Chapter 6: The History Unfolds

The Pandit offered water to the Tulsi plant and muttered some shlokas while both the boys watched the old man.

The Pandit finished his work and turned to the boys," Is there something that you want?,"

" N-no, nothing," Raghav stammered.

Raghav thought of Pandit as a not so easy man as he had given Raghav an earful while he was wandering around the temple last night before the door was opened. The Old man was like a caretaker of the Temple.

" Actually, we wanted to ask something," said Shiva.

" Then ask," said the Pandit in a rasp manner.

" You are the caretaker of this temple, right?,"

" Kind of," the Pandit replied.

" Okay, so where were you that night when the doors were opened,"

" As usual, at my house, I'm not a guard to stay here all night,"

" No, I didn't mean that, "

" And why are you asking me all this, don't waste my time kids I have a lot of work,"

The old man picked up his jar of water, wore his Kolhapuri sleepers and left.

" That man is a strange one," said Raghav.

" Let it be, let's go home," said Shiva as he watched the Pandit.

Both the boys walked through the narrow path accompanied by flowers and shrubs along its side looking the scenery of the village.

" Hey, why did you took the other route?," asked Shiva.

" I want to show you something,"

" What is it?,"

" Just wait, I'll show you,"

" Okay, by the way, where does the Pandit live?,"

He lives in one of those houses near the lake,"

" I see,"

"Here we are," said Raghav as he stretched out his finger and pointed towards the building.

Shiva looked at the building, it was not so big but had a large space, then he read the board.

" Vasupur Library,"

" Yeah, the Librarian will be coming tomorrow, so get your questions ready,"

" Yes, surely, there are a lot of questions," said Shiva, his eyes darted on the name board.

******

Shiva reached home, as he entered the gate, he saw two pair of footwears that weren't from their house, but he could tell that one of them was Mr. Pandey's.

As he entered he saw Mr. Pandey along with an old woman sitted on the couch with all the family members gathered.

" Shiva, come here," called Mohan.

" What's happening?," Shiva whispered.

" I don't know too,"

" Take these, they are so delicious, I made them," said the old lady.

" What is it aunty?," asked Varad.

" These are ladoos, I know you like that's why I made them,"

The lady's voice vibrated as she spoke and her eyes couldn't stay still. It seemed like she was suffering from some mental illness.

" Ladoos! They are favorite, thanks aunty,"

" Take a good care of yourself,"

The old lady then muffled his hairs and stretched his cheeks lovingly.

" Yes surely,"

" I shall leave now, okay, take care," said the old lady.

" Best of luck boy," said Mr. Pandey," I hope you will get the job,"

And then the Head Constable led the way to the old lady, before exiting he looked at Ramkrushna and Ramkrushna gave him a nod.

" Who was that lady uncle?," asked Shiva.

" She's Mrs Thackeray," said Ramkrushna," she lost her husband and newborn son twenty years ago in that incident and she lost her sane, from then on Mr. Pandey takes care of her,"

" Where does she lives?,"

" She lives in her own house, she can do all the work, but she's delusional,"

" Delusional?,"

" Yes, she sometimes acts like Varad is her son and believes that her husband is still alive,"

" Oh," Shiva looked at Varad.

" She's a good lady, it's so sad to see her in this condition," said Anjali.

" That incident has changed lives of many villagers," Ramkrushna said," those who were lucky they survived,"

" Where does Mr. Pandey lives?" Shiva whispers to Mohan.

" Near Mrs Thackeray's house," said Mohan.

Mohan was familiar with the village as he used to visit the village when he was kid while Shiva avoided to.

" And where does they both live?," asked Shiva.

" Why?, what's the matter?,"

" I want to meet Mr. Pandey, I have some questions,"

" Okay then let's go," said Mohan

" Now?,"

" Yes, he's on night duty so he's free during the day,"

" Okay let's go then,"

It was just that the both boys reached Mr. Pandey's place it was near the Library, they saw him talking with Mrs. Thackeray, after their conversation Mrs Thackeray went home and the Constable walked towards his.

