Page 164 - Kolaj Sharodiya Review Edition

Was it really the God’s voice or she herself had started conversing with her own mind! Moni was confused.
- But why? Why an idol, worshipped earlier, had been left like this?
An apt question but suddenly Moni was equipped with the explanation! The answers were coming spontaneously now.
- Those were the ways of the society! They abandoned what were no more required, just like the weak and aged elders in the social order.

The bearing of the unspoken words came in full thrust upon Moni. A sad piece of memory concerning her dadu had ripped open a deep wound in her heart. Like the
Ganesha idol, her dadu also was cast off to a dark corner of the half-covered veranda of their apartment. The old man was her closest in the family.

A distraught Moni protested stubbornly. Yet all of her prayers to give the eldest of the family some room inside fell flat against the dogged stiffness of her parents. Looking at the
tearful eyes of the forsaken man, the teenager searched in her mind for a plausible reason of such behaviors of her parents. Was it for dadu’s incapability to be of any use any
further or there were other causes behind it! Whom to blame! Should she start hating her own parents for this! There was no answer to that. A devastated Moni lost her inherent
harmony. She could find no other means but to tie a ‘Mannat’ seeking divine intervention for her hapless dadu.

Her dadu breathed his last within a few months after the incident. Was it a rescue act of the Gods to free the suffering soul from all afflictions! Moni couldn’t be sure of the
heavenly involvement in response to her prayers. Similarly, she couldn’t distinguish between the right and the wrong behind her parents’ grief-stricken wailing and sorrow after
her dadu’s demise. Moni was bewildered now. Was it due to the fact that since creation humans were a helpless lot, always falling prey to their uncontrolled emotions!

Moni was depressed then and depressed now.

- Was there a solution for this distressing occurrence about the Ganesha statuette!
The question rolled through her mind.
- Place the statue in an open area when there would be adequate rain.
The response was clear and resonating in the girl’s ears. In some ways she was enjoying the discussion but no more response came out. It seemed as if her mind had gone
blank.

Ambling back to her home, the girl was analyzing the gist of the discussion. The idols we worshipped to seek blessings for our own material gain, were to be dumped among
litters and garbage! Moni held herself responsible for actions committed by others.

The early days of August also were almost dry. Moni waited to re-engage in the conversation with Ganesha that ended abruptly. Yet there was nothing! She then started
praying for rains to come to her aid.

It was the fourth day of the month, when sound of large raindrops came knocking down on their doors in the evening. The sky had opened up. Within minutes the shallow
areas got filled with water and the surroundings became cool. Her baba still in office and ma busy in the living room with her cell phone, Moni sneaked out with a small
umbrella. Run, run and run, but the umbrella upturned. She still had a few meters to get to the spot. Moni was alone and helpless underneath the torrential rain. Yet, as if
possessed by a powerful spirit, she covered the distance with long strides.