Kashyap gave him some instructions to change the arrangement of courses to be served and returned to wait on the king.
Around midnight droves and droves of Nilnag’s fairies landed on the sprawling lawns of the king’s palace. In a meticulously arranged operation, they flew away with the last sleeping man and woman. Kashyap stood there watching the horizon as swarms of fairies disappeared into the woods carrying the intoxicated flaccid bodies of Jaladbhava, his chieftains and nobles, ladies and gentlemen.
Charles Chopra drove at a breakneck speed. Behind the wheel, his genius surfaced. His reflexes were razor sharp. After a while they approached old Delhi. Yousuf remarked, “Charles slow down now. You cannot maintain that speed in the busy bazaars of old Delhi.” Charles smiled at him and taking a sharp curve said, “I can very well continue at the same speed but that will attract attention, so I will slow down.” He applied the breaks, and went dead on the accelerator. The car steadied and began to run lazily. Budshah remained silent, watching the outside landscape in a detached fashion. At last Charles pulled into a dingy street and locating a vacant patch at the end of the street, headed for it, parked his car and all three of them alighted. Charles led the other two into a nondescript restaurant. Once inside, a strong smell of hashish hit their senses. It was a dark place and about a dozen men could be seen sitting in rickety chairs—some smoked charas while others drank. Charles made a brief visual survey of the place and straightaway headed towards the counter.
An elderly fat and bald man with yellow teeth and a heavy moustache sat behind the counter. Charles, resting his elbow on the counter, whispered something into his ear. The man jumped up in his seat and coming around the counter shook hands with Charles. Then he led the three of them through a side door into the interior cabin. As they sat around a small table, their escort picked up a phone, dialed a number and spoke into the mouthpiece in a low tone. Then replacing the receiver he turned towards his guests and said, “Sir, he will be here in five minutes; would you like a drink or is there any other thing I can do?”
“No thank you,” said Charles,“we will wait for him.”
Exactly after five minutes the door opened and a well-dressed gentleman in a grey business shirt, dazzling blue necktie, entered the room. Charles hugged him and listened to his report. He brought out a manila envelope. Charles took the envelope and opening it brought out a sheaf of papers. For the first time, addressing his companions, Charles said, “Look, here are your passports and air tickets. Your plane leaves from IGI airport after another 90 minutes. It will take you to Karachi and from there you are on your own.” Handing over the documents to the two men, he looked quizzically towards the man in the blue necktie. Responding, the man brought out a few bundles of currency notes. Charles picked out a bundle and handed it over to Yousuf and said, “Now do not waste time. Take a taxi and straightaway drive to the airport. I will contact you later. Good luck friends.”
Budshah spoke for the first time and touching Charle’s arms said, “Charles, what about you? You are not travelling with us? Why?”
“Come on I’ve got a lot to do. I’ve got to settle some old accounts. It will take me some time and once free I too will fly.”
Budshah could see the mist in Charles’s eyes. He felt sad for his friend. In a sudden burst of emotion, Budshah stood up and hugged him. Charles was not ready for this. Both looked at each other for a long time. Then Charles taking control of his emotions said, “Come on now, get going.” Yousuf stood up and the two shook hands with their benefactor and friend and reluctantly left the room.
Gani was returned to the interrogation centre. He continued to behave like a mad man. He jumped, shouted, shrieked, laughed, cried all to the utter discomfort of his escorts. Once inside his cell he tore at his own clothes. He went on shouting, singing, reciting his Persian verses and making faces at the guards, wildly gesturing with his hands. This continued throughout the night.
The commanding officer, a stern Sardarji, was informed in the morning. He called a meeting of his senior staff officers. There they discussed Gani. The police doctor was called and asked to examine him. During the day it was concluded that Gani had, in fact, turned insane and it was dangerous to keep him in. He was to be set free and shifted to the Mental Hospital. But the doctor cautioned the authorities that prior to shifting Gani they would have to drug him or else things would be unmanageable. At the appointed hour ten soldiers were pushed into Gani’s cell to overpower him so that the doctor administered an injection into his wasted muscles.Gani’s body went limp as soon as the needle was withdrawn. Thereafter it was easy. Two men picked him up and laid him on the stretcher and placed it inside a vehicle. Within a moment the vehicle was speeding towards the Mental Hospital situated at the foot of Hariparbat hillock and surrounded by dense almond orchards. As the vehicle came to a halt outside the hospital building, Gani came alive. As his stretcher was being carried to the hospital building, he opened his eyes and stole a glance. The dense almond trees were in full bloom and Gani smelt their fragrance and a naughty smiled danced on his lips.
