Lakshmi

Chapter 2 Dawn on the East

Symptoms of dawn was appearing on the east. A monotonous ongoing chirping from an  indicator bird was calling on people, and animals  to the places of honey. It wanted food. It  looked for cooperation.

Karuppiah, a handsome young man, from a Tamil community, twenty four  years of  age, six feet two inches in height,  fair in complexion, against the meaning of his name, which means black, wriggled out from his dreamless night.  

A sparrow sat on his head, appreciating his thick strands of curly hair, and was poking his nose. Tik..tok..tik..tok. The poking was an occasional work of the bird at the twilight of the dawn, atleast weekly twice. Funny bird! Why it does? Only the bird knows.

He shoo shooed the bird. Pressing both his hands firm on the fringes of the cot,he got out of his bed. He fluttered his eye lids. He  forcefully threw away the oncoming another tide of sleep. He was awake  ahead of time than his usual. The rope-cot on which he had laid his body during the night  was not more comfortable as he expected. He decided to redo the roping on the cot,once he would  return from the field by the evening. 

The sparrow was now looking at him, by   perching on the top of a nearby hay barn. The said barn and other hay barns were on the east side of the pond, much nearer to the open ground on which Karuppiah and other farm labourers were sleeping.

 Further east of  the open space, beyond the hay barns was his hamlet, not with big buildings but mostly huts. They were  made  of mud walls with thatched leaves, like any other community hamlets.

Karuppiah saw the other farm workers like him, yet sleeping in their cots on this open place.Some were squirming. Few others were still snoring. Few had started to unwrap their dhoti's end to find the pouch of  the betel leaves and arakka nuts. They searched and  sought  small  calcium tins. They opened them, and started to apply the wet calcium over  the  betel leaves, on both faces of every betel leaf, while chewing bits of arakka nuts in their crimson mouths. 

They folded the calcium cemented betel leaf as a paper roll, and inserted them tucking into  their mouths, one after another leaf, so the leaves and arakka nuts mix with calcium, which makes a reddish saliva in their mouths.

 They stuck out their tounges like a cobra flicks out it's  forked tounge. They, by tilting their  eyes, saw the out hanging tounges, that had turned red in color to their satisfaction. 

Currently, the breakfast was over with those betel leaves. Many times that was  their breakfast. They might  get an early lunch from their huts, being prepared by the hands of their women, when the sun climbs up to a forty five degree on the east from the horizon, as the women bring the food to the threshing floor. 

Now the sun was  appearing on the horizon. It's reddish and yellow tinge gave them a pleasing smile. The sun told  them there won't be a rain or a drizzle on this day. A full day was available for a lengthy hard work. They were now greeted by the flying cranes, by cawing  crows, and cockle-o-doos of the flocks of roosters in the crowd of hens,  and they saw the dances of roosters in their hay packed barns.

Now the time  for the farmers to walk towards the field. None of the farmers would dip into the pond for a morning bath. Manual workers  rarely had morning baths.  Because as workers they only enjoy an evening bath,  either in a deep well,  or in the water canal, or in their favored pond,  or in the larger tank built by the king.

The favored pond, circular in structure, with a canopy of yellow- pink flowered tall trees on the edge of the pond, was called Ayyanar pond, as it faced  the Ayyanar statue. The pond was full of lotus plants. Its leaves, each one were  larger than a big shield that could prevent even  a spear, were the  literal hopping and dancing grounds for the tiny birds, while small snakes crawl under the leaves, as hiding predators,  to make use of the timely  opportunity of the laziness of the birds, to catching the birds, if the birds are not careful enough.

Buds and fully bloomed lotus flowers  were  ever enticing people, particularly the women, and more specifically young girls, and kids. Hamlet dwellers  believed that plucking of lotus flower or its buds would harm the dignity of Ayyanar.

Ayyanar was a local guardian deity. Its gigantic statue along with two of its tall mud horses, on his either side, with a mud made dog, were staged on an elevated platform, located on the west side of the pond. The Ayyanar mud statue was formed with  big shoulders, and ferocious eyes, with twisted moustache, dark in colour;  the tip of each sides of the moustache stood as pointed swords. Ayyanar held on his right hand a larger, but real iron made semi circled blade- sickle, as god of agriculture. His left  hand held a small spear, as one which could  run through the hunted rabbits by nights.

Hamlet residents believed  Ayyanar would  roam around hamlets and paddy fields at midnights. He would mount upon on one of its favorite horse, to protect people and land. He might strike the disobedient aimlessly wandering at night. Usually Ayyanar would be accompanied by his favored male dog, and it was told that the dog guides Ayyanar to hunt rabbits.

 It was also said that if Ayyanar stands, his head would go up to heaven, and his feet would touch the ground, so gigantic, and so powerful. Walking out of their huts, therefore during midnight, the hamlet community prevented and issued a warning, as per their agreeded norms, as advised by elders and the bald headed priest of Ayyanar.

Karuppiah ensured his bed rolls were properly arranged on the rope cot; walked to the pond; took a handful of chilled water in hand, and washed his face. 

