, a photograph of a goddess yellowed with age, a broken comb. She took out one of the saris which did not look too old and a blouse, judging that the latter would fit her. After changing she opened the window of the room. The rain outside had stopped. There was a moon that she could see peeping at her through the palm fronds of the coconut tree. There was a breeze blowing and it was cool. Radha went into the kitchen got herself a pitcher of water, came back to the room and opened the packet of food given her by the driver. It was biryani. Radha was ravenous, the biryani delicious and it was all finished in minutes. While eating Radha kept looking at the tin trunk and the mattress wondering to whom they belonged. Looking from the kind of saris in the trunk Radha thought that it must be some elderly woman. After finishing the food Radha unrolled the mattress and went off to sleep. Her head had hardly touched the mattress when she was out like a light what with all the exertions of the day and all that had happened in it.

The next morning Radha got up early. The rain had stopped. The sun had not yet risen. The early light of dawn was suffusing the surroundings. She had come out on the verandah running along the kitchen wall at the back of the house. The kitchen door was almost right in the middle of this verandah. The verandah had wooden beams for pillars interspersed at regular intervals along its length holding up the roof. The roof angled down from the house and was covered with red Mangalore tiles. On one end of the verandah were stacked piles of firewood and near them were lying some dry palm fronds. That seemed to be the stock of firewood to keep the kitchen fires going. When Radha had come out she had had time to look at the kitchen. It was fairly big again, high ceilinged with wooden rafters running along the top that was supporting a wooden floor above. On one side along the narrower wall was the hearth where the outline of three ovens could be seen, two large and one small. The hearth about a foot higher than the floor extended to more than half of the width of the kitchen. It was neatly plastered with mud and cowdung it seemed and from the looks of it had not been used for some days maybe weeks. The rafters on the ceiling over the hearth were black with soot resulting from the smoke of the fires used for cooking. Higher up on the wall behind the hearth were barred windows to provide for ventilation and light. They were shut now. In the remaining space after the hearth along this wall there were three huge brass pots, probably kept for storing water that would be needed for cooking. They were now empty. And on the floor near them were a couple of smaller brass pots that were to be used to take out water from the bigger ones, Radha surmised. She could also see that these pots had been polished to shine once but had now tarnished.  On the opposite side of the hearth in the kitchen along the other narrower wall was a sectioned off area with raised bricks and where there was a tap, where one probably washed the utensils. Adjacent to this area along the same wall were the grinding stones, one flat and the other round. Radha had also noticed a larger round grinding stone on the kitchen verandah. That one must be for the big festive occasions or a function where many guests would come. Adjacent to the grinding stones in the kitchen was a small door which led into a store where the provisions were kept. Radha had been inside and had seen that it was overflowing with all kinds of things that would be needed for a big house to feed its members and guests. The grinding stones were actually under a steep wooden staircase that went through the ceiling to the floor above which functioned like an extended loft where normally according to local custom, coconuts and other dry stores were kept that were not needed on a daily basis. Along the longer walls of the kitchen on shelves were all kinds of utensils and on fixtures were hung pots, pans, a sack of onions in twine netting, a few ash-gourds and Mangalore cucumbers in their rope harnesses. On either side of the door leading out to the verandah were wide and high windows, barred and sectioned off so that the bottom or top part of the window could be closed if one wished. To Radha it looked like a cheerful kitchen when it would be bustling full with people and activity but right now it was sombre and dull. It would be fun to cook in this kitchen for a function with lots of people to help was what Radha was thinking. 