" Good Afternoon Pandey Uncle," said Shiva.

"Hey Shiva and Mohan!, what are you doing here?,"

" Actually, Uncle told me about the situation of the village, and I had some questions that I thought you could answer,"

" Okay, come inside,"

Mr. Pandey opened the door and both the boys sat on the sofa.

" So, ask,"

" Can you tell us about the Pandit which everyone was talking about in the meeting?," Shiva questioned.

" The Pandit, he was the one who helped the village twenty years ago,"

" Helped the village?,"

" Yes, after the fire, he calmed the Spirit and seized him back in the Vasusthala Temple,"

Shiva found that interesting and he noted that in his diary.

" Did he live in the village?,"

" No, he was an outsider, he claimed it was his ancestors who seized the curse and did the ritual of the protector spirit described in the legend,"

" You believe that?,"

" Don't know, I can't say anything,"

" I heard that one of the Constable who was on the night duty went missing,so can you tell us about something about him?," asked Shiva.

" Well, his name was Gajanan, 37 years old, he's been working from ten years, he used to study in the school in which your father was teaching, he was also an excellent wrestler,"

Shiva noted that in his diary.

" I see, and what about his family,"

Mr. Pandey looked down," he lost his parents in the fire, twenty years ago, from then he lives on his own,"

" It must have been a great struggle for him,"

" Yes, but there was one person who was always there with him, like a big brother, Mr. Deshmukh,"

Shiva recalled the man from the meeting.

" Mr. Deshmukh?,"

" Yes, he's a teacher and very good man,"

" Mmm.., do you remember if the Constable had gone outside the village before or after the opening of the door?,"

" No, he did not, but yes I remember Mr. Deshmukh going to other town for a day for some work,"

Shiva thought for a moment and made some notes in his diary.

" Was Mr. Gajanan's duty same before?,"

" Yes, before also he worked at night duty,"

Shiva looked down gathering his thoughts and looked at Mr. Pandey.

" Did he took leave on the day Mr. Deshmukh had gone out of town?,"

" I don't remember exactly, but why do you ask?,"

" Please can you check the records, this is very important,"

" Okay okay, just wait a minute," saying this he contacts the police station and asks for the records.

" I've talked with one of my friends, he'll send the photo of the records on my number,"

" Thanks,"

" Here it is, according to this, ummm..., on the Mr. Deshmukh was out of the village Mr. Gajanan took a leave,"

" For how many days?,"

" Only for one day,"

" It was a great help, thanks,"

" What are you trying to do son?," asked Mr. Pandey.

" Nothing I'm just searching for new ideas for my story," Shiva smiled.

******

It was morning, Shiva woke up earlier than yesterday and started brushing his teeth. Same as yesterday,Ramkrushna came, took his newspaper and went inside. Varad had left for Pune and his absence could be felt, the room for three was now a room for two, they had a good time together and Shiva wished that he shouldn't have gone so quickly.

He finished his brushing and went to bath.

The hot water fell on his body and he recalled everything that happened since he came here. Something was wrong. He knew it. "Perhaps the answer lies in the history," he thought.

Shiva got ready and called Raghav at the same place he called yesterday, the Mango tree.

" Let's go," said Raghav.

" The Librarian came?," said Shiva, nervousness on his face.

" Yes, I saw him opening the Library when I was coming here,"

" Great, let's go,"

Very few people used to visit the library as most of them were busy doing their jobs and everyday chores.

They were in the library now, the place had a very low light as there were a very few windows and the place was filled with big wooden shelves and tables.

They could see the Librarian sitted on his counter, checking the records of the previous days.

" Good morning Joshi Uncle," said Raghav with a wave.

" Raghav! It's been a long time I saw you," said the Librarian

" Does that mean it's been that you haven't partied?," said Raghav as he took out the wine bottle.

" Oh!, I thought you had forgotten,"

" How can I!?,"

The Librarian was a short, old man with a white beard on his round face along with his reading specs with a very few hairs on his head. He wore a blue jacket on his black t shirt.

