Yagya is more than happy at how the things were shaping up. He had been in trouble ever since he had met Astitva. Though when his messengers had told him about what had happened between Maya and Astitva, he had been furious. Their one wrong action could have changed the future of the worlds…All his anger had evaporated when he met the young man. The passion and determination in his eyes were not the kinds that could be punished or ignored. He had come with a hope and Yagya like a true ruler hated seeing any one go empty handed or disappointed. So he knew he had to tweak out a few things…Astitva would have to marry Kum…..and Maya as well.
D day arrived. Astitva was torn between his heart and mind. Hadn’t the Supreme Being promised him Maya? But if he had…there was no sign of her in the entire city. Where was she? The ceremony started. There were two “weddings” that were being organized at the same time. Astitva was so much lost in his thoughts that he didn’t even bother to look at the other couple. His eyes were searching for Maya and Yagya. He couldn’t find either of them. Still he felt everything will be all right. A vague sense of confidence and positivity was seeping within him. Since there were a number of “useless” and boring ceremonies in which he was to be a part of he decided to play a game. He decided to look at the eyes of every female present and see if he could spot Maya. Her face was a blur but what he hadn’t forgotten were her eyes and her smell.
He started looking around. As he reached the end of the hall he felt a tinge of disappointment, she wasn’t there in the crowd of onlookers. But wait…there were 2 girls sitting right beside him, one on either side. One was Kum and the other the female party in the other couple that was being married off. Since he could not look directly at the other girl sitting beside him, he glanced up at Kum. Just a glance. But what he saw made him look again. Was it his imagination or was it true? He saw Kum’s face but her eyes… oh didn’t they look so similar to those of Maya’s? He was sure his tired mind was playing tricks. He looked again…she was smiling, that pretty smile of hers…but then her eyes…they caught him off guard again. They seem to be saying…”Oh sweetheart, you have searched for me all around when Im sitting right beside you.”
Curiosity took place of wonder now. He was sure this was some game Yagya’s doings. He now looked at the other girl and was shocked to the last nerve cell. Why she looked so much like Maya…except those eyes…There was something terribly wrong with her. She looked exactly like what she looked when he had last seen her but something was missing…maybe the aura the mystic beauty that surrounded her. He glanced again at Kum and she was reading the wonder in his eyes with a sense of amusement. Kum, for a change was looking radiant. Yagya…it was all his doing. He had done what Astitva had asked for…Maya’s soul and eyes in Kum’s body and vice versa. Cleverly he had found the mid path such that there was no infringement of policies while Astitva had what he had wanted.
As the reality of the situation sunk in, he couldn’t decide whether he was happy or sad. Here was his Maya but would Maya be Maya without her lithe body, without those legs that walked on water? Without the skin that shone as bright as the snakeskin? Would he be able to love her? True, if he had her soul, he had her love…but still….
By that time, the ceremony was almost at an end. They were at the last part of the ceremony where Yagya was supposed to take his most divine form to bless the couple. Since Yagya would generate a light of a thousand suns the couples were supposed to look at his reflection in water; while seeking his blessings. The 2 couples stood up at one end of the Pool of a thousand lotuses, while Yagya stood at the other. The 2 men stood in the middle while their better half on their either side. Astitva glanced at his reflection and caught the other guy beside him looking at him. He was in for another shock. The guy looked like him and he himself looked like someone else…suddenly he felt all energy draining from his body except his arms. Oh God! What had Maya asked Yagya for?
So that was how Astitva’s arms married Maya’s eyes and soul in Kum’s body and Maya’s body with Kum’s soul went to Parikshit, who was every bit of Astitva except for his arms. As expected, it wasn’t a very happy union from any aspect. Yagya knew this but then didn’t they have what they wanted? What else could he do? He called the 2 couples separately and told them that love is different from passion. He wanted them to adjust to the “new” situation and learn to love and live with one another. He said they should consider themselves lucky to have what they wanted; another person in their position might have lost his life.
But then, despite numerous such advices and warnings later, things didn’t improve. The climax or rather the anticlimax came when Yagya found Parikshit (Astitva’s body) sleeping with Maya. He was angered beyond all limits and put a curse on them.
“You, you Maya who has known true love will never ever find love again, no matter what you do. So much so that, you will spend a lifetime looking for love and when it will come to you, you will run away from it and then wonder why you did that. And you Astitva, who had the courage to stand before me, me the Supreme Being to ask for just one thing, not to be separated from the one you love, shall never know what love is, when it will be there all around you. The two of you are sentenced to live with one another for all your future lives in longing but without love.”
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