Chapter 38
“Hello Rama,” the male voice called out. “It’s me, Nanda. Don’t shoot me with one of your arrows!”
Rama Prabhas Rajamouli looked up from the resting squat position he was in to see the man come around from the side of the hut.
“Hello, Nanda,” Rama said, neither smiling nor frowning.
“Oh, don’t be so serious, Rama,” the man said. “You know a part of me is joking and the other part of me is jealous. Even if you don’t have the bow and arrow quite worked out yet, you are still more adept at catching prey with your mega-darts or mini-spears than nearly everyone else in the colony.”
“What I don’t understand is why we seem to be having difficulty getting as much food as we’d like,” Nanda continued. “I understand this is new to us, but the plants and animals seem numerous enough around here. It doesn’t feel that much different from the challenges people had around Hyderabad. But that issue was a sufficient supply of quality food. Here the supply appears to be enough, so why are we spending so much time collecting our food?”
“Because the people of Kottagramam colony here are neither hunters nor farmers,” Rama answered. “Most of the colonists were desperate to leave Earth because of the difficulties of life there. But that doesn’t give us natural skills to survive in the wild. Especially when so many people still won’t eat meat and so many people are afraid to try any plant that isn’t already confirmed as safe to eat.”
“Can you blame them for not making a salad of any flower, vegetable or fruit they find?” Nanda asked. “How many people have we lost because of eating poisonous plants? And how many are afraid to try anything unless you bless it? People don’t trust themselves. Remember how many you saved that first week because of what you remembered from the welcome video or the drawings you had Lakshmi make and post near the landing site? You know, my friend, she still asks about you frequently.”
“Lakshmi is a lovely woman,” Rama said as he continued whittling the end of a long stick into an arrow point. “But I’m not interested in a relationship at the moment.”
“Are you still in mourning for that woman you carried off the ship?” the visitor asked.
“Sarada was her name,” Rama replied. “Am I in mourning for her? No, I would say. I didn’t know her long enough to truly be in mourning because of her death. But her passing did have a big impact on me, I’ll freely admit.”
“So why not get to know some of the women here, and help reduce that impact?” Nanda suggested.
“I don’t think it’s quite that easy,” Rama responded. “Besides, is it me or is it the food I can provide them that they are interested in?”
“What does it matter?” Nanda questioned in response. “You seem to be able to collect more than you need, based on what I see you sharing with others. Why not share that with someone who makes you feel less lonely?”
“I’m not interested in a relationship with a woman at the moment, so can we leave that conversation?” Rama asked.
“You still spend a lot of time with your two friends. Srikanth I can understand – he’s polite, hard-working, and tries to have a pleasant conversation. The other one, Venkata? Yes, him. He is moodier than you are,” Nanda continued. “Maybe I’m mistaken and it’s them you prefer to make you feel less lonely.”
Rama looked at his guest. “I’m not interested in a relationship with a man either. And probably never will, just so you know.”
“Okay, okay. Don’t take offense,” Nanda said. “I just like to figure people out.”
“There isn’t that much to figure out about me,” Rama said, standing up and walking over to a hollowed out husk of a large tree-fruit. He took some string-width vine and three trimmed feathers, slid the spine of each feather into a groove carved into the shaft of the arrow, and began tying the feathers to the far end of the shaft opposite the point.
“I disagree,” Nanda said. “For example, how did you learn to fashion arrows. I thought you were an actor back on Earth?”
“Yes, and I never learned weapon making as an actor,” Rama said. “But my mother was an engineer for Tata Propulsion Systems. She did teach me to think critically about a problem and find the appropriate solution. As an actor, I used plenty of prop weapons and remember what they looked like. I just have to figure out how to recreate them with the materials available here.”
“And your ability to hit your target when you are hunting?” Nanda asked.
“I guess my acting did help me there,” Rama said with a small smile. “I had plenty of training to make my fighting look realistic. That, and I was gifted with some natural agility that, I guess, gives me a benefit when it comes to throwing things at moving targets. But the animals are starting to become wary of us. The days at the beginning when you could run up and grab a slow-climbing scaly sloth by the tail are behind us. But at least, with some luck and good aim, it’s possible to knock one off a branch before it glides away.”
“Are you going to use those to knock things off some branches today?” Nanda said, pointing to the quiver with arrows.
“I don’t really care where the animal is,” Rama said, “but I do hope to knock one off its feet so it can find its way into my stomach.”
