Devika admired the mellow harmony of waves dancing all around her. She loved swirling in the occasional ribbon of swift and strong ripples in the otherwise serene and gentle expanse of the Ganges. Bathing in the holy River Ganga was considered auspicious, and people of Brahmapur had an abundance of opportunity to indulge in this sacred ritual.
Situated at the banks of River Ganga, Brahmapur was a tranquil village of a sparse population. Like any other village in India, the people of Brahmapur lived in peace and harmony going about their chores and everyday living. A beautiful village with green quilts of fields, land rolls, bountiful natural resources along with the divine River Ganga, providing a perfect balance to the sensory palette and inner energy to the soul.
Devika loved splashing in the water, imbibing the holiness of the divine water. ‘Ganga Maa’, the villagers used to address and worship the river. She saw her sister-in-law squeezing away water droplets from the edge of her saree pallu, a sign that her bathing was nearly done.
Devika was still playful as her hands danced in the air circling towards the flowing water and splashing it towards Rama.
“Devika, stop it”, Her sister-in-law, Rama giggled with fake anger. “It’s too late let’s hurry home now. We have to prepare breakfast”, she added wiping her face and hands with her wet pallu.
“Didi, just a few minutes more, it won’t be that late”, Devika pleaded. It was a perfect day in March. The crimson sun rays superimposed the shimmering waters and radiated its warmth through the cold morning waves. Devika was still not done with soaking up all the balminess of the sun, the divinity of the holy water, and the spell of joy.
Ever since the new rule of their house, she had occasional rare moments of such delights with nature.
“Daughters-in-law of our house will not go to the riverbanks to bathe”, the head of the family, and their father-in-law had stated last month. Following which, a wash area was constructed of bricks in the backyard of the house. The ladies in the house would fill up their buckets at the handpump and carry them to the bathing room. While everyone thought it was a time-saving and better option, especially for ladies, Devika found it lesser of an opportunity of embracing the bliss of nature. She was an ardent devotee of Ganga Maa, and her visits to the river were not merely bathing rituals, but also her profound moments with the divine power. And hence, a rare occasion like today was simply not fulfilling enough for her spirits.
“What is with you and your urge to come to the river all the time, Devika”, Rama bickered with raised eyebrows.
“You will not understand, didi. It is between me and Ganga Maa”, Devika sniggered teasingly.
“Aha, as if…you are the only chosen one?”, Rama smirked adoringly.
Devika looked at Rama’s glowing face, and as a bright smile spread on her lips, her heart warmed with the thought of feeling blessed to have this soul sister by her side all the time.
Rama had been a friend, sister, guide, and companion to Devika right from day one when Devika got married and arrived at the house. The four-year age gap between the two sisters-in-law hardly mattered in their budding and bonding friendship.
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The in-laws’ house was replete with prosperity and people. Rama was the wife of the eldest of the three sons of the house. It was only over a year and half that Devika had stepped into the household as a bride to the second son. The two brothers shared the responsibility of caring for their massive land-owning while their father carefully observed and counseled the two as head of the family. Their mother was a simple, docile, and generous woman who unlike other mothers-in-law of the village, adored her daughters-in-law. She treated them like daughters she never had.
The youngest of the three siblings had chosen a different path for himself and preferred to go to the city and pursue his college. Although he had assured his parents, he would come back to join his brothers, both Rama and Devika were the secret-bearers that he had no intention whatsoever of coming back to the village.
The aura of the house was that of love, laughter, mutual respect, harmony, and contentment. And indeed, this was considered peculiar, when disputes, disagreements, fights, and grievances were so abundantly evident in almost every household of the village. These were reason enough for the villagers to be wary and jealous of the family members as they continually wondered how three brothers in a rich household could remain so cordial!
It was precisely for this suspicious approach of the villagers so often, that Devika’s father-in-law decided that the ladies of the house would not go to the common areas for daily routines.
However, there were sporadic incidents when Devika would convince her mother-in-law for such outings. Rama undoubtedly was the partner-in-crime as the two remained inseparables, with or without an adventure like this.
“Where are you lost?”, Devika snapped back to the hurried tone of Rama.
“Hmm…no…nowhere, just feeling lucky”, Devika murmured.
