Karma of Kulgera
Born of blood, sweat and tears, She was their cure and curse.
Read 1 - Deaths of Kulgera and 2 - Fire Festival of Kulgera before this for a better experience.
Born from the sweat, blood and tears of the Karmetha caste of Kulgera, Karma was a blessing even after her death through fire.
She had woken up her creators with cries that was accompanied by howling of the wolves.
All the men ran to the forest when they couldn’t find the child in any of the huts. Eventually she was found in the ditch that was filled to the brim with murk.
The women recognized her as ubudi from the Gods, thus her name given by Pali who took her home to his wives and two sons.
The drain at the entrance was covered with flowers and leaves, never to be used again. The children were forbidden from talking about her while the girl herself was never allowed out of the village.
The decision to hide her from the world, especially Rewa only solidified as she got older and more powerful.
It started with Balu healing in a week from the broken knee injury when it should have taken him a month. Pali laughed that it was young blood but Jamini looked at Karma tending to her brother’s wound. He would cry if anyone else did it.
The next time, it was Shanu who broke his back. He wouldn’t say what happened when he was carried in by Balu and his father.
“Theek hu, bhn!” The elder brother only consoled Karma as she sobbed against his shoulder. He tried to stand up, helped by Balu and hopped on his feet, “See.” She smiled through tears while the parents looked at the siblings with wide eyes and then at each other.
Bethak was called and the matter discussed in detail. Anyone hurt by the Rewa men at work was brought to Pali’s house first. And not allowed back to work till reasonable time had passed to not attract the attention of their masters.
It got better with time. By the time Karma became a woman, the injured would heal by only being in her presence for a day. But Jamini would make her boil tea, telling her she had magic in her hands, not letting her realize just how powerful she had gotten.
It was her duty to protect the little girl, even from herself. She had caught on to the real nature of the Ubudi from the Gods early on.
Karma’s laugher healed but her anger burned.
She had told Pali that it went both ways. While the little angel cared for her people and was a delight to everyone with her antics, her laughter, and her pranks. She also had a temper that rivalled her brothers on their worse days.
Jamini was the first one to notice it when a cousin had pushed her while playing on the ground. She had whisked Karma away before she could strike the girl. But she saw the bruise forming on her arms where her daughter had intended to strike.
But the mother got scared when Pali’s hand bled more as he beat Balu for a mistake. He had to stop. He stared at his palm in wonder before his gaze went to Karma being held back by Jamini, glaring at her father.
That day, Pali started fearing Karma. He barely spoke to her after that day.
Jamini made her practice deep breaths in anger, talked with her throughout the day, and kept her away from other children who could trigger her.
The angel didn’t mind. She liked the solitude of forest.
That is why she was buried where she birthed.
Where Bhagya stumbled upon Karma and Pali a year after her death. On the day they started celebrating the festival of fire.
When Shanu’s little girl had stumbled upon her grandfather in the woods, he was praying on the grave of Karma. A crumbling figure made of mud had emerged with flickering fire shining through it.
Pali had dared not look up at her while the little girl had no such qualms. Bhagya could hear the tremble in the voice when it consoled him. She could only understand his pain of losing his daughter again later in life. Balu told her Pali never wanted to move away from their home. It was Shanu who couldn’t bear the pain of living in the same place where he could still see Karma cooking, dancing and playing.
Bhagya had screamed her last when she saw the mighty figure of her grandfather crumble under the pain before the figure did. He could barely utter his last request to the little girl for taking care of their Karma as he followed his daughter to the other side.
Balu had made sure to construct a shrine in the name of Karma, his brother agreed, more for his daughter to have a safe space for her weekly prayers.
She hunted for hours and came back muddy to get the best lotus from the pond. Since the time she could cook, she made Karma’s favorite halwa, taught by Jamini. And milk prepared with gud.
Balu accompanied her at midnight, his tears made their way out no matter how much he tried to hide it form her. He couldn’t get rid of the pain; the bottle helped him sleep till he had to go back in the morning and report for duty. He had stopped drinking because of his niece but that was the only time he came out of his home at the periphery.
He couldn’t save his little sister. But he swore to protect his niece. He was the only one Bhagya told the truth when she learned how to write from Shobha. Balu burnt the paper in front of the little girl, taking another secret to his grave. He thought it his penance to keep his sister’s name away from the records and his community safe from the outsiders. Even though it killed him more to lie.
The double life got to him after Pali died. He couldn’t keep up anymore and left the force, his dream of becoming DSP like Prithvi, and the possibility of dealing with the truth, behind.
He lived his life in this loop with no goals while his brother fell head first into his responsibilities as the leader. The community prospered and left their worst of days behind.
Balu lived in those days, with the memories of Karma and his guilt towards her and Prithvi. He had stopped taking his Senior’s calls after a few years. It burdened his soul.
Bhagya set it free after his death. The letter with the story of Karma was given to Prithvi in secret. Her father had named her the head of the village before his death. She couldn’t let the world know. But she knew this man would bring no harm to the community. She was the one who made her brother call on him for the funeral. When Prithvi had looked at her in confusion, her folded hands and shake of the head told him not to question her actions.
His wife took it from him, understanding what it was. Bhagya was the cleverest of her students, despite her self-imposed shackles. Shobha had been in constant touch with her to request for meetings with speech specialists. The little girl had politely declined any offers of help.
The couple left without a word, only to return a week later.
When they visited Kulgera again, Prithvi was lighter in his step, a weight lifted off his shoulder. His wife had a grim look on her face despite being relieved for her husband.
They went to Karma’s shrine after the promise to keep the secret was made by the couple. Shobha finally smiled at the sound of an unfamiliar croaky voice.
Bhagya looked at the shrine, surrounded by blooming flowers, and then up at the sky, her eyes closing and her lips pulling upwards at the sun warming her face, “It is all Karma.”
Shobha understood what she meant. But the woman inside her still ached for the being that left the world before her time.
For Karma.
But what really happened that day? Find out in this final part,
This is how this story took form in my head. A being born from the oppression to subvert it.
