The Summer of '82 - Chapter 9

Kannan was in the bath when I reached his home. Suma sat on the verandah with a brush in her hand and small bottles of colors placed all around. I ran into the kitchen and snatched out some little yellow bananas from the kola (banana branch) and sat next to Suma. Her hands were full of paint, so i peeled off its skin and gave it to her and she happily munched it down. Last vacation, I had promised her that I would marry her when we grew up and I would take her to the city, but she doubted if i really meant it. When she told her mother about my promise, she just smiled and said, ‘Wait till you grow up.’ I told my mother about my promise and she said the same thing. So, we knew we were to grow up and marry each other. I had never seen Suma sad or crying. She just smiled and laughed. Every time i pulled her pig tail and ran she would chase me into the fields until we got tired. When I told Kannan about it, he was happy and said he would marry my sister instead. So the equation was all figured out and we live like a happy family.

Kannan called out to me from his room. His room was full of books, the most prominent of them was a book called Karl Marx ideals for children printed in malayalam. The words were as good as latin or spanish to me. ‘It is published by SUFI’ he said, as he slipped on a t-shirt. ‘It has everything that a communist should do as a child.’

‘I thought he killed you’ Kannan looked unapologetic.

‘Who?’

‘Pranthan Kuttan... I thought he bit you and you died’

‘He did not bite me. He is my friend now. I have promised to go in the evening and read stories to him. Why did you think i died’

‘I came home the next morning and ammamma told that you had gone out with your parents. I thought she was trying to cover up your murder.’

‘Murder? What makes you think I was murdered’

‘Who wants chakka?’ Sarla aunty entered into the room with a plate full of delicious yellow jackfruit. This intervention marked the end of the entire conspiracy of my murder which had never happened. ‘How is achchan and amma?’ aunty asked with a deep concern.

‘They are still at achchamma’s house. They will come back next week’

Kannan got up and wiped his hands on his shorts. ‘Let’s go and meet Das. He wanted my help.’

I was excited too. I wanted to meet Das and the jackfruit was less sweeter than what i had expected. It was just ten in the morning. The sun was upright. The road buzzed intermittently of a fast vehicle that passed by pulling a draft of air behind it and the roar of the engine would slowly subside into silence. We went to Das’s house but it was locked, so we headed to the little canal to catch some fresh water fish. The water was low, with a steady current. It was safe to get into the canal. The canal was at times very dangerous, specially when it rained heavily. The clear water would turn murky in rage and sweep away weak grass, plants and anything else that came in the way. But in the summer, it was calm. One would never know that the canal had its own rage that was hidden from the eye.

Kannan was the first to get into the canal. I rolled up my pants and carefully stepped in. The little fresh water fish pecked me on my leg that was immersed in the water. We dragged down a palm leaf that lay half submerged in the water, and Kannan, with a neat twist on its edge, pulled it tearing the leaf in a straight line. Then similarly, he cut it on the other side and we had a rectangular leaf in our hands. We made it into a boat and put it in the canal. The leaf boat floated away and we began chasing it. The boat went underneath the road, so we both jumped out and crossed the road. Both of us eagerly waited for the little boat to emerge, but it seemed the boat disappeared under the road. Kannan took of his shirt and hung it over a dry branch. He then took of his trousers and placed it on the dry grass that surfaced the wall of the canal. He then dipped stepped into the deper part of the canal and walked below the road. I did not want to be wet, so i stayed where i was. After a while later, there was no trace of Kannan, and i was now worried. The silence around was only broken by a caw of the crow that flew above the head once in a while and the passing car or a bus, but they were very few. The silence started hurting and I called out for Kannan, but there was no response. I slowly made my way below the bridge. The light glittered on the surface of water on the other side of the bridge, but it was completely dark below it. The reflection of the water on the ceiling and walls were the only source of light that could give a sense of depth and reference to give me an idea of how far i was from the end of the tunnel. As i stepped in, the canal bed got deeper and the water rose till my nose. So I pushed myself and began swimming. I called out to Kannan, but there was no response. I felt beads of sweat on my forehead, not knowing what to do. Where was Kannan? A shiver went through my spine. I dipped inside the water, to see if he was stuck beneath, but Kannan, I knew was a great swimmer. A million thoughts flashed in my mind. What would have happened to him? The canal was the last place he would drown. As I emerged on the other side of the canal, i was now out of ideas of what to do! My heart beat faster and my eyes welled with tears. I gave out another desperate scream. I ran out of the water and on the side of the canal. I had to go and tell Sarla aunty about Kannan. As I got out, I saw Kannan sitting on the curb, munching shamelessly into a mango. I was furious at him. I ran in with all my might and pushed him on to the ground. He let go off his mango and pulled my shirt by its collar and turned around to pin me on the ground. I put my pam against his chin and pushed him away as his fists tried to hit my stomach. ‘Why the hell didn’t you answer when i called you?’ I was furious, my ears feeling red with anger. ‘You werent man enough to get into the water, you idiot’ he said. ‘I got wet because of you’ i tried to punch him on the face, movie style, but he moved his face away and then very smartly moved his elbow pinning down on my neck.

‘I win’ he claimed, when there was a tap on his shoulder, and i, sensing the opportunity pushed him around and pinned him down. ‘I win!’ I proclaimed. Kannan did not reply and his eye was fixated at the person behind him. I turned around and there was a huge man, a police man looking at us. I let go off my grip on Kannan’s collar, and eased up. I was completely wet and there were wet weeds hanging on me. Kannan had worn his trousers but had not worn his shirt. ‘Why are you guys fighting on the road?’ The man asked sternly. ‘He had gone under the bridge.. And he disappeared. I went behind searching for him’i cried foul. ‘You should have looked at his face when he saw me!’ he was giggling. My ears felt warm again and i pounced on him when the man held me back with my arm.

‘What if something happened to you, you idiot’ i shouted. I felt my heart beat faster than ever. I wanted to punch him and smash him. He had scared me to my wits. And I was truly mad at him. I shook myself up and walked away. I could not hear a thing. I felt my cheeks wet in streams and my nose started flowing too. After a few steps, i ran. I ran into my house and into the bedroom and slammed the door hard, buried myself under the pillow and cried. I heard knocks on the door, but I did not open. I just lie there and without my knowledge I went off to sleep.

I woke up hungry. The pillow was a bit damp, which had absorbed my tears. I went down looking for ammamma, but she wasnt there. I went out to the courtyard looking for her, when i saw a crowd that had assembled next to Das’s house. I slowly inched towards it wondering what was happening. There were many people standing on both sides of the road having hushed discussions. On the other end was the police inspector, next to the police jeep. I looked away and searched for ammamma, not knowing what was happening. That is when Das came out of the building. He was handcuffed, and was followed by a few constables. There was another man, who I had never seen before, who was also handcuffed. Both were taken to the jeep. The inspector then got in and drove off. A few constables remained, and they slowly started dispersing the crowd. I caught sight of Namboodiripaad with ammamma, and ran to her.

‘Why did they take away Dasettan?’ I pulled her saree for an answer. She looked away.

‘Ammamma, please tell me, why did they take dasettan?’ i insisted.

‘Did you have your food?’ she asked.

‘No’ i said. ‘ammamma, please...’ i pleaded.

‘You wont understand Shibu. It is politics. He is a political criminal, a naxalite’ she said and then caught my hand and pulled me home.