BLUE GODS!! (Last Part)

BLUE GODS traces the story of a young MIT Graduate, Aadhya, who searches for the answer to the ultimate question “Who is God and where did he come from?”. On his truth-seeking journey are two souls who fates are inter-twined with his. Does he really find out the ultimate truth. Read On…

(This is a purely fictional story and does not bear any resemblance to any person living or dead and is NOT intended to hurt anybody’s faith or sentiments.)

Click HERE for first part.

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“Get up, you lazy bones” she hissed sharply into my ears. I covered the blanket over my head. Not again!! I have just started sleeping.

“Appa will be ready for you in 10 minutes” she spoke removing the blanket I had covered my head with.

“Ask your dad to go alone” I replied angrily still not opening my eyes. I just hated being disturbed in my sleep.

I could hear Bhargavi anklets chime softly as she got up to leave. “I will tell my dad that you came all the way here to eat my hand-made delicious food and to sleep”

Holy God!! I got up in a shock. The girl and her dad were torturing me. “Do you always do this to all your visitors?” I spoke teasing her.

“No” she smiled; “it is only for sweet hearts like you” she teased back.

“Help me get up” I spoke extending my right hand up to her. She shook her head and walked back to the door. As I rubbed my eyes to see her better and looked at the grandfather clock, I was just amazed. It was four thirty in the morning and she was all dressed up in a beautiful dark green half-sari with matching blouse with beautiful jasmine flowers adorning her braided hair.

“Do you always wake up so early?” I questioned her as I rubbed my eyes once again.

“No. It’s just to cook delicious food for you” she spoke sarcastically.

I ignored her sarcasm as she made just awesome varieties of food everyday. Thank god she had not tasted the wretched dal curry I used to cook in my post graduation days.

“Now get up, you dumbo” she threatened again.

I was firmly awake now and looked at the grandfather clock again.

Shit!! Seven minutes to soul-filling journey.

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I shone my torch along the mud path leading us to no-where. I had traveled this path for three mornings now and still wasn’t able to figure out the location. So damn dark!!

We reached the banks of tributary of ever-flowing river Tamirabarani. It was one of India’s perennial rivers which had never dried up in the worst of summers. Acharya Yohan removed his clothes and entered the water with a towel tied around his waist.

Damn!! What the hell was he making me do? I followed his footsteps and entered inside the freaking cold water with a towel around my hip.

“Make a wish and then take a dip” he spoke. If it was any other person, I would have probably smashed their head, but I had great respect for the Acharya. I made a silent wish for an answer to my divine question and took a dip. As I shivered my way out through the banks of the river to dress up after the quick bath, Acharya stopped me.

“Just put another towel on shoulder and you should be fine”, he spoke calmly. Today was the first day he was giving this strange instruction.

“Every morning between four and six AM, it is specified that devas cross the heaven and grant wishes of the people who pray to them” he explained.

“And what about wrapping just the towel over my shoulder?” I questioned childishly expecting some divine reply.

The Acharya smiled, “It just to get you adjusted to this cold climate”. Both dad and his daughter were adept at making others feel stupid.

I managed a smile and picked up some pace to reach home and try to see if I can still catch up with some of my left over sleep.

“Humans are very good at imitation” Acharya spoke. I literally stopped my walk. This was the first time he had said anything philosophical. All my earlier questions had been stone-walled by him on the pretext of answering them at the right time.

“Aeroplanes are devised from birds, camera from our eyes, tumblers from coconut shells and so on”. I desperately wanted to interrupt but quietly knew that it would take me a while to get him opened up again. Acharya was a very warm person, but would take great pains to not share his knowledge quickly.

“Humans have evolved from generations, choosing the brightest strategies that have worked for them. They also had a keen sense of observation and a pattern of quick learning and adaptation” he concluded. That is what we call sixth sense, I wanted to shout.

The sudden burst of so-called knowledge sudden gave way to a patch of uneasy silence. The morning breeze ruffled my hair and I set it back straight up.

