Summoning India: Bhaarat Samman

Chapter 2- Adbhutha

A round of cheers erupted as the two brothers turned to see what was going on. A massive eight feet long fish they had never seen before, was struggling in the net as it was being hoisted up. Right before it could start trashing about on the deck, Murgan grabbed his aruval and stabbed the fish through the gills, ending its life.

"Ugh... Now the blood's gonna go everywhere!" One of the older fishermen exclaimed and true to his word, the blood already started pouring out of the stab in huge quantities. After giving out a sigh, the same fisherman turned to Murgan and Suriya. "Murgan. Suriya. Take this sucker and hold his head over the sea."

"It'll be in the way. And it's around eight feet. It's heavy." Suriya pointed out and ignored Murgan's cry of "Lazy shit!"

"I know. Just hold it out for ten minutes or so to allow it to bleed out fully." The older fisherman said. "Otherwise we'll also have to answer some serious questions to the Coast Guard if they see the boat full of blood. We'll handle the cleaning."

"Okay." Suriya said as he and Murgan started to drag the fish. All the while swearing as the blood got on them.

"Make sure the wound is facing the sea!" The older veteran fisherman reminded them.

"Yes yes!" The boys called back.

As the boys got to work, the veteran fisherman, Rajni, took a cigarette and lit it. He had decided to take a smoke break while there was a short lull of activity as the boat once again began moving to look for a new quarry.

Once again, Rajni looked down to the fish they had just hauled, and he would easily admit that in the forty years he's been in the fishing industry, he has never seen a fish this large or so... strange. Of course, he was happy along with the rest of his crew but still something about the fish was bugging the fisherman. That's when he remembered something else.

'The size of the fish is all well and good, but is it even safe to eat?' The last thing anyone would want is a major food poisoning incident and the police coming to arrest the entire lot of them on various charges. They're already technically fishing illegally as it is by going against the weather warning.

But they can't even throw away the fish now, it's already dead. If they just dumped it in the sea now they would probably be contravening Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 or Environment (Protection) Act 1986. Rajni kept his eyes on the two young boys who had joined them as they finally pulled the fish's head back into the boat, satisfied that there was no more blood gushing out of the wound like a bloody broken pipe. Rajni decided that he would later on educate the two boys that stabbing at the fish only causes unnecessary problems and extra work. 'Plus, if they will stab, they should have gone for the head. Stabbing the gills is inhumane.'

"Anna!" Another member of the crew called out to Rajni. He had gone to help Surya and Murgan to hoist the fish's head and to prevent it from being scraped across the desk. "Do you think we can put this bad boy up for a while?"

"I already have a feeling as to why, but I'll still ask. Why?" Rajni asked, already expecting the response.

"We'll show those Sri Lankan clowns who've got the big fish this time!" The crewmember said with a laugh and the other crew members, along with Surya and Murgan, cheered at the prospect of showing off the Sri Lankans.

"How many times do I have to tell you all to stop behaving like children!" Rajni scolded as he rehashed the same rebuke again. 'It's like beating a dead horse!'

"Now, now, it's all okay." A new voice said. This was the captain and owner of the boat, Rameshwar, who had just come out to the deck from the Cabin with a cup of tea. "Let the boys have a little fun. It's not everyday we catch something this big."