Buried Treasures

“Treasure your relationships, not your possessions”

Prologue:

Many centuries ago…..

It was a busy time at the town of Sampath- the yearly harvest festival was a day away and there wasn’t much time left to do the preparations. The citizens of this wealthy town worked and celebrated together; wayside stalls selling artistic ware were thronged by females, picking up accessories to dress up for the festival day. Beads of different shapes and sizes, colourful bangles, chunky earrings- they were all there, waiting to be picked up. The children, too, had a wide range of toys to choose from- traditional wooden toys lined the racks while the coveted iron toys- the latest item in the market- were kept on display to entice the longing kids.

 Iron was indeed the craze of the day, for it wasn’t discovered until recently how to mould it and strengthen it. However, it was still out of reach for the common folk and only the palace and ministerial households could boast of ironware while the commoners had to make do with the low cost gold counterpart that got bent and dented easily.

Jwala was walking with her kid, cursorily glancing through the merchandise on display – her thoughts were away with her husband who had gone to a distant port to sell his products. He ought to have returned yesterday. It was not yet time to panic, as the sea was very unpredictable and there have been instances where merchants were delayed months. Still, she couldn’t get rid of the feeling that something was not right. She put aside the sensation, as the astronomer hadn’t spotted any bad omens. She stood aside with her daughter, standing a bit apart from the crowd and watching their preparations for the festival.

The astronomer, however, was oblivious to everything except for his current passion – that of preparing the longest time chart that would divide the time into cycles and map the celestial positions in each cycle; that would help to predict the events of any day in the distant future. While he was musing about the distant future, predicting dangers centuries away, he overlooked the imminent danger that threatened his town.

The people were thus involved in their independent pursuits when all of a sudden, the earth shook. Tremor after tremor rocked the town and soon the raised platform on which the town was built cracked. People scattered to all sides helplessly – they would have bravely fought an army of ten thousand, but they didn’t know what to do when the ground they stood on wasn’t steady. The display racks toppled onto each other, crushing the unfortunate ones who took refuge within them. Jwala ran, clutching and dragging her daughter along but she wasn’t fast enough to escape from the pile of gold plates that came down on them. The astronomer, too, died in the process of noting down a natural catastrophe that was to occur on a date in the very distant future– his dream chart left unfinished. There were wails of despair all around, while the cruel nature swallowed up the town into its deep interiors.

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Chapter 1

It was a great day at the dig. The previous days were spent in fruitless toil, rewarding nothing but some broken bits of pottery, rusted iron ware and worn beads. Today, however, was different; they seem to have struck gold- literally. They had been digging in this site for some days- it appeared to be some mass burial ground, skeletons in awkward poses piled on top of each other, surrounded by a jumbled assortment of stuff- toys, pots, jewellery and what not. They had gone further ahead and found a different grave. By all appearances, it was a double grave, and a royal one at that, judging by the amount of valuable stuff that had been cramped in the limited recess to accompany the dead to the other world. The two skeletons lay beneath a pile of gold and the workers delicately brushed off the dust and unearthed them. The custodians of the grave were raised respectfully- they would soon be put on display, after a round of analysis.

The chief archeologist ran around happily –this was the first time he had spotted actual gold, that too in a royal grave. Images of the Egyptian tombs passed through his mind and he hoped that his royal skeletons too would some day gain similar popularity and notoriety. A stir among the workers roused him from his thoughts and he rushed to behold what the new discovery was.

A huge stone tablet lay buried, a portion of it visible where it had recently been dusted and cleaned. There were curious markings etched on to the tablet. The seal expert was called and he immediately recognised it as an ancient astronomical chart.

“Similar charts have been found in other digs too, but none are this big. This is something that would make our excavation famous!”

The archeologist, whose only aim in life was fame, jumped at the word.

“How do we make out what the markings say? Will there be any instructions to a treasure?”

