Fire Soul

“Move quickly women, wash the body and drape it in new clothes, the cremation proceedings will begin soon,” commanded the old head mourner. In Madera, the wailers were a group of tribal women whose traditional occupation involved bathing and dressing the mortal remains of the departed soul. They would also wail loudly and beat their chests as the body burned on the pyre. The wailers covered their body in black soot before washing the body as they believed it warded off evil spirits hovering about. Presently, one of the wailers wept silently as she bathed the body and saw the stab wounds that had killed her mother. Sambhu Asan had asked Makaran’s wife to take Kanchi to the wailers and explain her situation and they had wholeheartedly complied with her wishes. It was impossible to recognize her behind all the black soot that covered her entire face and body. “Go bring the new clothes to adorn the body,” said the head mourner to the disguised Kanchi. Kanchi retreated to her m

Kanchi woke up suddenly, feeling disoriented, lost and scared. She thought she had heard her mother call out her name. There was the distinct pang imagining the abuse her mother would have had to endure for keeping the secret. Her small body ached as did her soul and she now yearned to be with her mother. who would have run her fingers through Kanchi's hair and sang to her in her sweet voice, as she always did when she had fallen ill. It had such a calming and therapeutic effect on her always. Kanchi worried that her mother would have broken out into a frenzy since she had gone missing for a while now and surely her father had also put a lookout for her, latter out of fear of losing his precious five tolas. She instantly felt the blood surge through her veins as she remembered how her ungrateful brother had just walked off leaving her to writhe in pain, stealing her dagger without the slightest care in the world when she had been wounded trying to protect him. She so desper

“Tell me, where is Kanchi, what happened to her?” cried Kalyani grabbing Kesu by the shoulders and shaking him. “She should be lying in the grassland near the Nambi’s mansion” replied Kesu callously. “What do you mean! What happened to her?” screamed Kalyani in utter anguish. “She just got kicked a bit around by the Nambi twins. She should be fine now and on her way back” replied Kesu devoid of any compassion. “And you didn’t help her! What kind of a brother are you?” cried out a shocked Kalyani “There was no way I was going to touch her, she was bleeding. I did not want to touch her and become impure. I am just waiting for father to come back so I can inform him about the grand news. I can’t wait to get my five tolas” said Kesu with a diabolical glee. Upon seeing Kesu’s utter lack of consideration towards his own sister, she lost the last bit of composure she was holding onto, and slapped him repeatedly as she screamed, “You, horrid boy, you cannot be m

The Nambis held a grand feast for the people of Madera every year. Ironically, the feast used the very same produce that had been harvested using the sweat and blood of the villagers. However, a generous amount of liquor served by chosen brothel women was enough for the villagers to forget their contribution and instead appreciate the false lord hood. The women and men feasted separately, by and large it was an affair to please the men. Women were mere bystanders as they watched their men frolic without a care. The children gathered in separate groups and were entertained with skits and puppet shows. Contests were also held and selected souvenirs from the Nambi household were up for grabs. Kanchi, though a bit under the weather, had her eyes on the brass dagger with the dragon shaped  handle, but so did Kesu and the Nambi brothers. The contest involved breaking the highest hanging pot from among the several pots hung at different levels from the tall banyan tree with the aid of

“May be the sacred book says I cannot punish you when you are ill but it says nothing about not pleasing your husband,” said Pachan as he pinned Kalyani down. He had a fairly rewarding day, having been able to earn a few coins in a bridge construction work in the neighbouring village. He had been tired when he got home but was not very pleased to learn the deceit of his wife from his son. However, he deserved a night of pleasure after a day’s work and the news of her illness just felt convenient to postpone the punishment to another day. Of course, for Kalyani, this had become a mechanical process that she subjected herself to every other night. She however detested his smell, his putrid breath on her neck, his animal grunts to her innermost core. She often imagined herself getting out of her physical body and strangling him. She knew the rhythm so well and presently she knew it was going to be over any moment. However, the unexpected sound of the midnight bugle jolted him an

Kalyani watched as Paru beat her wet clothes against the rocks with a vengeance. Her drunken womanizer of a husband, Koran, had just tried to pawn her to his imbecile friends in return for a few tolas the previous day. She had given a fitting reply by splashing cow dung water on the delinquents and rubbing her husband’s loin clothes with the itchy nettle leaves. Koran was heard screaming the whole night after his daily evening ablutions. Paru was definitely a fiery one but Kalyani worried for her friend’s life. This time it surely felt like there would be severe consequences. Paru was Kalyani’s only solace in this godforsaken village, the one who tried to cast a silver lining amidst the horror of a life women like her lived every day. She was also the one to advise Kalyani to put Kanchi under Sambhu Asan’s tutelage. “Your Kesu is incorrigible, Kalyani. However, you should be glad you have your Kanchi. That girl is brave” assured Paru, as she continued to beat her cloth