THEN RAMAKRISHNAYYA was dead we all asked, And now who will explain to us Vedantic texts, and who will discuss philosophy with us?' And Nanjamma said, 'Why, we shall ask Temple Ranganna!', but we all said, 'Temple Ranganna! well, he can hardly read the texts he repeats morning and evening, and he cannot explain to us about Vidya and Avidya!', and Rangamma said, 'Why, you know he is also a Bhatta's man; after all, sisters, why should not one of us read the texts and we comment on them ourselves?' and Nanjamma said, 'No, we shall have someone to read the texts, and you shall lead the commentary,' and Rangamma said, 'Oh yes! why, our Ratna knows how to read and Ratna and my sister are going to come and live with me, now that my mother has gone to my brother, and their house has to be rebuilt,' and we all looked at each other, and we were silent, for never was a girl born in Kanthapura that had less interest in philosophy than Ratna. But we all knew Rangamma was a good woman and a pious soul, and if Ratna merely read out the texts, well, her tongue would not pollute them, would it? And so every afternoon Ratna began to read the texts to us, and when it came to discussion, Rangamma would say, 'Sister, if for the thorny pit the illusioned fall into, you put the foreign Government, and for the soul that searches for liberation, you put our India, everything is clear;' and this way and that she would always bring the British Government into every page and line. And it must have been all due to her stay with Sankaru, for never had she spoken thus before, and she told us story after story from the Veda and Purana, and we all said, 'Why, our Rangamma is becoming a learned person, and she will soon be able to discuss philosophy like Ramakrishnayya,' and the more we listened the more she impressed us, and we felt there was a new strength come in Rangamma, and we said to her one day, Rangamma, Rangamma, is it the city that gave you all this learning?', and Ran- gamma is silent for a moment and then says, 'No, sisters, it is not only that! Then what else, sister?' --and Rangamma says, 'Why, there is something else' -And what is that, Rangamma?' and Rangamma says Why, sisters, I saw Sadhu Narayan.'-' And what did he say?' asked Nanjamma.-- Why, he said noth- ing. He only taught me how to meditate. He said, "You do not know how to practise meditation, and I shall teach it to you," and he taught me the first principles of Yoga, and I sit every morning now, and I take breath through the right nostril and the left nostril like my father did, and strength has been flow- ing into me.' So Nanjamma said, 'Why not show it to us, sister? you are not the only one who wants to grow saintly,' and we all said, 'Show it to us, Ran- gamma, show it,' and Rangamma said, 'Well, so be it'. And on the following Thursday, after the clothes were washed and the ablutions over, we sat by the Himavathy, and Rangamma repeated the name of her guru, Sadhu Narayan, and she showed us how to control our breath, and from that day on Nose-scratch ing Nanjamma, and Post-Office-House Satamma, and Gauramma and Vedamma and I, and even Ratna, began to feel stronger and stronger, the eyes stuck brighter in the sockets and the mind deeper in the spirit. And one day, when we had been practising this for days and days, Rangamma said, 'Now, sisters, I have seen something in the city, and I should like to see it here'. We all thought she was going to show us some new exercises, but they were no new exercises; she only said we should all get together and stand and obey her, and that when the Mahatma will call us to act, we shall have to go out and fight for him, but we said, Nay, nay, we are not men, Rangamma!' but Ran- gamma said, In the city there are groups and groups of young women, girls, married women, and widows, who have joined together and have become Volunteers --Volunteers they call them--and they practise exercises like the Police, and when meetings are held they all get together and maintain order.' And Nose-scratching Nanjamma said, 'Why, I am not a man to fight, sister!' and Rangamma said, 'Why, sister, you need not be a man to fight. Do you know the story of Rani Lakshmi Bai, and do you know how she fought for India? Once upon a time when the English were still not masters of the country, there were many, many kings, and one king could not bear the other. So the English went to this king and said, "We shall help you to rule your people. We shall only collect taxes for you and you shall live in your palace and be a king," and they went to another and said, Why, you have enemies in the south and the east and the north, and you have to defend yourself against them, and we have a strong army, and we have much power and powder and we can defend you," and the Raja said, "Well, that is a fine thing!" and he gave them titles and land and money. And so the English would go from one Maharaja to the other and one day they would be the kings of India. Now there was an im- prisoned king in India called Tantia Topi, and then there was Rani Lakshmi Bai, and then there were small kings and big kings and many landless kings, and they all said, "We shall throw the Red-man into the sea," and they all waited for the propitious moment. And then, sister, suddenly the army rose against the Red- man, for the Red-man wanted the Hindus to eat cow's flesh and the Mohomcdan to eat pig's