Episode 2 – The Secret of Kalvan

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City boy Deben Rajput has the same dream every night- a temple, a goddess, a flame with three eyes and a girl who tries to stop him. When the dreams start getting too dark, he discovers the truth of Kalvan, the village of his ancestors. The mystery of the dreams, the death of his family and the curse of the temple- everything is connected to that village. At the end of Episode 1, Deben meets Akurti for the first time- a mysterious girl who tells him:

>"Along with love there will be curse."

The first ray of the morning had not yet fallen on the earth. There was a light cloud in the sky of Kalvan, but behind that cloud, the spire of a temple was visible- in a burnt colour, as if fire had just come out of it.

Deben saw the temple in full for the first time. It was many years old, but there was something in it that still seemed alive.

> "That temple is burning..." A child ran past him.

> "What did you say?" Deben interrupted him.

> "At night... when no one is looking, that temple burns by itself. There is no fire... but smoke starts to rise."

> "And does anyone go inside?"

> "Whoever goes inside... never comes back."

Her footsteps stopped as Deben walked along. Was this the same place she had seen in her dreams? The same... where her father's body was found?

Another child said, "They say a witch is locked up in that temple."

But there was no witch in Deben's dreams. There was a goddess.

That day Deben tried to see Akurti again - but there was only a vine in the forest, with a small piece of her hair hanging from it.

As if he had taken a step there - or sneaked a peek - just yesterday.

Then a voice came from behind –

> “Devya wants to meet you.”

Thakur-like voice. An old man wearing saffron clothes was standing at the turn – Baba Tamas.

He had a small broom in his hand – as if he was cleaning the air.

> “Do you know me?” Deben asked.

> “I know. What is your name, what is your lineage, what qualities were instilled in you from the beginning… everything.”

Deben looked at the old man with his eyes.

> “Can you tell me why all these dreams come?”

> “Because Deviyam remembers you. You are her last friend.”

> “Was Deviyam a goddess or a prostitute?”

> “She was a goddess… who was deceived by humans. Who was burnt. At that moment all three of her eyes were closed – but her daughter did not close her eyes. She had sworn that she would set her mother free.”

Deben said softly, “Akurti…”

> “Yes. Your death is his way out. And your love… his pain.”

That night Deben goes to a corner of the forest – where the path leads to an old pond. From there the forest behind the temple is visible – and in the middle of the pond there was a small tree, where Deben had first seen her sitting.

Akurti.

She had water at her feet, and a flower in her hand – which she would put in the water again and again, and then hold up.

“Why alone here?” Deben asked.

> “Because I can never belong to anyone,” there was a pain in her voice – a pain that only someone whose body is burdened with secrets can feel.

> “Are you Deviyam’s daughter?” Deben asked directly.

Akurti looked at him. There were no tears in her eyes. There was only a light – a burning one.

> “Yes. I am their daughter. Of Deviyam. The Goddess... whom you people burnt. Locked in the temple. And now... their daughter has been given the responsibility... to free her.”

> “And I am on the path to that liberation?”

Aakurti nodded yes.

> “Your death can free my mother. She must be jealous of your life.”

> “And if I die, what will you get to live for?”

Aakurti closed her eyes and said again:

> “I am just a curse Deben. Love is not in my destiny.”

> “But your eyes... are not lying.”

Both of them fell silent for a moment. It was just a wave of water, or maybe of the heart.

At 12 o’clock at night Deben saw a ball of fire rising in the sky.

Smoke was coming out of the temple. People were closing the doors of their houses.

> “That is the night…” Baba Tamas said from somewhere.

“When the three eyes of the Goddess open automatically.”