The Covenant of Water

In 1968, Mariamma enters medical school in Madras. Though she is still grieving for her grandmother and aunt, she applies herself with vigor to the program. She pours over the copy of Gray’s Anatomy that a friend found for her in a used book store. She is fascinated by the cadavers that she is supposed to memorize and dissect and inspired by one of her more interesting professors, an Indian named Dr. Cowper.

The group working with Mariamma on the cadaver nickname her Henrietta after Henry Gray of Gray’s Anatomy. The work is going well, and she is also excited to receive a letter from Lenin; they have been writing to each other through the ensuing years of her college attendance and his seminary studies. They are both busy with their respective careers, and 14 months pass quickly. Mariamma lets Philipose know that her final exams are upon her; she has been asked to take the advanced exam in anatomy for a prize.

She receives another letter from Lenin, who admits he has lost his faith in God: “I’m lost,” he says (535). He is drawn to the Communist party instead. She is preoccupied with Lenin’s troubles when she arrives for her final exam.