THE STORY OF LIFE | A 21ST CENTURY RAMAYANA

INTO THE LIONS DEN

Detachable stairs, two unconscious women lying on the floor, and a lone man in a den of tigers. Pawan took a moment to contemplate the situation he was in. How and When he had landed here, he knew. He also knew what was his purpose of coming here. Not only to find Siya or Urmila but, what was his purpose of coming to Vatika in the first place?

He could have caught Raghavan bare handed at Manali itself whilst he was a police officer. But why hadn't he? Was there any problem in his mindset then? As fast as he could think, none. Then what had stopped him?

Destiny', a voice spoke in his mind.

Pawan was in his senses, yet he looked around for any source of sound. Except for the filament of the lightbulb that grew unevenly and occasionally hummed, he could hear not even a whisper.

Pawan knew that voice. It was his voice. Rather the voice of his young self. The self that had gone beyond bounds to learn, to win and to find its guide.

The voice that had made a mortal being his God, and the voice that believed, that everything happens for a reason.

Pawan smiled. Life had come full circle now. He was in front of his destiny. Nothing, no force in the world could alter it. It didnt matter whether Siya or Urmila were there or not, it just mattered that whether Pawan would give up or not.

And he didnt. He wouldnt. Having come so close to his win, he wouldnt let go.

"""

Pawan had planned his introduction in his mind. He walked up to the first door to his right and took a deep breath. He knocked softly, once.

""

Her eyes were closed but there was not a pinch of sleep in them. From the day she came to know that her parted soul had arrived to rescue her, Siya had not had a peaceful bait with sleep. But she didnt regret that. She could stay up nights and nights, just knowing that her Ram was near her.

But the knock startled Siya. She shook up and looked at the door, then at a wall clock, and then at her door again.

"At this time of the night?" She thought to herself, "Who could it be?"

Faces raced through Siya's mind, but two appeared again and again.

Ram, or Raghavan.

The very thought that it could be her Ram at the door, having come to rescue her made her jump up on her toes. But then, she thought of the other possibility too and sat back down on her bed.

Pawan knocked again. He kept his eye on the two women and kept a knife ready in his hand, so that if they woke up he could threaten them to move back. But that wasnt a foolproof plan.

"Please, whoever it is, open the door!" Pawan yelled in his head.

Siya got up again. Her heart beat faster and she started sweating.

"What should I do?" She thought.

Pawan went to knock a third time when, something caught his eye. The rooms door had a slit underneath it, rather was made at a height so as to pass anything from the bottom if needed, like many doors do. Specially, prison doors.

Pawan bent down slowly with his humongous figure and judged the width. He could see no one through it, but could make that someone must be there, for there were particles of food stuck to the upper part, meaning someone had been passed food sometime from there. What an ill treatment of humans, he thought.