A Collection of True Stories - Part VI

A Collection of True Stories

When I was led by an Unknown Beam of Light – a true story

By Vijay Khosla (Part –VI of the Story)

In the morning, we offered our prayers at Mata Ardh Kuwari temple.  Aunt Nirmala even made me to go through the ‘Garbh Joon Gufa’ which we had neglected while climbing. I was thoroughly enjoying the company of aunt Nirmala by now and wished to pass a little more time under her guidance.

Once again we started our descent towards Katra. It was a fine day. The Sun was shining over head. Since it was day time, the visibility was very good and we could see rows of devotees climbing the hill side eagerly to visit Maa Vaishno Devi temple.

We were walking down the pathway and we arrived at another set of stairs. I had gone ahead on the plain pathway leaving behind the stair way, when aunt Nirmala called me and invited me to follow the stair way along with her once again!

The suggestion surprised me and I looked at her face enquiringly. She smiled in return and said calmly, Oh, do not be afraid. If you are careful, no harm shall come to you. See, it is broad day light and we have had a night’s rest. We are fresh and we can easily descend these stairs with out getting tired. Hearing that from aunt Nirmala, a fresh wave of energy engulfed me and I gave my acquiescence with out giving a second thought. 

So, we left the plain pathway and started descending the stairs. The regime of descending order was same as practiced earlier, i.e. I was leading and she was following me from behind.  

We had almost covered the half distance of that stair-case, when from no where a huge dog appeared on the same stair case. The only difference being that we were descending the stairs and that huge bear like dog was climbing the stairs at a sprint. The dog was galloping the stairs effortlessly and was heading straight at us.

My God! What a dog it was? I have not seen the kind of another one so far. The size was huge. It was something in between of a bear and a dog. The physique belonged to a very healthy, energetic and seemingly powerful dog. It had a shiny grey-black coat of fur on its skin. The pointed ears were moving from side to side, ready to pick up even a whisper of sound to alert him. The powerful hind legs were supporting his gait majestically. It looked beautiful but also terrorful.

When I saw that dog shooting towards us, I stopped in my tracks. Aunt Nirmala also saw that huge dog and she chuckled with delight, as if she knew the beast.

She declared calmly on her own, “Oh, Bhairon has come. Vijay, we had neglected to visit him and now he has come to meet us. Alright, do not worry; your ‘yatra’ (pilgrimage) is complete now.  And Yes! don’t be afraid of him. Stand still and let him come up to you. Love him and pat him. I know you can do that. Be brave and stand still”. These were the fast commands uttered by aunt Nirmala to me, while that huge beast of a dog was approaching us.

At last that fearful dog reached us and stopped a few feet away down the stairs. It was staring directly at me, trying to adjudge my response on his arrival. While the dog was staring at me, I noticed that it had soft and friendly eyes. There were no signs of enmity in those eyes. The fact encouraged me to throw a smile at the dog. In the mean while, aunt Nirmala called on the dog as if to break the silence.

She said, “Oye Bhairon, ki haal tera? Aa jaa! (Hello Bhairon, how are you? Come to me!)

The dog called Bhairon heard her and wagged its tail in response. Yet, he kept his gaze at me. Slowly he advanced towards us. Though I was a bit afraid inside my heart, but managed to hold my ground and stood there.

The dog called Bhairon reached near me and he stood on his strong hind legs. While trying to stand in that upright posture, he rested his well muscled front legs on my chest with a thump. The paws of his front legs had long pointed claws.  His great head was just in front of my face and it started sniffing my face and neck ardently. Strangely enough I was not afraid of the beast anymore. His soft and friendly eyes were filled with friendship and welcome. It was just like your pet dog jumping at your chest and trying to hug you and lick you. I could feel that warmth oozing out of him and I too embraced him unflinchingly with my both arms. I patted him lovingly and scratched under and around his neck to please him. 

At last, that great dog got down from my chest and It looked as if he had accepted me as a friend. It looked at me and wagged its tail in a friendly gesture. Then it went up to Aunt Nirmala and sniffed her feet as if trying to touch her feet! She lovingly extended her hand and patted his head with some soft words, which I could not hear. The dog behaved as if he understood what aunt Nirmala said. He withdrew, looked one last time at us and went away majestically in the surrounding bushes. After a few moments, every thing was back to normal as if nothing had happened! 

Finally, we reached Katra. Since, she wanted to visit another temple and I was due to take the bus to Jammu, we parted our company. Before leaving her, I touched her feet again to seek her blessings.

Today, when I think over it, I find myself at a loss. Because, I am sure that either aunt Nirmala was herself an avatar of ‘Maa Vaishno Devi’ or a very pious and noble soul, high in the hierarchy of ‘Religion’ where miracles do not mean a thing.

Only a few lucky ones do come across these things from time to time!

Perhaps, I was a foolish ‘lucky one’ at that one lucky time in my life!!!

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Dear reader,

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Thanks.
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31/01/2016

It gives me great delight to find my stories being read now and then by the people. 
Though I have a lot more to add to these stories, yet couldn't gather the strings of my soul to pen something interesting and meaningful.

God willing, I shall write soon!

                                                                          Hari Om