Chapter 11
The Golden Trident
Believe it or not!
God never punishes anyone for their mistakes. It is you who punish yourself by creating the circumstances for those punishments through your thought process.
Shivani got almost dumbstruck!
Parvathi, who has completed her story, felt a little relaxed as she was now able to share her burden to a certain extend with Shivani!
The car stopped in front of the hospital.
Both of them got down from the car and went inside the hospital. They seemed like two dolls that sprang into life, all of a sudden.
Parvathi’s face was pale and dull; her lips kept on murmuring, “This time he will not survive, I am sure… because his attitude is the same as his grandfather…”
“No,aunty… your son is not such a kind of person. He is only against superstitions,” said Shivani.
“Which is superstition…? After the death of Kesavan Namboothiri and his wife, my father-in-law fell from the scaffold made for building the temple tower, and he fell direct on the iron trident, kept before the temple and it pierced his stomach leading to his death. After three months, three sharp iron rods from a running lorry pierced my husband’s stomach leading to his death; my brother-in-law, when he was constructing a building, fell exactly from the first floor on the pillar rods below, which tore his stomach leading to his death. Do you take all these as superstitions?”
“Absolutely, not… there is some truth behind all this… the universal force executes dharma through the human mind. I have heard many scholars saying that sky is the limit for the power of the human mind. I’m able to see this very clearly in all the incidents that you narrated …”
“Shivani, how you see this does not matter… that curse is not going to spare my son. He escaped once. The second time he went in search of it and was caught by it now… may be, it is my fate to stand as a witness for all these and to shed tears…”
“No,aunty… every problem has a solution… your son will survive, I am very sure about it. Ok, you said that Puthiyakavu Bhagavathi temple is in Neyattinkara, right…?”
“Yes, dear, the temple is there only… with multifold power! But I don’t have the guts to go there… I am not worthy enough to go there.”
“What you are thinking is not correct … its fine. Leave it! I will go on behalf of your family and will do the atonement there.”
“Oh, my Bhagavathi! Whatever atonement you do, will the dead priest or his wife come back alive? When that will not happen, how can this happen? My son was able to live till now, which is enough for me…”
Shivani found it very difficult to convince Parvathi.
They entered the I.C.U where Vignesh was lying, with their thoughts traveling in two different directions. Suresh was standing outside the I.C.U very anxiously as he could not predict what will happen next.
“Sir…”
“Come, Shivani… Come”
“Aunty! Sir is our general manager.”
“I know him… I met him last time when my son got stabbed…”
“Please forgive me, madam… I never thought your son would have another accident; it was quite unfortunate that I forgot the trident was still there.”
“I know, sir… when fate plays its role, we are all helpless and can only stand as a witness for all happenings.”
How Parvathi answered was a real shock for everyone; Suresh was thinking, how a mother can react like this when her son was so critical and struggling for his life. Everyone expected that Parvathi would fight with Suresh for not taking proper care of Vignesh. Suresh thought that perhaps Shivani took the effort to console her on the way to the hospital, and with this, in mind, he looked at Shivani.
When Shivani told Parvathi to go inside the I.C.U to see Vignesh, she replied,
“It’s okay, dear. I don’t want to see my son in this condition. I will see him when the time comes,” saying this, Parvathi went and sat on a sofa outside the I.C.U.
Hearing this, Suresh was confused.
After finding a tree shade, both of them continued their conversation. Suresh asked, “Shivani, why is Vignesh’s mother like this? I think that there is something wrong with her.”
“Yes sir…now her mental condition is such that she is not normal now, her thought process, how she is thinking, everything is quite abnormal…”
“What do you mean…? I am not able to understand… she is not even ready to see her son. Is she mad?”
“Not like that, sir… she has almost decided that Vignesh will not survive.”
“What…!” Suresh howled in shock.
“Yes, sir…there is a reason why she is thinking so… she explained everything in detail to me on the way…”
“What is this Shivani, are you going to tell me some story…?”
“Not a story, sir… It’s a true incident which shows that the power of the human mind is infinite…”
“What incident?”
“I will tell you that later, sir… after listening to her true story, I have taken some decisions which I am going to implement. That is more important now. Anyway, how is Vignesh’s health now, sir?”
“Very critical… in this situation, we can’t say anything. The doctor said that there are only remote chances for his revival.”
Suresh’s’ answer was quite shocking to Shivani.
“Sir, can I ask for a favor from you?”