“Ok, ok, now let’s hurry up, Maa will never let us step out of the house if we loiter around carelessly so much”, Rama added to her cautious tenor.
The two then dragged their steps towards the shore and started dabbing themselves with the change of clothes they had earlier kept there.
“Ohh, see now we are even more delayed, all because of you”, Rama complained, her hands quickly moving from her face towards the nape of her neck, dabbing all along with the dry cloth. Some village women were approaching the riverbank and Rama was in no mood to join them in the usual ramblings. They were supposed to leave the riverside before anyone else joined in. That was the whole point of agreeing to come here in these earliest hours.
“Aaaaaaa….”
Devika almost fell draping her dry saree when she heard this sudden scream from Rama.
“What happened, Didi?”, Devika enquired, clutching her dry saree and quickly wrapping it around.
“Oh no, my chandrahaar!”, Rama was breathless with shock and grief. Her fingers tracing the contours of her neckline which was once adorned by her prized-possession gold necklace. “It’s missing”, she added with the continued tremor.
“How can that be possible, Didi? You don’t wear it when you come to the river?”, Devika said reassuringly.
“No Devika, unfortunately, I forgot to take it off today. All because you insisted, we come here at such wee hour”, Rama complained in an exasperated voice.
“Didi, do you really remember you had it on, when you came here?”, Devika tried to be helpful, and it only enraged Rama further.
“Oh yes, yes, I am very sure”, Rama said, desperation clear in her disappointed voice. She remembered gloating in the proud feeling of being the owner of this beauty only a few minutes ago.
Rama’s husband had gifted her this pretty and expensive necklace at the birth of their son a year ago. “Now you are the proud owner of a chandrahaar, Rama”, he had announced in a supercilious tone. Rama reverberated the pride in her ecstatic expression and delighted demeanor ever since. Chandrahaar was a symbolism of lordly ownership in the family descended from the princely states and kingdoms. The kingdom was no more, but the affluence of the family spoke through multiple land ownerships and a sizable house.
But the feeling of reliving that princely grandeur through occasions and possessions like these, were although rare, but quite cherished.
Rama thoroughly rejoiced and reveled in being the owner of this prized possession. The chandrahaar hardly found any other place than adorning her neck, except when she went bathing or at bedtime. Today, however, in haste and distraction, she had completely forgotten to keep it away safely before going for a bath in the river.
On any other occasion, the necklace remained intact in place even when she stepped out of the house. The villagers may have other reasons to feel jealous of the family, but the place was free from the fear of any theft or robbery. People could show off their possessions without any hesitation.
“It’s ok, I will be careful. And it is tightly knit around to fall off easily”, Rama had contemplated when, while bathing she realized she had forgotten to keep her necklace at home. Now she was doomed. The title, ownership, and the trust of her husband, all seemed bleak.
“Devika, what will I do now? I am ruined”, Rama was now tearful. The duo tried to grabble, grope, and fossick around to find the necklace, but in vain. The necklace was nowhere to be seen.
“Your Ganga Maa has taken her offering it seems, and such a harsh one”, Rama said with finality in her voice as she ushered Devika to hurry home. “We are not going to get it back, no point in wasting time now. Let’s go home or we will be late there too”, She continued.
“I should have never worn it, I should not have come here in the first place, I will not trust your Ganga Maa now”, Rama kept on maundering all the way home. Tears of loss and hope now completely dried away and replaced with anguish in heart and voice.
“What happened to Rama?”, their mother-in-law enquired when she observed her darling daughter-in-law sad, gloomy, and depressed.
“Maa, I am a disdain to the family. I lost the chandrahaar today”, Rama blurted, embracing her mother-in-law and crying frantically.
“What happened?”, Mother-in-law tried to console Rama as she enquiringly looked at Devika.
“Oh Maa, you dear daughter’s Ganga Maa has taken her offering from me”, Rama continued through her shudders.
“What is Rama saying, Devika?”, Mother-in-law could hardly put two-and-two together amidst this incoherent information.
“Didi lost her necklace in the river while taking a bath today. She thinks my Ganga Maa has been unfair to her by taking away her chandrahaar as an offering”, Devika filled in her mother-in-law who had only begun to add on to the ramblings of her elder daughter-in-law, when Devika continued, “And I believe my Ganga Maa is never unfair. She never takes…she only gives…she only returns” …
Both Rama and their mother-in-law gasped at the shining object that Devika flashed in her hand swiftly.
