Aachman and his family hurried to the temple of Lord Karupu, who was the bodyguard of Anjar village. The temple was located outside the village, and because only lower-caste people prayed to God Karupu, the priest class considered him a minor god compared to the trinity gods, whose devotees were from higher castes.
When Aachman's family arrived at the temple, they found another half dozen adolescent boys dressed in their best dhotis. Villagers from the farmer and landless castes were also present to witness the ceremony. Aachman, with a pot stuck on his head, attracted a few stares, but he was too thick-skinned to care and his family members simply acted like everything was normal.
As Lord Karupu was a minor god, the priest on this occasion was not the old man, Nithyananda or even from the priest caste. Senji was a middle-aged man with a pot belly. It was not easy to see a lower-caste person with obesity, but he was from the farmer caste and had fallen into the landless class because his father's land was too small to be divided between two sons.
Senji, who was covered in sacred ash from top to bottom and holding a billhook machete in his hand, called out, "All boys who are participating in this ceremony, come forward." Aabhavanan went with the other boys to stand in front of the priest, but Aachman stayed with his parents to observe the ceremony.
Senji sprinkled them with sacred ash and touched the shoulders of each boy with a billhook machete. Afterwards, he called his followers forward, had the boys sit down, and shaved their heads.
In a few minutes, they were bald. Their hair was placed on a plate and given to the boys. Aachman saw half a dozen bald boys in front of him. It was a sunny day, and the sun reflected off their shiny heads, making him squint. He wished he had invented sunglasses.
Senji, the priest for Lord Karupu, who had been idle until now, got up and said, "Parents, give the offerings to the children." Kari, who was holding a small pot, moved to give it to Aabhavanan. Aachman had peeked inside the pot earlier and seen that it contained toddy, a country liquor made from palm trees.
Senji looked at the boys and said in a deep booming voice, "Place your offerings and pray to Lord Karupu for a better future." One of his followers started to play the drums rhythmically. The boys placed the offerings in front of a blackish stone that looked like dried blood. They closed their eyes and began to pray with fervour as the drumbeats increased in pace. Aachman's heartbeat sped up, and the scene took on a supernatural feel.
Senji, who had been dancing to the beat of the drums, suddenly began to whip himself. Aachman was surprised, as he had not noticed the whip until now. He had been too preoccupied with the billhook machete, a common tool for villagers and also a divine weapon for Lord Karupu. Bhumi noticed Aachman's shock and held him reassuringly.Aachman smiled to convey that he was okay, but he forgot that his head was covered by a pot.
While observing the priest's whippings, Aachman suddenly noticed two of the priest's followers dragging a young white goat that had been bathed in turmeric and had a garland around its neck. The goat was bleating loudly.
Senji, whipping himself into a frenzy, threw himself onto the goat. The goat abruptly became docile and stood still as Senji beheaded it, splashing blood on the stone altar.
The wind picked up, blowing the sacred ash that had been kept near the stone altar into the air. The hair that had been offered to the god also mixed with the ash, creating a cloud of debris. Aachman noticed that the wind and debris covered Senji, but then it stopped. Senji's form began to fade, and the drumbeats reached their fastest pace.
The air grew still as the blob of debris coalesced into a shape. Aachman gasped as he saw that it was a face, a twisted, angry face with blood-red eyes. The mouth opened, revealing a row of razor-sharp Billhook machetes instead of teeth.
The voice boomed through the air, echoing off the walls of the temple. "Desire is the root of all suffering," the voice reverberated. "Those who give in to their desires will find only pain and sorrow. But those who control their desires will find peace and contentment."
“If all people who know the expectations of society and fulfil them would lead to a perfect and harmonious society.”The crowd fell silent, listening in rapt attention.
Huge blob stilled for a few moments “Hmm!”
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
The huge, angry face morphed into amusement. "Interesting!" Aachman's heart lurched in his chest as he felt the blob stare directly at him. He tried to pull the pot down as much as possible to cover himself from the god's gaze.
"The black sheep among you does not follow the ways of your ancestors and does not know his place in society."
The crowd began to murmur, and Aachman felt a chill run down his spine. He didn't know who Lord Karupu speaks of but even he knew he was going to pretend he did not.
"I command this sheep to be content and to know your place," the voice said. "If you do not, you will be shown your place."
