Give us this day a feast of flesh: November at Navayana
The irony of fiction is what propels G. Kalyan Rao’s protagonist in Antarani Vasantam (Untouchable Spring), the anti-caste revolutionary Ruben, to mock at the myth around the Kamadhenu. His grandfather’s tale was about the disappointment of the gods, but in his retelling, Ruben accounts for his own. The mouths of the devatas watered at the thought of the flesh of the divine cow, but they cursed Jambavan and Chennaiah eternally for their failure to follow their cooking instructions. In Kaliyuga, Jambavan’s progeny become Madigas and Chennaiah’s children become Malas.