The Banyan Tree That Sets The Souls Free

Chapter  2 - The Acclimatization and the Awakening

Shikha was confused; she found herself gliding through towards a dark banyan tree. All was dark and cold. She thought she had freed herself from the agony and pain but it persisted; she found herself in new surroundings. She looked around, and found an old woman holding onto an aerial root for her dear life. She tried to start a conversation but was scared of the her appearance. She had aged considerably; her face was full of wrinkles, yet she exhibited enormous strength in holding onto the root.

She sensed Shikha’s thoughts and looked in her direction. Shikha was scared; she wanted to run away, but something was pulling her to the aerial root; and soon she was stuck to it. No amount of struggle was able to free her from it. That’s when the old woman spoke,

“It won’t release until you find your peace.”

“What?” stammered Shikha.

“That’s what I got told when I came here. I am yet to find it,” the woman said and looked into oblivion. Her eyes registered pain.

Shikha wanted to ask more, but couldn’t muster enough courage. She then saw a young man glide towards another root near her. Soon, he lodged onto it and began looking around, just as surprised as she was.

Suddenly, Shikha heard a voice speaking to her,

“Do not fear, I am here to help your soul move forward in your journey.”

The young man was puzzled too. Shikha wondered if both of them had heard the voice. She then gently asked the woman,

“Did you hear that voice? Who is that?”

The old woman shook her head and said,

“I didn’t hear anything. What did you hear?”

“The voice said not to be scared and that it will help my soul move forward in my journey,” said Shikha finally, mustering courage.

At this, the young man who was lost in a trance spoke at once,

“I heard it too. So, what is this place? Why are we here?”

Shikha wondered the same when she heard the voice reply in her head,

“You have died, but your soul is remains stuck due to some attachment that you could not let go. I am here to help you.”

“But who are you?” thought Shikha.

“I am the Banyan Tree, your temporary home until you learn to let go,” came the reply.

“Oh, but I had heard different stories about you. I thought you were housing all the evil spirits,” wondered Shikha.

“That is what the human mind and eyes perceive, but you will eventually know me,” came the reply.

***

Anmol remembered tumbling down the stairs, his body had become numb to pain. He opened his eyes only to find himself stuck to a banyan tree root. He was more surprised when he saw a young beautiful woman near him speak. At first, he thought she was speaking to him, but he eventually spotted another member lodged on the topmost aerial root. It was a visually scary sight to see the old woman up there.

Suddenly he realized that a voice spoke in his head,

“You have to let go of all the attachments that bind you to your former life.”

“What former life? I have a daughter I have made a promise to; I must get back to her,” thought Anmol.

“That is the attachment you have to let go. You cannot go back to her,” came the reply.

“No! you are lying to me,” thought Anmol, anger surging through him.

Suddenly the root coiled onto his legs. The voice gently replied in his head,

“The more you struggle, harder will be your journey.”

“What journey?” asked Anmol.

“You have died, but your soul is attached to your former life because of your desire to go back to your daughter,” came the reply.

Realisation dawned on Anmol. He had tried to take his life away to free his wife from the burden of being stuck with him. Gently the root uncoiled, but Anmol remained stuck to the root.

***

Akriti was nervous with excitement. All the members of the team observed slight movement of the roots and vigorous movement before it coiled along an invisible person perched onto it. They had no time to check the thermal camera videos yet. It was about time for the sunrise, the slight spread of orange and red over the morning sky looked like an unfinished canvas painting. Akriti and her team sat down to watch the footage.

“Oh my God! Do you see the forms? They are ghosts, evil spirits,” said one of her female friends.

“You are lucky to have spotted that inscription on the temple wall. We will become famous now. Imagine, us becoming popular for ghost busting and being called for this work by rich industrial magnates,” said one of her male team members.

“Quick, there is no time to lose, let’s get in touch with the press. Meanwhile, I will upload the videos on social media so that it begins trending,” said Akriti.

***

Shikha got lost in memories of her childhood. The banyan tree was famous in the locality, for everybody had some strange story to recount about it.

“But I heard it from my uncle; he had heard screams of ghosts from this very tree at midnight. He happened to return from late-night shift and had to take this deserted route because maintenance work was going on the regular route,” recounted Shika.

“What you hear, and what you see may not always be the truth,” came the reply.

“I had always watched your roots curl around and uncurl at odd times, but I admit I never heard any screams,” said Shikha, becoming bolder.

“Yes, it is time now to concentrate on forgiving and loving on,” came the reply.

“What? Whom should I forgive?”

“The very person responsible for provoking you to kill yourself,” replied the banyan tree.

“Never,” replied Shikha, shaking with anger. At this point, the root coiled around her legs. It suddenly occurred to Shikha that she might have witnessed this when she was young.