This is purely fictional; there are no rituals or ceremonies in reality. So don't bash me or question me, don't do it.
Author's POV:
"Ritu, this is Mrs. Sandhya Chatterjee, Ph.D. in-" Ritu cut off Samay's words raising her palm and her gaze was never tearing off from Sandhya Chatterjee, who was in a simple peach flowers and white background Bengali cotton saree, a little bindi, a titan raga watch to the left, two gold bangles to the right hand, her grey hair tied into a bun, sliver frame glasses and most importantly serene face. "Hey ma'am! Big fan of your work!" She grinned extending hand for a shake. Sandhya took her hand chuckling softly shaking her head slowly, before giving a long side glance to her son. Samay stiffened a little, rubbing his nape like a teenager who accidentally caught by his mom just a brief second.
"I swear, this Samay guy has some connection with this professor" Chandrika whispered to Varshika and Aparna, as they looked at each other and gave her a subtle- How do you know look. She signaled them to look how Samay and Sandhya were shifting awkward gazes to Ritu while talking to her.
"And Ritu you got to know about me, now let me introduce to my only child, meet my son Samay Chatterjee, pure Bengali and now making his Thesis on Lost Indian Cultures and customs" As soon as Sandhaya, encircled Samay's shoulder with her hand, Ritu was flabbergasted, Chandrika looked proud for connecting dots, while the other two girls exchanged knowing looks like – yeah we have seen many, this isn't anything.
"Are you okay, Sweetie?" Samay asked softly looking in between his mother and girlfriend. 'Bro, she dropped a bomb on us and looks like you too dropped a bomb on her." Chandrika commented crossing her hands nonchalantly. Slowly Ritu grinned more wider than the first time, a sparkle in her eyes visible than ever. "So, my idol will be my mother-in-law?!" She squealed, it was infectious making the tensed environment amused and funny.
"So, you are sure that I will be accepting you?" Sandhaya's expression was cold a little which made Ritu dim a little. For a few seconds atmosphere was silent with awkward coughs and look around but not here kind of vibes. "Don't worry Ritu, I accept but let's discuss about your situation now. First you guys need to be safe and later we can discuss about your love and marriage." She gave a little serious expression and the girls too nodded. She gestured the girls to take their respective seats across her desk. Ritu was taking her cabin's every in-detail. The teal colour walls, shelves with never ending books, maps, manuscripts, plants in sides.
"Straight to the point girls... did you perform any God summoning ritual?" Sandhya asked leaning on the desk, her face was schooled again into seriousness. Varshika swallowed the lump before nodding, then followed by the other three. "Can you recount that experience? Listen carefully, don't.hide.from.me. if you do, it's really not good; I need to know everything." It was a statement. Samay was sitting on the nearby chair, taking deep breathes remembering what he heard from Ritu a week ago.
Chandrika started to narrate the event four months ago on Maha Shiva Ratri night during a power cut in their hostel.
Maha Shiva Ratri 2025-
Aparna and Chandrika came into the hostel room after the dinner, while Ritu was trying to decode that unknown scroll got in her college bag pack last Monday. Varshika was reading a rom-com book laying on her bed.
"Would it actually work? I don't think so, pff" Ritu was muttered to herself after decoding the language in that unknown scroll. "What are you even doing, Ritu papa?" Aparna stood beside her desk. "I actually decoded this scroll... look?!" She excitedly shown her scribbled note pad with a jumbling words in different languages. "What the actual hell is that? So confusing..." Aparna took it in hands giving a baffled expression, she was clueless. "This is Devanagari script and this is Pali script and yes this Sanskrit" Ritu explained her pointing at those words. "Hain?" Aparna was more clueless. "Okay leave it" Ritu sighed placing the notes away.
"By the way you told that, you decoded it. What is in it?" Chandrika sat on her bed intrigued. Ritu raised her brow doubtfully at her sudden interest- "Are you sure want to listen?". "Of course, Ritu papa?! I mean my phone is now battery low, I just plugged in..." She gritted her teeth smiling. "Hmm, thought so, but I think all of us need an attention to this decoded chanting or Shloka you, see?" Ritu sat beside Varshika, who now sat up too, putting her book aside. "What was there to showcase that level of interest in this?" Aparna casually rolled her eyes sitting on the bed adjacent to Chandrika.
