But when I looked for the gentle old rakkhoshi, all I saw was the glowing white orb of light, raining gold and platinum upon us all. On the floor beneath where she had been were the Chintamoni and Poroshmoni Stones in their original size and form. I picked them up and tucked them into my pack for safekeeping.
The magical gold and platinum rain now pouring over us was an alchemist’s dream. It coated our skin, clothes, hair—making everyone glitter and glow. The precious metal soothed the burns where I’d been hurt by Sesha’s magical orb. They changed the color of my hair and skin back to normal. The metallic rain acted as a powerful healing medicine on the Rakkhoshi Rani too, bringing her back from her near death, giving her form, healing her mangled arm. And as she straightened up from the floor, an expression of blood-violent hatred on her face, I saw, for the first time in my life, my bio father the Serpent King actually look afraid.
“Now, Pinki,” he cooed, “you don’t want to do anything rash.”
Pinki? I thought. Neel’s mom’s name is Pinki? But there were more important things to worry about right now. Like the TV screens and cameras, which all seemed to have been blown to smithereens by the force of the neutron star explosion. Like the one person who was missing from our midst.
“Ai-Ma,” Neel said frantically. “What happened to Ai-Ma?”
The world was blurry through the precious metals on my eyelashes, and the tears in my eyes. I watched everything happening as if from very far away. Watching but not watching, caring but not caring. All I could think of was the sweet old rakkhoshi who had sacrificed herself to save us all.
“Don’t you ‘now, Pinki’ me!” In the meantime, the Demon Queen was rounding on Sesha with her arms raised above her head. “‘Rash’? You want to see rash? Rash like imprisoning my boy to lure me and little Luna Loo Loo here? Rash like relying on some ancient 2-D myth to try and cheat death? Rash like killing my mother?” Her eyes were so dark with rage, they were like the velvety black of outer space. Her dark hair spun out from her head, shooting electric-like sparks from each strand. Her teeth elongated, and her talons seemed to grow as we watched, becoming a twisting jungle of sharp nails.
I was surprised when Neel stepped in between her and Sesha. “Mother, I just got you back. I’m not going to lose you now too.”
“I don’t understand!” yelled Sesha, his own teeth clenched and bared. Like the rest of us, he too was coated in gold and platinum, looking like someone had dumped glitter all over him. “It should have worked! You!” He pointed a long green nail at me. “You are the reason for my failure. You are the poison infiltrating my plans and my power!”
“You better believe it!” I shouted. “And I’ll keep poisoning, I mean infiltrating … I mean …” I looked to Neel for help, but he just shrugged. “Oh, bite your own tail, you snaky loser!” I finally concluded.
“Forget the Ouroboros!” Sesha snapped his teeth. “Just come to Daddy and die!”
He shot green bolts at me, but the Rakkhoshi Queen deflected them. I rained a torrent of arrows down on the Serpent King even as I expected the hotel to fight me back. What I didn’t expect to see was that there was no more hotel between Sesha and me. What I didn’t realize was that the very building around us was dissolving.
The gold and platinum rain falling all over us was incredibly powerful. It had not only healed me, and brought Neel’s mom back from the brink of death, but it seemed to be attacking the Serpent King’s fortress. Where the glittering pieces of precious metal hit the wall, ceilings, and floors, the solid substance of the hotel around us was corroding away. And because this particular building was at the bottom of an ocean, that meant the for-tress was springing a zillion leaks of ocean water. Oh, this wasn’t good.
“No! My fortress! My beautiful hotel!” wailed Sesha. “I’ll get you for this! This isn’t over, Daughter, mark my words! I will see you in the coming war! The snake shall find its circle! I will conquer you, and immortality!” Arms in air, he created a flash of green light into which he, Naga, and a few of his closest hench-snakes disappeared.
The Rakkhoshi Queen raged acrid red smoke from her ears and nose. “Oh, no you don’t!” she snarled, diving after Sesha as he vanished. She caught the last bit of Sesha’s green magic and disappeared with them. As she did, we heard her voice call out, “Oof! My reflux! Take care of each other, dum-dums!”
Neel gave me a look that made my toes seriously melt. “I assume she meant us.”
“Probably,” I agreed. But then I had to return my attention to the total catastrophic chaos happening around us.
