The visitors all arrive at the same conclusion. Like Annaiah says, it must be Kamadeva, the god of fertility, who has given this village his special blessing. He has kept the gumma of drought away and favoured this village with prosperity and riches. He has been voluntarily found, a dedicated priest has built his temple by hand and all of it is beside a banyan tree that sprouted on its own. The curse of the wall, the gumma and the kolli devvas of yore have been countered by these. The visitors leave with sighs of unmistakable envy.

Naturally, no one wants to antagonize either Kamadeva or Annaiah. Annaiah mulishly goes about his work every day, not talking to anyone. Finally, Byregowda hits upon the idea of making a wooden-doll Ramani. When the gods themselves are represented with dolls, why not Ramani, he asks. Faced with this poser from his favourite person, Annaiah gives in with bad grace.

The wooden Ramani is made and, with the years, worshipping her along with Kamadeva becomes another custom. Around this time, a law is passed by Chief Minister Devaraj Urs where tillers have to be given the land they have been working on. Ajji and Gowra watch with pride and joy as Byregowda smiles and signs away nearly 50 per cent of his land holdings. A lot of the villagers who used to till his lands have now become landlords in their own right, but the respect that they give the headman’s house has increased multifold. Some of the neighbouring villages try to oppose and undercut the law. But Byregowda is content and happy.

He and Gowra pass over the wall within a day of each other and are buried in the same grave. And so it happens that Puttaswamegowda becomes the headman of the village at a very young age. Ajji and his aunt Somakka, daughter of Kalegowda, decide that Puttaswamegowda should marry Somakka’s daughter Chennamma, whom everyone calls Chenni. The marriage is duly performed and Thimmakka welcomes her new sister-in-law into the house, putting the pav of rice on the threshold for her to nudge with her right foot, pushing Bangari aside to do the aarati for the new bride and groom herself.

12

THIMMAKKA’S STORY

henni wins the hearts of one and all. She always has a sympathetic ear for everyone’s problems and manages her husband’s household gracefully, treating both Ajji and the shy Bangari with love and respect, the adolescent Nagegowda with proper distance and the orphaned Thimmakka with unmatched patience and affection.

Thimmakka, wilful and beautiful, is the queen of the house. Puttaswamegowda, much to the disapproval of the villagers, has insisted that all the girls in the village should also learn to read, write and understand the world. He says that girls have an equal right to knowledge and sends as many of the girls in the village as possible to the school to study. Naturally, he begins with Thimmakka and Bangari.