CHAPTER 5
Black and white
While keeping the silk cloth back in the box; unknowingly my eyes focused on the cloth and read the lines starting with the title ‘The Festival of Forests’, the first line in it was ‘Think about the forests every day, the forests become the smaller than the smallest and bless you, the sky becomes larger than the largest and blesses you. ..’ When I read it, I couldn’t understand anything, but at the same time, the guilt of disobeying the words of Kali Baba pricked my mind.
Kottarathil Sankaran
On hearing a car horn Meenu looked outside through the window.
The lawyer parked the car and came out. Meenu received him with a hidden smile and took him to the hall.
“Come. Come, Varma Ji is here only. ”
“Who are you? Varma Ji’s relation?”
“I hope from today onwards we will become….”
Those words of her had lots of hidden meaning behind it when she said it with her eyes twinkling.
The lawyer was not a halfwit. He understood what she meant and sighed.
“He has already two mistresses, now the third one is here!” Iyer said in a low voice to himself. Meenu heard this but stood there without any reaction. Varma came with Sree Latha, sticking to him as if she were glued to him.
“Come, Iyer, somehow you have won the case! ” Varma laughed, Iyer could feel the strong smell of five-star cigarette which was Varma’s regular brand.
Iyer stared at Sreea. She looked back at him seducingly. He shook his head and said in mind “Oh, God”.
“Sree, bring something for our Iyer to eat. ” he said.
She immediately replied, “Payasam is getting ready!”
“Payasam! Wah re wah! You are always ahead of me..”
“Ji, he has given us a humongous victory and we can’t just stop with giving a cup of coffee to him.”
Iyer didn’t like it but he said calmly,
“Ma’am, I want to discuss something important with Varma Ji personally.”
“Discuss, I never said no!” she walked away from there and went to an adjacent room from where she could overhear what they spoke. Meenu joined her.
At that time Madhavan returned from the college.
He jolted seeing Iyer and Varma and asked Iyer,
“Who are you?”
“Who are you, Bro?” Iyer asked back.
“I asked you the same the question, but you have not replied!”
Madhavan got irked.
Understanding the situation Sree called Madhavan from her room,
“Madhava, come here. I’ll explain to you everything in detail.”
Madhavan moved away from there. The lawyer started the talk after making sure that no one was nearby.
“Ji, what’s this? Do you know these people before?”
“No, only today!”
“What’s this Ji? You should be very careful; you should not take any risk.”
“It’s ok, I know what I am doing you need not advise me in this!”
“Ji, your enemies are clever, and they acted very fast. They are in search of you and will find you anytime. ”
“Why? To kill me?”
“They know how to kill you without any trace and that is my worry!”
“I discussed what you told me over mobile to Sree. She said that she’ll take care of this”
“What are you saying?”
“Sree knows a woman in Munnar forest who can handle any level of black magic. So do not worry about it, she will handle this.”
While the lawyer and Varma were seriously discussing this, Sreeksha was convincing Madhavan in her room.
“Look, Madhava, I have got a nice landing place now for a lifetime settlement. Varma promised that he will marry me. He is a millionaire.”
“Sree, what is your age and his age?”
“Dear, age is only just a number and an actress who wants to settle in her life should not look for it. She should only look for money and money. ”
“I don’t like this at all. We can go and beg instead of this.”
“Don’t get so emotional. What you are saying is suitable only for stories and not for real life!. Remember you can also go to Canada for higher studies!”
“He will send me to Canada for higher studies?”
“You wait and see what all can I do”
“I don’t know, but I don’t like your activities. I’m a bit scared of seeing all this!”
“Madhava, be calm. Your sister has just started her journey through the right path just now.” Meenu shut off his mouth by saying this.
In the midst of this, Varma called Sreeksha and she came running. The lawyer looked at the way she came so fast and was a little shocked.
“Sree, Iyer is a little worried about my safety. Apparently, my enemies are looking for the sand underneath my foot.”
“Let them look for it. Ji, you don’t go outside from here. I’ll take care of them.”
“Sree, go with Iyer. You said that you know some woman in Munnar, right?
“Yes, Ji, if Iyer sir is ready, I will go with him now itself to meet her!”
“Let’s get going now. Probably they might have come here also, following me.”
“Ok, then. I’ll ask Meenu to go outside and find if someone is observing our house.”
“I’ll go and look right now.” Meenu said.
“Be careful, they should not know that you are watching them.”
Meenu just laughed hearing that. She took a wire basket in her hand and went outside as if she was going for shopping.
There was a departmental store at the end of the street. Meenu walked towards that store, she carefully observed the street. On one side of the road, a group was waiting in a car. There was a lady in the car wearing a black saree looking very indifferent. Meenu went to the store and bought some vegetables for namesake. While returning, she looked at them once again. The lady in the black saree glared at her aggressively. Meenu got afraid and walked extremely fast towards the house. When she reached home…
Varma, lawyer and Sree looked at her anxiously.
“Ma’am, I saw a group waiting in a car.”
“Didn’t I say there was a lady in a black saree inside the car?” Iyer asked.
“Yes, oh, my god her eyes, so hypnotic...”
“Ma’am, we have to be very careful. They shouldn’t see us when we go out.”
“Don’t worry, lawyer sir. We will go out through the back door of the house. Meenu, take care of Varma Ji.”
Sreeksha got ready to go with Iyer.
Madhavan could only stand as a witness for everything.
He asked Meenu about what’s happening there.
“Where is she going with that lawyer?”
“They are going to meet one ‘Mayamma’!”
“Why?”
“That Varma Ji’s relatives are planning to do some black magic on him, and Ma’am wanted to save him. ”
“Black magic. What’s that?”
“Who knows. In short it means destroying a person using some negative forces.”
“Mere superstitions …!”
“Madhavan, the person who is affected here is a millionaire and he is very much afraid of it.”
“Some people are even afraid of cockroaches, understand that any type of fear is not always true.”
“So, you don’t believe in this?”
“A well-educated person will never believe in all this. ”
“That is your belief, if it is a superstition, only money will be lost but if it is real, then it is the life of a person that is at stake. ”
“I am not with you people, you do whatever you like…” saying that Madhavan left.
Outside, Iyer and Sreeksha were moving in a car very fast to meet ‘Mayamma’.