“How did you find it? Did you have it the whole while?”, Rama jumped and snatched the necklace from Devika’s palm and clutched it to her heart, tears still rolling down her eyes.
“What is going on?”, Mother-in-law was completely confused now.
“See your dearest daughter is playing games with me now, she made a fool of me. Ask her how she found it when I thought I had lost my chandrahaar”, Rama innocently complained to her mother-in-law.
“Devika, don’t puzzle us, tell us what happened?”, Their mother-in-law was now impatient.
“Maa, today while we were bathing in the river, I was naturally entranced by the waters of the Ganga Maa. When I dipped and playfully scratched the sandy surface of the riverbed near the bank, my hands gripped this object, and which I later realized was Didi’s chandrahaar. Didi seemed unaware of her loss at that time and I thought I would surprise her later”, Rama and the old lady intently listened to every word Devika was uttering.
“But Didi realized it soon enough, and although I was planning to see how she handles her thought of losing her prized possession for a little while longer, I was feeling really bad at seeing her suffer. Sorry Rama Didi”, Devika continued in an earnest voice and sincerity in her eyes.
“But then Didi started blaming Ganga Maa which is not good. So, I could not carry on with my charade and guilt.”
“You mean woman!”, Rama pounced at Devika humorously and embraced her tightly. “You love teasing me and making me suffer”, she said.
“You can punish me, I am guilty. But I was only intending to tease you a little, believe me, Didi”, Devika said in a heartful voice.
“Oh, you two sisters, no wonder the villagers keep away from you. None has seen such adoringly cute relationship between two daughters-in-law of a house.”, The mother-in-law joined in the fun.
“But I must say, Rama, if Ganga Maa has not taken an offering of your chandrahaar, she has indeed given it as a gift to Devika”, she chuckled.
“Oh, in that case, Devika. You must keep this necklace. You are the proud owner of this chandrahaar from now on”, Rama stretched out Devika’s hand, placing the necklace there warmly.
“No didi, this is yours forever. As I said, Ganga Maa never takes, she returns, she gives. She has returned your chandrahaar to you. Someday I will have my own chandrahaar, by her grace and blessings. This one is yours to pass on to your daughter-in-law”, Devika said with a bright and confident smile, placing the chandrahaar where it belonged… around the proudly slender neck of Rama.
The duo hugged each other tearfully and went on about their day’s work, as the mother-in-law retreated with the feeling of immense contentment, pride, bliss, and happiness! She cherished her chandrahaar…the unbound love of her two daughters that emanated in the pleasant atmosphere of the house.
***
The necklace seemed to be partially glowing in the dusky light…sculpting around her beautiful neck and intertwined with the love and tenderness that bound the two hearts together. Rama slid her fingers gently around the chandrahaar that adorned her sweetheart’s neckline, “You look stunning in this, my love”.
Devika felt Rama’s hand with her own trembling fingers, carefully holding and bringing it to her lips, “I love you”. She planted a soft kiss on Rama’s palm.
“This chandrahaar is as much as mine, as it is yours. You know, Devika, your love and care has replenished my parched heart”, Rama began kissing the love of her life frantically now.
“I know, and so have you! Your desire for me has filled me with an unknown passion that I am lucky to have discovered. My life would have been incomplete without your love.”
The two entwined in ecstasy to feel the tangible nature of each other’s souls. Away from the pretense of social boundaries, stealing these moments of unification, and blissfully forgetting the world around them.
About the Storyteller
An HR-turned-Author, Jyoti Jha has been associated with corporates like Infosys and Whirlpool in the past. Having lived in the USA and UK for about a decade, she embarked upon the journey of exploring the field of literature. A Literary Critic, Columnist, and an esteemed winner of ‘The Times of India Write India Season 3’, she has authored the books, ‘The Realms of Human Emotions’, ‘Around The World Through My Lens’, and ‘Aanandi’. A proud panelist and Guest Speaker in Talk Shows at prestigious institutions like IIM Lucknow, IIT Delhi, IIT Jammu, and Christ College, she has been an honourable Jury Member at the Literary Club, IIT BHU for Storytelling and Poetry. She has attended various Talk Shows with RJ.
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