We all kinda know that Rakshit is the third aspect to win the evil/ good war . I am excited to see how Mr logic , Mr show-me the proof Shergill deals with it . That said, this is just a WHAT If that my brain came up with. It sort of explains how Shikar seems immune to Pisachini's magic -both during Holi , and when she's creating mayhem in general.
PS: I haven't watched this week's episodes yet , so this is without the info from those two episodes .
In my veins
There's magic in his veins , and now it looks like so is she.
Those in the know have always assumed ,that he's the one who contacted Pisachini , made deals with her. For now, it suits Shikar to let them believe what they will.The hum is a part of him now , natural as breathing, content for the most part, to stay in the background. It hadn't always been that way.
It had begun on his fifth birthday. Shikar had been enjoying the party,and the yummy Power Ranger cake , but a sound like a bee in his ear had annoyed him throughout. At first he'd thought it was a stupid prank by Rakshit , or one of his friends. Then as the sound grew louder and louder , he'd run to his parents, terrified an insect of some kind had somehow got stuck in his ear.
Party abandoned , they'd rushed to the .E.R. The battery of tests they'd conducted revealed nothing . Undeterred, his parents had rushed him from doctor to doctor across hospitals . ENT specialists , surgeons , ophthalmologists,psychologists , psychiatrists, homeopaths and Ayurveda specialists . He'd lost count , after a point one waiting room looked like another. Eventually, Shikar stopped talking about the hum , at least it would save him the agony of blood test after blood test.
The hum made everything difficult- focusing in class, playing group games or sometimes even following instructions. It had stung at first , having teachers pick on him, classmates laugh at him , catching the worried looks his aunts shared with his parents. He learned to adapt , cope . Not everybody had the skills to be a class clown, and he was a super star joker . In no time Shikar was a favourite among batch mates , and grudgingly , even among the faculty . He worked doubly as hard as the others , staying up all hours of the night . Rakshit had been up with him , through most of them, explaining concepts , over and over. Shikar would always be grateful to him for that simple understanding , free of pity.
The hum though, was the least of his worries. There were times he found his entire family starring, as if entranced ,at thin air . Not to mention ,the natural calamities that seemed to gravitate towards their home ,every time they celebrated Guruji's birth anniversary. They would barely have hung a garland on Guruji's photo , before the attacks would begin. One year it was an earthquake , another year shrieking winds , water had flooded the halls another time, almost threatening to swallow the rooms whole . He'd remained unscathed through it all , even the time a fire had broken out, reducing most of Guruji's photos to ashes . Nobody else seemed to notice the strangely dressed lady , and if his parents did see her at all, they looked tensed and panicked. It seemed best not to tell anyone that she seemed to be the source of the attacks. Shikar didn't want another round of doctors pressing pills into him. At those times times , the hum grew to an intense pounding ,almost as if it was trying to escape , seep out of his palms and out into the open. Terrified , he'd spent most of the annual poojas huddled under a bed, trying to turn invisible.
Surprisingly, Shikar found a way to control it , entirely by accident .He'd been practicing for the BOARDS ,plodding through a particularly vicious set of trigonometry sums , and the hum wouldn't leave him alone . Nothing worked . Not sleep , not food , not drowning it out with music. Shikar had seriously considering splitting his head open on the counter ,maybe then he'd find some peace. Furious , he'd shut his eyes, a silent scream escaping him , " one more whisper of a sound , and he'd do it , kill the hum once and for all. As if sensing his thoughts , amazingly enough ,the hum had shut off. At first Shikar hadn't believed it , didn't want to , certain that the infernal noise would be back. To his eternal relief , the noise stayed away. The silence was a welcome break .
It was only in the second year of college , during a trek in the Himalayas , that Shikar truly missed it . The inane conversation and pointless chatter of the others on the group annoyed him . Tentatively, feeling more than slightly stupid , he'd sent "you can come back now ". The resulting explosion of noise nearly had him jumping out of his seat, he had nearly spoke out loud ,forced himself to think it instead , "softly . You have to stay soft." The hum faded, a mere afterthought in his mind . It had taken practice , patience .Slowly he'd been able to control it.
Things seemed settled, his relationship with the strange sound , he'd dubbed "hum" was smooth, until his 21st birthday. Shikar had been at a club with friends , celebrating turning legal, when the hum had turned into a relentless pounding. Pushing back against it seemed futile , and exhausting. It seemed as if the noise was determined to flow out, one way or another. He'd walked away from his friends , pleading exhaustion. The sparks that spilled out of his palms hadn't surprised him .At that time he'd thought it was how he'd die - being set aflame , an inch at a time. He still wasn't sure how he survived the night, or the weeks that followed.
