Chapter 20:
Tamra was sitting in the same shamiana when she regained her conscious. She could not process the incidents happened to her in the past 3 days. She escaped a loveless marriage and came to Dantla in the hope that, her family would never trace her here. But after reaching Dantla many things happened and made her hallucinate. Whether they were hallucinations? Or happened to her? She was not sure. In that desert land there was no one whom she could confine and trust. Tamra wanted to discuss with a friend all that happened and come to a conclusion. But unfortunately, she had none. She felt like crying out loud. Never in her life, she had faced such a situation. She wanted to go back to her house, and tell grandma everything. Suddenly she realized that, she was remembering her grandmother Aditi, not her mother Sukanya. She was confused, terrified and hungry.
Trikala came near her. "Are you ok?" she asked her in a soft voice. Somehow, Tamra felt a bond with her. "I am Ok Auntiji! But I want to get out of Dantla, want to go to Jodhpur. Please ask Ravi to take me there!" sobbed Tamra. The sanyasi, Trikala and Kamal looked at each other. "Child! I can understand your state of mind. Running away is not going to help you and is not possible with Devi watching over. Please collect yourself and come in terms with the situation." Said the sanyasi. The sight of him was revolting to Tamra. "Everything was because of you! You are a fake! You want to ask money by keeping me as a hostage!" yelled Tamra. All were exasperated as she repeatedly accused of kidnap.
"Please don't be angry with her Trikala and Kamal. In her veins, still the Rathore blood is running. Now she is still young Tamra. We have to invoke Arunika in her. She herself has to realize this. Otherwise, she may not remember anything and if we force her to remember things, she might go mad or hysterical." Said the Sanyasi in a hushed tone. That was the last thing Kamal or Trikala wanted. "Babaji! No dishonor intended! As Kamal Singh, I have duties! My sister's wedding day is approaching, and this now! Please Babaji, I don't want any trouble in wedding! Please advise me Babaji!" Kamal almost cried. "You are a dutiful son Kamal! Your sister's wedding will happen without any hindrance. Only a week away, is it? I will stay here in the desert till then. Once the wedding is over you can come back to me and we can talk and discuss about this matter again!" said the sanyasi. Ravi and Kamal heaved a sigh of relief.
The Babaji gave a paper packet to Kamal. "There are few gold coins in that! Please use that for your sister's wedding! These are not magical coins. My hard earned, property converted to gold. Before I became a Sanyasi, I was running an office. Please accept them. They may be useful for you to start a business!" he said to Kamal. With wonder and reverence, he accepted the packet. There were 10 gold coins, each might weigh at least 8 grams. That means 80 grams of gold. More than enough for the wedding and to start a travel business. Kamal fell on knees and thanked the Sanyasi with tears.
Tamra was watching all these. A man who could give away 80 grams of gold just like that, might not be a kidnapper. May be what he said had something. But still she had many unclarified doubts. She slowly approached the sanyasi, where he was standing along with Kamal and Trikala. "Babaji, Still I don't trust you completely. But I want to hear your side of the story. How you came to know about the Devi? or old Tamra? How do you know where to find us? Can you tell us that?" asked Tamra not with arrogance but humbly.
The change in her brought hope to Trikala and Kamal. The sanyasi made all of them sit in a circle. "I will tell everything child. But I see you people are starving! Let us eat, then we can talk everything out. No one will search for you people! I have made arrangements for that. "Said the Sanyasi. The food brought by Ravi was spread before everyone. Trikala served the food in paper plates. Refusing, the Sanyasi held the food in his open hands and ate. He insisted on staying in a circle. "You know in ancient days; people ate only in circles." Said the sanyasi. "Why so Babaji?" asked Tamra. Now she felt somewhat comfortable with him. "Humans were nomads initially. They travelled in groups for safety. But there was always a danger of treachery. So, the food was taken with everyone. While travelling in deserts, there was always danger of a sand storm. They sat together tightly in circle to avoid sand getting mixed in their food. "Explained, the sanyasi with a smile.
The food was tasty and everyone was hungry. So, it disappeared in a jiffy. The sanyasi was the one who ate the least. Trikala for her age, managed 4 large nans. The food, the conversation broke the ice. "Now tell us about yourself Babaji" asked, Tamra as they finished their meal. The sanyasi heaved a sigh!
"Ok! I will tell my story. But after that, you people have to answer a few questions honestly. Everyone nodded. Before he could start, Tamra wanted to know what arrangements he had made so that no one would search for them. At this question, he laughed. "I sent a sack of wheat to Kamal's house delivered by a relative. They will be talking among themselves; they won't even remember you!" said Babaji. Again, a sense of wonder and fear crept in Tamra's mind. What kind of a man is he? She thought to herself.
"I was born in Jaipur in a middleclass family. Since my childhood I was interested in magic and travel. I was different from other boys in the school because sometime I got a vision of future happenings. As a child I thought they were natural, and it comes to everyone. As I told my friends and parents about this, they were terrified. They thought I am abnormal. People stopped talking to me. As I grew up, I started my own business as a tour operator. I arranged pilgrimages, in Rajasthan and all over India. That fetched me a lot of money. At that time, I met a Sanyasi. While I was in Varanasi taking a group of tourists, there I met him. In fact, he spotted me among all those crowd of humans. Like a true Sanyasi, he had no home, no property. A few disciples he had, but they were also poor.