Her reverie was broken by a voice calling her from the back. Radha turned around to see the driver approaching her. As he was nearing he told Radha, ‘The master needs coffee. Here’s the milk. The rest of the things you can find in the kitchen. Hurry up! The master does not like to be kept waiting.’ Handing over a brass jug that had a cover and handle, the driver was making as if to go away. Radha was a bit flustered by this and muttered, ‘But what about Kundapur? When will we go?’ The driver responded, ‘Take the coffee to the master. He will explain everything.’ Radha thought that the whole thing was getting curiouser and curiouser. In any case once she took the coffee to the master maybe things would fall into place. It took her a while to light the fire in the hearth and to find the things to make the coffee. Finally the coffee was ready but then Radha did not know how to reach it to the master, considering that she did not know her way around the house from the inside. She cursed herself; she should have asked the driver before he went away. Radha decided to take the coffee the longer way, around the house and to the front door. Thus with a pot of hot coffee held in a piece of cloth covered with a steel tumbler, she was climbing the steps of the front porch when a deep voice sounded, ‘Bring the coffee here.’ Radha saw the front porch opened onto a verandah along the front of the house and on the right end a couple of chairs were placed along with a table. On one of the chairs, a man was sitting. He must be the master, Radha thought.  The man spoke again, ‘Come here.’ Radha had before coming to the front of the house covered her head with the end of the sari like married women do. She pulled the end of the sari more over her head so that her face has hardly visible. She made her way to the table and left the coffee pot along with the steel tumbler on it. The master reached out and poured the still steaming coffee into the tumbler. Before taking a sip, he told Radha, ‘Just wait a while.’ Radha dutifully moved back and stood near the porch steps. She knew how she must have looked to the master. A demure, diminutive, buxom, pleasant looking married woman. The master looking at her, sipped the coffee and exclaimed, ‘This is good coffee. Can you cook as well as you make coffee?’ Radha hearing this blushed, nodded and pulled the sari end more over her head, all at the same time. The master then said, ‘You see I stay alone here. I want you to stay here and look after me. Whatever you need tell the driver and he will get it for you. You can go now.’ There was a note of finality in the master’s voice and therefore Radha did not want to talk anything then. 

She came back to the kitchen and drank some of the coffee that she had set aside before taking out coffee to the master. It was tepid. But then it still tasted good since finally she had a place to stay. This place was as good as any. And compared to where she used to stay earlier this was heaven. Radha had peeped at the master under the cover of her sari end when he was drinking the coffee and found him quite handsome. He also had a pleasant manner not like the men she had seen earlier, who were rude and uncouth. She decided thus to stay at the big house and take things in her stride as and when they would happen. A couple of hours later the driver came with fish and a bagful of vegetables and told her what the master wanted to be done with the fish. The driver then asked her to come with him inside the house to show how she could go from the inside onto the front porch. The driver also told her that once she had finished cooking lunch to bring it and leave it at the table. The master would help himself. The same thing was to be done with breakfast and dinner or whatever food the master wanted. After finishing cooking, bring it and leave it on the front porch at the proper time. If there was anything to be conveyed to her about anything, the driver said that he would come and tell her. 

Radha nodded her head and went back to the kitchen because she now had a job to do. Get lunch for the master done by noon. That day Radha was in her element and for lunch cooked a spicy fish curry and along with it a vegetable curry with ladyfingers (okra), a sambar – a liquid lentil curry with brinjals (aubergines) and drumsticks along with papadam and pickles. It was quite a repast that Radha carried at noon to the front porch, this time from inside the house, steaming hot and wafting its aroma through the rooms of the empty house. The master was still there doing some work at the table. When Radha came on to the porch with the smell of the food preceding her, the master looked up and asked her to leave the food on the table. He also told her that the driver had to be given lunch every day on the back porch. While she was going back, the master said, ‘I hope you have kept some of the fish for Ganesh and yourself.’ Radha nodded her head and went in. Now she knew the name of the driver. Radha would call him Ganeshanna. He was a nice sort almost like a brother. She gave Ganesh his lunch and after he finished it, he called out to Radha and said, ‘If you cook like this. It will be difficult for you to go to Kundapur. The master will never leave you.’ Radha smiled shyly but did not say anything. The next few days Radha was busy organizing things in the kitchen and the store. Everything had to be cleaned up. Things were to be put back in their place just the way she wanted. Now it was her kitchen after all. It was hard work but Radha did not mind. She was happy that her past was behind her and the future looked assured.  