"So, this shloka is part of a ritual, like who ever wants to perform this needs to sit on the floor, no light sources, except one lamp or single light in middle or a candle; we need to close our eyes, put our hands forward on the single light source and rotate our body like we are moving any rotor. And yes! we should be in Yoni mudra!" She chirped at the last. "Yoni What?" Chandrika asked. "Butterfly pose like this" She folded both of her legs, feet touched each other. "Okay, what we will get?" Varshika was skeptical.
"Hmm, while moving like spinning a rotor, we need to chant this shloka for five times each for our deep wishes!" She smiled. All of them rolled their eyes collectively at her. "We are educated and empowered urban girls, if we perform this kind of stuff, we will be called illiterates accurately or more precisely – superstitious." Chandrika dismissed. "Yeah, feels the same" Aparna too agreed. "Ritu, why did you get this idea by the way?" Varshika asked skulking. "Come on guys, I just read and decode it. It just looks different that's it. And I know this is stupid or superstitious but you know what? The Sloka looks too good to pronounce and mystical too?!! Like it could work as a breathing exercise or a weird... no actually different type of energy?!" Ritu's curiosity was too dangerously optimistic behind those sliver frame almond eyes and cherry pink lips.
"We don't need that now, stupid stuff" Aparna rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and why we should huh?" Chandrika wiggled her brows in mockery. "So.... Just for test like, we all have a deep desire, right? Like recently there were some mishaps in our own lives... like – I was..." She took a shaky breath before continuing "-or you know we collectively faced ourselves... maybe we need a chance? Or a small hope? We just do this like it means nothing, just a-" Varshika shook her head sighing "Ritu... we did have hard time in our way but... this may not be the solution" her words were soft a firm and worry itched her face.
"Yeah... I know but, at least let's chant it. The shloka is giving peace like some awakeningly peace? And I too don't trust that our pain and conditions will change overnight. It's just a scroll with some mystical Pali script and Sanskrit, just... please?" She pleads softly.
"Today is Shiva Ratri and we just visited the temple in the morning and came back, like it's an auspicious day, now you are telling us to do something shady?" Aparna had a poker face. "What is auspicious and inauspicious for mental peace? Let's try this Appu?" Ritu gave a pleading look, while Chandrika's expressions were somewhere to be convinced to her explanation after what tremors they saw in their own lives. "We will then" Chandrika nodded, earning a surprise look from Varshika and Aparna.
"Are you serious?" Aparna yelped in low voice, "Yeah, it's just like a meditation she said, didn't she?" Chandrika said cooly relaxing in bed. "You are so unbelievable?!!" Aparna threw a pillow at her frowning deeply. "Girls... just be calm!" Varshika pulled Aparna who is taking another pillow to throw to Chandrika, meanwhile Chandrika was smirking like she likes the situation.
"Ritu papa doesn't be stupid!?" Aparna warned her pointing her finger. "Arey it's just normal shloka Appu!?" Ritu huffed showing the verse, for a second Aparna went silent, she took the note pad, her chubby short fingers tracing the verse like a delicate surface, her expression went indifferent. "What? You too felt that peaceful connection, right?" Ritu's eyes sparked with known excitement. "Yeah..." Aparna whispered taking off the hand from the verse; it took her few seconds to calm down again for that strange verse.
"Shall we?" Ritu turned hopefully at Varshika. "If it has such a calming effect then, we are in crisis or should I say post crisis, then we shall" she solemnly spoke looking at Aparna's face which is now looked more relaxed. "Yes?!!" Ritu squealed and took the scroll, note pad in hands. Within minutes the beds were moved and a place to sit on their hostel room was created. Four of them sat down in a circle, a single mobile flash light was taken, in time there was power cut in the locality.
While girls in other rooms were hooting, shouting and screaming for the power cut like it was some unexpected enjoyment. Others were frustrated as they can't study or work...... the hostel didn't have any generator. But this room girls were silent, closed their eyes, one single light resource was in middle of them, kept their hands forward blocking the light source. Moving their bodies like they were spinning a rotor; slow and steady.
"Now repeat after me five times and say your wish in your heart... it should be our deepest desire... are you ready girlies?" Ritu spoke and three of them hummed. Their eyes were shut closed tightly, while movements were slow...
these are reference images for sitting and performing the ritual... now continue to imagine
"महत्तमेषु महोन्नत!
पार्वतीपतिनाथ-हृदय-विजयी वीर!
देवराज-मानित चेष्टित-भूत!
पावन-हृत्क!
