Anchita continued to stare at Ghosh, and he stared back. Neither of them blinked. Anchita had never lost a staring contest, not even against cats. And she was not going to let Patnaik or any bearded friend of his frighten Korok back across the river.

‘Please, we should go,’ said a small voice next to her.

‘No,’ said Anchita, through gritted teeth, as the staring match continued. ‘Not till these two leave.’

‘Please. Let’s go back.’

And after a long, long time, Anchita looked away. The two of them started walking back down the bridge, Korok dragging his goat by a short length of rope.

‘I would have won, you know. Nobody can stare longer than me.’

‘Yes.’

‘You shouldn’t be frightened of Patnaik. I would have chased him away,’

‘I am not frightened of him. I just didn’t want to be near him.’

‘That’s okay. Did you see what I did? I stuck the piece of chewing gum to his door.’ Anchita started laughing.

‘How will that help?’ asked Korok.

‘It won’t, but it makes me feel good. Sorkari Patnaik came to the bridge, now he is going back with a piece of chewing gum on his sorkari car.’

And when she explained it that way, Korok thought, it was a bit funny. But he could never imagine arguing with a government official like that. They had long memories, and his father was not the epho.

9

SEPTEMBER

Sorkari Patnaik crossed the bridge ten days later. He brought fifty policemen with him in several vehicles and a small truck, and drove into Deogan early one morning, before the sun had really started blazing.

People in Deogan had almost become used to not seeing Patnaik in the last two months, although his men had kept turning up, particularly when the big politicians visited the villages. But the Gonds had always known he would return. This was his district. Sooner or later, the hand of the sorkar would fall on them.

Patnaik led his men straight into the village, ignoring the dozens of Gonds sitting at the protest site. He had a list of the leaders of the agitation, and knew most of them would be at their homes at that time of the day. He first knocked at the mahji’s house, entered with some men, and quickly arrested the mahji.

Ghosh had told him several times not to beat up the Gonds. This was supposed to be a quiet and swift job. Patnaik had thought his men were experts at beating Gonds quietly and swiftly, but followed the orders this time.

The police team worked down the list of names, going from house to house, arresting almost all the headmen in all the villages around Deogan. Jadob, too, had to be arrested. As was every other Gond who was educated to any extent, and who had been seen on TV talking to journalists.