Kaala Paani Ending Explained: What Was the Attavus Project? What Was Leptospiral Hemorrhagic Fever?
At the height of British rule in India, fighters for Indian independence called the cell prison of the Andaman Islands Kaala Paani. Due to the island’s remote location, brutal torture methods, unforgiving conditions, and inevitable death, it was considered a no-go zone, and because water surrounded everything, it became known as Kaala Paani. The new Netflix series, Kaala Paani is not about India’s independence; instead, it takes us into the future. The year is 2027, and it has been seven years since the deadly coronavirus disrupted the lives of billions around the world. The memory of the rapidly spreading disease is still fresh, and the sight of masks, frequent temperature checks, sanitization, and containment zones immediately reminds people of the pandemic years. Therefore, when tourists suddenly come across the precautions taken by the authorities in the Andaman Islands, they become suspicious. Is the coronavirus back? And if not, what was the reason behind the sudden panic? The horrifying truth was eventually revealed, and a fun island vacation turned into a nightmare.
Kaala Paani Ending Explained: What Was Leptospiral Hemorrhagic Fever?
Dr. Saudamini Singh, a self-sufficient and practical professional, was the Chief of the Central Hospital in Port Blair. She always believed that medical cases were often not as complicated as generally assumed. Her guiding principle was that the right answer was always the easiest. Dr. Singh quarantined eleven of her patients who had similar symptoms. They all had a high fever, dry throat, and nausea, and what caught their attention was a rare symptom – black spots on the neck area. Singh was researching the disease and noticed that its symptoms were similar to those of a mysterious illness observed in 1989 in the Andaman Islands. Singh had called in an expert to help her with her research, but instead an NICD postdoc, Ritu Gagra, was sent from the mainland. Initially, Singh was reluctant to share the details with Ritu, but gradually the young scientist gained his trust. Singh was even more worried because of the upcoming Swaraj Mahotsav.
Thousands of tourists were expected to arrive on the island, and if the unknown disease proved potent, it could be a recipe for disaster. Singh expressed his concern during a meeting with Lieutenant General Qadri about the party planned by private company ATOMS. The corrupt SDPO, Ketan Kamat, laughed off their concerns, claiming the symptoms were caused by adulterated alcohol. As there were no new cases in the last 48 hours and the police obtained a confession from the owners of a local alcohol shop admitting the allegation, Singh’s concerns were found to be unfounded. Singh had no choice but to allow the Swaraj Mahotsav to take place as planned. While Singh came to believe that the problem was simple, a response from her patient left her perplexed. One of her patients stated that he had not consumed alcohol recently, and most people in her locality avoided alcohol during the lunar cycle for religious reasons.
Singh realized that Ketan’s explanation was false and headed to Jenkins Island to discover the truth. When she arrived at the settlement near Lake Jenkins, she was perplexed. There were bodies everywhere, and they all died from the disease. A little girl begged for water but refused to drink the lake water. Singh realized that it was the water that had infected the people. Pipes recently installed by ATOMS collected water from the lake, which spread to other parts of the island. With all his strength, Singh tried to make his way through a muddy and swampy trail, but he could not.
She suffered a head injury, but until her last breath, she tried to warn of the imminent threat. As Saudamini traveled to Jenkins Island to decipher the truth, Ritu repeatedly examined the information she had and concluded that it was a waterborne infection, spreading through Lake Jenkins. When Singh’s body was found there, Ritu became even more certain of her theory. A meeting was held with Lieutenant General Qadri, and Ritu and Sashi explained to the council the seriousness of the illness and the importance of taking precautionary measures immediately. Lieutenant General Qadri announced that isolation was the need of the hour, but at the same time, the general public should not come to know about the disease. He believed that this would lead to panic and that the situation would be impossible to control. The disease was called leptospiral hemorrhagic fever, or LHF-27.
Why Did Chiranjeevi Volunteer for Treatment?
