Cover of The Covenant of Water

The Covenant of Water

by Abraham Verghese


Genre
Historical Fiction, Fiction
Year
2023
Pages
760
Contents

CHAPTER 26

Overview

Big Ammachi seeks protection for water-drawn Philipose at Parumala and binds him to a lifelong vow never to swim alone. Her new village school exposes entrenched casteism when the kaniyan assaults and expels Joppan. Shaken but resolute, Big Ammachi privately tutors Joppan while awaiting an inclusive government school.

Summary

In 1926 at Parambil, Big Ammachi takes nearly three-year-old Philipose by boat to Parumala Church. Aware of his dangerous attraction to water, she pleads before Mar Gregorios’s tomb—sensing his voice—to keep the boy from entering rivers. Receiving no sign, she secures safety another way: on the journey home, she declares a vow that harm will come to her if Philipose ever swims alone. Shaken, Philipose promises never to enter water without someone beside him, a pledge she will keep reminding him of.

When Philipose turns five, Big Ammachi opens a simple village school. The kaniyan, an astrologer-teacher with a scalp cyst Baby Mol dubs the “Baby God,” begins lessons. After Big Ammachi leaves, Joppan—Shamuel the pulayan’s son and Philipose’s best friend—tries to enroll with makeshift offerings. The kaniyan responds with slurs and a cane, driving Joppan away. Joppan mocks him and departs, while the teacher resolves never to teach a pulayan child.

Philipose returns home in tears. Big Ammachi comforts him and, ashamed, explains the caste hierarchy and Christian complicity, noting separate vessels and the failure to integrate converted pulayar. Philipose walks away disillusioned, underscoring the moral chasm between scripture and practice.

Prompted by local craftsmen, Shamuel publicly beats Joppan, then fears for his unbowed son. Big Ammachi knows forcing the kaniyan would collapse the school, so lessons continue. Philipose proudly brings home his palm-leaf primer, then secretly helps Joppan copy letters. Seeing the welts on Joppan’s back, Big Ammachi commits to tutoring him privately until a new government primary—open to all—opens, with a high school rising behind it. Joppan learns eagerly, though he longs to study alongside his friends, as both boys edge toward a world riddled with duplicity.

Who Appears

  • Big Ammachi
    Widow and matriarch; seeks saint’s protection, binds Philipose to never swim alone; tutors Joppan.
  • Philipose
    Ammachi’s son, drawn to water; promises never to swim alone; teaches Joppan letters.
  • Joppan
    Pulayan boy, Philipose’s friend and minder; beaten by kaniyan; learns privately with Ammachi.
  • The kaniyan
    Astrologer-teacher; runs the shed school; violently rejects Joppan due to caste.
  • Shamuel pulayan
    Joppan’s father; humiliated by craftsmen; beats Joppan, fears for him.
  • Mar Gregorios
    Saint at Parumala; Ammachi senses his voice; catalyst for her vow.
  • Baby Mol
    Ammachi’s daughter; names the kaniyan’s scalp cyst; observes school beginnings.
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