three

Rama recovered faster than anyone had expected. ‘Tharuppukal’ Ramaswami Aiyar became a legend in the Kumbakonam district. Tharuppukal, from the unusual blue diamond earrings he had worn since childhood.

He resumed his duties within a week of leaving the hospital. He planted informers everywhere to see if he could discover Arunachalam’s whereabouts, but that failed to produce any immediate results.

His marriage was transformed; it was wonderful. He even found himself leaving work early to be with his family. As his relationship with his wife slowly improved, he realized that he hardly knew her—he had let the memory of Parvati overshadow his life for much too long.

However, peace in Kumbakonam, and in Rama’s life, was short-lived.

It took Arunachalam just three months to gain control of the outskirts of the district and the highways once again. But this time he was not alone. He had joined forces with Selvam, a local criminal who had grown up in a troupe of travelling entertainers and was an expert with knives and swords. The man who made them a deadly trio was Veerapandi from the Ramanathapuram district in Madurai. Veerapandi was almost as famous for his skill with the axe as he was for his moustache. He had fought for Haider Ali at one time, but deserted the army and became a mercenary instead.

Together, these three men began a reign of terror on the highways of Kumbakonam. They assiduously avoided the town itself, but this did not deceive Rama, for he knew they were only trying to lull him into a false sense of security. He doubled his work force, appointing more constables to monitor the roadways. But this made no difference to Arunachalam and his men. The last time they ambushed a patrol, they had gruesomely butchered every man.

Rama was moving slowly, it was true, but only because he knew he couldn’t afford to fail. The British army had tried to help him but they had backed out when they lost a couple of men to Arunachalam. Rama had not expected any less from the East India Company: their motto was, ‘Take all you can and give back as little as possible’.

From their past attacks Rama concluded Arunachalam and his men were hitting only those highways that touched the Cauvery river at some point. He realized they were getting around by boat, and got his best men to scout the hilly areas along the river.

After four months of investigations, he narrowed down his search to one area, Thiruvaiyaru. The area was full of temples, ruins, caves and other hiding places along the river that ran through the district. He decided to search the district thoroughly. Although he had been trying to recruit more men to help him, no one wanted to have anything to do with the dacoits. Finally, Rama, with about forty men, set out on the imposing task.

Even after eight days of scouring the area, Rama and his men found no trace of Arunachalam and his gang. The idea that the dacoits were getting around by the river still nagged him. The Cauvery was a massive river, over two furlongs wide in some places. He failed to understand how the dacoits moved so fast on the water. They certainly didn’t use sailboats—the wind was unreliable. He wondered if they had a steamboat, but immediately dismissed the idea. They just couldn’t afford it.

Rama then began interrogating people who had establishments along the river. Though most disclaimed any knowledge of the dacoits, he realized that there was something they were not telling him, something they were frightened of. Next, he visited the little shops which sold liquor; it was likely that the dacoits had visited some of these vendors. However, neither the proprietors nor the customers seemed to know anything. Here, too, he got cryptic responses whenever he asked about any boats on the river, and try as he might, he never got any information that was worthwhile. That was, until he ran into Maheshwaran.

Maheshwaran was an old drunk who spent most of his time at the toddy joints along the river and claimed to have seen Vasuki, the ten-headed snake, go down the river to listen to Ramanuja sing. Rama was excited.

‘What did Vasuki look like?’ he asked, signalling his deputy to get them both drinks. Nageswaran returned a few minutes later bearing glasses of rice beer and a disapproving look on his face.

‘Aren’t you going to have some?’ the old man asked him. ‘Cheta makes brilliant rice beer!’

Nageswaran snapped back, ‘I don’t drink! I’d rather not waste my body away with filthy habits like that!’ With a stony look at his boss, he turned and walked away.

Maheshwaran smiled at Rama and asked, ‘How is it that you haven’t hung him yet?’

‘He’s not worth the rope,’ Rama replied lightly. ‘Besides, he’s one of the few fools that I can find to help me out right now! So you were saying?’ he asked, ignoring Nageswaran’s shocked expression.

‘He is a huge snake, I could see only his head above the water. Smoke billowed from his nostrils. It was such a terrifying sight that it almost made me sober!’

This suggested that some sort of steamboat was being used. But where had the dacoit got the resources to put together such an elaborate contraption? After all, the man had been in prison all this while. He could not have done it without help from someone in a position of some power. The Madras harbour was a small place and the police would have definitely gotten wind of what was surely a massive operation. Rama had stumbled on to a conspiracy, he was sure of it.

‘I know you think I’m just a drunkard who sees things, but I know what I saw!’ the old man exclaimed defensively.

‘No, no, I do believe you,’ said Rama, snapping out of his reverie. ‘I was thinking about something else. Sorry.’

Mollified, Maheshwaran continued, ‘I know he was thinking that,’ nodding towards Nageswaran. ‘That’s the problem with people. What gives them the right to judge others? You are a good man, Ayya. You treat everyone with respect, and you have always been fair and just. I tried to follow Vasuki, but he disappeared after Thiruvaiyaru. He just faded away.’

‘Thank you, Anna. I’ll be on my way now,’ Rama said, getting to his feet. ‘Oh, one more thing,’ he paused mid-stride. ‘Did you ever manage to see where Vasuki came from?’

‘No.’

‘All right then. Thank you for the help.’

‘Join me for a drink any time, Ayya,’ the drunk shouted, raising his hand in a salute. ‘I enjoy talking to intelligent people!’

As Rama walked away, he looked at the river and sighed. She looked so beautiful and peaceful; if she could be used for evil, anything could!

