Chapter 2: Plant response to elevated CO2 - DRUM - University of ...

me, not even someone offering me a ticket to Bombay. So, after dusk I would be
confined at home in our two room house; all we had was one low watt bulb
around which insects buzzed. Shutting the windows to keep the insects out was
impossible, because there were no fans. Just beyond the two rooms lay the
extension, sort of an inner courtyard, our own sky light from which monkeys
would swing during the day, and next to it, the small bathroom. After dark, I
would not venture out to go to the bathroom. Mom would see me shaking my
leg or walking up and down and would lead me to the bathroom and stand there
till I finished. I would leave the door slightly ajar so that I could see her sari
while I was inside.
One evening, Mom didn’t return home till eight; it was pitch dark outside
and I was worried. Mami said Mom would be at the temple – tonight the
Aatmasiddhi reading was supposed to extend till 9:00. But then I thought Mom
would have told me if she was to be late. I busied myself with some cowrie shells
flipping them in the air and counting as they dropped clanging to the floor but I
couldn’t stop thinking about all the ghosts that stalked the temple complex. Pia
swore that she had seen one outside the water cooler, next to the Peepul tree,
drinking its fill. She had even seen the water coursing down to its stomach. Mom
said God protected his children; nothing bad could happen. But what if God had
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