Yakshagni - An odyssey of unbroken devotion - II

 37) The Ancient Folksong

Maurya's face was now blanched with a deep pallor as he answered the call. He listened quietly to whoever it was on the other end. Dharma mulled if the caller was Rashika.

Observing the abrupt change of expression on his face, Dharma's heart raced. There was some bad news. From a warm and loving demeanour, Maurya had turned remote and coldly detached.

"What is it Maurya?" she asked as soon as he ended the call.

"Rashika..." he revealed; his thoughts already miles away from Anuragnicheri.

"Is she fine?"

"She met with an accident; she is in the hospital."

"Oh!" ignoring the wounded ankle, Dharma climbed down hurriedly from the bed, "Who was on the phone?"

"Her father..." Maurya answered distantly, his gaze glued to the phone, "I have to go, Dharma."

"Yes, yes, we will go immediately."

"No...." Dharma flinched at Maurya's tone. "No, you stay here. I will book your ticket for tomorrow."

"But, Maurya...if you are leaving, we can go together," Dharma suggested. The fleeting impatience that crossed his face did not miss Dharma's discerning gaze.

"You take rest tonight. I will ask Shankaran to get you to the airport tomorrow."

Maurya had begun making calls, striding away from the room. Dharma followed him. She was anxious about Maurya travelling in the bad weather. She voiced her concern. He ignored it. She reckoned that he was shaken by Rashika's accident. Shankaran lent his car although he did raise the point about the thunderstorm. Maurya paid no attention to either of their misgivings. He left without a glance or goodbye to Dharma.

Lying on the bed in a strange place and in an uneasy state of mind, Dharma's ears caught the rhythm of the falling rains. Her worried thoughts traversed to her past life. The fact that she was a Yakshi made her ruminate about her future with Maurya. Would he be willing to accept her, knowing the truth about her origin?

Before they could discuss their intertwined past in detail, Maurya got the news about Rashika. Despite Dharma's connection with Maurya in their past lives, she understood with painful realization that Rashika enjoyed greater privilege in  Maurya’s life. Rashika was already engaged to him and Dharma knew that he hadn't yet broken his engagement to her. Now, it seemed unlikely that Maurya would come back to Dharma. Nevertheless, Dharma prayed for his safe journey. The Yakshis who had guarded her and Maurya, had left the world to inhabit the subterranean region. In the absence of their guarding presence, Dharma could only hope that bad weather would not trouble Maurya. What she had gathered from Maurya's unexpected departure was that Rashika was seriously injured. Maurya's distress on hearing the news made her wonder if he loved Rashika in his own way. After all, he had known her for many years, and they had spent their crucial growing-up years together.

Maurya had not even considered it necessary to give the details to Dharma. She was still smarting from his terse departure. Nonetheless, she waited to hear from him before drawing any conclusion.

When morning began to make its sunny presence gingerly, she slid out of bed to take a look outside. The rains had stopped, and a silvery dawn was unfolding through the mist. The street road was covered with uprooted trees and leaves ripped by the blistering winds.

She checked her phone and was disappointed to find no message or call from Maurya. After testing her ankle which seemed fine that morning, and freshening up, she left the room stealthily. She did not want to disturb Shankaran, and hence she slipped out of the main door quietly. She inhaled the earthy smell of the rain-washed morning. Ahead of making any conscious decision, her feet were automatically drawn towards Avadhi.

She gazed at the ruined façade of the house. Its rickety presence gave her comfort. Somehow, she got the impression that Avadhi understood her leaden heart. She noticed that a part of the ceiling had caved in during the stormy night. She did not enter the house, as she was sure the memories of the previous day would tear her apart.

Yesterday, Maurya had been with her, now she was alone, unsure of her future.

Was it the maneuvering of Time? Or simply her fate?

"Good morning!" the temple priest greeted her.

"Good morning!"

Echoing her thoughts unknowingly, he said, "Life is so unpredictable. Yesterday, Avadhi was crying for attention and today she is almost going down..."

"Going down?" Dharma questioned, taking a quick look at the house.

