A Nymph's Mortal Love

Chapter-1

Tales of love have always enchanted and enthralled our hearts since the beginning of time. The gods have fallen in love, and so have demons. A few argue that the demons only know of lust, but I assure you, dearest reader, that as vicious as those beings may be, with their morality slightly twisted, many do possess tender and pure hearts that are capable of love and affection. The other celestials of Indraloka, too, have experienced the bittersweet pangs of love and have been famous for many love escapades, especially our famous heavenly dancers of Swarga, our very own Apsaras. After the inhabitants of Swargaloka come the inhabitants of Bhuloka, the mortals who, unlike us, have finite time to live. But it is the mortals who have experienced some of the most passionate and soul-stirring love stories of all time, a few even rivalling the tales of the gods and other celestials.

Aeons ago, the veil between the mortal world and the divine was almost non-existent. The divine and the semi-divine beings could easily travel to Mrityuloka, the mortal realm. Some divinely lucky humans had the chance to visit the upper world in their mortal flesh. The Apsaras were a common visitor to the earthly realm to test sages and mortal men for their ascetic merits and penance.

As the circle of time moved forward, bringing the reign of the fearsome demon Kali, the mortal and divine realms were kept away from each other, thus restricting any movement between the two worlds. The gods don't walk on earth anymore. The humans often spread rumours about strange sightings they see on the air and sometimes of strange beings hidden in the hearts of wild forests and abandoned temples. Perhaps some of them are the sages and the seven immortals, but it will be very difficult for a mortal to find them.

If they want you to find them, then only shall they let themselves be seen.

Except for the mighty Trinity deities, a few demigods, and the gods presiding over various natural sources and resources in Bhuloka, no other celestial being can directly intervene in mortal affairs. The celestial inhabitants of Amravati, Indra's capital city, spend a lot of time watching over the activities of humans.

Oh! I see your attention is elsewhere and no longer on my words. Where do your eyes travel, my reader?

"But only in the limitations of time does one learn to embrace a moment as a whole. Our timeless gardens boast of the finest of flowers, but how many of us have spent time tending to them with love, care, and appreciation for their existence?" says a girl standing near a large pillar of a marble platform in the middle of Nandanavana, decorated with green creepers sprouting tiny golden blooms.

The girl by the pillar is the daughter of Apsara Tilottamma, one of the famous Apsaras of Indra's court. She has the boon of being able to travel anywhere in the universe and at any time, whenever she so wishes. The Apsara queen Rambha has used Tilottamma's boon as a medium to gather news and the latest happenings in and around Apsaraloka, as well as from other worlds.

A queen must be aware of the happenings in her kingdom and discharge her duties accordingly. Tilottamma is thus also sent as the ambassador of Apsaraloka to tend to matters concerning the welfare of the city of the celestial nymphs.

There is another girl beside Tilottamma's daughter who holds a tiny golden flower in her two fingers. "So, are humans better admirers of beauty?"

Tilottamma's daughter, Yuthika, is a lovely girl, both in looks and personality. She is sensitive to the world around her, especially the mortal world. Dear reader, hear her well. She is going to answer her friend.

Gazing at the golden flower, she answers, "Take this flower as an example." She twirls the tiny bloom and looks at her friend. "Unlike the flowers here, the ones in Bhuloka generally wilt after some time; their freshness and fragrance are a temporary affair. They can never last too long. Once they wilt, their soft petals are crushed under someone's feet or get coloured in dust. Their fragrance is lost to the blowing air around them." Yuthika plucks a lone golden petal. "Perhaps this could be a state akin to death. The humans you know admire fallen flowers too. We don't spare a glance at the freshly fallen flowers at our feet. There is always a flower blooming to replace the lost one."