‘Puh-lease! I’d like to,’ he said. ‘But you’ll have to find me a chair, a charging port and—this is the truly important one—some mosquito repellent. Cause I’m going to be honest with you, Savitri; I was looking forward to going to New York this summer, not this crappy village.’

Idhika, who sat in the first row, still had her eyes closed and her face revealed no sign of exhaustion. She was at peace, for she alone knew that the acharya wouldn’t return until Suryast. Her curly hair was tied into a large bun and its weight seemed to aid her posture. Somewhere by her side, Aarti shut her eyes again and pretended to compete with her.

Eager to learn fast, Idhika longed to impress her gurus. She craved to taste the world outside the valley, to see her father and find out if he missed her mother. Atmayog could take her places, and she knew that the more she practised, the closer she’d get.

An hour passed, but Idhika refused to break her concentration and kept her eyes shut. Macchli returned to Aman and Fayza after a stroll. She looked like a deadly mountain wolf but had the friendliness of a Labrador.

‘I don’t understand why she keeps following me. Back home, I stayed away from street dogs and they stayed away from me,’ Fayza said, making a face. With no Acharya Ashwini in sight, they both were lying on their backs on the grass, staring at the sky through the canopy of the divine tree. They could see a white cumulus breaking up like cotton balls to give way to milky streaks. The sun had finally pulled up above and a cool breeze raked the fields. Fayza continued telling Aman about her past life and her grandfather’s friend who had prepared her for Vanyasa.

After a few minutes, she fell silent, sitting up to look nervously at Idhika. Aman stayed where he was. In the east, the mountain Kalanag cut the view and in the south stood Rohini. As he scanned the landscape, he only saw tall mountains on all sides. The valley was in the shape of a wide bowl. What if it rained for weeks and the Tal overflowed? Would it fill?

All of a sudden, a giant object caught everyone’s attention. Aarti stopped pretending to meditate and looked up. Aman locked his eyes on the creature as it soared out from above Sarp-poonch, the peak adjacent to Aranyala, and flew towards them. It seemed to be drifting over the divine tree towards the hills on the other side. Only when it dove under the tree and hovered in circles over Maidaan, right above their heads, did Aman realize that the creature was a majestically large bird. ‘Fayza, look,’ he said.

‘No, you look.’ Fayza’s stomach lurched as she pointed towards Idhika. The Child of the Valley was radiating a powerful energy which was almost palpable. Her eyes were still shut, and the serpent tattoo between the elbow and wrist on her arm glowed brightly, even in the daylight. The bird was briefly forgotten by all the Souls.