A shelter in the snow

At Himavant

The unknown effort, as well as the time lapse between their dive into the Ganges, and their arrival at Himavant had left both Shankara and Burak exhausted. The fruit of the skies invigorated them, and at the same time, made them drowsy as well. They had just rested their backs on the rock by the side of the blue Ganges, that they dozed off to the realms of sleep, to be woken-up only in the evening, by the distant tinkling of bells, as if from the small tinklets tied on the neck of the cows.

Cows? There would be no cows here; maybe just the yaks. They would use the Yaks as the cows, maybe.

The sun was setting over the mountains behind the Ganges. It was just these folds of the earth everywhere around them. Visible in layers over layers, towering over one another. Burak turned around to Shankara.

‘There must be some humans there as well.’

‘Yes, let us see. We need to move and find a shelter soon, or the night would kill us of its cold even if the wild animals don’t hunt us.’ Shankara answered.

Both got up and turned around to the sounds. The tinkling was not from the vicinity, but from a far off place. As they moved on, the sounds got a tad louder each moment. These were not the tinklets on the necks of the cows, but actually the bells. They kept moving to the direction of the sound, until, in the midway, the sound just stopped all of a sudden. Among the mountains, they weren’t even sure, from which direction the sound came, now they were left entirely clueless.

‘ Let us just walk straight. Let us hope we reach somewhere.’ Shankara said with a sigh.

They walked ahead on the snowy track as it started getting darker. It would be night in another hour. As they walked, they hit a summit and saw a valley down the peak. Burak turned around to look at the expanse around him. The sky was crisp and the air was fresh. A sight suddenly caught Burak’s eyes. A little down the peak, there was a wooden structure. He quickly turned to Shankara, who faced onto the other direction, and patted his back. As Shankara turned around, Burak pointed his finger towards the building. Shankara’s eyes widened for a moment, and then he spontaneously fell on his knees in prostration towards the structure. As Burak looked ahead, he saw a man appear on the way to the structure, and as Shankara went down in prostration, the man faced the building and went into a sajdah. Shankara, got up and pulled Burak’s arm to take him ahead, as Burak watched the man in green robes go down into sajdah again. By all means he was into the namaz, except that he faced opposite to the quiblah.

The Million Years Old Kids!

Dakshineshwar

Biswada approached the door and switched the biometric lock on active mode. His body was scanned and his retinal code was matched. The door opened. Biswada spoke on the door. 

“Guest. Name RajatBabu. “

There were clicks from the cameras on the door. The lock device showed that Rajat was cleared to enter. Rajat entered into a tastefully decorated lobby.

“How is it so clean, Biswada?” Rajat was amused that it was spotless though there was no servant in the house.

“Oh! That’s because of the robotic cleaners. They are timed.” Biswada answered.

Rajat heard the voice of a child from one of the rooms upstairs. It was a soft voice:

“five ones are five….five twos are ten…five threes are fifteen….” It went on.

They moved upstairs. There was a soft yellow glow coming from one of the rooms – from which the voice seemed to be coming. Biswada rushed toward the room.

A child was sitting on the chair with back toward the door – studying from the book kept on the table.. Biswada ran toward him – “Son!” He cried.

The boy jumped from the chair – “Father!” He said

Biswada took the kids hands and pressed them lovingly. The child jumped suddenly with a loud shriek – “ohhh! It hurts father.”

The palms were bleeding right in the middle. It suddenly reminded Rajat of something.

The boy turned around. Rajat froze for a moment.

“Vibhu!” He cried in horror. He immediately turned to Biswada. “Biswada come and run. At once! He is no son of yours. He is a demon. He haunts the crematoria as a crying boy. Let’s go Biswada.”

Biswada seemed both shocked and angry. He was about to say something when Vibhu stopped him. He said to Rajat:

“Pankaj. You may be right in your way about me. But I am no demon. I have just come on the insistence of my gurus. Your friend is my friend. He is with me all the time, and as mother said –he is at peace. He is happy. I am the one who feels his agony all the time.”

Rajat looked at him. Suddenly there was a sound from the entrance.

All of them rushed toward the main enterance. There were four young boys – hardly six years of age and stark naked. – the Sanat Kumars.

“Rajat.” , spoke one of them. “Learn it that Vibhu is not wrong. As for you, go with him. He’ll take you where things would be clearer.”

“Go with him.” They said in unison, and vanished. 

There was nothing, but a blurred echo -  “Harisharanam”.

It was about time in which a cow could be milked. The Kumars never stay at a place longer than that, lest they might develop an attachment with the world! They are not of this world.

The Frothy Mist

7

Nigambodh Ghat, Delhi, India

  

“Oh! I love this smell of burning flesh.” The ascetic said, breathing a long deep breath.

He had long and flowing white hair - matted, oily and rough - falling down to his waist. His beard flew sideways in flowing wind. Flashes of lightening reflected in his eyeballs and lit his face momentarily – accentuating the wrinkles on his forehead. White ash was smeared all over his body.

“Alas, I would have to part with it.” He had a scornful expression on his face as if someone had done some wrong to him.

His disciples gathered around him. With their hands folded and heads bent down, they listened to him intently.

