Prithvi...(Vol. 6)

Chapter 150

Prithvi stared in a quiet disbelief at the old man. He didn't realise for a few seconds that the car had stopped moving, and it was standing still by the roadside. He had parked it unthinkingly in the past few moments.

It was strange to see the old man again after all these years. And it was odd that this time too Nandini was with him. 

But it wasn't odd that he was perturbed by this, Prithvi reasoned distractedly. The last time he'd encountered the man, an incident with aspects that his logical mind still struggled angrily to understand, it had heralded the start of a time that easily eclipsed the horrors of his childhood..

His clouded gaze shifted to his left instinctively. 

He could see the dampness glistening on Nandini's cheeks as she gazed in shock at the man. The turbulence he was feeling was instantly shoved aside by a sharp concern..

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Shaken, Nandini removed her seat belt and tried to open the door unsuccessfully, with no thought but to reach the sage. Then she heard the sound of the door being unlocked. 

She opened it swiftly and then got down from the vehicle and ran towards the elderly man. He had crossed to the other side by now, and was walking much faster, as if he wished to evade her, and she felt afraid that he would go out of sight any second.

As she watched him enter the woods, Nandini quickened her pace in desperation. But she halted abruptly as soon as she entered the shade of big, sprawling branches.

The old man was standing between two tall, large trees several yards away.

There was a sweet smile on his wrinkled face, as though he'd been waiting for her to show up.

Her tears had been flowing unceasingly, but now they stopped as if on command. But then a sudden fear arose out of the blue, making her freeze uncertainly.

Unaware of her shivering breaths, Nandini looked at the saint as memories of the last two times she had seen the saint played in front of her eyes.

All the words he had spoken to her resounded in her ears, just as they had done persistently in the past five years. The gentle advices and warnings that she had wilfully disregarded, and continued to disrespect. And the sadness on his face when she'd last seen him...

What would she tell him...how would she explain why she'd not only disregarded everything he had said but had also done the very opposite of what he had requested of her? In spite of knowing it was the cruellest thing to do...

The mystic raised a hand and summoned her with the same gesture that she would have used to beckon a little child closer.

All of a sudden, Nandini sensed with an unflinching certainty that he could see the harsh thoughts and anguish that were plaguing her...and the guilt that had been killing her slowly since years. And that he also knew something she could not still acknowledge even to herself - that  sometimes, in the darkest hours of the night, she would be overcome by a cold, frightening certainty that she had made a terrible, unforgivable mistake...

The saint knew everything...all of the ugliness...and yet, all she could feel from him now was pure compassion and affection.

Sorrow evaporated from her heart and spirit for the moment, and she began to walk towards him hurriedly.

She halted before him with folded hands and then touched his feet.

The old man kept a loving hand on her head in blessing and murmured, "No grief, no guilt. Be happy."

Startled by the blessing, Nandini straightened and looked at him timidly.

He gently repeated, "No grief, no guilt. Be happy." Then he looked at something over her head and smiled.