Chapter 1
[MEMBERSONLY]
We write by the light of every story we have read ~Richard Peek.
And the light in this forum is so bright; it blinds me with its brilliance. I wrote this in the light of every story I have read here and while I cannot dream of joining in the casting of a light, I hope I have not dimmed it with my attempts.
I had read a story prompt: Every individual has a personal guardian, summoned by words long forgotten. You have just accidently uttered them.' This led me to think magic and currently what could be more magical than SwaSan? And further, it is (okay, rather was) Swaragini's first anniversary - Magical coincidence. - Enough to get me rambling and reminiscing their magical journey.
To Shruti (Lannister) if you read this do let me know your comments on my take of your oft expressed emotion
Please do let me know your comments - good () bad (
) and ugly(
) all welcome!
) bad () and ugly() all welcome!_____________________________________________________
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The Guardian Angel
You may see me as huge, or imagine me as small, I am right by your side, and will hear you when you call. I am loyal and true, you can trust me to care; I am your guardian angel, I will always be there ~Unknown~
Sanskaar was pacing the length of his bedroom as he attempted to sort out the multitudinous emotions that surged through him. His elation at finally being married to Swara warred with the anger at Lakshya's asininity, coupled with exasperation at Kavya's bizarre and inexplicable antics. As he continued to pace, he took a misstep, stubbing his toe. He grimaced and muttered, "Zooterkins", which left him surprised. He wondered what caused him to say that word, it was strange and he really had no inkling as to what it even meant. It was then that he heard the tinkling voice -"So, finally we meet."
He looked up to see a sylph - a tall, lithe and graceful woman of indeterminate age who radiated a luminous aurous glow. Sanskaar shut his eyes, unsure of what to make of the apparition that appeared. He opened one eye, hoping he was not seeing what he thought he was seeing.
"I am quite real - or as real as I can be to you humans," she said in that same tinkling voice.
Sanskaar opened his other eye, convinced that his conflicting emotions were causing him to hallucinate and decided to focus on the silhouette of light.
"I am Vilasini," she continued, "Every human has a personal, invisible guardian, summoned by magic words long forgotten. You said those words, and here I am!"
He rolled his eyes, shook his head and thought, just what I needed, a guardian angel. Aloud, he said, acerbically, "So, you are going to help me out? Wave a wand and set everything right? Or maybe cast a spell or whatever it is, that you guardian angels do?"
She flitted about him, gleaming amber, before settling in the lotus position in front him, three feet off the ground. Bemused, she said, "No! I am not going to do anything. We normally do not interfere in your lives, what you do with your body, heart and mind, is your choice. But if your intentions are going to conflict with your soul's predestined course of action, we are compelled to interfere. And that is where things get ugly, at times."
"And you decide to grace me with your presence, because you think I am now, veering off the course of my soul?" Sanskaar said bitingly.
'"Hey! You summoned me! And no, I stepped in eight years ago, when you first set eyes on Kavita. She was beautiful, alright, but not for you. And would your heart listen, no! I told it 'Dear Heart, please stop getting involved in everything. Your job is to pump blood, that's it.' No use, you fell for her so hard that even your soul was convinced she was the one. You have no idea of the manipulations I had to do - your Mother was easy, her guardian was like her. You father was tough, he just could not see you in pain nor any fault in your love. His guardian would not interfere to change his course - I literally had to threaten him with violence. We had to do everything to ensure that you did not marry Kavita."
'"And before you get all worked up, we had no hand in her 'supposed death',"Vilasini spoke, turning into a dull gray hue, "That was her choice and not destiny's or my doing."
Vilasini paused, as she grew to a smoky shade, "I did not get a break even then, you went berserk and swore revenge. You do not know hard it was to reach you, to let you see some semblance of reason but you were so withdrawn that nothing could get to you. For five years, I watched, as you slowly descended into a hell hole of your making, it hurt seeing your pain and misery, if there was anything I could do I would have. But even we cannot interfere too much, HE does not agree. You had to battle your demons yourself; all we could do wait and watch. I was there with you all the time, you were not as alone as you thought, and how could I leave you?"
Sanskaar looked at her in astonishment, she was now a bleached white shadow and her voice held so much agony that he momentarily forgot those painful memories. She raised a pale hand to wipe away what appeared to be tears and continued, "Do not be surprised, we do fall in love with our wards. We know you from the minute you are born; we have to watch over you for your entire life. In fact, you see us first, even before you set eyes on any other human. We hear every silent cry of yours and all wordless joys. We are always there for you."
She reached out as though to caress his cheek and Sanskaar felt a familiar warmth envelope him. He smiled and she resumed, "Where were we? Yes, finally the time comes for Swara to step into your life - but do I get lucky here? No! Kosmos goofed up again - gives the wrong brother's details to Cupid who promptly lets off his arrows and bingo, Swara and Lakshya fall for each other. The only good thing was that Cupid used arrows, difficult to dislodge them but not impossible either. You then step into the scene and let loose chaos. Swara bore the brunt of your and Ragini's machinations...Hey, that was not truly your fault; you did step back in the nick of time, and sometimes you have to act out in accordance with someone else's destiny too."
Sanskaar, who remembered how he had hurt Swara, had been sinking into the familiar feeling of remorse and shamefacedness at her words; was puzzled as to how she knew what he was thinking.
'"I cannot hear you think, that would be impolite, not to consider how disgusting it could be. We also do not watch you, so do not worry about that either. But we do feel your emotions, at least, those beyond the norm. So if you feel extremely angry, happy or sad, we do feel them and, it shows," she said softly, as her light dimmed to a dull turquoise.
