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CHAPTER 1

A Refugee

Pitamber crossed the bridge to Kupondole and found the gift shop where he'd been told Kabita worked. But the man behind the counter said she'd quit after just a few days. "She wasn't right in the head, you know," the man said, "after all that happened to her."

"Where did she go?"

"I don't know. I tried to convince her to stay on, but she just stopped coming."

Pitamber left the shop and stood on the sidewalk, squinting at the sun and noting the intense heat, strange for autumn. This morning he'd woken restless, with a hollowness in his stomach, and thought about the letter he'd received a fortnight ago from his childhood friend Jaikanth. The feeling remained with him throughout the day as he searched for this woman named Kabita, whose story Jaikanth had described to him. "She's in Kathmandu with her daughter, and I know what a kind man you are, Pitamber. Please do what you can to help her. She's suffered immensely."

Now Pitamber made his way to his flat in Dharahara, where his wife, Shailaja, was cooking French toast in the kitchen. She turned to smile at him as he came in. "Any luck?"

He said no and mopped his forehead with a handkerchief. "Why hasn't she contacted us? Jaikanth said he gave her our address. It's been nearly two weeks."

"Maybe other people are already helping her. Didn't Jaikanth mention other people she knew here?"

He nodded, then told her what the man in the gift shop had said. "I hope she's found another job," he told Shailaja, then said that his stomach had been mildly upset all day.

"It must be hunger," she said. "Why don't you go wash your face and I'll give you some French toast. Sumit should be home any minute now."

He went to the bathroom, washed his face, took several deep breaths, then went to find Jaikanth's letter. He read it again, and paused as he did: "They killed him in front of her, Pitamber. Can you imagine what that must have been like?" Jaikanth hadn't explained the details of the killing, but over the past two weeks Pitamber had formed a picture in his mind: three Maobadi rebels, barely past their teens (they were always so young in the news), storming into her house, dragging her husband out to the yard, slitting his throat with a knife. The four-year-old daughter probably inside the house, perhaps sound asleep, perhaps with a nasty cold. And after the men leave, a woman standing there, her palm over her mouth.

The woman's face was never clear, but Pitamber's mind always flashed with these details: the sun's rays glinting on washed pots drying on the porch, one rebel raising his finger to warn the neighbors peeking from the windows of their houses, the men's footprints on the rice paddies through which they escape.

He massaged his temples. Surely she still needed help now. It was clear that Jaikanth was expecting him to house the woman and her daughter for a while, and Pitamber was willing to do this, even though his was only a three-room flat in a small house. He wanted to help her, mostly out of compassion, but partly out of obligation to an old friend of his family, a friend from the village where he grew up.

When Sumit, his twelve-year-old son, returned from school, they drank tea and ate French toast, then Pitamber and the boy settled down to play chess. Pitamber had bought the set two months ago, after the first set, a cheap one with plastic pieces, disappeared from their flat. Pitamber suspected that one of Sumit's friends from the neighborhood, who had a reputation for lifting small objects from the surrounding houses, had swiped it, but he didn't pursue the matter. Sumit had shown remarkable skill in the game, so this time Pitamber bought a marble set with finely carved pieces. It had cost him nine hundred rupees at a tourist shop in Basantapur. His stomach dropped when the shopkeeper first told him the price, but he'd rationalized the purchase, convincing himself that his son would become a master someday. "We should enroll him in the neighborhood chess club," he'd said to Shailaja the other day. "He can play with older kids and learn more quickly." But Shailaja was hesitant. "He might be intimidated. There'll be kids his age better at the game, and you know how he is." She had a point. Sumit was a sensitive kid; he berated himself whenever he lost to his father. Perhaps he should gain more confidence before joining any clubs.

The two played chess that evening for nearly an hour. Sumit made a couple of silly mistakes and slapped his forehead each time. Pitamber deliberately muddled his moves to compensate for Sumit's errors, careful to pretend that the mistakes were genuine. Toward the end of the game, Sumit captured his remaining knight and paralyzed Pitamber's king. "You're getting much better," Pitamber told his son, and suggested the three of them go for a walk.

The air had gotten considerably cooler and more pleasant, but Pitamber soon grew annoyed by the crowds on the pavement and the cars and trucks spewing fumes and blasting their horns beside them. The three walked toward the stadium, and Sumit spotted a large billboard advertising a Hindi action movie. "I want to see that," he said, and he held out his arms as if he were carrying a machine gun. "Bhut bhut bhut bhut." He mock-shot some pedestrians, and Pitamber scolded him. The boy had been watching too many of these movies on video. Shailaja was too lenient with him, and on weekends, when he and Pitamber were not playing chess, Sumit remained glued to the television despite Pitamber's pleas for him to turn it off. He even recognized all the actors and actresses and knew their silly songs by heart.