"Yes, last night's rains have wrecked her. She will collapse soon."

Curious, Dharma asked, "Why do you address the house as she?"

Smiling, he answered, "The woman who had lived here must have been forlorn. She died eventually but her sorrow had not. Time could not erase her misery but your arrival had."

His words brightened her fractured heart. She smiled at him guardedly. He continued, "Do you know what Avadhi means? It means time. Time had come to a stand-still here. When you arrived, you released it from its trappings.”

"Do you think so?" Dharma asked in wonder.

"Yes, Shankaran told me what happened and I realize that you were the one Avadhi wanted to see."

They stood in comforting silence, gazing at Avadhi. "Why don't you visit the temple?" he invited her.

"I will take a look at the river first..."

Dharma dipped her feet in the cold waters of Agni. It rejuvenated her. Like a wandering spirit that had finally found its destination, Dharma felt restful beside the river.

Without warning, a loud crashing sound thundered around her. She swung around in panic. The roof of Avadhi had come down completely. The pillars buckled and the walls fell to pieces under the weight of the collapsing beam.

***************

When Dushyant opened his eyes, he found, to his surprise, the Guruji right in front of him. Sitting up clumsily, Dushyant felt embarrassed to have fallen asleep.

"Good morning!" Guruji's warm eyes smiled at Dushyant.

"I am so sorry Guruji. I guess I was so tired that I dozed off," Dushyant apologized, darting a quick look around him.

"It is alright. Most of the visitors feel tired after climbing up all those steps. So, what is the purpose of your visit?"

"I heard that you are the only one who knows the origin of a folksong and the names of the individuals in the narrative."

When the spiritual teacher frowned in confusion, Dushyant explained, "The folk song that tells the story of a mother and her son, how the duo was jailed for singing a song about a brave prince and his love."

"Yes, yes, I know which folk song you are talking about. But why do you want to know their names? Is there any particular reason?"

Dushyant pondered if he should confess the truth of his journey to Guruji. Deciding to reveal everything, he began, "I stay near Almora. I believe my family is the descendants of the royalty of the ancient kingdom, Alaka."

The Guruji's eyes grew wider in surprise at the mention of Alaka, "Alaka?"

"Yes guruji, and I came here with the hope of finding some traces to the ancient kingdom. When I heard the folk song, I was curious if it had connections to Alaka."

"The pair in the folk song is Urmathi and her son. She was the beloved mistress of a king of Khandvas. When war broke out between Alaka and her enemies Vindhash and Khandvas, Urmathi and her son fled to a village across the border. She sought refuge in the kingdom of Alaka. She tried to teach her son the valour of the prince of Alaka. Together, they used to earn some money by serenading the story. Unfortunately, they were jailed for singing the ballad publicly. The folksong, however, became a legendary tale of the heroism of Urmathi and her son, and made the prince of Alaka popular."

"So, the kingdom of Alaka was here somewhere in the region," Dushyant mused aloud.

"Yes, this gurukul has been here for many centuries, and during the earlier years, they used to teach the valour of the prince to the disciples."

"Which prince was this?"

"Prince Ekveer...he lost his life in a forest fire. He fought bravely for his woman, for the tribal community, and for the forest where they lived."

Dushyant was fascinated by the story of Ekveer, "What happened to the prince?"

"What happens usually? The girl to whom he was betrothed hailed from Vindhash. When her father heard about Ekveer's love for this tribal girl, he got furious and joined hands with the enemy of Alaka, Khandvas. Together, they waged war against Alaka. Ekveer fought the battle bravely from the frontline and he won, however, the enemies set fire to the forest without his knowledge. It is believed that Ekveer, the woman he loved, and most of the tribe were killed in the forest fire. It is a very tragic story. For many years, the prince's father grieved for his only son."

"Oh, so why stop people from singing the valour of the prince?"

"Khandvas, with the help of its neighbouring kingdoms captured Alaka. The general who had successfully annexed Alaka to Khandvas was crowned the new ruler. He was the founder of the Khadga dynasty. The subsequent rulers banished anyone who spoke about the prince or Alaka. Slowly, Alaka and its glory disappeared. In its place, new kingdoms and newer heroes had emerged."

