Everyone abandoned their tasks and rushed to see the Panchlight.
"Come on, come on. Our Panchlight has arrived!"
Indu was also curious to witness what it looked like. Having resided in developed areas of Haryana with access to electrical appliances, she joined the crowd to catch a glimpse of the Panchlight.
The orderly, Kishor Puni, consistently issued warnings, "Be careful! Don't come too close. Do not touch it! Make sure you don't cause any damage!"
Indu immediately recognized the Panchlight upon seeing it. It was a kerosene lamp.
The chief of the Panchayat instructed Indu to inform his wife about the evening's puja and to take a bath and prepare herself.
Indu followed the chief's instructions. She had witnessed all these rituals on television but never experienced them in real life.
Indu was also filled with excitement.
Indu: "System, do you have a search function?"
[System: Yes, you can search. You can explore all the information available on the internet in this world.]
The system provided Indu with a book, where she simply had to write the topic she wanted to search, and all the relevant information would be displayed in the book. If she closed the book, all the text and pictures would be erased, allowing her to ask more questions. Other people couldn't see the text and pictures in the book; to them, the book appeared blank.
[Host, this book is called Sarvgyani.]
Indu wrote "Panchlight" and obtained all the information about it. The head of the singers informed his musician that they would be performing under the light of the Panchlight that night, warning those who didn't have their turn to watch out or they would be kicked out. There was still an hour until sunset, but people had already gathered at the chief's door. The chant resounded, "Panchlight! Panchlight!"
Everyone's conversations and gossip revolved solely around the Panchlight. The chief had brought the Panchlight, its box, and four bottles of kerosene oil from the fair, but...
Who would light the Panchlight?
No one had considered this aspect thus far. Neither before purchasing the Panchlight nor afterward did anyone think about it. The offerings for the puja were prepared, the singers were waiting with their drums, cymbals, and bells, while the Panchlight stood in the center of it all. The villagers had never bought anything like this before. It wasn't that no one in the entire village knew how to light a Panchlight. The issue at hand was, "After all the preparations, the ritual offerings, and the puja, will someone from another clan have to be brought in to help light our Panchlight? Wouldn't it be better to just leave it as it is? Who can bear the insults and mockery for the rest of their life? People from other clans will taunt us at the slightest opportunity."
A sense of sadness permeated the crowd.
The evening grew darker. Not a single oil lamp was lit in anyone's home... Who would need a flickering oil lamp now that the Panchlight had been acquired?