Then she cleared her throat and asked them, ‘Tell me, these White men have been in our country for quite some time now. Have they ever troubled our women like the Muslim kings?’

The group was happy with this keen observation. They agreed with the inherent logic in her query. Had they not fled from Telugu land because of this!

They had had no news till now of the White man ever abducting any of their girls or forcefully raping them either. For this alone they thought highly of the Company.

‘Mother Earth is a woman too. You can always trust her in the hands of a man who can respect other women. There is no doubt that he will care well for her,’ Mangaiathaar Ammal declared.

Those around acceded to this and sent word to the Company.

33

THE COMPANY TROOPS FREQUENTED MANGAMMA Road now. There were several natives as well, carrying their head loads.

Day by day, the number of natives increased. Agents even arrived at Gopalla Village to recruit men to carry head loads. Initially, the people there accepted the labour willingly.

But as days went by this became a hassle. Those who did work complained to Govindappa Nayakkar that they weren’t treated well. Nayakkar was troubled to hear this.

As the village was close to the road, this started becoming a bother. The men recruited to carry head loads from the north were now dropping them off at the village border and pushing off. The men of Gopalla had to carry the loads to a specific place. From there another group of natives took over.

The men of Gopalla came up with several ruses to escape this work. They smeared wet palm sugar on their hands and bodies and bandaged them with old clothes. The sweet odour drew a mass of flies to them. Of course the recruiting White agents refused these bandaged men.

They couldn’t do this en masse or they would arouse suspicion. Then Akkayya came up with another idea; he hung sprigs of neem leaves all around the village border. He had almost every house leave a pot of water with floating neem leaves at their front door.

The White men took to their heels thinking there was an endemic of smallpox in the village. They were somehow aware that it was a local method to indicate to the nearby villages that the people were down with smallpox.

The village people also composed many songs mocking the White man.

Hai chakkai
Half a measure of ghee
Light a lamp in
The White man’s cap
There he comes, there he comes
The White man
Let him come, the motherfucker
Capped man!

Though many summers had gone by since Gopalla village came under the White man’s rule, there had been no improvement.

The only change during this time was a comet that was seen. Apparently when Engatrayalu, the astrologer, saw it, he said, ‘This nation is going to the dogs!’

34

SEENI NAYAKKAR SAT COMFORTABLY ON the wooden seat. In front of him was the tall curry tree and, even as he watched, sparrows flew in and out of the thick branches.