As they entered the lane, the headmaster said, ‘Stop here, Govinda and I will walk.’ A blind man stood nearby. Sunil Seth silently rummaged in his wallet and gave the man money. Together father and son walked down Serpent Lane. As they walked, people thanked his father for his help. Others asked him for favours.

When they returned home, Govinda’s mother poured her husband a glass of Black Dog and soda. Govinda was curious about alcohol but he disliked the harsh smell of the whisky.

‘We must get away from here one day,’ Sunil Seth said.

Govinda tried to understand his father. ‘Ambitions cannot be realised here,’ his father said.

A Dangerous Man

A Dangerous Man

The house was quieter than usual. When Govinda woke he found toast, brewed tea and a boiled egg on the kitchen table. His clothes for the day were ironed and folded, left on the rocking chair in the hallway where Mumbles did the ironing. Usually, Mumbles ironed while Govinda ate his breakfast, but today no one was there. For the first time he could remember, the kitchen was dormant, silent.

He sat in defiance on the floor in his father’s study. He did not care if he got in trouble for being there. What was so special about his father’s study? The room was furnished with plush chairs and a settee. There were elephants carved in the chairs.

The fishbowl caught Govinda’s attention. He got up and inspected the goldfish with their translucent shimmering gills. He reached out and touched the water and the tip of a fish’s tail. Startled, the fish almost jumped out. Govinda lifted the aquarium, and as water and fish spilled out he turned the bowl over and placed it on his head. He breathed deeply and pretended he was an astronaut. He walked all over his father’s study, defying gravity. He walked slowly, carefully, soaking wet and dripping with the glass bowl over his head. He sat on the floor. Placing the fish bowl beside him, he put his ear to the floor and listened.

His father opened the door. ‘What are you doing?’ he asked.

‘I’m playing Holi like you showed me.’

‘You should be outside, celebrating Dol Purnima with the other children. And why have you killed the fish?’

‘I wondered what it would be like to be an astronaut.’

‘You are an idiot!’ shouted his father.

His father screamed at him about the mess he had created, but Govinda was not paying attention. He jumped up and slipped on the wet floor, narrowly missing the fish bowl.