Chapter 21
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After spending the night with Shakala in his austere cottage, Artabhaga woke up to the light of the sun. He found the abode empty and deserted. There was no trace of the old man. Artabhaga, stood stunned, alone and destitute, surrounded by the four walls of the cottage.
The night of vigil was over and there was no need for him to stay. He looked around sadly and then realized, he had not had any food for a long time. He suddenly felt his strength leaving him.
He sat down wearily and reclined against the mud wall. Those walls spoke to him of absence: the absence of the old man who had erected them single-handed! How much pain had got transformed in the act of building them! Artabhaga sat silently taking in the message which the absence of the old man delivered to him. The silence of the deserted cottage proclaimed deliverance.
Artabhaga wondered where the old man would be now. He thought of what his mother had told him once about God.
“God is one and alone, without another,”she had told him. He had looked at her in wonder why it had to be so. She saw the question in his eyes and stroked his head in an answer. Artabhaga had silently wept at his inability to accept it.
Artabhaga resisted tears as he got up and tried to regain awareness of the fact. As he stood up, he realized that a subtle aroma had remained in the atmosphere all along but he had failed to notice it. Now he realized it was the smell of burnt firewood, now emitting a crisp, pungent-smelling smoke. He looked in the direction of the smell and found a cooking fire in the corner. Near the fire was a covered vessel. Artabhaga's intuition told him to open it. There was freshly cooked rice in it. Artabhaga knew it was for him.
.
After spending the night with Shakala in his austere cottage, Artabhaga woke up to the light of the sun. He found the abode empty and deserted. There was no trace of the old man. Artabhaga, stood stunned, alone and destitute, surrounded by the four walls of the cottage.
The night of vigil was over and there was no need for him to stay. He looked around sadly and then realized, he had not had any food for a long time. He suddenly felt his strength leaving him.
He sat down wearily and reclined against the mud wall. Those walls spoke to him of absence: the absence of the old man who had erected them single-handed! How much pain had got transformed in the act of building them! Artabhaga sat silently taking in the message which the absence of the old man delivered to him. The silence of the deserted cottage proclaimed deliverance.
Artabhaga wondered where the old man would be now. He thought of what his mother had told him once about God.
“God is one and alone, without another,”she had told him. He had looked at her in wonder why it had to be so. She saw the question in his eyes and stroked his head in an answer. Artabhaga had silently wept at his inability to accept it.
Artabhaga resisted tears as he got up and tried to regain awareness of the fact. As he stood up, he realized that a subtle aroma had remained in the atmosphere all along but he had failed to notice it. Now he realized it was the smell of burnt firewood, now emitting a crisp, pungent-smelling smoke. He looked in the direction of the smell and found a cooking fire in the corner. Near the fire was a covered vessel. Artabhaga's intuition told him to open it. There was freshly cooked rice in it. Artabhaga knew it was for him.
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