Aritra Sen Chapter 1: The road to Devikulam wound like a serpent through the mist-laced hills of Kerala, each bend revealing a new secret of the land—clusters of tea bushes in perfect symmetry, skeletal trees clawing at the grey sky, and occasional shrines draped in red cloth and turmeric-smudged stone. Dr. Anirudh Menon sat in the back of a rickety jeep, gripping his weather-worn field journal and an old Sony audio recorder like a lifeline. The driver, a man of few words and fewer facial expressions, had merely nodded when Ani mentioned his reason for coming. “You’re here for the…