Chapter 7
Puthiyakavu Bhagavathi
Believe it or not!
The energy in the human body; is dependent on the five elements of nature: space, air, fire, water, and earth, but the mind is independent of all these five elements.
Vignesh’s house!
Shivani got out of her car.
It looked like a traditional house... There were few rose plants kept in a pot at the entrance; a porch was also there. As she entered the house, she saw the photograph of Vignesh's father; Neelakandan, adorned with a garland. In a row, she could see his uncle's photo with a garland, and after that, his grandfather Paramu's photo. A swing was there in the hall where Parvathi was sitting and was making a garland of flowers.
"Aunty !" Shivani called Parvathy.
"Shivani…! Come, dear…" she got up and was about to go and make a coffee for her.
"Aunty, one minute… I have got a piece of bad news for you; I am so sorry…"
Seeing Shivani's face, she understood that something dreadful has happened.
"What is the matter, dear?" she asked in a feeble voice.
"An unexpected accident, aunty…"
"Accident! to whom? What happened, Shivani?"
"Don't panic, aunty...its Vignesh…., he met with an accident again …”
"What…!" as she asked, she fainted.
Shivani ran inside the kitchen, got a water bottle from the fridge, and splashed it on her face. Parvathy got up and started to groan.
"How is my Vicky now? Oh, Kali Maa… He is my only son. Why is this happening only to him repeatedly? What can a grandchild do for his grandfather's sin? My Kali Maa… forgive him, please."
Shivani recalled the day when Parvathy was lamenting about a curse in the family, and now she is crying, saying that it is Vignesh’s grandfather's sin.
"Ok,aunty. Come with me; we have to go to the hospital immediately… we will discuss this on the way…" she said and walked towards her car.
Shivani drove the car as fast as she can …
Parvathi was sitting with a broken heart lamenting ‘Vicky, Vicky, my son’ inside the car. She was also murmuring, "My son will not survive… my son will not survive… No one can save him now… "
"Don't say like that,aunty. Our M.D has arranged the best treatment for your son… No one expected that this would happen…"
"Shivani, these curses have extraordinary power. It will become true at a time when no one expects it…"
"Aunty, please don't misunderstand me, your belief about these curses, how can it be true in this period of fifth- generation computers…"
Parvathi could understand the hidden meaning behind her question.
"Enough dear, please stop talking like this… I know why you are talking like this … I even used to think like you in the beginning … What did you study?"
"Computer Science."
"I'm an M.Sc. Mathematics graduate."
Parvathi’s reply made Shivani feel like a woodpecker pecking on her head. It was visible in her eyes.
"I have worked as an Assistant Professor in a Self-financing College for five years."
That was another peck.
"Aunty, No one will say that you are this much educated and qualified looking at your appearance; I am sorry."
"That is the order of the day, dear. I will never blame you for that as nowadays people go only for looks and judge."
"Sorry, aunty."
"Why are you saying sorry…? Your qualifications… your age… and your exposure… due to the developments in communication as TV, bring the entire world before you … A mobile with which you can connect to anyone in any corner of the world. These developments make you talk like this. There are many more things unknown in this world than the known."
Her words hit Shivani as someone stabbed her from the back.
"Aunty, which one you mean as unknown things?"
"A lot… the known is very little like a drop of water in the ocean …"
"Could you please tell me about this a little clearer?"
"Shivani, now I'm worried about my son, and I cannot focus my mind on anything else. How can I explain all those things to you in this condition...?"
"Aunty, our M.D will save his life at any cost, no matter how much it may cost. Don't worry…"
"No chance…. he didn't listen to me; he didn't trust my words, and he ignored my advice."
"Aunty, this is what I could not understand… What is that curse? Whose curse…? Why is that curse following him?"
"How can you help me with this? You do not even believe what I say; I know you are taking my words as the words of a crazy woman… you will think that all this is my imagination… "
"No,aunty. I’ll not… I know that there is some subtlety behind what you are going to say. I don't want to be a woman, just knowing of computers and windmills… I trust what you're saying about the known and unknown things in this world. And that's why I'm very keen to know regarding this. Not just knowing, I want to help your family in this matter…"
Shivani's words made Parvathi a little amazed. She stared at her. Shivani drove the car listening to her.
Parvathi began her flashback.
"What I am going to tell is not just a story… but a true story, a real-time time incident… All that happened when I got married and came to this house, about thirty years ago. My father-in-law's name is Paramu; he was the main reason for this curse. His native place is Neyattinkara, where the Neyyar River flows! The coconut farms, plantain farms, and tapioca fields will attract anyone’s eyes!" Parvathi started telling about the incident that happened thirty years ago.
On that dawn, several people were waiting on the main road for the bus with the farm-fresh plantains.
Paramu was one of them.
He owned a quite large plantain farm. In Neyattinkara, he was a well-known person with influence. He was even the president of the Puthiyakavu Bhagavathi temple committee. He had a good physique and pleasing personality; he always wore a thick gold chain.