On the third night of her stay at the big house Radha was awakened by a knock at the door. She was unsure whether to open the door or not. But it was only the master and her in the whole house. What if it were a robber? But then Radha thought – Why should a robber knock at her door when he had the whole house to himself and to take whatever he wanted? Even then Radha curled up on her bed and pretended not to have listened. The next time the knock was louder. Radha decided to see who it was. She opened the door a little and found the master standing there. She immediately tried to cover her head. The master had a gulgulo - small earthen pot, in his hand and was telling her, ‘I need some water. Fill this and bring it to me.’ Hurriedly Radha took the gulgulo and went to the kitchen and filled it. Now where was she to take it to? Through the dark house she went towards the main door and found a light in a room to the right of the main door. She went towards that room and stood at the door. This must be the master’s bedroom. The master was standing by the window looking out. Hearing the sound behind him, he turned. ‘Oh! It’s you. Leave the water near the table by the bed and fill a glass and bring it to me.’ Radha did as she was bid. While giving the glass of water to the master, she found that he had reached out and was holding her hand. Radha was taken aback and tried to release her hand from the master’s grip. But that was not to be because the grip was strong and at the same time gentle. Radha’s mind was racing. What could she do? Raise an alarm! Cry out! But then who would be able to listen to her cries and come to her help. But for the master and herself there was no one in the house or anywhere nearby. The master had by then pulled her close and was bending down to kiss her. Radha had no choice but to give in. The master took her that night. After they had finished Radha quietly got up, dressed and went back to her room. While going back Radha was musing to herself, maybe this is what also the master had meant when he had said that she had to take care of him! That night Radha slept very contentedly. Things seemed to be getting more secure.  

The next few months went off in a daze for Radha. Looking back they were the best months of her entire life. Everything she wanted happened. The master was pleased with her and be brought all kinds of things for her whenever he went out. Like saris, jewellery, clothes, sweets, good food, everything! It was almost as if the skies had opened and the gods were bestowing their gifts on her. Radha could not imagine her good luck. Every day she prayed to the gods that these times would remain and she be blessed like this forever. It was true that she would be asked for favours by the master quite often in the first month, then a little less in the second month and by now in the third month, the demands by the master were not so frequent. Radha had reconciled to these demands since she would have to pay back for the good times in some way or other. She also did not mind since the master was pleasant and he was gentle with her. Radha was also getting used to the house and taking pride in keeping everything spick and span and making sure that the master would have nothing to complain about. 

During this time she had noticed the hut below the back garden in the middle of the coconut grove. There was a young boy staying there. Well-built and handsome. He would come every day at meal times and Radha would give him his food. This was according to the master’s advice. She had not asked this young boy his name and neither had he volunteered. In fact there was no talk between them. Just the act of keeping the plate of food everyday on the back porch, which the boy would pick up and take to his hut. And after some time Radha would see the plate and bowls cleaned,washed and neatly kept in the same place as she had originally placed them. Radha liked the boy though he was very dark. The face was simple and honest. His body was built superbly. Clean lines of muscle and bone made for strength and endurance, Radha thought. The boy kept to himself and Radha did not give him another thought.

It was just after three months were over of Radha arriving at the big house that she noticed some lack of interest in her by the master. The calls by the master at night had been few and far between. Everything else was the same as earlier except that the master’s interest in her was waning. Radha had suspicions of this for some time now because the master would become suddenly upset and irritable on small things with her which earlier he would not bother about. He would now even complain about her cooking though earlier he would praise it. And then one day while washing his clothes, in his pants pocket Radha found a trinket. It was an earring but not expensive. It was the ones you would get in those shops in any town or village. But the design and workmanship on it was beautiful. But there was only one earring! Where was the other one one to make it a pair? Radha took it to the master the next day thinking that he must have brought it for her, forgotten to give it and misplaced the other one of the pair. With the morning coffee Radha took the earring to the master and told him that she had got it in his trousers but there was only one of it. The master behaved as if it was of little consequence and told Radha to leave the earring she had found with the coffee on the table. Radha did as instructed and left. A few days passed and the master did not present her with the pair as she had hoped. In fact the single earring remained on the table in the porch for almost a week before it disappeared from there. 

