The House of Blue Mangoes by David Davidar

children, after the lawyer had been overheard referring to Muthu as a stupid buffalo. And he had annoyed Solomon on more than one occasion with his meddling ways. The ordinary villagers were impressed with Vakeel Perumal’s wealth, his two-storey house, and the outdoor lavatory he had had built to his specifications, but Solomon seemed impervious. In Vakeel Perumal’s scheme of things, it was important to get the headman on his side if he wanted to get his own back on Muthu, which he was determined to do. And, if the headman managed to subdue or drive out Muthu, Vakeel Perumal assumed he would automatically become the secondmost important person in the village. His would be the voice Solomon would be forced to listen to, until he, Vakeel Perumal, was ready to move against the headman himself. Although nominally an Andavar, Vakeel Perumal felt no especial loyalty towards members of his own caste. The only thing that mattered to him was his own welfare, so he had no qualms about plotting against a kinsman.
    It was immensely frustrating for Vakeel Perumal, then, that nothing was going as planned. Even his latest initiative had ended in disaster. Vakeel Perumal had never meant to have Valli molested. It was a Vedhar woman the thugs had been hired to terrorize in retribution for the attack on the Andavars at the temple. Once the deed was done, the lawyer was sure the tension between the two groups would run so high that it would be easy for a man of his genius to turn it to his advantage. But it hadn’t worked. He might still have salvaged the situation but things had continued to go wrong. Nothing had come of his idea of painting the incendiary message on Anaikal. Who would have expected those two idiots Solomon and Muthu to exercise such restraint? For a few days it looked as though a confrontation might actually take place, in which case there would have been opportunities that he could certainly have used. Now it appeared that there would be no fighting after all, despite the lawyer seeding the village with the rumour that Solomon had hired the thugs in order to discredit Muthu. Vakeel Perumal had half expected Muthu to charge at the headman in a fury and get poleaxed in the process. It hadn’t happened, and he had been very disappointed. But he wasn’t the sort of person to dwell on his defeats for too long, and he had already started planning other schemes.
    Vakeel Perumal had considered befriending Father Ashworth soon after he had established himself in Chevathar. But when he noticed his deep interest in India, he had decided the priest was unworthy of his attention. He had none of the contempt for natives that other Englishmen had in abundance, and this in the lawyer’s view was an important disqualification. But now the Englishman was the only person left whom Vakeel Perumal might utilize, so he decided to be nice to him.
    He was thinking of Father Ashworth as he read an article in the newspaper about Easter being celebrated the following day. By the time he was halfway through the piece, an idea came to him. He yelled for his wife. When she appeared in the room, he said excitedly, ‘We’re going to become Christians.’
    Kamala, a rather stolid woman, was used to her husband’s sudden enthusiasms and said incuriously, ‘Why? I thought we were quite happy being Hindus.’
    ‘Yes, yes, but Easter is tomorrow.’
    ‘What about it?’
    ‘Oh, you stupid woman, that’s when Jesus Christ, the Christian God, is born again.’
    ‘You mean like one of Narayana’s avatars?’
    ‘No, no, you madwoman. Anyway, from today you are Mary and I am Jesus Christ.’ These were the only Christian names Vakeel Perumal could find in the rather sketchy account. Just then his younger daughter, Vasanthi, wandered into the room.
    ‘And what will she be?’ his wife asked, getting into the spirit of things.
    Vakeel Perumal was nonplussed for a moment, then he said airily, ‘No harm in her being Mary as well!’
    ‘And Nirmala,