flesh, and the army rose and fought against the Red-man-that is why they call it the Soldiers' Revolt, in their language -and this King and that King said, "Now this is the time to strike the English," and they gathered together, and the worthiest of them was Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi. Why, she rode the horse like a Rajput, and held her army against the British, beating them on the left and on the right, and the British went back and back, but one day they defeated her and she died upon her horse fighting to the last, fighting for her enslaved Mother. This, sister, I have read in books in the city, and Sankar told me many such stories. And know, too, sisters, how the Rajput women fought with their husbands, and if their husbands were defeated and the enemy was going to enter the fortress, they prepared the pyre and all went round it in prayer and finally jumped into the flames, for never a Rajput shall be slave.' And Nanjamma said, 'Why, that's the story The Red Pyre, in... what's that woman?. Saradamma, yes, in Saradamma's novel,' and Rangamma said, 'Of course, of course, and we are but unworthy of all these people and of all the people who are in the Congress and who fight with the Congress-Kamaladevi and Sarojini Naidu and Annie Besant all the heroic daughters who fight for the Mother-and we, we think of nothing but the blowpipe and the broom-stick, and the milking of the many cows. We, too, should orga- nize a Volunteer corps, and when Moorthy returns we shall go to meet him like they do in the city.' And we all said, 'That will be beautiful!' and each one said, 'I shall wear the Dharmawar sari and the diamond hair-flower 'And I shall wear the sari I wore at Nanjamma's daughter's marriage, that everybody liked so much, and I shall wear the gold belt too,' and those who were widows said, 'Well, I shall wear only the gold belt and the necklace, now that I cannot wear the bangles,' and Ratna said, 'I shall part my hair to theleft, and wear just a tiny kumkum mark and wear the sari till it reaches the toes and it will float and flutter so well'; and Rangamma said, 'We shall offer him arathi,' and all our hearts gladdened and we said, 'That will be like a Bridegroom's Welcome ceremony to go and meet Moorthy on the Karwar Road by the Ken- chamma Temple,' and we said, 'We shall do as you like, sister,' and that is how we became Volunteers. And Rangamma said, 'Let not call ourselves us Volunteers-let us call ourselves Sevika Sangha,' and we were called Sevis. And when our men heard of this, they said: was there nothing left for our women but to vagabond about like soldiers? And every time the milk curdled or a dhoti was not dry, they would say, 'And this is all because of this Sevi business,' and Radhamma's husband beat her on that day he returned from village inspection, though she was seven months pregnant. And Post-Office Satamma's husband would not talk to her: 'Why, soon it will be as if the men will have to wear bangles and cook, so that you women may show your- selves off! You shall not set your feet in Rangamma's house again!' Rangamma goes to him and says, 'So you are not a Gandhi's man. Because Moorthy is in prison you are no more a Gandhi's man,' and Surya- narayana says, 'I am a Gandhi's man, aunt. But if I cannot have my meals as before, I am not a man to starve ' and Rangamma says, 'If you don't have your meals in time, it is not because of our Sevika Sangha. We practise only in the afternoon,' and then Suryanarayana says, 'I do not know, aunt, but I want my wife to look after my comforts and I go out every morning and come home in the evening through rain and dark and storm,' and Rangamma says,
'Of course, Satamma has to look after your comforts. If we are to help others, we must begin with our husbands,' and she tells Satamma, 'Your husband is not against Sevika Sangha. He only wants to eat in time,' Satamma grumbles and swears and says she serves him in time, and it is all false; but Rangamma tells her to be more regular in cooking, and we all say, 'We should do our duty. If not, it is no use belonging to the Gandhi- group.' Rangamma says, 'That is right, sister,' and we say, We shall not forget our children and our husbands'. But how can we be like we used to be? Now we hear this story and that story, and we say we too shall organize a foreign-cloth boycott like at Sholapur, we too, shall go picketing cigarette shops and toddy shops, and we say our Kanthapura, too, shall fight for the Mother, and we always see the picture of Rani Lakshmi Bai that Rangamma has on the veranda wall, a queen, sweet and young and bejewelled, riding a white horse and looking out across the narrow river and the hills to where the English armies stand. And what do you think?