“So who are these gods and where did they come from?” I shoot the dark arrow right at him.

“Youngsters are so impatient” he laughed. The choicest of bad words came to my mind. “I gave you the key. It’s you who has to unlock the door” he spoke in a riddle.

Did he just tell me the answer? I turned to face the Acharya. “I didn’t get you” I spoke hesitantly.

The Acharya smiled softly at me. “What did I tell you?” he questioned me.

“That, humans have sixth sense and have evolved over ages” I spoke without thinking.

“Ok. Before that?” he questioned again.

“That we are good at imitation and that we…” Holy God!! The truth just came crashing down on my head!!

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I just loved the evening walks with Bhargavi. I loved her even more!!

“Did some eureka moment strike you today morning?” she spoke calmly knowing what I had been thinking.

“How do you know that?” I questioned her.

“Usually you are sound asleep after your morning walk. But today you seemed to be lost in deep thought” she replied.

I just shook my head lost in the deep thought again. The wind along the banks of the tributary was picking up speed and Bhargavi fought hard to drape her half sari around herself. She looked the most complete woman any man would want. A proper mixture of beauty and brains in women was a prized quality across any generation. But it was something else that was amazing in her. Her mesmerizing eyes..

“What are you staring at?” she literally shouted through the howling wind.

“Isn’t it too windy?” I shouted back trying to side-track her question.

We looked around and found a small concrete room which had been left half finished. Bharagvi led me to the room and away from the howling wind.

“Kutrallam season” she spoke. “Kutrallam is a very famous water fall nearby and after a scorching summer we have these seasonal winds which lower the temperature”

“I was born in Tirunelveli” I replied with a wry smile.

“I am sorry” she spoke sheepishly as she understood that I knew about the seasonal winds too.

“Has nobody proposed to you?” I dropped the bomb-shell.

A moment of uneasiness went by as she steadied herself to my explosive question. She shook her gently and gazed outside.

“I didn’t hear my answer” I reminded her.

“I will tell you but you have to reply to my question first” she replied.

“Shoot it baby” I spoke with a sense of over-confidence.

“What did father tell you today morning and why are you so deep in thought?” she spoke about the Holy Grail.

“Ah..” I exclaimed, “I was so surprised that you didn’t ask till now. Your father and I had a conversation regarding Gods and their origin today morning. He told me that humans were great at imitation” I stopped for a couple of seconds to let the truth sink into her.

“So what does that mean” she questioned impatiently.

I smiled and explained, “It means that sculptors of God’s statue could have done that in great detail if the subject had only been present in front of them”

“Holy God!!” she exclaimed a little shocked. “But God could be just ..” she could not complete her sentence.

“It means that God or the so-called God person or creature would have been present in front of the sculptor. Not only in front of one sculptor in one temple but in front of many sculptors in many temples across nations” I spoke.

“But that is no surprise as we know Lord Ram and Lord Krishna took many avatars and were one among the many people” she questioned my logic.

“You are right. They took human forms. But what about the elephant headed Lord Ganesh or blue colored Lord Shiva or the four-headed Lord Brahma. Were they are present among the people?” I questioned her back.

For the first time since our conversation began, Bhargavi was lost in deep thought. “Do you have an ex.. explanation?” she stammered.

“Human mutation is one logical theory” I smiled.

“You watch too many English movies I guess” she spoke a little disgusted with the theory.

“We have to define these theories in the ambit of the law of nature” I tried to define my logic. “Your theories, madam?”

She shook her head. “The logic that you explained seems to be correct. But there is something missing”.

I nodded my head in agreement. “Now the answer to my question” I reminded her.

She sighed and looked away. “It was about two years ago that I registered in all the matrimony websites and received a huge pile of interests”. I wasn’t surprised by that.

“I did like one of the profiles and my interest was reciprocated” she spoke calmly hiding any emotions that she might have had.

“So what happened?” it was my turn to be impatient.

“We had our engagement and everything was proceeding smoothly. Suddenly they came to know about the eventual truth and all hell broke loose” she spoke.