Whoever sees him would always wish him and go. A private bus stopped there, and the cleaner loaded all the plantains on the top of the bus.
It was a bus going to Trivandrum, with a full crowd. Paramu waited for a while and walked away from there after the bus had left from there! The Puthiyakavu temple was on its way, which was under renovation. Priest Kesavan Namboothiri was walking towards the temple to open it.
As he saw Paramu on his way, he wished him.
"Going to the temple, Kesavan Ji?"
"Yes, Paramu. It’s six o’clock now."
"Okay, you proceed. I'll take a bath in the river and will join you." As he said, he walked towards the river. The water was flowing very fast. The chillness of the river water spread all over his body when his legs touched the running water. He dipped himself in the river up to his neck.
He remembered the miracle that happened years back…
One day, when someone was taking a bath in the river, a statue stuck in his legs, and it was the idol of Puthiyakavu Bhagavathi. When he took and lifted it from the water, the sun was slowly rising, and the idol glittered in the golden rays of the sun. Everyone who came to bathe in the river, seeing this, bowed with folded hands and worshipped the Bhagavathi.
The village got a new look once they started worshipping the Puthiyakavu Bhagavathi by keeping the idol under a neem tree near the river bed. Miracles began to happen in the village; the childless got blessed with a child. Those girls whose marriages were getting blocked due to the impact of Mars got married after worshipping the Bhagavathi earnestly. So the villagers started worshipping her as their family goddess.
The Bhagavathi fulfilled the wishes of each one of her devotees who worshipped her with devotion.
She kept on proving that she would help those who completely trusted her. Paramu finished his bath, wiped his body with the towel casually, put it on his shoulder, and walked towards the temple.
Priest Kesavan Namboothiri opened the sanctum sanatorium door, after which he lit the ghee lamp. The goddess's face gleamed in the flame of the ghee lamp. The first deep aarti was done for and on behalf of Paramu. He applied the sacred ash and holy saffron with his ring finger on his forehead given by the Priest.
"Kesavan Ji, the temple committee meeting is at eleven, right?"
"Yes, Paramu, today the main point of discussion is about Dubai Sankaran’s offering of the golden trident to our temple."
"Okay, we will discuss along that regarding the collection of donations from the villagers, the temple renovation plan, and consecration date."
The priest smiled. Paramu left… While he was walking on the road, a Benz car crossed him. Inside it, he saw Sankaran's son Gopi, who was also from the same village.
Gopi and Paramu’s son, Neelakandan, were school mates! Neelakandan was helping his dad in agriculture. Gopi had his higher studies at Fatima Mata National College, Kollam, and developed his father’s business to a great extent. When he just passed Paramu in his new Benz, it made Paramu a little jealous in a way. For those few seconds, a question aroused in his mind, have I failed in guiding my sons in the right direction; could I have given them better education? This thought gave his heart a lot of pain.
Neelakandan and Manikandan were Paramu’s sons.
Seeing Gopi’s Benz car passing him with lightning speed; irritated him very much. He was thinking, ‘Oh, Bhagavathi, for how many years I was toiling in this hot sun to earn a little money, these people get rich within a short time and are flying in a foreign car!
Chellappan was coming in the opposite direction on the same street, and on seeing Paramu, he asked, “What Paramu, Are you not feeling well? You are looking very desperate.”
“Nothing, Chellappa… I am a bit confused and worried about the future of my sons…”
“Why is this question now…? What amenities don’t you have? You are a well-respected person in this village. A very hard working agriculturist with two young and smart sons who are also well known for their talent and hard work.”
“That is correct, but I made a great mistake by not educating them properly…”
“Who said? I know that they have completed up to Higher Secondary with good marks; then, what more do you want?”
“Studying up to higher secondary is not a great thing. Sankaran's son, Gopi has completed M.E, and it seems he is earning in lakhs, right?”
“Oh.. is this the reason for your worry?”
“Not exactly, but thinking about this makes my heart pain a lot…”
“Oh, my Bhagavathi…Come on man... are you talking like a responsible person...? You are talking like a kid … can you educate your sons now…? There is an age for everything…”
“Hm...what you are saying is right, Chellappa. Anyway, we should have the luck to succeed in any business…”
“Yeah…that is correct, but why are you so much worried about your son’s education… Do you think that youngsters are studying to gain knowledge? They study to know how they can earn money within a short period. Their thought is that they can earn a large amount of money if they have a higher degree with them… “
“So what you are suggesting, Chellappa…”
“Let your sons try new businesses; they will earn more for sure… you know well that our Dubai Sankaran is a tenth standard failed guy, but now he is the richest man in this village…"
Chellappan’s words sowed the seeds of not one but many business’s dreams in the mind of Paramu.
The moment he saw that Benz car, the urge to get rich within a short period using any method developed in his mind and slowly sprout out as a unique business idea in his mind!
