Free The House of Blue Mangoes by David Davidar Page A

dismissed it from his mind. He had known Solomon for a long time, and while he disliked him, he didn’t think he was capable of such machinations. That slimy Salem lawyer, yes, but Solomon, no. This exoneration of his great enemy did not in any way lessen his antipathy towards him.

13
    Muthu Vedhar and Solomon Dorai had been pitted against each other from the time they were young. Even though at eighteen Muthu was eight inches taller than Solomon at seventeen, he had never managed to beat him at silambu-attam, the art of stick-fighting, which was the skill by which all young men in the village were judged. Solomon made up for his lack of inches with speed and ferocity, and time and time again Muthu had to accept defeat at the hands of his younger rival.
    They had married within a year of each other and to Muthu’s chagrin, his wife had produced daughters to Solomon’s sons. His third child was a son, but once again his rival had the advantage. Muthu had been delighted when Solomon’s first son displayed none of his father’s toughness but was soon disappointed when his second son, Aaron, had proved to be an even better athlete than his father.
    This rivalry extended to land and village. Unlike Solomon Dorai’s family, Muthu Vedhar’s claim to the soil of the Chevathar was relatively new. His family had come from the upcountry town of Korkai. His great-grandfather, a second son, had left the ancestral property and wandered south in search of a place to raise his own family. He had eventually landed in the service of a big zamindar in neighbouring Tinnevelly district. Amassing enough wealth, he migrated to Kilanad, bought land and built a house in the small Vedhar settlement on the outskirts of Meenakshikoil.
    The family had prospered and within the space of two generations owned forty-two acres of rice fields on both sides of the river, in addition to coconut and banana groves. By then the town of Meenakshikoil had grown and started encroaching upon Vedhar land. To the astonishment of his family, Muthu’s father, Parameshwara Vedhar, announced that he was going to construct a new house for himself on a vacant patch of land across the river. This was regarded as a sure sign of crankiness, if not outright madness. How could he leave the safety of the Vedhar quarter and contend alone with devils, robbers and low castes who would attack a single dwelling without hesitation? But Parameshwara was undeterred. He managed to bribe a couple of his kinsmen to accompany him, with promises of land and a remission in tribute. And, to everyone’s consternation, he invited the lower castes to build houses free of charge within sight of his own house. Within a generation, the lower castes were relocated and the bulk of the Vedhars had moved across the river, coming into direct conflict with the ruling Andavars. However, although Gnanaprakasam Andavar, Solomon’s father, and Parameshwara Vedhar were not close friends, they were bound by ties of mutual respect. It was not until Muthu’s time that the two families grew hostile. The antipathy between them was heightened when Solomon began farming seven acres of land by the river that Muthu claimed was his. Lately, the whiplash of caste wars between Andavars and Vedhars in the district had added to the tension between the two. But the peace had held. Until now.
    Over the past days Muthu had brooded obsessively about ways in which he could get the better of Solomon. This morning, after his bath, he had even briefly considered seeking out Solomon and challenging him to battle, just the two of them, with the loser leaving the village for ever. The thought passed quickly; this was no longer the India of duels and heroic deeds by warriors and princes, the authorities frowned on that sort of thing. But Muthu knew that wasn’t the only reason for backing away from a fight. Deep down, he wasn’t sure he would be able to win. As he made his way to his house, his grim countenance ensuring that