The discussion seemed never-ending. Finally it was the grandmother who came up with the solution. She suggested they separate the part they wanted cleared from the rest of the jungle. She even drew a diagram with her finger on the ground. First, she drew a large square and said, ‘This is the entire jungle.’ The others around agreed. Then, in the centre, she drew a square, a span large. ‘This is what we want for our fields. Supposing we dig a path five feet wide around this bit before we set it on fire, then it won’t spread to the other part. Am I correct?’ she asked.

An old man burst out laughing. Another gaped at him. ‘Come on, Aunt. The weeds we cut will dry by the time we set fire to them. Won’t those catch fire faster, and will that not mean that the fire will spread to the rest of the forest too?’

The grandmother had one more suggestion. The weeds that were chopped were to be taken to the part they had to burn down and not left to dry on the side of the path itself.

Many thought it was worth giving it a try. Leaving behind two or three men on guard through the night, the others went to bed, still arguing about the suggestions.

The children usually ate and went to sleep at sundown. During the day, they played around in the jungle, catching butterflies. Only the elder children helped the adults in the thicket, or protected the infants, who slept on the cloth cradles hanging from the branches, from jackals and foxes.

The night watchmen, who rested during the day, came out for their duty. Through the night, they would add firewood to the flames when they died out. It was the god Agni who gave them light in the dark, defended them from the chill and kept away the prowling wildlife.

18

THEY AWOKE WITH THE CHIRPING early birds, sharp and active like them. At dawn, as decided the previous evening, they set off to create an isolated island in the thicket. Men and women joined hands—except for the pregnant women, the aged, those with hurt, swollen feet from the long trek, the sick, and the menstruating women.

Those on the job had to face angry snakes that were hatching their eggs, black scorpions, and centipedes. They were attacked by wasps of a kind they had never seen before. This meant many of them came down with bites that were infected with pus.

It was easy to catch monitor lizards. The moment they see humans, they’d rush into their burrows, peeking out cautiously. All you needed to do was insert a stick into the burrow and they’d bite it hard, never letting it go. Then gently draw the stick out with the lizard still clinging on to it with its teeth. The poor lizard would imagine it was biting the enemy.

They’d strip the skin off fat rat snakes, melt the flesh and store the lard as medicine. With hedgehogs, they’d remove the skin with the quills and roast the flesh for the children. Then, they’d sun-dry the skin and quills and use it as a medicine for whooping cough. Catching a hedgehog is easy. It moves at a slow pace. Just fling a handful of mud near it, not even on it. Promptly it will curl up into a ball. You can simply walk off with the ball.