From & To Sathish #5 - Page 96

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Avan, Aval, Adhu 326

Shortly after turning away from the Highway, the road began to narrow quickly and after a short distance there was just enough room for their car to pass through and then they came to a halt outside a gate. The board painted in blue proclaimed in English and in Tamil that the site was under the purview of the state government and the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India).

On either side of the gate, two men in khaki uniforms who had been sitting and lounging in their chairs now stood up seeing their vehicle coming towards them.

Spartan her aide remarked to Madhu after observing the area, ' At least there is enough space to park and to turn the car around for it would have been cumbersome to drive in reverse all the way back to the highway.'

Madhu turned around and looked at the narrow stretch that ran away towards the highway and exclaimed painfully, ' Now that will surely put a crick in your neck.'

' Not if I allow it, ma'am ' her aide replied and quickly turned the car and parked it facing the way they had come, and Madhu who was wise to his ways observed, ' Mr. Spartan, I see that you have parked your car so that it is facing the road we drove in and it makes sense for it will allow a quick getaway from certain iffy and difficult situations.'

He clapped his hands and said, ' Bravo ma'am. You are indeed wise to my wily ways.'

Madhu pointed to the guards and said, ' I am sorry, Spartan but maybe we won't be able to get in after all. It appears that we might need some kind of authorization to enter this site since it is now a Government property.'

' No worries ma'am. I will go and see what I can do about that. Just give me a few minutes and I will be back soon.'

Madhu pointed to the sun that seemed to be whispering " Good evening, Good night, and Goodbye" to her and said worriedly, ' It will be too late and in vain. I guess I have always been unlucky when it comes to this place and its people.'

Spartan smiled and cheered her up, ' Have faith ma'am. In yourself and in your luck. I think it will all work out just fine. You will see ' and looking at his watch, ' there is still 20 to 25 minutes left for the sun to set.'

Madhu watched him walk towards the gate and saw him speak to them for a minute and then she saw him show them some sort of Id and then everything happened.

The two guards rushed to open the gates and while they were doing that, Spartan returned to the car and opened the door, and said, ' Let's go, ma'am. The path is cleared for you.'

Madhu's eyes were full of gratitude and she thanked him. ' Mr.Spartan, thank you so much for making this moment possible. I am now really neck deep in your debt.'

' Ma'am, if we could enter the famous Meenakshi Temple, you think this ancient and abandoned site is going to pose a problem.'

She looked at him with total admiration, ' In hindsight, I doubt if there is a problem that you cannot handle or solve amicably.'

Both the guards saluted them and stood watching as Madhu entered the archeological site and both knew from the way the man walked behind her that the lady must be some big shot.

One guard whispered, ' Imagine a deputy commissioner acting as an aide and providing security for her. Strange.'

The other guard nodded, ' Nothing strange about it. It is obvious from her looks that she is a North Indian and that means Delhi for who else will get a high-ranking officer to chaperone her around and also act as her personal driver.'

After a few minutes of thinking, he said, ' Ranga, follow them and keep an eye on them for it will be dark soon. The last thing we need is for our visitors to trip and fall into one of the excavations. I will stay put here and watch the entrance.'

Ranga shook his head and protested, ' Selvam, you go man. I don't know about you but something about that guy gives me the creeps and moreover, you know cops freak me out.'

' Don't go near them and stay at a distance from them. In case he spots you and questions you, tell him the truth that the place is dangerous after dark and that once we are gone, then it will be just them and the wild dogs that go about their hunting business.'

Then popping into the cabin, he brought out a torch and said, ' just in case.'

Rangan took it reluctantly and left cursing loudly about ghosts that walked the forest after sunset.

The moment Rangan disappeared from view, Selvam hurriedly dialed a number and waited and then hearing her voice, hurriedly greeted her, ' Amma, I am calling from the Site in Kumarapalayam.'

Familiar with her silences that in fact were her questions and demands that he speak and fast, Selvam did exactly that.

' Amma, you told me to watch out for any strangers that might come to visit this place, and right now, we have two people inside the site.'

' Describe them to me.'

' Amma, one is a cop but he looks like no cop that I know of but then again he might be some sort of military guy.'

' The other person?'

' Amma, it is a woman and she is not from around here and I am certain she is a North Indian.'

' Okay. Thank you. I will take care of it. Selvam, it is late anyway, so leave early. You know what I mean, right?'

' I do amma.'

Meenakshi slowly stood up and wondered loudly, ' It cannot be Gayatri who has returned. She was supposed to have flown away. But, if it is her, then maybe the tide has changed for the better and I can use this second chance to eliminate her once and for all. No witness and no competition.'

She was about to press the contact number on her phone to call a person who had done some local cleaning work a few years ago but hesitated and thought for a second. Then with a smile, she called the man who answered breathlessly, ' Amma, sollungamma.'

She quickly explained what she wanted to be done and then added a detail, ' The man with the woman might be a cop. Is that a problem for you, Maruthu?'

' Not at all, amma. Just that the cost might go up for many mouths and hands have to greased shut.'

' I know. Don't worry about that for I will pay you five times more than what I paid you the last time.'

' Aiyo, amma. No need to talk about money now. I will finish the job and show you the proof and then you can give me whatever you feel like giving me and I will gladly take it.'

