By Sanskriti Arora
They had news. They had found the beast. It roamed around at night,
just as they did. Why couldn’t we see it then?
Must be careful. Katyayani shrugged. It is her fault, obviously.
But she will find him tonight.
She silently promised Sita. We must finish this tonight!
As they left their house, in the dead
of the night. Katyayani put her hair in a bun and adorned it with gajra.
She forgot to smell it this time. She always smells it,
as her mother was allergic to it.
Her kajal was darker and more layered than ever before, and
the whites of her eyes showed bright.
The girls were giggling and putting their lavender scented
aalta; one made a flower in the
centre of her palm, while one made a cloud. The possibilities
were endless, but the night
was not. Katyayani found her nostrils flaring even after years of
no practice. She did not need it,
in fact. All one had to do was not be a coward, and simply feel.
This reminded her of the day
one of the girls had returned to their home and admitted
that she had accidentally
performed for a man she liked. We do not perform for men.
It was involuntary.
Katyayani waited for all the girls to take formation
behind her as she prepared herself
to take flight. She looked
up and saw her. Sita. She screeched, and took off
without asking for everyone’s approval.
Some girls fell behind her. She flew closer to the black wire,
and realised it was not Sita. But some other
girl. All of Katyayani was red. Her eyes were the shade of her
saree. She heard the beast.
Barking! Do you hear it? The rest of the dancers had joined her
after Katyayani’s hurried actions.
Barking echoed from buildings, from behind street lamps; it seemed that
they were stuck in an echo chamber.
Katyayani turned her head in anxiety, left and right, like the dancer she used to be.
In the distance, a dark figure stood calmly, with a whip.
One whistle and a large dog appeared from the shadows. It wore a pink collar
around its red neck.
the dog growled at the dancers aggressively, its gums on display,
and spit falling from its large mouth.
Katyayani and her body of girls charged at the beast,
they created a perfect streamlined
body as they intended to pierce the beast’s furry body. They closely dodged
its bite, as they crashed on the ground. They
scattered like tiny fish in a pool of water, hurrying to assemble again. As Katyayani
noticed a flickering. Like a hologram. The dog, the beast; its
very body changed to her mother’s for
just a second. She shrugged her head. No! This cannot be.
The dog returned, and then again, her mother
With teary eyes, as she sniffled and fell on the ground alongside the girls.
The gajra! Throw it away, girls! Please!
She could not see her mother in pain. But the hologram vanished.
The beastly dog has returned at the sound of the whip.
The man finally emerged from the
dark, just as the light of dawn illuminated his face. It was their teacher.
The girls stood with their mouths agape. They could
not help but bow.
They had not seen him in years. He started tapping his hands
on the beats of the taal they had been
taught for years. The girls, as if hypnotised, tapped their feet
and went to stand on their side.
Now, it was her, alone, against her own mother. Jump!
Said the master, and the dog bit off
half of the hanging girl’s body. Her blood splashed on Katyayani, bathing
her hair red, as well. But not in victory.
By Sanskriti Arora
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