Chiranjeevi, the scorpion of his house, who believed in making a profit even in the worst situations, harbored a deep hatred for the indigenous Oraka tribe. Chiru’s father lost his life fighting for the rights of the Orakas, and during LHF 27, his mother dedicated her life to protecting the Orakas and ended up dying after contracting the disease. Chiru believed that the natives did not deserve special treatment, especially after discovering that they were not affected by the disease. He decided to capture an Oraka man, Enmae, to find out how they managed to resist the disease. Chiru kidnapped a native to get to the truth. He gradually realized that his grief was rooted in the loss of his parents and not the Orakas. He later blamed himself for putting Enmae’s life at risk when the police arrested the native man.
The police force led by Ketan was searching for the Orakas for information about the Andaman Echinacea. Ritu learned about the plant from Dr. Singh’s research and believed it could be the only cure for LHF 27. It was assumed that the Orakas knew about this mysterious plant that was impossible to find. Shortly before Enmae’s arrest, Chiru discovered that he had the same pendant that his parents had received from the Orakas. Throughout the seven episodes of Águas Impuras, we discover that Chiru was adopted. Her mother was an Oraka woman raped by a city hunter who threatened to burn her alive if she dared give birth. Parvathy and her husband tried to protect the Indian woman, but the hunters caught up with them. Chiru’s biological mother risked her life to protect him and ultimately handed her baby over to his rescuers. After discovering his truth, Chiru suffered immense guilt and looked for an opportunity to approach Enmae and ask for her forgiveness.
After carrying out some preliminary tests on Enmae, Ritu was surprised to discover that the peptide needed to combat LHF 27 was already present in Enmae’s body. The Orakas had found a cure for the disease centuries ago, and as a result, in the present day, the Orakas were immune to LHF 27. As the plant was yet to be discovered, extracting the peptide from the Orakas was the only hope, but all process was a risky affair. Ritu warned authorities that this could result in Enmae’s death, but saving thousands of lives was considered far more important than protecting one native man.
Since Ms. Shaw, Director of the Southeast Asia Division of ATOMS and wife of Atom CEO Brandon Shaw, was also infected, treating her was a priority. The company agreed to help five thousand uninfected people escape to their private island, Huxley Island, only if they could cure Swasti Shaw. When Chiru discovered that the doctor planned to operate on Enmae, he revealed that he was also immune to the disease because he was half Oraka. He volunteered to go through the process to protect Enmae. As he was the one who put Enmae’s life at risk, he believed he owed it to the Oraka community as a whole. The procedure was led by Ritu and although there were complications at the end, it was a success. Both Chiru and Swasti recovered. Swasti’s recovery proved that Ritu had a theory and that it was the only way to save the thousands of people trapped in the Andaman Islands.
What Was the Attavus Project?
Ketan recognized the word ‘Attavus’ when communicating with Enmae. The Attavus was the burial ground of the Orakas, and Emnae believed that the people of the city had disturbed their ancestors, which was why they were cursed with the deadly disease. Ketan conducted a brief study and discovered that the Oraka burial site was considered a reservoir of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Upon questioning the people at ATOMS about this, Ketan discovered that the Attavus project was not as sinister as he had imagined. The Oraka burial ground was part of the Jenkins Botanical Park, and the Orakas had scattered the seeds of the mysterious plant there. Unaware of the plant’s importance, ATOMS dug up the area to convert it into a helipad for easier access for its CEO, Brandon Shaw.
The heliport was built with the aesthetic images that would be produced with Lake Jenkins in the background in mind. Ketan had not expected the explanation to be as simple and ridiculous as it turned out to be. The reason thousands of people were suffering was that a rich man decided to build a heliport in an environmental buffer zone. Ketan was a selfish man who never cared about being morally upright and did everything in his interest. The Attavus project proved how one person’s selfish interest could harm an entire population, a lesson Ketan had to learn the hard way.
Why Did Ritu Hope to Find the Mystery Plant?
Ritu was conflicted when Lieutenant General Qazi announced that to save the lives of the people trapped on the island, it was necessary to sacrifice the lives of the Orakas. Finding another solution was the need of the hour, and Jyotsna was his only hope. As a nurse, Jyotsna had to overcome her traumatic past as she took on the responsibility of caring for two children she encountered at the Swaraj Mahotsav. Kaddu and Parth were completely alone, and Jyotsna undertook to help them find their parents, who were trapped on Neil Island. Kaddu often suffered from epilepsy attacks, and Jyotsna knew that the only person who could help them was the reclusive and embittered old man who lived in a bunker. Basu was strict about his rules and preferred to keep his distance from strangers. Jyotsna convinced him to help her, and she and the children spent the next few days in Basu’s bunker.
