The Monster

Malati woke with a start and heard him mumbling something next to her. She leaned closer and heard him whispering a handful of the sahasra naamas in a terrified prayer. She was trying to remember the last time she had heard her husband praying when her attention was caught by the burp. She realized that Ravi was sitting on his father’s belly and eating something and wondered if it was one of those fruits. Concerned with Shankar’s worsening voice, she got herself up from the floor and allowed her muscles to carry her to the window sill that had the kerosene lamp. Ravi had just about finished eating his father’s neck by the time she was able to get the lamp close enough. She froze at the sight of the blood oozing out of Ravi’s mouth and streaming down his chin. She grabbed Ravi’s arm to try and pull him away from what was left of his father. His body sizzled to her touch and the smoke almost doused the kerosene flame — this was not her Ravi putta who shyly recoiled when touched. This felt more like Shankar when she would try to resist him as he pounced on her in one of his lusty outbursts. She was staring at her burned fingers in the orange light of the smoke as it dissipated, wondering what to do next when she was struck down by Ravi and fell unconscious to the floor. The last thing she saw was the face of the monster that Ravi had seemingly turned into — the green eyes, the large gash that had almost entirely wiped out his nose and the serrated, oval teeth which reminded her of the conch shells that she and Ravi used while playing his favorite board game.

“Don’t run so fast, putta. I can’t catch up to you” she screams as she tries to pull up her Sari. Ravi has stopped and walked back a few steps toward her as he says “What kind of fruit is that?” She follows his finger with her gaze and the ripe yellow fruits catch her eye. “Oh those. They only grow in the month before the rains start. I remember my ajji telling me about them but don’t remember ever actually eating them”. Ravi is almost at the edge of the red stone wall when she stops him with her voice. “Putta that tree is inside the Marigudi compound which none of us are supposed to enter”. The young boy looks at the fruits, considers his mother’s statement for a minute and says “It would be really good to taste them amma. Even you have never had them before. What shall I do?”. She is already thinking about pointing out the freshly ripe ones to him as she nods her head and allows him to go in.

Ravi was catching his breath as he lay down on all fours. The chain that Ramanna had brought from his cattle shed had managed to keep him isolated next to the well. Shantamma had helpfully placed four copper vessels along the length of the entrace to the bathroom that separated the well from the backyard. Everyone in that part of the house was whispering as they stared at the creature that vaguely resembled Ravi. It was as though Ravi had gained height and girth overnight and developed a taste for flesh as well. Malati slowly came to in the bedroom and sat up as she opened her eyes and almost instantly, they were drawn to the people looking at her from outside the bedroom. The smell hit her next. She let her nose point her in the right direction and saw what was left of Shankar’s neck. There was a deep trough that started just below his chin and ended just above his collar bone. Someone had shoved one half of a dry coconut shell in there and it fit in place perfectly as it covered the flesh and bone underneath. Shankar’s eyes were still open, his mouth still shaped in a perpetual attempt to finish the rest of his prayer.

Malati finished handing out the coffee to Ramanna, Shantamma and their daughters. Too terrified to go near the well yet, she sincerely hoped that they would tell her what to do next. Ramanna had managed to avert his gaze so far and Shantamma was shifting hers back and forth between Malati’s eyes and her feet. Malati asked if they should wait any longer before sending word to the Priest, which evoked a response from both Ramanna and Shantamma, although it was not what Malati was hoping for. Ramanna hastily said something about the village being more important than any individual and started walking towards the door that led out from the bedroom. He promised to burn Shankar’s body as he led his daughters out of the house. Malati grabbed Shantamma’s arm and held tight — only she could help now. Shantamma sat her down and told her calmly that they had already sent word to the Priest and that he had sent the messenger back with clear instructions — They were to burn Shankar’s body and leave immediately. If no one went near the creature and left Malati alone, nothing bad would happen to the vilage. As she walked back after seeing Shantamma out, Malati’s body was painfully demanding rest but she could not stop. She started by calling Ravi’s name in all variations known to the two of them to try and get him to recognize her. At first, she saw the howling and the aggression subside when she said his name out loud, but after the first hour or so, her voice calling out his name had no effect. Next, she had dragged the wooden board out from under the ladder and into the floor surrounding the well. She brought also the bowl of conch shells and set the board up. She made sure to turn the side of the board with the brown shells stacked towards Ravi, since that set of shells was his favorite. She enjoyed a moment of hope as she saw him quietly crawling towards the board. The chain that was shackling his right foot wasn’t long enough to allow him within reach of the board though, so the aggression came rushing back as he lunged and fell forward. Finally, she made her way to the kitchen and started busying herself with preparing Ravi’s favorite dessert, payasa.