“Can I join you today? ” Nanda asked. “I’ll be your walowala.”
“My what?” the actor turned hunter questioned.
“Never mind,” Rama responded. “I’ll carry whatever you catch.”
“And you’ll want half of what is caught, I suppose?” Rama said.
“Nonsense,” Rama replied. “Enough meat to fit into the palm of my hand is all I ask.”
“Well arrange for a fair division,” Rama said.
“And Laksmi as well,” Nanda said. “She also wants to learn to improve her skills.”
“No. Too many people, too much noise,” Rama answered curtly.
“Rama, please, she wants to learn,” Nanda pleaded. “And you’ll find her a much better companion than I could ever be.”
Rama scowled at his guest. “Why are you so insistent, Nanda? What is it about this woman? Is she after you and you want to pass her off to someone else? Keep it up and you can stay behind.”
“Ok, I’ll leave it,” Nanda said, “but someday…”
“Enough!” interrupted Rama.
The hunter grabbed his arrows, his makeshift bow, a knife and some vines, and stomped off into the woods.
Nanda stood for a few moments, then followed in silence.
As the sun was closing in on the end of the day, the two men approached Rama’s hut.
“I’m glad you were the only person with me today, Nanda,” Rama said. “It was embarrassing what happened today. Look at us. Two grown men out ‘hunting’ all day, and all we have are the two small creatures that don’t even strain your wrist to carry.”
“I thought the purpose of the day today was to try out the arrows and wasn’t focused on the catch,” Nanda responded.
“I’m not sure that was successful either,” Rama said. “Six arrows destroyed, either with a broken shaft or missing fletching. And the bow is a disaster.”
“Hunting with you takes a lot of work on my part,” Nanda said. “Yes, carrying the catch is easy. And the walking wasn’t too strenuous. But finding new ways to encourage your spirit has me exhausted, my friend. You’re creating prehistoric weapons without the benefit of being an expert with stone tools. You were able to hit and catch an animal with your self-made bow and arrow. You’ve learned some things to improve upon. And we have food to eat!”
“If it were not for the trap that caught the screeching rabbit, we’d be fighting over bushrat meat,” Rama said. “Ten shots, six broken arrows, and one small rodent.”
Nanda looked at him with a sideways glance.
“Okay, okay. We have food, lessons learned, and have lived another day. I’ll improve my outlook…” Rama stopped mid-sentence, put his arm out to stop Nanda, and put his finger to his mouth then pointed to the left of the hut they could now see as they came into the clearing.
Some snapping twigs could be heard moving away from the clearing.
After a few moments, Rama whispered, “Did you see it?”
“See what,” Nanda whispered back.
“I’m not sure, but something was trying to sneak away from my hut when we approached,” Rama said.
Nanda leaned forward, squinted in the late-day light to look more closely. “I’m not seeing anything,” he said, straightening up. “I’m guessing it was an animal that was casually leaving, feeling safe that us fearsome hunters have collected our maximum catch for the day.”
“Seriously, Nanda, I saw something, and it wasn’t an animal. Unless there are animals on two-legs we haven’t encountered,” Rama said. “And I know you heard the branches cracking.”
“I did, but I also hear lots of sounds when I sit quietly in the woods,” Nanda said. “But if you are worried, I can help you investigate.”
“No, whatever it was is gone now,” Rama replied.
“I can stay here if you’d like,” his friend offered.
“Thank you, but no,” Rama said. “You can return to the main camp. They are probably nearing the end of meal time, so you need to hurry to get back in time. And take the rabbit.”
“I’ll take the bushrat,” Nanda said. “You were responsible for catching both animals so you should have the bigger catch.”
“OK,” Rama said, not arguing the point. “Tomorrow will be all about trapping. I’ll make some more arrows, but it will be a few days before I’m ready to try bow hunting again. I need to find better bowstring.”
“Rest well, my friend,” Nanda said, handing the rabbit carcass to Rama. “I’m glad this creature is dead. It’s screeching itself is enough to scare me away.”
“Thank you, Nanda,” the hunter said.
Rama watched his friend leave, stood still for a few moments looking around and listening, and then finally hung the rabbit from a tree branch and cautiously went inside his hut.
The structure was a basic rectangle on the outside. Inside it was divided by a privacy wall, separating a third from the rest of the room, with an animal skin hung over the entry to the back section.
