Week 13 Story: "Ganga's Lawyer"
Preface: This story is sort of a continuation of my Week 6 Story: Ganga's Arrest. It is completely readable without knowing the previous story, but it includes some of the characters from "Ganga's Arrest" and picks up a little while after Sergeant Talbot watches Ganga's interrogation when she is arrested for drowning her babies.
The mad woman who had drowned several children had called her lawyer. Talbot had told Officer Felix not to push her too far before she gave them any incriminating information, or she would do just that. But even though Felix had been around the block many times with these kinds of things, this woman called "Ganga" seemed to have disturbed him so much that he couldn't keep his calm. Not that Talbot could blame him. If you weren't mildly put off by a woman who claimed to be 'a river' and had a divine purpose in drowning children, you probably deserved arresting too, Talbot thought.
"She's here, Sergeant," Detective Kelly said as she opened the door to his office. Talbot was a little surprised that this Ganga had called a female lawyer, as he couldn't see how that would benefit her in any way. Surely this lawyer would be even less than sympathetic to her client's cause, especially if she was a mother herself. Even Kelly, who usually was his best and most clever detective in the station, had avoided too much interaction with Ganga for fear of what she might say or do to her.
Talbot quickly shut down the tabs on his computer with Barbados ticket fares and hotel deals. He knew early retirement wasn't going to work now, but he had thought perhaps he could convince his wife to go on vacation. A very long vacation.
As soon as he left his office however, he wished he hadn't closed those tabs. Ganga's lawyer was none other than Sara Swan, one of the most voracious attorneys in the state, with a wit and deep beauty to match. Her presence filled the entire room and she could size up a court room in the same way. Swan had won every one of her cases that went through Talbot's jurisdiction, including the recent stranger ones too. Even now as she stalked with that stern expression on her face towards the interrogation room where they were keeping Ganga, Talbot could feel that this was not going to go well for his office yet again.
Ganga was already looking at the door when they entered the room, as if she had been expecting them.
"Ah finally, someone who understands."
Sara glanced at Ganga for a split second, but not as if she were disappointed in what she had done or scared of a woman who had drowned her babies. Talbot thought he caught an exasperated look as if Sara had dealt with a similar situation before with this Ganga.
"Why was my client not allowed to contact me earlier, Sergeant?" Sara said calmly, but spoke the last word as if she were a mother scolding her child. Her brown eyes seemed to be wise far beyond anything in this world, yet they were lined with dark kohl as if to contain that wisdom. Officer Felix was captivated and Talbot gave him a sharp look.
"She was read all of her rights Miss Swan, and so it was up to her whether to ask for an attorney or not before she spoke with us," Talbot stated, a frown at the edge of his lips. He was clearly her elder but she always used the same tone with him. Ganga seemed to take note of the dynamic between the Sergeant and Sara because she smiled to herself. Sara raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I would like some time with my client now."
Before they left, Talbot saw Felix gazing at Sara again, and shook his head. Sara too seemed to catch it though.
"The last man who stared at me too long grew five heads, dear," Sara whispered. Talbot couldn't tell if her tone was joking from how quiet she'd said it, but she grinned as if she were.
"And at least he was a god."
Reference: Saraswati: Stories of the Goddess of Wisdom Amar Chitra Katha. [Printed Comic]
Ganga: The Divine Beauty, Amar Chitra Katha. [Printed Comic]
Author's note: As I mentioned before, this story is a continuation of "Ganga's Arrest", my week 6 story. I read two ACK comics this week about Ganga, the river goddess of purification and the Ganges, and Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom. There are several stories of Saraswati in the comic about her, and the first is of her birth, and how Brahma grew five heads just to gaze upon her from every direction. Another tells the tale of how she too, like Ganga, becomes a river to save mankind. In her story however, she becomes a river in order to engulf the vadavagni, a ravaging fire that would destroy everything in the universe. Ganga offers to help her with this task. I decided that in my retelling, Saraswati (here "Sara Swan") comes to Ganga's aid, and she is no less than a powerful lawyer. I wanted to also allude to the idea that "Sara" usually deals with divine and supernatural cases, and as if the goddess of wisdom is used to watching over what divine beings do with their time on Earth. In this second story that stars Sergeant Talbot, he is still highly unaware that he is in the presence of gods and goddesses, but very much wrapped up in getting out of the job. Finally, in the second comic I read, Ganga is described as quite reckless and almost mischievous as she tries to descend as a river from the heavens onto Lord Shiva's head. I hoped to capture a bit of that troublesome and somewhat haughty personality here as well.
"Attorney Briefcase". Source: Wikimedia Commons
The mad woman who had drowned several children had called her lawyer. Talbot had told Officer Felix not to push her too far before she gave them any incriminating information, or she would do just that. But even though Felix had been around the block many times with these kinds of things, this woman called "Ganga" seemed to have disturbed him so much that he couldn't keep his calm. Not that Talbot could blame him. If you weren't mildly put off by a woman who claimed to be 'a river' and had a divine purpose in drowning children, you probably deserved arresting too, Talbot thought.
