The Snake Inside

Chapter 11

Amar continued to attend school and attended yoga classes regularly. The girl who was going with him at classes and whom he liked before was still sitting next to him while meditating, but Amar didn't invite her to go for tea together. He didn't want to. In his mind, there was always a beautiful woman, who might not have been a woman and looked a bit like a snake. She obsessed him day and night. He desired her power, her beauty, her beautiful body. But he couldn't have it. Or could he? Amar kept thinking about it.

Time passed, six months passed, a year passed. After leaving Patala, Amar did not see Lavantika anymore, nor did he hear from her. Something told him that their story was not over, but Amar didn't know if it was true, or just a product of his fantasy that whispered to him wonderful stories that would never come true.

Silence and uncertainty became unbearable, and one weekend he decided to travel again to Benares and visit the well of Sheshna. He descended the steep stairs into the well. There was no one there, it was peaceful and quiet. The deep water was easily rippling. Amar took some of the water and drank, and sat down on the stairs in solitude.

No one was there, nothing happened.

He was expecting to feel the vibrations of power like the first time he came there, but they missed. There was no snake to put his life in danger.

"Maybe she married the demigod I unstoned," thought Amar "and completely forgot about me!"

But there was no way he could find out even that.

He wished to jump into the well and seek the entrance to the underworld on his own, but he immediately renounced that intention. He did not want to tempt fate with such an act. And he was aware that if Lavantika did not love him, he could not achieve anything.

Disappointed and lonely, he returned to Mumbai. He decided that he would keep his word and build the temple. He hired a Mumbai-based construction firm to work on it, and since he was now wealthy, construction was going on quickly and easily. In a few months the temple was built.

The temple was nested at the foot of a hill, with much of it entering the underground, quite close to the entrance in Patala. The part that was on the ground was bright, and Amar envisioned it as a place for people to pray, and for the underworld he came up with another idea.

But he did not know if he would succeed.

He knew that in Hinduism, when a man, or a woman, desired something, to receive help and support from the gods or to gain mercy, he took the so-called vrata. Vrata is a prohibition, law, rule, or obligation for a person to do something for a certain period of time, or for a lifetime, usually to give up food and fast, or to donate some of his possessions, and in return receive something from the gods.

Before bringing a priest to consecrate the temple, Amar went in into solitude to pray.

And he vowed that from that moment, until the end of his life, he would not eat anything and drink only water all the time there was full moon, and in return for his sacrifice, he wished whenever he came to the temple and visited his underground rooms, Lavantika to wait for him there.

It was a full moon that night, and Amar started his vrata. He didn't eat. He did not eat for four days. The fast had been quite difficult for him and he became very weak. His face color changed and he got dark circles around his eyes. He decided not to go to the temple until it was consecrated and then for the first time to go and see if his vrata was heard. And by then it would be seven months.

Every month when the full moon came, Amar started with the grueling fast. He had only been drinking water for four days, but he did not regret it, for he knew no other way for the goddess to hear his request.

Finally, the day came for the temple consecration. Many people came to the ceremony and admired the beautiful building. Everyone was happy.

Amar slowly left the room with people and retreated to the underground. He entered the room and stood in the middle.

"Lavantika!" he shouted loudly.

There was no answer.

"Lavantika! I took vrata! For seven months I gave up food and even water and I'm not sorry for it. Please hear my prayer and show up. I love you!"

Nothing happened.

"Lavantika," Amar shouted "Please, darling, listen to me. If you do not hear me and do not appear, just for a moment, please, I will never eat or drink again! I'll stay in this place until I die of hunger!"

The silence was deep, but he suddenly felt a slight vibration in the air.

"Lavantika!" he shouted with great relief " it's you, isn't it? You're coming!"

And indeed, on the walls of the room that were dug up in the hill, shone a bright light, showing the beautiful goddess Lavantika in all her sumptuous beauty.