Kabir was stuck for a moment. He had imagined every visual of the story in his mind- the mesmerising village, the man and woman laughing under the tree, and the garden of red roses and the pool of blood in which woman sat holding her dead husband and the villagers, her lynching, the misery of the village. Kabir could imagine everything, but then came the question, how true was the story. It could not be completely true or wholly myth. Someone once told Kabir " reality is a very tricky thing. The existence of truth and false is merely based on how someone sees it. For someone who never looked up in the sky, moon does not exist and so if a person tells him about moon- a beautiful celestial body up in the sky shedding light in the night sky, he may say it's a myth cause he never saw the moon. Truth is always somewhere waiting to be discovered and till it is not, you can't say that it does not exist." These words didn't make sense back then but now they made perfect sense.
"Ma, to some extent the story must be true and maybe a lot Is just imagination and exaggeration of simple events. This story is worth discovering and so is this land, this mesmerising land."
Granny smiled as she patted Kabir. The father entered the room and they both went silent. Kabir was asked to go outside room so the father and granny could talk. Kabir knew that father wanted to talk about him but he was neither sure what it was about, nor he was concerned. All he was thinking was this village and this beautiful witch who killed her husband.
The next morning, he called for Kabir. Mother was sitting beside him and so was the granny. The air was a bit tense.
"Have a seat Kabir. So I was just talking about it with your mother and granny. There is a friend of mine, Nisar. You have met him right? He has a daughter. She is about 2 years younger. We were thinking that, as you are going to be 15 in a couple of months, you should get engaged to Nisar's daughter. She is pretty..."
"Wait father. I'm sorry if I did anything wrong. I'll not repeat. Please please forgive me pa. I don't want to get married now. I'll work in the farm. I'll do as you say, I promise."
Father smiled nervously "who told you we will get you married now? It's just an engagement. Don't worry son. It's not because you did anything wrong son, it's just because you are growing and you should get engaged by now. The actual marriage can be left for later. Your elder brother was married by 17 and it was 4 years after he was engaged. Trust me, it will be okay. We have talked to the Nisar's family. The girl is pretty and the family is really good. Trust me son. It's all for your own good. We will go there today. I'll introduce you to the girl and you can talk to her for a while. I believe Nisar won't have any problem with that. Just trust me and meet the girl. I assure you that you will love her."
kabir wanted to scream but he said nothing. He knew that nothing he say now will change the decision his father made. Marriage is often not done because the man loves his woman. It is often done to control both of them or for power or for many other reasons other than that he man loves the woman.
Father and Kabir went to Nisar's place. They had few talks about their childhood and how they used to play and how they were the best friends and then they talked about how they got married and now they are happy. It was all happening when a girl came in the room. She was gorgeous. Her big eyes and her round face with sharp features and the long hair. He wore a smile as she served tea. But she didn't sit there. She went back as quickly as she came. Father noted Kabir's expression when she came. They smiled and then continued their conversation.
"You want to talk to Urvashi Kabir? I think you should know each other a little." Said Nisar as he took another sip from his cup. They called Urvashi. "Urvashi and you go to the terrace. We will talk about engagement till then.
Urvashi lead Kabir to the terrace. She was blushing. She looked beautiful. They got to talking. Kabir told Urvashi about the stories he has heard from many people and about the mountain. Then he remembered something from his grandma "people don't tell woman anything about dreams" how their dreams were crushed.
"Hey! Do you have anything you want to chase and accomplish? Do you have any dreams of your own?" Kabir didn't expect anything about dreams from her. She was from a background that didn't allow much freedom. Dreams and freedom are related. A person only dreams when he is free.
"Yeah. I was always fascinated about reading and writing. I always wanted to read about languages and arts and history and about stories. That was my dream. But then I knew that after I get married, I can't study. I'll have to do chores and give birth to my beloved husband's child. If I give him sons, he will love me more and so I'll give him sons. That's my destiny. My mother told me that dreams are only distractions from our destiny." She said with a lower tone "especially for a woman."
It was then realised dreams leads to the path of freedom. Freedom is when one can dream and can follow them. It is then and only then one can be called free.
Kabir smiled and Urvashi returned the smile. It was as if she knew what was going on his head.
"I hope you get what you really want. I hope your life does not have any regrets." Said she. Kabir nodded with a smile.
When they went down, Kabir's father was smiling proudly. His face was all red with the happiness. Kabir said nothing. All he did was that he smiled back. He was glad that he came and talked to Urvashi. They might now meet again, but she was a great friend.
They went home. Everyone was happy. The boy was about to get engaged.
The next day, Kabir stayed at home. He didn't go out with his flock to the field or to the mountain or to his friend's house. His flute rested on the table, silent. That night, after massaging hands and feet of his grandma, before leaving he kissed her on forehead. Just when he was about to leave, she called him. Kabir looked back to see his grandma, smiling with proud. She had similar kiss before.
"I'll be waiting for some stories when you come back." It was all she said with her eyes filled with tears.
" Good night ma" was all he said before the left. Without turning back, rubbing his wrist over his eyes, he went away.
The sun was rising and a boy appeared walking with a bag over his back walking towards the tree. He looked exhausted. He dropped his bag under the tree and looked back. Back to the mountains. Back to his home. Father would be up after some time. Has he done the right thing was all he thought about. His face exhausted and his eyes wet. His thoughts were covered cloud of doubts. He sat under the tree with his head dropped down with the fear. He was feeling nauseous and suffocated. It was then a wind came. It was cold morning breeze, full of smell from the world. The cold wind relieved the exhausted body of the boy and took away the clouds of doubt and fear as it went. " I hope your life does not have any regrets" echoed in his ears. He held his head high again and took flute from his bag and played it.
The flute was alive again and with the melody of freedom.
कारवां चल गया हैं काफिरो का, इमान के रास्ते पर
कभी खुदा से मुलाकात तो होगी।
हम चल गये तो है हमारे साथ,
हमारी हमसे भी कभी बात तो होगी।
खतम हुए किस्से जो अगर
कहानियों की कही शुरुआत तो होगी.
कुछ मंजिलों को पाएंगे,
कुछ राहों मे समाएँगे
दिन ढले तो सुबह रात तो होगी।
आज जनाज़ा गुज़र जो गया यहाँ से
कभी यहाँ बारात तो होगी।
मिन्नतो से क्या मिले प्यार,
मेरे लिए कही सौगात तो होगी।
— साधु