Page 165 - Kolaj Sharodiya Review Edition

The heavy Ganesha idol was lifted by a pair of caring hands and placed on wet grass alongside the road. The clay
model, already damp, had started melting away in the ceaseless rains. Moni found herself chanting the Ganesha
strotra unconsciously, her voice trembling in the cool atmosphere…

‘Vakratunda mahakaya Surya Koti Samaprabha
Nirbighnam Kuru Me Deva sarv-kaaryeshu Sarvadaa’

And she ran back, convinced that the needful was done. This was her battle against self-doubt and weakness.

The initiative took about fifteen minutes before Moni closed the main door of their house. Careful not to leave a trail,
the shivering girl changed her dress silently and wiped out the trace of water in the passageway. She had to use her
mother’s hand drier to get her own hair dry.

Nonetheless busy in continuous chat using her mobile phone, Moni’s mother Durga failed to detect anything about the
adventure. After a few suppressed sneezes, Moni felt a rising pain in her body. A hot wave swelled through her as she
slipped into a feverish sleep. Out to call Moni for dinner, Durga found the semiconscious girl lying on her bed running
high temperatures.

Moni drifted into a subconscious state floating in between dream and reality. In one minute, she was sighting her
luckless dadu and a weeping Ganesha in the other. Yet, Moni’s consciousness was not lost altogether. She somehow
had a feeling that she was in the center of a tug of war between injustice and faith. She started having the same
previous sensation of someone speaking from her inner core.

- ‘What you did had been done with love and respect for a simple and honest conception and not just out of pity on a
simple and mutilated clay statuette.’

Feeling more comfortable now, Moni opened her eyes to find the worried faces of her parents around. She couldn’t feel
any pain or weakness over any part of her body. She was elated and happy.

Gazing along the walls of the room, Moni sensed that a not so significant incident had finally pushed her to come off
age. She had in the process also realized that more often than not we felt powerless of altering what was incorrect with
us. Moni now understood for certain that love was the only thing that never failed. Love and compassion together were
the magic potion that could help us grow. She now wanted to forget the past and believe in a new future ahead.

A delicate grin brightened her finely curved lips. Seeing the faint lines on Moni’s lips her mother Durga felt relieved and
returned the smile without knowing much about the cause.