It was still morning. Watching the sun, Anish understood they were in the north-east of those eight buildings. They hadn't gone inwards into those buildings where the water body was, like the night before. They came outside. The outside place was even bigger. Many people were already gathered. Some were wearing nothing but pants, while some were in fancy clothes. While Anish was observing, Udaya Khanti said, "Don't just stand there, follow me."
Anish slowly ran towards her and asked, "Maam, what is this festival all about?"
Maam Khanti said, "It's called Angati. Basically, in this festival you try to pay respect to the past ones. Many get to see their close past ones."
"So all these people came here to pay respect? And meet?"
Maam, picking something up to carry and giving Anish something to carry, said, "That's tomorrow. Don't drop that. We just feed people the first 2 days. Many people here don't get enough food. So we do things like this all year, but in these 3 days it's on a bigger scale. And meeting them — not physically, mentally meeting them."
Anish, not expecting what he was holding to be so fragrant, asked, "Ok so, does that happen near the water body inside? And what's in here? So fragrant?"
"That's just spices, to sprinkle on top of the food at the end. Here, put it here," Maam said, reaching their destination. She continued, "Yes, near that water is where the main festival happens."
After a bit more walking she said, "Take this and tie it on your head," as she showed him how to tie it.
They reached the cooking room and Anish was hit with the smell of multiple things. Inside, people were adding ingredients to big pots and big mechanical hands were stirring the food. Maam Khanti went inside, talked to the people there and got to work. Meanwhile, Anish sat or walked around, inside and outside. Sometimes Maam Khanti asked Anish to do something, which he did.
After a while, someone called for Maam Khanti and she went over, with Anish following. As they were leaving the room, Anish saw Makriva heading towards the kitchen. Both saw each other and smiled.
Maam asked, a little teasingly, "So? How is the day going so far? Does the feeling of, 'I just met you yesterday and you are already making me work,' come up?"
Anish, laughing a little, replied, "Now that you mention it — hey! You are making me work, wow!! Yeah, I don't mind though. Yesterday was way worse than today."
Anish continued, "Anyway, I do have more questions. Do I ask now or later?"
"Yeah, you can ask now."
"How do you know Hindi? If it's an ancient language...?"
"I guess I was a bit lucky in that case. Wait — are you interrogating me?" Udaya Khanti asked, stopping mid-sentence. Before Anish could reply, she said, "Don't worry, just messing with you. So basically, I came here once when Hindi and many other languages were still spoken."
Anish looked at Maam with slight shock and asked, "What? So you came here — as in, to Earth? During which time?"
"A few hundred thousand years ago," Maam said.
Anish had known it was the future, but he hadn't expected it to be that far into the future.
After a moment of silence he asked, "So are you immortal or something?"
"No, I am not. The last time I came here it was because of a curse of sorts. Now... you might have seen what the state of the world is."
"So you came here to help others? What are you then — a god?"
Maam said, laughing, "No, but I used to dance for them. I am — was — an Apsara. Have you heard that term before?"
"Apsara? As in Gandharva and Apsara?" Anish had heard the names as a child, from stories.
"Yes, well, great — I don't have to explain in detail," Maam Khanti said.
Anish definitely didn't know everything about them. He just nodded and didn't try to pry for more information.
They were heading towards the middle of those buildings, and as they were nearing the place again, the smell of the first intense drop of rain hit Anish.
"You can stop up here or come down with us, as you wish," Maam gave the choice to Anish.
"I think I'll stay here for a bit," Anish said.
Maam Khanti and another person, wearing just a dhoti and a lot of chains, went near the water. They dropped some dust-like substance into it. Anish watched from the top of the stairs.
After a while, Maam Khanti and that person got up. Maam came towards Anish and that man headed in a different direction.
Maam said, "Let's go."
Anish had thought of asking this the previous day but hadn't. Now he finally asked, "Maam, do sarees and dhotis still exist? Like, do people still wear them?"
"Yes. We don't call them by those names anymore, but they have some good advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage is there's no need to cut and sew them for a specific fit. The main disadvantage is that they can use more cloth than needed for a single person," Maam Khanti said.
"So they're not sarees, but they are sarees?" Anish asked.
"Yes, kind of. The last time I came around, almost all sarees and dhotis were similar in length. Now they come in many lengths — some just long enough to cover the body, and some long enough to cover many people."
"Why would people even want to wear that? Wouldn't that be inconvenient?"
"It's not that people want to wear it for convenience — it's more to show that they are rich or well off."
While leaving the central water body, many people had already started eating on the ground outside. When they reached that place, Makriva came over and asked in Hindi, "All good?" Anish nodded.
He said something short to Maam Khanti in Thamaily — something like "...later." Anish didn't pay much attention.
Maam and Anish headed to the cooking place again. The cooking was done for the day. Maam didn't do much after that, just observing to make sure everything was in order.
After a stretch of silence, Anish asked, "It's Earth — so how did it come to this state?"
"That's a long story, and I don't even know most of it. First, tell me what you know about the Wheel of Time — all the yugas."
Anish started to share whatever he knew. "There are 4 yugas — Satya, Treta, Dwapara and Kali. And after Kali, Satya begins again?"
"Yes. Basically, the disaster I was talking about is that the Wheel of Time didn't turn over. Kali was supposed to end a while ago. It still hasn't ended."
