Chapter Twenty-Two
Devoted one, detached from the world,
Lady Nappinnai, coral lipped, slender waisted,
give us the fan, free us from our selves
give us the mirror, so we can see
Tiruppavai 20
Our bus from Kattalagar rumbled into town just before dark. I got off with Vasur but said goodbye at his gate before walking the rest of the way home.
‘Look, all the cows are lying down,’ I said. ‘Where I come from it’s a sure sign of rain.’
He took my face in his hands, looked into my eyes, and swam his head. ‘A good omen, then.’
Light rain did begin to fall as I reached the stairs to my room—a mango shower, Tamilians say, for its teases of coolness and orchards of green fruit growing tantalisingly heavy. Any day there’d be blushes of gold and the hint of perfume that at night intensifies.
