Life and death is an inevitable cycle and it is said that one visit to the Manikarnika ghat in Varanasi, is enough to make a person realise the futility of life. The burning pyres turn the physical body to ashes but the soul is immortal. And many such restless souls tend to haunt the streets near Manikarnika Ghat.
Medha, a first year student of the Banaras Hindu University, however believes that souls are nothing but the energy retained within a human being during its lifetime.
One evening, she wandered off to explore the ghats and happened to reach the Manikarnika ghat. She has heard her seniors warning everyone about not visiting the ghar after dusk as it is said to be home to spirits and souls. But Medha being how she was, ignored this warning and entered the ghat. The smell of burning wood and the striking waft of burning bodies filled up the silent atmosphere of the ghat. Passing the pyres, Medha walked up to the bank and dipped her feet in the cold water. As she was walking ahead, her foot lost balance but before she could fall, a pair of arms held her. Medha looked up and her eyes met with a pair of gentle grey orbs filled with concern.A tall, well-built man, no older than 25, dressed in a white kurta and pyjama. Medha thanked him and proceeded to sit on the steps of the ghat with the man sitting just a step below. Medha clutched her shawl tighter as the cold gangetic winds blew past her. After a few minutes of silence, the man spoke up,"Hi, I am Rudra." Medha answered,"Hello Rudra, I am Medha." " Most people are scared to come home here after sunset, so what are you doing here at this hour of the night?", Rudra asked. Medha grinned saying," Yes, my seniors tried to warn me, but I don't believe in spirits and ghosts, but I don't believe that souls, something that does not have a physical form cannot do me any harm." " Interesting" Rudra said with an amused expression, "I too believed that until someone told me that whole spirits are roaming around with malicious intentions, some are out there to save others from meeting the same end as they did."
During their conversation, Medha stole a few glances at Rudra as she noticed the tattoo of the trident on his right arm. Clearing his throat, Rudra asked,"So, you say that spirits are harmless. What do you think they really are?" Medha answered,"Physics says that energy can neither be created nor destroyed.So when a person dies and they are cremated, the energy within that person gets released and gets trapped in the cosmos. Since a lot of people don't know the science behind it, they have named this phenomenon as spirits." Rudra had an amused expression as he said,"Wow! You seem to have a very clear concept of it." Medha smiled then asked, "What about you? Why are you here at night?" " Nothing, I just felt like being here. Anyways, its pretty late, we should go back. Bye, it was nice meeting you.", Rudra said. As he got up, he turned back and said, " Medha, make sure you take care of yourself. The Ganga can be lethal at times. I won't always be there to save you from drowning." While he was walking away, Medha noticed a tattoo on Rudra's right wrist. After a few minutes, Medha got up and began walking back to her college campus but one of the dead bodies kept near the pyres caught her attention as her eyes darted to the similar tattoo on the right wrist of the body. Her blood turned cold as she as she asked the pandit standing nearby," Kaka, who is he and how did he die?" The pandit replied, " His name was Rudra. I've heard that his wife died by drowning in the Ganga and he could not take that loss so he committed suicide." As the words settled in her mind, her eyes started watering as Rudra's words rang in her ears " The GANGA can be lethal at times."
Maybe some spirits are not harmful, they are just out there to save others from the same end as them.
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