“What truth?” I questioned her more impatiently than ever in my life.

Her voice trembled as she spoke those words which horrified me!!

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It had been two weeks since she had revealed the ugly incident that had happened in her childhood. How could this family have lived through the tough times and still be so peaceful? I slowly realized why Bhargavi tried to do everything that she could to make her father happy. I was lost in more thought than one.

“I didn’t know that you were a mommy boy” she spoke in a puzzle.

“What?” I questioned her.

She held out my mother’s old saree that used to take along with me everywhere as I wanted to feel her presence everywhere I went.

“Give it back to me” I blushed.

“Not so easily, young man. You will have to get it from me” she replied and ran back to the bedroom towards the very end of the house.

I am all for the play, babe. I ran behind her to get my mother’s saree back, but more importantly to win my love, once for all. At last, I rounded her up towards a corner of the bedroom.

“We don’t have to roll down and fight for this” I smiled.

“I wouldn’t mind that” she replied with a shy smile.

I closed in on her and took the saree away from her. As I turned back to leave the bedroom, lest her father come in, she hugged me.

A drop of tear glistened in her right eye as she hugged me even more tightly. A mixed emotion ran through me. Should I hold her out or should I hug her too?

She finally released me from her bear hug and looked up as her eyes met mine. Oh my God!! What a beauty!!

Only a few girls look pretty whenever they smile and fewer when they cry. Here was an angel.. right in my arms!!

“Would you be upset if I proposed to the most beautiful girl I have ever met?” I spoke gingerly not expecting what reaction I would obtain. For all I knew, Bhargavi would have just needed a shoulder to cry on.

“I love you” she spoke those magical words. “I beat you to it” she laughed. It was my turn to bear-hug her.

“Ouch..” she let out a startled cry. I looked down and found something slithering away.

“Scorpion” she cried out loud and pushed me away.

I quickly checked the sting mark on her left leg and the sting had left a big mark on her beautiful skin. Shit!!

“Do you have any anti-dote?” I questioned her knowing that without an anti-dote she will suffer in pain for the rest of the night.

“Dad knows the anti-dote and its location” she replied as I quickly tied a kerchief around her leg assuming that it worked the same way as a snake’s poison.

I quickly dialed the Archarya mobile and the call continued to ring on. Where are you Acharya?

“Dad is usually in the temple; meditating” she spoke.

“Meditating at 10 PM?” I questioned her back. She nodded her head furiously as she gradually began to feel the pain.

“I will be back in five minutes” I replied and ran towards the front hall to put on my slippers.

Suddenly the station master came up to the front door. I quickly told him about Bhargavi and asked him to stay put besides her while I ran towards the temple.

The temple was nearly deserted with only the watchman standing guard at the entrance.

“I need to meet Acharya Yohan” I spoke as gulped in copious amounts of air that had nearly been sucked out because of my run to the temple.

“Acharya Srini, you mean” he corrected me as he pointed in the direction of the chamber of Lord Shankara Narayanan.

I gathered pace and walked quickly up to the main door the deity.

Zip..Zip..Zip.. Click..Click..Click..

I heard a mechanical reverberation of a machine that emanated softly from inside the chamber.

“Acharya..” I whispered as I fought the near darkness to get my eyes adjusted to low dim light.

“Sshh..” the Acharya quietened me as sat on the floor in the corner of the chamber in a meditative pose.

“Acharya, Bhargavi..” I started speaking when he put his hand up.

“The medicine in on the fourth shelf towards the right in the kitchen” he spoke without opening his eyes. I stood there amazed by the turn of events.

How the hell does he know?  I took out my mobile to dial to the station master.

“Not here. Outside” he spoke commandingly. I just shook my head. What was happening here?  He had not even opened his eyes and still he knew everything that was happening around him. I quickly dialed the station master’s number and told him the location of the medicine.

“I had told you to run away, kid. This is your last warning!!” hissed a sharp voice.

