about DEVI'S MIRROR
by Eurydice (c) 1999
This story deals with the overwhelming desires and hunger for love that lead people into slaving after, and deifying, those exceptional individuals who are free of the constraints of daily human life, otherworldly in their manifestation as uninhibitedly sensual beings. It deals with the cruel social taboos that derange people into fatalism and rebellion. At the center of this tale looms Devi, the unique individual who is a catalyst of creation and destruction, who inspires uncommonly intense emotions and extraordinary actions in those around her.
     The novel is an uninhibited tour de force of sex, murder and mysticism, set in the exotic desert of Rajasthan. Here Devi, a mysterious Westerner working as a shaman because of her unusual charisma, attracts spiritually destitute and mentally "ill" women who are in quest of a savior and desperate to rise above the misery of their lives. They recognize in Devi a means of attaining power such as they could never experience on their own. The shaman gives the women love and strength, helping them to form their identities anew as individuals. Her irresistible passion for the women, the sensuousness of the landscape and the culture, the twin spectres of murder and sacrifice, and the suspenseful twists and turns of the plot create a richly dangerous world.
     This is a "social conscience" fiction that centers on women's issues: women's equality, sexuality and social status in the East. It is faithful to the point of view of a modern Western woman as well as a rural Indian woman today. It also deals with: traditional shamanism and healing methods, including the therapeutic use of herbs, chants, dance, magic, exorcism, meditationóas contrasted to psychiatry; the power, positive and negative, of gurus and spiritual leaders; superstition; police corruption in rural India; the unpredictable behaviour of small-town Indian communities; the sustaining contradictions inherent in the Indian way of life; the cultural differences between India and the West, in attitudes toward death, individuality and family.  These themes are presented without judgement or moralizing, with integrity and credibility, in an effort to popularize the issues and challenge international preconceptions of the East. The book incorporates the results of a two-year-long on-site research and extensive reading (that included books such as Sudhir Kakar's 'Inner Worlds,' 'Shamans, Mystics and Doctors,' and 'Intimate Relations'; Anees Jung's 'Unveiling IndiaóA Woman's Journey'; 'The Autobiography of a Yogi'; 'Secrets of Shamanism'; countless articles about shamans and Indian women; and forty hours of taped interviews of local women and healers conducted on location in Rajasthan.
     The frame is familiar: an individual fighting against the system, inspiring and organizing groups of socially oppressed women. It is the main character's interior life, exposed through the occasional revelatory voice-over, that signals the omnipresence of the unfamiliar. The dramatic conflict occurs in a multi-cultural romantic triangleóbetween Devi and her two male loversóand a secondary conflict involving the female patients, the townspeople and the rival healers. The book is both a social expose and a romantic thriller. It is location-bound, full of the sounds, colors, smells that make India, designed for the senses. The treatment of the otherworldly as mundane is its aesthetic goal.

                   CHARACTERS

DEVI: A wandering shaman who runs a healing center. An unconventional and unfathomable foreign woman whose luminosity has earned her the respect of the populace.  She has the terrifying eyes of Indian  goddesses. Feared, idealized and adored, she fulfills her ritualistic desires without obstacle.  She remains an enigma throughout. 
INSPECTOR RAVI RAO:  The chief of police investigating the series of macabre local murders. A handsome, sensitive, urban Indian playboy transferred to a remote post to advance his career.  He becomes obsessed with possessing Devi.
AMY MEYER: The singer of the American band "Salem 666" who is murdered while touring in Rajasthan.
DAVID MEYER: An American businessman who arrives in Rajasthan to find his daughter's killer and falls in love with Devi. He remains blind to the Indian value systems, and, as an outsider, becomes easy prey for manipulation.
DEVIDASI: A 10-year old blind girl who assists Devi in every task, as maid, disciple, confidante, advisor, guard. She is possessive of Devi, jealous of her patients and fiercely loyal.
CONSTABLE RAMA PANDU: A sexist, funny, lecherous cop; his job will be jeopardized if he doesn't find the XX killer.
CONSTABLE RAJA RAI: Ravi's confidant and second-in-command; an old-fashioned devout superstitious man who does all the Inspector's dirty work.
MA YOGI: A popular, ambitious religious guru who subsists on light and air alone.  She preaches celibacy and strict morals and runs a rival camp of mysticism and healing.  She badmouths Devi. She must upstage Devi or lose her credibility in the community.
