THE REAL PERSEVERANCE I Story by L.Sai Laasya, 12, Hyderabad

THE REAL PERSEVERANCE

 

1.THE DAY OF A LIE

 

In the 20th century, there lived a village girl named Uma. She resided with her uncle, Vishnu, because she had lost her parents and brother in a terrible accident. Uma, despite being a kind and hardworking girl, was ignored by everyone due to a facial wound, which led people to rumour that she was evil or unlucky. 

 

At that time, there was a belief that if a girl looked good, she was compared to Goddess Parvathi. Two villagers, Radha and Murali were against these prejudices against people. One day, while Uma was working in the vast fields of the village Sarpanch, Narayana, she spotted a cobra slithering towards Ashok, another labourer. Uma shouted loudly, “Watch out, Ashok, a cobra is slithering towards you.”

 

Unfortunately, due to the distance between them, Ashok couldn’t hear Uma. The snake bit Ashok, and he collapsed, dying on the spot. Uma’s uncle Vishnu, the custodian of her deceased parents’ property gained if Uma were to be removed from the succession so he took this opportunity to hatch an evil plan. He called the villagers and made up a story, claiming that the previous night Uma went to the forest, caught a cobra, brought it to the fields, and let it bite Ashok. The villagers, except Radha and Murali, believed his story.

 

“What is the proof?” asked Murali. Vishnu claimed Uma was not at home all night and returned that morning from the forest route. He said, another villager, Lakshman could corraborate.   Although confused, Lakshman sided with Vishnu, stating, “Ahh..Y-Yes, she came from the route of the forest this m-morning.” Radha questioned how Uma could catch a cobra, and Vishnu replied that she took a snake catcher with her.

 

Radha further asked why Uma would harm Ashok, and Vishnu sighed and said “Ashok hated her, most probably that is the reason she did so.” Uma pleaded, “No, no, it’s all a lie; please do not believe him.” The villagers appealed to the village Sarpanch to take strict action against Uma. Radha and Murali, unable to do much, could only show sympathy towards Uma.

 

Narayana decided that Uma should be left in the Sundarbans forest the next day, influenced by Vishnu’s believable acting skills. Uma cried, “No, my lord, please do not do this to me! I am innocent.” Due to Vishnu’s manipulations, Narayana had to punish her, leaving Uma in a time of sorrow.

 

2. MYSTERIES

 

The next day, Vishnu and Narayana took Uma far away in a bullock cart to West Bengal, the state where the Sundarbans is located. On the way, Uma shed tears, but nobody was concerned. Out of nowhere, a royal bengal tiger jumped out and ran behind the bullock cart. The three of them jumped off the cart for dear life and began running in three different directions. The royal tiger caught up with Narayana, killed him, and consumed his flesh, considering he was old and not able to run swiftly. Seeing this, Vishnu escaped the forest and ran away, leaving Uma behind. Meanwhile, after eating Narayana, the tiger died. 

 

After a day of wandering in the forest, Uma met a lost and hungry city Vet called Raj. He seemed to be three years younger than Uma. Uma felt familiar after meeting Raj, but kept the feeling to herself. They quickly became good friends. Raj asked Uma many questions about her life, and one of those questions was, “What is your name?” Uma replied, “My name is Uma, but alas, everyone in my village calls me Uma Rakshasi because of the wound on my face.” “It’s racism,” said Raj. “Maybe they say is true; I am indeed a Rakshasi” cried Uma. “But why?” asked Raj. “True beauty is what’s on the inside, not on the outside!” told Raj. Uma replied, “You will know everything about my past when you need to know.” Raj was curious but supported her silence.

 

The clever young city Vet understood that Uma has a terrible past. He was yet to discover it soon. Later on, Uma took Raj to the place where the Tiger died. Uma said, “Raj, you are a vet, can you please check why this tiger died?” “Sure, my dear friend,” Raj replied. He checked the dead tiger and was shocked.

 

3. OLDEN DAY PEOPLE

 

Uma was now very scared. She asked, “What happened, Raj?” Raj replied, “The Bengal tiget died because of drinking a chemical poison, which is found very rarely. In fact, it is a very dangerous poison; an organism dies immediately after drinking it. It’s known as Palytoxin. But my question is, how did it come here?”

 

Uma understood everything. So, you see, when Uma was acting like sleeping in the bullock cart, Vishnu and Narayana giggled to themselves. Vishnu asked Narayana, “Why are you so confident that Uma will die after eating tonight’s dinner?” Narayana replied with an evil grin on his face, “You idiot, I brought a deadly poison called Palytoxin; an organism dies as soon as drinking it. So, I will mix it with Uma’s dinner, and she shall die.” Vishnu replied, “Wow, you are indeed very clever, sire.” Narayana later hid it in his pocket.

