"But tonight you will be my guests at a banquet which commemorates the celebration of Naag Brasputi. It is a local festival. Very colorful. I am sure you will find it amusing."
The governor rose and placed his palms together and raised them to his chin. "Namastey, gentlemen. Until tonight."
The three guests stood and bid the governor good day and watched him walk away-shoulders high, back straight, and hands held close to his sides as if wearing the crown and carrying the scepter of his office.
"I feel like I have just had an audience with the King of Siam," said Spence.
"You are not far wrong," said Adjani. "His is an imperial line that goes back centuries."
"He is a proud and ruthless man," remarked Gita. "Even in Calcutta we have heard stories about him. It would be better for us that he did not esteem our company so highly."
17
… THE GOVERNoR HAD contrived to impress his guests he could not have succeeded more ompletely. They were called from their rooms at dusk-after they had napped, bathed, and changed into new muslin clothes-and were conducted to a great banquet hall which opened at one end onto a vast lawn. People of all types-officials, servants, other guests, and dignitaries -were assembling in the hall, and on the lawn a circus appeared to be swinging into action.
Walking out onto the broad green lawn in the fiery violet-andorange sunset which lit the mountain peaks around them with cool flame, the three saw jugglers, fire-eaters, snake charmers, and acrobats. A man hanging by his heels from a rope swung round and round on a long pole, whirling as he went. Other performers walked tightropes, and everywhere dancers displayed intricate and facile movements to groups of applauding onlookers. Laughing youngsters threw flower petals and splashed perfumed water on all the guests, and strains of exotic music filled the air.
People from the city poured into other palace lawns and soon the noise and revel reached the threshold of chaos, though a gay sort of chaos.
Spence, Adjani, and Gita moved among the crowds and gawked first at one strange sight-a man who drew wide acclaim by swallowing live snakes and then drawing them back out an inch at a time-and then at another-a man who pushed long steel needles through his cheeks and eyelids and the skin of his throat.
Spence found the festive atmosphere exciting and repulsive at the same time. He felt like a country rube who had come to town to see the freak show; it fascinated and amazed, but left a queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. All of it was utterly beyond his experience, foreign and inexplicably odd. Nothing in his world of books and instruments hinted at the existence of this world he was seeing. He had nothing to compare it to.
Adjani hovered at Spence's shoulder, watching him with keen interest and explaining when he could what they were seeing and something of the significance behind it. Gita also sup. plied helpful explanations, but he was too caught up in the spectacle as a participant himself to count on as a guide. His round form could be seen darting here and there in the crush to join a dance or thrust into the forefront of an audience. He was soon decked in layers of flower garlands. His face shone with boyish enthusiasm; clearly, anyone would have thought that the entire show had been produced for his enjoyment alone.
As the first of the evening stars came out, adding their bright light to the color below, Spence and his companions were shepherded back into the banquet hall where they were seated at an enormous table at the open end overlooking the roistering scene of the celebration.
They and other dignitaries and ministers at the table were given bowls of rose water and hot, lemon-scented towels to freshen themselves from their exertion. Then hamals began circulating with trays of delicate iced cakes and other appetizers.
The governor appeared at a balcony just above the lawn in full view of his guests at the table and the festival crowd. A thunderous chorus of acclamation greeted his arrival. The guests at the table stood and were no less enthusiastic in their welcome than the populace on the lawn.
Fazlul, resplendent in gleaming white tunic and trousers, a long flowing white mantle edged in silver, and a white turban with a huge sparkling gemstone on his brow, raised his hands to the adoring revelers, and silence descended over them in a hush. He spoke a few words which Spence could not understand and then raised his hands once more and the celebration erupted into life. Spence guessed that their beloved leader had given his blessing to the occasion and commanded that the night be enjoyed to the full. Obviously, the order was immensely popular with all who heard it; they threw themselves into its execution in all haste.
The governor and his wife, a statuesque, dark-haired beauty clothed in shimmering pale green, descended the broad staircase that joined the balcony with the terrace and moved among their honored guests. They stopped at each place and spoke with each guest briefly before moving on. Soon they were standing before Spence, Adjani, and Gita.
The three stood uncertainly as the governor announced to his wife, "These are the men I told you about who saved Ambooli. Gentlemen, my wife, Sarala."
With a smile of warmth and cheer the lovely lady raised her pressed palms together and inclined her head toward them. "Namastey, my friends. Thank you for saving Ambooli. She is, as you may have guessed, my husband's favorite. It was a regrettable tragedy, but we are glad that you have come to us. Please enjoy yourselves. I hope that I will have the pleasure of an audience with you alone very soon. News of the world comes so seldom to the mountains." She smiled again and Spence saw the hint of a wink. "And visitors even more rarely. We must sit down and have a long talk."
"The pleasure would be ours," replied Adjani smoothly. The governor nodded stiffly and moved away saying, "Enjoy the evening. It will be quite fantastic, I assure you."
"He was certainly restrained," whispered Spence to Adjani when Fazlul and Sarala had gone. "Did you notice he didn't look at us all the time his wife was speaking?"
"Yes, strange." Adjani shrugged. "Perhaps our stay here should be a short one. I would feel better if we weren't imposing on one so powerful."
"Is he so powerful, do you think? I don't know what to make of him."
Adjani shrugged again. "I'm sure we're making more of this than we should. I can think of no reason why we should come under his suspicion."
"Maybe not, but I have felt danger from him both times we met." …
ALL AT ONCE A rattle and a clatter broke out just in front of the terrace. Musicians in costume with drums and tambalas and native flutes struck up an eerie, otherworldly music and a score of dancing girls came running.
"The floor show," said Spence.
"Dancing is a way of life in India. Everyone dances. And the various dances have special meanings. This is a festive dance, a dance of joy. The girls' costumes are handed down from mother to daughter over many generations. To dance well is to please the gods."
Though intricate, the steps and hand movements performed to the rhythm of the drums seemed to Spence to be more strutting and posing than dancing. But he drank in the sight of the lithe, supple bodies in their colorful red, green, and gold shifts with gold bodices and bare midriffs. Gold necklaces and earrings and noserings glittered in the light as the girls danced, slowly at first but with ever increasing tempo.
One dance was followed by another and another-some. times with male dancers, sometimes with female, and sometimes mixed. Food on steaming platters arrived and Adjani supervised the filling of Spence's plates, providing a running commentary on what each dish was and its relative spiciness. Toddy flowed freely, and Spence drank the sweet-tasting liquor in great gulps, chasing the food with little regard for its potency.