Woooooow! in the Sky

The moon and the stars in the sky were very bright and they appeared so close that Mukesh felt he could touch them. All through the summer holidays, he and his siblings eagerly awaited this moment. A couple of hours after dinner, they would all help their spirited mother to lay their cots on the huge terrace of their family home in Shyampur village. They would then run back into the house to bring their respective beddings, and sometime trip over the sheets that would be hanging out of their little hands, and mother would say: “slow down!” After much debate between them and their mother over the pros and cons of putting up the mosquito nets, their mother would always win, simply because the kids did not want to waste any more time. But what were they in a hurry for? A magical journey that would take them to places in the universe that they could never go to during day time. In fact, one day Mukesh said to his mother: “When the sun rises I open my eyes and put my mind to sleep; when the moon and the stars shine, my mind is wide awake and I put my eyes to sleep!”

After Mukesh, now 8 years old, Shankar, 6 years, and Shanti, 4 years, were all settled in their respective beds, they turned their heads towards their Mother, whom they loved and respected immensely.

“Tonight,” started Mother, “I am going to tell you a story that my mother told me when I was about Mukesh’s age. The only difference is that you have your cots on a terrace and my cot was next to my mother’s in the middle of our wheat farm. I remember that it was harvest time and our crops were standing tall. During harvest time, all the working members of a family basically lived on the farm

Mother took a deep breath and looked into the distance. With a smile that lit up her face, she said: “I have very good memories of that time of my life, and I hope you will too.”

Mother did not remember making a transition from a narrative of her life to the story that her mother told her, but it just happened and became the story she told Mukesh, Shankar, and Shanti.

The wedding season was in full swing and everyone was waiting for one particular wedding because it was going to take place in the sky. It was being said that King Jagat was to wed Shanti, the daughter of the famous King and Queen of the Kingdom of Vishal, and that King Jagat and his baraat (entourage) were to go to the Kingdom of Vishal in air borne horse chariots. The word went around that the list of invited guests included Lord Suriya, Lord Chandrama, Lord Sitaras, and the Mighty Wind and Dark Lightening Clouds. If that was not enough, there were rumours to the effect that many Gods had accepted King Jagat’s wedding invitation. People were very excited and also nervous at the thought of all these forces coming together at one time.

When the day finally arrived, King Jagat set things in motion by stepping into his beautifully decorated airborne horse chariot. He was a handsome man, and today’s attire made him look majestic. So naturally, the baraatis wanted to show him off to everyone.

At the other end of the universe, Shanti – the bride – was getting ready with the help of her friends. One friend brought over her ankle-length, magenta-coloured silk skirt with a matching scarf to go over her body and head – they were embroidered with gold thread. One older lady, who had served Shanit’s family for many years, was busy painting her toe nails and feet. A close friend of Shanti’s arranged her silky black hair in a bun and was giving her face the finishing touch. When Shanti was ready, her mother came over, smiling from ear to ear, with a tray of exquisite jewellery for Shanti’s forehead, nose, ears, neck, arms, waist, and ankles. When she was done, Shanti looked stunning; in fact, so stunning that her mother made a gesture with both her hands to ward off an evil eye upon her daughter.

The baraat was now less than half a kilometer away from the Palace of the Kingdom of Vishal. Everyone’s head followed the flight of the fire crackers into the dark sky where they burst into pretty formations. The happy baraatis, dressed in colourful costumes, were seen dancing vigorously. As the baraat got closer to the Palace, the familiar wedding music got louder and louder.

Finally, King Jagat’s chariot halted at the Palace gates. He descended and stood in front of Shanti’s family, relatives, and friends. One of them came forward with a gold plate on which sat a number of little lamps each surrounded by rose petals. They all took turns in performing the ritual of aarti before ushering King Jagat inside the Palace’s courtyard. King Jagat and his baraatis stood breathless at the decorations in the courtyard. As they looked around, their eyes were met with the finest of flower arrangements, art work, masonry, sculptures, and lighting. Lost in the beauty around him, King Jagat did not even realize that he was standing just outside what could only be described as a hut of the most colourful flowers he had ever seen, all woven together. In there stood Shanti with her close relatives and friends. They were all dressed in the finest of silk clothing and their faces were painted just enough to bring out their natural beauty. The only face that was not yet visible was that of Shanti’s, though one could get a glimpse of her chin from under the long scarf she was wearing over her head.

