Impossible!!! It's impossible to convince women... especially mothers. 1 pahar of futile debate ....

After leaving Kailash ,I decided to follow Mata Shakti's advice and hence started my journey to Radha maa & Adhirath baba. In this journey , I came across various evils that had prevailed in absence of proper justice and Kingship. To eradicate those I had to become Shaiva once again... I was so contented with punishing those who were torturing innocents and bringing justice to people in this past 10 days , when out of nowhere Sandhya and Chaya Mata came and dragged me here ...to Suryalok.... Reason? They wanna celebrate my birthday in the most luxurious ways possible.... Currently we were having a debate on the over the top preparations arranged by them....which I lost....

After a pahar

Suryalok looks like a thing from fantasy.. Flowers , diyas , rangoli , scented candles , drapes , these ruby studded wall hangings , diamond jhoomars and ...and soooo much more.This birthday party is too fancy for my taste but then what can I say?....... & What's worst- I have been decked up as a bride for it... I mean not really as a bride but King/Prince may be...

I have to make an appearance now & be a part of this celebration , although the only thing I want to do is throw away these jewels and heavy attire , change to comfy clothes and sleep but that's not possible... I surely can get away with 'I'm tired' excuse but then I don't want to hurt or get Mata's worried . I have already hurt them by not visiting them before leaving for Kashi & don't want to repeat it. Also it won't be wrong to say that I am greedy to spend some more time with this extended family of mine ...

God knows when I will get this chance again.... So let's go & enjoy this party....

Some time later

Karn: No mata ... please . I said it's not needed.

Devi Sandhya: Did we ask if u need or not ? U are keeping it once it's done...u got it ....

Karn: Chaya maa...

Devi Chaya: Karn , u accepted gift from everyone then y not us...Ashwini's gave u the mighty black stallion , Yam nearly a library of books , Shani gave u the blue diamond encrusted sword ,Yami , Savitri..u accepted everyone's gift then y this discrimination with us elders....

Don't u love us , Putra? (Emotional eyes)

Karn: Sandhya maa is better than you atleast she doesn't do emotional blackmail..

Suryadev and Dev Vishwakarma burst out laughing... while Devi Sandhya chuckles.

Devi Chaya : Dev!! , Pitashree !! Jiji!!

(Pouting angrily)

Suryadev : Well well well ..We are gifting it to u and u will accept it ...no if's and no buts.. & moreover ur Nanashree is constructing it ...He will make it strong enough to contain my energies so that I don't burn it down when I visit u ...

Dev Vishwakarma: & u definitely get some additional benefits my dear grandson...

Karn: But I don't need it...I can construct it u know...my new astra...I have told u about it...

Dev Vishwakarma: Are u trying to say my years of expertise will fall behind ur astra? Please grandson ...u wound me...

Karn: Nanashree ..... I didn't..

Dev Vishwakarma : Hush !! Tell me how do you want it? & Let's see if I do a good work or not.... If I don't, u are free to decapitate it and recreate ur own version...

Karn: Nanashree ... I didn't say that I can do better than u... U obviously are a master of such things ...

& If you really want to make it then fine ...but give me some time to think ... I will think it thoroughly & then say... Happy?

All 4 : Very Happy!!!

I'm saved!! Who gifts a kingdom to someone as a birthday present ?? Who? Obviously none other than Suryadev and Dev Vishwakarma... Don't forget to add my Mata's in the list... Extravagance & magnanimity is definitely their thing.

Devi Sandhya: We are leaving for now ... U take rest ... I know you must be ..... Tomorrow u are leaving afterall (silence)

Both my Mata's have unshed tears in their eyes and that pains me. I move forward and hug both of them tightly ...They too reciprocate it. Suryadev pats my head and Nanashree pat my shoulder ...

Devi Sandhya: Okay !! It's too much emotions for one day ...go & sleep now ..shoo

Karn: But mata u are in my room ....

Devi Sandhya: Don't try to act smart... We are leaving now ...take rest ...

All of them exit my room and I am left alone with my thoughts...

Tomorrow I will leave for Kashi ...to meet Radha maa and Pitashree. After that torturous incident in the cursed kingdom of Hastinapur ... Maa & Pitashree had left the Kingdom and took shelter in Kashi. Kashi then ,was a great Kingdom but the tides of time have swept away its lustre.

