The great sage Narada sat completely drenched in the incessant rain on the banks of the angry Sutlej. His cottage was washed away last night and since then he was not able to locate his family. He could see a few like him who are searching their families around and it was a huge commotion when two people were meeting. So he distanced himself from the howling Madan, who lost his wife and newborn daughter, Binodini who looked lost, Uncle Shankar, who got back in the morning and came away to another part of the river bank which looked equally desolate but soul-less.
He cried and cried. Shubhangi, his beautiful and dedicated wife, is missing. She was as beautiful as she was 16 years back, despite being the mother of two teenage children and so expert a cook and house manager. He was blissfully forgetful of life before he met her as life seems heavenly as soon as he entered the home to her carefully made meals, refreshments, and dinner. The jasmines were so fragrant around the windows of his room, and he liked to retire to the open verandah inside his dwelling area, to look at the stars and moon along with Shubhangi till he felt sleepy; each day.
At this moment, though, there are black clouds still moving in the sky, in addition to rains, and the restless splashing of the waves. The landscape did not look so deserted ever. The silence of his cottage was never as deadly as the sounds appear today. He gave another loud cry. Sutlej remained ruthless even then.
He felt stunned. Stone silence. He felt as if the waves were washing within. The roars of the rain were inside, and he was shivering in the cold. He felt he would be endlessly suffering even if the rains stopped and the bright sunshine came and Sutlej became peaceful. He could not stop the disturbance raging within even when everything else changed. He was exasperated, exhausted and slept off. And then he woke up to bright sunshine actually, by the side of the serene Sutlej.
Still in pain, though. He felt the tears were again coming back. The emptiness had not gone away while he was asleep. The reality of losing his family did not change during the interval. He tried to stand up when he sensed somebody standing by his side. He looked around and saw a familiar face. “Narayana”! He was overjoyed to find a familiar face after long years to share the pain with. So he embraced him and kept the embrace for a while. Narayana gave his embrace back, patted him, and inquired about his health and time. Tears were about to come, but this time Narada felt that the pain was hollow. It was not hurting anymore.
Then he remembered his last meeting with Narayana, just before he found Shubhangi 16 years back. The last topic they were discussing was about the ‘Construct’ which is all that to Life is. Narada was unable to understand and was wondering as to how somebody could be so engulfed in the hollowness of a ‘construct’ that the Narayana-ness gets completely forgotten? Narayana was smiling at his thoughts.
And that is when he remembered meeting Shubhangi, So his nightmare was just a ‘construct’ and was not real!!! He could not believe the irony. Narayana always has his way because of the paradox of the ‘Construct’ blocking the view of the ever-flowing and ever-active vibrations.
Keshav woke up to a resplendent morning, and he realized that Narada can be blinded in any Keshav unmindful of Narayana till the ‘Construct’ stops playing.
https://storymirror.com/read/story/english/tvf48o83/construct/detail