( ...Continued... )
It's a beautiful morning at the Konkan coast at 6,30 am. The weather is pleasant with a tinkling of rain. It's a fishermen's village on the shores of Kankavli, conversing in the local language.
Typical fisherwomen and men can be seen, women dressed in traditional attire. The elderly men are wearing langots and topi. More than half of the men are covering only downside bodies, the rest are exposed. The other men are dressed in T-shirts and jeans. Due to the rain over the vast sea, the sky and sea have turned grey with one colour.
An angler's boat poured a lot of fresh fish at the shore. Some live fish were still struggling for the water. Everyone went crazy about the fish. Traders started bidding, and chaos ensued. Crows were crowing and picking up the dead fish, while seagulls never eat dead fish but were preying on the live ones.
Drenched dogs were waiting by the shore, hoping to find something. One dog secretly snatched a fish, other dogs pounced on it. Cats were lurking around, looking for a chance to steal. Amidst all their noise, a strange sound echoed and the fish's gasping filled the entire environment.
Raindrops shower on the surface of the sea..
Small fish are coming to lay eggs on the surface, their horde are visible. The sound of the waves of the sea and the drops of rain is heard, and all the fishermen's boats return in the morning. But one boat is moving inside the sea.
A thirty-year-old man is standing on his fishing boat in the style of Amitabh Bachchan from the movie "Agneepath". He is Ajit.
He always wears Amitabh Bachchan's style shirt and pants as of 'Sholay'. Sky-blue bell-bottom pants, a denim jacket, a big collar white shirt, a big black belt around his waist, and white canvas shoes on his feet...
He wears a typical gold chain weighing ten tolas around his neck and has an Agneepath-style goggle on his eyes. He looks like a hippie from the 1970s with a week-long stubble and a somewhat grown beard. He holds an iPhone in his left hand.
Inside the boat, posters of Amitabh Bachchan's movies like Agneepath, Don, Deewar, Kaalia, Sholay, and Kala Patthar are pasted on the walls. A song is playing in the background - "Main Hoon Don."
In the rain, a group of five plump middle-aged men are playing cards on the deck of a boat, half-naked. Empty desi liquor bottles are lying around. The boat is swaying with the waves, tilting left and right. The bottles are clinking and making noise.
A blacky, stout man is sitting in the middle, holding the steering wheel, and keeping the boat on the right course. Ajit is impatiently scanning the distance for something. White smoke can be seen in the distant clouds. A smile appears on his face.
His mobile phone beeps with a message tone. He checks a message on WhatsApp, 'Turn off the engine.' Ajit puts two fingers in his mouth and blows a loud whistle.
The five of them got the moment. The sound of the engine stopped... silence... only the chirping of the sea eagles... As the boat moved forward, small fish could be seen jumping out of the water, and sea eagles' were hunting them..
To catch the meal, sea eagles always fly near sailors. With the strong wind and the raindrops hitting the waves, the sound was muffled. Eventually, there was a profound silence all around.
The boat was floating in the middle of the water, surrounded by droplets of water and the rising waves. In the distance, a colossal cargo ship could be seen moving along with the waves.
**********
On the massive cargo ship around 7 in the morning..
Raindrops were dancing on the glass of Captain Mathur's cabin. After retiring at the age of 60, most people lose their energy, but the hefty Captain Mathur's vigour still amazed the younger generation.
Captain Mathur was speaking on the wireless, "Yes sir, right sir, I'll unload three tons of cargo, sir."
While speaking, he pressed some buttons on the control panel in front of him.
Suddenly, the emergency alarm began to ring, "Boooon... Boooon... Boooon..."
Everyone in the engine room is busy with their work. They are following the captain's instructions... Captain Mathur is giving instructions on the loudspeaker.
Captain's assistant Dhariya is running up on the stairs to the captain's cabin... The cabin is located at the highest point of the ship so that the captain can see the ocean. Dhariya is a very literate man in his mid-thirties, but his body is weak. He is sweating due to run up, he was breathing heavily. His face is full of sweat. He is out of breath when he entered the cabin.
