THE BATTLE BEGINS
[I as Kalki will then re-establish righteousness upon Earth. Those who live at the end of the Kali age shall be awakened, and they shall be as translucent as crystal.] -Puranas
“With the death of the Devata the battle doesn’t end but it begins.” Tarun’s father says, “They will come to take revenge when they will know about what had happened in the train and in the wall.” He pauses here, looks over my people and continues, “But we are ready to fight them because we have an avatar with us.”
“Avatar…”
“Lord Kali”
“Avatar…”
“Kaliki Avatar…”
I hear different shouts till Jagpati comes near me, he takes my hand in his and throws in the air, skyward, “the scratch of Devata’s nails can’t effect of Avatar,” as he says all shouts fall silent, “this is the biggest testimony of our Lord. Under his guidance, we’ll fight and we’ll win.” Now his voice grows so loud, “the prophecies are right. They have been proved and we don’t need anything else to believe in our Avatar.”
My peoples cheering voice is so loud. The echo rings back at station building.
“Now what should we do?” some of them asked, in the chorus.
“First of all, we’ll give an honorable funeral to the people laid dead in the train.” Jagapati says, “They were brave beyond the limits. They were unarmed and unprepared when beyond the wall Devatas attacked.” He wipes tears from his eyes, “I’m sorry not as I can’t help them. If we had tried to help them we couldn’t be here to help and warn you. We have to watch them die in front of our eyes because we need to be alive to save all the people in the wall.” His tears are streaming now freely over his face, “the sight of their massacre will hunt me forever. It was indiscriminate and brutal but our brave people didn’t give up. They fought back till they can. When the victory was impossible our girls hurled themselves in the water channel but they didn’t let’ them spoil their holiness,” he tries to suppress the rising sob in his chest. It chokes his voice, “our girls were as holy as river Ganda and we won’t forget their sacrifice till there is water in the Ganga Ma. After the name of Ganga Ma, we will honor them by calling Sati Ma.”
Among the tears, everyone cheers loudly.
“Now we’ll give them an honorable funeral.”
We start to collect all the bodies from the station ground. We have lost almost fifteen Nirbhaya and more than 100 of my people. Midnight to morning, we spend on collecting dead bodies from inside the train.
With the first ray of the sun, the remaining of all my people are at the station. All of them, every woman and every child are there. They all mourn found the bodies of their beloved. Some has lost his father, some has lost a mother, some has a brother, some has a sister and some has lost his whole family. The train had 200 bodies’ means we have no bodies of 30 people who have jumped in the water channel. I haven’t the courage of seeing Padma's body. Though, we haven’t found her body as she was the first to jump in the channel as Jagpati said.
The battle of the station has added more 100 bodies of my people and 15 bodies of un-affected Nirbhayas.
Jagapati orders to burn all the bodies of our enemies in the station ground.
My people do as he says, then we take bodies of our people at our funeral ground. It isn’t enough big to give a funeral to such numbers of people. We give them funeral in multiple people on one woodpile.
Till noon the dead are ashes. There is no sign of them except in our memories.
My teacher and his family are also on the funeral ground. He hugs to me and all trainees. All the trainees are from conversant. Conversant means students of him.
“Where are Daxa and Kirit?” he asks, “Why they are not here?”
“They aren’t with us now,” I answer, “we have lost them at the battle of the station.”
And then I see my teacher crying, the first time. He is a strong person, with knowledge of books but still sobbing.
“We need a gathering,” Jagapati doesn’t give him chance to cry more. “I need to tell you something.”
“What?” my teacher asks, wiping tears.
“Something terrible,” Jagapati says “a news.” and I wonder what the news will be but I don’t ask.
“We can call gathering now,” my teacher says, “all Sunyas are on the funeral ground.”
“Then do it,” Jagapati says.
Teacher calls every trainee and tells us to find all messengers. In ten minutes all the massagers are in front of my teacher.
“Tell everyone there is a gathering, now.”
In the next half an hour, all people standing at the funeral ground are ready for gathering.
There is a complete silence. The silence is what gathering needs.
“The train won’t go back beyond the wall so in two days they will know what had happened here,” Jagapati commences, “they will know about the rebellion but they have no way to attack us till the train is inside the wall. They can’t come in numbers without a train and there is no way to pass the desert of the lightning storm without the train. They can’t come here on motorcycles or cars. They need a train but now we own it.”
The announcement of Jagpati makes my people happy even on the funeral ground.
“Don’t be cheer,” Jagpati goes on, “they have a way to punish us.”
All other sounds fall silent. No one is murmuring too.
“They will cut the water,” Jagpati explains, “They will stop the water flow of the channel. We will be out of the water after three days.”
People are looking at each other.
“But we have a way to fight back,” Jagpati continues, “we all here are laborers. We are a minimum ten thousand peoples and we will dig a huge lake in just one day and one night and fill it with the water.” He looks over the crowd, “and we will have water for months,” he looks at my teacher and my teacher nods, “the Avatar will go beyond the wall with all trainees and half of my troop. Half of my troop will remain here with you.” he says, “Even I’ll stay here with you.” he goes on, “don’t fear what will happen when the lake will be empty.” his voice grows strong, “before the lake will be empty, the tower would have fallen. And not even in the wall but beyond the wall too will be the rule of Avatar of Lord Kalki. There will be no Kaliyuga on the earth. We’ll live in Satyayuga.”
“Satya Yuga…”
“Rule of Lord Kalki…”
“Fall of the temple...”
“Avatar will rule beyond the wall.”
I hear different shouts from the crowd.
“Now, go home and fetch every tool you have to dig the lake, take everything you have to eat and we will start to dig the lake right beside the forest.”
Then my teacher explains my people what should they do and people leave the funeral ground to get their tools.
After an hour all trainees, Nirbhaya troop, my parents and I are on the ground.
*
To be continue.....
