Chapter 14: OUT OF CONTROL
The breakfast was delicious as usual, but Moon came back with no new information, besides the fact that Subbaiah had called up, pretending to be in Hyderabad. No leads as to why the inspector had visited Ganapathy's house.
He placed the container with the extra upama that Vijaylaxmi had packed for his lunch in the kitchen, and switched on the radio. Grabbing the Discovery of India from his room, he went to the verandah to relax.
Moon flipped through the book and reached page 61, which he had bookmarked earlier by folding a corner of the page. Ten minutes later, he felt his eyelids growing heavy.
Damn, why do I fall asleep whenever I read this book?
He sat up in his chair and decided to start reading all over again. This time he decided to read aloud.
‘The diversity of India is tremendous; it lies on the surface and anybody can see it. It concerns itself with physical appearances as well as with certain mental habits and traits. There is little in common, to outward seeming, to Pathan of the North-West and Tamil in the far South. Their racial stocks are not the same; though there may be common strands running through them; they differ in face and figure, food and clothing, and of course language...’
Hearing a noise, he looked up to see four men walking towards Ganapathy's house. They were all partially naked, with just a white cloth wrapped around their waists. All of them had a thread strung around their shoulders, just like Vinay, and were arguing loudly in Tamil.
They are Brahmins.
One of them went up to the door and knocked. Ganapathy emerged, only to receive a barrage of abuses from them. They were scolding him and even raised their fists, in threat. Vijaylaxmi came out and tried to pacify them, but they would not calm down. After a few minutes of intense shouting and cursing, they abruptly turned around and left.
Moon was now standing on the porch, ready to intervene in case the situation got out of hand. Although he was a foreigner and stood no chance as a mediator, he realized that his physical presence would be some support to Ganapathy. He noticed that Vijaylaxmi was sobbing, while Ganapathy was trying to console her.
As the four visitors turned the corner and disappeared, he walked up to their house.
‘Sir, is everything all right?’
‘Moon, glad you are here.’
‘Who were those men?’
‘They are priests from the Kapaleeshwarar Temple in Mylapore. They warned me not to support Anna's party and threatened to excommunicate us.’
‘You don't support Anna, why should they warn you?’
‘Moon take a seat,’ he said, pointing towards a chair, as Vijaylaxmi went inside wiping her tears with the end of her sari. ‘I have something important to tell you.’
Confused, he sat down, while Ganapathy continued.
‘Anna's party started as an anti-Brahmin movement, but the developments over the past few days has made them reorient their strategy. They are no longer against the Tamil Brahmins, and want everyone to support their cause against the imposition of Hindi.’
‘So it means that all Brahmins have decided to support Anna? Then why did the Temple Trustees threaten you?’
‘It is not so simple. Many educated Brahmins are of the opinion that we should support Anna, but the government supporters have convinced a few powerful priests that our community will be thrown out of the state if Anna's party is successful in repealing English. Along with Inspector Bala, I am trying to form an association of Brahmins that will support Anna's movement.’
‘Why this sudden change of heart?’
‘The violence over the past few days has really shocked us. We did not expect the government to be so ruthless towards its own people. Innocent people in all the southern states are dying. Even the police and army unit that has been sent here have joined Anna's movement and refused to fire at their own citizens. Fresh units from the North Indian regiments are on their way, and if they succeed, it will be catastrophic. We have the upper hand now, and we need to consolidate it by showing a united front. I wanted to speak to Subbaiah and coordinate our efforts, but unfortunately he is in Hyderabad. I could not explain this to him on the phone because the government could be spying on me.’
Could it be a ruse to get more information from me?
‘Sir what do you want to tell Professor Subbaiah when he comes back?’
‘There are many people from our community in the government who want to support Anna if we can assure them of a victory. I want to discuss a strategy to engineer mass defections. If the executive branch supports Anna along with the armed forces, Indira will be helpless. The local media is also with us, and we hope the judiciary joins.’
‘What about the state legislators?’
‘The Congress Party has a majority in the state, and the national assembly members do not want to lose power. That is why Anna is concentrating on the other important pillars of our democracy.’
‘Sir, will you be actively joining the movement now?’
‘Vijaylaxmi doesn't want me to, but I am trying to convince her. Religion is a very important aspect of her life and she doesn't want our family to be excommunicated.’
‘What will happen if you are excommunicated from Hinduism?’
‘Unlike other religions, Hinduism is not a monolithic religion, so the concept of excommunication does not mean that you can throw us out of the religion. However, if the Temple Trustees decide, we can lose our caste status. As a Brahmin, caste is very important for us, as we will otherwise be considered untouchables. They warned us that they will not accept any form of repentance, so we cannot get back into fold once again.’
‘So you will not be able to go to the temples and mix with other Brahmins. Does it make a difference?’
