Divine Hate!

Everyone in the village knew that Lakshmi and Banno didn’t see eye to eye. A long history of squabbles, arguments, and fights had bore testimony to that fact. No one knew what the reason for their mutual hatred was. But everyone knew one thing - that when it came to these two, the next big fight was always around the corner. And as long as they all kept a safe distance from the arena, they got treated to some live entertainment.

After one particularly violent episode, their respective households decided that enough is enough. An olive branch was sent out, the families sat down and talked to each other, trying to find a solution to the mess. Each defended their own, even though they would not have denied feeling a bit ashamed of their family member’s lack of maturity. It wasn’t as if the two were young anymore. Back in those days when the fights started - it did start very early when they were just toddlers - both families brushed it off, expecting that this would stop once they grew up. But it never did. The hatred that they had for each other grew exponentially, each round of argument worse than the previous one. They had grown up into fine young adults, beautiful, the centre of every male’s attraction. As time passed, they settled down, had children of their own. But when it came to their rivalry, even at this age, it was a no-holds-barred contest. The moral duty of the parent to be a role model for their offspring seemed to take a backseat whenever they were around each other.

So as the two households discussed ways to solve this conflict, or at least avoid it whenever possible, they decided that the best way forward is to try and make sure that their paths crossed as little as possible. Being a small village, it was a challenging task. But this had to be done. Even though Lakshmi and Banno were sworn enemies, their families did respect each other. After a peaceful discussion (they had left the subjects at home, lest their conversation spiralled into another bout), they went home, hoping and praying that peace prevailed. 

Lakshmi and Banno noticed the change in their daily routines since that meeting. They wouldn’t be allowed out at certain times of the day, which they felt was strange. They had never been stopped like this before. But their families put their foot down. ‘Oh, let me see her once! I’ll teach her a lesson she’ll never forget’, each of them thought to themselves. But they never did. Since that meeting, they hardly ran into each other. The families were doing a great job. They would coordinate their movements, make sure that if one went north, the other didn’t go anywhere but south.

Slowly, the village got used to peace. They went back to conventional sources of entertainment, the common TV in the Sarpanch’s house, the occasional visit of a theatre group, a small children’s fair now and then. Lakshmi and Banno and their fights of the past became a topic of afternoon storytelling among bored housewives. They would pass through Lakshmi’s and Banno’s residences, hungry for some gossip, wishing ever so slightly for another confrontation, wondering if it would be of the same intensity as before. 

The two ladies slowly receded into their mundane lifestyle. Lakshmi gave birth to another child. She spent most of her time caring for the newborn, spending time with him and her elder daughter. Somehow, she felt that her family didn’t welcome her son with the same amount of joy as her daughter a couple of years ago. They seemed to have wished for another daughter. Quite strange, she thought, in a place where the girl child faces a risk to life since the moment she comes out of her mother’s womb. She would sometimes wonder what Banno was up to and how she could make her life more miserable. But having two kids allowed her precious little time for personal thoughts.

Banno also got busy with her life. She would work in the fields sometimes, on other occasions just relax at home. Her daughter was also growing up. It wouldn’t be long when she would have to let her go. Sometimes she would reminisce about that moment she gave birth. She would let out a faint smile. That was the happiest moment of her life, not just because motherhood felt so special but also because this was Tufan’s child. 

Tufan was what you would typically call the alpha male of the village. Tall, broad, with a chiselled body, he was the one every female fantasised about. And that is why Banno was proud of herself - that Tufan picked her. She knew she was the cause of envy among all females in the village due to this, and she felt so happy about it. Tufan was hers and hers alone. And the happiness at that thought doused out some of the anger she harboured inside. It was the stream of cool water that pacified the rage that she had at Lakshmi. 

But alas, fate had other plans.

One fine morning, Banno woke up to find Tufan gone. He was nowhere to be seen. At first, Banno thought that something urgent must have come up in the fields. But then Tufan didn’t return that day. Worried sick, she tried to ask around, but no one seemed to understand her pain. The absence of her love didn’t worry her as much as the thought of him being with someone else. She prayed that he returns soon, but a tiny portion inside her said - ‘He’d better be dead rather than be with someone else.’