“I don’t think so. However, I know an astronomer who can decipher this for us”

By the time the astronomer arrived, the entire chart was visible and he set to work enthusiastically. He pored over the chart, passing over some sections quickly and scrutinizing some portions, until he reached the end of the chart. He made some calculations, repeated them over and over again and then raised an unhappy face.

“This is a unique chart that sets down every day in the life of earth. Even though this chart is centuries old, it has mentions of incidents that had happened in recent times. A great astronomer should have prepared this for he has accurately predicted the events so far into the future.”

“My concern is something else. This chart mentions about a natural catastrophe that will affect life in this part of the world and abruptly ends there. I think, that the date he had noted is”, here he lowered his voice until he was barely audible, “Doomsday”.

A set of perplexed faces welcomed his announcement.

“Doomsday refers to the end of the earth or of life as we know it”!

The faces took on a skeptical look until the astronomer explained that he wouldn’t have believed it himself if he hadn’t seen this chart. Since its creator could predict other events that happen now, there would be a grain of truth in this prediction too.  

“When is it?”

“Ten days from today!” He sighed- this was the one finding of his that he wished was proved wrong.

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Chapter 2

The ten days that followed had seen heated debate on the issue of doomsday- experts, scientists, astronomers, astrologers- everyone had their say and it could be said that the world- the believers and the skeptical ones- waited with bated breath as the day dawned.

Susan was alone with her daughter as her husband had gone to town for some urgent business. He should have returned yesterday, but the incessant rain and associated landslides had made it difficult to traverse the rocky terrain to reach their village. George had called and assured that he would be back today. She still had a lingering feeling of something wrong, but she shook it off and went out- there was work to do.

She was outside her home, when the earth shook. The hill on which their village stood, already weakened by the rapid run offs, couldn’t hold out much against the tremors. Susan ran inside, fetched her daughter and scurried down the hillside, but she was lifted off the cracking ground and came sliding down as part of the hill crashed down into a huge mound of mud, stone and doomed lives.

George came home to find that his family was wiped off the face of the earth- there was nothing he could do but gape at the slow and persistent work of the rescue personnel, hoping each time that a body is lifted out that it shouldn’t be his wife or daughter.

After a whole day of waiting, he started hoping that at least their bodies be found, so that he could give them a decent burial. The rain had continued and there were minor landslides in nearby areas too, dampening the efforts of the rescue personnel.

The rain grew heavier until it was difficult to see a few feet ahead. George saw that the rescue team was winding up their operations. He rushed to them and begged,

 “Sir, my family lies buried there and I have a feeling that they will be alive. Please don’t wind up the search, in fact there may be many lives waiting to be rescued”.

“I am sorry for your family. However, we have orders to suspend the search operations as the rain makes it difficult to progress and it wouldn’t be worthwhile digging up the mound as the chances of finding a live person are almost zero now.”

George, though tired by the lack of food and rest, couldn’t go to sleep as every time he closed his eyes, he saw images of his wife and daughter lying trapped in a mound of earth, banging their fists and wailing to be let out- a sight that would haunt him for days and years to come.

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The dig was a site of buzzing activity ever since the royal grave was found. The rain beating down on their faces and blocking their visibility did not deter the workmen form their work and the work progressed at a fast pace. The entire grave was uncovered and had turned out to be a treasure trove of gold. Doomsday had come and gone, and apart for a few quakes and landslides, nothing much had happened. The astronomical chart was ridiculed and the error put down to the lack of intelligence of a ‘barbaric and ancient ‘culture.

The archeologist was blissfully unaware of everything and everyone around him- lost lives, lost livelihoods, crushed dreams and bruised hopes. He could only think of what more the site could give…….

Epilogue

This is life…

Times change, people change, values change but the human emotions of love, hatred, jealousy, angst and sympathy remain the same. Like iron and gold, the materials we value change over time but the value of relationships lasts forever.

