In her heart, she prayed to her favourite goddess, Kali. Once, Kumaresan took her to the temple that was a mile from here. With widened eyes, her tongue sticking out, and a glowing face, Kali had appeared fearsome. Saroja took an immediate liking to the goddess. She had felt that this female deity had the power to destroy everything.

She heard some voices close to the bush again.

‘We can start the prayers at the temple only after everything gets done here. That’s why we asked people to wait for a while. But it looks like this won’t happen today. She must have suspected something and run away.’

‘Someone should have watched her movements from the evening onwards. We have lost her now.’

‘She must be here somewhere. She might even be hiding inside this bush.’

When she heard that, her heart stopped. Goddess Kali was not going to help her. She was, after all, their goddess. She realized that it was towards her that Kali’s wrath was directed. That must have been why the goddess betrayed her hideout as soon as Saroja prayed to her. But in her panic, she had not been able to think of any other god quickly enough. In Tholur, she went to the temple only once in a while. Then, she hadn’t known what exactly to pray for; she had everything she wanted. She would just say in her heart, ‘May everyone be well.’

After she started falling in love with Kumaresan, her prayers had become more specific. ‘I want him.’ Once, after they visited the Kōttaicchaami temple in Tholur together, he asked her, ‘What did you pray for?’ She said, ‘I asked for you.’ He laughed, ‘Really?’ Teasing her, he had said, ‘If we ask for such things from god, we need to give something in return. What are you going to give?’ She felt bad for not promising a return gift. Seeing her muttering to herself, he said, ‘What are you doing?’ At the time, she did not give him a proper response, just smiled at him. Later, he had asked her about it again. Finally she had admitted, ‘I prayed, “Please give him to me. I am ready even to give away my life.”’ He said, ‘Then what will happen to me? That’s not how you pray! You can promise to offer a goat or some pongal.’

Kōttaicchaami was a powerful god. He would definitely expect fulfilment of promises made to him. Had he sent these people? Was he saying, ‘I answered your prayers. Now give me your life.’ Terrified, confused, and filled with these thoughts, she could not hear the voices any more. Would they look for her in the bush after they had searched everywhere else? Her mother-in-law knew that she used this bush as her toilet. She might remember that and send the men to hunt for her in here.