Pyre

by Perumal Murugan

This is why you should keep your ambition in check . . .’ People said all sorts of things. They were all jealous of his chilli harvest.

Even love and affection need money. If you don’t have money, no one will bother with you.

Immediately, she said ‘Hmm’—a yes—within her heart, but it swelled up slowly and grew into a sound. She thought it would float in the air and reach his ears. She truly believed that he could hear every word she uttered in her heart—that he was aware of all her thoughts, just as she knew his.

‘If you marry a woman who has nothing to bring, you will soon have to carry an alms bowl and roam the streets.

Saroja was beginning to feel that her life was like a plant that had been uprooted from where it had flourished and then abruptly transplanted. Would its roots hold on to the earth in this unfamiliar place? Would the soil accept this new plant? Would the plant like the taste of the water here? She was frightened for it. After all, what plant could live and grow on a rock?

She did not know how to rescue him from the crushing disappointment he was feeling; she did not have words strong enough to do that.

‘Don’t cry. I am here for you.’ Her words gave him something to hold on to. He embraced her tightly, with the fear-filled force of a child who grabs on to his mother, and his whimpers grew louder.

Don’t underestimate the village folk. They value their honour. Respect that. That is all I will say.’

She feared that if she stepped outside, Marayi’s words, swirling about like a ghostly storm, might sweep her away.

A mother’s curse will follow you to other lifetimes too!’

The space would not allow anything to enter. Even Kumaresan did not know this secret.