While there, Jyotsna discovered that during World War II, when the Japanese army occupied the Andaman Islands, they faced the same disease and lost their soldiers as a result. Basu’s bunker was occupied by a Japanese doctor, and his diary revealed that some people on the island were immune to the disease, and the Japanese called them the ‘Chosen’. It was in the diary that Jyotsna found the image of Andaman Echinacea, and the doctor also mentioned the places where it was found. Later, in Kaala Paani, Jyostna accompanied Chiru to the hospital, and it was there that she met Ritu. While discussing the possible cure for the disease, Jyostna realized that Ritu was searching for the same plant discussed in the Japanese doctor’s diary. She promised to get the diary for Ritu to help her in her search for the Andaman Echinacea. Ritu was willing to risk her life based on information mentioned in a decades-old diary rather than watch the Oraka community become extinct.
How does the First Season of Kaala Paani End?
At the end of the first season of Kaala Paani, Jyostna was successful in reuniting Kaddu with his father, Santosh. After losing his wife and son, Kaddu was Santosh’s only reason for living. Therefore, when Jyotsna broke the devastating news that Kaddu was infected, he refused to accept it. Jyotsna tried to convince Santosh to treat Kaddu in the Andaman Islands since she was no longer eligible to travel to Huxley Island. Santosh believed that the medical facility was not prepared to treat the disease and that he could not afford to lose Kaddu. He was hopeful that she would receive the right treatment on the private island, but Jyostna was not in favor of his decision. To save his daughter, he was risking the lives of five thousand people, but Santosh didn’t care. He had spent hours alone in the jungle without food or water; he had traveled miles pretending to be an ambulance driver to find his children; he had faced the loss of his wife and son in a matter of days; and everything would have meaning if only he returned home to his daughter.
When Jyotsna threatened to take it away from him, he lost his temper. A few hours earlier, Santosh was on his knees, thanking Jyotsna for protecting his children, and now he was grabbing her by the neck with both hands and choking her as much as he could. Good and evil no longer existed for Santosh; it all came down to survival. At the end of the first season of Kaala Paani, Santosh boards the ship to the private island with his daughter. Although Lieutenant General Qadri believed he had successfully saved the lives of five thousand individuals, we can expect the private island to be in a state of crisis due to an infected individual in the second season of Kaala Paani. With Jyostna no longer present to guide Ritu, Basu took it upon himself to travel to the islands where the mysterious plant was said to be found. Ritu is the only hope for a cure at the moment.
The first season finale of Kaala Paani ends with the Orakas surrounding the police force that follows Chiru and Enmae to their settlement. The police had been ordered to bring the Orakas to the city, but the indigenous tribe had already thought about the threat, and their plan had always been to arrest the enemy. Even though the police were armed, they couldn’t use them because Orakas were extremely valuable at the moment. Killing the Orakas would mean losing the only hope of combating the disease, and therefore the police were left in a powerless position. It won’t be easy to capture the Orakas, and hopefully, Ritu will find the plant before the situation gets worse. Jyostna’s childhood best friend Vinayak was eager to see her, unaware that she was no longer alive. Although Jyostna’s life ended tragically, her friendship, in the form of Andaman Echinacea, will live on forever. Unknowingly, Vinayak brought Andaman Echinacea seeds to school during his group project.
He wanted his plant to look different, and her mother, Parvathy, gave him the seeds of the plant that she knew was of utmost importance to the Orakas. Come to think of it, it is Parvathy’s relationship with the Orakas that will save thousands of lives. They shared her secret because they trusted her, and she unknowingly delivered the cure for a deadly disease to her son when he was young. Andaman Echinacea is present on the school grounds, and hopefully, Ritu or Basu will discover it. Kaddu took some leaves of the plant with her and named it Jyostna, after her favorite teacher. Will Jyostna’s love for Kaddu ultimately save her life? Well, we’ll have to wait for the second season of Kaala Paani to find out.
