LEGENDS THAT LIVE

The sea was just the same ,it never changed.She was happy about it.She never got bored watching the sea,watching its innumerable waves splash onto the rocky shore and withdraw gracefully.The sea at this particular place held more fascination to her for at this place the triseas met,sharing waters and silt from different lands.
It was 25 years since she saw this sea last.but it never did leave her mind.Something in its magnetic depths lured her towards it.That was what brought her,a well paid journalist in a leading newspaper ,to put all her works to the sideboard and catch the train from Mumbai to this peaceful seaside.

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Ram Babu saw her sitting at the steps,staring at the sea.He has seen many people like this,people running away from home in search of peace,a few minutes of retrospection and he did his best to avoid them.Being the eldest of the guides and having a moderate grasp of English ,he was the most sought after among guides.There werent many legends that he did not know of.
But there was something about this girl,(not really a girl,but for this very old man,anyone below forty is a girl),that made him go to her.He knew she needed his help.He tapped on her shoulders.She turned,taking her eyes off the sea for a secondand gave him a ready smile.He asked:"madam,would you like a guide?there are many stories here that only I know of!".He saw her smile wean off.She satlooking at him,as if sizing him up,for some time and atlast nodded her head.
"what is your name,madam?and where are you from?"
"I am Madhuri.I work in a newspaper in Mumbai.Have you ever been to tat part of the world?"
"no,I have never left this seaside for the whole of my life.....and I am proud of it!"
She grew silent.He took her to several places ,churches,buildings of beauty which she viewed with a disinterested air..he took her shopping but she bought nothing except a packet of seashells from a small girl...her gaze always seemed to return to the sea....as if in search of something she lost......He then took her to the seaside and showed her the rock....a few feet wide ,lying a little distance from the sea.
"That madam is the star attraction of this place.The latest legend of which I have atmost authority to speak.
"whats so special about it?"
here,atlast ,he could discern some curiosity in her tone,a twinkle in her eyes.He knew her heart would stir up to it.
"A long time ago,around twenty five years,there was a little girl of 12 years-a very cheerful little girl with a musical voice who sold seashells,flowers and other knick knacks to tourists.Her name was Kadambari.She was collecting shells at the sea shore.then the sea lay beyond this rock.she was standing at its edge ,bending down and collecting beautiful shells.maybe she saw a beautiful shell that would attract the tourist eye......anyway she fell off and the tide carried away her light body remorselessly.she was never seen since.......".....she noticed that his eyes glistened with tears.
"I knew her well....she used to come running to me calling 'Babuji' to show me her collection.her body was not recovered but in this place where the triseas meet ,the whirling waters in the depths can take you anywhere.Since then it is said that she haunts this place.......many a guide coming back home at night has seen her standing on this particular rock......"
she gasped."have you seen her?"
"yes,just once.she waved to me and vanished..it is called Kadambari rock now...the most sought after location in this place"
he helped her take some photographs of the rock and as the sun began to set she left him,giving him a generous pay,almost twice his fee.
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She watched the moon from the balcony of her hotel bedroom.should she have told him?.....that she was the very same Kadambari,who was saved from the turbulent waters ,taken to bombay and deposited in an orphanage.....he was right......everyone liked her at first glance...thats how the elderly couple who came to adopt took her,gave her educationtook her to places and atlast when they passed away she had settled in bombay and was now having a comfortable living........it was a blessed moment when she fell off....else she would have remained as the illiterate girl for ever.......
she had recognized babuji at first glance but he didnt know her...maybe she had changed.it was a good thing she didnt tell him about herself....she didnt want to be known as the illiterate flower girl...besides she didnt want the old man to lose his star attraction-a story which earned him a living!!!
funny-after years of education and perserverence,here she was ,a well settled woman but her presence in the world has gone down in history -not as the cultured cosmopolitan but as the flowergirl whom she had hated and buried in her heart for ever......

the sea hasnt changed.....so did babuji.....his assumed air of self importance-she had thought that there wasnt anything that he didnt know of.....but she had been a fool then!!!

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that day Ram babu came home early.his wife looked up from where she was cooking their frugal supper.
"you remember Kadambari ?the little flowergirl....she had come today.....I was right all along ...she didnt drown ......she somehow managed to escape........she has grown up to be a pretty woman but has the affected airs of the city folks about her.... I didnt give away my feelingsbecause I wasnt sure if she'd like to be known by her past.I was right...she has a new name and has made a mark for herself....
but i told her a cooked up story about a rock-the one which she fell from-being named after her and it being the star attraction of this place.....quite a legend I made up..."....he sat there laughing to himself.
"why did you do that?"
"So that she would be as much proud of her humble past as she is of her new found glory!!!"

The End