Free Song of the Cuckoo Bird: A Novel by Amulya Malladi Page A

fight.”
    “So . . . it was sort of a civil war,” Mark said. “America had one as well.”
    “ The Mahabharata was about a war between good and evil. What were you fighting over?” Charvi asked.
    Mark grinned. “Money.”
    “I thought the great American Civil War was to free black slaves in the South,” Charvi said with a twinkle in her eye, challenging him with what she knew of his world. She lived in India but she was well read and wanted to show off.
    Mark nodded. “That was part of it as well . . . or rather it became part of the issue. The South wanted to protect its cotton industry and wanted a decentralized government and free trade. The North was more industrial and didn’t believe in a decentralized government because that would mean loss of tax income from the wealthy South.”
    “And I thought it was about freeing the slaves,” Charvi said, feeling foolish for wanting to impress Mark.
    “It was. As the issues remained unsolved, slowly but steadily one of the biggest issues to stand out was slavery,” Mark explained. “In the North, slavery was abolished in 1804, almost fifty years before it was eliminated in the South.”
    “So in this case we can assume that the North was trying to free the black people and make your country more just,” Charvi said, and when Mark nodded she smiled. “It was the same in The Mahabharata. The Kauravas were hell-bent on destroying goodness, on submerging the Pandavas. It is a matter of principle—you fight for what you believe in and you have to fight for the good of the people, of the society, of the world.”
    Charvi spoke passionately, excited and exhilarated by their conversations. Mark was an intelligent man and he was a mine of information. She loved to translate his Western experiences into her knowledge of India and Hinduism.
    Mark was cognizant of the fact that these morning puja sessions were the most entertaining and invigorating conversations he had had in a long time. Charvi was passionate about the Bhagavad-Gita and the Upanishads. She was well read and he couldn’t make her stumble on her words, no matter how hard he tried. This was not a mere twentyfive-year-old girl, this was a learned woman. Maybe there was a goddess inside her that gave her the confidence and the knowledge that made her so sure of her convictions.
    “Are you married?” Charvi asked him when they were walking on the beach one evening.
    Renuka trailed along suspiciously. They spoke in English and she couldn’t make out what was being said. It annoyed her. What if they were saying improper things? Oh, she wished she had brought Subhadra along to translate. But Subhadra was mortified that Renuka could think that Charvi, who was chaste and unmarked, would be having an unsavory liaison with a devotee.
    “No,” Mark said. “And you, are you never supposed to marry?”
    Charvi turned to look at the rolling waves of the Bay of Bengal. “I don’t think there is a written law but what could I give a man? I’m submerged in my prayers and meditation. I’m here to serve the people. I don’t think I have anything to offer one man.”
    “You are a young, beautiful, intelligent woman. You have a lot to offer,” Mark said.
    Charvi blushed. “I am just a normal woman,” she said shyly.
    “You are one of the most fascinating women I have ever met,” Mark said honestly.
    “And you are the most fascinating man I have ever met,” Charvi said honestly and just a little boldly.
    His words fueled her attraction and her words fueled his.
    Renuka kept watch but could not understand what they were talking about in English. But she could see what was going on, though. She wasn’t blind or stupid; she could see that the girl was laughing and tittering, while the man was . . . why did he keep shoving his hands inside the pockets of his jeans? What did he have to hide? And couldn’t he wear loose pants like all those boys wore these days? She could see the shape of his buttocks clearly and