' One more thing, Maruthu. This might turn up the heat a bit on all of us. I have an idea.'

She quickly told him what she had in mind and told him to get to the site as quickly as possible.

' No problem, amma. My whole team is here and all of them are pretty frustrated and upset for we have been out of work for more than a month. Ever since this temple thefts started, the cops have been harassing us a lot and so it will be good to make some money and get out of the state for a few months.'

' Call me once you are done and on the other number. Understood.'

' Okay, Amma.'

Meenakshi sat down and waited as the black widow spider waits in the center of its web for its prey to approach it Patiently and quietly. In dead quiet and as death incarnate.

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Avan, Aval, Adhu 327

In the light of the setting sun, the trees cast long shadows of themselves as if they were mourning the departure of their benefactor. The whole western horizon looked like somebody had lit a huge bonfire under the heavens for the oranges were like mighty flames of a raging forest fire.

The light of the evening sun turned everything into Gold with a hint of the pink flood that would soon be upon the land.

Madhu turned and smiled at her aide and said, ' Mr.Spartan, please walk by my side as my friend not behind me as my shadow or in my shadows. '

Once he had joined her, she saw him keenly observing and absorbing everything around him and told him, ' It is obvious that you are new to this place, my friend. Don't worry for I am very familiar with this place that is now under the protection of the Archeological department of India.'

Pointing in the northern direction, ' That small town is called Kumarapalayam. There are only two ways into this site. One from the highway and the other from Kumarapalayam. The place I am going to is at the edge of a large Mangrove from where paddy fields stretch and run off into the yonder.'

After walking for a few minutes, they reached the ruins of an ancient temple outside which stood the broken remains of a Nandi, and Madhu looking at it spoke in a sad voice, ' The Muslim invaders did this back in the early 14th century. I don't think it was ever repaired and has lain in ruin from then.'

She looked at Spartan and said, ' Many years, a dear friend of mine told me that this temple has a strange vibration to it and that it holds secrets that need to be looked into.'

' Old temples, secrets, and hidden treasures. Ma'am, all this reminds me of my favorite film " The raiders of the lost Ark " by Steven Spielberg.'

Madhu looked at him sadly and said, ' I don't know the value of those treasures, my friend, but to me, this place and its memories are more precious than all the Gold and diamonds in the entire universe.'

Spartan acknowledged her statement with a smile but remained silent.

' Thank you, Spartan. Thank you for listening to me and that too in silence ' Madhu told him and began walking and seeing his expression, ' It's true my friend. Looking back on my own life and drawing from my own experiences with my step-daughter, I realize that I should have stepped in and told my late husband that his daughter was trying to talk to him but was unable to do so.'

Sighing, Madhu said, ' Poor child, with their raging tantrums, drugs, and booze binges all she was trying to tell us and the world was that she was hurting badly and was lost without her mother who had just passed away.'

Her aide looked at her with concerned eyes and seeing them, Madhu smiled, ' She is doing much better now and is back to her normal and beautiful self.'

A beautiful glow filled her face as she happily announced, ' Spartan, my friend, she has met someone and I think it is all going to work out for her. If that happens, then my promise to her father will have been fulfilled and .......'

Spartan wanted to ask her something, but could not, for Madhu suddenly became all excited and pointed to a clearing and said, ' We are here. We are here my friend.'

She ran through the small mangrove while Spartan wearing a smile walked behind her keeping her in sight.

Then he saw her standing silhouetted against the setting sun and relaxed but from the way she stood with her hands by her side, stiff and with fingers clenched as fists, Spartan knew that something was wrong and ran to her side and the sight he saw stunned him and took his breath away.

Every tree around them had vines that had wrapped themselves around the trunks and lay all around them in a glorious explosion of colors. The very air was thick with the fragrance of the flowers that bloomed in pink, white, and red and it appeared as if a magic carpet had been unfurled for those who visited that spot.

Spartan pointed to a wooden bench that had creepers wrapped all around it but for its middle portion and said, ' That bench has a regular visitor and maybe he is the same person who is tending to this place with great care and love.'

Then he looked at Madhu and said, ' Ma'am, I am going to leave you for now. I will wait for you to finish up a little distance away and in case you need me all you need to do is yell my name and I will be there. Take your time, ma'am, and don't worry about time or anything else. I am here and I will watch over you.'

Madhurima's eyes filled with tears that welled up from memories, emotions, and the intensity of the moment and she put out her hand and said, ' Thank you, my friend. This means a lot to me. Thank you.'

Spartan shook her hand gently and nodded his head in respect and said, ' You are welcome, ma'am.'

She watched him walk away and then stood staring at the wooden bench and with a smile went and slowly sat in it and said, ' Jaanu, I am here with you and I have come back to you. Maybe this life was meant to live in service of others and not for ourselves. But, I am going to pray to God that in our future lives, we are one and remain one forever.'

Spartan smiled and then turned towards the path that they had arrived and squinted his eyes to focus on the people who were approaching through the trees and looked up at the sky and cursed, ' God, what's with you? Please give that poor soul a break and respite. Hasn't she suffered enough already? All she wants is to sit in peace and bask in her memories. Is that such an impossible wish for you to grant her?'

Taking a deep breath, ' All right. You leave me with no other choice. Remember that when my life comes before your court.'

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