Kala was different. He rarely mooed and moved in the day. He was the darkest and deepest of his herd. Even as a calf, he never showed excitement for fresh grass and marshy lands. He had a pattern that separated him from the rest of the buffaloes.
On a bright yellow morning, Ravi, the master of buffaloes, started to speak in a gibberish tone that only the cattle could understand. All the buffaloes ran together into a wooden shelter and ate the dry grass places ahead of them. They all ran rampant after a good meal. A few scratched their backs on the wall, a few mooed to the top of their lungs and many just sat down and gazed at each other. Amidst all this noise, Kala silently had his fill of grass and observed everything. Meanwhile, Ravi observed Kala from a distance.
In the early days, he felt that Kala was defective because of some health issue. But as Kala grew, Ravi picked up an interest in him. Though the dark buffalo was not productive, his actions and behavior intrigue Ravi.
Every day, after dinner Ravi sits on a rock to take some rest. While his buffaloes graze through the royal green grasses by the riverside, Ravi leans back, stretches his legs, and sings an old song. Kala always sits next to Ravi and listens to his tunes and lyrics. Sometimes, Ravi gets a feeling that Kala is trying to understand the song when he nods his head in rhythm. And every day, during dinner time, when Ravi has dinner with his family, Kala used to stare at them from the window. Even when Ravi hits Kala to discipline, he never runs away like the other buffaloes. Kala stays silent and gently walks away. Ravi had a different kind of connection with Kala.
One day, on a dark purple night, after settling down all the buffaloes, Ravi counted his cattle and dozed off early. Ravi’s eyelids dropped down and a feeling of heaviness accumulated in his chest. This happened once when he lost one of his buffaloes the past. Ravi panicked and woke up. He wore his rubber footwear and ran towards the wooden shelter. When he counted the cattle, one buffalo was missing. Kala was missing. Ravi’s panic-stricken heartbeat pounded like thunder on the rock.
He quickly alarmed his family and started searching for the missing one. Ravi and his family searched for a long time, waited till dawn, and came back to the shelter in the morning. Surprisingly, Kala was there before them. Ravi’s family got agitated with him for not checking properly and went back into their house.
Ravi was confused. All these years, he has dealt with 100’s of cows and buffaloes, none as mysterious as Kala.
The same night, Ravi was waiting for the sun to simmer down and the darkness to cover the sky. As soon as he shut himself beneath a blanket, Kala somehow removed his ropes and walked out of the shelter. Ravi was amazed to see this from the gap under his blanket. Kala took baby steps and vanished into the darkness.
Ravi quickly got ready and ran into the darkness to follow Kala. The four-legged footsteps of Kala and the two-legged footsteps of Ravi synced in tandem. The tempo remained the same and continued for a while. Suddenly, when the clouds cleared and the full moon lit up the landscape, Ravi saw Kala entering into a sugarcane field.
He increased his pace to catch up with Kala. But, within seconds, he lost his buffaloe inside the sugarcane field. The dark blue and cold ambiance triggered a lot of emotions inside Ravi’s heart. On one end he was worried about Kala and on the other end, he was curious to know him better. He ran through the maze like a lost child and finally landed in an open space and saw Kala staring at him. He stopped that instant and stood motionless. Kala’s leather skin retracted, horns diminished, tail fell and Kala transformed into a man.
Ravi was still in a state of shock and silence. The mysterious man approached Ravi and took him to a nearby boulder and made him sit on it. Kala sat next to him and let out a smile. Ravi calmed down and smiled back at Kala. Kala started to hum the old song that Ravi used to sing. Ravi’s heart melted in Joy. He joined Kala and sang the entire song.
At the end of the song, Ravi let out a burst of loud laughter and saw Kala laughing with him. The laughter almost woke up the sleeping ravens of the sugarcane field. Ravi wanted to ask Kala 100s of questions, but his lips were sealed. A just continued observing Kala. Ravi felt a sense of trust and satisfaction from Kala. He believed that someday, Kala would open up to him by himself. He got an assurance of time more time and a new beginning with Kala.
A few moments later, a ray of red light pierced the darkness in the sky. The intensity of the purple-black sky diluted and golden dawn emerged.
Kala turned back into a buffalo. Ravi embraced him with unconditional love and from that day he never used ropes to tie Kala. With newfound respect, friendship, and a mystical connection, they came back to their shelter.
Kala was always more than a buffalo. He became a dearest member of Ravi’s family after the night of the full moon.
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