20 years ....It has been 20 years I have last interacted with Radha maa and Baba ...

During the one year practical experience , Kashi was my last destination ...I had visited it and seen maa and Baba but was not able to interact with them . It was pure torture to see my parents praying for me yet not being able to go near them and get their blessings. To take them in my embrace and tell them that I'm their son. It was sheer torture. But maa and Baba weren't the only thing that I saw ...I too saw the ill condition and rising social evil in Kashi. I wanted to stay and correct the wrongs but it was my time for test and I had to return to Kailash , therefore, Kashi's reformation was delayed. But now...I'm back ...& I will look after it.

It's time for Kashi to rebuild itself. It's my revered God & Godess's home & I am not letting it fall prey to these societal evils....

Tomorrow's sun would bring happiness of meeting Radha maa and Pitashree as well as pain of not being able to visit this extended family on my whims . As if the pain of being away from Kailash wasn't enough that this too was added.

But as Mahadev says :

"Everyone is born with a destiny , to achieve something and fulfill certain goals ; for which sometimes we have to lose certain things , no matter how dear the thing is to us. Letting it go and moving on is how the life works."

I gaze into the solar system ... enjoying it's vastness and the twinkles of the numerous stars present. Their twinkle reminds me of the twinkle in her eyes... Well that's another issue... I'm again not able to move to my happy zone , no matter how much I try. But , unlike the other time when I got immensely agitated , I feel calm this time. May be this is penance's effect....

I change to my comfy cotton dhoti and angravastra and sooner than I expected, am on bed thinking about the various possible situations that would arise tomorrow.. I can't shake away this feeling of excitement and ...God's knows what this other feeling is... I feel... something exceptionally good will happen tomorrow...But what? Consumed in my thoughts, I didn't even realise when sleep took over me ...

Although in sleep , but my senses as a warrior are always on high alert.... I sense some people entering in my room... trying their best not to make a noise .... At once I realise who they are , and relax.. It's none other than Mata Sandhya and Mata Chaya and the last one must be Suryadev...

I can feel their gaze at me ...

Chaya maa pets my left side of my head , while Sandhya maa pets the right side.

We know u are awake , Putra ..Get up , now.

I open my eyes...& Look at Suryadev standing at the foot of my bed. Mata Chaya and Mata Sandhya smile at me...

Mata Sandhya : Com'on get up now... U have to get ready & leave for Kashi. Radha is waiting for you...

Hmm...

Come we will get u readied

I couldn't help but nod...

Soon I was ready in white dhoti and angravastra with broad golden borders ... I didn't want any jewels on me & Chaya maa after much negotiation agreed to it ... I could clearly make out the unshed tears in their eyes....

Karn: Mata u know nah ...I won't be able to leave if u both are in pain....

Devi Chaya: Putra.. these tears aren't formed bcoz of pain but bcoz someone's pain is going to end...

Karn: Whose?

Devi Chaya: Ur Radha Maa's. In these past 20 years , there wasn't a single minute she hasn't worried about u ,or asked for ur well being...She had kept every fast known , done every pooja in existence and served nearly every sage & brahman with purity of heart asking only and only ur well being.... She has limited herself to one meal per day and forsaken her share of happiness to you and asked for ur share of tears.... There wasn't a single minute she hasn't thought about u...It was not u who was doing penance ... It was her who has done the penance for 20 years...

Suryadev: Y only her even Adhirath hasn't left any stone unturned in conveying his best wishes and well being for his son. He has done enough daan punyas even within limited resources asking the best for u ... He has supported Radha in each & every decision... Sometimes worked extra hours to earn better only to donate it to needy people.

Devi Sandhya : A year ago , it wasn't only u who has undergone the pain of seeing ur dear ones near u yet not embrace them... They too recognised u.... Parents , especially a mother doesn't need eyes to identify her child... She can feel her child even from miles away... A mother doesn't carry her child in her womb but her soul... Every emotion that a child feels is equally or more felt by the mother... A father might not be able to feel it to the mother's extent but yet can feel his child's worries and concerns.... When u didn't embrace them ..they understood that you must be doing it for some reason and hence didn't make the situation worse for u

... They too are waiting for u ...to see touch and feel u...

I didn't even realise when a treacherous year dropped from my eye until Sandhya maa wiped it...

Suryadev : I am proud of them... I am proud to be their revered God... I'm proud that they are ur parents ... & I'm proud of you... Make them proud of u too son...

