The cottage we were staying in,belonged to my aunt's colleague. When we were leaving,she advised us to visit places around Amarkantak like Kapil Dhara,a natural waterfall of Narmada river and Jaleshwar Shiv temple. On our third day,we planned to visit Kapil Dhara. We hired an auto and started towards it. When we were searching for the auto,we met some villagers coming from that way. They warned us not to venture out in the forest near the waterfall,as a "Pagli Mai" (mad lady) is staying there.It seems she throws stones at people whenever she sees them. The news didn't make much sense,but aunty went to a nearby shop and bought few biscuits and some curd. Wen asked,she told me, "If by chance we come across her,we can offer this to her to make peace." Well,so it's a gift for that lunatic! What kind of compromises we have to make always!
Once we reached near Kapil Dhara,the auto driver told us that he prefers to wait some 100 meters away from that forest. He didn't like the idea of being stone-pelted ! We decided to walk. As I was exploring the untouched beauty of forest,suddenly aunty grope me from behind and stood still. Seeing her expression,I got alarmed and started searching for something unnatural. What I saw,made my blood freeze instantly. At some 10 meters distance,leaning on a tree trunk, a saffron saree-clad figure was staring at us. It was the same person I saw in my dream just a month back! That same long matted hair,those same blazing eyes. Aunty whispered in my ears,"let's just back off,it seems she is that "Pagli Mai"...see how she's looking at us!" But I had a feeling,we are not going to be harmed. I took a step towards her,ignoring aunty totally.
Next what happened,none of us was ready for that. There was a small canal like structure that separated the lady from us. That lady,literally crossed that channel in three long jumps,almost came flying towards me. She hugged me tight and started telling in a raspy voice,"Itni der laga di? Main to kab se tere intezaar mein baithi hoon!" (Why did you come so late? I was waiting for you from a long time).... God,you people will not believe how stunned I was seeing that sudden outburst from a totally unknown person,with whom I never met in my life,except in a dream! I know,it sounds ridiculous.....but there is not even 1% of imagination also.This happened in real life,god only know how accurately I am describing the whole thing. Aunty was so numb with shock that she was trying to say something,but no word was coming out. After fondling and kissing my forehead many times,the lady finally broke off and patted gently on aunty's arm. She said to aunty ,"Thanks for bringing her in, I knew,your wait-listed ticket will not cause much problem." Now we were surprised like anything! How did she know we didn't get tickets,so had to book wait-listed tickets to come here??? That also sitting in the middle of a forest in Amarkantak? Was it some sort of divine power,or just an wild assumption? I was totally confused.
Finally,I decided to test her. I had to see whether she's telling these all just by wild guesswork,or she really had some power or something! How could I let her go without getting satisfactory answers about all my doubts? Well,it seems you have "called" me,but now I will not let you go unless I get how you "Did " it! You have to read the next part to know,what I got as answers,that changed the track of my life totally.
