Vaishali-7

7

"Nissar kal ka poora itenery lelena aur my subah jog pe jaaunga tho saade chey bajey tayyar rehna!"
( Give tomorrow's iteneray of mine to Nissar and I shall go for my morning jog tomorrow by 6.30... be ready by them).

He instructed while smiling inwardly.... he had decided to go for a jog at six but was purposefully misleading Nissar. In fact he was doing this as he wanted him to chill but Nissar would not listen as it was his job to protect him.

Home. Maa, Dad, and especially Daadi waited for him. Ever since his accident they are even more worried.He has defied every rule they set just to show them that life is ephimeral and he believed that as you are prone to danger outside so you are at home. So no point hiding in your liar. 

Just live life as it comes and be gone like a warrior! Where did that thought come from now!!! sometimes he felt his thoughts were from somewhere as if transmitted to him rather than being generated from within! Very funny! 

As his home came nearer as he reached the outskirts of South of Delhi...He felt nostalgic looking at the sprawling castle like replica of their ancestral home at Madhya Pradesh.It is even named the same and its blueprint was also the same.

Neel looked at his home Kadambari as it appeared more and more intimidating with its medieval architecture and the turrets ... as his car pulled into the huge drive way. He got down and found his maa waiting for him as she might have as usual asked the security at the gate to inform her and the drive from the main gate took nearly ten minutes to the main building... so she had ample time. 

Maa... Damayanthi Agnihothri hugged her son dearly.

"Chal everyone is waiting for you." she dragged him by his hand. Oh no!! Neel thought. 

Vardhaman was sitting in the major sit out of a hall with his top executives in yet another brainstorming session and waved at his son.The central hall was so mammoth that it had six sit outs planned in such a way so that each one was like a drawing room of its own as no wonder all the three brothers Vardhman, Shauryaman and keerthiman were supposed to entertain their business guests and chose the comfort of their palatial house to any other star facility. But what was preserved was the cozy home like atmosphere which was not lost in the grandeur and pomp as the entire castle including the grounds were planned and tended to by the Agnihothri women who understood and preserved the fine balance between tradition, comfort, style and functionality.

Neel stopped by his father and greeted him and the others... "I am done son and will join you for dinner in an hour so see you!"Vardhaman assured him and got back into his work.

Neel told his mother," maa let me meet my girl friend first!"and saying that he went straight through all the sitouts and passages to the fag end of the giant hall where there was a golden frame fitted with the double doors which were carved with the figures of a linga with sankh and chakra on either sides. 

They were very hefty and fitted with bells that were hung to hooks set into carved crevices to fit all across the doors. Golden light was seeping through the holes in which the bells hung. 

Neel took a deep breath and was about to open the doors that were ajar when they opened suddenly and a lady of about sixty years stood before him. She was clad in a bright coloured silk sari with an ornate Zari border and was decked in elegant jewellery and her face was full of radiance.  She had a small bindi on her forehead and she asked,"aapne haath aur pair ka prakshaalan kiya?"( Did you wash your feet and your hands)

"Kya Naina? Here i came to see you and you are bothered about good habits? "Neel teased his granny.

"Suniye Ji Akhand Jyothi hai ander aap aise hi nahi jaa sakhthey! "( Listen sir you cannot go in just like that as There is that eternal flame inside)she chided him. 

"Acchha baba you come out then and give a hug to your beloved he teased again!"

Naarayani made some noise about her clothes and how coming out will warrant her to change to go back in but Neel was in no mood to listen. He pulled her out and hugged her saying I love you my dear and i missed you a lot. She gave in and hugged him back! saying i love you too.

-----VAISHALI-----

What was that noise? who ...i....s.... that? A shadow started moving towards her and it stopped before she planned to yell and get ready in self defence. The same voice prompted... 

The universe reaches to you and you are oblivious...

Thrice you were forewarned alas! you pay no heed

Now The time for you to save the blue throated lord has come

who will save you then... 

Saying that he came nearer  And Vaishali recognised him to be the same aghora she saw in her dreams or reality but whom she saw always . 

He said "Saadhu Saadhu! and came forward and stretched his hand with his palm open and facing down and she closed her eyes out of fear! Nothing happened and she opened them only to find his empty palm have a black thread which he materialised out of thin air.

