The Wedding Drums
Page 32
‘You country people think you could make a fool of me?’ Dillip slurred. He sniggered. ‘Your father was begging for mercy in the end, little girl. He gave over everything he had. To me, Dillip Dass.’ He leered at Amina. ‘You could come and live with me if you want the gold and jewels, but you will pay too – on your back.’ He laughed drunkenly. ‘Those properties will help make up for mine that you burnt down, but they’re not enough. Oh, and bring your mother too. I will put her to work in the kitchen. I hear she makes a good goat curry and dhalpuri.’ His mood changed and he snarled at Amina. ‘Your father made a big mistake when he cancelled the wedding. Nobody makes a fool out of Dillip Dass. Now go and tell your mother how I slit your father’s throat open. Blood everywhere. But I give you this – he was worried about you. And I promised I would look after his family as if they were mine. Because you are mine,’ he growled, his eyes bloodshot. ‘Till you burnt my place. Except, when you make a promise as a Hindu, it cannot be broken.’
‘I am not a Hindu!’ Amina screamed. ‘God will be punishing you long after I forgive you for the donkey of a man you are.’
When they looked around, they were surrounded by police officers and onlookers.
‘Officer, there can be no doubt,’ Narine said.
‘Take him,’ the sergeant said. ‘Him too,’ pointing to Amrit.
As they took both men away, struggling, Dillip shouted, ‘karma will get you in the end!’
‘If there’s anything like karma, you will come back as a pig on a Saturday morning and get your throat cut!’ she yelled, tears pouring down her face as Dillip was handcuffed and dragged away.
Narine made sure that the rental properties were eventually returned to Sankar’s estate, and back in the possession of the family. It took some time to come to terms with what had happened to them as a family, both the good and the bad. But with the help of each other and the new family additions, they worked things through.
Rajnath found a large property in San Fernando that Amina could turn into a school. He felt she would succeed in beating the wedding drums and never marry, and he intended to use his money to help her. Amina persuaded her mother to sell three of the rental houses and purchase a large one in San Fernando, where they could make a new start. Devinia wanted her daughter to think about going to England to study medicine, but Amina couldn’t find a way to justify leaving all of them. Not yet. She still wanted her father to be proud of her, and make sure he didn’t die in vain. But she needed to start her education in Trinidad. Later she would decide upon his wish for her to study medicine. There was something else. Rajnath. He seemed to make a good friend, genuine and honest. And good-looking. She wondered if he would always remain just a friend. Time would tell.
Etwar said he would remain in Granville and look after the house, together with a school-friend who would move in with him, and the family could visit whenever they needed to escape from the town. When Mr Clifford heard their plans, he was saddened, but suggested a good school in San Fernando where Amina could finish her Part One Pupil Teacher Training. He promised to keep an eye on Etwar too. Indeed, the lad was a good candidate for next year’s evening classes, and would make a fine teacher himself. Pundit Lall, meanwhile, assured them that Sankar was enjoying the delights of the goddesses up in heaven together, with Amina’s God, of course. He was not of a mind to cross a girl of her calibre, but he could lose respect in the village if he was not careful to support his own beliefs.
‘The delights of God are not of this world,’ Amina retorted. Pundit Lall knew he had spoken out of place. ‘My God is concerned with the new world. He wants to fill it with those who believe in his only begotten Son.’
‘Begotten son?’ Pundit Lall couldn’t help himself. ‘A reincarnation. Your Jesus is just another sadhu – a holy man, but one of many who have given up the pleasures of this world.’
An almighty rage rose in the depths of Amina’s belly, and the pundit should not have been surprised, but he was. ‘One God, one faith, one baptism. And one Son of God, who never had any pleasures of this world. My father should have never listened to you in the first place. It was you who brought these wicked people into our lives, and it was you who brought his death. All the bad luck my mother is suffering now, is because of your tricks to get my father to pay you for making me a crooked match. I will forgive you for that, but we are giving you no more money. I will beat the wedding drums, you’ll see. . . and marry only if and when I choose.’
Pundit Lall was shaking. ‘After all the favours I have done for you? You have a lot to learn, girl.’
Rajnath laughed to see Amina standing up for herself finally. He admired her zeal for improving life for herself and others, and he vowed to help her succeed in any way he could. He looked up, searching for Sumati. She had moved to the edge of the asphalt pavement, her figure slicing the sunlight. Rajnath realised that his heart had gone to her long before he cared to admit. He moved towards her, no longer able keep it a secret.
BAIGAN CHOKHA
(Serves 2-3)
Ingredients
2 aubergines
1 tbsp coconut oil (if solid, melt gently)
2 cloves garlic – crushed
1 pinch salt
1-2 bird peppers – chopped finely
A squeeze of lime/lemon juice (optional)
Method
Turn on oven to 200C
Using a sharp pointed knife, prick the skins of the aubergine 3 -4 times lightly.
Place aubergines in a lightly greased roasting tin and put into heated oven.
Roast for about 30-40 min until soft and skins are deeply wrinkled and flaking.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 min.
Peel skins off very carefully (do not burn your fingers). Remove all flesh from skin and keep in a bowl.
Scoop out flesh from the heads
Mash flesh with a fork to remove lumps
Add oil, salt, (lime juice), crushed garlic and bird peppers to taste, and mix in evenly
Serve with warm roti/flatbread or as a side dish.