REKHA: An old deformed midwife who has knowledge of the murders and everything else happening in Devipur. She is considered empty-headed but bringing good luck to the town. Her meagre earnings are also threatened by Devi's success.
HIJRAS: Indian transvestites: eunuchs who wilfully castrate themselves and who use their horrifying countenances to terrorize people. They are also thought to bring luck. They  see Devi as the guru who can lead them to eternal salvation.
PATIENTS, ADORANTS AND VICTIMS: Women of all ages and backgrounds who suffer from mental or physical ailments and debilitating but hard-to-define anxieties. Their only means of rebellion is to be "possessed" by amoral spirits. They recognize Devi as their saviour  and surrender themselves to her blindly, heedless of all consequences.
THE PATIENTS' FAMILIES: They bring their relatives to Devi to be treated, participate in the healing activities, but are later threatened by the transforming results of the "cures."
THE PEOPLE OF DEVIPUR: Everpresent, curious and opinionated. They have prospered by providing accomodation, food, religious artifacts and offerings to the multitudes who visit Devi's center. However, they are threatened by the social disintegration that ensues.

                    PLOT SYNOPSIS

As the action begins, Devi is at her healing center treating disturbed women, freeing them of sexual and social repressions.  The women are in various stages of confession, shock, ecstasy and delirium.  They speak in the voices of male spirits, wail, curse, roll in mud, whip themselves or stand as statues in imaginative exercises prescribed by Devi.  Having always existed in the anonymity of family, community and religion, they have no individual identities and are reduced to non-beings.  They deal with tremendous fear and guilt as they break their years of silence and reveal their misery and anger.  They travel for miles to be cured by Devi after they have a vision of her calling them, or at the recommendation of local healers whose treatments have failed.  People also come asking Devi for their promotions, love potions, amulets to avert domestic violence, or simply to bless their medications.
    In Devipur there is news of one more strange murder of a patient of Devi's.  The police quickly declare it a suicide, even though it does not follow the usual pattern of kerosene-soaked self-immolations.  Rama Pandu comes to Devi's center to collect information on the murdered women, but wants mainly to intimidate Devi, hoping for sexual favors.  Devi maintains a mutually beneficial relationship with the police, helping them solve crimes committed against her beloved women.  In exchange for her cooperation as informer, the police steer clear of the controversial center.  Their corruption, laziness and internal politicking limit their investigation of women's deaths to a review of the victims' domestic problems, confided in detail to Devi, and result in all cases being closed off as suicides.  A woman's death is never cause for concern and alarm, as there are dozens of reasons for suicide, including dowry problems, barrenness, lack of male offspring, abusive mothers-in-law etc. Suicides in fact constitute a sort of tradition.
     Told by the locals about an all-woman foreign band playing at the nearby Palace Hotel, Devi drives to the ultrachic resort for the concert.  The band-members are young and luscious, especially the singer.  Amy Meyer is immediately magnetized by Devi, who is also attracted to the girl.  Amy passionately throws herself, body and soul, on to Devi.  Her confessions culminate in passion, girlish games and sensual abandon between the two women in Amy's hotel room.
     The next day Amy is found violently murdered in her room.  The band members and hotel employees are interrogated as possible suspects.  The murder of a foreign national and a public personality draws in the media, and the police are forced into action.  The State Inspector, Ravi Rao, is called in to take charge of the case.  Amy's murder is patterned after the ongoing series of local killings by decapitation, with each victim marked with an XX sign in ash.  The coroner's report reveals no signs of resistance on the part of the victim and the serene countenance of the corpse puzzles the police.  The cover up of the other, similar deaths comes to light.  Ravi fears that national media attention could destroy his career.  He is galvanized into action, asks for reinforcements, orders a systematic search for the killer.
     Rama turns to Devi for help and asks her to profile the killer for the police.  He leads her to the station, where Ravi is being harassed by Ma Yogi who accuses Devi of abusing women and asks for his protection against Devi's corruption, and promises him her full cooperation.  Devi's appearance electrifies the Inspector; he is overwhelmed by the power so obviously emanating from her. Devi offers her insights.  She is ordered to always accompany the police when investigating the scene of the crime.
     Afterwards, Devi and Ravi go out to discuss what course the police inquiry should follow but instead immediately act on their mutual sexual desire.  An obsessive sexual and emotional relationship follows, which completely consumes the Inspector, to the point where he has no interest in fulfilling his police duties. 