“What is it, Shivani?”
“Can you lend me forty lakh rupees?”
“Forty lakhs, are you crazy … for what?
“I have to buy approximately three and a half kilograms of gold to make a trident… I want to offer it to the Puthiyakavu Bhagavathi temple in Neyattinkara. I have to do it as fast as possible…maybe I can make the trident also later. But I have to offer the gold there immediately.
“Are you insane? What is the connection between Vignesh’s current critical condition and this?”
“Very much. Sir, now I remember one English movie I saw recently; throughout that movie, there is a box with a dangerous germ that is changing hands and moving to different places; finally, it gets hidden inside a Buddha idol. The Villain gets it, and when he breaks it open, the dangerous germ attacks him, and he dies cruelly. At that time, a Tsunami came to that place, and that whole place submerges under the sea completely. Thousands of people would have died; if that germ was released out. Moreover, it would have completely erased the traces of humankind from the earth. We have to understand from this that small destruction saved the whole world from tremendous destruction.
Do you know that one-word answer which was said to explain what is behind this logic?”
“Shivani! Why this English movie story now, and what is the relevance of that one word answer here? I do not think this is the right time to discuss this...”
“Sir… I have told you quite a big matter in a nutshell. Do you know what that one-word answer is?”
“Perhaps the director of that movie was trying to explain ‘Chaos’ theory. Westerners believe that those things which our intellect cannot understand are ‘Chaos’.”
“You are right, sir… There is some ‘chaos’ behind what has happened to Vignesh. Everything is the mischief of the thought waves. Why I am asking for money for those three and a half kilogram gold is to set right that thought waves only.”
“If we offer gold to that temple, will Vignesh survive?”
“I strongly believe that he will get saved.”
“Then do you think that all the medicines, injections, surgery, everything is a waste?”
“No, Sir, along with that, this will also support.”
“My question is whether Vignesh’s family has promised to offer something to that temple and then later deferred from that? Do Vignesh’s mom think that all these happenings are the result of that because the goddess in the temple is angry?”
“There is no connection between this and the goddess, sir. This whole universe is the creation of the god… What’s going to change by giving back the gold, dug out from the earth which also belongs to him…? The matter is not related to god at all…”
“Then why should we give gold to that temple? That too three and a half kilograms…”
“Vignesh’s grandfather had stolen that gold… that is why three people lost their lives very cruelly …”
“Shivani! You are a modern girl, now you are forcing me to compare you with an actress in a Goddess-based devotional movie, you are just behaving like her?”
“No, sir. Even now, I am modern… but ethics and traditions are the same for all, right?”
“I am sorry… to my belief, offering gold or tonsure to a temple is the same.”
“Ok, you may think so… give the money as a loan, I will repay it to you.”
“You can ask me for a few thousand rupees as a loan, but you are asking for forty lakh rupees… I am not that much rich… where will I go for that much amount?”
“You can manage it from our office funds and give it to me?”
“Then both of us will together go to prison. Is that ok?”
“I feel it is better than giving innocent Vignesh to the cruel hands of death, sir…”
“What is this Shivani, this stubbornness…? If Vignesh’s mom speaks like this, I can understand, but you …”
“She lost all hopes. That is why… But I did not lose hope, sir…”
“Sorry… I can’t help you… You can do one thing.”
“Tell me, Sir.”
“First go to that temple and pray to that goddess for saving the life of Vignesh… Let him survive, then I will think about considering what you said.”
“Sir, you are talking like a businessman! We cannot ask the goddess- like, if you do this for me, I will do this for you in return.”
“You are right, but Shivani, we do not have that much money with us now; if we are having sufficient money with us and are asking like that, it is wrong. I am asking you to do so because we don’t have money with us.”
“Okay, Sir. I can understand your position. I am sorry to find that no one is here to support my views or to believe that Vignesh will survive. His mother even does not believe in this… She has lost all hopes because she knows the gravity of the sin, which is very severe, and that is the reason for happening all this to Vignesh!
In this situation, I will pray to that goddess earnestly for saving the life of Vignesh… he should live at least to atone the mistakes of his grandfather. I will make him do it. He will get saved. We can say this rather than saying something negative. We have to put an end to these incidents of their heirs feeling guilty and losing their lives. Instead, let us help them to rectify their problems and find solutions. Thinking this way is positive, right, sir? So, let us think positively and start working now… let Vignesh survive…”
“You are right, Shivani … I am with you in this. God is omnipotent and omnipresent; that’s all! Truth, dharma, and justice will always win. Let us do all that we can to keep it alive. I will also pray for that along with you…”
“If we stand here and discuss this, we will not reach anywhere. Can you please come with me to that temple?”