Just because things are different doesn’t mean they are wrong, it just means that our understanding of them is incomplete. We often tend to ridicule the past and worry over the future- ignore our ancestors and fret over what the future holds in store, but like the astrological chart, life in itself is a cycle and it goes on continuously.

What of Susan and her daughter?

They still lie buried, in their natural graves, waiting for a time, when their bones would also be buried treasures for someone. Only then, will they be worthwhile digging up.

The End

Love

“Love is not a habit, a commitment, or a debt. It isn't what romantic songs tell us it is - love simply is.” – Paulo Coelho  

Prologue

Love- the feeling that binds life to earth- the emotion which gives birth to smiles and tears alike. It is of love that I wish to speak- of love, and life. Love has many dimensions – sometimes gentle, at times violent- always possessive. To me, love is pain – not just the immense physical hurt that I feel now, but the soul wrenching pain that my mind has to bear.

I indulged in these pointless thoughts, trying to keep my mind off the pain, but my thoughts kept reverting to the question – ‘Is this love?’ – Love, which had made poets go into raptures, which had inspired melodies, had made people do the impossible? I suddenly felt angry, and stupid! I turned to the window, hoping to see a pleasant sight – anything that took my mind away from the bland interiors coupled with the unmistakable smell of a hospital room – the mingled smell of medicines, lotion, despair, tears and hope. Luckily, my bed afforded a view of a road, so that I didn’t have to be a constant witness to the sad sight of bodies rushed into and taken from the hospital – the relentless wails of the ambulance, the rush for a life! I could see a young couple, walking hand in hand, their heads close together – oblivious to everything around them- their world had suddenly become small enough to contain only two people. The silly fool – little does she know that this is all a farce! She is not to blame, for I too was the same! I looked out the window again, and this time I saw myself…..

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I was in college when I met him- we used to board the same bus, even though I got down before him. I started noticing him since the day he helped a poor old lady onto the bus- a touch of gallantry and kindness that appealed to me at that impressionable age. It wasn’t long before our nods of acknowledgement grew into smiles – and once a word was spoken, it was impossible to limit them. I started spending a longer time before the mirror every morning, and then had to hurry to reach the bus stop early – those few moments of conversation snatched from my otherwise monotonous life made my days. It was a very small step from friendship to love, and finally, when he proposed, I was so happy I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time!

I should say this for his sake – he was genuinely in love with me, in fact it was a bit overwhelming. I lived in this bubble of beauty and happiness for a week when things took a turn for the worse. Initially, I had appreciated his concern over my affairs, but when he started making decisions for me, setting taboos on whom to speak to and not, I was annoyed. Our times together were now entirely spent on blames and excuses. He grew more jealous and I more defiant until we could no longer tolerate each other. However, things would have sorted out with time- if I hadn’t realised that the bubble he made for me was crafted from a pack of lies. He had lied to me about his education, means and his family- for fear that I would shun him for his lesser means- I don’t know if my love was strong enough to overcome any such objections on his part, but these lies made me lose trust in him. Finally, during a particularly angry meeting, I asked him to clear out of my life for over – ‘Whatever it was between us, it is over!’ – these were my parting words.

For a few days, he hung around the bus stop, for an opportunity to talk to me – but I wasn’t giving him a chance. I, too, was not my normal self – when the bubble has burst it had drained me of whatever happiness I had. Days went on to weeks and months, until I graduated from college. They say there is nothing that time cannot heal – that was true in my case too. My days were back to normal and I had landed a job at another state- which would further reduce my chances of coming into contact with him.

I saw him next when I came home for a few days. He caught up with me on my way home, from the bus stop. With pleading eyes, he asked me to give him another chance, but I was adamant. To end things quickly, and to avoid further meetings, I lied that I had found someone else – someone who was much better than him, and was planning to marry him. The plea in his eyes vanished, and his deep eyes took on an expression I could not fathom – was it love, which had turned to hate?  I hurried home....

Somehow, call it a woman’s instinct, I was afraid.