Chess was better for him. It taught him to think, to strategize, to assess his own strengths and weaknesses. It was a good game for a future statesman or a philosopher. The idea of his son's becoming someone important brought a smile to Pitamber's face, and he ruffled the boy's hair.

After dinner that evening, Pitamber went to his bedroom to read the day's paper. In Rolpa, dozens of policemen had been shot by the Maobadis. In Baglung, two rebels had been beaten to death by villagers, who now feared reprisal. The cold, passive language of the news reports disgusted Pitamber, and he set down the paper. It was hard to believe that this country was becoming a place where people killed each other over differences in ideas about how to govern it. At his office the other day a colleague openly sympathized with the rebels and said that the Maobadis had no choice. "Think about it," the man had said. "For years we suffered under the kings, then we got so-called democracy, but nothing got better. Most of our country lives in mind-boggling poverty. These Maobadis are only fighting for the poor. It's a simple thing that they're doing."

"Simple?" Pitamber had said. "Your Maobadis are killing the very people they claim they're fighting for — innocent villagers."

"They're casualties of the revolution," the man said. "They are martyrs. But the revolution has to go on."

Pitamber took a deep breath and said, "It's easy for you to blather on about revolutions from your comfortable chair."

The discussion ended with him walking away from his colleague. Later Pitamber barely acknowledged him when they passed in the hallway, even though he knew that what the man said was not entirely untrue: poor people in the country were fed up with how little their conditions had changed, democracy or no democracy.

Pitamber again went to find Jaikanth's letter and reread it, this time stopping at the three names and addresses of the contacts Kabita already had in the city. Through one of these people, Pitamber had learned about the gift shop where she had worked. He had tried reaching another of the contacts but had been told the man was out of town. Pitamber reached for the phone and called the number again. The man answered this time, but said he didn't know the whereabouts of Kabita. "She hasn't been in touch, but I believe she has a distant relative who is a sadhu in the Pashupatinath temple. You might try him."

Early the next morning, after some searching, Pitamber found the communal house for ascetics near the Pashupatinath temple, where Kabita's relative, Ramsharan, lived. When Pitamber announced whom he was looking for, a small old man with soft eyes and full lips said, "That's me." He told Pitamber that Kabita was renting a flat in Baghbazar and gave him directions. "She hasn't come to see me," the man said. "And I'm too old to walk around the city. But I did go to her flat once when she first came to Kathmandu." Ramsharan shook his head sadly. "What can we do? God creates, God destroys. We can only sing his praises."

Pitamber thanked him and left, mildly annoyed by the sadhu's sanctimonious words. It was already nine o'clock, and Pitamber would be late for work. But he felt so close to finding Kabita that he decided he'd risk his new supervisor's irritation. Thus far Pitamber was in Mr. Shrestha's good graces at the municipal branch office in Naxal where he worked — maybe the man would tolerate one day of tardiness.

Kabita's flat was located above a shoe store, and the smell of leather hung in the staircase as Pitamber climbed to the third floor. He knocked on the door. After a few moments, a small woman with sunken eyes opened it. She couldn't have been more than twenty-five or so, and she had on the standard white dhoti that widows wore.

"Kabitaji?"

She nodded. A girl appeared by her side, and Pitamber could hear the sound of a kerosene stove burning inside. He introduced himself, said Jaikanth had written to him about her. "Oh, yes," she said without much expression.

"I don't want to bother you," Pitamber said. "But could we talk?" She let him in. It was a one-room flat, with a bed in one corner and cooking equipment in another. There were no drapes on the windows, and Pitamber noticed two girls at the window of the neighboring house looking in at them and whispering. "How old is she?" he asked, gesturing toward the girl. He reached into his pocket, took out a lollipop, and extended it to her. She took it shyly.

"She'll be five next month."

"And how are things for you?"

For a moment she looked at him as if he were a complete fool. Then she said, "All right."

"I was saddened to hear what happened," he said, searching for something more comforting to say. "People in this country have simply gone mad."

"It was God's will," she said. "My only worry is for her." She placed her hand on her daughter's head, and the girl reached under the bed and pulled out a doll with yellow hair and blue eyes.

Pitamber said what a nice-looking doll it was and asked the girl her name.

"Priya," she said, staring at her feet.

"What a pretty name. I have a son who's a bit older than you. He's named Sumit."

"Did you do namaste to him?" Kabita suddenly reprimanded her daughter, who halfheartedly joined her palms together for Pitamber.

He again expressed his sorrow, then said that he was willing to offer any help he could. "I heard you had a job, but quit."

"It's hard to work with her around," she said, gesturing toward her daughter. Kabita said she'd taken Priya with her to the gift shop in Kupondole, but after two days the owner said that he couldn't have a child running around a shop frequented by tourists. The owner of the shoe shop below the flat offered to look after her while Kabita worked, but every evening when she returned, she found Priya bawling. "I've thought about returning to my village," she said, "but those men are still there."

