Brihannala

The atmosphere at home had finally become lighter.
After everything they had discussed, Archana quietly got up.
“I'll make some tea.”
Lakshmi smiled.
“Okay, ma.”
Archana went into the kitchen and began preparing tea and snacks.
Lakshmi walked toward Kavitha's room.
She expected to find her younger daughter resting after school.
Instead, she froze at the doorway.
Kavitha was lying on the bed, burning with fever.
Her face was pale.
And she kept holding her left leg.
“Kavitha!”
Kavitha opened her eyes weakly.
“Amma…”
Lakshmi immediately touched her forehead.
It was extremely hot.
“What happened to your leg?”
“It hurts badly.”
Lakshmi panicked.
“Suresh!”
Suresh hurried into the room.
“What happened?”
“Kavitha has severe fever and terrible pain in her leg.”
“We're taking her to the hospital.”
Before either of them could move, Archana appeared at the doorway.
She had heard the commotion.
She walked toward Kavitha and placed her palm gently against her forehead.
She remained there for a few seconds.
Then she looked at her parents.
“Don't take her yet.”
Lakshmi stared at her.
“What?”
“Appa, before six o'clock, buy me one whole pumpkin.”
Suresh looked confused.
“A pumpkin?”
“And rose water.”
“What are you doing?”
“Please trust me.”
She began listing several other items.
Some herbs.
A few scented products.
A couple of things from a Siddha medicine shop.
Suresh looked increasingly bewildered.
“I don't even know what half of these things are.”
“Show the shopkeeper this list.”
Archana handed him a small piece of paper.
Lakshmi immediately objected.
“Archana, don't play with this. If she's sick, we need a doctor.”
Archana looked at her mother calmly.
“Amma, trust me for a little while.”
Then she added:
“Or call Kavitha's friends.”
Lakshmi frowned.
“Why?”
“Ask who went with her this afternoon.”
Lakshmi turned toward Kavitha.
“Where did you go?”
Kavitha hesitated.
“We went to a stationery shop near the station.”
“With whom?”
“Two friends.”
Lakshmi immediately called them.
The answer frightened her.
One girl had developed a mild fever.
The other complained of almost the same pain as Kavitha.
Lakshmi slowly put the phone down.
She looked at Archana.
Archana said nothing.

By the time Suresh returned, Archana had already begun preparing everything.
She took a small piece of the pumpkin and made a square opening.
She added turmeric and a little slaked lime paste, along with the other substances she had prepared.
The watery contents of the pumpkin reacted.
The colour changed dramatically.
Lakshmi stared.
Archana took a strand of Kavitha's hair and placed it around the coconut.
Another strand was kept with the pumpkin.
She placed three lemons nearby.
“What exactly are you doing?” Lakshmi whispered.
Archana didn't answer.
She asked Kavitha to stand in the centre of the living room.
Then she slowly circled the pumpkin around Kavitha's head.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
She carried it outside and broke it at the edge of the road.
She repeated the process with the coconut.
Finally, she took the lemons.
She performed the same ritual around Kavitha and placed them near the entrance.
Then she broke them with her foot.
Afterward, she sprinkled turmeric water around the places where the objects had been broken.
She returned inside.
The room smelled strongly of turmeric, rose water and herbs.
Archana prepared a herbal drink and gave it to Kavitha.
“Drink this.”
Kavitha obeyed.
“Wash your face, hands and feet.”
Kavitha did so.
“Now go and sleep.”
Kavitha returned to her room.
Archana prepared another portion and poured it into a flask.
Then she mixed turmeric and the remaining herbal preparations with water and cleaned the house thoroughly.
Only after everything was finished did she sit down on the sofa.
Lakshmi sat opposite her.
“What happened?”
Archana took a breath.
“Kavitha and her friends went to that stationery shop.”
“Yes.”
“On the way, they saw red rice lying near the crossroads.”
Lakshmi frowned.
“Red rice?”
“They thought it was leftover food.”
She paused.
“But it wasn't.”
Lakshmi looked uncomfortable.
“What are you saying?”
“According to what I understand, it was material left behind from a ritual.”
Lakshmi stared at her.
Archana continued quietly.
“They stepped on it and tried to move it with their feet.”
“And you think that's why they became sick?”
“I think that is what happened.”
Lakshmi shook her head.
“I don't understand any of this.”
“I know.”
Archana looked toward Kavitha's room.
“But look at the symptoms.”
“All three became sick after the same incident.”
Lakshmi remained silent.
Archana continued.
“The family who performed the ritual had apparently done it because someone in their house was believed to be affected by an evil presence.”
Lakshmi's face tightened.
“And that material was left at the crossroads?”
Archana nodded.
“I believe so.”
Suresh had been listening from the side.
“Are you sure?”
Archana looked at him.
“Not completely.”
That answer surprised both parents.
“But I know what I saw.”
She looked toward the clock.
“Give it about two hours.”
Lakshmi frowned.
“What will happen?”
“Kavitha should begin feeling normal.”
“And you?”
Archana smiled faintly.
“I may feel the same symptoms.”
Lakshmi immediately became alarmed.
“What?”
“I handled everything.”
She pointed toward the ritual objects.
“If there was something affecting them, I may feel its effect too.”
“Archana!”
Lakshmi reached toward her.
But Archana smiled reassuringly.
“Don't worry, Amma.”
“It has already been removed.”
“The remaining weakness will pass.”
She took the flask.
“I'll drink some of this and rest.”
She poured herself a glass.
Drank.
Then she put the flask beside her.
She walked to her mattress and lay down.
Within minutes, she was asleep.
Lakshmi stood beside her, deeply worried.
Suresh looked at his wife.
Neither knew what to say.

Nearly two hours later, Kavitha slowly opened her eyes.
The fever had begun to fall.
The terrible pain in her left leg had eased considerably.
She sat up.
“Amma?”
Lakshmi rushed inside.
“How are you feeling?”
“Better.”
Lakshmi stared at her.
“Tell me exactly what happened today.”
Kavitha described everything.
The stationery shop.
The crossroads.
The red rice.
The three friends stepping over it.
Trying to push it aside with their feet.
Everything.
Lakshmi returned to the living room.
She looked at Archana sleeping peacefully.
Then she looked back toward Kavitha.
Her daughter's account matched exactly what Archana had described.
Lakshmi sat beside the sleeping Archana.
She gently touched her forehead.
Archana was breathing deeply.
Kavitha came out of her room.
She saw her sister sleeping.
For a moment, she simply stood there.
Then she quietly picked up a blanket and covered Archana.
Lakshmi noticed.
She said nothing.
The house was finally quiet.
But Lakshmi couldn't stop thinking about the strange sequence of events.
And somewhere between fear, disbelief and gratitude, one thought remained in her mind:
Archana had noticed something that none of them had.
Whether it was coincidence, tradition, or something they could not explain, none of them knew.
But Kavitha was getting better.
And Archana had gone to sleep after taking the same herbal preparation she had given her sister.
Lakshmi pulled the blanket a little higher around Archana.
Then she sat beside her.