In the end, they insisted, and served him a spoonful of uppittu, saying, “Just one spoonful.” After that, Manjayya’s wife, pleased, served him four more spoonfuls of uppittu, and as he patted his stomach and exclaimed “Paramatma,” Dasacharya did not refuse. As was customary in the south, he only pretended to wave his hand over the leaf and say, “Enough, enough, let it be for you.”

Chapter: Nine

That day, instead of Belli, Chinni came to collect the manure basket. The reason: “Belli’s father and mother have both caught some fever and are lying down,” she told the women of the agrahara. The Brahmin women, each absorbed in their own affairs, paid no heed to Chinni’s words. But Chinni, as she gathered the manure, went on with her own tale, whether anyone listened or not. “Chowda died, his wife died too, they set fire to the temple and burned them both. Who knows if the ghost got angry or what the story is.”

Garudacharya’s wife, Sitadevi, stood with her hands on her hips, worrying about her son: what would happen if something befell him, now that he had joined the military and gone to a distant land? Chinni, standing at a distance, called out, “Avva, avva, will you throw me a mouthful of betel leaves?” Sitadevi went inside, tossed out some leaves, areca nut, and tobacco, and stood there, lost in her previous thoughts. Chinni gathered the tobacco and areca leaves into her lap and said, “Avva, how many rats are born in heaven! Good for a feast, it seems. What a burden they must be!” Carrying the manure basket on her head, she walked away.

She went to the temple, thinking Belli would break off some tobacco leaves for her, and walked in that direction. From a distance, Belli...

Samskara

From the temple, the cries of her father and mother could be heard. “Ayya! When the spirit comes, he screams so much. Has a demon possessed him too?” they wondered aloud. Calling out, “Belli!” they came to look, and found Belli sitting by her parents, hands clasped atop her head. “How do rats come to the agrahara in droves like this?” she began to say, but stopped, struck dumb. She broke off a bit of hogesoppu and, sitting down, said, “Take, for your mouth. Mother gave it.” Belli rubbed the hogesoppu between her palms and put it in her mouth.

“If, today, a spirit comes upon my body, I mustn’t be afraid. But somehow, I am frightened, you know. If rats swarm the temple like this, what if a band of demons comes? What if Chowda’s wife suddenly dies? What if my father and mother are possessed by a demon like this—mustn’t be afraid,” she said.

“Hey, enough from you. Be quiet,” Chinni said to Belli, trying to comfort her.

* * *

By two in the afternoon, the sun blazed fiercely overhead, burning like the third eye of Pashupati opened in wrath. The Brahmins, half-dead from hunger, were