The voice was so loud and so powerful that Aachman felt like he was being shaken to the core. He knew that he had to do something, but he didn't know what.
The voice paused, and then it spoke again. "This is your last warning," it said. "Be content, or be shown your place harshly by the society."
The voice faded away, along with a blob of dust and offerings. The crowd was left stunned and silent. Aachman just stood there, frozen in fear. The crowd started muttering about Lord Karupu's statements, and Aachman felt if he did not take control, the situation would spiral and might even affect him.
Aachman saw that Senji was the only one who could control the crowd, but he was still disoriented from being the medium for Lord Karupu's descent from heaven. Aachman knew that he had to act now, so he let go of Bhumi's hands, which were still frozen, and ran towards the front.
Aachman reached the front and went up to Senji, who was standing on an elevated platform. He knew that he could be seen clearly by everyone from there.
"People," he thundered, "Lord Karupu's statement was shocking, but we proud people of Anjar cannot remain quiet. Let us march together to hunt the escaped black goat."
Anjar villagers looked confused at Aachman, and one enterprising villager, Kodi, could not remain quiet because he was sure the whole crowd wanted to know. "Who are you?"
Aachman felt flabbergasted; he thought he was a well-known younger member of society. He would even go one step ahead and consider him the second-most popular young person in Anjar village after the young lady.
"I am Aachman, son of Kari, and childhood friend of the young lady. How could you not know a celebrity like me?" Aachman shouted at Kodi and the villagers.
"Oh, you are Kari’s son. I could not identify you because the pot was covering your face. What were you saying about black sheep?” Kodi again voiced his opinion at Aachman.
"Obviously, Lord Karupu wants a black goat, as the sacrifice was a white goat," Aachman patiently explained to the crowd as his voice echoed because his head and his face were covered by a pot.
The crowd began to murmur in confusion, their voices rising as they debated whether the black sheep was a person or a goat.
Kodi was a well-to-do villager with a lot of farmland and livestock. He was an influential member of society, so Aachman felt that Kodi could influence the crowd. Aachman cautiously observed Kodi's opinion on Lord Karupu's statement.
"Isn't it that the black sheep refers to a person? And now that I think about it, Lord Karupu's statement that a person is not content with farming awfully sounds like you." Kodi felt Aachman's gaze on him and voiced his opinion, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
The crowd started chattering again, and this time they threw accusatory glances at him. His family members were shocked at first and then confused as to why their youngest son was addressing the crowd, but now they were afraid something bad might happen to him. As they were pushing the people to reach Aachman.
"Do you really think the village head was wrong in choosing me as a playmate for the young lady?” Aachman sneered at the crowd, and again, the pot hid his expression.
A tyrant near you is more dangerous than a powerful tyrant far away. The village chief was an upper-caste warrior who did not pray to Lord Karupu. The priest Senji was the only person who was not reacting to the commotion because he was still disoriented from Lord Karupu's phantom descent to the earth. So, Aachman was not afraid that God Karupu would punish him personally.
The crowd fell silent, knowing that the village chief was more influential in wielding hard power than the god Karupu. This news would eventually reach him, and they did not want to face his wrath. The village chief was a fair and just ruler, but he was also a great warrior in his youth. This created a perception of him as a sleeping giant: he did not anger easily, but when he did, it was fierce.
"So, what do you think? Do you still think the village head is wrong?” Aachman taunted the crowd and smugly looked at Kodi.
The crowd panicked as they felt they were between a rock and a hard place. As they could not say the village head was wrong or the god was wrong. So, they were confused and panicked at Aachman’s query and felt this might affect their lives and livelihoods.
Aachman, who still had smugly been looking at Kodi and felt the troublemaker was put in his place and thought all other villagers were just a sheep that he could lead them in circles.
Kodi thought for a while, then he said loudly, "We must look for the escaped black goat that Aachman said about.” The crowd understood what Kodi was saying and felt they had found a way to escape this conundrum.
"Yes!" Aachman thundered again at the crowd. "Proud people of Anjar, let's hunt for the escaped black goat!" This time, the villagers responded with their own war cry and promptly dispersed to find the non-existent black goat. Meanwhile, Aachman's family members rushed at him and hugged him protectively.