Kalyani is telling us a story of an incident that changed her life. Kalyani was on a college trip to a remote village. During trekking, she fell and injured her ankle and was left alone. You can read about it here-
You are more beautiful than I remembered- A story of love beyond the realms! (Part 1/3)
She saw a beautiful pond and met a stranger who was waiting for her when she was swimming in the pond, naked! Read about it here:
You are more beautiful than I remembered- A story of love beyond the realms! (Part 2/3)
This stranger had a very special connection with Kalyani. Who was he and why did he meet her at that pond, Let’s find out in this concluding part.
Nevertheless, I kept on walking in the said direction, calling out his name half-heartedly. The thick trunks of the forest gave way to shrubs and soon to the tall grass. Finally, I could see the huts in the distance. I picked up pace towards it. I saw our college bus as well, which made me smile. As soon as I arrived, I saw a lot of worried faces of the girls, and finger pointing toward the clothes I had on. Our professor signaled me to come and meet him. He was at a village chief’s house where the chief and his wife sat on the makeshift sofa and sir was standing. They asked me what happened. While I was busy answering, I saw the chief’s wife murmur a few words about my clothes in her husband’s ear.
After hearing how a village boy named Bodhi appeared like an angel, who helped me through the ankle injury and stayed with me at the pond, without giving me time to understand what was happening, I was ordered to change by the chief. I could see that a girl wearing shorts might not be traditional in this part of the world, so I agreed but I found the next request especially strange. They had asked me to wrap the clothes I was wearing in a bag and hand them over. I did what was asked of me. The chief’s wife was especially quick to take the bag and rush behind their house. I saw through the window that she had set the bag on fire.
The next order was for me to stay in a little far cottage for the day and one night. I couldn’t understand why. The professor mentioned that we must cooperate or else the college won’t be allowed back. I was ok to oblige to any of their demands but I wanted to meet Bodhi and his family and thank them in person for his help. However professor had other plans, “these are traditional folks, Kalyani, they think you have the smell of the jungle on you. To remove it, they are asking you to stay alone for a day and night. Food and books would be plenty so you should not worry” he had said. I said ok knowing that there was more to it than explained to me.
I obeyed the outrageous request. It was a blessing in disguise. The entire day I was alone with my thoughts. My mind wanted to relive that pond and that dream. I couldn’t still make any sense of it. I was reading a book called Soil and Water Conservation Engineering but it was hard for me not to think about Bodhi’s smile. In no time, I started to wonder if kissing him would actually feel the way I felt in the dream. In the evening the door opened with our professor and a plate full of food. He carefully checked if he was being followed before closing the door back on him. He offered me the food and asked me to sit across from him. I pulled a chair and sat down, taking down the plate off his hand.
“I know you are a bright student who must have been bewildered by this behavior. But I had no choice. So I wanted to apologize” he said with a guilty face.
“sir, please don’t say that, just help me understand what is happening”
“it is hard to tell you that in this day and age, people still think like this however we are in their land and we must obey the rules of the land.”
“sure sir but…”
“they believe that the man you described as Bodhi was long dead. Don’t get scared but they think that his spirit has taken affinity toward you. So they isolated to be sure that the spirit is not within you or with you in any form. Unless something unusual happens, villagers should let you back with the students tomorrow morning.” He shrugged his shoulders.
“What happened to him?” I asked hesitantly. Honestly, I can say, I didn’t feel scared at all. I thought there must have been some confusion, the boy I saw, who healed my ankle can’t be dead.
“I was told by the villagers a few things while the chief is tight-lipped about him. He was in love with a girl from this village. They were childhood friends and always found together. The pond that you described was where they met and fell in love. But the girl was supposed to marry someone from the town. It was a promise given at her birth. Many times it was explained to both of them but young lovers always found their ways to be with each other. Their plan was to run away from the village. The night before they planned to run away, they were caught while making love and….”
“and the villagers killed the boy?” I said with my heart beating fast.
Sir only nodded in agreement.
“What happened to that girl?” I asked while a tear filled my eyes.
