Shadow: The Woman at the Well

In India the village culture has always been an integral part of our heritage but there are still certain believes or thoughts that setback these villages from the Indian advanced Indian community. This story is about one among the many such villages, so be ready as you and me experience the ‘Glimpses of Gourirath’. Gourirath, a village that was known for its unforgettable name and amazing landscapes. Walking from north to south the village had its main markets which were always seen flooded either by the villagers or by the tourists in search of handicrafts, another reason that made the village proud. A view from east to west, definitely not like a compass, comprised of the residences of the villagers. It's said that whenever you’re reading about a person, a place or anything and if you continuously read the good things apparently you are looking at one side of the coin. The same was the case with Gourirath, even after having such good characteristics and geographical position the thing that took Gourirath out of the Indian map was their believe in the practices that were curbed back in 1800’s. Well, that’s too early to listen to the tradition let us give put a hold to our excitement and look at the life at Gourirath. The life at Gourirath is simple and is driven by joy and powered by the brotherhood between the residents of village. Gourirath is the home to a total 74 people divided among 13 families.   Now as you know about the life at Gourirath upfront its time to explore the individual families with their special traits. Out of the 13 families residing in Gourirath, there are 6 major families who are directly or indirectly connected to what happened and changed lives of the people in Village.   The first comes the Maurya family, the family has four members and is the controlling family in Gourirath. The family is internally controlled by Swapnil Maurya. The ones who are closely controlled include his wife Aarti Maurya and his two children Gautam Maurya and Shruti Maurya. This family lives the life simple but with authority. Gautam and Shruti have connections with the other cities but the husband and wife being born and bought-up in the village refrain connections from other developed cities.   The next family having connection with the incident is the Gupta family. The family wouldn’t have been considered for the story but has been, just because of the unlimited supply of money like the God’s treasure. All the small businesses or the handicraft industry workers indirectly make money for this family. There is a dark truth about the family which isn’t known to the villagers, however lets leave it for now and look at the members. The family has three members Satish Gupta his wife Sridevi Gupta and his son Dipesh Gupta. Dipesh is currently pursuing his higher studies abroad and the husband and wife are making tons of money living in the village with no plans to move out.   The next here is the Chaturvedi family, the family has just a priest and his wife. The priest makes money through the donations made to him and through rendering the marriage, funeral and other services in Gourirath and nearby villages. However, his wife Meenal Chaturvedi is the one behind the absurd tradition followed in the village. The family connections with the incident seem obvious but are not, lets leave it for now and move forward.   The Verma family, its better that people don’t learn about this family as they like it the same way. This family hardly likes to socialise with anyone else in the village. After reading this statement the first question that strikes out is – “If this family is too introvert, then how this family is one among the six families!?” Well, think o them as the backend operators, people usually don’t see them but they have the most important role to play. No one in the village have access to who lives and what is in their small house, but luckily, I got the access and as soon as you read further, you’ll too get to know what’s in there.   The next entry in here is the Kaushik family. Working back on it, there weren’t any plans to add this family to the key persons, but somehow with the series of events this innocent family was dragged into the mishappening. Jay Kaushik is called blessed as he was blessed with twin several years back. He named them Shruti and Shreya, but God had different plans 2 years later Shruti passed away owing to a sudden medical condition for which no cure was available. However, the other twin turned out to be a blessing in every material respect. She is the smartest, most beautiful and intellect girl in the village. Jay Kaushik alone lives with Shreya as her wife passed away at the time of birth.   The last family to share connections with the incident is the Patel family. They didn’t do anything during the incident but indirectly after that. Well, Gourav Patel always wanted to bring Gourirath on Indian Map. The only agenda he had was to make Gourirath popular and known enough so that it emerges as a village with its own identity. The happening of this event gave him the chance to rework on the idea that every other villager had gave-up years ago. Gourav Patel lived with his wife Sheetal Patel who has been his support since they tied the knots together. As we have looked at the lives at Gourirath, we can next explore its sustainability. The 13 families residing in the village most of them are engaged in farming producing enough grains for the village and nearby villages. All the supplies are available in the local market and a local dispensary with a 2-bed hospital makes Gourirath self-dependent to a certain extent.   There are two sources of water the unknown water distributary coming out of a major Indian river and the Well. The well in Gourirath, is considered sacred. I didn’t believe this when it was first told to me. The shocking fact about the well was that the water level has remained the same even since God knows how many years.   This is all about Gourirath you should know about at this stage. This chapter ends here, but the real story is yet to start. Keep along and witness the happening of the tragic mysterious event that shook entire village.