The season of steady rains had receded and now an unreasonable rain started from clouds that seemed untimely pregnant. The sky would fill up once in ten to fifteen days. Occasionally it would sprinkle the hot, steaming yard with water. Seeming to winnow the woods, the rain would splash down in a circle for a while and then the sky would grow quiet again. And then there were times when the rain would pull no punches. The sky would fill up everywhere you looked. It would become dark as night. And it would rain uncontrollably, for hours at a stretch. The rain would then retreat after having stung the doggedly ripening crops.
From where she lay, Putali kept an eye on the eastern horizon where the clouds were gathered together like guests invited to an event. Slowly, the sun hid behind the clouds and it felt as if someone was holding a shade over one’s head. It looked as though it was going to rain soon. Putali shook her head vigorously to dislodge the flies from her tired eyes and wet nostrils. She stood up, just barely. Her entire body was trembling and her legs were about to collapse. Putali dug her hooves into the ground. She was scarcely able to carry the weight of her heavy belly on her shaky legs. But she felt better for having stood up.
She lifted her exhausted gaze and tried looking around. At first, everything was blurry. She felt as if someone had placed a sheer curtain in front of her eyes. But gradually her gaze settled and she was able to focus. She looked at the expanse in front of her. The other cattle had started walking briskly in the direction of the village. The dust flying from their hooves floated in the air. Putali looked around her. This wasteland that stretched in front of her was covered with thorny weeds and thistle. A little distance away, there was a stubby and thorny acacia tree. Other than that, there was no other shelter anywhere in sight. Putali glanced again at the cattle walking in the direction of home and she began to low intensely. She bellowed as if her voice were being squeezed out of her and she suddenly felt nauseous because of that effort. Lowing a second time became too difficult for her. She opened her mouth and then shut it again. She looked at the cattle disappearing into the distance again. As she stared desperately at them, her eyes filled with tears. Helplessly, she looked to her left at the stunted tree. Gauging the intervening expanse between it and her present location in her mind, she turned towards it and began walking.
Lifting one foot after the other, she started her journey. She had barely walked a few steps when she felt a sudden movement in her stomach. The bulge inside her was moving continuously now. With pleading eyes, she looked up at the sky. Each cloud seemed to be hugging the next as if a carpenter had trimmed the edges and joined them together like pieces of wood. It was getting darker and the rains looked like they were approaching fast. With an effort, she picked up her pace. She had barely walked a short distance when she felt a piercing pain in her stomach. The pain made her body go limp and every hair on her body stood up in agony. She spread her hind legs, and crouching her body, urinated profusely. She straightened up. Just then a drop of rain splashed on her back. She shivered. She raised her head and watched the darkening sky. Then, with determination, she started walking again. Again, she felt an intense pain in her stomach. The waves of pain kept coming, one after another. It was as if a mill wheel was churning in her stomach. Putali slumped to the ground. Then she hoisted herself up again with an effort. But the stomach pains were unstoppable. She lay down, got up again. After several such attempts to sit down and stand up again, she felt a new and soft sensation within her belly. Gentler, even pleasurable, this feeling; she stood there with eyes closed, experiencing this inexplicably enjoyable sensation.
Just then a balloon the colour of a shiny pebble emerged from her belly and started filling up with air fast. She felt as if a heavy burden had been tied to her. She began walking slowly. She lifted her head and looked at the tree in front of her. The balloon began to swell until it was almost as big as a large water container and then as if overfull with air, it burst. Putali was relieved. It felt like her burden had lightened.
She looked up at the sky. The black clouds were ranged in shells one atop the other. It looked like the sky had been plastered with black ink. She looked again at the acacia tree that stood a little way ahead. Again, she gauged the distance between herself and the tree and began walking. Step by step, the mill wheel in her stomach that had temporarily stopped started churning again. The bulge in her belly started moving. Pain lanced continuously through her. Putali lowered her head and let the labour pangs come.
Then she felt as if someone had touched an axe to the inside of her underbelly. She shuddered deeply. The waves of pain crashed through her one after another. As they kept coming, the hooves made an appearance, just about four fingers long, and then they stopped there. She kept heaving with pain but the hooves would not move. There was a firestorm in her belly now. Everything seemed to be tossing around wildly within her. Putali clenched the muscles of her face. She tried looking ahead but she was unable to see the tree that had seemed to be so close. It felt like a curtain of darkness was falling in front of her eyes. Putali sank to the ground and, holding her breath, she heaved again. The hooves, stuck inside her all this while, started moving out again. It seemed she would be released from this agony in a little while. She closed her eyes and kept pushing. The hooves were emerging rapidly.
Just then the sky thundered, signalling the coming rain. Putali was terrified. She stood up with a jerk and tried to start walking towards the tree. But she could not lift a foot. A strong gust of wind swirled around her. With the wind came rain. At first, it was just a few drops but it soon turned into a steady downpour of heavy and large raindrops. The heavy drops started ringing on the half-emerging hooves and that sound resounded within her stomach. It was like the sound of drum sticks on a drum.
Putali felt helpless. She tossed her head and made an attempt to low. But no sound came from her throat. Just as abruptly as it had begun, the heavy downpour stopped. Putali was relieved. She looked again at the tree. She attempted to walk towards it once more. Just as she lifted one foot, she felt a big convulsion within her belly. Planting her feet determinedly on the ground, she stopped right there, shuddering again. The inner jolts kept coming after that first one. The face of the calf was emerging little by little.
Just then it thundered again. The rain came down in streams as thick as one’s fingers, making a loud sound as it hit the ground. The thunder sounded like gunshots. Lightning whiplashed across the sky, so bright it shocked the eyes. Putali looked up. She tried to focus and see as far as she possibly could but visibility was down to a few feet. She could not see the tree in front of her. The pains in her stomach kept on coming. She kept feeling the convulsions in her belly. The calf was slowly moving out of her.
The rain refused to stop cascading down and the calf was struggling to come out. Putali started trying to contract her body, to hold her breath in order to try and suck the hooves inside of her again. But the hooves would not go in, and the calf would not put its face back in. The breath, which she had been trying to hold, started escaping into the atmosphere like steam. Her body loosened up and the calf began to emerge, inch by inch, even as the rain, as if stoked with some demented energy, kept pelting down. There was water wherever the eyes could see. Putali tried to contract her body again but the calf would not heed her. Instead, Putali’s pangs grew stronger and faster and more of the calf began to emerge. Desperate and helpless, Putali looked all around her. Just then an enormous bolt of pain surged through her. The calf put its face completely out. Putali realised this and was confused. She began turning round and round, as if in a circus ring. Trying to suck the calf’s face and body into her body, she started screaming loudly. Putali kept circling round and round as if mesmerised and the rain, as if crazed, kept falling…
Excerpted with permission from ‘Labour’ by RR Borade, translated from the Marathi by Anjali Nerlekar in 100 Indian Stories: A Feast of Remarkable Short Fiction from the 19th, 20th, and 21st Centuries, edited by AJ Thomas, Aleph Book Company.
