Anima looks down, locking her hands together. ‘We don’t have to come there to know what’s going on, Kaka. Ai has written to tell us what’s going on.’ She gets the letter for Bachchu Kaka to read. ‘It’s our childhood home, Kaka. Don’t you think we’d want it to stay the way it is forever? But our hands are tied. You know that yourself. I can argue with people till my last breath. But I simply don’t have the language to deal with Ai who thinks only emotionally. I must confess I have failed that test. Ai’s letter was very depressing. It left us stunned. Then we thought is the house Anna’s only, or even his real, legacy? What Anna has left us is a way to think and live. He has set us an example of equality. We’ve tried to build our lives on that foundation, Kaka. If we can make even a smidge of a difference around us, isn’t that the best way to cherish Anna’s legacy?’

Bachchu Kaka nods. ‘Yes, my little one. You are doing that. But the world doesn’t give a rotten fig for your individual values. It has to be fought more actively.’ He puts his cup down with a trembling hand. ‘Those people have killed Girji.’

Anima’s heart plunges. ‘What? Who? When, Kaka?’

‘They killed her.’ He stares at the floor. ‘Her own people declared her a witch and killed her. Three children in the village had diarrhoea. They called the bhagat. He is Dr Bhaskar’s man. He got the villagers to line up all the widows. He said, “It’s not one of these. It is someone who stays far away from here. Her son is here. Who is it?” Everybody turned to Soma. “Get her,” the bhagat ordered. Soma brought her. They beat her to death. Then they went home. But Soma noticed she was still alive. He slung her over his shoulder and ran all the way to the Mission Hospital. While she was under treatment a mob gathered outside carrying sticks and axes. They broke the doors and windows of the hospital. They dragged all the patients out, except Girji. They poured can after can of kerosene on the building and set it alight. With its old wooden flooring, it burst into flames. The mob disappeared into the dark shouting slogans against missionaries. By the time we got there, half the hospital was ashes. The flames were devouring the rest. The sky, the tops of trees were red. The crackling of the flames was deafening. Things collapsed with loud thuds every now and again. The bunch of us just stood there watching, our tongues and limbs useless.’

Bachchu Kaka speaks as if he is seeing the scene again.

‘But why?’

‘In Soma’s pada everybody, except a few like him, are eating Bhaskar’s food.’

The vein in Anima’s forehead dances with rage.