I woke up that morning with the realization that I had known about the village and what happened to it for a long time now. It was in one of those remote folds of my brain and that night it decided to flow to a visible place. The village was situated by a mountain which was ominously named the Gurram. The name was put in with a reason; the mountain rumbled all the time. The villagers had always felt the rumble but were never scared of it. They thought that mountain god, Asila slept underneath and the rumble were his snores. For the villagers, Asila was the God of creation. He created the world and then dug a hole threw some earth over him and slept. He kept himself warm and the warmth saved the villagers from the bitter winter that lasted almost round the year. The warmth, rumble and the mountain made the village a beautiful place and over the years the village grew large enough to be called a town.
One fine day in the year 4389 as per the village priest's calendar, the ground started shaking. It shook just enough to upset the people but the houses were not damaged. The rumble grew louder and the shakes grew stronger as the days passed. The villagers assembled in the priest's hall and expressed their worry to the priest. "Asila is waking up and he is not aware of our presence. Someone needs to inform him." said the priest. The villagers looked at each other in bewilderment. "But only you can talk to Asila, oh holy one!" blurted a voice. Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement. A disturbed expression crept into the priest's face. With thunder in his voice he said "I am Goda who was made with Asila. Asila the great and I do not deal with these mortal thoughts. We do not talk these things. It is for people who live and die. Asila and I don't die and cannot talk about these things. One of you has to go to the top of the mountain and let Asila know of our presence. You decide who will do it". The bewilderment increased as they did not know how to converse with God or for the matter how to even meet the God.
"But how can we meet Asila? How can we make him understand?" asked the crowd. "One of should go around the mountain and climb up to the top. When you reach there Asila will show you the way." replied the priest. "In the meanwhile, I have to do some penance to try and placate the God. During this time, I will not be visible to you. But don't worry I am taking care of it all." continued the priest. The villagers had many things to worry about now - the priest will not be there, one of them has to meet up with Asila and they really did not know how to go about doing this. The big question was, of course, who should meet Asila. The obvious choice was the village head man's illegitimate son. He was considered a nice guy - so nice that a lot of people thought he was an idiot. The village head man and his honchos were not happy with his illegitimacy being known to all anyway. So he ended up being the unanimous choice. The person in question, Konio, had no choice but to nod his head in agreement with a sheepish smile.
That night Konio was sent out of the village through the eastern gate. At the same time, the village priest slipped out of the western gate. The next morning, Konio started climbing the hill from the eastern side. A few minutes into the climb, he heard a loud explosion and the earth shook under his feet like a leaf. Stones started rolling down the hill. Konio ran down the mountain to save himself from the falling rocks. He ran back to his village. When he went round the mountain he found that the complete western side of the mountain had caved in, the village had disappeared and river of fire was flowing through the place where the village had existed. Konio sat down and cried - He had failed, Asila had risen and his village was destroyed.
One fine day in the year 4389 as per the village priest's calendar, the ground started shaking. It shook just enough to upset the people but the houses were not damaged. The rumble grew louder and the shakes grew stronger as the days passed. The villagers assembled in the priest's hall and expressed their worry to the priest. "Asila is waking up and he is not aware of our presence. Someone needs to inform him." said the priest. The villagers looked at each other in bewilderment. "But only you can talk to Asila, oh holy one!" blurted a voice. Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement. A disturbed expression crept into the priest's face. With thunder in his voice he said "I am Goda who was made with Asila. Asila the great and I do not deal with these mortal thoughts. We do not talk these things. It is for people who live and die. Asila and I don't die and cannot talk about these things. One of you has to go to the top of the mountain and let Asila know of our presence. You decide who will do it". The bewilderment increased as they did not know how to converse with God or for the matter how to even meet the God.
"But how can we meet Asila? How can we make him understand?" asked the crowd. "One of should go around the mountain and climb up to the top. When you reach there Asila will show you the way." replied the priest. "In the meanwhile, I have to do some penance to try and placate the God. During this time, I will not be visible to you. But don't worry I am taking care of it all." continued the priest. The villagers had many things to worry about now - the priest will not be there, one of them has to meet up with Asila and they really did not know how to go about doing this. The big question was, of course, who should meet Asila. The obvious choice was the village head man's illegitimate son. He was considered a nice guy - so nice that a lot of people thought he was an idiot. The village head man and his honchos were not happy with his illegitimacy being known to all anyway. So he ended up being the unanimous choice. The person in question, Konio, had no choice but to nod his head in agreement with a sheepish smile.
That night Konio was sent out of the village through the eastern gate. At the same time, the village priest slipped out of the western gate. The next morning, Konio started climbing the hill from the eastern side. A few minutes into the climb, he heard a loud explosion and the earth shook under his feet like a leaf. Stones started rolling down the hill. Konio ran down the mountain to save himself from the falling rocks. He ran back to his village. When he went round the mountain he found that the complete western side of the mountain had caved in, the village had disappeared and river of fire was flowing through the place where the village had existed. Konio sat down and cried - He had failed, Asila had risen and his village was destroyed.
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