Free One Part Woman by Perumal Murugan

families lived in their fields and used their houses to store their harvest. Beyond the Gounder quarter was the one for the Chakkilis. This again had ten or fifteen houses. And a field’s length separated one quarter from the other. Kali’s field and barnyard were to the east of the village. If he took long strides, he could reach home before he finished chewing a betel nut.
    In the afternoons, as soon as he finished his work, he took a nap—in fact, a deep sleep. And he would end up not sleeping well at night. His was a chicken’s sleep. If something grated against the fence, the dog would bark and he wouldwake up. If the chicken started clucking, that was it, he could not sleep any more. So was the case with the calf’s moo. And if thoughts of Ponna came to him, he would leave immediately, closing the makeshift gate behind him. Since it was night-time, he would walk in his underwear. He knew which path was safe from stray dogs. Ponna had become used to this too. In the season of toddy, Kali would sleep until the intoxication wore off. Even after that, he would lie awake, shifting about. He had slept very little these past two years.
    Kali’s mind turned towards an incident some years ago. It was the same Vaigasi month, the time of the chariot festival. His mother-in-law had come to invite them home for the festival. Her home was just the next village, Keezheripatti. So she never really stayed the night when she visited them. But that once, surprisingly, she did. And not just that; she dragged her cot to the courtyard next to her daughter’s mother-in-law. The two old women whispered to each other all night, but neither he nor Ponna could make out what they were discussing so intently. Only a wall separated them from Ponna, but try as she did, she could not hear anything. Nor could she guess what it could be about. In the ten years that Ponna and Kali had been married, the mothers hadn’t spoken so intimately even once. They had their own grievances against each other. Usually they kept their interactions to a minimum. So then what had changed?
    ‘They keep talking back and forth. Maybe they’re planning to build a fortress and rule. Or maybe they’re scheming against me,’ ranted Ponna.
    Her suspicion was that they were talking about a second marriage for Kali. Had he too turned against her? She knew that her parents did not mind if Kali were to marry again. But their condition was that he should still keep their daughter with him.
    The next morning, she could not keep quiet any longer. She said, ‘What, Mother? Looks like you are suddenly getting all intimate with my mother-in-law.’ But her mother did not reveal anything.
    ‘We are both old women. What else could we talk about besides the past? Do you think we were scheming to build a castle?’
    When her own mother was so reticent about it, there was no way Ponna could have extracted anything from her mother-in-law. She went to Kali bearing her surprise and suspicion.
    ‘I think they have found you a girl. These two hags are trying to ruin my life.’
    He said, ‘I will marry the girl only if you like her. Don’t worry.’
    ‘Oho! You are now entertaining the thought, is it?’ she pouted and turned her face away.
    Whenever he spoke like that, she was miffed. Then he consoled her. This was a ritual for them. After thinking long and hard about a second marriage, he had abandoned the idea. In truth, the thought had occurred to him once or twice, but his mind simply could not see any other woman in Ponna’s place.



ELEVEN
    Before he got married, you could find Kali amidst any group of young men just hanging about town. He was also their leader in some ways. But once he got married, Ponna had tied him down somewhat. When the boys teased him, saying, ‘Once he saw the girl, he got lost in her,’ he quietly walked past them, smiling. But it was true, wasn’t it? Ponna’s body just dragged him into itself and presented him with whatever he needed. It