Breaking the Spell by Kalai Selvi Arivalagan (books to read this summer .txt) 📖

Breaking the spell

The fragile, old woman named Meenakshi reached Kayal’s house around midnight.  Kayal could not resist the shiver that the dark pitch night sent down her spine. She had to strain her eyes in the faint moon light.

 

Kayal along with her parents followed the old woman without a word.  Kayal carried a bag with the pooja articles. 

 

Meenakshi patti stopped at a spot.  The place looked darker as there was no light there.  Faint streaks of light from a lamppost a few meters away lit the place scantily.

 

“Kayal, please take the pooja items.” Kayal handed over the pooja items to the old woman.

 

Kayal helped Meenakshi patti to spread the fresh banana leaf on the ground and arrange the pooja items. The banana leaf displayed an array of items.  Perfumed incense sticks, katholai karugamani (rings made of palm leaf and black beads strewn together like a strand) puffed rice, two lemons, strands of jasmine flowers, kungiliyam, a packet of fresh vibuthi (holy ash), turmeric kungumam, fresh rice flour (to make a small human like figurine), sandal paste, six banana fruits, coconut, pieces of camphor, betel leaves and areca nuts.

 

No one talked. First, Meenakshi mixed water and the rice flour to make a small human figurine.  She kept the human figurine in the centre of the banana tree. After removing the fibre at the top of the coconut, she broke the coconut into two.  She placed one-half at the right end and the other at the left end of the banana leaf.  

 

Then, she lit the perfumed incense sticks and used as a banana fruit as a stand to make them stand straight.  The perfume from the incense sticks moved up in the midnight breeze and filled the place with an awe-inspiring spell.

 

Kayal took a heap of holy ash on a plate and placed a few pieces of camphor tablets on it.  Meenakshi patti lit the camphor and did the arthi. She took a lemon and cut it into two halves with the knife.  She applied turmeric kungumam on them.    

 

With her hands folded, she then stood facing the east.  She kept the lemon pieces inside her folded hands and prayed for a few minutes.  Then, she cut each half of the lemon pieces into two more pieces.  She threw each piece facing the four directions.

 

As the last ritual, Meenakshi dug the ground with her bare hands and took a handful of dry earth. After completing this, she folded the banana leaf with all the pooja items. Without talking to any one, she started to walk toward the factory gate.  Meenakshi patti’s grandson who waited outside the gate took hold of her right hand.

 

“I will take care.  She may want to go to the local graveyard now.”  Without speaking anything, further both of them left the place.

 

Next morning, Meenakshi patti came to Kayal’s home.

 

“Come inside.” Kayal’s mother offered her coffee.

 

“What happened?” Kayal’s mother inquired Meenakshi patti with an anxious look on her face.

 

“Everything went on well.  I completed the ritual.  It will be fine now onwards.” Meenakshi patti assured.

 

Six months went on without any major happenings.  Though the routine life sometimes bored Kayal, she felt happy that nothing happened to spoil the peace at home.

Smelling blood

Once again a scary night to account.  Kayal opened the window and peeped outside. The midnight breeze brought goose bumps on her hand.

 

“Don’t look outside the window at midnight.”  Her mother had always advised her.  But she could not resist her anxiety to check.

 

“What are you doing there?” Kayal’s father questioned her. 

 

“I could hear some sound over there.” Kayal replied.

 

Kayal’s father opened the main door and walked toward the room near the gate.  Kayal followed him quietly.

 

When her dad opened the door and switched on the light, they could feel someone’s presence. The gunnysack that covered the bamboo lid was thrown to a corner.  They could smell fresh blood in the air.  Kayal felt dizzy and understood something went wrong.  The bushel kept at the corner of the room was in tact with the hen sitting in the middle. Kayal’s dad slowly lifted the hen. The hen made strange noises that resembled save our soul message.  When her dad counted the number of chickens, they found some of the chicks were missing. In that brood, they had more than twelve chicks.

 

Nearly half of them were missing. Kayal’s dad checked the windows. No one could come inside the narrow window bars. Even if a snake has found its way down into the room, only a few chicks might go missing. But things looked worse than they expected.  Not even a single drop of blood on the floor, every drop of blood that was spilt on the floor was cleaned away without any trace.

 

Who would have done that? There is no chance for a cat to come inside the room through those narrow bars.  Once a wild cat tried to come into the room through the window, but it could not succeed. Kayal’s father changed the place that night. Instead of leaving the hen along with the chicks in the bushel at the usual place, he kept the bushel in the other room.

 

The room had no windows and once the door was locked, no one could enter into the room. It would be safer to leave the hen and chicks there.  The next day brought them the shock. The remaining chicks were gone. They could not make it out and tell who might have come inside the room that had no windows and only a door.

 

Who would have squeezed through the narrow gap under the door? No one could answer.   One day in the middle of the night, Kayal heard stealthy steps outside. She could not make out from the sound and tell who it was. She decided to sit and watch near the window. Till two am in the morning, nothing happened.

 

Then in the darkness, she could sense some movement. Some animal was trying to jump at the window. The animal somehow succeeded in going inside the room through the window. After some time, she could hear it jump outside. She could see the tiny bead like eyes shining in the dark and those eyes stared at her boldly. Kayal’s screams woke up the entire family.  Kayal’s father chased the animal. It jumped across the fence and ran fast into the open space. Kayal got a glimpse of the thick bushy tail and she could smell fresh blood in the air. 

 

Next day, Kayal’s father took away the bushel from the room and kept it safely at the corner of the veranda. He left their dog at the door to watch. Nothing happened at that night. 

 

Two days afterwards, when he left the bushel in the usual place, he also left a trap below the window.  To their horror, a well-grown adult mongoose snarled at them angrily with the wet blood on its mouth.

Crippled for life

Every one in the family kept waiting at the door.  The goat at the garden struggled to deliver her kid.  The man whom Kayal’s dad called for help did not know what to do.

 

“Sir, it’s better if we call the vet.”

 

“He is not in town.” Kayal’s father replied.

 

“Let us wait and see what can be done.”  The mother goat wriggled in pain for another fifteen minutes before it delivered the kid.

 

Initially no one happened to make a note of it.  Once the kid struggled to stand on its own legs, everyone could see it.  One of the hind legs was crippled.

 

“It’s the evil eyes.  Hope you will not have it at home.”  Kayal’s brother refused to let the goat and her kid go away. 

 

With a heavy heart, they gave away the goat and kid to the local butcher.  From that day, they stopped to rear a goat or a cow at home. 

Imprint

Publication Date: 03-30-2014

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
Eyes that turned evil