13

Vrinda and I went towards the gathering of people at the centre of the village. Taksha was tied to a pole and was being lashed. He was obviously found guilty of the crimes he had committed. Since he was a danger to society, they hadn’t decided what exactly had to be done. I even suspected him to be a necrophile. He would be a good specimen for students of psychiatry. Devarajan declared that whipping was the mildest punishment for his deeds. They pondered over the option of alerting the police. They were worried of losing the power to self-regulate the law and order situation in the village.

In the midst of the lashes and screams of anguish from Taksha, Vrinda’s presence was noticed and the whipping ceased. There was total silence at the gathering. She narrated her story as everyone looked on. Getting down to her knees, she apologized to everybody. After a few moments, the priest stood in front of her and told her to visit Lord Narsimha’s at the temple and seek forgiveness from Him.

I got a feeling that maybe an omen had saved her from punishment. Vrinda had narrated that just before Taksha was about to hack her with his knife, I came out from behind the pillar and my timely appearance prevented her death. The priest’s look of awe when she described this said it all. As per Hindu mythology, Lord Narsimha had come out from the pillar to kill Hiranyakashipu and save Prahlad. The priest noticed a small similarity in the events.

“Lord Narsimha sent this man to protect you,” he said to Vrinda. “You are really a non-believer. You must stay here as a devotee of the Lord. Go to Him and show your gratitude.”

I was at peace. My visit to this place helped to bring a whole group of inhabitants of a village to restore their faith. Their ignorance had been swept away. There would no longer be any ‘darkness’ at twilight. There was no question of doubting God’s existence. I recalled Prahlad’s words to his father Hiranyakashipu:

He is, He was and He will be.

It was time for me to leave Sahasrapuram. The people folded their hands towards me to express their gratefulness. I bowed back.