ज्योतिवीरे, दिग्दीप्त-रणपत!अयं नः मन्त्र-स्पृहा -अत्र आगच्छ, सत्यं कुरु वाञ्छितम्।
हृदय-नाथ, स्व-रमणी-रूपेण मां राज्ञीं कुरु।"
(Mahattameshu mahonnata! Parvatipatinatha- Hridaya vijayai veera! Devaraja manita cheshthitha bhuta! Pavana hritika! Jyoti veere, digdikpta ranapate. Ayam nah mantra sprha- atra agaccha, satysm kuru vanyachitam. Hridaya naatha, sva ramani roopena maam ragyinim kuru) [Oh the greatest of the greatest! Who won the heart of Parvat Pati! Who impressed the king of demi gods! The sacred hearted, unbeatable warrior! Come and make our wishes true, take one as your Queen!]
The sloka was spelled by Ritu, they went silent. She understood the situation and recited again word by word to them and they repeated slowly. Finally, the chanting finished but they even Ritu didn't realize was – They had summoned him and it was forbidden shloka.........
Once when the chant was finished all of them folded their hands, eyes still closed and they stopped moving, wishing the deepest desires... and the power was back like a magic?
"Look! Did anything had happened? Nothing!?" Ritu got up dusting of her back. "It was peaceful... yes nothing has happened... maybe we were overthinking" Varshika commented dusting off too... "Oh hello, it's just a second long we made it. If something has to happen like any bad thing had to happen after this... I will kill everyone of you!!" Aparna fumed, jumping back into her bed. "So dramatic, Oye drama queen what would you do if the thing you wished comes true hmm?" Chandrika teased popped on her elbow supporting her head on the bed laying down beside her.
"My wish? I don't even know and I do have what I wished for..." Aparna said proudly, "Really? What is it babe?" Chandrika quirked "Dog love, cat love, bird love...." "OH... Oh... animal lover... or should I say crazy girl... stop. And don't tell me that you wished for welfare of those." Chandrika threw a pillow on her face sarcastically. "What's wrong?" Aparna squealed in an offended tone.
"Everything is idiotic... and this mind set of yours is ridiculous. Glad we need not to say those dark wishes out or else this stupid would be ranting about animals..." her voice was gruff. Aparna mocked her throwing another pillow. "Chandu... what did you wish for then?" Varshika wiggled her brows playfully. "If this ritual goes well... you will find out and good night... Varu" she pulled the blanket from head to toe falling asleep.
"This is what happened that day?" Sandhya shot a glare at them. "Ritu, beta don't mind me but there is literally the last line of the shloka which says take me as your Queen – don't say that you are weak in Ancient Sanskrit and Devanagari that you couldn't see it? How can you miss that?" her voice rang sharply in the cabin that Ritu flinched a little in her seat.
"Okaygirls... let me give you a reality check; by now you guys might have alreadyreleased that Bhairava is behind you or should I say he might be observing you.Four months ago, on the Maha Shiva Ratri night... you guys have don't aforbidden ritual called Aawahana.. in tantric traditions. It's simple buteffective. Mostly these types of rituals were done in small towns, villages andhamlets in Ancient India protecting the areas from benevolent spirits like we have this grama devata concept in Telugu states, right? That way... and it's sacrificial by the way- meaning one of you are... you know the thing already. And you guys staying in that cursed Kubera and Shiva temple is not an unplanned or accidental. It took three months for that man to bring you there to his domain. And he successfully brought you. Now I think you need to meet him again to find who is that wonder girl of his." Her tone was sarcastically sharp.
On the other side, Samay was have a heart attack inside for his mother's words, his eyes were darting between both of his first love and love of his life. He was praying internally to God.
"Ma'am... please don't say like that... we found a sadhu he too told something but-" Ritu was almost in tears. "Stop. We have only one way. On Kartika Poornima which in two weeks, that night you should perform this Aawahana not at your room but some isolated area because this time he will be appearing himself rather than hints. So be careful I will be there Samay will also be there; we will do it. Got it?" She asked getting up from her chair.
"Um, but how does he know we want to see him?" Chandrika asked looking lost in this thunder of a world. "He is actually observing you. You are having those weird omens, right?" Sandhya stood leaning on the desk, they nodded their heads collectively. "So, he is there and he will come to show his Queen to the world. Now go, brace yourselves..." She spoke calmy.
Meanwhile Samay and Ritu were really tensed inside. And the other three were having panic attacks inside.
Hey, dear readers, how was the chapter? did you like it? let me know!!
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