There were snakes being sucked out of the holes in the fortress and into the ocean. The PSS girls were the next to go. As soon as a hole opened up that was big enough, Priya got sucked out. Naya tried to hang on to her but the force of the ocean was too great, and the speed at which the hotel was disintegrating was too darn fast.
“Your Highnosity!” my silly, goofy rakkhoshi friend Naya yelled, racing over to me through the now waist-high water. “Be prepared to swim!”
The fortress was taking in more and more of the Honey-Gold Ocean, the very walls around us convulsing and weeping, like the hotel knew it was at the brink of destruction. “We’re going to have to swim up, Kiran.” Neel was now on my left side, and Naya was on my right.
“Don’t worry, I have you, Your Highnosity,” said Naya, grabbing ahold of my arm.
“Who are you again?” asked Neel, peering over at the rakkhoshi without any recognition. “Why do I feel like we’ve met?”
I saw Naya squirming with embarrassment and decided to help her out. “It’s a long story, Neel, but we don’t have time for it right now.” I held on to his arm. “We gotta start swimming before we all drown down here! I’ve got to let my parents know I’m okay, and plus, I think I missed a huge math test. I’m going to be in some serious trouble if I don’t get some studying in.”
The water was already nearly chest deep, and rising fast. There was very little left of what used to be the TSK hotel-slash-fortress (Honey-Gold Ocean of Souls location).
The water was almost to our necks when I gave both my friends a squeeze on the arm, Neel on one side and Naya on the other. Naya whooped, and Neel gave me another toe-curling grin.
I didn’t know what came next—where we’d go first or how we’d save Lal. I didn’t know what dangers we’d face—or how in the world I was going to pass that math test. What I did know was there would be plenty of danger ahead, especially with my serpent father still on the loose and talking about some kind of coming war. But I also knew that I wouldn’t have to fight alone.
“To New Jersey!” I said, raising my fist.
“To New Jersey!” Neel and Naya shouted as the water rose, taking us with it.
We swam hard and strong toward the surface, and the light.
Game of Stars (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond Book 2) is an original story that, like the first book in this series (The Serpent’s Secret), draws from many traditional Bengali folktales and children’s stories. These are stories shared by grandparents, parents, aunties, and uncles in West Bengal (India), Bangladesh, and throughout the Bengali diaspora to generations of children. I’ve used many of these stories as a basis for inspiration while writing both books in the series, and as a way to tell my own story as an immigrant daughter.
Thakurmar Jhuli and Rakkhosh Stories:
Folktales involving rakkhosh are very popular throughout all of South Asia. The word is sometimes spelled “rakshasa” in other parts of the region, but in this book, it is spelled like the word sounds in Bengali. Folktales are of course an oral tradition, passed on verbally from one generation to the next, with each teller adding spice and nuance to their own version. In 1907, Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar collected, wrote down, and published some classic Bengali folktales in a book called Thakurmar Jhuli (grandmother’s satchel). This collection, which involves separate stories about the Princess Kiranmala, the brothers Neelkamal and Lalkamal, and the monkey and owl princes Buddhu an
d Bhootoom, is also full of tales involving rakkhosh and khokkosh, as well as stories about the Kingdom of Serpents. The giant birds Bangoma and Bangomee make an appearance in the story of Neelkamal and Lalkamal, as do pakkhiraj horses. The Demon Queen appears in the original Neelkamal and Lalkamal story, as does the lovably goofy rakkhosh grandmother, Ai-Ma. Lalkamal and Neelkamal never meet Kiranmala in their original stories, but brave Kiranmala does have two brothers named Arun and Barun, whose lives she must save. A version of the Serpent King appears in this collection as well, although not exactly as he appears in this book. Also in Thakurmar Jhuli is the idea that rakkhosh have soul bees and cannot die unless their soul bees are killed. Thakurmar Jhuli stories are still immensely popular in West Bengal and Bangladesh, and have inspired translations, films, television cartoons, comic books, and more. Rakkhosh are very popular as well—the demons everyone loves to hate—and appear not just in folk stories but also Hindu mythology. Images of bloodthirsty, long-fanged rakkhosh can be seen everywhere—even on the back of colorful Indian auto rikshaws as a warning to other drivers not to tailgate or drive too fast!
