Long Lost Treasures

Chapter 1: Almost the End

His heart swirled the winding path atop the misty mountains where they had first met many years back and greeted the rising sun for the last time as strangers. They had connected with an urgency as if not wanting to squander any more of each other. Many years later, willfully imprisoned in his memories, he thought about the beginning while at the very end. He was aware of the nagging presence of reality, like an unused piece of clothing in his wardrobe that he could pass over. He was also not unaware of the condition of his heart having planned for this day. He expected a yes from her today, and he had valid reasons for it. 

She took a deep breath as she opened the window to feel the chillness of the early morning breeze. The star-studded Indigo hued sky kept her company during the drive. The balmy fragrance of wildflowers gushed in as her car snaked through the winding path. She did not anticipate the wind playing havoc with her hair and making the neatly curled strands stray all over her head. 

She pulled over, to tie her hair in a bun. Habitually, she checked her phone's messages and reread his curt message. 'Meet me' was all that it said. She wanted to decline but nevertheless went ahead with the plan of meeting him.

Reaching the top of the mountain, he parked his jeep and checked his watch in impatience. 

He ordered two black coffees in the hill-top cafe when he saw her car approaching.

Silhouetted in an orange glow, she walked towards him.

He worried if she would hear his thudding heart. Mustering his long-lost youthful charm, he offered her a cup. 

"Hi, I am Bharat. Nice to meet you."

With tinkling laughter, she struck a pose and said, "My pleasure Mr. Bharat, I am Gayatri."

He bowed to her in mock gallantry, she held on to the crook of his elbow and watched the sunrise.

Chapter 2: The proposal 

They kept gazing at the sky till it transformed itself into a giant roof of bright pearly white above the hill. Gayatri held onto the railing with one hand and the coffee cup in the other. 

"The stars are still there, just invisible now."

Gayatri smiled and looked into his eyes. He was able to read her mind even after so many years. 

She peered through the olive-green canopy of the slope, enjoying the early morning renditions of the blue Jays, cuckoos, mynahs, and the squirrels.

Bharat continued, "There is a new project here. Uh, old actually…" he stuttered as he tried to maintain his composure. "We've found some ancient ruins, at the foothills. On the other side of the hill, we have unearthed a few granite pillars. Looks like the temple of the deer. I just wanted to check if you are still interested in working with the team. You know we have many young-" 

Bharat thought he had grabbed the perfect moment to open the topic, but before he completed his sentence, Gayatri shook her head in disagreement and said, "Don't you know the reason why I quit in the first place?"

"But the deer temple is your dream project Gayatri!" Bharat almost raised his voice.

"I have a few commitments, Bharat. I can't let anything else disturb me. Thanks for the offer."

She did not wait for his reply.

Chapter 3: The deer temple site

A swirling dry leaf fell on Bharat's face and disturbed his melancholic meditation. He wasn't happy with Gayatri's response. He refused to enter his tent and sat in his jeep, parked under a neem tree. It was humid and sultry. The mid-day breeze under the neem's plumage barely gave any comfort to the sexagenarian. 

Bharath opened his eyes. The golden light seeping through the leaves reminded him of Gayatri. 

She was wearing a golden yellow saree that morning. She appeared pleasant and calm and showed no signs of …

Bharath shook his head. He could not help thinking about the conversation he had with her earlier that day. He regretted having messaged her. She was not interested in knowing about the project either. His ego was hurt deeply by her denial. He was restless. He felt lonely as reality hit him harder than ever. 

"Hey, Bharat! We found something! You gotta check this out" A young archaeologist gestured to him from a distance. Her enthusiasm reminded him of Gayatri. 

Bharat staggered through the heaps of mud and descended to the site, holding the rope that was tied around the ground being unearthed. There, half-buried in red soil, were miniature granite deer and fawns. Deformed, covered in mud, yet standing strong to tell their stories from centuries ago. Even these granite statues reminded him of Gayatri.

"This is just the beginning, and there could be more statues hidden down there!" Bharat was excited.

He looked for his phone. 

Chapter 4: The Revival

Gayatri held her head and sat on the couch for a long while. Her eyes were fixed on a portrait of her husband and herself on the wall. The lunch that she skipped had given her a terrible headache.

The book titled; "Mythological deer of my town" lay open on her table. It had always been her favourite book. Gayatri had an intuition that the deer temple was real. It had been her dream project. But none of the archaeologists had believed that there could ever be a temple built for deer.

Now Bharat's team had unearthed it, and there could be more hidden statues. 

How did she not hear about it in the news? Or did he influence to keep the media at bay? She was not sure if she was happy that her intuition finally became a reality or was upset that she couldn't be part of the team.

She walked to the kitchen to have a temporary caffeine relief for her dilemma of decades.

Gayatri hated the conundrum she was living in. She could have ignored Bharat's message instead of having visited him that morning. She could not accept that she was wrong. She tried to escape from her conscience. 

She was torn between motherhood, family, work, and her interests. Work was her first love, just like it still was for Bharat.  But she denied the offer blatantly as she felt it came way too late and at a time when she was needed elsewhere. 

Her daughter Tanya was in her final trimester. Gayatri's tickets were booked, and she would be travelling in a week to help Tanya's family in welcoming their first child. Neither did Bharat ask her about Tanya, nor was she interested in disclosing the details about Tanya to him. 

Gayatri felt relieved after her coffee. She thought she would be busy taking care of Tanya and her baby and would soon forget all about the deer temple project. 

She dialed her daughter to check if she needed anything else to be packed from home.

"Hi ma, what a coincidence, I was just thinking of calling you," exclaimed Tanya.

"Do you need anything else to be packed Tanu?"

"Don't bother, ma. Adi feels it would be better if we both are on our own to welcome the baby. He had been scolding me for pulling you into this. He says my friends have planned something special. Will it be ok for you to postpone your travel by six months or so?"

"No problem at all dear! Just take care of yourself!" Gayatri hung up, immediately bursting into tears. She threw her coffee cup down. She felt lonelier than ever. 

On the other end of the line, Adi held a sobbing Tanya's hands. "What is this Tanu? I have never seen you being so rude to aunty. And you pulled my name into this!"

Tanya sighed, "Adi, I didn't know what else to do. I know it's going to be difficult not having her beside me. We must manage somehow, but dad will not get another chance. He called me a while ago. I don't want mom to sacrifice her dream project for helping us out."

A momentary downpour washed away all the mud sticking on to the miniature granite animals unearthed by Bharat's team.

Gayathri carefully lifted her favourite book and held it close to her bosom. She looked for her phone to call Bharat. 

Bharat's melancholy disappeared. He sprung up and issued orders to his team that a new member would be joining them soon. 

Ecstatic, Bharat crossed his legs, sat back and looked up, thanking his stars. The moon revealed itself from behind the clouds. He clicked a selfie with the shining full moon reflected on the lake and posted it to Gayatri.