‘What are you doing here?’ he asked finally.
‘Exactly, that’s my question. What are you doing here? You had left this place long ago, hadn’t you?’
‘I am not here to give you an interview.’ He thwarted her question.
‘Neither am I interested in conducting one. I came here endangering my life in the hands of Khalid Abdullah just to know what is wrong with you.’ She evinced.
‘Did I ask you to?’
‘Huh! After all these years, I expected you to be a changed man. But you are the same old egoist that you had been when you walked out of this apartment eight years ago.’ Pakhi jumped up and complained, ‘Look, I am not here to argue or make you feel worse. I know you, and perhaps I know you more than anybody else does. I sense something very wrong with you and I just want to help you.’ She placed her palm on Manav’s hand and spoke in a softer tone, ‘Please, tell me. I am your friend, trust me.’
He brushed aside her hand and got up from the sofa yelling, ‘Hell, with your friendship and trust. I want solitude. That is all. Solitude is my only friend and the only one I trust.’
‘Male chauvinist, narcissist, pessimist, what else?’
‘Get out!’
‘Fine! You know what; Khalid Abdullah and company have headed out to Matheran, looking for you. I misled them.’
‘Thank you so much!’ he remarked carelessly.
‘And if you need me, call me. I will be there, anytime. And for your God’s sake, trust me once!’ She joined hands and pleaded.
‘Oh, I don’t believe in any Gods.’ Manav said looking out of the window, placing another cigarette between his lips.’
‘An atheist as well!’ She placed her card on the center table and started moving out of the apartment, ‘Call me, if you ever cared for me… EVER!’
The door behind closed hard and he was left once again to himself.
17
Dark in the darkest of alleys did Manav feel himself being carried by an even darker force in the darkest hours of the night. Manav was frequented by such horrific dreams off late that he realized it had to be another dream. His right ankle twirled over an antique ceramic, but his body continued floating ahead through a deserted market place of some miserable Arabic city. He brushed aside few potteries and handicrafts strayed on either side of the sandy path. The path lit by lanterns on both sides and the dream resembled a level from the popular mobile game Temple Run.
Then he entered a dark tunnel, and nothing could be seen here forth. He heard voices in the dark, and one particular voice that he could easily distinguish. The one that he had been hearing every night; the one that forced him into an insomniac fit.
Maaaanavvv…
The voice penetrated into his ear channel, screeching an unstamped wave of high frequency sounds into his nerves.
Beewwaaarree…
A glowing dragon-like creature appeared out of the darkness and pounced on the young Manav, sending him in backward motion under the earth, a perpendicular thrust fell upon his chest, depriving him of air. The glowing creature growled on his face and out of shock and breathlessness, Manav went into a transmission phase; from dream to reality.
Manav Gandhi woke up on his bed, beads of sweat caressing down his forehead. He looked around; he was in that old apartment all right, not in some Arabic marketplace. He searched for his breath and then for the glass of water that he had placed right next to the stool near his bed before falling for the slumber. He switched on his flashlight and pointed to the stool, the glass was not there to be seen. He got up from the bed and raided the stool’s surface with his right hand.
‘Looking for this, Manav?’ A voice asked.
In great shock, Manav turned his head to the side from where he heard the voice. It could not be another dream; however, this was the same voice that had been haunting him for the past few weeks.
He saw it.
‘Why do you look so startled?’ It said holding the glass of water that Manav had placed on the stool, ‘here, have some water.’ It offered him the glass.
Its presence gave Manav a chill down his spine. With a shivering hand, he received the glass of water from it. After gulping few sips, he poured the water into his right hand and threw it on his dried up face.
‘No, I am not dreaming. It is indeed here.’ Manav inferred and got off the bed, taking backward steps. He saw it smiling at him from the same spot.
‘Why are you running away from me, Manav?’ It asked, this time the voice came from right behind him. Manav quickly turned around and found it smiling at him. He turned back his face and he saw It near the bed as well.
‘I..I… have heard you many times, now I see you as well.’ He stammered as he tried to figure out its appearance in the darkness of the room. He could see a pair of pointed horn like things on either of its head, or were they supposed to be the creature’s ears?
‘Yes, of course, I have been calling out to you for a long time, but you never heeded to them. I was very disappointed with your attitude.’
‘Isn’t this another nightmare?’
‘Why do you think so? I am sure you have already tested the possibility.’ It asked reminding Manav of the water he had thrown on his face some minutes ago.
‘Who are you?’ Manav asked as he waddled towards the switchboard.
‘Now, that’s a good question,’ it conceded and as the light came in to reveal its face was ‘I am Kun-Ha, your soul’s assigned guardian angel.’
It was short, with white furry body, two grey patches on its oval shaped head that rounded off around its pointed ears; yes, they were not horns, but ears. It stood on not two, but all four limbs. In fact, it had little pink paws. Its eyes were big round and green in color while the nose was broad and pink. As it spoke, its small mouth revealed an even tinier set of teeth.
