◻Rains and Rainbows◻

Every now is me. Every then was me. Every change is me. Every end ends in me.
~BEGINNINGS.
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"I'm scared to the core! But why the heck am I trusting you?"

His roughness meddled with his tiresome sigh. He stretched his hands. He gawked at how shivering they were as the calming winds pecked his noon-burnt skin.

"You still have a choice, Tushant."

He spelled his words as his eyes scooted the clear starry shimmers more than the sparkling half-crescent moon.

"What are you hunting there?"

He mumbled as his eyes studied his moves. An unknown tension teased him as he saw the man curl his lips for the teeth to munch.

"Argh... Yeah, there it is. Everything happens for a reason."

He pinched his cheeks as a glorious joy lit his once worrying face.

"What?"

"I was trying to locate it. It's there!" He rolled his elbows to throw them at the sky.

"Locating what?"

Then he zoomed them to a group of six stars joining at equal distances forming the six-point hexagon. "That's it. Place where the solution lies."

"Starry hexagon. Is it a gate or something?" He shrugged his clumsy thoughts.

"Haahaa. In a way, yes. To command the supreme, it is a-"

"Agh! Yea, yea. So we are beginning it?"

"Positively, yes. We are ending it all. May the blessings of Mahadev guide us along."

Stating that, he turned to head down. But, the worrying browns wandered to the shaking heads of white night lilies blooming on the ponds inside the green nets.

One good sign! Lord, please help us.

Mumbling a quick prayer, he followed him with his slightly wavering steps.

One. Two. Three. Four. One, two. Three, four.

To keep his calm, he kept repeating it and syncing his breath to the tune. As he climbed down the last step, he could see a large hexagram being drawn filled with red, orange, and yellow at the center with a huge 'Aum' marked on it. The colors of greens, blues, and purples were spread to the intricately patterned petals.

"Nice Kolam, Indra amma!"

His comment made her smile, but her worries crinkled evidently on her forehead and cheeks. She folded her palms and mumbled a quick prayer as she left the hall.

"Tushant, you can bring her to the central point."

Nodding his head Tushant went to the sofa at the side where she was sleeping as gracefully as a five-year-old child. Her innocent thumb being pushed between her lips made him caress her hair. Her cheeks turned red with his little pinches and pecks.

"Everything would be fine!"

His eyes glimpsed at her bandaged wrists and then darted at the man lighting the lamps to place them at every end of the huge pattern.

"Trust us- Imay!"

As he carried her, she held his little finger with her palms. Tears of aches and amusement rolled down his cheeks. Fulfilling his heart with every ounce of that moment, he walked to the center of the pattern, where there was a crossed banana leaf. He looked at him for his clouding doubts.

"Let her head face the north."

She placed her carefully and slowly let her hand slip off. With one deep glance, enough to live an eternity, he walked away.

"Aum!"

His orotund voice echoed in a vibrant verve across the walls. He recited the syllable while he tied the rope hanging from the ceilings in a double knot. He then placed her right palm around it.

"Aum Akashay Cha Vidmahe."

His hands rose as his palms floated in the air. He danced around her with his eyes rolled between his closed lids.

"Nabho Devay Dhimahi."

He stood near her feet and lifted his leg to place them on his thighs gradually.

"Tanno Gaganam Prachodayat."

Tushant witnessed his battling eyes move erratically while his body expelled some sweat that stuck to the white towel wrapped around his torso.

"Aum Shanti Shanti Shantihi. Aum!"

The threads running across his chest faintly glowed with embers of purple flame. As the waves rose, the amethyst fires surrounded the violet-shaded petals. Slowly the waves glinted with ceruleans of skies and teals of deep seas. The blue petals began emitting tender blue blazes.

How is he doing such crazy things!

The tints slowly shifted to spring green, lighting the green-shaded petals eventually. As the hues of dawn blazed, the central part of the hexagram glowered.

Chakra of life? Hari Hara!

As he gaped in utter shock, some shimmering gold veins entered her body through her limbs. Her body flounced as the beams traversed her.

"Kimaya!"

"Don't distract her!" His guttural scream scared his every being. But he could decipher how foolish he was.

"Now! Connect those electric rods and monitor her. Once it begins to warn you, you know how to wake us, right?"

Tushant's concerned eyes swam across the tables to the ferns and incense lying ready at the sides.

I am not scared. Definitely not!

