In the meantime, Shiva’s tribe had been summoned to Devagiri, where they were given comfortable accommodation and jobs. Bhadra, however, was not to stay with the Gunas. He had instead been assigned to accompany the Neelkanth on his voyage.

‘Veerbhadra! When the hell did you get this name?’ Shiva asked Bhadra, meeting him for the first time since his departure from Kashmir.

‘Stupid reason actually,’ smiled Bhadra, whose slight hump had disappeared completely, thanks to the magical Somras. ‘On the journey here, I saved the caravan leader from a tiger attack. He gave me the tide for a brave man before my name.’

‘You fought a tiger single-handed?’ asked Shiva, clearly impressed.

Bhadra nodded feeling awkward.

‘Well, then you really deserve to be called Veerbhadra!’

‘Yeah right!’ smiled Bhadra, suddenly turning serious. ‘The crazy label of “destroyer of evil”... Are you okay with this? You are not giving in to these pleas just because of your past, are you?’

‘I am going with the flow right now, my friend. Something tells me that despite all my misgivings, I can actually help these people. These Meluhans are completely mad, no doubt. And I certainly can’t do ALL that they expect of me. But I do feel that if I can make a difference, however small, I can reconcile with my past.’

‘If you are sure, then so am I. I will follow you anywhere.’

‘Don’t follow. Walk beside me!’

Veerbhadra laughed and embraced his friend. ‘I missed you Shiva.’

‘I missed you too.’

‘Let’s meet in the garden in the afternoon. I’ve got a great batch of marijuana.’

‘It’s a deal!’

Brahaspati too had sought permission to travel with Shiva. He explained that a Mesopotamian ship carrying some rare chemicals, essential for a critical experiment, was to dock at the port city of Karachapa soon. His team had to check and obtain those materials anyway. It would be a good idea to do this while travelling with Shiva. Daksha said that he had no problems with Brahaspati joining the tour if the Lord was okay with it. Shiva agreed enthusiastically to the suggestion.

Three weeks after the court announcement about the Neelkanth, the day finally dawned for Shiva’s tour of the empire. On the morning of the day itself, Daksha walked into Shiva’s chambers.

‘You could have summoned me, your Highness,’ said Shiva with a namaste. ‘You did not need to come here.’

‘It is my pleasure to come to your chambers, my Lord,’ smiled Daksha, returning Shiva’s greeting with a low bow. ‘I thought I would introduce the physician who would be travelling with your entourage. She arrived from Kashmir last night.’

Daksha moved aside to let his escort show the doctor into the room.

‘Ayurvati!’ exclaimed Shiva, his face lit up in a brilliant smile. ‘It’s so good to see you again!’

‘The pleasure is all mine, my Lord,’ beamed Ayurvati, as she bent down to touch Shiva’s feet.

Shiva immediately moved back to neatly side-step Ayurvati. ‘I have told you before, Ayurvati,’ said Shiva. ‘You are a giver of life. Please don’t embarrass me by touching my feet.’

‘And you are the Neelkanth, my Lord. The destroyer of evil,’ said Ayurvati with devotion. ‘How can you deny me the privilege of being blessed by you?’

Shiva shook his head in despair and let Ayurvati touch his feet. He gently touched her head and blessed her.

A few hours later, Shiva, Sati, Parvateshwar, Brahaspati, Ayurvati, Krittika, Nandi and Veerbhadra set off. Accompanying them was a brigade of fifteen hundred soldiers, twenty-five handmaidens and fifty support staff for their security and comfort. They planned to travel by road till the city of Kotdwaar on the Beas river. From there, they would use boats to travel to the port city of Karachapa. Then they would move due east to the city of Lothal. Finally, they would move north by road to the inland delta of the Saraswati and then by boats back to Devagiri.

CHAPTER 12

Journey through Meluha

‘Who was Manu?’ asked Shiva. ‘I have heard of him often, referred to as “the Father”.’

The caravan had been travelling for a few days on the broad road from Devagiri to Kotdwaar. The central part consisted of a row of seven carriages identical to the ones used during the trip to Mandar. Five of them were empty. Shiva, Sati, Brahaspati and Krittika travelled in the second carriage. Parvateshwar was in the fifth, along with Ayurvati and his key brigadiers. The general’s presence meant every rule had to be adhered to strictly. Hence Nandi, whose rank did not allow him to travel in the carriage, was riding a horse with the rest of the cavalry. Veerbhadra had been inducted as a soldier in Nandi’s platoon. Led by their respective captains, the brigade were in standard forward, rear and side defence formations around the caravan.

Both Brahaspati and Sati started answering Shiva simultaneously.

‘Lord Manu was the...’

They both stopped talking.

‘After you please, Brahaspatiji,’ said Sati.

‘No, no,’ said Brahaspati with a warm smile. ‘Why don’t you tell him the story?’

He knew whose voice the Neelkanth would prefer.

‘Of course not, Brahaspatiji. How can I supersede you? It would be completely improper.’

‘Will somebody answer me or are you two going to keep up this elaborate protocol forever?’ asked Shiva.

‘Alright, alright,’ laughed Brahaspati. ‘Don’t turn blue all over now.’

‘That is hilarious Brahaspati,’ smiled Shiva. ‘Keep this up and you might actually get someone to laugh in a hundred years.’

As Brahaspati and Shiva chortled, Sati was astounded at the inappropriate manner in which the conversation was going on. But if the revered chief scientist seemed comfortable, she would not say anything. And in any case, how could she reprimand Shiva? Her code of honour forbade it. He had saved her life. Twice.

‘Well, you are right about Lord Manu being the Father,’ said Brahaspati. ‘He is considered the progenitor of our civilisation by all the people of India.’

‘Including Swadweepans?’ asked Shiva incredulously.

‘Yes, we believe so. In any case, Lord Manu lived more than eight and a half thousand years before the present day. He was apparently a prince from south India. A land way beyond the Narmada river, where the earth ends and the great ocean begins. That land is the Sangamtamil.’

‘Sangamtamil?’

‘Yes. Sangamtamil was then the richest and most powerful country in the world. Lord Manu’s family, the Pandyas, had ruled that land for many generations. However, from the records left by Lord Manu, we know that by his time the kings had lost their old code of honour. Having fallen on corrupt ways, they spent their days in the pleasures of their fabulous wealth rather than being focused on their duties and their spiritual life. Then a terrible calamity occurred. The seas rose and destroyed their entire civilisation.’

‘My God!’ exclaimed Shiva.

‘Lord Manu knew that this day would come and had in fact prepared for it. He believed it was the decadence his old country had fallen into that had incurred the wrath of the gods. Wanting to escape the calamity, he led a band of his followers to the northern, higher lands in a fleet of ships. He established his first camp at a place called Mehragarh deep in the western mountains of present day Meluha. Wanting to establish a moral and just society, he gave up his princely robes and became a priest. In fact the term for priests in India, pandit, is a derivation of Lord Manu’s family name — Pandya.’