‘It is the worst that could happen to a Brahmin. As you know, we are the custodians of dharma. Moreover, we are Deekshitar Iyers, a sub-sect that descended from three thousands sages who were performing tapas in Kailasam, Lord Shiva's abode. We were nearly wiped out in the 14th century, and no one wants that to happen again.’
‘You mean your sect was destroyed and has risen again?’
‘There was a civil war in 1312, and a majority of the serving priests were pressured to compromise on their beliefs. They chose to give up their lives by jumping down from tall pagodas, some escaped to Kerala while the remaining got absorbed into other communities. So it is a very emotional matter for us.’
‘What are you going to do?’
‘I do not believe in the caste system, and am actually agnostic. Vijaylaxmi is deeply religious and I cannot upset her. Do you know that I eat non-vegetarian, but she is unaware of it?’
‘Is that the reason you have always been arguing with Professor Subbaiah about Brahmanism, to send out a wrong public impression about your beliefs.’
‘That is right, but it is now time to stand up for my beliefs. I have to convince Vijaylaxmi that I want to fight for the greater good of our society.’
The telephone rang and Ganapathy got up, but hearing Vijaylaxmi attend to it he sat down again. She shouted out from inside, ‘Anna is calling from Delhi, he has something important to tell you.’
‘Is it Anna?’ Moon asked.
‘It is her brother Damodaran, anna means elder brother in Tamil,’ he replied going inside.
Siting on the patio, Moon realized that the situation was now getting worse. He heard animated discussion on the phone and wondered what it could be.
Ten minutes later, Ganapathy emerged with a grim face.
‘The situation is getting out of control. South Indians are being attacked in Delhi. R.K.Puram is burning and more than 60 people have died. The police are not intervening, and many families have started taking the first train out of the city.’
Rama Krishna Puram, also known as R.K.Puram for short was a Central Government Employees residential colony in South West Delhi. It was built in the second phase of extension of the capital city, and contained double-storey housing blocks.
Many of the South Indian government officers were allocated accommodation in this colony, which was still under extension. Construction work was still ongoing in a couple of sectors.
‘Are Damodaran anna and his family all right? They stay in R K Puram,’ Vijaylaxmi asked, walking behind him.
‘Yes, he is fine, Sector 2 was not attacked. Most of casualties are in Sector 5 but he said that everyone is living in fear. Even he is considering moving to Madras for a few days.’
‘Why are they attacking South Indians?’
‘It could be revenge attacks. Two days ago, a few North Indian houses and shops were attacked in Sowcarpet. Anna put a stop to it, but obviously, the word has reached Delhi.’
‘Have they also attacked South Indian shops?’
‘There are very few South Indian shops in Delhi. Most of the South Indians there are government officers. Damodaran was mentioning that mobs belonging to the Congress party carried iron rods, knives, clubs, and combustible material, including kerosene. They arbitrarily killed any South Indian men or women they could find, ransacking and burning their houses.’
‘How can they distinguish South Indian's? Everyone looks the same to me?’
‘They are making people speak in Hindi before attacking them. A pronounced South Indian accent is enough to make the mob wild.’
‘That is terrible,’ Vijaylaxmi said putting her right palm to the mouth.
‘I am afraid, it will be as bad as Partition, only this time, the government appears to be directly involved. They are not even reporting it on radio, so no one is aware of the ground situation. All foreign reporters have been placed under house arrest, so BBC News may not be of much help.’
‘Don't you think if word spreads here, the agitators will resume attacking North Indians?’ she asked.
‘I hope not, but one can never say. An angry mob can never be controlled with reason and logic.’
‘The hostel has closed, so where are all the North Indian students in the university?’ she asked concerned.
‘All of them left for their hometowns on the first day, including my roommate Vinay,’ Moon replied.
‘I have told Damodaran to call me every two hours, just so we know that his family is safe. He will also keep updating me on the situation. Meanwhile, I only hope that our people do not attack the North Indians here.’
‘Sir, I have a small confession to make, Professor Subbaiah is not in Hyderabad.’
‘What do you mean? He rang me up from there.’
‘That was because he suspected you were spying on him for the government.’
‘Is that what he told you? I am his best friend, I could never do that.’
‘To be fair to him, you were very friendly with the police inspector,’ Moon tried defending Subbaiah. ‘He has been coming back home every night and leaving in the morning.’
‘Then I should meet him, he will have more information on the situation here. I need to know what the plan is, so that I can organize the other Brahmin friends.’
‘OK sir, I will inform you, when he comes home tonight. I think I will go home and complete my book.’
‘I have a better idea. As soon as he comes please bring him here for dinner. He must be missing home-cooked meals, as Malathi is away. We can also call up Damodaran and get the latest update.’