     Women flock to Devi's center where she leads them through rituals of channeling, sexual exorcisms and self-discovery.  Everyone is amazed by Devi's supernatural powers.  But women who return to their homes invariably find that they are regarded as strangers since they cannot re-adapt to their earlier, "normal" lives. "Cured" patients return to the center to stay with Devi as disciples, refusing to go back into society.  These women have discarded their inhibitions; the shocking intimacy they share with Devi, the joy and openness of their exchanges with her, sustain them and transform them into beautiful alive creatures.  A handful have been so deadened by repression that they are beyond any "rehabilitation." They remain as parasites, depending on Devi for their next breath.  In return for their blind trust and surrender to Devi, the women are sure of being exalted in Devi's eyes, an experience so rare for them that they cannot imagine aspiring to anything greater.  She becomes the focus of their existence.  This pleases and frustrates Devi, who sees it as a vicious cycle. 
     Despite hard work by the police, no definite clues emerge about the identity of the XX killer.  Another victim is found and the pressure mounts.  Devi remains involved in the investigation, shedding light on the personality of the killer.
Raja advises Ravi to stay away from Devi and warns him not to play with fire, for no one can be intimate with a divine power.  The townspeople are both elated by and fearful of this union of the two poles of powerósecular and spiritualóin Devipur; they spy on the couple's every move.  In the excitement of a new affair, Devi steals time from her center to enjoy Ravi, who is seduced further everyday by her innovative approach to life, self and sex. 
     David Meyer arrives from America to look for Amy's murderer.  Persuaded that nothing ever gets done in India, he calls a press conference in his hotel and accuses the police of incompetence.  He  asks for help from the U.S. Embassy and the F.B.I., but they are unwilling to interfere in what is considered a local crime.  David quickly finds himself alone. The police have no tolerance for this loudmouth and immediately allege that he was seen by a witness at the site of Amy's murder.
The locals send David to Devi, the only other foreigner involved in the investigation.  David asks Devi's help.  Devi tells him that she had met Amy, that Amy was unhappy and had spoken of her successful but distant father.  Devi shares with him her suspicions and leads, and attempts to illuminate for him the contradictions and inner workings of Indian life and of her own mission in India.  Devi becomes David's only ally in a strange land.  Out of compassion for his pain, she invites him to stay with her, but his Western mind is unreceptive, blinded by preconceptions.  He is suddenly interested only in her.  
     Rekha and Ma Yogi, jealous of Devi's success, want to implicate her in the murders.  Afraid to confront Devi directly, and knowing that she is a transient presence in their world, they accuse Devidasi instead, of killing the women as part of a ritual to magnify Devi's powers.  They hope to take Devidasi's place as Devi's heir to the center.  Rekha tells Rama that the victims are sacrificed to Devi's divinity, and that Devidasi performs the killings.
The relationship between Ravi and Devi turns into a battle of sex, intelligence, domination and identity.  Ravi constructs dreams of being together with her for ever in a monogamous union of soulmates.  He promises to make no demands on Devi's freedom, but she considers such a commitment ludicrous to her way of life.
     David continues to antagonize everyone with his show of superiority, refusing to understand his surroundings.  He becomes infatuated with Devi and is persuaded that Amy's death was fated to happen in order to bring him and Devi together as lovers.
     Devi drives to the nearby healing temple of Ranisati to offer her services.  Women who have proved especially resistant to cure are brought here by their families to undergo humiliating "treatment," where they are chained to the temple columns or buried under rocks to subdue the spirits possessing them.  The priests treat Devi as the goddess incarnate but throw her out of the temple when she accuses them of abusing the women.  Devi's awesome magnetism pulls the women out of their stupor and they follow her en masse to Devipur to be healed by her, with their outraged relatives in tow.  The arrival of this army of "sick" women causes confusion and mirth in Devipur.  Men eye them lustfully, since most are unmarried virgins.  Shopkeepers joyfully peddle their wares to the families.  People declare this exodus a great miracle, but the healers accuse Devi of exploitation and malpractice.  Ravi resents Devi's dedication to the women and demands more of her time. 
The gruesome killings continue.  The victims look ecstatically happy in death.
     Rekha warns her pregnant patients that they will abort if they associate with Devi.  In retaliation, some of Devi's patients plant incriminating evidence in the form of bloody knives in Rekha's house.  On a tip, Raja raids the premises and arrests Rekha.