‘You are a talking… cat!’ Manav said with eyes broad open, as if in a brumous trance.
‘Are you sure?’ It asked in a jesting manner and positioned itself in a magnanimous stride. From its back, a pair of white wings emerged and the talking cat rose in the air, ‘I just did not want to scare you anymore.’
‘No way!’ Manav denied the reality.
‘Don’t I look like one of the creatures from your books… which one was that? The one that you wrote few years ago? What was that called- A Game of Gods…’
‘This is just a dream, a fragment of my imagination in that dream.’ Indeed he had written a book that had a special character, a talking cat with wings that led the hero to his destiny.
‘Yes.’
‘How do you know about my book?’
‘Dear Manav, I know everything about your soul, more than you do. I have been entitled to you ever since the universe began. I know that you carry a pen knife in your jeans’ back pocket, because you are scared of dogs and somebody told you that dogs are scared of shining sharp objects, and that is the easiest one you could carry. ’
‘What are you saying; I am sure that I am still dreaming or hallucinating. It must be the overdose of the sleeping pills.’ He placed his hands on his forehead and nodded in desperation.
‘Come on, don’t you have one right now? You can lie to me, but you cannot lie to yourself.’
Manav always kept a penknife in his pocket; he slowly ran his hand into the back pocket of the jeans that he was wearing. Indeed it was there, he shook his head and defended, ‘There should not be any other explanation. Otherwise, why would I be seeing an imaginary character that I had created for one of my books?’
‘Manav, this is not fantasy anymore, I tried to convey my message over dreams, because that is how it should be done. Every time the soul’s service is needed for the universe, the guardian angel is invoked by the messengers of the Almighty to pass on the message. We are not allowed to show ourselves unless....’
‘Unless?’ Manav asked.
‘You have to find out yourself. I am here to guide you with the voice, err my form.’
‘But why me?’
‘It is all written… Destiny!’
‘Oh please, not that crap again. I seriously do not believe in pre-determinism. If that is the case, then there is no point to be on earth, if everything was already determined by something as vague and absurd a thing as destiny.’
‘Well, I believe that you do not believe in most of the things that you make others believe, do you?’ The angel asked.
‘You are being rhetoric... Koo…’
‘Kun-Ha. My name is Kun-Ha and you can call me… well… Kun-Ha.’ The angel assisted.
‘Why do I even have to call you, at all? I am hallucinating and I am not giving in to my hallucinations. I am going back to sleep. Hope my mind turns you off by the time I wake up.’
‘I hope you realize the seriousness of the situation by then… and no, dogs are not scared of shining sharp objects, just to make it clear.’ Kun-Ha prayed.
Ignoring the plea of his guardian angel, Manav crept back into his bed, covered himself with the blanket and closed his eyes. He could not sleep well, for the voice kept haunting him, not with its sound but by its presence.
18
Next Morning
Manav woke to the sound of his phone’s alarm. The morning sun peeped in from the crack in the eastern wall, illuminating everything that lay in its path. He passed a loutish yawn and turned around on his bed, lifted his left hand from his hip and banged it on the bed, across his chest.
‘Hey watch it, Mister. You might squash somebody with that impact!’ Kun-Ha exclaimed.
Manav jumped off the bed in shock.
‘What? You thought you were dreaming about me last night? How cute!’ the angel commented sarcastically.
‘Why am I still seeing you? Am I not awake?’
‘Here…’ Kun-Ha lifted the glass of water lying on the stool next to the bed and it flew towards Manav, ‘ why don’t sprinkle a drop or two on your face and drink the rest of it to begin your day’s routine.’
‘Please, I am not taking orders from a hallucination.’
‘Suit yourself!’
The glass splashed and emptied its water on Manav’s juiceless face. The cold water caught Manav’s breath by surprise that reigned over with shock. He wiped his face with his hand.
‘See, I did not want to do that, but the more you run away from me, the harsher I will have to be, in order to make you stay. And trust me,’ Kun-Ha disappeared and appeared from behind, ‘we are running short of time.’
‘What are you?’ Manav asked shedding away the final sweats of sanity.
‘I told you, I am the guardian angel entitled to your soul, well… one half of the angel.’
‘One half?’
‘Err yes, since nature makes things in pairs, human souls are paired up too, so we are divided equally among the pairs.’ The talking cat replied.
‘What kind of pair?’
‘You know, north pole-south pole, plus-minus, and in your case,’ it took a deep breath and whispered into Manav’s ears, ‘man-woman.’
‘But I don’t have any woman in my life.’ Manav clarified.
‘Well, tell me about it. You have had plenty, and none of them was actually your pair. You are not even close to your destined other, but yes, you will seek her and that is the only way I can convey my message.’ The angel prophesized.
