This is set in the 1930s in a village in Ganjam, Odisha, India.
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Thak-Thak! Thak-Thak!
Thump! Thump!
Hearing the banging on his window, Hariprasad was woken up from his slumber.
His friend, Natu, often did this at dawn to awaken Hariprasad.
The two would then set out to plow their agricultural land.
But, that particular dawn no-moon (Amavasya) night, it appeared Natu had arrived earlier than usual as when Hariprasad opened his window, it was still dark outside. It appeared darker as there was no moon. It was a cloudy night & there were no stars too.
"Natu, you don't sleep or what? It's not yet dawn and you woke me up!"
Natu just mumbled, "Hmmm."
Natu was walking at a faster-than-usual pace and a still-drowsy Hariprasad followed him to the field.
"Natu, Let's draw the water from the well first. But, it's pitch-dark & still we have to fill the pitchers."
So saying hardly had Hariprasad handed a pitcher, when Natu had filled it in a jiffy!
Hariprasad found it pretty unusual.
All the pitchers were filled in no time.
