Bhairav - The Protector

At the heart of Bhairavnagar, there existed a small temple of Lord Bhairav, who was considered an avatar of Lord Shiva. People often visited the temple since they deemed Lord Bhairav as the protector of Bhairavnagar. It was not an opulent temple that reflected the grandeur but rather a simple yet powerful one that drew the villagers into its heart. The small idol of Lord Bhairav was rooted inside the sanctum. Landlord Bhadra considered himself the most powerful man in the village thanks to his colossal wealth. He was greedy and also parsimonious. Some of the village folks worked under him. He had a son named Veera, who, too, inherited his wicked qualities. His wife Rukmini was, in contrast, an altruistic person who never boasted about the wealth she possessed, nor did she enjoy wielding power over the poor and downtrodden. 

Ramappa, a farmer, worked under the landlord Bhadra. One day he happened to have a conversation with his curious son Anand in his agricultural land.

"Who is Lord Bhairav?" a seven-year-old kid asked.

"Lord Bhairav is an avatar of Lord Shiva. He protects us from demonic entities. He punishes the sinners," Ramappa said. 

"Have you ever seen him?" Anand widened his eyes.

"He is not visible to our naked eyes. He is there to protect this village. We just need to surrender to him with utmost devotion. He will always be there to protect us from evil forces," he said.

Anand closed his eyes and took the Lord's name with utmost devotion, "Om Bhairavaya Namaha!!"

Ramappa took his son to Lord Bhairava's temple. 

"His energy is embedded in the idol that is present inside the sanctum."

"Is it?" the curious child asked.

"Yes. You need to pray to him not only when you are in trouble but also when you are happy and peaceful. His blessings are very much needed for us to move ahead in life," Ramappa advised to which his son nodded gently. 

The greedy landlord couldn't digest the fact that some of the villagers in Bhairavnagar were owning a land. He came up with a plot to confiscate their lands and make it his own. He prepared bond papers to get their signature done. His son was aware of his plan, and he, too, joined hands, whereas his wife was oblivious to this conspiracy. He summoned Ramappa to his place on the pretext of gifting him something in exchange for his relentless hard work. 

"Hey, Ramappa! I have been closely monitoring you for a long time now. The amount of dedication that you show to the work is commendable, he continued, "I have decided to gift you something which would be revealed later. Can you please smear your thumb with the ink placed over there and apply it over this sheet of paper?"

"Work is worship. I am just doing my work with utmost sincerity. I have earned you respect which is enough for me," Ramappa said.

"No, no.. You deserve a gift from my side. If you indeed respect me, then please do as suggested."

Ramappa reluctantly applied his thumb signature on a bond paper not realising the fact that he was writing his own land to Bhadra's name. Since he was uneducated, he couldn't read and understand what was inscribed on the sheet of paper. He blindly believed the greedy landlord who laughed inwardly at the foolishness of his worker. Whoever owned a land in the village also fell prey to him thanks to their illiterate background. He and his son had a liquor party in the evening to celebrate the additional wealth they accumulated through betrayal. 

The blue sky got rid of encroached clouds cajoling the sun to unleash his power. Ramappa squinted at the sun rays that streamed at his land. His productive land laden with crops brought immense joy upon him. Little did he realize that he was no longer the owner of the land. Out of nowhere, two bouncers materialized at the spot. 

"What are you doing here? This is not your land anymore?" one of them asked.

"I think you are mistaken. This is my land," he smiled.

"Have you gone mad or what? This property belongs to our landlord, Bhadra."

"This is my land. These crops are the fruits I am reaping thanks to my hard work," he looked perplexed.

"You stupid person. Look at your thumb impression over here. Do you even know what is there in this bond paper?

Ramappa looked perturbed.

"You are no longer the owner of this land. You have already written your property to our landlord. Get the hell out of here or else I will have to give work to my muscles to kick you out from here," he warned. 

Tears welled up in his eyes as he walked out of his land reluctantly. He had been hoodwinked by the landlord on the pretext of giving a gift. He scurried to the landlord's residence to check the veracity of the claim made by the bouncers. 

"Sir, did you usurp my property?" he asked with fear flushed upon his face.

"Why do I need to usurp your property? You have willingly handed over your land to me. That is my property now," he raised his voice. 

His words penetrated deep into his heart to create a virtual wound. 

"Please do not betray me like this. That is my only land which I cannot afford to lose. Please give me back my property," he pleaded.

The landlord rose from his chair enraged. He kicked the hapless Ramappa not even showing any iota of sympathy. 

"Get the hell out of here or else I will even confiscate your shitty house. I am successful in subjugating head-weight idiots like you. Also, you are dismissed from the job," he barked. 

Ramappa had a lump in his throat. He pleaded like a child but received a few more hard blows from the bouncers before he was kicked out. He went to the Bhairav temple, begging God for justice. His son Anand who was also present over there couldn't comprehend the reason why his father had broke down. Still he embraced his father to share his pain.