    Ravi is attacked further in the press  by the local politician whose nephew lost out to Ravi for the position of State Inspector.  Police scandals are revealed, such as the case of a convicted drug-dealer who hangs out freely in the station and smokes with the jailers.  Ravi has been hoping to be transferred to his Bombay base if he is successful.  Suddenly vulnerable, he visits the politician to ask for assistance.  Then he breaks down in front of Raja over his personal desperation with Devi's sexual bossiness and detachment.  Ravi wants to possess her completely, and nothing she says or does is enough for him.
     David tries to have sex with Devi; she gives in out of pity, but his idealization of her and his high expectations render him impotent in bed.  He refuses to face this fact and announces to all that he has had great sexual experiences with Devi.  He dons the saffron robes of a disciple to show his dedication to her and decides to promote her as an international guru and take her to America, where they could build a rich ashram and live happily together.  His actions cause anger to Devi, insecurity to her patients, and drive Ravi insane with jealousy.
     Devi continues to tenderly and intuitively cure women, hearing their lifestories, performing bizarre rituals such as setting their skirts on fire or taking on to herself the evil spirits to "dispossess" them.  A group of outraged husbands attempt to burn down Devi's center, but find themselves helpless in the face of her devastating wrath.  The Ranisati priests formally denounce her, ban her from all places of worship and vow to destroy her.  Ma Yogi declares that she will fast unto death, to bring to national attention the fact that Devi is a demon and a witch.
     Word of Devi's miraculous powers brings hundreds of hijras into town, begging to be healed of their own suffering.  They consider themselves misunderstood women who deserve Devi's care.  They have had visions of the recent killings and signs that they must sacrifice themselves to Devi.  They call Devi the Immaculate Murderer, a boddhisattva, a saint who has sacrificed her moksha to remain on earth and help women.  They pay homage to her as the guru of their mutilated community, their spiritual and physical liberator.  She kindly refuses them.
      Rekha is released on grounds of insufficient evidence and, that same day, she discovers the next victim.  Rekha brims with theories about the murders which she presents to Rama.  She is sure that Devi sleeps with Ravi to obtain his partiality and obstruct his vision and asks Rama to open Ravi's eyes.  Rekha, struck by the orgasmic ecstasy that engulfed the victim, believes the women would have to be under a spell to die so blissfully despite the violence.  Only Devi could put them into such a state, and then have Devidasi kill them in cold blood.  Rama feigns interest and leads Rekha to a room in the station to take her testimony.  There he rapes the old woman.
     Ma Yogi also accuses Devi and challenges her to perform a public miracle that would prove her innocence.  She demands that if Devi is a real visionary, she should name the murderer and save her women from being killed.  She too visits the police station to press charges against Devi.  Rama cunningly ingratiates himself to Ma Yogi, and, in a demented coup, rapes her as well.  The two women are devastated, with no one to turn to, as it would be impossible to press charges or produce conclusive proof of the rapes.
      Devi enjoys spur-of-the-moment sexual liaisons with local boys in the desert.  Devidasi secretly follows Devi everywhere, on house-calls, amorous meetings or visits to Ravi's house.  David pesters Devi with his promises of everlasting love.  Ravi asks Devi to marry him.  She refuses, but he persists.  He knows that they are meant for each other.  She has a monumental sexual encounter with him, which is so pleasurable that she decides it will be their last.  Rama warns Devi of her rivals' accusations and threatens her, hoping to follow his boss into her bed.
     The hijras disrupt life in Devipur, harass the locals, shouting that Devi will set them free from the cycles of life.  The townspeople complain to Devi and the police, demanding to have the hijras removed by force.
Ravi desires to devote all his time to pleasing Devi, to make her acknowledge her love for him.  He is determined to solve the XX case by any means necessary to relieve the public pressure.
     Things in Devipur get out of hand: there is a threat of famine, as a truckers' strike, engineered by the local politician to punish the town for voting against him, threatens to leave the new crop undistributed.  Constant electricity black-outs disrupt the harvest.  The townspeople let out their frustrations on the hijras, believing that their crop will rot from the evil omen of the eunuchs.  In the ensuing clashes there is looting and a few townspeople die.  Fears and passions run high.
