“What is this noise… it’s so irritating…” Vaidehi was feeling restless because of the sound.
She opened her eyes and sat up. As she looked around, she couldn’t believe what she saw… all her relatives were gathered around her. Her mother was crying with all her strength.
Vaidehi ran to her mother and started asking, “Mom, what happened? Why are you crying?”
But her mother wasn’t paying any attention to her.
Then Vaidehi started looking for her father. She had already sensed that something terrible had happened. From her mother’s crying, she understood that someone very close to her had passed away. But she didn’t have the courage to look at the body.
Her father had been ill for a long time… “What if something happened to him?” this fear crossed her mind. She got up and ran outside.
As soon as she stepped into the courtyard, she heard her father crying loudly from behind. Seeing him, she felt relieved. She ran to him and hugged him. Her father was crying loudly, calling “Vedu, Vedu…” Vaidehi tried to calm him down and said, “Tell me what happened first… don’t cry… look at me…”
But even her father wasn’t paying attention to her. This was beyond Vaidehi’s understanding.
She stood silently and looked around at everyone, but no one was looking at her. Then she started shouting loudly, “At least tell me who has died! Why is everyone ignoring me? Look at me!” She too started crying.
After crying for some time, she realized that still no one was noticing her. Finally, after thinking a lot, she went inside the house and slowly walked toward the dead body.
As she got closer, the ground beneath her feet seemed to slip away. Seeing herself lying there, she lost all belief in reality. She tightly shut her eyes.
Closed eyes… a body wrapped in white cloth… a lifeless face… fallen ears… a distorted form—Vaidehi herself was lying in the middle of the hall. People around looked worried. Some were crying loudly near the body, while others sat at a distance whispering among themselves.
In a moment, her entire past flashed before her eyes.
For the past year, she had been in a relationship with Prakash. Everything was going well initially, but gradually his love turned into dominance. The heavenly feeling she once experienced by just looking into his eyes had now turned into force. Prakash started trying to take advantage of her against her will. He would insult her in front of his friends, raise his voice to show authority, and force her to prove her love in strange ways—like standing deep in river water for half an hour, eating his leftover food, hugging him in public.
Vaidehi began to dislike all this. When she decided to break the relationship, Prakash threatened her—“If you leave me, I’ll post your photos on social media… I’ll show everything to your family… I’ll tell everyone what happened between us…”
Frightened by these threats, Vaidehi tied her scarf to the fan and hanged herself… hoping to find peace in another world. But things turned out very differently.
Seeing her own horrifying state, she felt dizzy. Vaidehi, who used to admire herself in the mirror, had never imagined seeing herself like this.
Outside, her father was crying helplessly, praying to God to bring his daughter back. She had never seen him so broken. He blamed himself, saying, “I must have failed somewhere… that’s why I lost my precious daughter…”
Her mother’s condition was even worse—hair disheveled, almost looking insane. Sometimes crying, sometimes calling out “Vedu…”, sometimes asking her to serve water and tea to guests, sometimes talking about finding a good match for her marriage… praising her as a talented daughter.
Her brother stood in a corner holding a rakhi, crying “Tai… Tai…” helplessly.
Vaidehi ran to the prayer area. Now she realized—her reason for dying was not big enough. “God, I didn’t even realize what I was doing… please give me one more chance… let me live again for my parents… let me become an example for my brother…
I could have easily overcome this problem. I could have taught that cruel Prakash a lesson. But I made a foolish mistake. Because of me, my parents have lost everything. Prakash will hide for a few days and then find another victim…
But my family will remain shattered forever. I died once, but they will die every day… sitting in front of my photo, praying for my return…
God, I was wrong… forgive me once… give me one chance to hug my parents and live again…”
But now even God wouldn’t listen. Because the problem created in a moment of weakness was no longer in Vaidehi’s hands to fix. She herself had ended her physical journey… and forced her soul into a new one.
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