....
Anish just kept looking at Maam Khanti.
Maam continued, "Some people say that it is Satya Yuga — that the wheel has turned over. Some say it's still Kali Yuga. And many people call it the False Satya Yuga, which translates to the False Truth Era."
Anish simply said, "Hmm, interesting," and nothing else.
"You should know this. I intentionally didn't mention it yesterday. You — or the body you are in — is half Daitya."
"Half Daitya? What is a Daitya?" Anish asked.
"Oh, I thought you knew. Have you heard the term Asura?" Maam Khanti asked.
"Like a demon?"
"Yeah, you've got it. But some things — they are Daityas, not Asuras. Asura is a title, not the name of a specific species. And the demonic part — they are not really demonic. They have greater strength, and some have mystical powers, but they are not demonic. And you are half Daitya — you can see that for yourself."
Hearing that, Anish thought for a moment and made a slight face. "Asura isn't demonic? Wow, my whole nonexistent life was a lie..."
"They are living on Earth? Interesting. So, do I — does she — have any power?" Anish asked, hoping for a positive answer.
"Viriya never told me about any, but you should have the strength," Maam said.
Anish had noticed he was stronger in subtle ways but hadn't paid much attention to it. He said nothing and just looked at his hands.
People were bringing filled containers outside and empty ones inside. Some were just observing like Maam, and some were organising to make sure everything ran smoothly.
After a moment of observation, Anish asked, "Maam, I'm just standing here — should I do something, or should I go to Makriva?"
"You can, but what if communication problems come up?" Maam left the choice to Anish.
After thinking for a while, Anish decided to go where Makriva was.
As Anish was on his way, Maam looked dramatically at him and said, "I am clearly boring company to anyone, anyway."
Anish thought, "What — no?" Mid-thought, he looked at Maam's face and understood she was teasing. He stopped and said, "Hm, yes — too boring. Just like me."
___
Anish went towards the meal area. There were long lines of people sitting on the ground. After looking around for a bit, he noticed Makriva carrying a container. Anish went to him and asked in Thamaily, "I carry it?"
Makriva, seeing her outside and not with Maam, said in Hindi, "Ahh, you sit, there." Pointing a bit far from the feeding area, he continued, "I come back."
Anish thought, "Fair enough, I might slow him down anyway." Then said, "Yes."
Anish sat there, keeping his eyes on Makriva. After he finished the line, he said something to someone, then looked at Anish and gestured for him to come over. Anish went there and Makriva gave the container to Anish to carry.
Anish took it with her left hand. It wasn't heavy at all for her. She thought, "Hmm, I see the strength she was talking about."
Makriva said, "Follow."
When Anish started following Makriva, he caught from the corner of his eye two familiar figures. The other lady from the room he had woken up in after losing consciousness, and with her, the guy from outside their house who had been selling something. Seeing them, Anish thought about going to them and saying something, or hiding so they couldn't see him.
While Anish was thinking about what to do, Makriva called out to her again, "Viriya, follow."
"Viriya? Oh, me."
That call snapped Anish out of his thoughts. He switched the container to his right hand, which had somehow grown heavier, and while handing it back to Makriva it almost dropped. He said to him in Hindi, a bit too fast for Makriva to understand, "Keep an eye on them please, I will be back," pointing at the lady and the guy. Makriva stood there confused about what Viriya had told him.
Anish ran towards the kitchen, and upon arriving at the door started calling for Maam Khanti as he went inside.
"Maam, Maam Khanti, I saw two of the people who healed me with voodoo. If you are not too busy, can you come and talk?" He just poured the words out at her.
She looked at Anish, instructed someone, then told him, "Let's go."
Somewhere between running and walking speed, they reached Makriva.
Anish asked Makriva in Thamaily, "Where are they?"
Makriva made a strange face and tried to find some words. At last he said something to Maam, which she summarised to Anish in Hindi, "You rambled at him in Hindi. He took long enough to figure out what you said, and now he is looking for them as well."
"Oh, yes, I did that — my bad." He said to Maam Khanti, then said to Makriva in Thamaily, "Sorry."
He continued, "We need to search for them then."
After looking around for a bit, Anish noticed them talking with someone. They were talking with someone who didn't look similar to them — not physically, but in clothing and appearance.
"There they are," Anish said to Maam Khanti in a low voice.
Maam nodded and said, "Stay with Makra, I will be back."
She went towards them with a warm smile. Maam Khanti and they talked happily. After a bit, their smiles dropped. They looked at Anish. The lady almost seemed like she was about to break down crying. She composed herself as the guy she came with supported her.
As Maam Khanti was coming back, the man was saying something, almost like he was slightly mocking the lady.
When Maam came back, Anish asked, "What?"
"Not much. She didn't know much about that voodoo — she just knows it works. And she didn't use the voodoo on you. It was the other lady. But she apparently insisted on healing you, and the man kept saying she shouldn't have done so, and so on. Don't worry now," Maam said quietly to Anish.
"And did they say anything about bringing me after I fainted?"
"Yes. They were coming here yesterday and saw you bleeding out, so they brought you to their home to heal you."
"So just to heal — no ill intention?"
"Could be something they aren't saying. But divination supports their claim."
After thinking for a while, Anish slowly approached the two people and said to them in Thamaily, "Thank you for yesterday."