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

so long that in response Megha stretched her own shoulders and exercised her
neck up and down and around.
The only people she had come across in her path were two tribal boys; one of
them had approached her slowly, had suddenly touched her bag and then fled,
tittering as she called out to them.
“Hospitality,” Mrs. Kadam had repeated in a voice loud enough for
everyone in their cubicles to hear, “you will find it there, Megha, in the tribal
villages of India, the real India,” as if Megha’s India of coffee bars, khadi bags,
cricket television on Sunday afternoons was all adulterated, impure, false. “By
the time you will walk through the forest it will be evening, so stay over at the
settlement you will reach, the next day go to the school. Anyone from the nés
will take you to Tarkala.”
Megha walked on confidently, leaving bushes, trees and rocks of the Narmada
valley behind every stride. Megha’s footsteps were sure and judging her
composure would deceivingly convince someone that she had been here, on
these unmapped parts of India, several times.
This is just the way she is. When she was young, her teacher had
nominated her for the Inter‐School Calculus competition. An invitation had come
in from the Board and Megha’s teacher has asked if any one in class knew
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