Organizing his waist dhoti intact, he started to walk towards the Ayyanar statue. His friend, his family pet dog by name Tiger, saw him from afar from his hut. It  ran quickly to him, and started the accompaniment walking service along with Karuppiah, wagging its tail in a friendly tone. Karuppiah looked at  the white streaked black dog. He patted its head with his hands affectionately. The dog growled in with a small voice. It knew when to bark and to whom to bark at. It loved the hamlet and its other dogs, and animals. It was not harming household hens or roosters, as a friend-protector of the house of Karuppiah.

Karuppiah now stood before the Ayyanar statue. He looked at the magnicinent mud figure of the statue. He saw its crown. Its garlands on its open chest. It's waist dhoti was colored in light green. It's feet with big sandals. Karuppiah recalled the day the painting on the statue took place. 

Every inch of the statue was colored by the Thirumayam fort's craftsman, by name Krishnan Achari, his friend. What a hand the craftsman  had!  Krishnan not only made the mud statue with his clever fingers; but he gave excellent colors to the statue with his idea, making his fingers dancing across the statue, as he painted, as a peacock walking with color brushes tied on its legs. Ayyanar then became alive.

Karuppiah bowed down his head before the statue. He prayed silently, wanting good rain to the land on which the hamlet farmers and their families working to get food. He sat at the floor over an hour. He thought about the hamlet, musing over  his family and their life. Tiger the dog, by that time was having a small nap, occasionally opening its eyes to ensure whether Karuppiah was there, or moved out. Karuppiah knew that the lands did not belong to the hamlet people, but to the king of Ramanathapuram Territory, and under the sub territory of Sivaganga.

He recalled that the king of Ramanathapuram was generous in giving the land on lease, besides he also gave the hamlet a big lengthy water tank to supply water to the land, making the feeder canals correctly positioned to feed water from  the tank. King had ensured, through the hamlet revenue official, that every labourer family had been assigned with a portion of kings' cultivable land; and the tillers have to till with their own seeds, and own labour. From the produce they have to pay the king one third of the produce as levy.

As the  seasonal ragi based agriculture work was available only  for one twenty days per year, the farmers did not keep the land idle for the remaining days. They planted millets in the off season, and cucumbers in the summer. They also ensured some rotational crops where it was feasible.

Their limited herds and goats ensured manure to the land, while grazing on the lands. Elderly  women collected leaves  falling from trees, and dumped the leaves on the lands. They collected  milk from goats and cows. Natural manure was their practice.

The king was able to do that favour of assigning land  to this hamlet, only because of the man who was caring his horse at Thirumayam fort was Karuppiah's grandfather. King saw his  horse was well attended, and he was pleased to give the favour of land to Karuppiah's grandfather, and to his relatives.

The king was formerly one of the chiefs of the army of Nayak kings of South India. Once the Nayak kings became powerless, the chief became the  king and ensured his territory was built  with several border area forts, each one at a different direction, one at Arantangi, one at Tondi port, another one at Kamuthi, one another facing Madurai at Tiruppuvanam, and the last at Thirumayam. Five to six forts. 

With thoughts over these forts, and their designs,  Karuppiah walked into his hut. He saw his widowed mother, Deivanai, was mopping the mud floor with a mixture of cow dung with water. His only sister, Saroja, seven years younger than him, was attending their  lonely cow and its calf at the nearby cattle shed adjacent to the hut. His father died of some unknown decease seven years before, perhaps stung by a poisonous insect.

His mother washed her hands. She knew it was time for Karuppiah to go to their land. She offered three big cakes of ragi porridge on his mud plate, with a pinch of  salt with  two chillies to bite on a smaller mud plate, and a mug of drinking water nearby him. The indicator bird once again called the hamlet from afar.

Karuppiah by then heard the sound of hooves of horses rushing towards their hamlet. He lifted his head towards the direction from where the horses were approaching.  It was not one horse. Four horses, besides a cart  being pulled by two horses that  had carried a dead body. The body was well wrapped up in a decent white linen cloth. It was the  body of Karuppiah' s grandfather. 

Horses arrived near the pond, at the open space, under  the shade of the acacia  tree that was facing the pond. Horse men alighted. They spoke to Karuppiah. His grandfather was no more. They did not tell the reasons behind the death of the grandfather. They said that it was the order of the king to deliver the body to the inmates of the Lakshmipuram hamlet, at once.

Karuppiah listened. He was ordered that after burial of the body, he had only ten days time to arrive  at the Thirumayam fort to take over the job of his grandfather, his mother's father, as tender of the horses of the king, specifically the two horses on which the king mounts. The horsemen told him the job was in dire urgency. Karuppiah nodded his head. When there was an order from a king, subjects had no right than obey. They were subjects not citizens. 

Every one were thinking of the order passed to Karuppiah to come to Thirumayam fort and take over the tending of the king's horse. Some appreciated the chance that Karuppiah had. Some said that the life of Karuppiah would be in danger moment he goes under the direct rule of the king himself.

Now the entire hamlet, women and children surrounded the body. A distressed cries from every one had shot up high with painful  wailings  and breast beatings.  Saroja was in uncontrollable tears.

Hiding behind the leaves of the acacia tree, a kitten saw everything. It  silently observed Karuppiah. No one in the hamlet was able to see the kitten, as it was tiny in size, and secondly it was hiding behind the dark leaves of the acacia tree. It was  sitting in between branches. It saw every movement underneath the tree. Not even a dog in the hamlet could smell  its presence.

It was the kitten descended from the Dwarf Galaxy.

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