 

When the tiger killed and ate Narayana, it drank the deadly poison as well. Uma was shocked that her uncle and the village head also hated her so much that they would not think twice to take her life away. When the tiger killed and ate Narayana, it consumed the deadly poison kept safely in a plastic bottle as well. Uma explained all of this to Raj. Raj sighed and told, “What kind of fools are they? Why would they take your life away just because of a stereotype?.”

 

4. GHOSTS DO NOT EXIST

 

Vishnu, Uma’s uncle, ran to escape from the wild animal until finally, he reached a small village near the Sundarbans called Habibpur. He went to a restaurant but forgot the money in the cart. So, he plucked an apple from a tree, ate it, and slept under the same tree. He had a dream of Ganga, his long-dead elder sister and Uma’s mother, questioning her brother about why he treated Uma like a slave.

 

Suddenly, Vishnu woke up from his sleep, ran all over the small colony, fell into a small pond, and realized that Uma was a ghost, and chasing him was all a dream. To escape from Ganga’s wrath, he fell into a small pond and realized that Ganga spoke to him in his dream, while all this time, he thought Ganga’s ghost came to question him and torture him. Vishnu said to himself, “Silly me, it was all a dream. He looks around and realised, “Ooh, boy, I’m back in theSundarbans again!” He took a sigh of relief that it was all a dream.

 

In a fraction of a second, an alligator jumped out of nowhere, emerged from the waters, and came rushing towards Vishnu. He got goosebumps all over his body and was scared, especially since he couldn’t run due to hurting his leg before falling into the muddy pond. He could do nothing but pray to the holy Goddess – Makara, the crocodile, and alligator goddess. Suddenly, a big glittering ray of light became visible to his eyes, passing through the dense and thick trees of the wild forest. The alligator stopped and looked at Vishnu curiously. Then he saw the great and holy goddess Makara. Vishnu couldn’t believe his own eyes.

 

5. A BOON OR A BANE?

 

Vishnu started, “Oh holy goddess, Makara, please save my life, don’t let this vile creature kill me! Please save me, oh great goddess.” The goddess said, “Alright. But, one condition.” Vishnu said, “Anything for dear life. What does the great goddess want me to do?” Goddess Makara replied, “The condition that you need to fulfill is, go search for your brother-in-law, Mukesh, and inform him that his beloved daughter, Uma, is still alive and reunite them. Go.” Vishnu was stunned. He said, “Oh goddess, as you know, my sister Ganga, her husband Mukesh, and their infant son are dead due to a car accident.” The goddess told him peacefully, “No, not at all. You will find one of them in this forest, and that person will lead you out to the other two.” The goddess then disappeared into thin air.

 

Vishnu was shocked beyond words that his family was alive. But the goddess cleverly locked an alligator bracelet on Vishnu’s hand. Vishnu understood that the bracelet was no ordinary one, and if he did not follow the goddess, an alligator would emerge from the bracelet and kill him, so he proceeded as the goddess told him to. Now he wondered where to start from.

 

6. FORGIVE YOUR UNCLE

 

Vishnu thought, maybe I need to tell Uma half of the truth that her family is alive, and one of them is here in Sundarbans. Perhaps, she may also help me find her family. Now began Vishnu’s search for his niece, whom he treated inadequately all these years. On the other hand, Uma and Raj were trying to find their way out of the forest after eating some wild fruits grown on the trees of the forest. They had an encounter with some adorable rabbits with whom Uma and Raj played and enjoyed a lot. They also fed them some spinach that Uma had carried on the way to Sundarbans.

 

On their way, they found Vishnu, who was really relieved to have found his niece. He ran to Uma and fell at her feet, begging for forgiveness for how he treated her. Raj, on the other hand, was confused about who this man was. He asked Uma, “Uma, who is this elderly man?” Uma told him, “He is my uncle, Vishnu, the one I told you about.” Raj said, “Namaste, uncle.” Vishnu didn’t bother to greet Uma’s new friend and ignored Raj. Uma replied to Vishnu, “Of course, uncle, I shall forgive you.” Vishnu enthusiastically exclaimed, “Thank you, Uma. You’re the best.”

 

Vishnu continued and told her all about his dream, meeting the holy goddess, the condition the goddess had put forward, and the alligator bracelet. Vishnu said, “So finally, we need to go find your parents, Uma.” Uma was flabbergasted, the three people whom she believed to be dead are fine and alive! Uma said, “What? My family is alive? I can’t believe you!” Uma started sobbing. Raj heard this and felt sorry for Uma. He said, “Uma, this is not the time to cry, you are supposed to be extremely delighted that your family is well and alive. Come on, let’s go with your uncle to find them.” Uma agreed, and now began the adventure of the three people to find Uma’s family.