“Now?”
“Then, when?”
“Here, doctors may need us…”
“Let’s inform them and leave; what’s there in that!”
Shivani’s confidence indirectly strengthened the thoughts of Suresh.
“Ok, come then, let’s move from here. We do not have any time to waste. Let us begin this with hundred percent faith within us…”
When Suresh and Shivani were rushing towards the car,
Parvathi also came there.
“Aunty…”
“I came in search of you and found both of you here, as you were seriously discussing something; I did not want to disturb you and was listening to what you were saying silently. You have sowed the seeds of new hope in me. Even now, the stolen gold is with me only… I have thought of putting it into the temple hundi, but, but something prevented me from that … I never dare to go to that temple again…”
“If you do not dare to put it into the temple hundi, you could have put it in the Neyyar River, right?”
Parvathi was shocked by hearing her words.
“In the river?”
“Yes, aunty… the priest died drowning in that river only, right?”
“This never came to my mind…”
“Okay, You leave it … first, bring that gold out of your home… which itself will open our gate to the victory…”
Shivani took Parvathi with her and drove towards Vignesh’s house.
Parvathi brought a yellow cloth bag out from her house; inside it was the gold biscuits which were stolen by her father in law!
“The reason why you lost hope for your son is because of having this for so many years. Anyway, shall I hand over this to the temple or put it in the river…?”
“As you said, let us pray to the soul of the priest and throw this gold in the river; that is the best option for us. If we give it to the temple, it means that we still consider this offering as worldly… If we put it in the river, in a way, we will honor the priest who has to end his life because of this… so let us put this in the river.
The moment Parvathi brought the yellow bag with gold biscuits in it, out of her house, her mind became very light and clear.
The car was going towards the Neyyar river.
It went and stopped near the banks of the Neyyar River. Her legs were shivering when it touched the ground; she got down. On her hand was the yellow cloth bag with Gold biscuits…”
She walked.
In the same way, the priest walked that day.
She got down into the river, then prayed…
“Priest… I believe your soul is still in this river; let me hand over this gold to you; handing over this to the Bhagavathi temple or not is your wish. I’m apologizing to you for what all has happened… If my son survives, I will buy and offer a new Golden Trident to Puthiyakavu Temple. His survival is dependent on your forgiveness,” saying this in mind; she threw away the yellow cloth bag into the river.
Suddenly the weather changed, it started raining, followed by a heavy storm and thunder.
Parvathi got into the car with tears in her eyes.
Some of the villagers who recognized her wished her with folded hands.
Shivani told her, “Aunty! We are going to that Dubai guy’s house now.”
“Why there?”
“To touch his feet and ask for his forgiveness. That is his gold, right?”
“That is true…”
In the next few minutes, the car stopped at Sankaran’s house. He was lying on an easy chair. Parvathi touched his feet with tears in her eyes.
“What can you do for the sin that your father-in-law has committed…?” he said.
“I see my father in law in my son, and I want him to survive…”
“He will survive… the moment you came here in search of our Bhagavathi, all your sins got atoned.”
Just then, they received a message from the hospital.
‘There is a good development in Vignesh’s health…’ Parvathi was very happy to hear that, and her happiness found no limit.
Sankaran asked, “Didn’t you go to the temple?”
“After my son has returned from the hospital, sir, I will go carrying the new trident in my hand to worship my Bhagavathi.”
“A wise decision… ok, now what happened to that stolen gold?”
“It already reached the priest in the Neyyar river by now.”
“Great, that you thought, his soul is more important than this physical gold and dropped it in the river; I appreciate it.”
As he was appreciating, a man came running and told the news.
“Sir, when we took our temple elephant to the river for a bath… a cloth bag got stuck in its tusk… when we looked inside it, we found some gold biscuits…”
The moment Sankaran heard this, he immediately stood up from his chair, looked at the temple tower through his window, bowed with folded hands and eyes filled with tears!
Suresh was amazed; he walked towards Shivani and said,
“Shivani… how powerful are our thoughts. I have learned this from you; I understood that irrespective of age, anyone can learn from anyone… my sincere thanks to you,” he said.
he temple bells rang in approval.