The thread had a talisman hanging from it it was a tiny trident which was.... was  in bronze? she wondered! 

He said "vatsaa!" and moved forward and Vaishali reflexively moved backwards for which he stopped and said "Ruddh!"From somewhere the stick which she always saw... the crooked branch of a tree chiseled at the top came and stood vertically half a meter to her back. Vaishali was now scared. This clearly showed her that she cannot escape. 

He moved forward and bent before her, resting on one knee and said " do not be afraid!" Vaishali still could not see his face as it was covered in a blanket as always. All she could make out in the glow of the oil lamp was the the vertical white ash that ran from his forehead to the nose and beyond...that too visible coz of its florescence.

Some how his voice was reassuring.But she was afraid to move and stood rooted. The man still on one knee, closed his fist and smoted it to his forehead and chanted some mantra which was incoherent.

Vaishali could not make out whether he closed his eyes or not but she felt he did. Should she run now? she made to move and the stick moved. Now that's it. There was /is no escape. She just stood rooted. 

Then the man in the same position said "AUM! Tat Sat!"and put shot his fist into the air and said "AAGNYA!"

Vaishali for a minute thought she was imagining but the fist of the man slowly started to glow! She could make out clearly in the darkness. and then there it was a fragrance wafting in the air ....just like an incense... was it Sandlwood or Mogra? or was it a Boquet? But it lasted for a few seconds and Vaishali felt drugged by its effect. It was sweet. It was divine!

The man slowly stretched his fist after bringing it down and he caught his left ankle... Vaishali's throat was parched out of fear... She was surprised that his hand was not cold and clamy. Instead his hand was warm and she felt a strange vibration echoing through it. The fragrance grew sweeter as if it was surrounding her...

The man started chanting in sanskrit... she could make it out as she was a dancer and had a flair for languages...He then started making knots and then he stretched his hands to put the black thread with its trident around her left ankle.

The man started tying the thread to her left ankle chanting all the time. Vaishali lifted her sari hem a little to facilitate...As he tied his hand oozed a white aromatic powder which was like ash( VIBHUTI) After he tied he got up and his voice reverberated in the cave...

The dark thread is to counter the dark forces...

Let it not be revealed to the world!

But only the beholder of the moon shall be a witness to it first:

He who sees it first shall be the Saviour:

Keep the trident always to ward off the evil

Never remove it but be sure

You do not visit a place of birth or death with it

for it renders it powerless!

Then he looked above into the cave's roof as if listening to some voice and again said...

"The intelligent always listen to the wise counsel

Why art thou not playing heed?

Know that you are the keeper of the eternal secret

Reveal it and thou shall perish

And also take the world with you!"

Then he asked " do you understand?"

Vaishali was too muddled in her mind because of the goings on and just stood dumb.

"Ehm?" he prompted again and she then gathered some courage as after three encounters and knowing that the man meant no harm to her she could at least muster some grit. 

She said," yes. I am not supposed to disclose this to any one. But what is all this? Who are you?And why are you saving me all the time"

He put his palm up gesturing her to stop!

"Neither shall it be spoken! Nor shall it be heard" was what he said. 

But what should i do? Why do you talk in riddles? what is there in it for me?

Solve the riddles and you reach the truth! And remember.... DO NOT DISCLOSE...

As he said that he called into the air "Dhandi"which Vaishali understood later was to be the stick.

Then he blessed Vaishali by raising his palm up into the air and said "Chiranjeevah! Vijayeebhavah!" 

Vaishali closed her eyes as the fragrance enveloped her she moved forward on her own volition.

------VAISHALI------

The man called Reni walked up the cliff like a python slithering up a branch and he found the torn piece of cloth It was a shred from a sari. He let out a cry of disgust and there was a rustling of leaves besides him and Maara stood with the eyes glowing in the formless shadow that it was. "We don't have time" Reni said. He added," Let's go before Bairi thinks the better of us!"

Maara swiftly vanished and Reni signalled to Wali who was perched on the high branch keeping an eye on a certain car and the three men and a woman standing on the ghat section searching for someone. THEY WERE CALLING VAISHALI!!!!