 

7. The Adventure begins

 

Now that Vishnu knew the way out of the jungle, he directed the other two, and the three were out of the forest in a few hours. Uma couldn’t help but feel emotional and nervous to meet her parents and brother after 25 years. After the three were out of the forest, Raj’s wallet fell out of his pocket. He didn’t notice it, but Vishnu did. Vishnu went behind a bush and opened Raj’s wallet. Inside it, he saw something unbelievable- a small picture of a young Uma, her parents, and Uma’s infant brother. He immediately made his way to Uma and Raj and started yelling, “Uma! Uma! Look what I found. I spotted Raj’s wallet that fell on the ground open. I picked it up to return it to him, but I couldn’t help notice a picture of you as a 3-year-old, your parents, and your baby brother! Ask your friend why he has this with him,” commanded Vishnu.

 

Uma and Raj were stunned. Uma looked at Raj with a questioning face. Raj said, “It’s not a picture of Uma’s family but a picture of mine! Whatever uncle said is true, however, it is a picture of my family, I remember.” Uma exclaimed, “The picture has my mom, dad, and my long-lost sister. Does that mean you are my brother?” Raj asked, “Tell me how your sister got lost.” Raj sighed and said, “So you see, growing up, I never knew I had a sister. Thirteen days ago, when my dad was in the 4th stage of blood cancer, he told me that I had a loving sister. They said that when I was a month old, my parents, and my sister went on a sightseeing trip to West Bengal in our car when suddenly a truck dashed our car, and our family fell in a pit beside. Me and my parents fell behind the car due to which the citizens who came to help us couldn’t see us. The public joined my sister in a hospital nearby. And when the government rescue services arrived at the spot where we fell, they found us fighting for life behind the car. So, they then enrolled us in a government hospital, and we recovered after 3 days. When my parents tried asking the people who rescued my sister where they sent her, they said that my sister told them our village name and they left her near our village. When our parents tried contacting my uncle, our only relative in the village, his phone was switched off for 4 days. When my parents came went to their village, the people told that my uncle shifted with my sister, and they don’t know where he shifted. That’s how I came out searching for my sister.”

 

8. Reunited with family

 

Uma hugged Raj and started crying, “You are my brother, and your parents are my parents.” After Uma was done, Raj’s eyes were full of tears. Vishnu was also touched but snapped out of it soon. Vishnu said, “Oh, so you are my nephew, and you look similar to my sister. So, tell us where my sister and brother-in-law are living so that we can go and fulfill your dad’s final wish.” Raj said, “sister, we need to go to dad before he takes his last breath”. Uma aaked her brother, “Then why wait, come on, let’s go.”

 

After a long trip to Bangalore, Raj took Uma to a small private hospital where their dad was taking treatment. Uma looked very nervous and happy to meet her parents. When she slowly walked inside the ICU, she was shocked to see the state of her father. He looked pale, greyish in color, and thin. She burst into tears after looking at the state her father was in. Her mom saw Uma, and Vishnu immediately hugged Uma and started sobbing, “My daughter, Uma, you have no idea how much your father and I missed you. Call me Amma; it’s been 25 years since you called me Amma.” Uma also hugged her mother and cried, “Amma, I cried every night of these 25 years thinking I was an orphan and that the mark on my face brought bad luck to you, dad, and brother. I thought that’s why you guys were dead that day and that’s the reason why I let people consider me unlucky . But now I know I do not bring bad luck, right, Amma?” Ganga, Uma’s mother, said, “Of course not, you are, in fact, my lucky charm, my dear.” Uma smiled.

 

Now Mukesh, Uma’s father, woke up from his sleep and found Raj, his eyes full of tears. Mukesh immediately asked, “Beta, Raj, did you find Uma?” Raj pointed towards Uma. Mukesh saw Uma, shed happy tears, and hugged Uma, saying, “My dear daughter.” The entire family hugged, and Vishnu also found himself crying. Now the bracelet also vanished from Vishnu’s hand. A sense of deep emotion filled the room. But, as fate has it, an organism is born, it must be dead.

 

9. A painful goodbye

 

Suddenly, Mukesh told everyone to go out of the room and call the doctor. Everyone worriedly called the doctor and went out of the room. The doctor came in quickly and started to check Mukesh. The doctor came out, and everyone had a question mark face towards the doctor. The doctor said, “I am sorry.” The entire family started wailing. They all rushed into the room and saw a dead Mukesh. They couldn’t believe that God would be this unfair to them. They all took Mukesh to their hometown, and Raj did the last rites. Everyone was happy to be a whole family but sad as the family head was no longer there for them to guide them at all the steps. The incomplete family couldn’t do anything but wished Mukesh peace in the heavens. Maybe fate had not been on their side so far but now it was a new beginning. 

 

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