He wanted them to know. The old woman and Sulochana. They were both in his power now. They had been in his power from the day they had walked into his office.
When he returned to his house, there was a letter from Comrade Thimma under the door. Probably hand-delivered, since there was no one else to deliver anything now.
He tossed it away. He realized, as he did it, that he was casting away for good his membership in the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Maoist). Comrade Thimma, his mouth thirst ing for tea, would deliver lectures alone, in that dim hall, denouncing him. Murali would join Bernstein and Trotsky and the long line of apostates.
At midnight he was still awake. He lay staring at the ceiling fan, whose fast-rotating blades were chopping the light from the halogen streetlamps outside the bedroom into sharp white glints: they showered down on Murali like the first particles of wisdom he had received in his life.
He stared at the brilliant blur of the fan’s blades for a long time; then, with a jerk, he got up from the bed.
CHRONOLOGY
News reaches Kittur via the BBC that Mrs. Indira Gandhi, prime minister of India, has been assassinated by her own bodyguards. The town shuts down in mourning for two days. Mrs. Gandhi’s cremation, broadcast live, proves a major boost to the number of TVs sold in Kittur.
November: General elections. Anand Kumar, the Congress (I) candidate and a junior minister in Indira Gandhi’s cabinet, retains his seat. His majority of 45,457 votes over Ashwin Aithal, his BJP opponent, is the largest in Kittur’s history.
1985
Reflecting the growing interest in the stock market, the
Dr. Shambhu Shetty opens Happy Smile Clinic, Kittur’s first orthodontic clinic.
1986
A giant rally held by the Hoyka community in Nehru Maidan pledges to build the first temple “for, by, and of Backward Castes” in Kittur.
The first video-lending library opens in Umbrella Street.
Construction of the north bell tower, delayed for over a century, is resumed at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Valencia.
1987
The Cricket World Cup is held in India and Pakistan. Interest in cricket proves a major boost to the demand for color TVs.
Riots break out between Hindus and Muslims in the Bunder. Two people are killed. Dawn-to-dusk curfew in the port.
Kittur is reclassified by the state government of Karnataka from “town” to “city,” and the town municipality becomes a “City Corporation.” The first act of the new corporation is to authorize the cutting down of the great forest of Bajpe.
The arrival of migrant Tamil workers, drawn by the construction boom in Bajpe and Rose Lane, is believed to be the cause of a severe outbreak of cholera.
1988
Mabroor Ismail Engineer, generally believed to be the richest man in town, opens the first Maruti Suzuki car showroom in Kittur.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) holds a march from Angel Talkies to the Bunder. Marchers call for India to be declared a Hindu nation, and for a return to traditional social values.
Elections held for the City Corporation. The BJP and the Congress divide the seats almost exactly.
Construction of the north bell tower, delayed for a year by the death of the rector, is recommenced at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Valencia.
1989
General elections. Ashwin Aithal, the BJP candidate, upsets cabinet minister and Congress candidate Anand Kumar to become the first non-Congress candidate ever to win the seat of Kittur.
The Sardar Patel Iron Man of India Sports Stadium opens in Bajpe. The construction of houses in the neighborhood proceeds rapidly, and by the year’s end the old forest is almost entirely gone.
1990
A bomb explodes during a chemistry class at St. Alfonso’s Boys’ High School and Junior College, leading to its temporary closure. The
The first computer lab in Kittur is opened at St. Alfonso’s Boys’ High School and Junior College. Other schools follow within the year.
The Gulf War breaks out, leading to the loss of expatriate remittances from Kuwait. A severe economic crisis follows. However, the broadcast of the war on CNN, available only to those TVs with a dish antenna, proves a great boost to sales of satellite TV dish antennas in Kittur.
With its funding frozen, construction work on the north bell tower of the cathedral once again comes to a halt.
News reaches Kittur via CNN of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. The town is shut down in mourning for two days.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aravind Adiga was born in India in 1974 and attended Columbia and Oxford universities. A former correspondent for
