The flames still rose high and the sparks flew about. The body of the once powerful elephant looked charred and crumbly but it took a long time to burn. Many people came to lay flowers where the elephant was shot, but were told to go away, so the mounds of flowers stacked up on the pavement outside the school gate. As the moon came up, under its nocturnal light Govinda saw a poorly dressed elderly lady leave marigolds and wipe away a tear. The cleaners had begun sweeping the school compound with brushes.

Govinda’s mother appeared again. Her gold hoop earrings jiggled back and forth like ripe fruit ready to be plucked against her shoulder-length, freshly hennaed hair. Indians vow to love all things as their mother. It is believed by many Hindus and Buddhists that all things have been their mother in one or another incarnation. Even the land itself is seen as their mother. Bharat Mata or Mother India, is the embodiment of India as a mother goddess. She is characterised as a Hindu goddess dressed in a saffron saree holding the Indian national flag, escorted by a lion.

Govinda looked up at his mother. Her hair was plastered back, full of thick, brown paste, and a strand had fallen and covered one eye. If his father was grey and serious his mother was fun, spiritual and imaginative. His father was predictable but his mother was not. She was a Christian. Often she would tell Govinda stories of how Christianity arrived in India, about the same time as it touched Europe, more than 2000 years earlier. Christianity, he had learnt from her, originated in Israel. To begin with, Christians were Jews and the new religion was seen as a Jewish cult. One of the Apostles, St Judas Thomas, sailed to India and converted Indians to Christianity. St Thomas a disciple of Jesus, was a carpenter. He found his way to Kerala after a merchant brought him to India to construct a temple. He built seven churches instead. Later on, she told him, other Christians arrived in India, the Dutch, French and Portuguese. The British arrived much later and they not only spread Christianity, they also built schools like this one, she explained.

Had Gitanjali, his mother, been given the opportunity to express herself she might have been an architect or an editor, she was good with numbers and would have enjoyed being a mathematician, but she never had the chance. She was satisfied with being a teacher at the local Christian school. Yet she seemed to supress the inquiring aspect of herself and like a frustrated artist she looked for creativity and boldness in others. She said to Govinda: ‘Come on, you need to take a bath.’ Govinda turned to look, in surprise.