The Covenant of Water

Rune decides to leave his practice to attend a monastic retreat. He ruminates on his upbringing in the orphanage. As he explores the area, he comes across some lepers, and he understands that the pain that they feel is largely emotional; leprosy deadens the nerves, so physical pain is uncommon. Lepers routinely injure themselves without knowing they have done so. Rune decides to take over an abandoned leprosarium to care for these exiled and forgotten people.

Rune’s reputation as a doctor is well known, and he soon receives a visit from a man named Chandy and his wife: Chandy has given up alcohol for Lent, and he has succumbed to severe withdrawals. The doctor prescribes him a cure—a little more alcohol mixed with opium and a directive to taper before Lent. The couple, owners of the Thetanatt estate, are grateful for his help, and he becomes their regular friend.

Big Ammachi is pregnant, 15 years after the birth of Baby Mol. She names the boy Philipose. Her husband takes ill soon after, with headaches that eventually lead to the drooping of the left side of his face. Still, he insists on soothing Big Ammachi’s fears about Philipose and water; she should allow the boy to live his life fully, without the fear that his own mother once instilled in him.

However, her husband’s illness has affected his senses: He does not recognize the elephant Damodaran when the animal returns. Big Ammachi sees that Damo seems to understand what is happening. Shortly thereafter, the husband dies.

Philipose is now almost three years old, and he appears to be fearless around water, unlike his father and JoJo. Though this frightens Big Ammachi, she decides to give him one simple directive: “Never swim alone” (220). Philipose and Shamuel’s son, Joppan, become great friends, though when Joppan—a member of the lowest caste of Indian society—tries to attend school, the boy is shamed. Philipose is confused and furious. Big Ammachi acknowledges the injustice of the situation, but caste is a fact of life in India, and there’s little she can do. The Christian Indian community is not necessarily subject to these caste designations, but Big Ammachi realizes that even the Christians will not eat at a table with the pulayar, or untouchables.

Big Ammachi decides that she herself will take on Joppan as a pupil, since he cannot attend the village school. It will be her small revolt against an unjust system.

Despite his attraction to water, Philipose has not yet learned to swim. Instead, he decides he will climb the coconut trees like his father before him; however, ultimately he is not quite sure he is suited for that either. Big Ammachi harbors hopes that Philipose will discover the reason—and the cure—for the Condition. She tells him the history of his family and their predisposition to drowning.

At 10, Philipose turns his attention to other endeavors. He invents an ink “that glitters on the page like no commercial brand and makes writing a pleasure” (230). One afternoon, he encounters an old man on a bicycle who decides to take on Philipose as a pupil. The man gives the boy a copy of Moby-Dick, then Great Expectations. This fosters in Philipose a lifelong love of literature and writing. Philipose confesses to his devout mother that the old man does not believe in God. Big Ammachi believes that the old man’s positive influence on her son is proof of God’s existence.

Baby Mol reveals a predilection for prediction; she seems to know who might be visiting or what might be happening before events unfold. Meanwhile, Philipose is having trouble in school. He thinks his struggles are due to a difficult teacher, but, in fact, Philipose has trouble hearing when forced to sit in the back of the class. When Big Ammachi insists he be put in the front, his grades recover.

Philipose must take a long route to school to avoid the rushing river. One day, while on his way to school, he hears a wail from the local boatman. The boatman’s child has stopped breathing. Philipose clears the child’s mouth and throat, but he realizes that the problem is more serious than he can remedy. He must get on the boat in order to get to the hospital. It makes him anxious and ill, but the two reach their destination, while Philipose carries the dying child in his arms.