After that incident Radha started noticing that the master who earlier on his trips to Mangalore would hurry back the same day, started to stay over for a day or two, sometimes even three days. She also occasionally found packets of new sarees in the master’s bedroom which she would notice Ganesh, the driver carrying to the car a few days later. This got Radha worried. The master’s behaviour specifically towards her had not changed except for the stoppage of the nocturnal visits. But Radha being a woman had this suspicion that the master was seeing another woman and that it must be in Mangalore. She accosted Ganesh one day. Ganesh was quite friendly with her and occasionally tended to banter with her mostly about her cooking. ‘Ganeshanna, lately the master has been spending a lot of time outside the house. Don’t you think so?’ This was after a longish spell of the master being away to Mangalore. Ganesh caught off-guard mumbled, ‘Some matters of business keep him away, I think.’ Radha was not one to give up quickly, ‘I had found one earring in his clothes one day. When I took it to him, instead of giving me the other one, he told me to leave it on the table and go. And then those sarees that I have seen you off and on carrying to the car, whom are they for? Whom is he giving them to?’ Ganesh was having coffee and at this spluttered almost spilling the contents of the cup in his hand and stammering, ‘All these matters, Radha, you should ask the master! I cannot tell you anything.’  Radha had let Ganesh go then but had decided that one day she would get everything out of him.

A month passed and the master’s night visits to Radha stopped completely. That is when Radha was feeling bored and thought she would pick on Horona.  That is why the teasing of Horona with his food and the visit to his hut. Angry at Horona’s rejection she had wanted to get at him through the master. But then her equation with the master was none too good. After a few months of that Horona had got married and Sitani had come to his hut. Radha had reconciled to that since Sitani seemed to be a nice enough girl and deserved to give a good shot at her marriage. That is why Radha had left the newly-wedded couple to themselves except to make friends with Sitani.  But the master’s taking on another girl and that too at Mangalore niggled at her. Why did he have to do that? Was she not able to really satisfy him? Or was it that she was becoming older? When the master was away Radha preened herself in front of the full-length mirror in the master’s bedroom. Though she was on the wrong side of twenty, she still had a good figure. There was little sag that she could see on her body. But then who knew with these men, what they saw in a woman’s body? Radha was sad that what she had believed to be bliss in the first few months of coming to the big house was becoming insecure. Just like she had been brought to this house, what if the master brought this new woman here? Then where would she go. Again she would have to take to the highway, this time to Mangalore! Radha was praying to the gods that the master should not ask her to go. It was no matter that he did not call her to his bed. She could live with that but the master should not deprive her of the shelter that she had got at the big house. This was Radha’s main anxiety.

Lately the interest that the master seemed to be showing in Sitani also worried Radha. Why should he pick on the newly married girl? The master could have left the couple in peace. Actually it was none of Radha’s business but then she had developed an attachment to Sitani. She was actually fond of the young tribal girl. Sitani was friendly and helpful and someone to whom she could talk to. After the first encounters of Sitani with the master, Radha had told her everything about the master and this latest dalliance at Mangalore. Sitani’s eyes had gone round with wonder or shock, Radha could not guess which, while she was relating her story and that of the master and listened stunned to all that was said. At the end of it all, Sitani had asked, ‘Men are like that or what! I need to be careful with Horona then. The master also we should teach him a lesson.’ Radha told her, ‘Do not be stupid. What can you do with the master? He is powerful and has money. If he throws you out, where will you go?’ Radha was actually voicing her own fears and reconciling to not doing anything and to let sleeping dogs lie. Sitani could not be convinced and angry at the master said, ‘Let him throw us out. We can go back to my grandfather. He will take us in. Horona can find something to do in our village.’ 

