Prakash could hardly hide his shame, yet he dutifully attended his son’s trial at the High Court of Kerala. It was his first time ever on the mainland, and he could only look down in humiliation as his son delivered a fiery oration when he was called to the stand. The presiding judge was also a native of Lakshadweep, and thankfully gave Vaikom and his gang a lenient sentence of several years in jail, arguing that the charge was for arson instead of culpable homicide. The owners of Lemuria didn’t press for additional charges, preferring to pay off the victims’ families and keep the whole affair under wraps.
When Prakash returned to Kavaratti, he forbade his family from ever mentioning his son to him ever again. He just couldn’t understand how Vaikom could place so much shame on his family’s honor, and Prakash reasoned he must have failed as a parent somehow. In time the pain settled into a dull ache, and Prakash had largely forgotten about him, yet the suppressed memories were now reawakened as he looked down at his formerly long lost son.
17
PRAKASH MENON KNEW his time was better served in evening prayer to Allah, but he needed to know what his son was up to. “Why did you return?”
Vaikom continued to stretch his back. “I was let out of jail.”
“When?”
“Around six months ago,” Vaikom said.
“That long? Why did you not contact us?”
Despite the growing darkness as the sun set over the horizon, Vaikom stared deeply into his father’s eyes. “Because from the way you looked at me during the trial, I didn’t think you even cared.”
His son’s words stung him deeply, and Prakash’s shoulders shifted a little bit sideways, as if he were recoiling from a slap to his face. The abrupt anger had left him, and he could still recall Vaikom as a happy-go-lucky boy during his younger days. “I did care for you, but I didn’t care for those you called your friends. They twisted your mind, turned you against our ways.”
Vaikom stood up. “Why do you people always put the blame somewhere else? Could you and the others not understand what we were trying to do?”
“Fine, why don’t you tell me what you and those other hooligans were trying to accomplish with fire and murder?”
Vaikom groaned. “It wasn’t murder! We never tried to kill anyone.”
“Two people died, my son. That’s why you went to trial, remember?”
Vaikom looked away. “We just wanted them to stop building on that fake island of theirs.”
“You broke the law.”
“Someone had to do something! You elders failed us.”
“The rich have always done what they pleased,” Prakash said. “They had their permits, and their approvals from the authorities. There was nothing else to do.”
“And they are destroying our traditional way of life here. So my friends and I did what we had to do.”
Prakash shook his head. “All you did was kill innocents, and the rich businessmen from the mainland still have their island.”
Vaikom turned once more and stared at him again. “No, the fight is not yet over.”
The old man’s eyes grew wider. “What do you mean by that?”
“After I was let out of jail I made new friends, and I learned more things about these corrupt, evil men who somehow purchased Cherbaniani Reef under our noses.”
Prakash couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “No, stop this! I forbid it. You already spent time in jail, and you want to continue this pointless fight? Had the charge been murder you could have faced the death penalty.”
“I am a man now, Father, so I do not take orders from you anymore,” Vaikom said. “You and the other elders may not appreciate what we are doing, but we’re fighting to preserve what we still have. If this Lemuria becomes a success, then nothing will stop them from buying other atolls and reefs and turning them into more artificial islands. The fight for our dignity must continue.”
“I cannot believe I’m hearing this,” Prakash said. “Can you not just let things be? You are throwing your life away for a cause I cannot even understand.”
“You don’t get it because all you believe in is subservience, no matter what the price is.”
“Stop telling me you are fighting for us because you are not, you are fighting for yourself,” Prakash said.
“Do you know what they will be doing in these resorts once they open? They will engage in fornication outside of marriage and drink alcohol,” Vaikom said. “I have no doubt they will serve unclean animals for food like pork too.”
“These things are bad, yes, but they are not our business. Let them be.”
Vaikom pointed an accusing finger at him. “All this decadence will soon be at our doorstep unless they are stopped. When I was a child, you taught me to be a good Muslim and that is why I am fighting against this.”
Prakash exhaled deeply. “Please, all you are doing is making your own ruin. Fighting is not the way.”
“I have learned my lesson,” Vaikom said. “I will not fight with fire or knives anymore. I will expose the truth about them, and then I will reveal the corruption in our government which allowed these greedy apostates to build the island of Lemuria.”
“These people you fight against are very rich and powerful,” Prakash said softly. “Can you not just leave this be? I taught you to respect others. Leave justice to Allah, for he is great.”
“Allah blesses the ones who carry his wisdom. I believe what I am doing is right, and Allah is with me.”
“No, he is not with you,” Prakash said. “Did you know that I prayed to him for mercy every day when you were on trial? It was by his grace your life was spared. Now you seek to test yourself again with this foolish cause of yours.”
Vaikom knew there was no point in arguing with his father. He didn’t need to stay for the night; there were others on the island who still held sympathies for what he was doing. All Vaikom had wanted to do was to see his family again, and he’d already done that. Taking a large plastic bag from the floor, he stormed out of the room, pushing past his father, nearly toppling the old man.
His sister had overheard the argument, for the house was small, and she ran up to him as he got out onto the front porch. “Vaikom,” Sita said, her eyes full of tears as she tried to hold onto his forearms. “Please, don’t leave us.”
Vaikom hugged her. “I don’t know if I shall see you again. But I must do this, for it is a cause that means everything to me.”
Sita shook her head while sobbing. “I… I just don’t understand.”
He kissed her teary cheek. “Perhaps one day you will.” He gently pushed away from her, turned, and began walking the sandy path leading deeper into the shadowy canopy of palm trees above him. Sita called out his name once more, but he ignored her as he continued on, ever deeper into the blackest darkness beyond.
18
DARKNESS WAS A FRIEND. Without the blinding lights, its senses blossomed, becoming fully acute. It learned to sleep during the day within its ever-growing territory. The absence of the burning lights was no longer a distraction, and it quickly learned to use its hearing to detect a whole range of noises, from the insects crawling along the tree trunks, to the frenzied swimming of the small fishes in the water. A whole plethora of smells could be detected through its massive nostrils in both the water and the air. When the night came it could hunt and eat.
Experience was the great teacher. It soon learned it had two sets of organs for breathing; with a snorkel at the back of its neck it could still draw air while submerged and hold it for long periods of time. In addition, there were gills that could spread out like feathered wings along its back which helped it go deeper into the blue depths without having to surface. With each night cycle it began to range outward, slowly expanding its domain.