anxious.
Chanti said, ‘Do you think she… gave us the dreams?’
The sun had come out, and was now beating down upon the water. Birds in the guava tree tittered incessantly. A breeze blew across the fields now and then, making the trunk sway and the branches rustle. The water in the lake sparkled.
‘This is crazy.’ The matchstick in Aravind’s mouth flitted restlessly from one end to the other. ‘She is dead. Dead, people! Dead!’
‘She came to me in my dream that night,’ Chanti said. ‘At the Shivalayam.’
‘Oh yeah? What did she say? Did she say she wanted to bite your head off?’
‘No…’
‘Stop,’ Sarayu said. ‘Stop! There is no need to fight. These are just dreams, after all. Ramana, when you had your dream, did you make a conscious effort to control the people in it?’
‘Yes.’
Chotu and Chanti nodded as well.
‘Good. It was the same for me as well. Now if we are to sleep well, it seems to me that there is only one way of doing it. We refuse to take part in our dreams.’
Venkataramana and Chotu looked at each other. ‘Is that possible?’
‘Well, we made a choice to control our dreams last night. So by that token, we should also be able to reject taking control.’
‘We can try,’ Chanti said. ‘Yes, we can try.’
Aravind stared out into the distance. ‘I don’t know what you guys are talking about. Really, I think all of you have gone crazy in one night.’
Sarayu got up and the rest of them followed suit. Aravind was the only one left sitting. ‘Well,’ Sarayu said, ‘I have to go. Father will start shouting for breakfast anytime now.’
‘We… we have to go to school,’ Venkataramana said, looking at Chanti.
‘School!’ Aravind said. ‘What do they teach you in school? You need to learn from life, Ramana. Life!’
After they had taken a few steps away from the concrete slab, Chanti bent down to pick up a stone. He held it in his open palm and showed it to Venkataramana. It was as flat as you could expect a pebble to be. With his thumb, he pushed it nearer the tips of his fingers and held it in the curve of his forefinger. He leaned down, stopped to look at Venkataramana for a moment, and then flicked his wrist, like he had done thousands of times in the past.
Plop.
He frowned at his wrist and shook his head. ‘Something is not right,’ he said. ‘I feel okay, but no, something is not right.’
He had not missed a throw in seven years. Now he had missed three in the space of half an hour. Venkataramana nodded at Chanti. Yes, something was definitely not quite right.
Somewhere in the distance, the school bell rang.
Chapter Eleven
What Happened Last Year on This Day in Palem
AP Mirror
| Feb 21, 2002 |
The first major event of this story is thought to have happened on the evening of February 21, 2001, when a schoolboy on his way home found the body of Venkataramana behind the school yard. He was found to be impaled by the spikes of a long-discarded school gate that rested at the bottom of the mound on which the school is situated. Venkataramana was last seen near the Gandhi statue in front of the school just before the first class began, at noon. And then he disappeared. He is thought to have walked around the building and stood at the head of the mound by the compound wall at the back. From there he either slipped or was pushed down the incline so that he rolled down, landing directly on the spikes.
The young man had been away from India for three years and from Palem for as many as seventeen years. It beggars belief, therefore, to suppose he might have had some enemies waiting for him in Palem. Given that fact, it seemed likely at the time that his death was an accident. The fact that the ground around the school is slippery and that the area itself is very accident-prone supported the accident hypothesis.
Of course, events that happened later on would cast an entirely new light on the matter.
Chapter Twelve
2001
I n the
Chanti said, ‘Do you think she… gave us the dreams?’
The sun had come out, and was now beating down upon the water. Birds in the guava tree tittered incessantly. A breeze blew across the fields now and then, making the trunk sway and the branches rustle. The water in the lake sparkled.
‘This is crazy.’ The matchstick in Aravind’s mouth flitted restlessly from one end to the other. ‘She is dead. Dead, people! Dead!’
‘She came to me in my dream that night,’ Chanti said. ‘At the Shivalayam.’
‘Oh yeah? What did she say? Did she say she wanted to bite your head off?’
‘No…’
‘Stop,’ Sarayu said. ‘Stop! There is no need to fight. These are just dreams, after all. Ramana, when you had your dream, did you make a conscious effort to control the people in it?’
‘Yes.’
Chotu and Chanti nodded as well.
‘Good. It was the same for me as well. Now if we are to sleep well, it seems to me that there is only one way of doing it. We refuse to take part in our dreams.’
Venkataramana and Chotu looked at each other. ‘Is that possible?’
‘Well, we made a choice to control our dreams last night. So by that token, we should also be able to reject taking control.’
‘We can try,’ Chanti said. ‘Yes, we can try.’
Aravind stared out into the distance. ‘I don’t know what you guys are talking about. Really, I think all of you have gone crazy in one night.’
Sarayu got up and the rest of them followed suit. Aravind was the only one left sitting. ‘Well,’ Sarayu said, ‘I have to go. Father will start shouting for breakfast anytime now.’
‘We… we have to go to school,’ Venkataramana said, looking at Chanti.
‘School!’ Aravind said. ‘What do they teach you in school? You need to learn from life, Ramana. Life!’
After they had taken a few steps away from the concrete slab, Chanti bent down to pick up a stone. He held it in his open palm and showed it to Venkataramana. It was as flat as you could expect a pebble to be. With his thumb, he pushed it nearer the tips of his fingers and held it in the curve of his forefinger. He leaned down, stopped to look at Venkataramana for a moment, and then flicked his wrist, like he had done thousands of times in the past.
Plop.
He frowned at his wrist and shook his head. ‘Something is not right,’ he said. ‘I feel okay, but no, something is not right.’
He had not missed a throw in seven years. Now he had missed three in the space of half an hour. Venkataramana nodded at Chanti. Yes, something was definitely not quite right.
Somewhere in the distance, the school bell rang.
Chapter Eleven
What Happened Last Year on This Day in Palem
AP Mirror
| Feb 21, 2002 |
The first major event of this story is thought to have happened on the evening of February 21, 2001, when a schoolboy on his way home found the body of Venkataramana behind the school yard. He was found to be impaled by the spikes of a long-discarded school gate that rested at the bottom of the mound on which the school is situated. Venkataramana was last seen near the Gandhi statue in front of the school just before the first class began, at noon. And then he disappeared. He is thought to have walked around the building and stood at the head of the mound by the compound wall at the back. From there he either slipped or was pushed down the incline so that he rolled down, landing directly on the spikes.
The young man had been away from India for three years and from Palem for as many as seventeen years. It beggars belief, therefore, to suppose he might have had some enemies waiting for him in Palem. Given that fact, it seemed likely at the time that his death was an accident. The fact that the ground around the school is slippery and that the area itself is very accident-prone supported the accident hypothesis.
Of course, events that happened later on would cast an entirely new light on the matter.
Chapter Twelve
2001
I n the
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