AGRATA, LOST & FOUND

Strong wind would blow over her feminine structure, heavy monsoons poured out their sorrows to her, yet Agrata, always stood on firm grounds above her tiny feet. Her feet may have been tiny, probably the tiniest one would find in a girl of her age, yet there was no storm strong enough to shake her.

Agrata had acquired her firmness of ground and invincible courage since her childhood. She was the most pampered child amongst her three other siblings, two older sisters and a younger brother.

Even as a child she possessed a will strong enough to pave pathways to acquire what her heart desired. She came from loving family, parents as selfless as mother Earth, and siblings who never left her side. Despite having all that a child needs, Agrata was not content. Every day she secretively mourned for assets that she didn’t possess and yearned for more vanity and an extravagant lifestyle. She seldom regarded others’ feelings above her own and she failed to understand the virtue of a humble living.

Being from a Hindu-Brahmin family, she grew up listening to the stories of the Hindu Gods, but never paid them any heed. Her Mother was a religious person, and yet she couldn’t bring her daughter to be even half as devoted to the love of God as she was. There were many stories she would listen to, and felt they were starkly devoid of logic and sense. One of these stories was the story of Lord Ganesh.

One day when Lord Ganesh and his brother Karthikeya had come of age, they wanted to get married. Yes they did! Both wanted to marry before the other. Their parents Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati were in a fix. They weren’t sure whom to please and whom to deny as both the sons very equally dear to them. Agrata was confused at the point, that why the two brothers couldn’t get married alongside!

Shiva came up with a solution. He pronounced a task for the two. The task was that whosoever will encircle the universe first will be married first. Karthikeya set out on this odyssey to encircle the universe. Everyone believed that it was rather easy for him to win the task as he was of an athletic build and his vehicle was a peacock. Whereas Ganesh was pot bellied and his vehicle was a rat. A couple of years passed by since Karthikeya and left, and Ganesh was happy going about his routine life. When his father questioned him if he has accepted defeat, Ganesh smiled and encircled his parents seven times and stated that his parents are his Universe and that he has completed the given task seven times. His parents had to accept his belief and declared him the winner! This Agrata considered rather illogical and refused to acknowledge any mythological stories.

More than her will, the attribute most noticed in her was her stubbornness. She was too stiff to budge for anything in the world, except her fluttering heart. She would behave in synchronization with the whims of the life pump! It was a matter of oddity for her family and friends to understand how she could be so different from the rest of her family. He father, Ramanuja was a simple man, a person of equal experience and knowledge that made him a kind and loving parent. Her Mother, Suguna was a logical woman, too straightforward at times for a mother’s humour, yet very devoted nonetheless. The oldest of the Siblings, Surbhi, was a motherly sister, an obedient daughter, and an emotional girl. The second of the four children, Rani had taken after her older sister, but extrovert in nature as opposed to Surbhi’s reserved disposition. The last was a brother, Gyan, as warm as the sun, who was academically very intellectual, but a boy of sweet temperament.

One fine afternoon, which wasn’t close to being fine, it was hot and sultry, Agrata decided that she had had enough of the sheltered life at Delhi that made her mind mundane and strife. She wanted to feed her thirsty adventurous heart and experiment with the word ‘independence’ and ‘freedom’. She decided to part from her family and set forth on a journey to witness the spectacles of the world which she was convinced would be a part of her life soon. Little did she know of the shortcomings of these spectacles that lay ahead of her. Despite her family’s combined efforts to dissuade her from her fanciful enterprise, she set forth to challenge her destiny at twice the verve and strength that she was bestowed upon.

She moved to Bangalore, a cosmopolitan city in India, best known as the ‘Silicon valley’ of the country. At first, when she landed herself in a decent college to study literature and art, she felt the first feelings of contentment. She believed that she had found a reason to her existence. She made friends, and lovers. She possessed a charm that was both attractive and dangerous. She reached the pink of her life during the first year. At cosmopolitan cities in India, it was a trend to hang out with friends, adorn the latest fashion, party, dance and drink. Agrata indulged in all these ‘trends’ to convince herself of her victory. Unfortunately for her, Agrata didn’t realize that every party eventually ended, every dream would break into the mornings and every misconception would turn into deception.

As the sands of time passed through her triumphed fist, she became popular at college for the wrong reasons. Her professors always found a reason to pick at her, though she excelled in academia, they disliked her arrogance. She found her friends turning to foes by the number, due to things that were inexplicable to her own self. She started keeping to herself, and indulged in books and music. Then a time came by when she would converse aloud with none but herself, at the presence of others. Everything that she conceived as beautiful and satisfying turned into thorns of nightmares that controlled her tremendously. The Agrata, who was known to have an invincible grip on her ground, was being gripped by the misfortunes of her destiny. She lost herself, and started descending grossly into insanity. There was a time when she couldn’t even read a single line, leave alone volumes of books she used to gobble up at a time, in the past. She detested Society, and she detested light. She took to darkness and it devoured her.

She would have reached her grave, if it had not been for her family, who came to her rescue. When her Mother heard of her ailment, she flew to her side, and gave her all her time. She nursed her and took care of her like the little Agrata she had nurtured as an infant. With her mother’s healing powers, Agrata, decided to quit her present life and get back to the shelter of her home. When she got back home, she didn’t see pity in the eyes of her family, but she saw love, and more love & only love. Her sisters would always dress her up, to invoke her lost charm. Her brother would play the guitar & encourage her to sing with him to stimulate her passion for music. Her father would read her bed time stories. Every member in the family protected her, as a delicate flower, craving to see in it its lost colours & fragrance.

The love of her family was more powerful than anything in her life. Agrata realized that, her kit and kin were her truest friends, her parents were the guide, and ‘independence’ was not a thing to be sought alone, but to be felt in unison with all those one loved.

The sun shone brightly again and the warmth brought back the lost colours of Agrata’s life. And she was content with her share of happiness and sorrows. She never again felt the need to be the best any more. She realised that she was always special for her family who would go to the end of the Earth to make her feel special. She learnt that happiness comes with togetherness and selflessness. And until today her favourite epic story has been the story of Lord Ganesh!