The curse of Satyabhama!
“I didn't dare look over my shoulder. I knew if I did, it would all be over…”
The curse of Satyabhama was such. She had given Shobha darshan* in her dreams & asked her to visit her temple to pay homage. The gramdevi* temple was situated under the banyan tree in the medow with tall grass glades. The temple & its surroundings were always deserted due to the fear of inviting Satyabhama’s ire.
It all began in the year 1952. Satya was the third amongst the five children. Her father Vilas Rao was a farmer who made ends meet by tilling the small patch of land that he had inherited after his fathers death.
Satya was a playful child & trouble attracted her like metal to magnet. Always getting thrashed either by her mother or elder sisters, she was soon turning into a rebel.
They married her at the age of 14. Her husband was a jawan* in the army. Their entire village was proud to flaunt him as the village’s son-in-law. Bhimrao’s posting always took him to far flung & obscure places. Being an ordinary jawan, he could never take his wife along. She sobbed uncontrollably every time he left to return after 2 years.
In his last visit, he had consummated his marriage & they had been happy stealing time away from prying eyes, sometimes hiding behind the hay stacks & at other times in the caves that were situated on the outskirts of the village where no one ventured due to the huge bee hives hanging from the rocks protruding out of the cliff walls.
The three weeks of sanctioned leave got over in a jiffy & it was time for Bhimarao to report to his head quarters at Maholi. Poor Satya was heart broken & he promised to leave her at her parents place for a few days to make her feel better.
As the days passed, Satya would miss Bhimarao immeasurably & her melancholia was noticed by Shyam Babu. Shyam was a libertine rake with a nose for vulnerable, passionate lassies. He started lauding her beauty & grace & found the nubile Satya responsive.
It was the festival of Shivratri*. Satya was coming back from the village temple after offering milk to lord Shiva. Shyam Babu accosted her as she was crossing the medows to reach her parent’s modest house. He presented her with a jasmine gajra* & as she jumped in glee, embraced her. Before she could realize what was happening…they were locked in a passionate embrace.
Satya had never known such sensual gratifications. She basked at each touch & moaned in their pursuit of pleasure. Little did she know that this was a one way ticket to doom.
The next month she skipped her menstrual cycle & ignorant that she was…didn’t bother much. The morning sickness & she became increasingly concerned as she realized that she was pregnant.
Fear made her hide the truth from her parents & by the time they realized the situation, she was 26 weeks pregnant. Her parents feared public ridicule & decided to somehow abort the baby. They fed her poisonous herbs & the baby died in the womb.
Satya was in immense pain, the dead baby was spreading the gangrene, as she lay wailing loudly in pain. The villagers had started inquiring about Satya’s loud pitched cries & he parents decided that they had to save face.
Satya’s cousin brother was taken into confidence. Vilas Rao & the cousin dragged her deep into the forest on the foot hills of the Sahyadri’s & killed her, burying her body in a natural furrow in the river bed camouflaging the area with the dead foliage of the massive deciduous trees around.
It had been exactly 13 days since Satya’s killing. Poorna, the village headmaster’s daughter-in-law was filing water when she suddenly lifted the earthern pot & flung it on the ground. The pot disintegrated into a thousand pieces as she loosened her hair & started laughing in an eerie manner. When she spoke….it was in a different voice. Her eyes rolled in their sockets & she flung her head in circular motions as if in a satanic trance!
It was difficult to subdue Poorna even with the help of 4 young studs from the village akhada.* As the village priest prepared to perform a particular puja*, the spirit that had permeated into her body left her as suddenly as it had encroached it. As Poorna fell on the ground in a heap, her body burned in fever & kept her bed ridden for days.
In the coming days….nothing was the same again. Every house feared for its young female occupant’s safety. The incensed spirit raged havoc as it took each victim & reduced her to a sickly invalid.
Ram Bau was a kindred soul & respected by every one in the village. It was one such incident of ravaged insanity when Ram Bau calmly sat next to the victim & with folded hands, asked in humble respect the spirit’s identity & what it wanted.
I’m Satyabhama, Vilas Rao’s daughter…screamed the victim tearing her own hair. There was a shocked hushed coz everyone thought Satya had returned to her husband’s village. Ram Bau pressed further what she wanted.
I want revenge! I want to teach all of you a lesson! She raged. Vilas Rao was confronted & he confessed to killing his own daughter. He was brought before the victim & he gently palavered urging his daughter Satya to forget & forgive & leave everyone alone. He cried in repentance & impelled her to take his life if that would make her happier.
Vilas Rao’s despair acted as balm on Satya’s choler. She calmed down & announced that she would not trouble anyone who appeased her. The villagers would have to give her prominence in the gramdevi temple. She would come in people’s dreams & they would have to offer her prasad* & a saree* & return without looking over their shoulders or else….
* darshan – to appear
* gramdevi – the local female diety
*Jawan - Private
* Shivratri – A festival in celebration of Lord Shiva’s marriage to Parvati.
*Gajra – flowers strung in a short garland to adorn the hair.
* akhada – A place where the wrestlers practice.
*Puja – worship or religious ritual
*Prasad – edible offerings
*Saree – A nine yard long cloth used to wrap around the body in a particular style
commonly worn by the ladies in India.
