Seven

Author's Note

May 5, 2020

And finally, the journey comes to an end. One that I began with doubts and hesitation on February 8, 2020,  and which I continued amid further doubts, writer's block, attention diverted to poetry, and quarantine (somehow that reduced the time I could spare by more than half). Yet today, less than three months later, or eighty nine days to be precise (which included a life saving grace period of three days, I would not have done it otherwise) I have finished my novella.

Is it good, bad or ugly? That is for my readers to let me know. I take comfort that I have managed to plan and write out this story, and which in a way is an achievement. 

The story I have written out does not present morality as a strict black or white, it is various shades of grey. Further, truth is neither facts nor perspective, one is objective the other subjective, while truth is a mixture of both, changing with circumstances. 

It is also slightly inspired by a folktale often told to me by my mother (it does not deal exactly with the same set of virtues, more about attributes a person should possess.

In faraway times, there ruled a king, so righteous that all the eight manifestations of Goddess Lakshmi resided in him. One day, as he toured his kingdom, he came across an artist who had fallen on hard times. On inquiring, the King found out that the artist, on a whim, had carved out a statue of  Daridra Devi, the Goddess of Poverty. Pleased with the artist's folly, the Goddess had taken residence in his life. He bemoaned his fate and pleaded with the King to rescue him.

The King sought the counsel of his ministers, all of whom, as a man, advised the King against buying the statue, for it was well known that where Darida Devi resided, her sister, Goddess Laksmmi would not stay. But the king, being righteous, knew that it was his duty to protect his subjects and after much contemplation, decided to do his kingly duties and purchased that idol and gave instructions that the same be installed in prominent niche.

That night, the King had a revealing dream. The first to appear was Adi Lakshmi, the primordial form of Lakshmi, who is the cause for the very existence of Man. She smiled a wan smile and spoke, "My son, you have constrained yourself by the ties of your kingly duties and I am bound by the dictates of my nature. I cannot stay where my sister is honoured. I take my leave of you."

The king knew that her departure meant his life could be cut short but he only bowed, "I understand, Mother, I shall not prevail upon you to stop."

The next was Dhana Lakshmi and with her departure, he knew that he would lose all his material wealth. Then it was Dhaanya Lakshmi, who ruled harvests and grains, her leaving would mean that he would starve. Still he did not protest. One by one the other manifestations took leave of him; Gaja Lakshmi - the goddess of power and strength, Santana Lakshmi - the goddess of offspring and progeny, Vidya Lakshmi - the goddess of wisdom and learning, Vijaya Lakshmi - the goddess of victory. Each leaving him bereft of power, progeny, wisdom and victory. Finally it the was turn of the last manifestation, Dhairya Lakshmi - the goddess of patience and courage. When he saw her, he flung himself at her feet and pleaded, "Mother, you cannot leave me, as long as I have courage, I can face anything. It was this courage and faith in you, that I dared to carry out my duties. Please, do not forsake me."

Pleased with his reasoning, Dhairya Lakshmi stayed back. And when the other manifestations saw that, each one of them came back.

My mother used to tell this story to let me and my brother know that of all the types of wealth a person could possess, courage is the most valuable. And now, years after I am no longer a child, I do agree. It is difficult, nay impossible at times, to summon courage, but once you do, untold possibilities open up. (Not all could be pleasant, this story is also a result of me working up the courage to write for the ONC Challenge).

As to how I used the above tale in my story - I twisted it to slightly suit the Christian beliefs of hope being the strongest and capable of working miracles. Raghuveer stopped hoping but actually never gave up on it - it was just that the hopes were different. 

Another point which I did use, maybe not too apparent, is my belief that the Devil is not the opposite of God. God, as my personal belief is beyond the ordinary definitions of good and evil. How then can you assign the creation of a equal but polar opposite, i.e. the Devil to him? I am not able to express in clear abstract terms, but for the purposes of this story, I have considered the Demons and Angels to be the champions of good and evil, though not necessarily completely evil or good themselves. It is more that both sides battle, with each other, for human souls. God is a distant omnipresent entity, who after creation of the World, is content, mostly, to allow his creations to make and get out of their mess. 

I am not sure how many readers I would have and also not sure how many would agree with what apparently seems to be a complete redemption of Raghuveer. He did get what he wanted but he would live with a life of remorse and regret, made worse by the fact that there is no substantial evidence of the wrongs he had done. 

But I would definitely love to hear your views. Do let me know.

I could write more but then this would turn out to be longer that the individual chapters (some of which I struggled to make it cross the 1000 word mark, while this was so easy to write. I guess not being under pressure makes the words flow). So I stop here.

Thank you for reading,
Nyna