Stories of Bhoot, Petni, Shakchunni, and Daini
Stories about bhoot, or ghosts, are very popular in Bengal. Bhoot are not exactly like the white-sheeted, chain-rattling notion of ghosts in the West, but are their own kind of horrible monster creature. Different types of bhoot also have different personalities and traits—petni are female ghosts (women who usually died unmarried) and shakchunni are the married version. They, like many other types of ghosts, want nothing more than to capture a human being and put them in a coconut or other tree trunk for safekeeping while taking over their physical form and then trying to inhabit the human being’s life. If you’re ever walking by a haunted coconut grove or lake, particularly at dusk, never turn around when you hear your name being called—or your soul is up for grabs! Petni and shakchunni can also be identified by their backward-facing feet (a dead giveaway!) or when they use their supernatural powers to do housework—like when they reach their extendable arms out a window to pluck lemons, or stick their own feet into the fire because they’re too lazy to go get firewood. Other kinds of bhoot mentioned in this story include mechho bhoot (fish-eating ghosts) and skondokata (headless ghosts). Although traditional Bengali bhoot aren’t fond of riddles (I made that up), they are sometimes fooled when they are convinced to enter sealed bottles. Daini are witches, and unlike bhoot, are actual living beings. In traditional Bengali stories, they often capture and kill children or conduct other evil spells. In this story, our sister witches are simply slightly (okay, very) wicked game show hosts.
Abol Tabol and Sukumar Ray
Sukumar Ray can be considered the Dr. Seuss or Lewis Carroll of the Bengali literary tradition. His illustrated book of nonsense rhymes, Abol Tabol, was first published in 1923, but like Thakurmar Jhuli, it is an evergreen Bengali children’s favorite. The character Mr. Madan Mohan in this book and The Serpent’s Secret was inspired by two nonsense poems from Abol Tabol—the first about a man with a bizarre contraption on his back that dangles food in front of his face (“Khuror Kal”), and the second about an office worker who is convinced that someone has stolen his very hairy and very much present moustache (“Gopf Churi”). Two other characters in Game of Stars were also inspired by Sukumar Ray’s poems—the police constable who is prohibited from laughing, whose “illness” was inspired by a poem called “Ram Gorurer Chhana,” and Chhaya Devi, purveyor of shadows, who was inspired by a poem called “Chhaya Baji.”
Tuntuni
The wisecracking bird Tuntuni is another favorite, and recurrent, character of Bengali children’s folktales. The father of Sukumar Ray, Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury (also known as Upendrakishore Ray), collected a number of these stories starring the clever tailor bird Tuntuni in a 1910 book called Tuntunir Boi (The Tailor Bird’s Book).
Alchemy
There are a number of references to alchemy in this book, which was the philosophic and prescientific practice concerned with the transformation of elements. Most notably, alchemists in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe often searched for the elixir of life, as well as a substance or stone that could transform one metal into another. There is evidence that there were alchemists as long ago as the Bronze Age Indus Valley civilizations of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa (located in current day Pakistan), who searched for the elixir of life to give them immortality and ways to transform other metals to gold.
In Game of Stars, I refer to the Ouroboros, or the snake biting its own tail, which is a symbol Egyptian in origin and also seen in ancient Greek magical texts. The Ouroboros made its way into the European medieval tradition of alchemy, coming to symbolize cyclicality, introspection, and the cycle of life and death. The phrase “the all is one” appeared on a third century Egyptian image of the Ouroboros, from the papers of a woman philosopher, author, and alchemist named Cleopatra (sometimes mistaken for the queen of the same name). Although neither the Ouroboros nor the phrase “the all is one” are South Asian in origin, I included them in this story because both ideas seemed consistent with Hindu philosophy, and, honestly, they intrigued me.
I also include reference to the Chintamoni (also spelled Chintamani) and Poroshmoni (also spelled Parasmani) Stones. Here, it’s important to note that moni/mani means “jewel,” and these stones appear in both ancient Hindu and Buddhist texts and are often considered equivalents to the European Philosopher’s Stone. It is unclear if they granted wishes, changed other metals into gold, granted immortality, or all three. Sometimes the stone is pictured in Hindu texts as in the possession of Naga, the Snake King (not the same character as in this book!).