On the day of my return, I found him waiting for me at the same place. I averted my eyes, indicating hat I wasn’t interested in a conversation, but he had another objective in mind. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him uncork a flask and throw something at me- the sudden heat and pain that I felt – as if my flesh was melting around me- blotted out everything else from my view. I woke up at the hospital bed- yet another victim of the acid attack- and they call this Love!

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Immersed in my bitter reflections, I hadn’t noticed the other people in my ward. Now that my self introspection was complete, and disillusionment was staring at my face, I thought about my fellow patients. There was a good looking girl in the next bed. She had been asleep when I saw her last. Now, she had woken up and her parents were on either side of her. Her mother was crying uncontrollably, and her father was sitting with a shocked expression on his face. The girl, too, was crying…. ‘Why?’, the mother was asking, ‘Why did you do this? We would have agreed in the end! Have we ever stood against any wish of yours?’

The girl replied,’ When you forbade me to see him, I saw no other way out! I cannot forget him’, and went into a crying fit.

I understood the situation- the stupid girl had tried to commit suicide for love- here was another victim of the mighty Love! Had she succeeded, Love would have added another name to its list of losers…I saw the father lean forward and say, ‘Anything you want! It is always your well being that was our prime concern’. In his eyes, I saw Love – Love that was capable of letting go! It made me realise that though we often mistake love to be a monopoly of the young, something that occupies a brief stretch of time and moves on – rarely do we realise that love is forever prevalent, shaping our lives, till our death.

My attention was caught by the sounds from a bed on the opposite side. The doctors and nurses had rushed in and were trying to do all they could for a frail old lady - she was finding it more and more difficult to breathe- an old man, her husband, was staring helplessly as the doctors and nurses worked against fate- but as always, fate had the final laugh! The woman stopped suffering and the noises died away instantly- to be filled with a meaningful silence. This is the worst about a hospital ward, you see death up close, more close than you ever have and ever wish to. I looked at the old man, who was leaning against the wall as if he had lost the power to stand upright. Very slowly, he limped forward, and took her hand in his. Planting a teary kiss on her forehead, he closed her eyes – it was Goodbye. For the first time, I realised that Love exists – not only in the shape of the fiery fiend that had ruined the life of many, but also as the bond that makes life worth living. The old man, with his time tested love, showed me love that doesn’t let go….that goes even beyond death……

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Epilogue

I had recuperated as much as possible – the days in the hospital had made me witness many separations, reunions – had shown me the difference between affection and affectation. I had seen the loving glow in the face of a mother, kissing her new born – pure love, mixed with strength and security. I had seen people fighting illnesses to get back to their loved ones, brooding parents, loving husbands, affectionate children, caring wives….. My own parents were the sole reason for my recovery, if you could call it a recovery!

I still felt the pain, I still felt angry at myself for bringing this on me – but I had changed. I was still wary of love, but I acknowledge its existence.  I realise it is no use being either a hopeless romantic or a disillusioned cynic- my tale of woe did not mean that all the love in the world is a farce- love is everywhere, waiting to be found, in the most likely and unlikely of places- acknowledged and ignored…

Love is not just the beginning or the end; it extends before the beginning and continues after the end.

Today, my pain had eased, but I know I am scarred for life – physically and emotionally. I also know this – I do not want to see him anymore, but I do not wish him ill luck, I do not seek revenge, neither do I wish anyone else to avenge….

 I forgive him - as, to me, that, too, is Love!

The End

rhyme: The Ideal Guy

yet another attempt at an unsadistic poem.

his eyes as dark as his dark brown hair
with a voice so sweet and a face so fair

with a guarded poise and his head held high
with a catch in his voice and a twinkle in his eye

who is well read, a man of the world
wise as his years and true to his word

ever so pleasant ,ready with a smile
with looks unique, has his own style

who can talk easy,with a tinge of fun
thats the guy i wish to have won.