The smell of the cinnamon that she had used to garnish the payasa reminded her of the last time she had prepared it for him. He had been upset at not being allowed to go to the Sante. His father had chosen to ignore Ravi’s passionate reasoning that the Sante only happened every 10 years and that he deserved to go see it this time as he did not know whether or not he would be in the village 10 years later. Ravi had broken down crying as soon as his father had left for the farm and she had consoled him and fed him the payasa herself. She tentatively placed the bowl next to the well and ran backwards a few steps. Ravi was lying down on the floor in the fetal position and was apparently asleep. She sat down on the floor where she had been standing, almost wishing for him to wake up and break down crying so she could console him and feed him the payasa again. She had lost enough hope by this point though and knew that there was no feeding Ravi this time. After Ravi had woken up and taken a sip of the payasa with his blackened tongue, she had waited for a glimpse of her son. Ravi had barely swallowed what he had sipped when her body made the kitchen door creak as she leaned against it. His green eyes immediately found their way to the door and her standing next to it. Next thing she knew, the bowl of payasa was making it’s way toward her, flying in the air after having been hurled by Ravi. His aggression seemed to have increased significantly and she found herself thanking Ramanna for bringing the biggest chain that he owned. This had made her realize that she wanted to see the Priest and that there was nowhere else to go. Malati knew that the Priest would stop seeing people at sundown, so she hurried onward as fast as her feet could carry her. She hoped that he would make an exception in her case given the circumstances. She arrived just as he was sending his last visitors on their way back home.

“Malati. Come. Sit.” he says. “You decided to prepare the payasa, so I sent for Narasappa. He just left. Tell me, did he eat any of it?”. She loses her composure, as she is proven right in anticipating that he knows enough, and the tears start streaming down her face. “He doesn’t even recognize me anymore. I fear that he is no longer my Ravi putta”. The priest considers something for a moment before responding and says “Your son started on his journey out of this world as soon as you allowed him to. Make no mistake Malati, all consequences that we face are rooted in our own actions. If you believe that you have really lost your son, then you must also believe that you are responsible for it in some way. Everything that happens in this village happens to keep the balance intact. It is time you let go of your son and unshackle the creature chained next to your well.”. She is now sure that there is no other way to revive her son but realizes that she is still hopeful that he might be in there somewhere, waiting to be rescued. She decides to find out how she has sinned and how she can perform penance. She tells the Priest as much, to which he replies “Go then and retrace the steps that led you to this point. Do not be afraid, for you have recognized your sin. All that you need to do now is face the consequences and see this till the end”.

She had spent what felt like two sleepless hours going over everything that she and Ravi had done together in the past few days. After poring over every detail in her mind, only one event stood out. She remembered that they had both wanted to taste the fruits but was not sure if she had stopped him from entering the Marigudi compound. She had to have stopped him since, like everyone else in the village, she knew that no one ever entered it except the Priest. She also remembered telling Ravi about how her grandmother had first told her about those fruits — how tasty they were and how the tree bore fruit only once every two lifetimes. She had never seen the fruits herself until that day she had gone out with Ravi tagging behind with his fingers hooked into her long plait. Even though she could not remember it, she was convinced that she must not have stopped Ravi or not stopped him strongly enough, since he would never have gone inside the compound and plucked the fruits otherwise. She got up from the floor, went past the howling creature still chained next to the well, past the bathroom and into the backyard. She found the basket easily enough in the generous moonlight and dragged it in. She knew as soon as she crossed the threshold that separated the backyard from the bathroom area that she was on the right path. The creature had stopped howling and gone completely silent. She could hear it pacing on a small arc — falling down when pulled by the chain, getting back up again, tracing the semi-circle on all fours and falling down again. She tossed one fruit at it and heard a thump made by the fruit falling neatly into the creature’s outstretched hands. She sensed none of the aggression it had displayed hours ago. On the contrary, it was sniffing the fruit and taking it’s time with it, perhaps even enjoying it. Knowing that she had started on the right path, she resolved to heed the Priest’s advice and see this till the end. She knew where she had to go next and wasted no time in leaving the house.

