Moong Over Microchips by Venkat Iyer

Author:Venkat Iyer
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789353050061
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
Published: 2018-03-05T05:00:00+00:00

Shh . . . The Gods Are Coming

Like most villages in India our village too has a Gaon Dev or a village deity. Under the huge banyan tree in the village full of beehives is located a three-foot-high statue of the Gaon Dev. It has a human face with big eyes and ears. The earlier statue was made of wood and had started to rot. The local carpenter cum sculptor Baban Thakur made the new one out of stone. The stone deity is covered with vermillion or kumkum.

The deity is worshipped twice a year. Once before the rice is sown and once after the rice is harvested. Money is collected from each house and a couple of goats are bought. In the evening the menfolk gather around the deity and start howling. This is supposed to bring the deity to life. Then the goats are sacrificed amidst more howling. A fire is lit and the entire goat is barbecued. The smoked goat is then apportioned to each family which has contributed to the festivities. Depending on the size of the goat one usually got about 200–250 grams of mutton.

I did get my share of the offering but could not eat it. The smell of burnt flesh was not exactly appealing to me. Until recently I would send my share back with Baban. After we got Pepper, my share went to her and she just loved it. Besides the biannual Gaon Dev celebrations there is a ritual performed every ten years to cleanse the village of evil spirits.

Decades ago, on the eve of the first new moon after the monsoon harvest, the over-six-foot-tall head of our village, Rama Thakur, would patrol the narrow lanes, looking into each house after sunset. This was to see if any womenfolk or roosters or cattle had been left behind. Any violation would result in a fine and confiscation of the animal.

Thakur has passed on but there is a diligence in observing the Gaon Dev ritual in some tribal villages in our district till today. On the eve of the designated day, all the women and girls from the village, along with the animals (though there are exceptions), cross the River Surya and stay for twenty-four hours in the open on the opposite bank of the river. Only the men are allowed to stay back. The doors of all the houses are kept open. All night long the men sit under the huge banyan tree around the statue of Gaon Dev and intermittently beat drums and let out blood-curdling screams. This is to invite the gods to visit each home and rid them of any evil forces. The lamp near the god is to be kept lit and the men ensure that it does not go out all night.

An early morning walk through the village and I cannot spot a single soul except old Pavan Kaka hobbling to the riverbank to check if his wife has survived the cold winter night on the opposite bank. She

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