Rama quietly walked up to the skin then yanked it back to look inside.
Nothing jumped out and nothing was hiding there.
He walked over to a corner against the inside wall, lifted up another animal skin on the ground, presumably for sleeping. Under it was soil that, while smoothed, had been loosened and put back in place. Rama stared at the soil, then pushed aside a pile and pulled out two small wooden baskets, each with a crude lid. One was filled with nuts and the other with hard berries.
After staring at the contents, Rama put both baskets back in the ground, covered them with dirt, smoothed out the mound, placed the animal pelt over the cache, and returned outside.
Satisfied no person or animal was around, Rama proceeded to make a small fire, finished skinning his catch and then cooked and ate the meat.
After his meal, he looked up to see the larger of the two moons rising over the trees, casting its full-moon shine over his site. This allowed him enough light to take the bones and other leftovers along with the skin out of the clearing and down to the river, where he buried the bones and finished washing and cleaning the skin.
Unlike earlier that evening when he approached his cabin after the hunt, Rama walked quietly, listening intently. He entered the clearing from the right side of the structure and crept into the hut. Upon hearing a noise in the sleeping section, Rama pulled out his knife from his belt, rushed over to the animal covering and threw it back.
A person was inside, but it was hard to see whether man or woman, let alone anyone Rama knew.
“What are you doing here?” Rama said accusingly, holding the knife out.
The response was one of the baskets flying towards Rama. In the dark he barely had time to react, raising his hand to prevent the basket from hitting him in the face. The action knocked the knife out of his hand, and knocked Rama backwards against the cabin wall.
The intruder used the opportunity to try and rush out. Rama was able to lurch forward and grab at the intruders legs, knocking the person down.
Rama could hear his other basket hit the floor, as the nuts came tumbling out. In more light from the fire outside, Rama could tell it was a man. But no one he knew. In fact, this man had white skin, much lighter than any of the Kottagramam colonists.
The man tried to kick Rama off him, resulting in the two getting into a tussle. After a few quick punches, shoves and kicks, the intruder fell back into the sleeping section. He rose holding Rama’s knife he found on the cabin floor.
Lunging after Rama, the intruder backed the former VR actor into the corner of the main section of his hut but away from the outside door.
The man shouted something Rama didn’t understand. A few moments later another shape appeared in the doorway.
The second man said something to the first, again using words Rama didn’t understand. The first man, who didn’t look away from Rama, replied. The second man smiled and nodded and slowly began walking farther into the room.
Before Rama had time to react, a third body ran into the room. Raising one arm above it’s head, this third person rushed up to the second intruder, and struck him in the back of the head with a large rounded object.
The noise made the first intruder turn and look to see a tall woman breathing heavy with a rock in her hand. He gave an exclamation, looked back at Rama, then began to charge the woman, who, in a practiced and smooth move, threw the rock which hit the man squarely in the forehead. A sharp edge of the rock snapped the frontal bone and made its way to the frontal lobe, dropping the man in his tracks before he reached the woman.
The two people still standing stared at each other, eyes wide in near shock.
“Rama, are you hurt?” the woman asks, still breathing heavily.
“Lakshmi?” Rama asked, the adrenaline still coursing through his system.
“Yes,” the woman said.
Rama relaxed slightly. “Is that a flower in your hair?”
“Yes,” the woman said, looking upwards.
“It’s broken,” Rama commented.
“It must have gotten crushed when I swung the rock at that first man,” Lakshmi commented.
“Why is it in your hair,” Rama asked.
“I put it in on my way to visit you. I was hoping it would make me look more appealing to you,” Lakshmi said, as she reached up to pull out the broken bud.
“It’s a nice touch,” Rama said.
The woman stopped and then tried straightening the flower. “You like it?” she asked.
“Yes, I mean it’s hard to see it in the dark and everything, but yes,” Rama commented. “Um, how can I thank you for saving me.”
“Take me on your next hunt,” Lakshmi blurted out.
“Okay, I will,” Rama said. “But that won’t be for a few more days, I’m afraid.” The hunter bent down to pick up some of the items off the floor. “Would you accept some nuts as a thank you this evening?”
“Before or after we haul these two out of your hut,” she says. Rama and Laskmi look at the two prone bodies, one breathing very shallowly, the other with blood freely flowing out of his nose and the gash in his forehead and no discernible movement of his chest. “I’m not sure,” Rama says, and they both give a nervous laugh.