There was a private land which nobody had the permission to get into. Bhadra had proclaimed that it was Lord Bhairava's private

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space and anybody who dared to trespass would cough up blood and die. There existed an opulent mansion on that private land. Bhadra used to visit the place once a week on the pretext of doing a pooja to the Lord. But the reality was different. A few months back, he had visited a brothel and fell in love with a prostitute named Anju. He decided to buy her for money. He kept her in the opulent mansion so that he could satiate his lust every week. His family had no inkling about his wrongdoing. One day, Anju happened to see a figure with a coloured face which freaked her out. This continued to happen which drowned her in the ocean of fear. She confided in him but to no avail. She threatened to expose his secrets if he refused to let her go which only fuelled his anger. 

"How dare you raise your voice against me? You are, after all, my bitch," he insinuated.

He slapped her so hard which made her bleed and die. He dug a grave for her in the garden. Bhadra replaced her with another woman to continue his lust story. His actions had consequences to bear.

One day, Veera felt the urge to drink. He hopped on his motorcycle and rode through the zig-zag road to stumble upon a bar. He slipped inside and commanded the waiter to get him a drink to which the latter obliged. Upon drinking to his heart's content, he pulled himself on the motorcycle and rode in an inebriated state. He lost control of the vehicle and hit a speeding truck. He just lost his life in a horrific accident. The news spread like a wildfire. Bhadra and his wife shed tears for their pampered son who was no more. Bhadra's wife found it difficult to grapple with her son's death. She was dumbstruck when she realized that the villagers were duped by her husband. She confronted him.

"Lord Bhairav is the protector of this land. He will not spare anyone who betrays his devotees. What you have done is morally wrong? Our son's death is a testament to the Lord's fury. Please give back their properties or else we may have to suffer beyond epic proportions," she warned.

"Have you ever seen a God? What happened to our son is purely a coincidence. It has got nothing to do with me usurping the villager's properties. I am the most powerful person in Bhairavnagar. Not even your Bhairav can stop me. Do you understand?" he fumed. 

"Please do not challenge the Lord. It is not good for the family? Have some respect for the Lord who has given us everything we had asked for," she requested but to no avail. 

Bhadra was found sleeping on his bed. Suddenly, he heard a female voice piercing through the window. He flicked on the switch coercing the light to erase the darkness that had materialized in the room. The curtain that had closed the window danced to the tunes of the wind. Quickly, window doors opened, allowing the white light to stream inside. He strode towards the window only to be taken aback by the face of Anju whom he had killed in his private mansion. He couldn't believe his eyes as he screamed at the top of his lungs. Anju barged inside with rage for vengeance. She strangulated his wife who screamed in horror with blood flowing out of her mouth at an alarming rate. Bhadra screamed as he was yanked out of his dream. He gazed at his side only to see his wife glancing at him in distress. It was a nightmare that drowned him in perspiration. 

"I saw my son in my dream," he lied. 

 He shrugged it off as a forgettable nightmare. He went to the bathroom to relieve himself. Suddenly, a figure with a coloured face materialized the moment he saw his face in the mirror. His knees buckled under pressure and he fell with fear arousing within him. 

"Who is that?" he felt startled by the incident. 

He had shrugged it off when Anju encountered a similar situation, but now he had experienced the same. Rukmini couldn't fathom why her husband all of a sudden stopped believing in God. But he continued to visit the private space where no one was allowed inside. 

"Is he really doing a Bhairav pooja there? she suspected. 

She decided to visit the place by evading his eyes. 

On a Sunday evening, Bhadra slipped into a car and drew towards his private land. Rukmini hired an auto and asked him to follow the car. She saw her husband climbing out of the car and marching towards the mansion. She got out of the auto and surreptitiously followed him. Subsequently, he went inside the house and slammed the door shut which aroused her curiosity. She climbed the outside stairs and peeped through the window. She couldn't believe that her husband was with another lady. Unable to bear the shock, she screamed at her husband giving him a reproachful look, "You bloody cheater." She couldn't handle the double whammy of losing her son and to see her husband slaking lust like an evil.

Bhadra got rooted to the spot in shock as his true colours emerged. He tried to convince his wife by lying but his attempts went in vain. He decided to kill his wife so that the truth didn't become viral in the village. Bhadra grabbed the hair of his running wife as the other lady widened her eyes in fear. 

He slapped her allowing the blood to trickle down her lips. Before he could kill her, the sound of a bullet hit the air catching him off guard. The government officers had come to arrest him for illegally confiscating the lands of the villagers by deceiving them. They also learnt about his other secrets that were kept away from the eyes of people. He had no other option but to admit his wrongdoings. 

"Never release him from jail," Rukmini requested the police. She felt ashamed to be his wife. "Lord Bhairav has punished him for his wrongdoings. Nobody should even dare to commit sin on this hallowed land."

She offered prayers to Lord Bhairav for protecting her from her toxic husband. The villagers were astounded to hear about the hidden secrets of the landlord. They also felt relieved to see him behind the cell. They got back their owned lands. Everybody lived happily thereafter.