Immigrant fiction: In this epic fantasy, a woman will do whatever it takes to liberate her people
An excerpt from ‘Kavithri: Outcast. Underdog. Survivor’, by Aman J Bedi.
The rest of the afternoon passed without incident, and when they were finally done, one of the sahib’s attendants walked over to Kavi and dropped a handful of coins in her waiting palms.
Four rayals. The shroud of numb indifference she’d been fighting to hold together disintegrated, and she burst into tears.
I can eat.
She saluted the sahibs, slapped the back of her hand against her brow and left it there while the other beggars glared at her.
Once the sahibs turned their backs on her, she levered herself up with a sigh. Knees cracked and muscles groaned as the pain in her back spread.
Kavi counted the coins again, just to be safe, and set three aside to replenish her stores of salt and rice. She wiped the drool off her chin, checked the road for rickshaws, and crossed over to the butta hawker.
She brandished the silver coin stamped with the profile of Sree Golmadi, the long-dead leader of the Raayan push for independence and the most mythologised man in Raaya, and said, “How many can I get?”
The butta hawker studied the coin while his hands continued their fanning and corn-flipping acrobatics. “Two. One if you want extra chilli.”
“Give me two,” she said, “one of them with extra chilli. Please.”
The butta...
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