‘A lot of Gond villagers are in Balangir Jail. They have been accused of many things, but most of them have not been convicted by the court. My friend’s father, too, is in jail. My friend lives alone and cooks for himself. When he has food, that is. You should try cooking for yourself,’ said Anchita, waving the sketch around. Her smile had frozen on her face.

‘And here are some of the villagers, sitting under banners. As you can see, they are protesting. What are they protesting about? The government wants to move them out and give their villages, and their sacred hill, who is a goddess, to a company. The company wants to dig up the whole place because there is bauxite underneath.’

‘And here,’ said Anchita, ‘are some objects I found in my friend’s house. This, as you can see, is toothpaste. And this is a tin of soyabean. Look closely. They are fake brands. All the villagers there are sold these fake brands all the time, and they don’t know because they have never had anything else. There are businessmen in Balangir and other towns here who have been making these products and fooling these people because nobody cares about them. And when all the bauxite is dug out and taken away, do you think the villagers will ever get to sit in the cars, aircraft and spacecraft that will be made from all that aluminium?’

Anchita, after glaring around the class, had moved on, and was now looking at Patnaik junior, who was staring back at her, his eyes narrowed.

‘And you. You know about everything your father does. You know he is a thief. You know he makes money by letting thieves take valuable timber. Then he goes and arrests innocent people like my friend’s father. Now he is working with the Company to throw out my friends from their villages, and dig up the hill.’

There was a brief silence. Then Patnaik junior and his bodyguards rose up and began shouting at Anchita. So Anchita, who was prepared for this, just shouted louder than them.

‘Your father is a thief! Doesn’t matter how much you deny it, or what your chamchas say. And you know of all this! And the rest of you knew what has been going on in the Gond villages, but did nothing. Have you even been to the villages? You live next to them and don’t care what happens to them, do you? You are all responsible …’

There was sudden silence. The teacher stood at the door, looking shocked and puzzled.