“it seems she was forcefully married to the promised man and about 22 years ago, she too died of unknown reasons.” Sir got up and looked up. “these fools still are wrapped in thoughts of spirits, how on earth the nation will progress?”
“What was her name?” I asked standing up, facing my professor, and clearing my cheek.
“I forgot her name but it was something with….” He was scratching his head to recall the name.
“Avani,” I said without a moment of delay.
“yes, so you have heard of this name!” Sir said slapping his thigh in excitement.
“Indeed, it all makes sense now,” I said. I didn’t explain anything to sir but now my mind was numb. Sir left with caring words looking at my white face.
It all made sense, the woman he loved died 22 years ago, and I was born 22 years ago. He called me Avani. His touch made me feel maybe what bond we shared. His words echoed in my mind “you really don’t know me?” Or “what matters is that you are awake. You have seen the truth.” He believed I was his Avani. But I was unclear on what he meant by “the promise is fulfilled”. I couldn’t eat anything. I sat, leaning on the wall, thinking about Bodhi and whether would I ever really see him again.
After a while, these thoughts were aggravated. Just then, there was a knock on a window. When pushed the hut’s window open, under the night sky with sparkling stars, I saw Bodhi’s smile again. He was standing there with his disheveled hair and the same outfit from the previous night.
“Bodhi?”
“looking at your face, I can gather you got to know. Are you scared?” He inquired.
“no, but I have a few questions, what do you mean the promise is fulfilled? Why do you believe I was your Avani”
“the night when Avani was taken away, we met at the pond. We swam together and made love. They came out of nowhere while we were still wrapped in each other’s arms. They dragged her naked body as if it were a dead animal. She was crying, extending her arm, trying to reach out to me, trying to free herself from the grips of the unruly men but all in vain. I could hardly do anything before she disappeared into the woods. She said, “Promise me Bodhi, you’d wait!. I would do whatever it takes but I will meet you here at the pond, promise me?”. The plan was that Avani would run from the wedding and meet me here at the pond and we would elope…”
“What happened to you after Avani was gone ?”
“They broke me, beat me. When they left, I remember the pond had turned red with my blood. I didn’t mind the pain I had, as Avani’s gut-wrenching cry was ringing in my ears, her words “I would do whatever it takes but I will meet you here at the pond, promise me?” Itched in my heart. While I was taking my last breaths, I kept reminding myself to take one more breath. I was sure Avani would be back soon, so I waited “
“even after death?” I gripped the rods of the window. He just smiled in response
“you died to keep the promise. That poor girl couldn’t come and the guilt killed her” I said while tears were flowing uncontrollably, imagining their plight.
“oh, but she did arrive” smiling he said, pointing at me.
I shook my head in disagreement. I could not believe his strength, his love. Was I really his Avani, my knees were shaking.
“your arrival has freed me, so until I meet you again in some other form, it is farewell, love”
He said and with a blink of an eye, he was gone as if he wasn’t even there in the first place.
I couldn’t help but cry for the pain they felt. I wondered how people conjure so much hate to destroy lives. I sat in that room until the morning rose when I was permitted back into the village. With dried tears, I met the villagers and the world was back to normal. I knew no one would ever understand what I went through, so to the world, I didn’t utter a word about the incident.
I saw Kalyani was again lost in those memories as she wiped a tear from her eyes. I know it’s unbelievable that a soul waits to see his lover even after death and a soul meets her lover after reincarnation. I would have pushed aside the story as a figment of Kalyani’s imagination. After all, Kalyani was married now with a teenage son, anyone can say she leads a normal life. However, when she showed me the picture her digital camera had captured of the pond before she left for the village that morning, I had no choice but to believe each and every word.
The picture was clear in every aspect. The pond was clearly visible along with the feeding stream falling gently from above. In the middle, there was blurred white smoke. If one looks closely at the smoke figure, one can see the face and its features. And surprisingly the face in the picture is almost identical to her son’s who was born 8 years after the incident.
Maybe Bodhi did come back, in another form of love.