Sitani shared everything with Horona. So all that Radha had told her, Sitani had in turn told Horona. When Sitani carried on with – ‘This master has to be taught a lesson. How dare he touch me? You being a man should have protected me. And if the master touched me, you should gone back there and given him a sound thrashing. But what did you do? You told me to forget it and that the master would get over it. And do you know what he has done to Radha? I am not the one to keep quiet. I will do something to him that will be the lesson of a lifetime for him.’ 

With that Sitani stormed out of the hut. Horona did not go after her. She was angry and to leave her alone was better because the anger would subside faster. Sitani did not understand his position. He was just a farm labourer. The master was a landlord. He was the man who gave them food and shelter. So within reason whatever the master did should be ignored and at most tolerated. Except that Horona did not like the master touching Sitani. Horona was caught in a dilemma. On one side he wanted to express his strong disapproval to the master. But at the same time he was not sure what he could do to the master? 

Thus when Sitani came to him after a few days saying - ‘I will make you a fish curry today that you will not forget in a hurry.’ Horona was curious. He liked fish and Sitani would make something or other with different kinds of fish almost every other day. Horona enjoyed the dishes. Moreover Sitani was a good cook. It was not because she was his wife that he was saying this but whatever she cooked came out delicious. At lunch that day Horona had the fish curry that Sitani made. It was excellent. It was also somewhat unusual and Horona was not able to say what. He had two portions of rice taking care to ask Sitani if she had made enough for her too. After slurping the last of the gravy from his bowl Horona asked Sitani, ‘What fish was that? I have never tasted anything like that. Your curry was also very good. The spices, the chili, the tamarind in it!’ Horona smacked his lips and got up without waiting for Sitani’s reply. When he came back into the hut after washing his hands and wiping them on the cloth that he wore around his head, Sitani told him, ’This fish is called puffameen. You do not get it often. It is actually quite difficult to get. My mother taught me how to make it. I had seen some with that lady who sells fish at the village last week. But at that time they were very small. She had told me that this is the season for them and in about seven days or so they would grow bigger. So she had asked me to come today. And that is how you got to eat this delicacy – puffameen.’ Horona after resting for a while went off to work in a happy frame of mind. 

Sitani had told Radha to come for lunch that day. After Horona left she went across and called Radha. Both of them sat down to eat. Tasting the puffameen Radha was very happy. She complimented Radha – ‘I have never tasted anything like this. Your mother must really know everything about fish to identify something like this. It is not only her but her daughter who has learnt to cook like this. This curry has come out very well.’ Sitani was bursting with pride at such unbridled praise and this from Radha who was herself a very good cook. Sitani’s eyes throughout the meal that she was having with Radha were bright and there was a very unusual energy about her that day. Radha noticing this ribbed Sitani, ‘What is it, Sita? Has Horona promised you something special tonight for cooking this wonderful fish for him.’ Sitani said, ‘No! No!’ And then calling Radha close, Sitani in a conspiratory whisper said, ‘You see there is something special about this fish – puffameen. It is only those who know it can cook it. That is what my mother taught me very carefully. You have to clean it well. Particularly the insides. If you do not do this then the fish curry that you found so nice to eat could even kill you! Because the fish contains poison!’

A shocked Radha said, ‘What are you saying, Sita? I have just now eaten so much of it and your telling me all this now is making it all come out from inside me.’ 

‘What are you saying, Radhakka? Have I and Horona also not had this. I in fact had it along with you sitting right in front of you. If anything has to happen, it would happen to us also. Isn’t it?’

This kind of relieved Radha’s tension. But then she was curious and asked Sitani, ‘Why are you telling me all this?’