Copyright © BuntysBanter 2007
The curse of Satyabhama was such. She had given Shobha darshan* in her dreams & asked her to visit her temple to pay homage. The gramdevi* temple was situated under the banyan tree in the medow with tall grass glades. The temple & its surroundings were always deserted due to the fear of inviting Satyabhama’s ire.
It all began in the year 1952. Satya was the third amongst the five children. Her father Vilas Rao was a farmer who made ends meet by tilling the small patch of land that he had inherited after his fathers death.
Satya was a playful child & trouble attracted her like metal to magnet. Always getting thrashed either by her mother or elder sisters, she was soon turning into a rebel.
They married her at the age of 14. Her husband was a jawan* in the army. Their entire village was proud to flaunt him as the village’s son-in-law. Bhimrao’s posting always took him to far flung & obscure places. Being an ordinary jawan, he could never take his wife along. She sobbed uncontrollably every time he left to return after 2 years.
In his last visit, he had consummated his marriage & they had been happy stealing time away from prying eyes, sometimes hiding behind the hay stacks & at other times in the caves that were situated on the outskirts of the village where no one ventured due to the huge bee hives hanging from the rocks protruding out of the cliff walls.
The three weeks of sanctioned leave got over in a jiffy & it was time for Bhimarao to report to his head quarters at Maholi. Poor Satya was heart broken & he promised to leave her at her parents place for a few days to make her feel better.
As the days passed, Satya would miss Bhimarao immeasurably & her melancholia was noticed by Shyam Babu. Shyam was a libertine rake with a nose for vulnerable, passionate lassies. He started lauding her beauty & grace & found the nubile Satya responsive.
It was the festival of Shivratri*. Satya was coming back from the village temple after offering milk to lord Shiva. Shyam Babu accosted her as she was crossing the medows to reach her parent’s modest house. He presented her with a jasmine gajra* & as she jumped in glee, embraced her. Before she could realize what was happening…they were locked in a passionate embrace.
Satya had never known such sensual gratifications. She basked at each touch & moaned in their pursuit of pleasure. Little did she know that this was a one way ticket to doom.
The next month she skipped her menstrual cycle & ignorant that she was…didn’t bother much. The morning sickness & she became increasingly concerned as she realized that she was pregnant.
Fear made her hide the truth from her parents & by the time they realized the situation, she was 26 weeks pregnant. Her parents feared public ridicule & decided to somehow abort the baby. They fed her poisonous herbs & the baby died in the womb.
Satya was in immense pain, the dead baby was spreading the gangrene, as she lay wailing loudly in pain. The villagers had started inquiring about Satya’s loud pitched cries & he parents decided that they had to save face.
Satya’s cousin brother was taken into confidence. Vilas Rao & the cousin dragged her deep into the forest on the foot hills of the Sahyadri’s & killed her, burying her body in a natural furrow in the river bed camouflaging the area with the dead foliage of the massive deciduous trees around.
It had been exactly 13 days since Satya’s killing. Poorna, the village headmaster’s daughter-in-law was filing water when she suddenly lifted the earthern pot & flung it on the ground. The pot disintegrated into a thousand pieces as she loosened her hair & started laughing in an eerie manner. When she spoke….it was in a different voice. Her eyes rolled in their sockets & she flung her head in circular motions as if in a satanic trance!
It was difficult to subdue Poorna even with the help of 4 young studs from the village akhada.* As the village priest prepared to perform a particular puja*, the spirit that had permeated into her body left her as suddenly as it had encroached it. As Poorna fell on the ground in a heap, her body burned in fever & kept her bed ridden for days.
In the coming days….nothing was the same again. Every house feared for its young female occupant’s safety. The incensed spirit raged havoc as it took each victim & reduced her to a sickly invalid.
Ram Bau was a kindred soul & respected by every one in the village. It was one such incident of ravaged insanity when Ram Bau calmly sat next to the victim & with folded hands, asked in humble respect the spirit’s identity & what it wanted.
I’m Satyabhama, Vilas Rao’s daughter…screamed the victim tearing her own hair. There was a shocked hushed coz everyone thought Satya had returned to her husband’s village. Ram Bau pressed further what she wanted.
I want revenge! I want to teach all of you a lesson! She raged. Vilas Rao was confronted & he confessed to killing his own daughter. He was brought before the victim & he gently palavered urging his daughter Satya to forget & forgive & leave everyone alone. He cried in repentance & impelled her to take his life if that would make her happier.
Vilas Rao’s despair acted as balm on Satya’s choler. She calmed down & announced that she would not trouble anyone who appeased her. The villagers would have to give her prominence in the gramdevi temple. She would come in people’s dreams & they would have to offer her prasad* & a saree* & return without looking over their shoulders or else….
* darshan – to appear
* gramdevi – the local female diety
*Jawan - Private
* Shivratri – A festival in celebration of Lord Shiva’s marriage to Parvati.
*Gajra – flowers strung in a short garland to adorn the hair.
* akhada – A place where the wrestlers practice.
*Puja – worship or religious ritual
*Prasad – edible offerings
*Saree – A nine yard long cloth used to wrap around the body in a particular style
commonly worn by the ladies in India.
Copyright © BuntysBanter 2007
posted by Bunty's Banter at 8:59 AM
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