It took him a moment to understand that the men she referred to were the Maobadis. "Listen," he said. "There's no reason for you to be all alone in this city. I am here, my family is here. Why don't you come and stay with us while you look for a job? We'll see if we can find a school for your daughter. And once things fall into place, you can move into a flat of your own."

She shook her head. "I couldn't burden you like that."

"It's no burden! What are you talking about? Listen, we don't have much space, but we can certainly manage. How about you talk to your landlord? Or better, I'll talk to him, explain the situation, and maybe he'll return the money you gave him for the rest of the month."

"I wouldn't know how to repay you for this."

"Nonsense."

Kabita's landlord was argumentative when Pitamber went to see him the next evening after work. "With anyone else I'd require at least two months' notice, but with her, because of her situation, I can let her go at the end of the month. But not before."

Pitamber tried to reason with him, said he should consider all that Kabita had endured, that she couldn't possibly afford to let go of almost a month's rent.

But the landlord wouldn't budge. "I also have my own household expenses to think of. Where am I going to find another tenant on such short notice?" Pitamber looked around the man's room, lowered his voice, and said, "Listen, muji, you better let her go. Otherwise people will think you're a Maobadi yourself. Why else would you give her such a hard time? A good question, isn't it?" His own words surprised him, how quickly he said them.

The landlord stared at him. "Are you threatening me?" Pitamber straightened his back, deciding to finish what he'd started. "Take it how you want to take it. I'm just saying your being stubborn makes you suspicious."

"What kind of a world is this? All I'm asking for is a month's rent that's due to me."

"But in a situation like this, you shouldn't be thinking only about the money."

The landlord looked angry but defeated. "All right, how about a week's rent? At least she can give me that much."

"How much?"

"Two hundred rupees."

Pitamber had anticipated something like this and was prepared for it. He didn't want to part with the money, but it was a small price to pay given Kabita's circumstances. He took out his wallet and gave him the money. "She'll move out tomorrow."

"Don't tell her or anyone else about our conversation today. I don't want people to get the wrong idea about me."

"Rest assured," Pitamber said. As he walked back to Kabita's flat, a few houses away, he felt a bit remorseful about how menacing he'd been, but it had to be done, he supposed. People needed to be reminded of what was important when dealing with those who'd suffered.

The next evening, Kabita and Priya moved into Pitamber's flat. She had only one large suitcase, a thin, folding mattress with a blanket, and a couple of bags, so it was easy to fit everything in a taxi. Kabita wanted to repay the money Pitamber had given to the landlord, as well as the taxi fare, but Pitamber wouldn't hear of it.

Initially, Shailaja said he'd been hasty when he told her that he'd invited Kabita to live with them. "She might not feel comfortable living with strangers like this," she said. "And we don't have much space." But Pitamber said that he'd feel awful if Kabita was forced to return to the village, and that this arrangement was only temporary. Shailaja finally agreed. "You've always been like this," she said, stroking his hair. "You can't bear to see anyone suffering."

Now she offered Priya and Kabita tea and snacks, and they chatted about her village and how expensive it was to live in Kathmandu. Shailaja said that a seamstress who sewed her blouses in New Road was looking for help. "Do you know how to run a sewing machine?" Kabita shook her head. "I'm sure that wouldn't be a problem," Shailaja said. "She actually taught me. I used to work for her until about a year ago, before my fingers began to swell and I could no longer run the machine."

"But what will I do with her when I work?" Kabita asked, gesturing toward Priya.

"I'll look after her until we find a school for her. All right?" Pitamber was glad Shailaja showed no signs of her earlier doubts about this arrangement, but even then he'd known that once she met Kabita, her heart would take over. He had always admired Shailaja's generous spirit, and in moments like these he considered himself lucky to have her as his wife.

At Shailaja's offer, Kabita lowered her eyes, as if overwhelmed.

Shailaja went to prepare dinner, and Priya began to cling to her mother, who scolded her and said that she needed to help with the cooking.

"Come here, daughter. Why don't you and I play chess with this brilliant fellow here," Pitamber said, pointing to Sumit, who so far had shown little interest in the girl.

"I don't want to play with her," Sumit mumbled.

"And why's that?"

"She's too young."

"What if I help her?"

"Then it'll take me five seconds instead of one to beat her."

"Did you hear that, Shailaja?" Pitamber said loudly. "I think your son is getting arrogant. I think it's time he challenged some real players at the chess club."

The sound of spinach frying in oil filled the flat, and he heard his wife chatting with Kabita.

"Come, daughter, I'll teach you how to play chess," Pitamber said, and Priya came to his side.

He set up the pieces and began teaching her the rules. But she was more interested in admiring the pieces than anything else, and after a while he sighed and gave up. Sumit, who was sitting next to them doing his homework, laughed. "She's too young, buwa. I told you."

"Why don't you two play a game that she'll find more interesting?"

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The Royal Ghosts"
by .
Copyright © 2006 Samrat Upadhyay.
Excerpted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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