‘Now, listen, Radhakka. You know I want to get back at the master for what he has done to you and his attempts to lure me also into his clutches. What we will do is that we will make this puffameen curry sometime next week. The woman who sells fish at the village told me that the fish will be bigger by then. The bigger the puffameen, the tastier they become. I will make it and serve it to the master. But I will not clean it properly like my mother taught me. I know what parts of the fish to leave behind for the poison to remain. The master will be dead in minutes. Then he will not be able to harass anymore women like he has done to you and now that woman in Mangalore and with me also.’

Radha listened to Sitani quietly. Sitani was still young and excited with her idea to dispose the master. But Radha had to give it some thought and not get carried away. She told Sitani, ‘Let me think about it. And you do not tell this to anybody not even to Horona. Is that OK? I will tell you in a couple of days.’

Sitani was a bit disappointed by Radha’s reaction. She had expected Radha to become as excited as her and get on with it. The master did not deserve to live.

Radha returned to the big house and was thinking about all that Sitani had said. No doubt the master deserved it. But then Radha thought – ‘What will I do? Where will I go? Suppose they throw me out of here.’ But Radha rationalized this by deciding that she had thought this all out earlier and had decided that whatever happens, she would accept it. She had not gone to the extent that Sitani had gone in terms of thinking to kill the master. But then Sitani’s plan sounded good and no one would be able to find out why the master got killed. But then they had to go about this whole thing very carefully and Sitani should not breathe a word to Horona. The less people knew about it the better. She would have to sit with Sitani and go through the plan carefully. 

Two days later Sitani found Radha walking into her hut in the afternoon. Starting off straight away, she said, ‘Sitani, about the plan to give the master the puffameen curry. We have to go about this very carefully. This is to make sure that we do not get caught.’

Sitani burst out, ‘How can we get caught? There are very few people who know about this puffameen fish and that if it is not cooked properly it can be poisonous. Even if someone finds out that the fish is poisonous, we can always claim that we did not know about it and it was a mistake. And remember this, it is I who want to give the puffameen curry to the master. I want to see his eyes when I give him the curry. That will be my satisfaction for what he did to me.’

Radha tried to restrain Sitani, ‘Don’t get carried away. This is serious business. If anyone finds out about what we are planning to do, then we will be in big trouble. It will be the police who will get involved and we may even have to go to jail.’

Sitani in her youth and ignorance refused to believe Radha and said, ‘There is nothing to worry about. The first thing is that, like I told you, very few people know about the poison in the puffameen fish. And even if they know we will claim that we were not aware of the danger. In any case, the master would be dead and gone. What is your problem?’

Finally Radha and Sitani agreed on what to do. Whenever Sitani got puffameen she would make the fish curry. Sitani would not tell the fisherwoman to get it specifically to avoid suspicion that they had ordered for it. They would have to hope that the master would be in on the day when the puffameen was available. They also decided that they would not inform Horona of the plan. 

A week later when Sitani went to get fish she saw that the puffameen was available. They were of a good size. Sitani thought that the day has arrived. She bought two of the large fish and while going back to her hut she showed it to Radha at the big house. Radha upon seeing the puffameen found that her hands had become clammy. A cold sweat was running down her back. So it had to be done today! The master was also coincidentally going to be in that day. When Radha had gone to give him the morning coffee and tiffin, he had in fact asked for fish to be made for lunch. Ganesh was not coming that day the master said and could she make some arrangements to make some fish he asked Radha. Radha had mumbled that she would see what she could do. And now the puffameen had arrived! They looked like any other fish. No one would think that in such innocent looking fish there could be enough poison to kill a man. Radha prayed that Sitani was sure about the poison being able to kill a full grown man. Since if the master did not die then both Radha and Sitani would be in deep trouble. What both the women had decided was that Sitani would carry to the master’s table at lunch the fish curry and give it to him. Radha would accompany her and tell the master that Sitani had made some special fish curry which she had brought. Sitani would remain silent throughout and demurely with the end of her sari over her head carry the poisoned curry to the master. 