Tufan came back two days later. She was relieved. But that relief was short-lived. It was evident he was hiding something. She begged him to tell her what the matter was. But he just wouldn’t say anything. Only when he saw the Banno of old coming to the fore, a menace in her voice, did he tell her where he had been. And when he told her, she couldn’t believe it. It was as if someone had cut off a part of her body. She felt numb.

He tried to reason with her. He told her that it was the two families that made him do it. He told her that he tried to resist. He said that our family took money from the other family for this. But she would believe none of it. What kind of a lame excuse was that? Why would their own family want him to betray her? She had always known Tufan was so full of himself that he won’t be satisfied with one partner. But never in her dreams had she imagined that he will stab her in the back by sleeping with her nemesis, Lakshmi.

All the self-control, all the patience that Banno had cultivated since their last battle collapsed, an angry wave bringing it down as if it was made of sand. Murderous rage took over her. With a cry of anguish, she set out, revenge on her mind. Her family members tried to stop her, but she was possessed, the thought of ripping apart Lakshmi consuming every cell in her body. She broke free of their grasp and ran towards Lakshmi’s house. 

The last month had been a bit upsetting for Lakshmi. She had sensed her family’s mild disappointment on her having a son. She had heard them talk about wanting another daughter from her. So she was resigned to the fact that her family would arrange someone sooner rather than later to get their way. She had always loved her family and they had always been very caring, but this business of finding temporary mates for her was frankly baffling. What kind of a respectable family would do that? Why couldn’t they find a permanent companion for her? So when Tufan arrived three days ago, she wasn’t surprised by his arrival as much as she was with the choice of mate her family had gone for. Didn’t they know he was Banno's prized possession? What if she came to know? Did they want to risk another war, just when the ceasefire had been going well?

What followed was something she couldn’t complain about. She had longed for some company, a break from the continuous babysitting duties and Tufan provided that for a couple of days. But little did she know about the repercussions these two days with Tufan would have going forward. Lakshmi also noticed the tension in the air that morning. Her family members had been running around frantically, ever since a messenger from Banno’s family had arrived with a message.

Banno arrived and called Lakshmi out. “Come out you whore! You think you can take away my Tufan from me! I’m going to kill you!” The villagers came out, all of them joyous inside that finally some excitement had returned to the village. Lakshmi heard Banno, but she had been cordoned off by her family. She tried to remain calm, but she couldn’t hold on when Banno started threatening her children.

What followed was carnage. The two went after each other all guns blazing. They couldn’t be bothered whose property they damaged or whose children they injured. For them, at that moment, the world was immaterial. All they cared about was winning, all they cared about was burying the other into the ground.

The next day, both of them were in the hospital, injured, lying next to each other, held down by restraints lest they would go at each other again. Both were still angry at each other, but another emotion had taken them over. Fear. Outside, villagers gathered to protest against their families, wanting compensation for their losses. Four houses destroyed, many children injured, half a dozen of them severely, crops destroyed. It was hard to imagine how two feuding ladies could do that much damage to a village. Both of them had gone too far, and they knew it. Now the village which craved some action from the two had turned against them, and they knew that they won’t be let off lightly this time. 

Local cops were called. Statements were recorded. Weighing in the gravity of the matter, the beat cops called in the senior cop. The Head inspector, a devout, God-fearing fellow, complete with a pronounced vermillion tilak on his forehead came in, greeting everyone with a big chant of the Lord above. He went in to see how Lakshmi and Banno were doing. It seemed strange to everyone, a cop looking in on the condition of the accused before he looked at the victims, even greeting them, hands folded with bowed head. Once he was out, the villagers clamoured to get their complaints in, some wanting compensation for their loss, others wanting to press charges on the two for attempted murder. 

“Nothing can be done,” the senior cop said. “Why?!?” The villagers asked, indignant, offended at the casual attitude of the cop.

“You morons!” he yelled. “Can’t you see? They are sacred! They are divine!! We must worship them!”

Inside, both Lakshmi and Banno heard this. They had been let go? Seriously? For once, both of them shared a smile together. And in their happiness, they let out a huge cry of relief in unison. 

MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!