And so serious was the voice of the Important Person that Patnaik thought the reporters had already arrived and found his house. He crept to his front window, parted the curtains a little and looked out. There weren’t any reporters to be seen, but one never knew.

‘So here is what you will do, Patnaik. You will stay in Balangir town for now. You will not go to the Gond villages. You will not beat up the protesters, or arrest them. You will not even cross the river. Do you know what I have with me here, Patnaik?’

‘No, sir.’

‘Of course you don’t, Patnaik. I have a map of your area here, Patnaik, and I can see everything. You will not cross the Tel, you will not go to the Gond villages, you will not go near that bridge. For now. Is that clear, Patnaik?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘And you will not chase that reporter. You will be nice to any other reporters who turn up there. Do not make this worse than it already is.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘What is going to happen is that the circus will come to Balangir. You know what I mean?’

Patnaik immediately thought of a circus, with clowns and lions and elephants and acrobats.

‘No, Patnaik, not that kind of circus,’ said the Important Person, sighing again.

Patnaik decided that he must stop thinking entirely and just follow what the voice said. The Person was so Important, he could even read Patnaik’s thoughts!

‘What I mean is, Patnaik, now politicians, the press and other people will be interested in what happens in your district. They will visit. The politicians will make speeches. People will support the Gonds, or they will say they support the Gonds. For now, the Gonds are the good people, and you are the villain. In the middle of all this, if you do something idiotic, it will mean bad news for the government. Do you understand?’

Patnaik understood, immediately.

‘So don’t do anything for now. We may have to bring someone in, a specialist, to help you out there. I will now have to discuss this matter with the Higher-ups. You know what that means, Patnaik, don’t you?’

Sorkari Patnaik knew. The Higher-ups of the Important Person were very high up, indeed, in Odisha. Maybe even in Delhi.

The Person hung up. Patnaik stared at the phone, stared at the Odia newspaper, and then called the constable who was his driver for the day, and was standing outside. Then Patnaik yelled at him for a minute about something or the other.

It did not solve his problems, but it made him feel better. Then he went to his office.