Seven Vows Part 1- Published

The Durga

She is the poison. Suman Varma is a poison. I will prove it one day. The evil omen that has come to destroy the community. That is what she is. " Diwakar the Mahantji was raging in his house after Maryada ya Bandhan.

" Diwakar there is no point running away from truth. When your Karma is coming back to you, why are you blaming that poor girl " told his elder brother Dinakar.

" Karma Jethji" came Mahantji's wife. " My husband is the great Mahant of the community. What wrong did he do. He had asked that girl Sushma's hand in marriage for Sartaj's son. They didn't wanted to give. A father of a girl has to be subserviant. It is his karma that has affected his daughter"

" Sumedha I am ashamed as a woman you are telling this. It is a father's perogative to decide whether he wants to marry his daughter to a young man. If atleast Sushma liked the boy then we can have some truth in what you are speaking. When the girl doesn't want to marry Sartaj's son, father doesn't want to marry his daughter to Sartaj's son, what right sartaj and his gundas has to do what they did to her younger sister. Who asked your husband to support such things" Dinakar was angry now.

" Bhaiyya traditions has to be followed. Men do have a supremacy and woman are supposed to obey man. And when it is questioned we have to use power to make such people subserviant" told Diwakar.

" I am ashamed of you Diwakar. We do pooja of Mata Gowri as Shakthi as Durga and you are telling man is superior. Where is your knowledge. Cant you even see the omen that girl Suman has Maa Durga's blessings, cant you even understand maybe she is a tool of Maa Durga to teach people like you a lesson"

" What knowledge you are talking about Jethji" once again Mahantji's wife jumped in. " Maa Durga is Suhagan, this widow that too a widow on a wedding day how can you even say she can be Maa Durga's tool "

" Sumedha don't speak with half knowledge. Durga is the Kanyavatar of Maa Shakthi. Incarnated to kill Mahisasur who got the boon he cannot be killed by a man. She carries with her the power of other Gods along with Rudra and Narayana. Open your eyes. See the reality "

" Bhaiyya so you are telling Rudra and Narayana is with this poison, where is your knowledge Bhaiyya"

" Diwakar don't you know she is a widow with a Sowbhagya yoga. A very strong Sowbhagya Yoga Diwakar. Don't you see it as an anomaly. Doesn't your knowledge tells you that a woman with such a strong Sowbhagya yoga in her natal chart cannot be a widow. There is more about her that than what meets the eye. Or is that Suman's horoscope is also altered by you. Anyways Varma's and Rajput's are big families. If you do the match making you will get good money. Whose horoscope you altered Suman's ya Murali's"

" I didn't had to alter it Bhaiyya. It matched"

" Oh it matched. Else you would have altered.You should be remembering it well Diwakar as it is a prominent match you made, you wouldn't have forgotten the details "

" It had good match Bhaiyya. Suman's and Murali's horoscope matched very well with all the good things, wealth, prestige, power and progeny. And she has Sowbhagya Yoga"

" Ok so it matched and the groom died on the wedding day. Nothing seemed abnormal for you"

" That is what I am telling Bhaiyya. It is abnormal. She is a poison. A true Vishkanya. She has much bad karma. It might have been hidden in her horoscope which I may not have seen. Or her father would have altered her horoscope. Anyways I will prove it, once I solve this Mahima Das case"

Dinakar looked at his younger brother. Yes Suman was poison, poison for people like him. Initially Dinakar had also thought Suman's horoscope was tinkered as she was an enigma to his knowledge of astrology and predictive science. Rajasekhar had bought her horoscope to Dinakar after Murali's death. People only came to Dinakar when they went to deep trouble. Else they took the quick fix solutions his brother gave them. Diwakar matched horoscopes as per will. He made good horoscopes bad and bad good as per the money he got. People were happy as it served their purpose. But when things go terribly wrong, though hesitatnly people bought their horoscope to Dinakar. Same was with Rajasekhar. Dinakar had asked Murali's horoscope. But Rajasekhar never bought that. Typical men Dinakar had thought. They love to say problem in a girl's horoscope, but does not want to see problem in a boy's horoscope.

Dinakar took the horoscope of Suman he had kept safe. He read it once again. Then from another bag he took another document. He kept it beside Suman's horoscope and began to check whether his indications were correct. Within an hr he knew his indications were more or less correct. But many questions still remained unanswered. Major of them were, how did the error happen and second what is the missing piece about Suman Varma that doesn't meet the eye. What is her secret. A secret which by now he was sure does not belong just to her, but someone else also. He knew at right time Maa Durga will reveal her cards. As of now his knowledge told Suman Varma is the epi centre from which the change in the community will happen. He could see the Rudra and Narayan with her. He could also see her many hands and he was sure more will be revealed in the coming days. Diwakar if he doesn't see things in time is on his way to destruction. But there was no point . Dinakar knew his brother was beyond redemption. He was anyways not going to tell him what he was seeing because he knew if he does that all the knowledge he has acquired by doing the pooja of Mahadev and Gowri will be lost. He had given him hints, but if he doesn't want to take then when he faces the truth he will realize. Dinakar sighed.

Sreedhar was finding it difficult to sleep. Pain was there in his whole body. Along with that his thoughts wandered. His symbolic marriage with Suman. He had told it to be symbolic. Was it really just symbolic or in truth with 7 steps and 7 vows that day in the temple he had married Suman in front of the Goddess. Did he actually do a secret marriage. Did a marriage needed varmala, mangalsutra and sindoor or the 7 vows soleminize it. More he thought he realized the truth was that he had married her that day. And he felt that way also as if she was his for eternity.He remembered the way he hugged her that night on the hostel terrace. A close very intimate hug which he had never given before. Only rational explanation for what happened between them on Jagratha day. Else for almost 2 years not once he had crossed his limits with her, but on that day he crossed. And she accepted it. Today he wanted assurance that she didn't do anything out of compulsion, her inability to say no to him that is why he asked for her hand and requested to kiss it. Her eyes today told him clearly no compulsion was involved in those moments. She had accepted it with free will. He forgot his pain as he felt the happiness of the moment and how much trust she had placed on him.

Suman stood in the balcony looking at the moon. She knew sleep wont come to her. He was in pain and she can only sit here and wish his pain be less. More than his physical pain, she knew his emotional pain will be great.She looked at her wrist. It was for the first time she had seen the vulnerability in his eyes. A fear that she will rebuke him, a guilt, a question whether he had taken advantage of her. Only reason she gave her wrist in his hand for him to kiss was to give him the closure of that moment. To give him relief from any pang of guilt he was feeling about it. She saw his fear easing out when he kissed her wrist.True that symbolic marriage was not a joke for them, but it was neither serious. But the truth was that if destiny had granted her life 2 times from the clutches of death it was because she had tied her destiny with him. With 7 rounds and 7 vows with Goddess as their witness she became part of him. It took her some time to realize, it took her some time to understand but the fact was that to the society she maybe a widow, but in front of Goddess she was a Suhagan. She had told her Ma and Papa she loved someone, but she hadnt told them she had married him too, because at that time she hadnt considered those 7 rounds as marriage.She sighed not knowing when this truth will beome the universal truth and what all challenges are going to come in front of them before they can be united in front of society.