Shraddha's Writings

30th October 2010. I was quite young then, probably in the fourth standard. My father had gotten transferred to a quaint town in Tamil Nadu called Madurai. We had been living there for almost two years now, but I had never seen an incident like this before.

For me the day began as mundane as any other. It was a school day. As the clock hands moved to quarter to six, my mother began using all her might to pull me out of bed. If there was anything that I hated more than school, it was having to get up early in the morning.

“This is the last time I am asking you to get up. I won't ask again.” My Mom said that and left the room. This was enough to make me jump out of the bed. I sleepily walked towards the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face to stay awake. I brushed, bathed, slipped into my uniform and started combing my hair. Unlike nowadays, I had a vivid imagination as a child. Every time I wore my uniform and stood in front of the mirror, I could see myself as a helpless prisoner. A poor prisoner, who is being forced to toil hard early in the morning without a single day's rest. “Shraddha, are you ready yet or not? The van is almost here”. My Mom always knew when my school van reached our street. It did have a peculiar honk. I came rushing out on the veranda with my shoes in one hand, my bag in the other, and a piece of toast clenched in my mouth. As I danced on one leg trying to shove my feet into my shoes, the school van pulled over at the front door and gave a loud honk.

“Why can't you wake up on time? My Mom shouted. You never get ready on time!” She was angry but I didn’t think much of it. By now it had become our morning routine. I hopped into the van and waved at mom as we moved ahead. The van made two or three more stops before heading to the school. Usually, by this time the van was jam-packed. But today, it was just four of us in the van apart from our driver who we all called Anna (elder brother).

“It is because of Thevar Jayanti. Parents don't want to send their children anywhere. Not even to school.” I overheard Anna talking to Ram Anna, a senior at my school, sitting in the front seat. I didn’t pay too much attention to the conversation. Although I had heard the name before, I was never one to get involved in social affairs and festivities.

My attention was on the lush paddy fields on either side of the road. I was looking forward to waving to an Amma (an elderly woman), who I would inexorably find working in her fields every morning. Every once in a while, she would also wave back at me. As it is with all things, this also became somewhat of a routine. I was enjoying the wind that was hitting my face. But then I noticed that the paddy fields looked empty today. I couldn't even spot Amma as the van whizzed past the fields.

“Where is everyone?” I curiously asked Anna. “It’s Thevar Jayanti. He replied. “They are staying in their homes and won't work today out of respect to their leader Thevar.” “Respect or fear?” Ram Anna made a snide remark. “Whatever it is. It is none of my business.” Anna said, pulling in front of the school. “Try to be on time today. Don't wander here and there, after school hours.” Saying this, Anna drove off.

My heart dropped as I got out of the van and walked towards school. The gates looked like prison towers to me. Nevertheless, lugging my heavy bag, I walked up to my class. I noticed that only a few of my classmates were present that day. “Very few people in class today, no? Is this all because of that Thevar guy?” I asked a friend. “Yeah. Even a few teachers have taken leave today,” he replied. We were overjoyed. No teacher means no studies. Or even better, an extra hour in the playground! The classes must’ve whizzed past after; I have no recollection of it. As the last bell of the day rang, we rushed out of the gates and waited for our vans to arrive. Usually the area in front of the school was filled with vendors, selling different varieties of candies, ice lollies, and everything else our parents wouldn't want us eating. Our favourite was the popcorn Anna, who used to steal our one Rupee coin in the name of showing us magic. But today the place was desolate.

“This Thevar guy seems like a big shot,” I thought to myself. “No one wants to work on his birthday. What if people don't have to work on my birthday too? They surely will be happy. But where will I get my cake from, if the bakeries are shut?” As I stood there contemplating the various implications of such a holiday, I heard my school van honk in the distance.

Anna pulled up in front of us and opened the doors. “Get in quick,” He said in a serious tone. We all got in one by one and Anna pulled the van back on the road. “Riots have started,” Anna said to Ram Anna quietly. “All the parents have already started calling me. We need to get back before the situation worsens.” He said, concentrating on the road. Anna asked us to roll up our windows and sit away from them. “But how did it happen?” Ram Anna asked. “From what I’ve heard, some upper caste hooligans placed a garland of chappals on one of Thevar’s statues.” “Which one?” Ram Anna further inquired. “The big bronze one, near Shraddha's house.” Anna replied. The bronze statue that he was talking about was very close to where I lived. We used to go past it every day, but I had never paid too much attention. There was nothing special about it, except that it was big and made of bronze. It was just another statue.

As luck would have it, crossing the statue was pretty much the only road to home. As we drew closer to the statue, I became more and more anxious. Something had definitely gone awry here. I had never seen such violence before. There were men holding torches in their hands, trying to light a car on fire. People running with Aruvals (billhook machetes) in their hands and pelting stones at a smashed up bus. Anna was slowly driving through hoping to get past unnoticed, without inviting trouble.

As I was trying to grasp the situation around, a stone came flying towards us and smashed into the backseat window, we screamed at the top of our lungs. Again something hit the windscreen of the van. I wasn’t sure what it was but it created chaos inside the van. Anna hurriedly stepped on the accelerator and rushed the van out of there. He didn't slow down, until we had crossed the entire riot-stricken area and reached my home. After a while, Anna finally stopped the van in front of my home. I could still feel my heart pounding against my chest. I was still very anxious and scared.

As I got out of the van, I saw my mother standing in front of the house. Without thinking twice, I rushed into her embrace. She took my bag and hugged me back. “Are you hurt anywhere?” Looking at the van she asked worriedly. “No, Ma. I didn't get hurt” I said tearfully.

As Anna drove off to drop others, I also went inside my home. However, that day I didn't feel the joy of reaching home after a long day at school. It was something else. It was Relief. I was relieved to reach home.

I sat down and narrated the entire incident to my mother. I was confused by the idea of people trying to kill each other for being from different castes! Even we have different sections in my school. I was in 4B, and if there was one thing that unified the class of 4B it was the utter exasperation of hearing our teachers praise the class of 4A. (Now that I think, it must be one of the oldest tricks of teachers to pit classes against each other) But nonetheless we never wanted to do away with the other class. “This is how it works. You'll understand more when you grow up.” Mom explained to me calmly. “Go and freshen up now. Let’s eat.” As I went to sleep that night, I could only see Thevar’s statue in my mind. After two days the schools reopened. As I crossed the same area where riots were happening, I noticed it. The statue had inexplicably become larger than it was ever before.