Senan had been watching the wildfire around the neck of the hill like an array of small lamps lit consistently. But he had no such feeling of it moving up.
'It remains there,' Senan said.
'How can wildfires stay at a place?' Chandu said and giggled.
Pakirappa and Prakash had been in the KG estate for nearly ten years. They had witnessed all types of wildfires, man-made, natural, and accidental. Moreover, they were discussing it behind Senan. Although the mumbling had been audible to him, the language of Tulu made the truth unknown to him. He presumed that the wildfire had been a plot by someone around there.
'It'd be moving slowly through the fallen dry leaves. See, the flames are swaying to the left and are bigger than others. Trees would've caught fire there,' Pakirappa said.
'What will happen now?' Senan asked anxiously.
'Nothing,' Chandu said, 'it'll go up and exhaust itself. There's a space like a desert without trees or a space like a wall filled with rocks. Usually, the fire ends there.'
'As far as I know, it has a lot of slippery rocks with molds towards the peak,' Prakash said, 'and they won't catch fire.'
'Is this the incident you mentioned on the way?' Senan asked Pakirappa.
'Umm!' Pakirappa replied as though he had not been interested in the query.
Meanwhile, the liquor bottle, the glasses, and the Charmuri were brought to the sit-out. They sat around it. All the while eating and drinking, they had not spared the view of the wildfire, which reminded them of the wild hunters and, at the same time, the illuminated wild garland around the neck of Lord Siva.
At times, they discussed where and when it would stop. Pakirappa had two or three previous experiences with wildfires on the same hill. So Chandu and Prakash had to accept him without any trivial suggestions. Pakirappa's experiences with wildfire purely meant watching it from afar, getting access to its hidden secrets, or forecasting the following unexpected incidents.
'Who could it be?' Senan asked, chewing the spicy dish of Charmuri.
'Ouseph and his twin Thommu had planned to hunt a Sambar deer they suspected to be seen near the huge rock in the KG estate. As soon as they take the rifle to shoot it, it leaps and runs away. It covers a sizeable distance in a jump, seeing someone around,' Pakirappa said, expressing awe and fear concerning them.
'Ouseph is not so brilliant at shooting. Moreover, it's a stark night,' Chandu said.
'How does this wildfire serve them in hunting it?' Senan asked.
'Don't you know that they will come to eat the ash produced during such a wildfire?' Pakirappa asked. Senan had been unaware of all such things happening around him.
'They could've set fire in the KG estate to attract the deer,' Senan suggested humbly. Chandu and Prakash laughed at it, putting their glass tumblers down.
'Why did they choose that hill to attract the deer?' Senan turned furious.
Pakirappa placed his glass on the floor with a thud, showing his contempt for it. The thought of Sacred Grove with the Naga idol in the KG estates sparkled in his mind. He could not imagine a wildfire harming it anyway.
(to be continued)