Nandita was faint with surprise. God! (Correction: gods!) Lord Shiva had accepted her in! Just like that! A trident appeared over her head, and voila! Nandita, the daughter of Shiva is referred to as ‘Her Godliness’. But her friends, they were blank, left out, knowing nothing about their godly parent.
Why had Lord Shiva claimed her, anyway? Why was she supposed to be his daughter? All these questions confused her, but she had no room for more, as she approached the grand Altar One, a huge dome protruding from a small sanctorum, with a Shivalinga, and of course, the whole outer colour was deep blue and three stripes of white were there above.
There also was a red eye, glaring at them, as though it had been forced there. And it was really scary to look at. Chants of ‘Om Nama Shivaya’ were coming from the sanctorum, though Nandita never saw any living soul inside.
‘Svagatam. Welcome to Lord Shiva’s abode for ardha-ishwaras. Half- gods in your language, I suppose. You and I, sadly, are the only ones part of this huge cabin, and sadly enough, my sister, Jyoti, is missing, or perhaps dead from the deadly quest our dear Narada had given her. Who can survive Naraka?’ asked a boy, fourteen years or so, with such bitterness, that Nandita almost felt pity.
‘Sorry, but I don’t know who you are, and what you do. Please, tell me who this Naraka is, and perhaps I could help you.’ Nandita said.
The boy looked stunned, as though he had not even realized that Nandita was there, and suddenly became aware of that fact. He shrugged and then started telling, ‘So, welcome to our heavenly abode for Lord Shiva’s favourite children. I am one of those, so are you. Let me show you around,’ he pointed at a huge Shivalinga in front, ‘this, the most prized treasure of our institute, is the Mahalinga. You must see that this radiates such immense power that the bhoot, prêt, pisach and danav don’t enter our premises. But, only our people can control it. We are the only ones who can make the Shivalinga work for the camp. So, I hope you do help me.’
They followed a thin staircase lined with flaming fire brackets and entered a huge room with the walls full of candles. Glowing chandeliers and beautiful golden spheres filled the room. There were sofas and couches spiked on the east side, with a merry fire burning on the west. It was written, ‘Danavo Bhagatam Shivam.’ Loosely translated, it must have meant, all demons must fear Shiva.
There were two doors, one for ‘Mahila’ and the other for the ‘Purush’.
‘From here, I cannot guide you. So, please go front, and explore our great altar. Oh and just come back by five o’clock, just to come to the Bhojanalaya on time,’ he said and rushed off.
And so the time came. Nandita rushed off to the main hall, that is, The Sabha, to see a huge set of people gathered around a yagna, or a fire, and she recognized four of them- Madhumita, Parvati, Swati and Jasnoor.
‘Sa Vachan, give me your wish, Lords of Kailash and Sagar. Give me the ability, Narayana, to determine the fates of these people. What should I do?’ Narada was saying this in pure Sanskrit, but Nandita somehow understood.
‘What is he doing?’ asked Nandita. ‘And where is Gaurav?’
‘There is always a sacrifice ceremony. If one of these four are not suitable for the god’s choices, and they have found out about this, the memory will be erased and cleaned forever,’ said the boy.
‘WHAT?!’ exclaimed Nandita.
Narada had started using his rites and rituals. He stood up straight and muttered mantras, waiting for the Lords to inform them about the decision.
The breeze grew stronger. The water in the pond rose higher. The fire danced and roared upwards. The sky rumbled, and the Veena started playing itself.
Then, from nowhere, appeared six figures- the forms of Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Gauri, Saraswati, and Lakshmi. These were just images, but it sure looked like the gods had changed a lot over the ages. Vishnu wore a delicately woven kurta in blue colour with actual fishes swimming in it.
Brahma wore a nice velvet violet suit and had well-groomed silver hair. But worst of all for Nandita was to see Lord Shiva, her newly acclaimed father. He wore a nice short-sleeve red shirt, and the symbol of a tiger was present in his cargo pants. He looked like a normal person who, like Shiva, enjoyed controlled lives. Saraswati wore a white skirt and top and had a novel- ‘Great Expectations’ in her hand along with her aeon old Veena.
Lakshmi was more modern. She wore a green top and a pink dupatta, and also a beautiful sea-blue pyjama. Gauri aka Durga wore a nice sari in red with gold border. This was how the gods looked now.
‘My gods, how do you think of these children? Are they any help to you?’ asked Narada.
‘Narada, I strongly objected to this method of memory erasing in the council years ago. You refuse. But if you have read our laws carefully enough, there is a statement that if we gods claim our adoptions after a particular championship or contest, you cannot kill the children,’ said Saraswati.
‘Right. So this godly contest must be held on...?’
‘...on Chaitra’s first day. And that is tomorrow,’ said Brahma.
‘Jai Bhagwan Aham Priyam!’ all the students exclaimed.
YOU ARE READING
The Kailashanath Diamond
FanficThe world is much bigger, and millions of celestial beings who were thought to be just that - celestial turned out to be real. And there's a war brimming in the horizon, and mere teenagers are thrust into it. Things don't go their way. If a story wa...