In one breath, he said, "Captain Mathur, if we keep emptying the cargo repeatedly, we may get arrested."
Captain Mathur did not pay attention to Dhariya. He is looking deep in sea. Captain takes out a small silver box of cigars from his pocket and lights one up. He asks Dhariya with seriousness, "Dhariya, who do you think smuggles this cargo?"
Dhariya looks at the smoke rising from the cigar and his face turns serious as he considers the question.
Finally, he shakes his head negatively.
Captain Mathur smiles and puts a cigar in his mouth, "The owner of the company, Mr. D.N. Saha, and the Coal Minister himself!"
Dhariya is shocked to hear this and asks, "Oh! But...why, sir?"
Captain Mathur spins the wheel and steadies the ship, "For two reasons.. more coal, more subsidy, the more coal, the more government subsidy.."
He asks Dhariya to look outside the window.
Three, or four seagulls hover over the fish in the sea.. one seagull gets a big fish.. and the other birds follow it from behind.
"He sells this coal in the black market for four times the price..."
The man asked the wrong question, unaware of the situation, "Sir, how do you know?"
Captain Mathur carelessly flicked the ash off his cigar and took a long puff..
"Son, you don't know this game... the coal minister has a big gang to operate, and everyone benefits from subsidies."
As he speaks, he stops suddenly, a pain arises in his eyes. "We are just pawns in this game. Shoot means shoot.. we just follow the orders... That's it,"
By listening to this, Dhariya is restless, and says, "But sir, this is wrong, isn't it?"
Captain Mathur on a walkie-talkie, "Paramjeet, Kankavli... five tons."
Above the sea, the birds continue to chase each other, making chirping sounds. One bird catches a fish, but the fish falls from its beak, and another bird picks it up...
Captain Mathur smiles and says, "Dhariya, theft doesn't occur in a thief's house." Then his tone becomes stern, "Go to the engine room and follow my instructions."
Dhariya salutes " Yes sir".. and leaves.
Captain sends a message on WhatsApp, "Today five tons, payment pending for fifty tons... and green payment to Wild Tiger."
A message comes on an old Nokia phone, "16 lakh transfer from XXXX 62 account." Captain smiles and looks at his watch.. Looks from the top deck.
Under the high deck of the ship, Ajit is with his fishing boat.
Ajit is watching the activities of the ship from below.
Plastic-wrapped coal barrels are getting unloaded from the ship... Everyone is working silently and quickly.. only the sound of their footsteps.. the sound of the barrels being dropped, the sound of the waves under the ship, the sound of the rain, the sound of the wind, and the sound of the sea eagle can be heard. Everything is happening quickly and in just five minutes.
In the midst of all this, the ship's horn blares. The anchor chain is being pulled with the force like an elephant's tusk.. making a clanging noise. The ship's propellers are starting up as if a rhino that has been sitting in water for days is trying to get up with all the force. The propellers are catching speed in the water...
Ajit is getting drenched in the rain... Suddenly, he panics and screams at his men, "Hey you fool, I will screw your ass! Hurry up, quickly! Horse fucks your mom!"
As best as he can, Ajit swallows his dry spit. The boat's engine starts up, and the boat moves away from the ship. Ajit is in a state of panic...
As his boat drifts away from the ship, a sudden "thomb" sound is heard and a bloodied body falls onto Ajit's deck. The body twitches twice before getting still.
Without a word, Ajit's crew lifted the corpse by its arms and legs and toss it into the deep water... One man wipes the blood with a cloth.. another one pours water..
The water turns red with blood. A large fish drags the body into the depths of the sea.
To calm his dry throat, Ajit is drinking desi liquor straight from the bottle, gulping nervously. As he watches, the ship has gone far away. Lightning crackles in the distant dark sky, and the sound of thunder reaches its peak.
. **********
In the village called Telara in Malvan region, it is around ten o'clock in the morning.
The beauty of Konkan has been enhanced by the rainy season. The lush green fields, coconut and betel nut trees touching the sky, frogs dancing in the rain, and their terrifying croaks... someone has put dried fish in the burning timber and its aroma has spread.