"So which tribe did the woman belong to? I mean the prince's lover..."

"Oh, she lived in the forests of Saugandhika. They were called the Yakshis. They were a very intelligent tribe. They were great learners and had immense knowledge about the universe. When their forest was burnt down, it is believed that some of the Yakshis escaped through a river and others moved to subterranean caves. Yakshas protect the treasures buried under the surface of the earth."

Very hesitantly Dushyant put the question forward, "Had the Yakshas believed in time travel?"

The stunned Guruji regarded Dushyant with shock, "Why do you ask? Do you know something that no one does?"

"No, no, I wondered about the diagram made on the slopes of the Baspa Valley. It depicts a compass."

"They were made by the Yakshas when they had been the only ones who had ruled over the land, the mountains, and the river. They knew secrets about this universe that no one had known. It is possible that they could have believed in time travel."

***************

Some of the residents of the village rushed out at the loud crash. The tree that had looked barren to Dharma the previous day, toppled over the wreckage. Some birds fluttered across the area in panic. Fragments of soot spread over the debris of Avadhi. The tiny dust particles rose up gradually, merging into the gust of air, and disappeared from Dharma's view.

The emotions that were trapped in a moment of eternal predicament, moved forward from the crossroads. Avadhi had been caught in a crux but now she took a significant step forward in the constant motion of Time.

Yakshagni's tail end of the journey had come to an end. With the exposure of the other end of the wormhole to Maurya and Dharma, the river had surrendered itself to Earth. The river would henceforth become a legend to posterity. The truth of her secret may be found only between the pages of history, folklore, and myths.

The sight of the perished house brought a lump in Dharma's throat. She had a sensation of bidding goodbye to one part of her life. From her first meeting with Maurya to her journey to Modhera; everything had directed her to this momentous visit to Avadhi. Maybe this was the point where she would be parting from Maurya. The heaviness of the realization made her tearful but the sight of Shankaran followed by a group of men, forced her to get a grip on her emotions.

"Thank god you are fine. When I found you missing in the house, I was afraid that you had gone inside Avadhi to explore," Shankaran cried out in relief.

"Sorry, I left without informing you. I didn’t want to disturb you in the morning..." she apologized.

"Are you alright?"

Dharma nodded as more residents of the village gathered in front of Avadhi.

"We will have to remove the debris. Any idea, Dharma, on what we should do with the land? The Railway authorities have been eyeing this part of the land. When I asked Maurya, he said it belongs to you and that you would be deciding on what we do with that piece of land."

Dharma flashed a look at Shankaran and asked eagerly, "Have you spoken to Maurya? Has he reached Delhi?"

"No, we spoke about the house last night, just before he left. Today, I only got a message that he has reached Delhi."

Dharma agonized that Maurya hadn't even sent a message to her.

"So, what should we do Dharma? Either, we sell the land to Railways or use it. Maurya told me that he is ready to pay any amount for it."

"If everyone in the village agrees, I think we should have a home built for destitute women. Can we build a home like that?" Dharma asked hesitantly, not sure if her idea would be accepted by the villagers.

"Why not? I will arrange a meeting with the administrative committee of the village and we can make a decision about it. It is an excellent suggestion, Dharma."

While the workers moved towards Avadhi, Dharma let herself inside the temple. She was not a religious person and did not follow any particular faith. She revered the mountains, the river, and the natural elements. But that morning, when she visited the shrine, a sense of peace encompassed her. The beautifully decorated divine face of the goddess brought a glimmer of hope to her. The priest offered her a crumb of sandal paste in a bit of banana leaf. The scent of the sandal rendered her nostalgic. When she exited the temple, she was greeted by some of the village women. They had heard her suggestion to build a house for homeless women, and they appreciated her idea. Avadhi had been an eyesore for them and they had wanted to get rid of it. Now, they were jubilant that there was, finally, a chance to make the village look better.