Piqued, Sanskaar asked, "So all guardians are beings of light and look like you?"
Vilasini pouted for a bit and said, "Well, all guardians are not as beautiful as I am! I am beautiful, right?"
When Sanskaar nodded in assent, she gave a beatific smile that lit up the whole room and continued, "Kosmos, Swara's guardian, is a nincompoop, a cute one though. He is a trifle absent-minded with a passion for sunsets. If he feels that nobody is watching him, he simply steals them."
Ignoring Sanskaar startled gasp, she continued fondly, glowing to a soft pink, "you have no idea how difficult it is to get them back, he raises such a hullabaloo, that most of us let him keep the sunsets. And if his temper tantrums do not work, he tries smiling, which is worse, his smiles are so cherubic, it is near impossible to resist him. And that goes to prove that he is an imbecile, he should simply try smiling first, before launching into a tantrum."
"But what do you do with the sunsets that you take back from him?"
"Nothing, but before you go asking why we insist he return them, it is the principle of the thing. One does not steal sunsets. Can you imagine a world without sunsets; you have a brightly shinning sun and then, poof, sudden darkness?"
Sanskaar nodded his head, considering that he was actually carrying on a conversation with a luminous being who claimed to be his guardian, imaging the theft of sunsets or a world without sunsets? Piece of cake!
"I had to be in three places - nudging Ragini into exposing you and marrying Lakshya, safeguarding Swara when she was pushed into the river (Kosmos had to be missing, as usual, it was only later that we found out where he was - pleading with Cupid to set right his mistake) and guiding you to her. That was such a touch and go - a few seconds later she would be too far gone to recover that soon and you might not have made the trip to Baadi, no way that you would have carried an unconscious Swara."
"And then the magical moment we all were waiting - she was so frail, so worn that she could not take a step and you decided to walk for her - that was the precise moment, when you held her as if she were a fragile doll, a precious soul to be treasured, that Cupid cast the spell, using magic dust, which ensured that the two of you were bonded for life. Neither of you realized it nor did you know, but if you had tried to listen very carefully, you would have heard the violins."
At that memory, Sanskaar smiled, Swara did fit well in his arms, so well indeed, that it appeared as though she was meant to be there.
Vilasini paused for a few moments, before snapping him out of his reverie, "Day dreaming are we? You did not make my life easy even then. You decided to help Swara but neither of you had a clue as to how to proceed, till she came up with the plan of the fake marriage, which by the way, was Kosmos's idea. Initially, we had our reservations, most of us thought it to be a scatterbrained one, which is a typical reaction to anything voiced by Kosmos. But it did have its merits. And the rest, as you humans say, is history."
"It was fun, watching the two of you fall in love, despite your lame attempts to labeling it a friendship. Hilarious even, at your pathetic attempts not to listen to your heart, though, you fell for her pretty quick. She took so long, we were actually worried, so much so, that Kosmos stopped looking at sunsets, let alone steal one. Finally he took the on the mantle of prodding Ragini's guardian into action. That was actually sheer brilliance on his part. Ragini did not need much of a push into needling Lakshya (in hindsight, impulsiveness and brashness have their own advantages) who then demanded a very public proof of the two of you being married. Very interesting scene that was," she said dreamily, turning into delicate shade of carmine gold.
Sanskaar slipped into that memory as her dulcet tones continued, "You took her by hand and walked all the way to the Mandir, you knew what you had to do and she realized it too, though she just could not accept it. Strange, most humans accept rather than understand; she understood but did not accept it. And when you filled her maang with sindoor, it was the act of finality with which the two of you were bonded. She did raise her hand to hold you off, but Kosmos would have none of it. He froze her mind so that she could not truly stop you and she held your hand, appearing to be acceding to the act. It was done! all those subsequent wedding ceremonies were just that, ceremonies. We had a celebration that night, all the guardian angels."
As she remembered what had followed, she spoke icily, "Please do not do it again, no, not the confessing part! You can shout your love for Swara from the rooftops, every day, for the rest of your life. Just do not get drunk. It is quite unsettling and makes me break out into myriad hues."
She glared at Sanskaar before she resumed, "But patience is a virtue, she eventually did fall for you and fell much harder. And do me a favour, please stop your intermittent self-flagellation over the past events. You are not so pivotal to the workings of the universe that you could be responsible for everything that happened in Swara's life. She had to go through what she did as a consequence of her choices."
Vilasini looked fondly at Sanskaar's slightly chastened face and said, "Sanskaar, she is the light of your life, the one who healed your heart and soul, and you are eternally blessed with her love. But do know; your love for her is her strength, so much so, that you are her guardian angel. She really does not need any of us, you are there for her. Nor do you, for that matter!"
"So you would be leaving me, now?", he asked wistfully. Seeing his woebegone face, she gave one of her dazzling smiles and said, "I am always there, whether you see me or not. If you ever manage to recall the summoning words, I shall appear." She tilted her head and added mischievously, "actually, Swara is right, you are cute," and broke into a mellifluous laugh at his vexed expression, before dissipating into thin air. As her tinkling laugh gently faded away, he heard its echoes in Swara's anklets.
He saw Swara enter the room and stood gazing at her. When she raised an enquiring eyebrow, he silently strode towards her and in one swift moment lifted her into his arms and twirled her around. Holding him, she laughed joyously and he thought, "Yes, she still does fit perfectly"
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Note:
Zooterkins - A 17th century variant of "zounds!"- Which was an expression of surprise or indignation.
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