" He looks very much like Mr. Pandey if we remove the beard," Shiva thought.

"Meet him, he is my friend Shiva,"

The Librarian looked at Shiva and smiled.

" Well", he continued," he is the son of Mr. Amish,"

" Amish's Son!," said the old man as looked at Shiva," where were you all this time,"

" I was with my uncle in Mumbai," Shiva said.

" Mumbai, oh, the life must be really good there, you must be partying all night "

" No, I don't party,"

" You don't party?, so what's the point of living in such a big city?,"

" Well," Raghav cleared his throat." He wanted to ask some questions about the village,"

" Questions?," the old man lowered his spectacle and looked at the two boys.

" Yes, I wanted to know what happened that night, twenty years ago when the village was taken over by the fire," said Shiva.

" So you want to know the history of this village,"

" Yes, Raghav told me there's no one here who knows the history of this village better than you,"

The Librarian looked at Raghav and chuckled," Yeah that's true,"

There was something about the old man, though he was old but he didn't behaved like that and his face wore a smile that wasn't disappearing.

" So would you tell us please?," Shiva requested.

" Yeah surely, why not," the Librarian said," come here, let's sit and talk about it,"

The old man led them to the place where the readers would sit and read.

" Yes, so...," said the Old man tinkling his fingers on the table." I remember it was around 10pm in the night as usual I was there," the Librarian pointed to his table." I finished up my work and was going to close the library, then I heard people shouting and running here and there, I came down and saw the village was taken over by the fire, the fire had started from the forest,"

" From the forest?," said Shiva taking notes in his small diary.

" Yes, a small part of the village was joined to the forest, the fire had spread from there, all the houses from that part were burnt and so did the people living in them, I had no idea what was going on, I came to know that somebody had opened the doors of the temple, it took us two hours to extinguish the fire."

" I see, and what is this Spirit?, and what does it have to do with the Vasusthala Temple?," asked Shiva.

" You mean the legend of the protector spirit?,"

" Legend?,"

" Yes, the legend,"

" Tell us about it,"

" It was around the 14th century when the Devagadh Kingdom of Maharashtra which had occupied the most part of the State was suffering from a curse, the curse had brought scarcity and various diseases with it, everyone was dying. Then the King worshiped the Vasu Goddess and asked for the solution of the curse", the Librarian paused as if he was building suspense.

" Then?," said Shiva pressing down his eagerness.

The Librarian chuckled," Why are you so curious about the legend?,"

" Just tell me what happened after that,"

" Okay okay, so the Goddess said that the cause of the curse were the ornaments that the King's wife had brought and the goddess said that if they want to get rid of the curse then they'll have to send those ornaments to some other kingdom and they will have to face the curse or he will have to offer them to the goddess in the in temple and the curse would be seized,"

" And that temple is Vasusthala Temple," said Shiva.

" Yes, that is," said the Librarian," and the goddess warned that the ornaments should not be taken away from the statue of the goddess or else the curse would awake, it is said that to prevent this from happening, the king sacrificed one of his loyal soldier and his spirit protects the temple, and now that the doors are opened the spirit is angry,"

" Is that history?,"

" Don't know man, some says it's history while some says that it's a myth, but everyone in the village believes in it,"

" I see,"

" That spirit is like the Jokho spirits in the urban legends of West Bengal," said Mr. Joshi.

" Jokho?," asked Shiva.

" Yes, according to the urban legends they are the spirits of sacrificed humans who protects the treasures,"

" Interesting,"

" That's the legend but if you want to know the history of this village then I have something for you,"

The Librarian stood up and walked to one of the many cupboard where books were kept, from there he took out a book which was kept at the bottom of the pile of books.

" What is it?," asked Shiva.

" It is a book that was written 20 years ago," said the Old man taking out the book.

" Here it is," the Librarian slide the book towards Shiva.

Shiva looked at the book and he didn't knew why he could feel his heartbeat and it was getting faster.