Raja Ram Dev, accompanied by his two gurus, Haruswamy and Maruswamy, ran away from that little hut which had held them captive for four days and four nights. They ran one after another, Raja leading the way over the boulders, thorny bushes and steep terrain. It was a full moon night and they could see things very clearly as they tried to negotiate the hurdles in their way. All three men were gasping for breath but still they continued to run, their beards, their long hair and flowing robes, flying in the cool breeze. After an eternity they reached a plain patch of ground. There they stopped. A gushing stream was flowing nearby. They sat at its bank and quenched their thirst. At last the Raja spoke, “From here, you can see that mountain over there. There in the woods lies our cave. It is a steep rise from here on. But we shall make it before dawn. So come on, move.”
They stood up and began the uphill trek. They were more confident now. Raja seemed to know the way. By dawn they reached the place and locating the crevice crawled in. Once inside the spacious cave, they stood up and feeling safe and secure abandoned all caution. They strolled through the cave. The first rays of the sun pierced the dark hollowness of the cave and they moved on. It was a never-ending cave, so it seemed. Tired from the travails of their flight, their legs sagged and they sat down. Raja Ram Dev saw his two companions stretching their bodies on the floor. He too stretched his limbs and all three of them descende dinto deep sleep.
Raja Ram Dev was in the dense woods, in hot pursuit of a deer. He heard the roar of a lion and smiled to himself. Big game. He moved in the direction of the sound, alert and ready for the kill and then it came. From behind the bushes leapt a lion straight at him. He grappled with the lion who went for his throat. The Raja caught hold of his paws. The lion attacked him with his teeth but the Raja held him back. The lion tossed him on to the floor. The Raja turned him over and went for his eyes. The lion managed to catch his throat and his sharp nails dug into his flesh. Raja opened his eyes. The place was teeming with men. A few of them were pulling him up on to his legs. Others were busy in getting his friends. Realizing that it was no dream, Raja stood up on wobbly feet and enquired from strangers,“Who are you? And what do you want?”
One of them, probably their chief, came forward and replied ‘Jaladbhava Zindabad…Satisara Zindabad!”
“What does that mean my dear friend?” enquired Raja Ram Dev. The man in front replied, “The great monarch Jaladbhava is awake and Satisara is on fire.”
Raja Ram Dev wanted to say something but his captors pushed him and his companions along the cave into the deep recesses and finally brought him in front of a throne on which sat a dignified man, attired in royal robes. Raja Ram Dev stood in front of him and a person rose from a seat in the rear and addressed the king,“Jaladbhava zindabad, Satisara zindabad. These three men, agents of Kashyap were found inside our outer caves. They have pierced our defence and are informers of our enemies.”
Jaladbhava listened with attention and then enquired, “Who are you? And why are you here?” Raja Ram Dev took a step forward and without a bow addressed the king, “Salutes to the Monarch. We are no informers, Sir. We are men in search of God. Meditation is our creed. We were in search of a secluded spot to meditate in total peace. That brought us here. We are now at your mercy gracious king.”
Jaladbhava, leaning forward on his throne, replied to the entreaties of Ram Dev. “This is the same tone; we recognize it. Some 4,000 years ago, it cost us our throne—our kingdom, and our Satisara.We will not be fooled yet again men. Death upon you, for your death was ordained and forewritten by one of your breed thousands of years ago and now no treachery, no mischief shall prevail; our kingdom we shall regain. Our progeny, our own tribe shall retake what they had lost. We have arisen from deep slumber. The charm has outlived its use and we shall, yes we shall not rest in peace—death to you, all of you.”
Jaladbhava rose from his throne and began to move. Raja Ram Dev realizing the situation prostrated in front of him.
‘Mercy…king, mercy…king.”
Jaladbhava walking away from him, murmured, “Mercy to the merciless shall not be granted.”
An excerpt from Ayaz Rasool Nazki’s book SATISAR, THE VALLEY OF DEMONS published by Vitasta Publishing and the book is available on www.vitastapublishing.com
