The Whirlpool of Destiny

This story explores the meaning of humanity through the lives of those bound by tradition superstition and the long-standing feud between two villages in a Himalayan valley. The bitterness between them has endured since the days of the British Raj. The Holy Man of the Himalayas gifts a silver flute to young Vidhi telling her she is like a candle. As she burns slowly she brings light to those around her. He declares that she alone will bring peace and prosperity to the valley. Eight years later he unites the two rival families by arranging a marriage between their children.Some journeys take us far from home and lead us to our true destiny. In a quiet corner of that valley a kind woman named Betty watches the life of the young bride next door unfold. Betty still remembers how during the war her husband and his friend were saved by strangers in Burma. Her husband never forgot them and often said that gratitude is the memory of the heart. It helps make sense of our past and brings peace to the present.With his words etched in her heart Betty opens her home to Vidhi after the young bride is cruelly abandoned. Over the next two decades Vidhi faces racial prejudice and the scorn of her own community. Yet through it all Betty stands beside her like a true mother. For Betty the greatest gift in life is being a mother. Though she could not fully be that to her own daughter Kathy she becomes something just as powerful to Vidhi.