“I get the signals of change! Smell the flesh.” He said inhaling again. “It rots as it burns. Even the Agni (fire) is unable to contain the rot. When the purifier ceases to purify, it means that it’s the time for change. I feel that others might have sensed it too. They would have started as well. At the end of the era, there would be a meeting amidst destruction in the HimavntMountains of the north. The seven sages would be there and thousands of ascetics. Kripacharya, Parashurama and Lord Hanuman himself shall be there. The meeting shall be chaired by Lord Bharadvaja – the Brihaspatya – the son of none other than Brihaspati: master of the demigods. There we shall get the clarity on what’s coming.”

He repeated the old verses:

Yada yada hi dharmasya, glanir’bhavati’bharata.

Abhyut’thanam hi dharmasya, tvad’atmanam srujamyaham

Paritranaya sadhunam, Vinashaya ch’dushkritam

Dharma’sansthapanarthaya, sambhavami yuge yuge.

Whenever, on the earth the righteousness is shamed – in order to raise the righteousness, I incarnate myself. In order to save the ascetics and destroy the evil – in order to re-establish the cosmic order, I come age after age.

“We are in the darkest age, my pupils. The transition of the order is about to begin. Something new will come out of the dust of the old order, as it was the last time:

Senyur’ubhyor’madhye

…in midst of the armies and in midst of the ages…

The darkness shall soon pass.”

He turned around and walked to the banks of the turbulent Yamuna.  

“How much for an upstream ride on the flooding Yamuna?” he asked the lone rower. He was denied the ride.

“How much for a lost boat?” He asked. The rower smiled.

The ascetic was soon seen with oars, rowing upstream in the wild Yamuna, till he vanished in the frothy mist.

The Beginnings. (1:1)

Chapter 1

THE BEGINNINGS

1

2430 CE

Bangalore, India.

Friday Sunset

Darkness had embraced the grounds. It was the beginning of the night, and their work had just begun. Every day was getting harder for them. It wasn’t like before anymore. There were days, when work was in abundance, and completing tasks was easy. But now, Vikas and all others like him were continuously on the run. The work had become tougher, and the eyes of the law had made the business a lot lesser than before. It was just the change of shifts that gave them some chance to sneak in, if at all they could.

Vikas was a team leader; one of the last ones of his science. He was powerful, and knowledgeable. However, there was a time when he used to go to the school, and like all the other kids, he had a dream.He dreamt to be an aircraft designer and make new designs for the aircrafts. But all that was past, and here he was tonight; with one of his usual duties. His target today was Bangalore – the busiest of the global conurbations, and ,unarguably, the most secured and controlled.

“Once we are there, just take care of Visual Information Boxes”, Vikas spoke in whispers as he turned back slowly in darkness towards the huge guy behind him. His voice was muffled, and had hoarseness, even in a whisper. He continued, “There are many VIBs around there. These are the spy boxes with stealth. You won’t be able to see them, but, they record your movements all the time. They transmit visual signals to their security masters even in the dark so that they know what is happening there”

“Yes, but how do we get in?” Rudra wore a frustrated look on his face. A tall man with long hair, bouncing in locks down his neck, and strewn across his chest, Rudra inspired awe at the very first look. A frightening aura surrounded him. As he moved, every inch of his ripped muscles shone with strength in the grey moonlight. He moved ahead with caution. Commotion meant confusion and a chance for the enemies to become alerted. He wanted to take them unawares.

Security Gates: Around the same time

Tara approached the guards in an exceedingly sumptuous dress. The alert security guard tried not to get carried off into the lures of her flesh, but she was too hard to resist. He approached her and asked what she was up to at this odd hour, and that too alone!

The scornful security officer and his assistant watched the VIB signals far away in central Bangalore. “He is a dog. He doesn’t know is that papa is watching. If he lays her, it’s going to be the last night of his job.” The security officer told his assistant. While both shared a laugh at the prospect of another entertaining night, Tara had already taken care of this.

Just as Tara started speaking to the guard, Trishna used a really easy process to ‘hack’ the VIBs signals through her frequency matcher and give a false transmission to the security officers. As the security officers saw the guard speak to Tara and shoo her away, in reality, something else was going on at the security gates.

Tara told the guard that she was thirsty. She said that she had lost her way and it was really lonely! She was alone and frightened! The guard calmed her and asked her to sit as he got some water for her. As he returned and approached her with water, Tara smiled. He looked in her eyes. There was a brilliant shine there – almost frightening. As he looked at her again, he froze……..

 

Meanwhile, Vikas pacified the agitated Rudra.  “Don’t worry about getting in Rudra. Tara and Trishna might have taken care of that. Both the sisters are the best the world has in their specializations - the first one at casting spells and the second one at illusions.” Vikas sounded like a triumphant king. “Your work is just to be aware of any changes that the enemy makes in their way of working and see that everything goes smoothly.”

By the time they reached the security gates Trishna and Tara had done their job. The illusion was made and stealth of their activities was complete and impermeable. The guards were taken care of.

As Vikas rose to the ground level with the last step, he could clearly see the illuminated board in front of him. His destination.

BANNERGHATTA CREMATORIUM

This project would get him 4.5 million rupees. It wasn’t a tough task, but the risk involved was a little high. The deal was always fixed on the need and urgency of the client. The higher the need, the higher the deal amount.

They had finished up all the preparations in the morning. It was marvelous work.

Symphony of the Emrald Lake

A story of five different souls with different lives, and different lifestyles. Destiny will push them together towards a common goal. As the board is laid, and the game begins, each move shall determine the future course of action. At the end of this game, the universe as we know it will change. But, there are somethings that shall never change..... Some players shall never lose! Keep reading this blog to find how it happened?