It was noon and Radha was ready with the other items of the master’s lunch. Rice, a dry vegetable curry, a sambar – a liquid lentils curry with some vegetables, some pickles, a bowl of curd, some papadams. She was waiting for Sitani to come with the puffameen curry. Sitani finally arrived with a bowl in her hand covered with another plate. Today Sitani was dressed formally with the sari wrapped around her like the common village housewives and not her usual wrapped sari in the tribal fashion. The end of her sari was hanging loose behind her neck. As she came near Radha, Sitani reached back and brought the end of the sari over her head. That completed the picture, Radha thought. Sitani looked very pretty. Good enough to devour. The dusky complexion of hers matched the red coloured sari embroidered with silver zari. The red colour was again highlighted by the huge bindi – dot that Sitani was wearing on her forehead. On her hands were a set of silver bangles and a profusion of red glass bangles. On her feet were silver anklets which tinkled as Sitani came near. When she reached Radha, there seemed to be a faint whiff of mogare – jasmine flowers which Sitani must have been wearing in her hair. Sitani’s eyes were unusually bright and lined with kajal – kohl which emphasized this attribute of the almond eyed beauty. Sitani smiled at Radha saying – ‘Let the master see one last time what he missed!’ Radha did not exactly see the humour since she was feeling extremely nervous. She felt that any time her legs which were feeling weak may give way. She told Sitani – ‘Let’s not dawdle now. Come! We will go.’ 

Radha led the way and Sitani followed. Radha carried the lunch items she had made in a covered plate in one hand and with a bowl containing sambar in the other. She came out of the main door onto the front porch and headed for the table on one side. The master was sitting there on one of the chairs. As she approached the master looked up – ‘Oh! You have come. Lunch is ready already!’ Radha put the plate and the bowl she was carrying on the table and said – ‘Today Sitani, Horona’s wife has made some fish. She wanted to come and give it to you.’ Sitani in the meanwhile had been waiting near the main door. Radha looked back and told Sitani –‘Come!’ Sitani started walking slowly and with measured steps towards the master. It was just six steps but for Radha it seemed to be an eternity. Sitani had her head down looking demurely at the bowl of fish curry in her hands. It was only in the last two steps that Sitani took did she look up. The master had been looking curiously at her but when Sitani showed her face, there was a slight release of breath from the master. Radha standing near the master noticed it and saw that the master was unable to take his eyes off Sitani. It was working. As far as the master was concerned he was completely taken in by Sitani and the fish curry seemed to be forgotten. Sitani reached the table and left the bowl of fish curry there and moved to stand near Radha. After a moment or two Radha said to the master – ‘We will leave you to your lunch now’.  Both the women left. The master’s eyes followed them right upto the main door until they went in. 

As soon as they were inside, Radha reached out to Sitani and held her arm for support. She was not feeling comfortable. Sitani on the other hand had her face set into a hard line and said – ‘It will not be long now. After he has finished lunch let us go back and clear the plates and utensils. Throw away all the leftovers and clean everything. Then no one will know what caused the master’s death. In another hour he should be dead.’ Radha could only nod her assent. They waited in the kitchen.

After some time Radha went out to see if the master had finished his lunch. As she appeared on the porch the master was just finishing wiping his hands after finishing his meal. Seeing Radha come in, he said, ‘That was one of the most delicious meals that I have had in a long time. The fish curry that Sitani made was exceptional. A most unusual taste. What did you say was the name of the fish? Puffameen! I should tell about this fish to my friends. Maybe make it when they come next here. Sitani is a wonderful cook, huh! That fellow Horona is a lucky man! Talking about the taste of the fish. When I first started to eat it, there was a tingling feeling on my tongue. It was funny but very pleasing. Even now my lips and tongue have the same sensation. Good! Very good!’

Mumbling something Radha hurried back into the kitchen after collecting the lunch utensils. She immediately took the utensils for washing, noticing that the master had almost finished the puffameen curry.  Sitani also noticed that and when Radha told her that the master had told about the tingling in the lips and tongue, Sitani told Radha that the time was not far off when the master would be no more. Thus Sitani and Radha waited again.