Nodding to his words, Tushant took the rods to connect the clips on her fingers on her limbs. He then clipped two rods on her forehead and switched the monitor on. Checking the circuit for one final time, he raised his thumb high.

"Oh, the ocean of mercy!
May you sanctify our wrongs,
Oh, the winds of wisdom!
May you guide us on the right path,
Oh, the land of patience!
May your kindness stay engraved in us,
Oh, the flames of truth!
May the soul be cradled in your purity,
Oh, the ether of everything!
May you liberate our sorrows and woes."

As he recited the verses, her hand began climbing the thistle, twisted jute rope. Her body rose akin to the feather cradled by the winds. On reaching the mid of the distance in the string, her hands fell limp.

"The time has come!"

He announced as his feet were slowly departing the ground.

"Oh, the Lord of the Lords, may your blessings save every life. Hara Hara Mahadeva!"

~•🔲•🔳•🔲•~

The foggy whips of wind slammed his lids, making him cover his eyes. Through the slit between his fingers, he saw a giant eight-spoked spinning wheel being guarded by sizzling beams of light.

May the truth win. Oh, Lord, guide me.

His clattering yet careful steps on the thick, bouncing grey-black clouds shot an excruciating pain on his heel. As he kept moving, at a point, he could feel his heel dip into the clouds that were hungry for him.

The Prakrithi!

He stepped carefully and leaped across the dubious spaces. But the distance in his front narrowed, which made him walk with one foot held in his hand.

"Aum Namah Shivayah!"

He recited it in every leaping and lapping of the analyzers. The white cloth pleated around his legs fluttered with rising winds. With every stride forward, the paths narrowed further.

'Tests of Kaal are toughest than you seek, Aatman.'

Realizing it, he began to walk on his thumb with his heels raised. His quivering moves became slow, but none of his steps wobbled. With his careful attempts, he reached the slab near the giant spinning wheel.

"Oh, Amara! What has brought you here?"

A hoarse audacious voice demanded him while the scattered roaming sharp, bleak of lights surrounded him. Dribbles of sweat laced his white cloth wrapped torso as the warming heat turned him red.

"I have come for a collective good."

The minuscule lights glowed in high intensity, almost blinding him for a moment. But his lids stood steady, and his eyes were studying the spin of the wheel.

"So determined! Ahaa. Then may you face the niyama of Kaal. Let it decide."

The glaring flashes turned the surroundings white that couldn't be discerned to any known dimension.

"Aum Namah Shivayah!"

He could hear the grunting grumbles of the breaking skies that made him tilt his head up.

"The thunders?"

To his surprise, he could see nothing. He scratched his head while his ears perceived yet another sound.

"The rustlings of waves?"

He spun around. Yet again, he couldn't see anything that he assumed.

Kaal is unpredictable. Once you begin predicting it, it makes you your slave, Aatman.

His sudden recollection let a simple smile toddle on his thick lips. A crashing sound from above made him look up, but this time he didn't let any wave of thought claim his attention. He could see the veining thunders in the darkening sky appear above him.

"Aum Namah Shivayah!"

The rustling clamors of whirling waves crammed in his ears. Frothing giant waves at massive heights were rolled by the hustles of the stormy winds towards him while oozing some waters beneath them.

"Aum Namah Shivayah!"

The staggering whirls of black tornadoes swiveling from either side cracked the waves of water. Ghastly blows of blazing fire screamed in its wheezy whines from his behind.

"Aum Namah Shivayah!"

With every passing moment, he could see the elements rush toward him. He raised his arms to join his palms above his head. His lips carried a tranquil smile. The howls and whines of the elements around couldn't seize his attention. Not anymore.

In a while, he could feel the waters splash on his skin while the winds and fires spilled their specks of dust and warmth on him. He could sense a heavy knot crumpling his belly. Slowly he could feel the massive force coil around his spine to reach the space on his brows. The vague pressure throbbed on his skin, making his whole body tremble. But his lips kept reciting his hope.

"Aum Namah Shivayah!"

FOOTNOTE:

Amara: Sanskrit word for Immortal being.

Kolam: Tamil word for decorating patterns drawn with a religious significance. Here it signifies the hexagram.

Prakrithi: It is the unmanifested cosmic energy that tests the mind, body, and soul.

Kaal: Sanskrit word for time.

Niyam: Sanskrit word for time.

The book has come to an end! I will upload an epilogue soon after the ONC. I thank all of you for all of your support.

OM TAT SAT!

Ever in your memory,
🪢..Yaris..🪢