A middle-aged woman, Anjana, about fifty years old, is coming with her mentally retarded child, Pradeep. He is crying like a little child. Anjana is holding onto his collar.
Along with them, there are ten to twelve mischievous and wayward children who are teasing him.
Anjana is scolding those children. Her hair is scattered like a rope, her half-sari is tied around her waist, her complexion is quite dark, and two buttons under her blouse are broken. Maybe she hasn't taken a bath for ten days, and the child hasn't been bathed either. Her yellow teeth are visible because of eating betel leaves. Pradeep's round belly is peeking out from his shirt. His body is unkempt, and his torn shirt might have been white at some point. His khaki half pant is threadbare and tied to his waist with a rope.
An old couple is sitting outside a house in this ancient village. They both are wrapped in a single torn blanket and enjoying the cold weather. They are eating a thin rice pudding, known as "khimtat" in Konkan, along with some roasted fish. As soon as the old lady sees Anjana from a distance, she starts murmuring abusive words.
Anjana is seen walking away from her house.
In another scene, a woman is feeding her child breast milk.. while smoke rises from the burning timber... Due to the smoke, the child is crying... Two, three-year-old children are playing in the rain, digging a ditch and playing in the mud. The puppies are playing in the rainwater and mud in the pits.
In front of Nalu farmer's house, a cow is sitting in the courtyard. They are thinking of selling the old cow to the butcher. Therefore, no one cares if the cow gets wet.
Pitambar is thirty-plus years old but he never helps anyone or does not do any work. All the time he rests on a cot. He calls out loudly to Pradeep. Under Pitamber's cot, a dog is sleeping. It wakes up and starts barking...
Pitambar asked, "Anjana aunty, what happened"
Anjana is not paying attention to him... she is gesturing to the dog to throw stones at it.. and is busy repulsing the notorious children.
Anjana's house is at the rear edge of the village.
The courtyard has red soil. The old broken Tulsi Vrindavan is standing in the courtyard. This is an antiquated but very beautiful house. There is a veranda in the middle of the house, a kitchen on the left and a bedroom on the right. The middle place remains empty. Due to being an old structure, a lot of wood has been used. Wood has some rough carvings. Shankar's father was a very hardworking farmer. He was highly respected in the surrounding villages.
There is a lot of land behind the house where vegetables are grown. There are hundreds of mango trees, coconut trees, betel nut trees, jackfruit trees, jamun trees, sapodilla trees, and Jujube trees planted there, which are called "wadi". Amid the wadi, there is a two hundred years old well. However, during the monsoon season, wild trees and plants has grown everywhere.
Shankar, who will get retire from the Post Office next year, is kicking his Bajaj M 80 scooter.. in the red mud-filled courtyard... He is the postmaster at the village post office. He has never seen the city since he was born. He studied in the village and later found a job in the village as well. He is gullible and always seems to be frightened. His thin body mother, Janakibai, is in the courtyard to set the soil to drain the accumulated water.
Shankar said, while kicking his Bajaj M 80 scooter, "I'll be late today. Tell Anju."
Janakibai, working.. without looking at him, replied, "Wait, go after Anju returns. She is out in search of Padya."
Shankar's face lit up at the mention of Anju. He couldn't muster the courage to kick, and he left the scooter's handle.
The entire procession party arrived at Anjana's house with Pradeep.
As they reached the house, Anjana pushed Pradeep brutally.. he fell into the mud. Pradeep's knee scraped...he started crying holding his knee. His clothes are completely dirty in the mud.
Anjana shows a more ferocious form. She raises both hands up in a gesture that resembles the way witches scare children, and screams at Pradeep, "Shut up!" Pradeep immediately falls silent. As she screams, the rain stops as well.
Anjana looks at Shankar with big eyes, and Shankar is more scared. In the next moment, Anjana's demeanour changes and she starts laughing.
Anjana, in her unique style, exclaims, "Oh, he broke Babu Tandel's trap... the son of a bitch was trying to hit my child... may his children die, may his woman become a whore... may I kill his fucking mother... (laughs maniacally) I told Tandel.., you motherfucker, don't bit my son... I'll pour diesel in your ass and will set fire... he was scared shitless... when his woman came to fight, I kicked her ass in front of everyone... she ran away... never mind... this fucking is a daily chore..."
