Daughters of Kalika

৮. Panchatattva

Knowledge is the key to power.

****

Days passed like flipping pages of a book. Devipuram was rolling on with time, leaving the past behind. It was as if it had gotten habituated with the murders that had occurred and just waited for the next big one to come.

Maya's days were spent thinking about the clues she had collected– the keys, the blood, the helpless prostitute...

And then came the day to nourish a growing bond.

A telephone call had come to Aadi Babu's house from Hrishav. The conversation had gone something like this –

"Hello, am I speaking to Aadi Babu?"

"Yes, you are. It's Hrishav right?"

"Yes. Actually, I want to know if your acquaintance Maya would be glad to write something about the temple in her article-"

"Wait a minute."

Clomping footsteps came down a flight of stairs. The phone was then handed over to the desired woman.

"Hello?"

"He-hey, umm, it's Hrishav. Are you free tomorrow at five thirty in the morning?"

"Well, yeah, I can wake up early. What's the plan?"

"I feel you are interested in traditions and this particular way of life– of devotion and rituals. So I am thinking of giving you a closer peek of it. My idea is that– we are going to the market to buy stuff for Mother's food. Then we will go to the temple to cook, talk about puja practices and stuff."

"That's, oh my god, that's amazing!"

"So you are in?"

"Totally."

– and that's how Maya and Hrishav now carried empty bags to fill at the market. It wasn't a typical date, not something an urban chic would hop at first opportunity, but Maya didn't want to leave the chance. She would probably get to feel how in such little, practical moments of life, love blossomed.

Has love already bloomed, or is it blossoming? she wondered. Maybe I should just go with the flow.

No one could have guessed it was early morning when visiting the market. It was a hubbub of buyers, bargainers and enthusiastic sellers. There were crows waiting for an opportunity to snatch away that one piece of prawn, cats and dogs biting away bits of meat and the cacophony of loud, eager tones announcing the prices of commodities. While one part of the market was all about fresh veggies, fruits and animal food, the other part was concerned with grains, snacks and edible oils.

"Is the market open everyday?" Maya asked.

"You will not be able to buy fish everyday or get the desired vegetables. Those come to the market only on specific days, like today, which is Friday. Chicken you will find everyday."

"You are a Brahmin right?"

"Well, priests are so. Why do you ask?"

"That means you cannot have chicken and eggs. It's forbidden for you."

"You forget that I am a priest of Kalika." Hrishav smirked.

Realisation dawned on Maya. Yes, the worshippers of Kalika often ate meat and wine.

"But it isn't the case with every worshipper of Kalika. It depends on which stage of sadhana you are in and the sect you belong to," Hrishav elaborated. "And with the insurgence of modern ideologies and the embracing of foreign cultures, Brahmins have come to feed on chicken and eggs."