Madhumita knew that magic would not be easy for her. She had to focus really hard, and most of the times there was always a risk of failure. Often the magicians would turn out to be children of Brahma or else huge liars and cheats.
‘The irony of magic is, even though it can do anything, it always ends up in a complete opposite intention,’ said Narada, once, at Creations class.
Madhumita had a lot of things to do. The days were often busy, and people had no time to sit in their respective altars and relax. Morning was usually really busy. Then, after lunch at the Bhojanalaya, they had to go for skill-moulding, that is, as Narada put it, different types of arts being learnt rather than one.
The day almost always ended cheerfully, and then after dinner, at the Bhojanalaya, where they would sit according to their altars at their respective tables (not just tables, often Rajgaddis, or royal throne like chairs).
Then the whole academy feared the dreaded lecture by the Sanskrit advisor, Mr.Gupta, who spoke in pure Sanskrit and spoke about values and karma.
‘Students, my dears, I do not think you would do such a thing! I have come to know that during the YogMukta classes, you scream and shout rather than meditate in peace! Do you know that you are only insulting Lord Shiva, by not following proper methods?’ he said one day, to tumultuous regard by Shiva.
Shiva answered in a weird way. The fire near the diya rose in such vigour, that the nearest table caught fire, and the ones there were incidentally, Varun and his friends, the main troublemakers during YogMukta, the sons of Hanuman.
The fire turned a deep red and everyone gasped as the form became redder and redder.
‘My Gods! You have brought up the wrath of the lord! Children, you are not fit to be taught anything! The Lord approaches with the almighty trident and the powerful eye!’ said Mr.Gupta.
Unfortunately, Madhumita thought, Mr.Gupta was wrong. A deep rasping voice filled the room. The lights went off. Someone in the back row screamed, for a skeleton had appeared in their midst and it said in a horrible, rasping voice:
‘Behold all you people, who do not differentiate the unthinkable powers of Maharajadhiraj! You who think to betray him, and you who make us downtrodden! May the Curse of Yamraj hit every one of you!’
‘Ah! Thank you... my dearest people in the whole of upper world! How grateful am I to have heard your voices! You have underestimated our forces for years! You, the puny living souls, have made death a disgrace rather than something welcome. You at the very peak of your mischief have stolen my most prized Yama Bhoomi Diamond!’
‘I, after all these years of complete riddance from the Bharatiya Samaj, have in turn had good riddance from you! But all your pestering little kinds have destroyed my most prized possession, which I have painstakingly made as an exact replica of the Kailashanath Diamond, and you, of all things hateable, have utterly sentenced it to doom! Your kind is the worst that ever happened to this world!’
‘Lord Yama curses every single soul in this room. The curse will bring every living soul in this room to our realm, in a very forcible way. Do not worry how grateful you must be to Maharajadhiraj, for he gives you a deadline! You must restore his diamond, as quickly as possible, before the start of Spring, to a planned location on Mount Aphrahan. Remember, you must get to the realm wherever it is, and bring it back. If you do not... you know the consequences!’ continued the horrible rasping voice.
The lights came back on. The heat came back. The room was filled with joy and laughter again, but the people in every table were discussing about the same thing: Lord Yama addresses us personally? And there is a deadline to this and the students at the academy will perish in just a fortnight.
Suddenly, Narada came in to the lecture hall and announced graver news still.
‘My dear students, we have grave news. Lord Shiva’s power, The Kailashanath Diamond, the power of Bharatiya Samaj, is lost! Or perhaps, as a second thought, it is stolen!
‘We have a tradition, and I hope the older students will inform the newest ones about this challenge they have to face. One guide will be an old student, and the others’ names are as follows: Parvati, Ashwin, Nandita, Jasnoor, Madhumita and Swati. Who will volunteer for the guidance that is the choice of the Drishta!’
With this, he walked away, and after around five minutes, he returned with an orb. This orb was very big, about the size of a football, and it was in the colour of sapphire. Much more, it radiated an immense kind of power.
‘This is the Drishta, the seer of Lord Vishnu. This will tell you what to do. It will tell you the guide’s identity, and it will tell you of your adventure: will it pass or fail?’
The newcomers ordered up according to altar number. When Nandita came front, it glowed bluer, and words started coming out of it. A clear female voice spoke:
‘Ardha-Ishwaras will go to the Samudra Devta’s place,
Led by a boy, the son of the mammoth’s race.
They will join hands with the tide and moon,
Their powers will lie in Saraswati’s throne.
A son of wisdom will lay down a path,
And the powers of one lord will be broken apart’
‘AHA! Anyone from the Ganesha altar who would like to try?’ asked Narada.
Vignesh tentatively raised his hand, but the sign of Ganesha appeared over his head- red sandstone, meaning yes, you must go.
‘Settled indeed. Now we must move on to the next lines which are important. Let’s see. You have to go to a Samudra Devta’s palace, right in the bay of Bengal, and you must seek some clue. After that, I think, one power, either of the diamonds will be utterly destroyed. Feels really sad. Please, Nandita, you must penance to your father. Appeal him. Try to make him believe the state of the camp and try to undo the curse. That is all we can hope for!’
With that, he strode away, leaving all the newcomers and Vignesh in deep confusion.
‘I know of one place, the nearest palace of the Samudra Devta: his realm is the area around the Marina Beach. Maybe we should try that,’ said Swati.
‘You can do that? Right then. Everyone, tomorrow morning, we must pray to our parents, then the godly parents. Try to take their blessings, and once we do that, let’s set out for the beach in the morning,’ said Ashwin.
As the dawn came, all the seven of them went out to the waiting car- the same white car of the parent. They got in, their hearts beating fast.
YOU ARE READING
The Kailashanath Diamond
FanfictionThe 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...