PUMPKIN TALKARIE
(Serves 2 -3)
Ingredients
Half of a medium pumpkin (depending on size)
(butternut squash is an alternative)
2 cloves of garlic
2 tsp coconut oil
salt to taste
1 bird pepper (optional) chopped finely
1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
Method
Peel and chop pumpkin into half inch cubes
Using a heavy pan, heat the oil
Add pumpkin cubes
Stir for five minutes making sure it doesn’t stick to pan
Cover pan and lower the heat enough so it doesn’t stick
Stir occasionally until pumpkin is very soft and mushy
Crush garlic and add with salt and bird pepper
Stir over heat for another 3 min
Using a fork, mash the pumpkin lumps to make fairly smooth
Sprinkle with the chopped fresh parsley
Serve with roti/flatbread or as a side dish.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to everyone who was part of my writing journey over the past years before this book was born. For all your encouragement, inspiration and motivation, which kept me writing through difficult times, and when all hope seemed lost. To those who have passed on, fallen asleep in Jesus, or alive and well.
Special gratitude to my aunts Carmen Seerattan and Diana Mungal, and my father Mark Johnatty, all no longer with us, but who were always at hand to answer my queries about life in early 20th Century Trinidad. I am so sorry these cannot be here to see the novel in print.
To the many other relatives and friends who helped with the historical research and own ancestral stories of Indentured Indian labour in Trinidad. To Patsy Seerattan, for your help and accommodation on my research visits. To my school friends Shanti Narinesingh and Indra Latchu for your faith and interest in my work. To my good friend Alis
on Rayner who was never tired of helping me in the early editing days, and Anne Ankers my RNA friend who read the final draft and gave me useful feedback.
A special thank you to all those from the RNA who have given me encouragement, NWS critiques, advice, and strongly believed in the content of this novel. Margaret James, author, journalist and friend, you are one such. Without you all, this book would never be here.
To my supporters on Facebook, individuals and groups - Writers Support Station, and others. Having you all to relate to during the lonely writing stage, was most valuable.
To Joan Deitch, copy editor, who turned my manuscript into one more commercially acceptable. Her loveliness and faith in The Wedding Drums, kept me motivated.
To Sarah Houldcroft, of Goldcrest Books, who brought my writing from manuscript to publication - massive thanks to you and all involved in the process.
Thank you to my dear children and step children who have supported me over the years. To Charmaine Gaitskell, one of my earliest supporters, reader and critic. To James Gaitskell, another early supporter who remarked once that I am always in another world – how observant and how tolerant. To Peter Rodwell, who set up my blog, www.outofthecocoa.blogspot.com. To Rebecca Rodwell, who lived all of her school life in the hope that everyone would soon see the book her mother was writing, and the embarrassment that it was not published – until her final year at university. Thank you, my sweet child, for your unending love and patience.
Finally, to my husband, Chris, who supported me emotionally, spiritually, and financially, and kept me motivated. I could not have done it without the endless cups of teas, your patience and your faith in me.
To my readers, I hope you all enjoy reading The Wedding Drums. It’s the first, but it is not the last.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marilyn Rodwell was born in Trinidad and is fourth generation East Indian. Her first job was at age seventeen, teaching Maths, Health Science and Art at a private secondary school, followed by Government primary schools. She comes from a family of teachers and head teachers, and did Bible study every day. As a teenager, her hobbies included playing the violin and painting. She arrived in the UK at the age of nineteen, and after a family holiday, began student nurse training in Swansea, where there was much curiosity about her heritage and Trinidad.
After having a family, she returned to education at Coventry University studying Business Studies, after which, she launched a design, manufacturing and retail company. Later she lectured in Marketing and Business, and following the birth of her third child, she decided to start writing fiction.
She lives in the Warwickshire countryside with her husband and spends her time doing church related activities, cooking and writing. The Wedding Drums is her first novel, and the chapter illustrations are from oil paintings which she did at the age of thirteen. The cover is also based on one of those paintings.
www.outofthecocoa.blogspot.com
Facebook.com/Author Marilyn Rodwell
Twitter @outofthecocoa
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR READING GROUPS
In The Wedding Drums, Amina and Sumati are described as opposites. How do their opposite personality traits affect their friendship?
Mr Clifford is encouraging his pupils to go into teaching as a career, and at times against the will of the parents. Discuss.
Why does Amina want to change her religion? How would you advise her?
If you were living in that time, how would you deal with the plight of Amina and Sumati regarding their arranged marriages?
Discuss the character of Rajnath Kamalsingh.
Describe the working conditions of the indentured labourers in the sugar cane fields in Trinidad. Compare and contrast with the previous era of slavery.
Would you like to live in those times? If yes, why? If no, why not?
Does Sumati change from the beginning of the novel to the end? In what way?
What advice would you give each of the characters at any point of the novel?
When tragedy hit Amina’s household, and she makes the drastic decision to accept the offer of a job, how did you feel about it?
Which minor characters appeal to you? Why?
Whose story would you be most interested in reading about in a later novel?
What other similar novels have you read that are set around the 1917 time period? Where were they set? Discuss the differences and similarities.
The world has changed a great deal since 1917, but human behaviour essentially remains the same. How is this demonstrated in The Wedding Drums?
Table of Contents
MAP OF TRINIDAD
MAP OF GRANVILLE
Glossary
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Thirty-six
Thirty-seven
Thirty-eight
Thirty-nine
Forty
Forty-one
Forty-two
Forty-three
Forty-Four
Forty-five
Forty-six
Forty-seven
Forty-eight
Forty-nine
Fifty
Fifty-one
Fifty-two
Fifty-three
Fifty-four
Baigan Chokha
Pumpkin Talkarie
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Discussion questions for Reading Groups