I know that damn voice, the voice of the hooded figure. I turned around and saw nobody.

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I picked up pace on our usual morning walk. I wanted to reach home and be with my sweet heart. I skidded on a sharp stone and was about to fall down when Acharya caught my hand and steadied me.

“Thanks” I muttered under my breath.

“Don’t hurry. She will be alright” he spoke calmly.

I looked at him in awe. “Can you read my mind?” I spoke. The Acharya just smiled and the silence of the early morning caught up with us.

“Acharya, please don’t get me wrong. I just cannot take this shit anymore” I burst out. I have had enough.

I stopped walking and stood there simply staring bluntly at the Acharya. “On one hand, I puzzled more and more about your explanation about Gods. I know your thoughts vary between atheist and god-fearing. I had read your book questioning the very existence of God and that was the reason I came down to meet you. On the other hand you pray and meditate at the temple every day. I am really confused. Unless I can get some answers to many of my questions, it does not make any sense for me to stay at your home, especially with that hooded figure constantly at my tail”

Suddenly Acharya’s ever-smiling face turned ashen. “Repeat the last statement. Did you say something about the hooded figure?”

The Acharya tension rushed up to me. “A hooded figure is on my tail and has already warned me twice to run and save my life”

“Oh my GOD!!” spoke Acharya placing both his hands on his head. “Pack your bags, you are leaving tomorrow morning.”

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“Aadhya..” I heard a voice whisper softly into my ears. I opened my eyes gently to see Acharya standing near me.

“Come with me” he spoke softly.

I looked at the grand father clock. It has nearly eleven o’clock at night which usually was the time when I used to wake up during my post-graduation days.

“I have an early morning train to catch” I spoke. The day had passed cruelly, with me trying to convince the Acharya to allow to me to stay for some more time and then trying to convince Bhargavi that I would come back for her.

“You have more to catch up with” he spoke in his usual language of riddles and puzzles.

We walked towards the Shankara Narayana temple and about a minute into our walk Acharya spoke, “About twenty years ago, Bhargavi’s mother disappeared in thin air. Though I am partially responsible for the incident, people around me started believing that I had done something to her. I was arrested for her disappearance but the police could not prove anything”

Oh.. that’s was why Bhargavi marriage got stalled forever.

“But it was my blame. I should never have told her the secret. She was as adamant as you” he spoke continuously.

“What secret?” I questioned.

“The universal secret that everyone wants to know” he paused perhaps feeling that he had spoken too much.

The temple came in our view and we quickly walked up to the main door. A huge lock hung on the massive front door making our entry impossible. Acharya moved a side wall and pressed a small stone near the ground as the stone wall moved slowly revealing a small gap enough for a human to squeeze through.

The Acharya looked up at the sky and spoke, “Aadhya, look up at the stars”. I looked up to find the beautiful alignment of the stars adorning the night sky. “Do you think we are all alone?” he spoke as a lightning spark crisscrossed from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head. What was he referring to?

“After you” he extended his right hand. I barely squeezed through the hole and Acharya walked right behind me and pressed some lever to close the gap in the wall. We started walking towards the main deity.

“Ah, there you come” hissed the damn voice. Hooded figure!!

As I stood stunned by his entry again, Acharya stepped close to the hooded figure and shook his hand. What the hell.. Was this a trap?

The Acharya looked at my worried face and spoke, “Don’t worry”. I followed Acharya and the hooded figure to the chamber of the main deity keeping a safe distance from the hooded figure. I could feel something bad about to happen here.

Acharya Yohan and I entered the chamber of Lord Shakara Narayanan while the hooded figure locked the main door. I took a deep breath for I knew the time had come for me to use my black belt skill set. The Acharya suddenly bent down along with the hooded figure and knelt before the lord.

Zip..Zip..Zip.. Click.. Click.. Click..

As I stood gaping, the statue of Lord Shankara Narayanan slowly began to take a life form. The skin color toned to that of a normal human being. The snake on the shoulder of Lord Shiva hissed sharply.

HOLY GOD!!!

