One Part Woman Read Online Free PDF Page A

surprise.
    Muthu must have felt the same way, for he said, ‘We have roamed inside this. But I have never seen it this way.’
    They looked around for a path to enter the forest. Birds and animals had forged a warren of paths through the forest. En route to the rock at the peak, a narrow path branched off and led into this jungle. Muthu and Kali entered it in great delight. A mongoose, alarmed by this sudden human presence, ran and hid under a bush. The path led directly to a tree. When they looked to the other side of the tree, they saw a huge reclining figure. Fear seized Kali and, holding Muthu’s hand in a firm grip, he walked ahead.
    It was an earthen goddess. Vermilion had been scattered all over her body, and her face was aglow with wrath. But there was a faint smile at the corners of her lips. He felt the smile revealed a defiance that said, ‘What can you do to me?’When he stood at her feet, she appeared to be lying there with the full confidence that the entire land was hers. Her arms and legs were as big as the trunks of trees. She had a round face, and her wide-open eyes met his in an unwavering stare. Even when Kali averted his gaze, he could still feel her eyes boring deep into him. Trying to shake off the fear the forest had induced in them, he said, ‘What goddess is she?’
    And they heard a voice: ‘She is Pavatha, our Mother, our goddess.’
    For a moment, it felt as though the forest itself had spoken. But they turned to see that an elderly woman, carrying a pot, was walking down the narrow path towards the spot. She had two children with her. It was she who had answered Kali’s question.
    Around the earthen goddess were small rocks planted firmly in the ground and laid out in a circle. Beside these, in a concealed spot, were three pots and bags. Kali gathered that the elderly woman had come to make an offering of rice porridge to the goddess. The woman’s ears were covered with jewellery.
    ‘Our Pavatha lies right here under the cool shade of the tree and with a stream nearby,’ she said. ‘But they try to keep her locked in the temple and pray. She roams freely around the forest. Can you confine her within walls? Our Mother lies right here, while they are just praying to plain rock.’
    ‘Where are you from, ma?’ asked Kali.
    The children who had come with her started playing in the forest. They ran around, climbed the trees and jumpedfrom them. Their laughter and chatter sounded like birdsong. The woman replied as she proceeded to get things ready for cooking the pongal: ‘We are from the other bank, thambi. Ages ago, it was from here that we migrated. Even though we had to move away, seeking livelihood, our Mother refused to come. She told us very clearly that if we needed her we should come and see her here. So we come once a year like this, perform a ritual, offer pongal and eat. We have been told that our people used to live around this hill. When the forest was destroyed, they got scattered in different directions. Some people are able to visit during the chariot festival in the month of Vaigasi. That’s when they gather here. Otherwise, people like me only visit whenever we can. Now, some ten or fifteen of us have come. They have gone to the temple. But what do I have to see in the temple when my Mother lies here? So I came here to get this ready.’
    It occurred to Kali that he too needed to pray and offer pongal to this goddess. This was Pavatha, the goddess who had claimed a space for herself in this spot between the red rocks of the mountains. Reclining on the earth, she had even made a forest around herself. She was the goddess whose wrath had been invoked ages ago by the tribal girl’s curse; she was still here, untouched by the ravages of time. He knelt at her feet. But then, shuddering at the thought that even a slight movement of her feet could hit him in the face, he backed off a little.
    ‘Who conducts the prayers to this goddess?’ he asked the old woman.
    ‘How can