I nodded and Suryadev hugged me...

Enough crying now... I don't want Radha to complain to Mahadev that no one took good care of her son.... Come eat something and then Arun will drop you off to Kashi...

Although I was full but both my maa's insisted on me eating something...

They had prepared all my favourites and took turn in feeding me ...

The time of farewell arrived sooner than in I thought....

I had already said my goodbyes to Yami jiji , Savitri jiji , Ashwini bhaiyaas, Dhumora bhabishree , Dhamini bhabishree , Yam bhaiya and Shani bhaiya at the party ...They all were very emotional but waved it off saying that they would frequently visit and pester me like I have for all these years...

Dhumora bhabishree & Dhamini bhabishree are just like Mata Sandhya and Mata Chaya for me... They have cared deeply for me like their own children whenever I had visited them.....

In a short time , I was standing at the gates of Suryalok... with Uncle Arun waiting to drop me in his chariot... I look back once & see ...

Suryadev smiling proudly at me with longing eyes...& Mata's..

Crying...but still trying to smile & ....

That's my cue to leave , because if I don't I will rush back to them and not be able to leave ever.. With my slightly hazy vision ... I sit in the chariot and look at them one last time....soon their vision fades and the dark solar system with glowing sun is all I see....

KAASHI HERE I COME!!

The sky of Kashi has never looked this beautiful....The Sun still has time to rise but the moon has slowly started marking it's departure...

The sky is painted in an alluring shade of black, midnight and sapphire blue with millions of stars twinkling ....

The moonlight falls on the forest floor illuminating the path of the three girls walking in the forest....

The three girls are revealed to be Ananya ,Suruchi and Vallandhara...

Suruchi: I had told u ... there's nothing like this sparkling white lotus ...but no u both won't believe me!!! Jiji atleast u make her understand that these sparkling lotuses and all exist in fairy tales and not in real life ..

Vallandhara : Jiji tell her to shut up ... I'm might have just confused the place where it grows....

Suruchi: But I know the place ....

Vallandhara: Seriously??? Where?

(Child like excitement)

Suruchi: Only in ur mind...

Vallandhara: Jiji..!!

Ananya: Suru!! Dhara!!Enough!!!No more screaming... We are in middle of forest for God sake and can attract any wild beast if u both don't shut up...

Both Suruchi and Vallandhara pout and stop their verbal fight but not their expressional fights... They tease each other sniffs and hmphs... And obviously by making faces and showing tongue... Seeing their child like fights Ananya bursts out laughing...

Ananya: Are you both ever gonna grow up?

Suruchi: But jiji genuinely this was all a waste ... I mean we three took so much caution and risk for what? Nothing!! No sheesh Kamal....

Ananya: But didn't we already know that it doesn't exist? We did know right??

Vallandhara: Jiji it does ...

Ananya: Okay okay...now lemme talk to suru..

& Suru tell me how is all of this a waste? Look at it surroundings Suru , the moonlight filtering through the leaves and branches , the twinkling stars and amazing sky above , the glow of the numerous fireflies here , the silence of the forest combined with soothing sound of forest and breeze ... Do you think this is a waste?

(Suruchi looks at her surrounding in awe and appreciation)

The fun is never in reaching the goal but enjoying the journey......

Vallandhara: & U know what we do get an additional benefit of being able to watch the sunrise which ..if I am not wrong is in some minutes.... Where do we see it?

Suruchi: What do u mean where? Obviously the Ghats... Let's go...

The three of them silently walk to the ghats all the while enjoying the nature around them .....

These two are sometimes too much... But thanks to them that I have certain fun left in my life... Sheesh Kamal... A sparkling white lotus from myths which when offered to Lord Shiva with purity of heart and devotion fulfills all ur wishes... & We three musketeers were out searching for it ... Although we didn't get it but atleast got to enjoy these stupendous views...Views that are hard to imagine in Kaliyug...

I don't know but I feel restless these days as if something is happening somewhere... But I have no idea whether it is good or bad. There is this ...this feeling in me... feeling of longing... I don't know but I'm zoning out quite often these days and even sleeping is a trouble... Those nightmares have increased and everytime I hear the same pleas and feel the same despair....

But with so many things happening I even have a feeling of something superior is happening... With my every fear and insecurity , there is a unknown unique peace that I can't describe ... All this is so very confusing....