Chapter 2, Kalyug, Section II Summary

Section two begins with Hukum Chand reacting privately too the incineration of the bodies. Chand is secretly horrified and traumatized, having seen the train cars full of bodies with his own eyes and even touching a man he thought was alive. The images haunt him. While he had always been fascinated by death and had come to believe that death was inevitable, nothing was inevitable about this; it was sheer horror. Chand has great trouble calming down until he drinks some whiskey and falls asleep next to his young prostitute.

In the next section, the author notes the coming of the summer monsoon, which is a period of two months or rain that comes after a long drought. It is welcomed for the first few days, but afterward it fills Mano Majra with mud and overflowing water...