One Part Woman Read Online Free PDF

we let anyone else carry out the prayers for our goddess? We do it by ourselves. Some of our people live in this town, too. One of them comes and conducts the prayers once a week. Wherever we are, we save five rupees a year and send it to him,’ she said.
    ‘I want to have a prayer conducted, mother,’ he said.
    ‘Do it with pleasure. Come one afternoon—any afternoon. The priest will be here. Ask him and do whatever you need to do. Remember, you should keep a trident and cut open a rooster and offer its blood. Those are the important things. If you wish, you can also join me today to partake in these offerings.’
    Kali was no longer keen on the prayers the Brahmin priest conducted in the temple on the hill. Nor did he care about the extra expenses. He was determined that it was Pavatha to whom he wanted to make the offerings. Whatever he earned working hard in the fields got spent in such prayers and offerings. But it didn’t matter. It was not as if he had children amongst whom to divide his earnings.
    ‘All right, Amma. We will come in the afternoon,’ he said and got ready to leave.
    She said, ‘By then the pongal will be ready. Do come and eat with us.’
    When he nodded and left the place, he saw that the children were playing with a monkey on one of the trees. Usually he lamented the need to do whatever prayer whoever recommended, but the thought of doing one for Pavatha truly filled his heart with peace.



SIX
    The person who performed the prayers and rituals for Pavatha worked in a warehouse loading and unloading sacks of produce. He did not give any elaborate list of things to be prepared for the ceremony. Nor did he take any money. In addition to the usual things needed for the prayers, he asked Kali and Ponna to get red powder for about eight annas and to buy new cloth from the Mudaliyar store in a small street at the foot of the hill. And also a rooster for sacrifice. Ponna and her sister made the pongal.
    The priest decorated Pavatha. She did not inspire fear in Kali like she had done the day before. Using a soft piece of cloth, the priest cleaned her gently. At that moment, the goddess could have been any woman from any of the local families lying on her back.
    Kali and Muthu went to roam around the small forest. It was dense with neem and palai trees. There were also a few kondrai trees that had grown very tall and had their flowers hanging in bunches. The forest contained several paths, allas narrow as the lines on one’s hands. You could reach the Pavatha shrine from any direction.
    ‘Machan,’ said Kali, addressing Muthu fondly, ‘please find a special spot in this forest too. It would be of use if we come again.’
    Muthu laughed. ‘Do you think no one would have done that already?’ he said and pointed to what looked like a thick kasarali bush but had a clearing inside. They could see that men had been sitting there since a short while. There were some cards and a few empty bottles lying around.
    ‘Man always needs such spaces, mapillai!’ explained Muthu. ‘He wanders around looking for them. Some succeed; others keep looking. Then there are those who are fearful of going there even if they do manage to find such a place.’
    Kali moved away towards Pavatha’s shrine. What he found there was not an ordinary woman lying on the ground. He saw a woman dressed in red, and with red splattered all over her; he saw a woman blazing with wrath. By applying a little red to her eyes, the priest had made them glow with great ire. Kali and Muthu were speechless. The priest performed the ritual in silence. All they could hear was the sound of bells. When the offerings were made, Muthu brought out a small bottle of arrack. The priest had not mentioned it, but Muthu somehow knew. The priest slashed the rooster and let the blood flow at Pavatha’s feet.
    Once the cooking was done, they all ate. The rooster had been cooked in a gravy. Kali’s father-in-law did not come.He never came to such events.