"She's here, Sergeant," Detective Kelly said as she opened the door to his office. Talbot was a little surprised that this Ganga had called a female lawyer, as he couldn't see how that would benefit her in any way. Surely this lawyer would be even less than sympathetic to her client's cause, especially if she was a mother herself. Even Kelly, who usually was his best and most clever detective in the station, had avoided too much interaction with Ganga for fear of what she might say or do to her.
Talbot quickly shut down the tabs on his computer with Barbados ticket fares and hotel deals. He knew early retirement wasn't going to work now, but he had thought perhaps he could convince his wife to go on vacation. A very long vacation.
As soon as he left his office however, he wished he hadn't closed those tabs. Ganga's lawyer was none other than Sara Swan, one of the most voracious attorneys in the state, with a wit and deep beauty to match. Her presence filled the entire room and she could size up a court room in the same way. Swan had won every one of her cases that went through Talbot's jurisdiction, including the recent stranger ones too. Even now as she stalked with that stern expression on her face towards the interrogation room where they were keeping Ganga, Talbot could feel that this was not going to go well for his office yet again.
Ganga was already looking at the door when they entered the room, as if she had been expecting them.
"Ah finally, someone who understands."
Sara glanced at Ganga for a split second, but not as if she were disappointed in what she had done or scared of a woman who had drowned her babies. Talbot thought he caught an exasperated look as if Sara had dealt with a similar situation before with this Ganga.
"Why was my client not allowed to contact me earlier, Sergeant?" Sara said calmly, but spoke the last word as if she were a mother scolding her child. Her brown eyes seemed to be wise far beyond anything in this world, yet they were lined with dark kohl as if to contain that wisdom. Officer Felix was captivated and Talbot gave him a sharp look.
"She was read all of her rights Miss Swan, and so it was up to her whether to ask for an attorney or not before she spoke with us," Talbot stated, a frown at the edge of his lips. He was clearly her elder but she always used the same tone with him. Ganga seemed to take note of the dynamic between the Sergeant and Sara because she smiled to herself. Sara raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I would like some time with my client now."
Before they left, Talbot saw Felix gazing at Sara again, and shook his head. Sara too seemed to catch it though.
"The last man who stared at me too long grew five heads, dear," Sara whispered. Talbot couldn't tell if her tone was joking from how quiet she'd said it, but she grinned as if she were.
"And at least he was a god."
"Interrogation Room". Source: Wikimedia Commons
Ganga: The Divine Beauty, Amar Chitra Katha. [Printed Comic]
Author's note: As I mentioned before, this story is a continuation of "Ganga's Arrest", my week 6 story. I read two ACK comics this week about Ganga, the river goddess of purification and the Ganges, and Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom. There are several stories of Saraswati in the comic about her, and the first is of her birth, and how Brahma grew five heads just to gaze upon her from every direction. Another tells the tale of how she too, like Ganga, becomes a river to save mankind. In her story however, she becomes a river in order to engulf the vadavagni, a ravaging fire that would destroy everything in the universe. Ganga offers to help her with this task. I decided that in my retelling, Saraswati (here "Sara Swan") comes to Ganga's aid, and she is no less than a powerful lawyer. I wanted to also allude to the idea that "Sara" usually deals with divine and supernatural cases, and as if the goddess of wisdom is used to watching over what divine beings do with their time on Earth. In this second story that stars Sergeant Talbot, he is still highly unaware that he is in the presence of gods and goddesses, but very much wrapped up in getting out of the job. Finally, in the second comic I read, Ganga is described as quite reckless and almost mischievous as she tries to descend as a river from the heavens onto Lord Shiva's head. I hoped to capture a bit of that troublesome and somewhat haughty personality here as well.
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This is a great take on Ganga's story. When I first read that Ganga would just throw her children into the river to drown (of course cause a god told her to), I thought it was quite vicious and terrifying. The poor king had to watch every child bore to her die except for the 8th I believe. It's astonishing that nothing could be done about it sooner, so seeing here that Ganga was arrested for it makes me feel better haha
ReplyDeleteHi Daana!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this story! I hadn’t actually read the first one, but you’re right, you can definitely follow this story even without reading the first one, as long as you remember the story of the woman who drowns all of her babies (which is kind of a hard one to forget). I also like how you brought in Saraswati to help Ganga out, and I’m really hoping in the next story you write we get to hear how the trial goes!
Hi Daana! I liked your story a lot. You took Ganga's story about how she drowned her children after they were born and ran with it! I thought it was a very interesting take on the tale. I actually think it fits really well, and I am not the least bit surprised at how well it works out. Though, I think that's just because you're a good writer. I read the first tale after I read this one because I was curious how you handled it, and I should've known it would've been good too. Ganga is certainly a mystical character in your stories! The way you describe her actions gives her a creepy vibe and I love it.
ReplyDelete