AISHA: The Cursed Name

Chapter-19 Unanswered conflicts

Unanswered conflicts

Siddharth quickly hastened towards the temple. Though he left after Aisha and her group, he was alone and in a hurry. On his way, he had seen an event, something he had never seen in the past in Maya Lok. Never had a person before Aisha tried to stand against wrong when the mistreatment was being done by the high society people. But Aisha did. His self-developed myth of considering Aisha a weak and miserable girl shattered his feelings as he stood there silently gawking at her. She was strong. Wise. And she knew how to influence everyone just by her magical words. She hadn't been longer than a week in this world and she had raised the whole public support by her side to dispose of a decade-old Sarpanch in just a few minutes.

After the scene where he did not make his presence even visible, he fled quickly. He had less time and more questions to dig for answers. He reached the temple with the speed of the wind, and without wasting any time, he called out for the priest. He was standing in front of an old man who had kept his hand behind his back. His orange robes wrapped around perfectly, and his green eyes looked calmly into his when he smiled, saying,
"So, what is it? You said you have to ask something important, my child."

The priest asked him calmly and offered him a seat on the mat. It was spread out evenly on the floor near the corner pillars where he generally used to sit and meet people. It was a spot illuminated with diyas and a wooden table raised abruptly at the centre of the mat. It was a calm spot where people could simply confess or ask about things bothering them. It had a spiritual aura, and the low lighting made it comforting.

"Well, I am curious to know about a thing I... read in a book. But I am not sure about it."

The priest smiled and said,
"Don't hesitate, tell me. I am supposed to answer the questions books can't."

Siddharth took a while to frame his sentence and said,
"So, I read about eyes. Golden eyes. I mean the eyes that glow golden. Is there something like that ever seen before? Has anyone had golden eyes? Or, has it been told what has?"

The smile on the priest's face faded away as he started to turn pale. He seemed to look scared and disturbed.
"Are you okay?"

Siddharth asked with concern on his face when the priest slipped away from him and said,
"Yes!... Yes! No...! There is nothing like this. Eyes can't glow golden. It's not possible."

He was restless as he continued,
"Golden eyes do not exist, not in this world. No one has seen them for generations, no one will see them again. And, no book talks about it. You... you should go. No one's eyes may glitter Golden. You have been mistaken. You must have read something imaginary."

Siddharth stood up and stared at the priest for a while, realising that he was very uncomfortable because of his question. So, he slowly walked away and went inside the temple room to worship. It was a large, circular hall in the centre of the building platform, excluding the large veranda.

It was an exceptionally huge, circular, dome-shaped room with a ceiling made out of golden bricks. The surrounding walls were built of white marble with a lot of wall carvings of gods and goddesses, inscriptions from holy books and mantras. In the centre stood a large black rock statue of Lord Vishnu, the Supreme form of his, adorned with golden and silver jewellery, his yellow garment with silver embroidery and many precious stones embedded in his appearance. The room had the presence of all the gods and goddesses, either present in the Almighty statue or engraved on the walls. The room was enlightened by the light of the sun, which crept in through the little spaces left between the point where the wall and the ceiling met. Thousands of diyas were glowing around, so the room was a warm place painted with a shiny golden atmosphere.