Brotherless Night

Aran will not speak of what happened to him in detention, and eventually, Sashi stops trying to elicit information from him. Appa finally comes home two weeks later: The women are furious with him for his absence. First, he told them simply to wait, saying that the government might act fairly in the end—a position that Sashi finds irresponsibly naïve. Second, he did not immediately come home to help recover his missing son. Sashi understands that Appa is also thinking that if Dayalan and Seelan were home, then they would have been taken, as well. She wonders whether, if there was no militant movement, any boys would have been taken at all.

Sashi begins to reconsider what Dayalan and Seelan have done by joining the movement. Perhaps they are not wrong, after all. She yearns to feel a commitment to something bigger than herself and her own family. As she is thinking about this, Dayalan and Seelan return home without warning. They wait to be allowed inside, as if they are guests.

Amma embraces them and feeds them while peppering them with questions. They say very little, only that K has risen through the ranks and become quite integral to the movement. Sashi is shocked, and Aran is angry that the brothers will not tell them more. After they finish eating, they insist that they must leave. Sashi follows Dayalan out; she wants to know when he will return and whether he will finally go back to university. He says that life is gone for him now. He tells her to wait, implying that the situation will get better. However, Sashi is tired of waiting, though she does not yet know what to do. 

The Tigers start visiting Tamil houses, asking for money to support the insurgency. Since Dayalan and Seelan are already in the movement, Sashi’s family is spared the requests. However, their neighbor, Saras Aunty, is asked to make meals for 60 or more men each week. Sashi and Amma help her, and Sashi silently begs her brothers to come home.

In October 1984, Indira Gandhi, the prime minister of India, is assassinated. While Sashi does not fully approve of her policies, she knows of the leader’s outspoken comments about the Sri Lankan government’s violence against the Tamils. Many Tamils believe that she would have eventually intervened.

Meanwhile, the violence in Sri Lanka escalates between all groups involved, and the politicians engage in unrealistic negotiations. None of the groups are entirely honest with the civilian population. Stories begin circulating about unprovoked government violence and mass killings against Tamils, whether they are with the movement or not. This garners sympathy for the movement. After Indira Gandhi’s death, the militants detonate bombs throughout Jaffna, and there are retaliations against the Tamils. One of the government ministers urges all Tamils to leave the country; this way, the government will know that they do not support the Tigers. Bicycles are now outlawed for all Tamils since the militants use them.

Aran is taken into custody again after a particularly deadly attack against Sinhalese settlers. Again, when he returns home, he refuses to talk about his broken arm. Sashi worries about him and everyone in her family, and she sinks into despair. A few months later, K shows up at her house unannounced to tell her that Sir, her beloved teacher, has been killed. When Sashi questions him, he admits that the militants are responsible: Sir wanted to organize a cricket match between his pupils and the army’s team. The militants construed this as the actions of a traitor. Sashi is saddened by Sir’s death, frightened by the movement, and furious with K. She asks K to leave.

When Sashi turns 20, she is finally offered a place in the medical school. She misses Sir most acutely when she hears the news. She begins her training and is immediately enthralled by Anjali Premachandran. The only female professor, Anjali is intelligent and outspoken; she is intimidating but also warm. She treats her students as equals and invites them to call her “Acca” (“big sister”). Sashi notes that Anjali is also interested in art and culture in addition to medicine and that she is an avowed Marxist. She marries another professor, Varathan, who teaches geography.

In Anjali Acca’s anatomy class, Sashi is paired with Josie; they work on their cadaver together. Josie is rumored to be the girlfriend of a prominent Tiger, so Sashi (and the other students) are careful around her. During this time, peace talks between the militants and the Sri Lankan government collapse; the Sri Lankan government will not accept the idea of Tamil self-rule. Following this, the violence escalates once again.

In order to take her mind off these matters, Sashi decides to join some student organizations, the general Student Union and the medical offshoot. She finds that the medical students are more nationalist—that is, more vocally supportive of Tamil independence and, thus, of the movement. At these meetings, Sashi often hears overt criticism of Anjali.

Later that semester, Anjali approaches Sashi to ask which village she comes from. Sashi is nervous about her answer, knowing that Anjali had once taught K. She worries that Anjali will implicate her in K’s actions if she admits knowing him. She finds, however, that Anjali does not know that K has become a prominent member of the militant movement; Anjali is saddened by the news when Sashi tells her, thinking that she herself must have failed him somehow. Anjali then admits that she, too, was once part of the movement; however, she left. She tries to comfort Sashi, suggesting that such a departure is possible, both for K and her brothers.

Sashi is also bothered by the lack of acknowledgment for Sir’s death. Nobody at the university will speak of him or how he was killed. Anjali urges Sashi to write down her experiences, saying that this might help her clarify all that has happened to her. Sashi considers this but does not yet begin.

One Saturday, Sashi is studying in the laboratory where the cadavers are kept when she hears knocking at the door. It is K, and he has brought a comrade with him. The man, Niroshan, has been shot in the abdomen. He begs Sashi to help him; K cannot take Niroshan to the general hospital. Against her own misgivings, Sashi cleans and binds the wound. She is committed to becoming a doctor, and doctors help anyone who needs it, regardless of their affiliations. Afterward, K urges Sashi to leave the country.

A few months later, Sashi goes home for a visit. She is surprised to see that Dayalan, Seelan, and K are there, as well. She is happy to see them—any confirmation that they are safe is welcome. K has come to ask her to volunteer at the field hospital. Her assistance with Niroshan has proved her abilities. He admits that her brothers are against the idea, but Sashi agrees to help. She is tired of waiting and is ready to act.