I pinched myself to check whether I was dreaming.

“You are not dreaming” spoke God. “Welcome to my temple”

I bowed with hands folded. A thousand questions ran through my mind.

“I know what you have running in your mind, son” God spoke. “So let me tell you what you want to know. But can you keep it a secret?”

The fact that I was standing before a living God was the biggest secret ever. What more would I want to know?

“I thought you wanted to know where I had come from?” he smiled.

The words would just not escape from my mouth. How dare I ask the God about anything?

“Silence means a yes, I presume” God spoke and continued, “We all Gods come from a planet far away from earth called Godzillon”

Oh my God!! The ground under my feet was falling apart.

“We landed on this planet about a few thousand years ago, in an un-intended landing. We had a pitched battle with the so called Asuras who were from the Asuraillon, our neighboring planet. That is why all Hindu old texts specify three worlds, though not in complete correctness. Now you would have understood why the Asuras kept trying to defeat us which is mentioned all through the vedic epics”

I just shook my head. I really didn’t know what was true and what was not.

“We could take various shapes and we imbibed different shapes and colors to differentiate our small clan from that of the humans. With our advanced technology and mind reading capabilities, we gained the trust and respect of the humans. But little did we know that we would become the so called immortals and would be worshipped extensively”

“What about the different avatars?” I threw a question.

“We took different forms and shapes to protect the good humans from the harassment of the Asuras and the bad humans who had sided with them. Lord Ram took help from Lord Hanuman from our clan. So we have always helped each other to protect the good humans.”

I just didn’t know what to believe. This information would shake the fundamental outlook of human life.

“You don’t have to believe in anything” God spoke clearly reading my mind. “Just make sure that this information does not reach anybody.”

My mind was racing with inputs to the story that I had to complete. I just could not control my thoughts.

The hooded figure suddenly jumped to his feet and walked up to God and removed his hood.

Damn!! Nandhi!!

The cow headed human shaped body of the God Nandhi shocked me.

“We cannot trust these people. Finish him my Lord” he spoke in a harsh voice.

“Don’t run” whispered Acharya. With my body paralyzed with all these events happening around me, where could I ever run?

“God, you had promised me that you would not do what you did to my wife” spoke Acharya in an agitated voice.

Acharya’s wife disappeared because of God!!

It all became clear now. Achrya’s words that he was partly responsible for his wife disappearance stuck more fear into my heart. Was I next on the radar? Where have I landed myself into?

The gentle smile on the God’s face was replaced with a stern look as he weighed in his options. The third eye on God’s forehead began to open suddenly and in one quick flash, a blue laser streamed light blinded me completely as I heard Acharya screaming. I was literally floating in thin air!!

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I rang the door-bell for the second time. Where the hell was amma?

“I am coming” spoke a high pitched voice. “Why do you always have to ring the bell twice? Can’t you wait?” my mother spoke as she opened the door. I bent down to touch my mother feet as she stood amazed.

“Where did my son get such good manners from?” she spoke a little surprised.

“From her” I replied as I introduced Bharagvi and the Acharya to my mother.

“I like your choice” she spoke and hugged Bhargavi. Women have strange powers to know anything.

About half an hour into our discussion my mother spoke up, “I am very happy that my son has at last made a good decision in his life”

“We are happy too” spoke Acharya as Bharagvi looked on.

“But you had gone to their place to finish your book. Right?” questioned my mom. I could see Acharya’s face go pale. What was he tensed about?

“With such a beautiful girl by my side, why would you expect me to chase something completely not worth for” I replied. I could see a huge sigh of relief on Acharya’s face.

I led Bhargavi and mother inside our beautiful home as Acharya walked along with us. We reached the pooja room where a huge picture of Lord Shankara Narayanan hung before us. The Acharya bent down and made a silent wish, thank you for the Men in Black style operation and for sparing Aadhya’s life.

“Om Namah Shivaya”

“Om Namo Narayana”

The universal secret was buried for ever!!

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 ( THE END)