Although she had never been to Marigudi, she remembered enough from the stories she had heard as a child growing up in the village. A place so dark, the Priest had to have a kerosene lamp with him every time he went, night or day. At the heart of it, a terrifying sculpture of the Goddess herself, slaking her thirst with the blood of the Demon that she had just slain. The lamp she had carried from home was already half gone having served her the night this had all started so she reminded herself to be vigilant and quick. She had to started to recognize the hole growing inside her, knowing that her son was gone, but did not dwell on it longer than a few seconds since she had work to do and she had resolved to do it. The fruits gleamed like jewels in the moonlight, dangling off of the branches of the tree which resembled a nightmarish avatar of the goddess with a million arms each slaying it’s own rotund, ripe demon. She walked resolutely into the temple compound and entered through the arched stone entrance. She lit the lamp and held it in her right hand, using her left hand to feel the wall and guide her inward. She picked up pace as soon as she realized that the cold air she now felt was not the same as the air she had felt on her way in — she was now deep within the temple. Just as she made a mental note that the lamp was now probably at half it’s life when she had entered, her left palm slid off of the cool stone wall and fell to her side. She was in the heart of the temple now, the inner chamber. Bracing herself to confront the Goddess, she brought the lamp in her right hand forward, facing front. She took a few steps in the direction pointed to by the lamp and felt a sharp prick under her right foot. The Goddess did not appear as she had expected, but she now felt a sharp prick under her foot with every step forward that she took. Bringing the lamp downward to inspect the floor, she was startled to see what was the beginning of a large mound of sharp seeds. These must be from the fruits outside, she thought as she looked closer at the gradually increasing mound. The seeds that had pricked her feet were now behind her and she realized that she was now stepping on a bed of them with no sensation of the cold stone floor underneath. The bed of seeds seemed slushy to the touch of her feet though, not sharp and dry as before. She realized that these seeds were fresh out of their fruit.

The green eyes caught her gaze first. They were a much darker shade than what she had seen in the creature at home. These green eyes were lazily surveying her form, partially lit, no doubt, by the kerosene flame. She too surveyed the monster facing her with it’s back to a wall. The monster was covered with blackened hide and was humanoid in form, with a large, dry, gash where a nose should have been. The teeth reminded her once again of the same conch shells she had left strewn on the floor connecting the well to the kitchen, after the creature at home had hurled the board she had set up, only these teeth looked much larger with particularly sharp serrations. Strangely enough, she was reminded for a moment of Shankar in one of his livid crazes, chasing after Ravi with that bamboo stick that only came out on special occasions. She clearly identified the similarities in form of this monster and the creature at home that her son had become. Sadly though, this monster had no chain on it’s right foot and was free to move as it pleased. She realized that it had finished surveying her but was showing no interest in her whatsoever, leading her to believe that it was perhaps too old to maim and kill and still intelligent enough to know that it’s prey was much younger and hence much more agile that itself. It locked eyes with her for a moment as if saying it’s last goodbye before shuffling out of the blob of light cast by the kerosene flame. Malati had found no answers here but felt like there was nothing left for her to do. She trusted her intuition and started back the way she came, her left hand finding the cold stone wall again after having hopped her way through the prickly seeds. She was sure of having gone further on the right path, but was not certain if she had seen this till the end yet, which is why she headed straight to the Priest as soon as she had left the temple compound.

“Everything that happens in this village happens to keep the balance intact. The Priest is the only one allowed inside Marigudi because that is how it ought to be — only the Priest is ordained for that task. When villagers like you and your son who knowingly or unknowingly, as a result of their lust, transcend the boundary and take what is forbidden, the balance is lost, setting in motion events that will eventually restore the balance. Your son plucked the fruit because he was innocent in his intentions — he was only getting a beloved treat for his mother after she had clearly allowed him to do so. Your son paid the price for your lapse of judgement. You helped in restoring the balance when you decided to heed my advice and readily accept your sin, whether you remembered having committed it or not. Every family has it’s portions of happiness and grief, anger and joy, good and evil. So does this village. The monster you saw in the temple is a manifestation of everything evil about this village. It feeds only when it needs to and so works well within the boundaries required for the balance to remain intact. It is the job of the Priest to rear it and make sure it does not leave the temple compound. Once every two lifetimes, the monster dies of old age and must be created again, so that it may take it’s place inside the temple and fulfill it’s duties. Your son is dead and is no longer inside that creature that is chained to your well. Your duty is to unshackle it and set it free. You must believe that this is the last step towards restoring the balance that has been lost. Only if you perform this task with complete faith will you reach the end of your journey, having seen this till the end”

She reached the entrace to her home just as the Sun’s first rays shone down on the ground. The birds were singing their songs, welcoming a new day. She remembered how Ravi had started to try and take his first steps — always outwards and leading out of the house toward the farm with his tiny finger pointing vaguely in the direction of the sky, his infant voice mimicking what he heard of the birds’ songs. This is how he had motivated himself to walk on his two legs, to find his way out of the house and into the open, so that he could fully enjoy the music pouring out of the trees. As she gripped the chain in her hand and plunged the key into the lock, she held that image of Ravi firmly in her head — his small mouth fully opened in a joyous smile, showing his two tiny teeth with the rest of his mouth taken up by those rose pink gums. The last thing she heard before the creature broke her neck was the click of the lock, just like how she rememembered hearing the click of Ravi’s tiny tongue as he congratulated himself for having managed to come out of the house on his own again.

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