  The police frame David Meyer for the murders, to placate the media and remove the troublemakeróand Ravi's rivalóall in one blow.  They produce fabricated evidence and motives, including documents and testimonies proving that he was in      Rajasthan at the time of the murder, suggest a history of incest with his daughter and consider his other murders as cover-ups.  In a public show of force, David is beaten and thrown into a horrendous jail.  The press praise Ravi for unravelling such a complicated mystery and he is recommended for promotion.  Everyone is satisfied that the killer is not a local, but a Westerner with degenerate morals.
     Devi publicly demands that Ravi rise above corruption and greed and set David free.  With his promotion, Ravi wants the two of them to move away and start a new life together.  Devi threatens to expose the police frame up and promises a new murder that night which would prove David's innocence.  Ravi implores her to open her true soul to him; in return for marriage he would do anything for her.
    Devi visits the jail and promises to free David.  She is incensed at the blatant injustice and once again attempts to explain India to him.  He is a broken man; only his "memories" of his blissful sexual relations with Devi and love for her sustain him through his torture.
      That evening, an overwrought young woman urgently summons Devi to her house where she lies paralyzed.  Devidasi and Rekha secretly follow her.  The girl throws herself at Devi in complete despair, rocks and moans begging to be released from the torture of her life.  Devi lovingly calms the girl, caresses her and whispers words of confidence to her, but meets with hopeless self-effacement.  The girl simply wants Devi to love and protect her forever.  She is exhausted by her nightmares and pleads with Devi to be made one with her.  She wants to physically fuse with Devi's power, and falls back in a trance, unable to fight for herself, near death.  She moans: "My life is your own!"  She begs to be delivered from her earthly chains and to be reborn free.  Devi soothes her until she is still.  Love and desire shine on Devi's face as she approaches the girl as if to make love to her. From around her neck Devi removes the mirror-eye necklace she always wears and puts it around the girl's neck.  Devi pushes a hidden clasp and the girl's throat is instantaneously cut.  Who enjoys the greater fulfillment, Devi or the victim lying limp in her arms?
     The hijras are out of control, spreading chaos.  They have removed all deities from the town temples and replaced them with the statues and puppets of Devi which are sold en masse in Devipur.  They pray to Devi, sing and dance deliriously preparing for their deaths.  The townspeople are terrified.
     Suddenly all of Devi's patients are released.
     Devi calls for a purification ceremony for the town to purge its destructive passions and ensure a good harvest.  The townspeople trust in her powers to save them from impending doom.  Devi is immersed in boundless adulation by the masses.
     David Meyer is secretly allowed to walk out of his cell, and handed a false passport by his guards, presumably on Devi's orders.
     Humble and repentant, Ma Yogi leads her followers to the harvest celebrations, invoking Devi as the Divine Mother and Destroyer. 
     Devidasi leads the healed women and their families out of the center, assuming the role that has been prescribed for her as Devi's successor.
      Devipur is out in full force. 
Devi appears in the midst of the crowds, awesome and electric.  She howls a cleansing chant, lights a circle of coals with her eyes and dances on them in ecstasy.  The crowd joins her.  Devi looks into Devidasi's eyes and the girl suddenly finds her sight.  Ma Yogi, in spiritual glory, surrenders her allegiance to Devi, begs for forgiveness and enlightenment and, as proof of her love, torches herself on the spot.  The crowd goes into cathartic frenzy.  David Meyer is glimpsed in the crowd, dazed but free.  Devi lights two immense fires in the shape of XX with her eyes.  The half-crazed hijras recognize her sign and throw themselves onto the flames, singing and dancing, embracing each other in death, joyous in their final union with Devi.  Devi has disappeared, dissolving into the mists of myth.
     The flames spread out, endangering the safety of the town.  The police arrive, sirens blow, people run around in search of water, but the crowds continue to dance on the burning coals, carrying flaming effigies of Devi in celebration and embracing in orgiastic bliss.
     Ravi searches frantically for Devi.  Trapped in the burning landscape, choking with smoke and ashes, he sees the fiery XX that marked all the victims and, in a flash, finally recognizes the murderer.  But the woman he loves is gone, and he knows he can never have her.  He screams "I am Devi," falls to the scorched ground wanting to be swallowed into the earth.
The landscape transforms into an empty desert.  The earth slowly opens to reveal its contents: there arise hundreds of children, boys and girls of all races and countenances, who take their places solemnly one next to another, filling the land with an eerie presence; they all have the powerful loving face of Devi, they are her replicas in miniature.  They are waiting...

* XX refers to the female genotype
 
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