the
bilva
spreads like a holy umbrella above him. It gives him spiritual status.
So Govindan Nair comes and says: ‘Mister, I am in grave trouble.’
‘What?’ I ask.
‘My son is seriously ill.’
‘What illness? For days he’s had no fever.’
‘Shantha is there. She will tell you.’
‘But what is it?’
‘It’s called fever. But it might any day be called pneumonia.’
‘How did it come?’
‘Just as its name came. From somewhere. He was convalescent. He played in the rain planting roses. He got wet. Then he came here and stood talking to Usha across the wall. So you could say Usha gave it to him.’
‘What?’
‘Since you want a cause, anything is the cause. The more innocent a thing, the more mysterious its cause. You wear a Gandhi cap—a two-anna piece of one-foot cloth that any man can put on his pate, and not even what his irreverent bladder empties could be held in the cap’s depth, such its size—yet you could get arrested for anti-British activity. Innocence is the most dangerous thing in the world. So Usha is the cause of Shridhar’s illness.’
‘Don’t make fun of me. Tell me seriously.’
‘I speak seriously, sir. All I say is serious. If not, would I blow my precious foul breath to the world?’ He looked almost angry. ‘Do you think I joke when I say Usha is the cause of my son’s illness? She is six years old. He is seven years old. They stood under the
bilva
tree and said many serious things. Did you know what they said to one another? She touched his cheek and said: ‘You are like my brother.’ And he said: ‘Father says you are my wife.’ And she became so shy, she ran away. So off he ran, Shridhar, to Shantha, and said: ‘Mother Shantha, make Usha my wife.’ He stood silent and, with closed eyes and folded hands, prayed. She said: ‘Why not when you grow up? When the koel is big it makes a nest. When the koel is big and another koel comes, they make a bed to which eggs are born. When you can build a nest, you will marry Usha.’ ‘But Usha has a house now,’ he said. ‘Can I not be married now that she has a house? And we will grow eggs.’ Usha got fever that night. She thought she was growing eggs. Next morning she went to the latrine. She was so afraid she threw off her eggs. She is all right now. Shridhar got the new disease. He does not know how to throw it off. I must buy him a house too, perhaps,’ said Govindan Nair, and was silent for a while. ‘It’s a good idea if I tell Shridhar: Shridhar, I will buy you a house also, and this might get him to feel better. When you have a house in prospect, your heart pumps good blood. Yes, that’s the trick. Thank you for the thought,’ he said, and, jumping across the wall, he was gone. Was I responsible for his thought? Was I responsible for Usha’s birth? Was I? Was Usha responsible for Shridhar’s illness? So I am the sole responsible person. Lord, where shall I go now? For I am cause.
Usha woke up in a delirium. She has been saying she wants to go to the sea. She sees big ships sail. She sees faces of men that frighten her. ‘I don’t want to go, Mother, I don’t want to go with the Dutch!’ she shrieks. Her mother always said to the children: ‘If you cry, I’ll give you away to the Dutch,’ and that’s why the child cried so. It must be strange to go in Dutch ships across the seas.
‘The fever ran high,’ said Shantha to me in the evening. Because of Shridhar’s fever, Shantha started sleeping in this house. You see, Usha bought this house (though the two instalments have yet to be paid—but the Mudali has given his heart away to Usha), so the house is Usha’s and Shantha will come, for Usha is a grown-up child, and she loves her mother, who is Shantha, for Shantha is kind, and will not talk of the Dutch. She who does not talk of the Dutch is Mother, so Mother is Shantha. And Shantha is round and will give Usha a brother. Will he be like Shridhar? Shantha says Shridhar raves all night.
bilva
spreads like a holy umbrella above him. It gives him spiritual status.
So Govindan Nair comes and says: ‘Mister, I am in grave trouble.’
‘What?’ I ask.
‘My son is seriously ill.’
‘What illness? For days he’s had no fever.’
‘Shantha is there. She will tell you.’
‘But what is it?’
‘It’s called fever. But it might any day be called pneumonia.’
‘How did it come?’
‘Just as its name came. From somewhere. He was convalescent. He played in the rain planting roses. He got wet. Then he came here and stood talking to Usha across the wall. So you could say Usha gave it to him.’
‘What?’
‘Since you want a cause, anything is the cause. The more innocent a thing, the more mysterious its cause. You wear a Gandhi cap—a two-anna piece of one-foot cloth that any man can put on his pate, and not even what his irreverent bladder empties could be held in the cap’s depth, such its size—yet you could get arrested for anti-British activity. Innocence is the most dangerous thing in the world. So Usha is the cause of Shridhar’s illness.’
‘Don’t make fun of me. Tell me seriously.’
‘I speak seriously, sir. All I say is serious. If not, would I blow my precious foul breath to the world?’ He looked almost angry. ‘Do you think I joke when I say Usha is the cause of my son’s illness? She is six years old. He is seven years old. They stood under the
bilva
tree and said many serious things. Did you know what they said to one another? She touched his cheek and said: ‘You are like my brother.’ And he said: ‘Father says you are my wife.’ And she became so shy, she ran away. So off he ran, Shridhar, to Shantha, and said: ‘Mother Shantha, make Usha my wife.’ He stood silent and, with closed eyes and folded hands, prayed. She said: ‘Why not when you grow up? When the koel is big it makes a nest. When the koel is big and another koel comes, they make a bed to which eggs are born. When you can build a nest, you will marry Usha.’ ‘But Usha has a house now,’ he said. ‘Can I not be married now that she has a house? And we will grow eggs.’ Usha got fever that night. She thought she was growing eggs. Next morning she went to the latrine. She was so afraid she threw off her eggs. She is all right now. Shridhar got the new disease. He does not know how to throw it off. I must buy him a house too, perhaps,’ said Govindan Nair, and was silent for a while. ‘It’s a good idea if I tell Shridhar: Shridhar, I will buy you a house also, and this might get him to feel better. When you have a house in prospect, your heart pumps good blood. Yes, that’s the trick. Thank you for the thought,’ he said, and, jumping across the wall, he was gone. Was I responsible for his thought? Was I responsible for Usha’s birth? Was I? Was Usha responsible for Shridhar’s illness? So I am the sole responsible person. Lord, where shall I go now? For I am cause.
Usha woke up in a delirium. She has been saying she wants to go to the sea. She sees big ships sail. She sees faces of men that frighten her. ‘I don’t want to go, Mother, I don’t want to go with the Dutch!’ she shrieks. Her mother always said to the children: ‘If you cry, I’ll give you away to the Dutch,’ and that’s why the child cried so. It must be strange to go in Dutch ships across the seas.
‘The fever ran high,’ said Shantha to me in the evening. Because of Shridhar’s fever, Shantha started sleeping in this house. You see, Usha bought this house (though the two instalments have yet to be paid—but the Mudali has given his heart away to Usha), so the house is Usha’s and Shantha will come, for Usha is a grown-up child, and she loves her mother, who is Shantha, for Shantha is kind, and will not talk of the Dutch. She who does not talk of the Dutch is Mother, so Mother is Shantha. And Shantha is round and will give Usha a brother. Will he be like Shridhar? Shantha says Shridhar raves all night.
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