Alka Nagari was Kubera’s rich and shining capital, full of golden roads and jewel-covered palaces. Beauty was everything here, and wealth was worshipped. But behind this glitter was a dark truth.
A cloud of Ashad, sent by Lord Varun (God of Rain), was heading toward Alka Nagari. It carried water that was once pure like nectar, but now mixed with pollution, it had turned poisonous.
Yakshpriya, a beautiful woman living in one of the palaces, ran to the rooftop hoping to receive a message from her lover through the lightning. She remembered his words: “Even in darkness, you shine like lightning. You are like Rambha (apsara in lord Indra Court in Heavan) herself. Who needs lamps when you are here?”
As the rain began, she danced and got soaked for the first time in Ashad’s monsoon. But suddenly, her skin started burning. She rushed to her room and looked in the mirror. Her face and body were scarred by acid rain. She screamed. Would her lover still love her now? In Yaksha society, beauty was a woman’s only value.
Outside, the rain stopped, but the land was blackened. Trees were burnt; birds were dead. The cloud looked down and saw a crowd around a woman lying in blood—her face ruined by the toxic rain. People whispered: “Her husband is abroad, and she wanted to enjoy the rain. Didn’t she hear the warnings on TV and radio?” One said, “How will she live now that her beauty is gone?” Another said, “We’re all dying slowly in this poisonous world. No one cares. “Blaming the king for the tragedy, the crowd erupted in slogans against King Kuber".
The cloud felt guilty. It remembered Yakshpriya and her lover waiting at Ramgiri. What would it tell him? For a moment, the cloud wanted to turn back and empty its water into the sea. But it remembered Varun’s command: fulfill your duty, no matter what happens on earth. The cloud shed two tears and moved on
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