The Sanyasi stopped at this point and looked at Tamra. She was startled to see the look on his face. "Sorry child! Your grandmother is in trouble!" he said abruptly. Tamra got tensed up. "My grandmother Babaji? What sort of trouble? May be, they found out, it was she who helped me! Need I go there?" asked Tamra hurriedly. "No! You should not step out now! Your grandmother has got shakti. She can manage. The one who puts her in trouble will land in a deeper water than they can handle." Said the Babaji. Tamra felt like she had been transported to a magical land. But kept quiet. The Babaji continued.
"My Guru made me realize the purpose of life. He also gave me some Mantras which would open my third eye. I was born with a vision, he explained, my duty is to help people. He gave me this Rudraksha, and ordered me to take sannyasa. That means I have to sacrifice my comfort, my money, my life everything for the good of people. I accepted everything. Guruji, told me to wind up the business! I did so. He also told me your money will find the needy. See? It has reached the person, who really needs it. That was the Krupa of my Guruji. Again, the Sanyasi stopped. This time Tamra was prepared, but he did not say anything, instead drank water from the bottle.
"I wound up my business, became Sanyasi wandered all over India. When I was in Jaipur, I had a vision as if, someone is calling me for help. Someone, who is so powerful and miserable at the same time. I meditated for a while and could trace the call to a temple nearby. There was a small temple above a hillock. I found a Devi there and commanding me to go to Dantla. She was furious and wanted vengeance. Since she was in a temple, she is a Devi. She told about her life of betrayal, deceit and murder. Nothing more was revealed. I simply saw some visions and knew; a few people need my help. So here I am!" said the Sanyasi.
He sounded so casual, that the vision, hearing the call of a dead lady, seeing and understanding her were day to day affair. But for others every word he said was amazing and wonderful. There was silence as he finished his story. All of them felt, what he had told is few, there are much more he had not conveyed. There was silence. Each one of them were thinking in their own lines. Kamal was wondering about the Babaji's humbleness and was thankful he came for help. Trikala also thought in this same line.
Ravi was thankful because he gave gold for his family. Only Tamra was debating in her mind. "May be, he is a real good Sanyasi, but he said Grandma was in trouble. What kind of trouble? What does he know about my grandma? He was so confident of her! I need more information. I cannot let grandma face the anger of Grandpa alone. I have to go and make the situation normal. If I could confine with grandma that will be of great help. "
"You want to meet your grandma?" asked the Sanyasi with a smile. Now Tamra got used to his mind reading, she simply nodded. "Ok! Let us see that later. Now let me ask you the questions. I warn you, all of you must answer honestly. No pretending fake answers. This is for your good! Understand? Some questions may seem very personal, you have to answer that too." Said the Sanyasi. With much hesitation Tamra nodded, others gave their consent too. First his eyes fell on Kamal.
"Listen child! Recently have you experienced any strange thing? Inexplainable perhaps? Which made you come to Dantla?" asked Sanyasi. "Yes Babaji. Not one or two. Many I had undergone. I felt some one was watching over me, the day I met Tamra at Khuldahara!" He started narrating his experience in Khuldhara, on the way here. Tamra felt a strange feeling, she could not explain it herself. When she was a child, she used to see a burning house, a girl begging her to leave. Everything seemed fit to places. But Kamal? Why would he see such things?
"Why I got such experience Babaji? Is it related to Old Tamra?" asked Kamal eagerly. "Definitely Kamal! Devi had made her presence first to you! But that is interesting. Because Devi had to be felt by Tamra first, instead of you! Ok, lets come to that, while questioning her. Now tell me! When you encountered her, in Khuldhara what you felt? What was on your mind at that time?" asked Babaji smiling. Kamal hesitated. He felt like hugging Tamra, how can he say that? What would this Tamra think if he told he wanted to hug a total stranger? "Tell me honestly Kamal! This is important.!" Said Sanyasi. "Er…umm…..I felt like I have found out my love, I wanted to …to….hug her.!" Trikala and Ravi laughed at this. "Don't laugh! Devi was testing you, Kamal! She wanted to confirm whether still you have got feelings for her." Said the sanyasi.
At this, Tamra laughed. "There was an old lady with her. Who was she then? Old Tamra's mother?" again she laughed. "Yes! of course! It was her mother. Both came to Khuldhara to prepare Kamal for the experience." Replied Babaji. Tamra kept quiet. "Kamal! Do you remember, how you came to that burnt house two nights back?" asked the Baba. Again, Kamal hesitated, he knew he had agreed to answer honestly. "I saw Tamra, calling me from outside the window. I could not resist, so I followed her. On entering the house, I felt as if someone else had occupied my brain. I was not Kamal, but Birju". Replied Kamal in a small voice. Tamra was speechless. The Baba turned to her. "Now, it's time for you to answer." Said he with a smile which infuriated Tamra at the same time a chill went through her.