Dhruv Tara: An End To a Long Wait

Chapter 5 - Visions in the haze

Shaurya was angry. But he was scared, too. His Maasa was furious at him. But he just didn't get why. He was fighting for the right, just like his Dadisa had told him. Jaadugar had done wrong. He had tried to take his Babasa's place, just like Dadisa said he would. How dare he!

For a five year old, all of these things were way too overwhelming.

He was locked up in that room, all alone for quite sometime now. There were only 2 dim lights that Tara had left on. He was scared now. Terrified. But he couldn't bow down, that's what he was always taught, he shouldn't bow down. He wouldn't apologize to Jaadugar. He was wrong. But then, why was Maasa telling him to do so? Why was his Maasa supporting Jaadugar?

He sat there, crying. Waiting for his Maasa. Then, to distract himself, he started looking around the room. Because, he was not scared... he didn't get scared, no. He shouldn't cry, crying was for the weak and he was not weak! Like he was taught. He found some of his old toys. And he saw some of his paints lying there too. He picked them up and started painting to pass his time, but soon, he got tired, and started to fall asleep.

Strange dreams and visions were nothing new to Shaurya. He was used to it. Just like today. But today, they seemed different, more vivid, more coherent. More real. And they were a lot of them today.

"Baba..."
He screamed, as he woke up with a start. His head buzzing with all the visuals from his dreams. It was all too much to process for him. Not understanding anything, he instinctively started painting in a daze. All the visions he saw in his dream kept repeating in his head as he painted.

He saw a glimpse of a strange, mystic place. "Samaychakra", a voice, very similar to his Maasa said in his head. The visions in his dreams didn't stop there though, it continued, kept repeating. So he continued. Following his mind's lead. He painted another picture, then another and so on.

As he painted, the dreams kept repeating in his mind.
"Aisa pyar, jo kabhi kisine kisi se na kiya ho".
"Dhruv Tara ko koi alag nahi kar sakta, na samay, na sadi aur na koi shraap".
His Maasa and Jaadugar's wedding.

"Kya Shaurya mera beta hai? Haa ya naa?"
"Haa!"
"Hume darr tha ki tum use apne paas rakhna chahoge"
"Kyu na chahu mai? Mera beta hai wo!"
His Maasa taking him away from Jaadugar's arms, carrying him and walking away while his Jadugar looked at them longingly, devastated.

"Aisa kyu kiya aapne Maharaj?"
"Humne Dhruv se unka putra chheenkar aapko diya."
His Babasa fighting with his Jaadugar, leading to his Maasa falling off the cliff.

"Aaj sirf Holika dahan nahi, aapke astitva, aapki pehchaan, apke vyaktitva ka dahan hoga!"
"Jab Dhruv hi nahi rahega, to Tara uski hogi kaise!"
His Babasa holding Jaadugar down by his neck, choking him and force feeding him something, and then proceeding to beat him again and again.

Shaurya stopped, exhausted. He had ended up making a number of paintings. All the images were one over the other in his head. It was all too much for his 5 year old self. Once he was done with the paintings did he finally come out of the daze. He became more aware of everything. But the visions were still jumbled. He knew the paintings would help him with that, but all that he could remember, didn't make any sense to him. The only one he could clearly remember, was the last one, that of his Jaadugar standing at the edge of the terrace, looking devastated, and about to fall. When he woke up. Seeing his Jaadugar like that, made him really sad. He felt drawn towards him even in his dreams. But why? He was angry with him.

He wanted to ask his Maasa about it, tell her all of that and show her the paintings. She would surely help. She would know. But would she believe him? And especially now, that she was so angry with him.

He was lost in these thoughts, still sifting through all those visions and trying to make sense of it, when the door of the room opened.