It had been sheer chance, and a family trip to the mountains that finally helped . He'd stumbled on the ashram , much as he'd stumbled onto the hum. Hidden from the main road, the huts hadn't looked like much , but Shikar had been drawn to it , and the old man seated within. He'd known instinctively, that if there was a way at all to control what he had, it would be here.
It had taken some convincing , but Shikar had stayed back. A grueling six months later, he'd learnt to harness the hum , to chain the sparks that spilled out of his hands and painstaking weeks later , he'd mastered the art of molding the sparks into an impenetrable shield. Shikar had left the ashram , the old man's cryptic words ringing in his ears. Years later ,the message still lingered , the words growing increasingly loud of late. " wielder of shields, you are as much a son of the dark , as you are a child of the light .Decide on the path you will walk , before the choice is made for you." It hadn't made sense . Light and dark ? The only parents he'd ever known were Ashleesha and Barath. Strange and silly perhaps, but he doubted they'd had anything to do with the light or the dark. They were his parents, weren't they? He was a Shergill , wasn't he ? Questions stirred, uneasily in his mind.
The date of Guruji's anniversary Pooja had completely slipped his mind , and Shikar had walked straight into the eye of a storm. The shield he'd thrown up, protecting his parents had been almost a reflex. He'd looked up , to find Pisachini starring straight at him, surprise evident on her face. He'd half expected to be reduced to a pile of sooty ashes , instead he'd received a slick smile.
She floated down from her perch on the chandelier , gliding down on what looked like an angry cloud . " Finally ! Shiku ! I thought you'd never figure it out. I was getting tired of terrorizing these buddhus." The shock had been immense , and he'd been tempted to run. The devil woman not only knew of him, but of his powers as well. He'd pushed aside his worry and confusion enough to bite out "Leave my family alone." Her tinkling laughter still rang in his ears, " your what ? Family ? You really think these strangers are your family? Or that those jokers Ash and Barath are your parents?. Oh Shiku." The words had hit him like a bolt , and the shield had crashed . Pisachini had disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Shikar remembered the weeks since ,like it was yesterday . His desperate demands to see pictures of himself as a baby , any photo at all before his second birthday . His parents had come up with vague ,nonsensical responses , shushing him into silence. It had felt like his family was in a conspiracy of some sort. They'd sent him out on silly ,pointless errands , rushing behind closed doors the second he'd left. He 'd been pampered , coddled, ever wish he voiced ,answered , but for the ones about his birth . He heard the lure of secrets , and half told truths in the hushed conversations he chanced upon. The minute he walked in , voices fell silent , and false laughter filled the air . Even Rakshit , whom he'd always counted upon , turned mute. He'd felt lost , confused , uncertain and utterly alone. Finally, the demands for his birth certificate had sent his mother into hysterics . Rakshit had forced him to promise not to push the issue again. He'd grudgingly agreed , but the seeds of doubt had taken root .
Shikar been prepared, when she showed up late one night, when the moon had disappear from the sky. The tantalizing snatches of images she'd shown him , of a man, definitely not Bharat, casting a shield, as he did , a woman standing in his shadow , fed the doubts, watered it . Shikar had damn near begged her for a name , any clue of who the people were. Pisachini had promised to help him, an enigmatic smile on her unearthly face . In return , all he had to do was assist her at times.Simple.
He should have known of course, that a deal with the devil had consequences .There are moments he regrets it , but not enough to walk out of the promise he made on a moonless night.
Meeting D , and knowing she posses magic of her own , is a relief . He's thrilled that he won't be alone , an oddity anymore . The possibility of being able to truly discuss the complexities of magic with someone else , puts a grin on his face , the hum a happy noise in his head . Of course , it's too good too be true . Nothing he does seems to be enough , and she doesn't want to try , give them even one shot . Pisachini was right. He has no family .Yet ,watching Divya walk past , mind not entirely her own, is painful . He misses the spit fire that she was. It nags at him , pulls at, tugs insisting that he do something for her. For the first time in years, he considers backing out of the long forged deal. It doesn't seem to matter that she doesn't care , that all she sees is his deceit .
She's in his veins, as much a part of him ,as the hum.
Edited by Emotionsinink - 6 years ago
Pati Patni Aur Panga
Jaane Anjaane Hum Mile
Tum Se Tum Tak
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Vasudha
