Fiction: The only way for Xavier to resolve his troubles is to know his scandalous ancestor, Francis

When Rekha told me about Itty Cora, I found it incredible. I felt that someone had lied to her during a net chat. When I googled cannibals.com, I reached the site of a New York-based rock group. Growing suspicious, I called my friend Benny to clarify my doubts.

“You planning to write a new novel?”

“Not at the moment, but it is a possibility I can’t rule out. For now, I’m looking for details to help a teacher who is involved in a research project.”

“Well, in that case, come over. Let’s go meet Tharu master. He is about eighty-five years old. He was a physical education teacher in a boys’ school. His memory is still sharp; you just need to jog it with a little alcohol.”

When I got down from the bus in Kunnamkulam, Benny was waiting for me in his car.

“Let’s have a drink before we meet Tharu. We can buy him a bottle as well.” Benny was a tobacco merchant. He was carrying on the family business. In the darkness of the bar, I asked him, “How’s business?”

“Bad. Not like it was in the old days. The number of tobacco chewers is falling. Twenty years ago, there were nearly four hundred households that would...

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