-one day, Sata's Rangi came run- ning to us and said, 'Aunt, I was playing with Nanju. And I said to him, you shall be the British army, and Ramu will be the Kashi Maharaj and the Oudh Maharaj and the Punjab Maharaj, and I will be Rani Lakshmi Bai, and he says he would be the Rani, and I say, "But I am the woman," and he says, "That does not matter," and I say, "I am the woman,' and he says, "I will not play," and Rangamma calls the children and says, 'You will be Rani Lakshmi Bai once, and you will then put on a turban, and he will put on a kumkum mark on his face and he will be Rani Lakshmi Bai,' and the children were so happy at this that they went away puffy-cheeked and satisfied. And sometimes, when we stood in Rangamma's courtyard, Rangamma would say, 'Now, if the police should fall on you, you should stand without moving a hair,' and we would feel a shiver run down our backs, and we would say, 'No, sister, that is too diffi- cult,' and Rangamma would say, 'No, sister, that is not difficult. Does not the Gita say, the sword can split asunder the body, but never the soul? And if we say, we shall not move a hair, we shall not move a hair.' And one day Nanjamma came and said, 'Sisters, last night I dreamt my husband was beat- ing me and beating me, and I was crying and my bangles broke and I was saying, "Oh, why does he beat me with a stick and not with his hands?" and then when I saw him again, it was no more my husband, it was Badè Khan, and I gave such a shriek that my husband woke me up. Sister, I cannot fight like that,' and Rangamma said, 'Well, you will be with us, and if the fight begins, I shall say, "Are you ready to fight with us, sister Nanjamma? Ready to fight without moving a hair?" and if you say "Yes, sister," you will come with us, and if you say "No," we shall say, "That does not matter, our Nanjamma is only afraid," and we say, 'That is a fine thing, for we cannot say if we can face the police lathis'. But Rangamma says, 'When you and your daughters and your husbands walk the holy fire, does it scorch or not, sisters?' and we say, 'No, no, Ran- gamma '-' When Madanna and Rajanna and Siddayya smite their bodies with swords, when the grace of Kenchamma has touched them, does it cut them, sister?' and we say, 'No, no, Rangamma '-' When That-house Srikanta was graced by the goddess every Tuesday and fell flat on the ground in adoration, did you ever see a bruise on his skin, sisters?', and we say, No, no, Rangamma ''Well, we shall fight the police for Kenchamma's sake, and if the rapture of devotion is in you, the lathi will grow as soft as butter and as supple as a silken thread, and you will hymn out the name of the Mahatma.' And we all grow dumb and mutter Yes, sister, yes,' and then Venkatalakshmi says, 'But, sister, there will be Moorthy, too, and he will defend us,' but Rangamma merely waves her hand and says, 'We shall see, we shall see. . . .' And sometimes Seenu or Vasudev would come when we did our exercises, and they would say, 'We, too, should organize such a corps, but the boys will not come,' and Rangamma says, 'Why in your Pariah School you must have some boys,' and Seenu says, 'No, Rangamma. Since the arrest of Moorthy they are all afraid. They say, "We are not all going to sit behind the cage-bars like kraaled elephants," and when I say, "What does that matter, we are for the Mahatma," they say, "Yes, yes, learned sir, but our lands will go uncultivated, and there will be neither child nor woman to pull the weeds or direct the canal water," and I say "We are fighting so that the rents may be lowered and the foreign rule vanish, and you will all live happily," and they say, "Oh, father, we cannot hope for 'Ramarajya in these days; we live in Kali- yuga, learned sir," and I say, "So you will not fight for the Mahatma and Moorthy?" and they say, "Nay, nay, we shall fight, but we don't want the prison," and the women say, "Oh, it's good as things are, and we haven't more holes in the mouth for more morsels," and with this and that they are growing weaker and weaker. But Rangè Gowda says "Let the harvests be over, and we shall cane these idiots to follow you," and I tell Range Gowda he should be with us, and he says "With whom am I then?" and he gets angry, and I say, "You are with us of course, Rangè Gowda," and some day we, too, shall organize a volunteer corps. But, sister, you can have your eleven volunteers in the courtyard, for you are women. But when Badè Khan sees us, he will fall on us.' And Vasudev says, 'In the Estate he spits and beats everyone. Already he has moved down to the hut by the main gate, and he and his dog and his woman keep guard over everyone that crosses the stile. But, sister, the fever of the country has got him, too, and he moans heavily from his bed. And his woman is not so bad, you know. When she sees me, she winks and lays her head upon her hand to say "He is asleep," and I slip out like a rat. After all, she is one of us....
Then Vasudev turns to Rangamma and says, 'Why not start our bhajans again, sister? We shall keep it going as though Moorthy were not in prison,' and Seenu says, 'So we should'. But Moorthy said to Sankar, Let them prepare themselves for the fight. But no processions or bhajan lest the police fall on them!' and Vasudev says, 'No, if Moorthy were here he would start the bhajans again,' and Rangamma says, 'So I think, too,' and we all say, 'That will be fine'. And on the Saturday that followed, Seenu went and blew the conch from the Promontory, and men rushed to the temple, men and old women and children and all, and we all said, 'Now it is going to be bright again in Kanthapura,' and we knew not how to hold our hearts within our breasts. Cymbal, conch, and cam- phor, clapping hands and droning drums, the perfume of the sandal paste, flowers in the hair, and in our eyes Siva's eyes.
Changing he changes not, Ash-smeared, he's Parvati's sire, Moon on his head, And poison in his throat, Chant, chant, chant the name of Eesh, Chant the name of Siva Lord!
