Ganesh Chaturthi

  CHAPTER I Shakti Emergent The peaks of Kailāsa rose around her like a crown of white fire, each ridge carved by time into sharp hymns of stone. The air here was thinner than anywhere else in the world—so pure it seemed to ring when she inhaled it. Above, the sky was an untamed blue, so vast it pressed upon the mountains as if heaven itself leaned close to listen. At her feet stretched the stillness of Mānasa Lake, its waters fed by glaciers that wept silently from the snow-bound cliffs. The lake’s surface caught the morning light and broke it into a thousand fragments, as though even the sun scattered petals in her honor. Its touch was glacial, yet when she stepped within, it welcomed her like a long-forgotten embrace. Around the banks, wildflowers defied the altitude—blue poppies, saffron crocus, tiny white edelweiss clinging to cracks in stone. Their fragrance mingled with the sharp resin of Himalayan juniper carried by the wind. The air was alive with contrasts—ice...