Author's Note:
Welcome to the second and final chapter of this story. I have tried to keep this chapter as independent as possible. So, prior knowledge of the events in the first chapter should not be necessary. Although, I would encourage you to read that as well to better appreciate the entire story.
This chapter is longer than the first, since it explains the origins and history of the ritual. I have tried to make those portions interesting but ultimately, you, the readers will be the judge of that. There are also seeds of a prequel story within this chapter, which I may write later.
This story is set in India and all the characters are Indians, above the age of 18. Some of the mystical elements described here are inspired from Hindu mythology, to give the story an authentic flavor. The ritual does not exist in any region or religion in India (or elsewhere) and is purely a figment of my imagination. Hope you enjoy the story. Looking forward to your comments and constructive criticism.
I woke up to the sound of birds chirping and the warm gentle sunlight streaming through the windows. I checked my phone; it was 5 in the morning. My wife, Ananya, was asleep next to me. I got off the bed and stood by the window; stretching. We were in Ananya's room at her parents' home in their country-side estate.
The estate spanned almost twenty acres at the outskirts of Pune and is magnificent. It has orchards of figs and oranges, a small dairy with several cows, vegetable farms, gardens, ponds and the beautiful two-storied villa. Far removed from the noisy, polluted and busy cities, it is a peaceful paradise. I loved to visit it.
It was more than a month since I had revealed my incestuous fantasies, about my mother, to my wife. In turn, my wife had revealed her family's secret; she and her brother have sex with their parents as part of an ancestral tradition of worshipping a divine entity. I had then watched my wife make love to her younger brother, Ayush, in our Mumbai apartment.
Since then, I had been eagerly waiting to visit my parents-in-law. Finally, getting few days off of work, we drove down to their estate for some rest, relaxation and, hopefully, something exciting. Ayush was on a trip to Goa with his friends, so it was just me, Ananya and her parents in the house.
Now that I knew and whole-heartedly approved of my wife's incestuous relationship with her family, I wanted to watch Ananya and her father perform the sacred ritual. I was curious about the origins of this ritual and the history behind it. My wife had also hinted that her mother fancied me, so I was excited to see where that would lead to. It had been two days since our arrival, but so far nothing had happened.
I freshened up, got dressed and left for a jog. I and Ananya liked to keep ourselves fit and in good shape. I jogged through the estate and finally stopped at Ashok Vatika. It is a garden at the back of the estate, surrounded by a tall hedge. It's full of beautiful flowering plants like plumeria, jasmine, hibiscus, rose and marigold. The colors and fragrance of those flowers are a delight to the senses. There are few wooden benches to relax. In the center of the garden, stands the majestic Ashoka tree with its beautiful red flowers. I found my parents-in-law in the garden, performing their morning yoga.
My father-in-law, Brijmohan, is in his late fifties. He is a tall, broad-shouldered man with graying hairs. My mother-in-law, Lata, is in her early fifties. She is a mature, classic beauty whom I have always found alluring. Both of them are fit and have good physique from regular farm work, country-side nourishments and yoga. I watched as they moved fluidly through the various
asanas
of Surya Namaskar.
Once they were done, we exchanged the customary good-mornings. My mother-in-law perspired freely, her face glowing, post exercise. She wore a saree, as usual. I admired her lithe body, beads of sweat glowing on her neck, chest and midriff. She smiled at me flirtatiously, like she had done frequently in the last two days.
"Stay here. I'll have tea sent down. I am sure you both have lots to talk," she said, addressing me and her husband.
As she left the garden, my father-in-law sat on one of the wooden benches and invited me to take a seat. We sat silently for few minutes, enjoying the gentle cool breeze, warm sunlight and chirping of the birds.
"This Ashoka tree has a great significance in our family," he said, pointing at the tree.
So, he is finally ready to talk about it.
I nodded. "Ananya told me about the ritual."
"I know. She told me that you wanted to know more about it."
I listened with rapt attention as my father-in-law started telling me his story.
"It all started after my father passed away when I was just 20. We used to live in Nagpur at the time. Ma was devastated with the loss of baba. My maternal grandma, Gauri, brought me and ma to this estate. Grandpa had already passed away when I was a kid. So, it was just grandma, ma and me living here.
"The family business and this estate were in disarray during those times. The business was in loss and debts had piled up. The estate was getting difficult to maintain, with no money to pay the farmhands. Ma was still grieving but started helping out grandma in management of the business and the estate. I was in college and helped them in whichever ways I could. Things were bleak and the future didn't look good."
He pointed towards the dairy farm. "Back then, there used to be a small cottage over there. It was where ma's grand-father, Sanket, had spent his final years. Grandma decided to demolish it and build the dairy in its place. While sorting through the items stored in the cottage, she found Sanket's memoir."
A servant entered the garden carrying a tray with two steaming cups of tea. We accepted the tea and he left.
Sipping the hot tea, my father-in-law continued, "In his memoir, Sanket had written about his life in our ancestral village, Vrindavan. It was a very small, isolated village somewhere in the western ghats; doesn't exist anymore. He wrote of a terrible time of suffering in the village when he was 19. When the situation was dire and all seemed lost, the village council had discovered a benevolent nature spirit. A divine, female celestial being, a
Yakshini
, had come to dwell among the cluster of Ashoka trees behind the village temple.
She
had wanted to help the village, but wasn't powerful enough.
"You see, all the deities and celestial beings live in the
Swarg Lok
, a place which is in a different, higher dimensional plane than our mortal world. These celestial beings can travel between dimensions to visit our world. We usually think them to be all powerful and magical, but the energy that fuels their power comes from us; our beliefs, prayers and worship. Without these offerings, they're powerless to affect any change in our world.
"For this particular
Yakshini
, the energy fueling
her
powers came from a very specific and unique source; the orgasmic bliss felt by a woman when she made love to her sire or her progeny. To
her
, the most spiritually potent energy was a mother's love for her son and a father's care for his daughter, taken to the pinnacle with their sexual union.
She
needed that energy to restore the balance of nature in the village.