Ramakrishna Ballal after his lunch was feeling a bit drowsy. The tingling in his mouth had not stopped and his lips felt heavy and leaden with no sensation in them. But he was not so much bothered about that. What he remembered was the picture of Sitani carrying the bowl in her hand and coming towards him. She was a beautiful woman irrespective of her dusky colour. The attempts that he had made to tell her about his attraction to her needed to be renewed. The fish curry that she had made was delectable and the moment he put it in his mouth he got absorbed in its taste and texture, intent to finish it. After a very long time he had taken such a great interest in anything related to food, he thought. Maybe Sitani could cook for him and serve him in other ways as well. That fellow Horona would not mind. He was a simple fellow and could be handled. But then what about Radha. He would have to find another place for her. Maybe away from this house! While these thoughts were passing through Ramakrishna Ballal’s mind he was feeling drowsier and drowsier. The tongue was feeling leaden and heavy as the lips. As for the lips he could not feel them anymore. But then he was not worried about it since with curries made out of colcasia leaves you had a similar problem but then after sometime the sensations eased. The drowsiness was increasing, maybe because of the heavy lunch. Ramakrishna Ballal therefore made his way to the bedroom and lay out comfortably on the bed on his back looking up at the ceiling. The curtains on the window were fluttering in the breeze and there was a bright sun outside. There was nothing for Ramakrishna Ballal to do for the rest day what with Ganesh, the driver also being away for which reason it was not possible for him to go out. Even for an instant it did not cross Ramakrishna Ballal’s mind that he had been poisoned!

It was late afternoon the sun would set in another hour or so. Ramakrishna Ballal had not got up from his nap. He was still lying there on the bed looking up at the ceiling with his eyes closed. Radha and Sitani had not had any lunch that day. Though Sitani had hurried back to the hut, given Horona his lunch and sent him back to work. The anxiety about what they had done had killed their hunger pangs. They were now waiting to see the outcome of their actions. 

After some time both Radha and Sitani went towards the front porch almost on tiptoe. Not finding the master there they went to his bedroom. Standing at the door and looking in they found the master lying on the bed seemingly asleep and at peace with himself. His face was calm and serene. Hands close to his body and looking up at the ceiling. Death had come to him easily it seemed. Radha and Sitani entered the room holding hands and quietly almost as if not to disturb the sleeping master. They reached the bed. The master was lying there with his eyes closed. Sitani bent forward and touched the master’s arm. It was cold to the touch. The master was dead. Sitani nodded to Radha standing beside her and gestured that she should also touch the master and confirm that he was indeed dead.  Radha leant over and held the side of her palm near the master’s nostrils. There was no breath that she could feel on her hand. Yes, it was true. The master was dead. Both Radha and Sitani tiptoed out of the room back to the kitchen.

They had planned everything out. Radha would go to find the master at dusk with his evening coffee. Finding him in the bedroom most probably dead, she would raise an alarm and rush to Sitani, who in turn would run and get Horona, who would go to Ganesh’s house in the village and inform him. Everything went as planned. Ganesh came with the doctor. The doctor examined the master and confirmed that he was dead. The village doctor was an elderly man respected in the village but the medicine he had learnt was from a long time back. He gave the cause of death as heart attack in the death certificate. 

Things settled down after that. There was a nephew distantly related to the master who came and performed the last rites. After the funeral the big house was closed down though Radha was asked to stay on as a caretaker. Horona and Sitani were also not disturbed. The nephew would come once in a while to check the harvest and such other mundane things from time to time.

The village of Hattigutte settled to its normal routine after the death of Ramakrishna Ballal. Among his friends Ramakrishna Ballal was missed and his reputation as a ‘ladies man’also died a slow death. The ladies around Hattigutte and all the way upto Mangalore would have sighed in relief.

The End