Eighteen

Abstract

No force except the seasons had thus far subjected life in Gauwally to changes of any kind. Winds of change had recently been blowing across life which used to be one of inner and placid contentment. The Gauwally youth were experiencing strange things these days: it was as if an intermittent fragrance was wafting across the village streets and as if the very colours of the rainbow were moving about in the form of girls. Almost every day something surprising and strange would happen in some house or other in the village, and people would be alarmed by such events. This became rather common. Wondering what was in store for them, households trembled with dread.