Astronomy
Like in The Serpent’s Secret, there are many references to astronomy in this book, most notably the 2017 discovery of a kilonova—the distant collision of two neutron stars—which was detected by the Hubble Telescope and other instruments as light and gravitational waves, ripples in the universal fabric of space-time. It is from this spectacular collision that scientists now postulate much of the gold and platinum in the universe was created. Although I conflate these neutron stars with the Chintamoni and Poroshmoni Stones, this is entirely made up on my part. Like in The Serpent’s Secret, rakkhosh in Game of Stars are the manifestation of black holes. Even though this pairing of folktales and cosmology may seem strange, I did so to tear down the stereotype that cultural stories are somehow unconnected to science. In fact, like in every culture, traditional Bengali stories are often infused with stories about the stars and planets. That said, please don’t take anything in this book as scientific fact, but rather use the story to inspire some more research about astronomy, as well as different cosmological beliefs about how the universe began (there are several from different cultures I refer to in this book)!
Game Shows, Products, Social Media, and Communication Culture
The game Who Wants to Be a Demon Slayer? is somewhat modeled after the popular show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in India (Kaun Banega Crorepati?). It is also inspired by many popular Bengali game shows including Didi Number One and Dada-giri, shows that I sometimes watch on “intergalactic satellite” with my children in the United States. They are so popular that there was, in fact, a stampede at one of these game show registration offices, and people do actually hire tutors to train them before going on these shows. Some of the ridiculous products in this book are inspired by real products, like KiddiePow™, which is inspired by the many vitamin supplements advertised to South Asian mothers worried about their children’s nutrition, and Dead and Lovely, which is inspired by the many types of “fairness creams” sold all over South Asia and connected to the region’s long history of imperialism and colorism. In other words, these products perpetuate the internalized racist idea that lighter/fairer skin is somehow better. Princess Pretty Pants™ isn’t inspired by a real doll, although perhaps it’s inspired by all such dolls that talk, walk, and otherwise uphold a certain type of feminine beauty standard. Mr. Madan Moha
n’s Artisanal Moustache Oil™ is not a real thing either, but I do have a much-hipper-than-me cousin-brother, Saptarshi, who makes some pretty amazing homemade products for his plentiful beard and moustache. Similarly, Samosa Drones isn’t real, although I thought it up based on a certain online bookseller suggesting they might use drones for book deliveries.
Essence-Tyme is inspired by video conferencing technologies, while Instagreat and Instachat are inspired by social media applications. In this book, I was thinking a lot about how immigrant families are in fact at the forefront of such technologies. Contrary to the stereotypes about us, immigrants often are the first to get satellite or digital TV, use video conferencing technologies, and buy imported products—all to feel more connected to their distant families, communities, and cultures.
Pink-Sari Skateboarders
The Pink-Sari Skateboarders of this book were inspired by at least two groups of Indian women that to me exemplify female power. The first is the Gulabi Gang—a group of modern-day pink sari–clad women activists in Northern India who, armed with bamboo sticks, go after domestic abusers and other men committing violence against women in their rural communities. The second group are the young women involved in India’s slowly emerging skateboard and surfing scene, some of whom are featured in the movie and organization Girl Skate India. I’m particularly inspired by Kamali Moorthy, an eight-year-old skateboarding prodigy from a small fishing village in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu (go look her up—she’s super cool!).
Food
Green coconuts (daab) are a very popular roadside treat in South Asia (like in a lot of tropical places), and very good for getting hydrated after being out in the sun! Fish is a big part of Bengali culture in general since it is a watery area—West Bengal and Bangladesh are on the Bay of Bengal and intersected by innumerable rivers. Therefore, the fact that Bengali bhoot want fish isn’t strange, and fish chops, like fish cutlets, fish fries, and such, are a very popular food. Similarly, begun bhaja, or battered and fried eggplant, is a very common dish found in Bengali meals, which usually consist of rice and daal (lentils) as well as many types of vegetables, fish, and sometimes meat. Digestive biscuits are a kind of flat, not very sweet cookie eaten with tea. Drinking tea (black tea, usually with milk and sugar), of course, is a big part of Bengali culture as well.
Game of Stars Page 23