‘Why do I have to find her? Can’t you spot her with your magical vision or something?’
‘We are not meant to do things that humans have to fulfil themselves. The thing called destiny.’
Manav sighed and just then, he heard his stomach grumble to its dismal destiny.
‘Hungry, ehh?’ the angel asked.
‘Why else would my tummy speak in grumbles?’ Manav scribbled with his mouth.
‘I guess, we should get your stomach filled first, before we set out on our quest.’
‘Who said anything about a quest?’
‘Well, let’s put it this way. The sooner you fulfill your destiny, the faster you’ll get rid of me… I mean at least physically, although I will always be around you as long as your soul is alive, and which means forever.’
‘Can’t you just kill me?’
‘If it had been your destiny, I would have. I have been there every time you could have killed yourself to save you, because that was not your destiny. Remember the ropeway incident during the shoot of Jahanum?’
The incident took Manav by surprise. How could he forget that incident, where he had slipped off the edge of the ropeway cabin and fell down 80 feet into the waterfalls, just missing an merciless boulder by a millimetre.
‘I remember that.’
‘You would have hit the boulder and died or been crippled for the rest of your life had I not displaced the boulder. Because you had to fulfil a greater purpose, your destiny, therefore, I had to keep you alive.’ Kun-Ha revealed with great pride. It flew towards the verandah and gestured Manav to join it, ‘Look at the world below, all these people are unaware of the doom that awaits them. It is up to you to decode my message and save your fellow human beings.’
Manav joined Kun-Ha and looked down at the people hustling through the streets of the City of dreams. They looked so tiny from up there and that made him feel mightier.
‘You have always created heroes out of dummies, Manav, in your stories and films, but here is one chance that you are getting to carve a hero out of yourself, that can actually save this whole world… The fate of humanity is intertwined with your destiny…’ Kun-Ha turned and looked into Manav’s eyes, and said, ‘Are you with me, Manav?’
‘But what do I do?’ Manav inquired.
‘Just follow the path I show you, all your questions shall be answered enroute. So, are you with me?’ Kun-Ha handed it its right paw, the carnation swelled under the light of the sun.
The whole talk about humanity and heroism had motivated the seeker in Manav and he affirmed in his haunting voice, ‘I am with you.’
Manav placed his right palm on Kun-Ha’s paw, a brief stint of light glowed on the touch, for the first time in the history of humanity was a man joining hands with his guardian angel. However, time was running out, for humanity will be history, soon.
19
Manav sored out of the shady apartment into a filthy street that marked the identity of the Dream City’s ghetto. He had spent all those years of struggle here, written half a dozen novels and formulated a dozen screenplays here. They say inspiration comes from the most unusual sources, for him it was the time he had spent in the ghetto. All those years when he dreamt of making it grand from an ordinary middle class life, something that showed in every film and story he had created until now.
‘I think the woman is following us, err… following you, since no one else can see me.’ Kun-Ha remarked.
Manav turned around; the woman stopped and tried mixing in with the crowd. The stink of drainage seeping out of the pipes out on the street did not harass him as much as the sight of the woman who was following him. He knew her well enough to deduce that it was not easy to lose her if she was after him for a reason.
‘Let’s just move faster.’ Manav commanded.
‘You know very well that speed is not going to stop her, don’t you?’ Kun-Ha gestured Manav to look back.
Manav turned around and saw a news van following him; the woman was seated inside instructing the driver to follow Manav.
‘She is impossible, even after all these years. Just keep moving.’
Manav started walking briskly but before he could take a tenth step the news van intercepted him and stopped in front of him. The woman stepped out of the van and moved to Manav.
‘What do you want now, Pakhi?’
‘I want to help you.’ Pakhi replied.
‘If you want to help me then leave me alone. Don’t you understand that I do not want to share my issues with you or anyone else?’ Manav suggested crudely.
‘So, I was right. You are facing some serious issues.’
Manav ignored her sigh of triumph.
He looked the other way. Pakhi stood in front of him, blocking his effort to feign ignorance.
‘Manav, I know you are a loner and do not like other people intervening in your matters, but am I a stranger? You and I have known each other for a long time and you have never opened up to anybody else but me, for old time’s sake, we shared a bed for more than two years in that crazy old apartment where you were trying to kill yourself. At least, for the sake of old times, let me help you, please!’ she begged with tearful eyes.
‘And that’s exactly why I do not want you to know, because,’ he held her by the right arm and pulled her closer to him, pinned his angry eyes into her timid ones and blurted, ‘because I do not like to go back to the ghosts of the days gone by.’ He let go off her, and pushed his right hand into his jeans’ pocket and pulled out a Marlboro from its case. He lit it with a lighter and dragged in a heavy puff of tobacco fume.
A Game of Gods: The End is Only the Beginning (The Anunnaki Chronicles Book 1) Page 5