Six days later, the snake reared its ugly head. A cart carrying the salaries for the municipal employees was expected to arrive in a day or two. Normally it was escorted by ten British soldiers, but this time Rama decided he and his men would accompany the cart into Kumbakonam.

He received word that evening: the cart was nearing Thanjavur. Rama and his men joined the cart outside the district, much to the displeasure of the British soldiers, led by a Captain Randall, who insisted that they go ahead. Rama had to be content with leading the convoy, Nageswaran and his other deputy, a fiercely private individual called Karunakaran beside him, while Captain Randall and his nine men followed, riding alongside the cart.

‘We’re not going to be able to do anything from this distance,’ Karunakaran grumbled. ‘We might as well stay out of sight and see if we can stop them from getting away.’

Rama realized Karuna was right, but couldn’t stomach the idea of allowing the soldiers to get killed. True, he disliked the English, but to let them die? Sadly, he did not have a choice. Turning back to Karuna he said, ‘You’re right! Let’s go.’ And spurring his horse on, he sped away, followed by his deputies.

‘Let’s go towards the hills; we can get on higher ground.’ The hills were on the other side of the highway. They had a clear view of the river from the top.

Suddenly, Vasuki swam into Rama’s field of vision. Even though he had already realized that the snake was really a boat, he could not believe his eyes—it was so life-like! It had ten fearful heads and ten pairs of sinister yellow eyes. Smoke shot out from its nostrils as it swam towards the bank.

‘What is that?’ Nageswaran muttered.

Rama looked at his two deputies—they stood rooted, staring at the snake in the river with wide-eyed disbelief. Below, Captain Randall and his men had stopped in their tracks, awestruck by the sight.

As it reached the bank, a hatch opened on the snake’s back and two men jumped out and charged at the soldiers, swords in both hands. As the battle raged on, another massive figure jumped off the snake: Arunachalam. The soldiers were overwhelmed by the onslaught. Captain Randall tried rallying his men around, shouting words of encouragement, till Arunachalam’s knife silenced him.

Rama spurred his horse to rush to the aid of the beleaguered soldiers. As he sped downhill, he heard Karuna call out and, turning around, saw Nageswaran fleeing in the opposite direction. He didn’t slow down. As soon as he came upon the carnage, he saw the moustached thief, Veerapandi, attacking the hapless cart man. Rama rushed up to him, swinging his sword menacingly. Veerapandi ducked but the blade glanced off his shoulder. He lost his balance, dropping his axe from the pain. Scarcely missing a beat, Rama readjusted his grip on his sword and slashed at the dacoit’s neck. The blade hit home. Veerapandi scrabbled wildly at his neck, trying to stem the blood gushing out of his jugular. Then his eyes widened in shock and he keeled over, dead.

Seeing his accomplice fall, Selvam charged at Rama, brandishing swords in both hands. Rama brought his horse around to face Selvam squarely. From the corner of his eye, he saw Arunachalam moving to flank him. But Karuna rushed at Arunachalam, who braced himself to face the horse and rider. Just as it seemed that the dacoit would be trampled, he swung his axe and buried it deep in the horse’s chest. The animal buckled, throwing Karuna clear over its head.

Meanwhile, Rama had leaped off his horse and landed in front of Selvam. He spent the next few moments dodging the swords’ furious swipes till the dacoit made a fatal error. He paused for a split second to change the grip on one of his swords, his focus shifted, and Rama stepped up and stabbed him in the chest. Selvam fell, mortally wounded. Rama turned around to face Arunachalam, just in time to see him hack at Karuna’s thigh with his axe. The young deputy screamed in agony. Arunachalam threw his head back and gurgled in child-like happiness. He raised his axe to strike again when Rama barrelled into him. The two went down in a tangle of arms and legs.

‘You son of a whore!’ Arunachalam hissed as he got up and raised his axe. ‘You’re finally going to die today. I promise you!’

‘Come on!’ Rama replied calmly, circling the dacoit slowly, his focus unwavering.

Arunachalam charged. Rama stepped forward, ducking just a few inches to avoid the axe on its downward arc. He got on the inside of the swing and jabbed, hitting the other man’s chest. Arunachalam staggered, eyes wide in pain and disbelief. Rama glanced at Karuna, who was desperately trying to staunch the flow of blood from his leg. When he turned his attention back to Arunachalam, he saw that the dacoit had rallied and was preparing to rush at him. Anticipating his move, Rama feinted to the right and, as Arunachalam moved to protect himself, slashed at his left shoulder, making a deep gash. Arunachalam dropped his axe and doubled over in pain.

Rama ran over to Karuna and took him in his arms, comforting him, telling him again and again that everything would be all right. He hauled Karuna onto the cart, then bound up Arunachalam’s hands and legs and roughly bundled him in as well. He went around the battlefield, quickly checking the status of the fallen soldiers—all but two were dead. Rama had absolutely no time to lose. He lugged the inert forms into the cart, tied his own horse to the back and taking the reins, set off at a gallop.

The drive to the hospital was the fastest Rama had ever accomplished. He knew Karuna and Arunachalam had both lost a lot of blood and he didn’t want either of them to die. He had to find out who had financed Arunachalam’s operation and the motive behind it. As for the soldiers, he doubted if they would make it.

When they arrived at the hospital, Rama jumped off the cart and rushed inside shouting for help. Orderlies arrived and quickly bore away the injured.

Moments later, Nageswaran rode into the hospital yard. He pulled up when he saw his superior and quickly dismounted. Rama looked levelly at his deputy for a long time. Then he said, ‘I need you to ride over to Madras first thing in the morning. The governor owes me some money, again.’