Shankar catches her attention.
"Today you... so soon?"
Shankar's throat dries up and he starts to stutter.
Janakibai gets up and takes a basket inside,..
"Come inside, Paddu, I'll apply some ointment. Come, my child... your mother is a witch, she'll set the village on fire."
Idiot Pradeep follows Grandma and chuckles, "Hey, hey, hey," with his mouth open.
Shankar is frightened but still gathers his courage and say, "Last week... Nilesh didn't send any money... so I'll go to the office and make a phone call... to take k... k... news... I'll talk to him."
Anjana is happy but hides her happiness and speaks in a scolding tone, "Okay, but don't make goo-goo talks with your sister-in-law on the phone... or else I'll smash your head...I will reveal your secret.. you know, what?"
Anjana goes inside...
Shankar gets scared as a drop of sweat drips down behind his ear onto the scooter seat. He starts the scooter with a single kick and speeds away.
In the kitchen, Janakibai is giving some sweets to Pradeep... Pradeep is sleeping on the floor with dirty clothes as it is...
Anjana enters the kitchen and Janakibai tells her that Shankar will be late tonight.
Anjana casually responds, "Okay."
She blows on Pradeep's wound and gestures if he wants to eat something.
Pradeep nods his head and says "Yes".
Anjana's conversation continues, "I'll ask him in a little while... anyway, he'll call me once he reaches the office. Now he has a free plan on his mobile, but still, he has the habit of making free calls from the post office."
Anjana takes Pradeep to the open area of the house. The kitchen is a mess, and Pradeep starts eating anything like an animal on the floor.
...and they hear the sound of a jeep outside.
Anjana takes out a small pouch from her waist, which has betel leaves and other items with tobacco, she puts it in her cheek. She offers some to Janakibai. People in the village use tobacco and betel leaves to relieve stress.
Until then, the five boatmen lift Ajit from the jeep and bring him inside.
Ajit has drunken very heavily,.. not in his conscious. One of the men places a cloth bag near Ajit, while the other man puts a half-empty bottle of alcohol next to it.
Everyone is frightened of Anjana. They stand with their hands tied in front of her.
Anjana shouts at the men, "Hey, you all the buggers, have some food before you go."
Everyone sits outside.. Janakibai quickly lays down a plastic sheet, while Anjana serves food in old aluminum utensils. Anjana's grandfather was a driver in the army during the Second World War. After retiring from the army, he brought German cutlery and beer mugs. After his death, she started using it for the servants' meals. For many years, aluminium utensils were called "German" utensils in Konkan.
She serves fresh fish for meals, and everyone loves it except for Janakibai, who feels sick at the sight of it. Anjana, on the other hand, is known for her delicious cooking, particularly her Tuna fish curry.
Janakibai.. covering her mouth with her Saree corner .. turns away.
She murmurs to herself, 'I feel nausea looking at the food.'
She whispers in Anjana's ear, 'We have the day before yesterday's waste food.. They cannot notice it,...will eat it.. all are drunken animals.. '
She then joins her hands in a show of piety and says, 'It's good karma to give food to the needy. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna.'
Anjana silently takes out some stale roti, which has ants crawling over it. She cleans the ants off and takes it outside to feed ..."
Anjana, the pretentious speaks, "I feed everyone, who knocks on my doors.. No one returns hungry."
Everyone knows the reality of this mother-in-law and daughter-in-law; they look at each other with contempt.
When Janakibai puts her hand in Ajit's cloth bag, she finds a pile of money.
Just then, Anjana coughs near the door. She snatches the bag from Janakibai's hand and goes to her room.
The hen at the back door clucks and gives an egg, which Janakibai sees.
She quietly takes the egg and hides it in the loose end of a sari.
Some stray dogs are fighting over waste food near the back door. Janakibai shakes a stick at them and chases them away.
Without making noise, she glares in Anjana's direction and mutters curses under her breath... she walks to her room... Intoxicated Ajit is stumbling around...
(...What happened next?...)