When the time was just right, one of the baraatis handed over a garland made of light pink roses to King Jagat. With a broad smile, he stepped forward toward Shanti and slipped the garland over her head and around her neck, amidst clapping of many hands. Before stepping back, King Jagat made a gesture that no one had anticipated – very gently he lifted Shanti’s viel! Everyone’s clapping turned to pin drop silence followed by a whispered “woooooow!” The baraatis had never seen so much beauty bestowed in one person. Yet, it was not Shanti’s beauty that attracted King Jagat to her; it was her internal strength - strength that King Jagat had felt the day he saw her from a distance at a temple that she was visiting with her parents.

Conscious of so many eyes upon her, Shanti felt extremely shy and nervous. As she was contemplating pulling her scarf back over her face, and her hands were about to go up, a friend handed her a garland! She had no choice but to proceed towards King Jagat. She began by putting her right leg forward, and one could not help but notice the gold anklet with tiny little bells and the pink paint on her toe nails and around the base of her feet. She stretched upwards to put the garland around King Jagat’s neck, but to her surprise, he dodged her! Her face blushed and she tried again, and again, and again, and each time King Jagat smiled and ducked to the other side. By now the baraatis were laughing loudly and yelling out to King Jagat to keep going.

It was not too long before two of Shanti’s brothers came forward and lifted her on their shoulders, as if to say: “Sister, you can count on us to be there for you!” Now Shanti was higher than King Jagat and she slipped the garland around his neck with tremendous ease.

The joyous moment was celebrated around the universe by everyone. There was Lord Suriya’s sunny message, flying around the sky that read: “Long live King Jagat and Queen Shanti.” Lord Chandrama’s moonlight blessed the couple for several minutes. Lord Sitara performed the most complicated twinkle dance in the sky that anyone had ever seen. What followed could only be described as the most spectacular show of the night and people talked about it for years and years to come. Everyone at the wedding was above the clouds and they heard the thunder and saw the lightening of the Black Clouds flash towards the earth. Just then the Mighty Wind rose from the earth, whistling loudly in the shape of huge cones of water in the ocean, cones of sand in the desserts, and cones of an invisible force in space, and as these cones rose higher and higher, the lightening was seen entering these cones and everything was over in the blink of an eye. These theatrical and magical moments were followed by a spiritual experience. The Gods blew into Shankh Truth, the holiest of all shells, and the entire universe was engulfed in its vibrations. Both King Jagat and Shanti bowed in a gesture of utmost respect in the direction of the Gods. Even though the others could not see the Gods, they followed suit, and considered themselves very blessed to have experienced this spiritual moment.

The wedding ceremonies were spread over a couple of days, and on seventh day when it was time for King Jagat to take his bride to his Kingdom, Shanti’s parents and all the elders on her side came to bless the couple. There was not a dry eye, but these were happy tears for Shanti was going to a loving family and Kingdom.

It is said that during the Raj of King Jagat and Queen Shanti, there was a perfect balance among all the species in the kingdom; no one was allowed to use force of any kind. It is also said that there was so much peace and prosperity in the Kingdom of Vishal that people came from far and wide to see for themselves.

Having come to the end of the story, Mukesh (now 65 years of age), opened his eyes and noticed that his 8 year old grandson was sitting up on his cot, inside his mosquito net of course, in the hope of hearing more. Mukesh thought that he must have gone into a trance because all he could remember was putting his head on the pillow and gazing into the sky. He realized that what he had experienced tonight was common place for him as a child, but when he left Shyampur to take up a job in the city, his priorities changed; in fact, he did not tell stories to any of his children not only because he did not have time but also because the setting was just not right. Since he and his wife lived in apartments, during the summer they all slept in air conditioned rooms, and all they could stare at was the ceiling!

Tonight was very special for Mukesh, who had decided to return to Shyampur upon retirement. It was the first night after nearly 10 years that he was about to spend in their family home in Shyampur. He was also excited at the thought of transferring to Suman, the values that he got from his parents, and sharing the experiences that he had had in Shyampur in the hope that whenever Suman needed to dig deep within him for a strong anchor, his strong roots would support him in standing tall.

Suman was thrilled that he had Dadaji all to himself for that meant a story every night. He lay down and began to replay the story his Dadaji had narrated a moment ago. Once again the sky became a very happening place. Suman was all in smiles at the thought of spending the next one month of his summer holidays in Shyampur and discovering the secrets of the universe every night.

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