by Laxmi Natraj
Acharyaji looked around and lowering his voice he said, “Sir, Purohitji is claiming that this is his son, whom he sent to Banaras at the age of fifteen. But I strongly believe that this man, who calls himself Shiva, is not the real son of Purohitji. I am sure that he is an imposter and is fooling everyone here in the village.”
With a feigned smile, Nakul said, “But why Acharyaji? Won’t a father know his son? How will he mistake someone else for his son? And what gives you this funny idea that Shiva is not the real son? And why should anyone bother to come here calling himself, as the Purohit’s son? What is the purpose?”
Acharyaji said, “Shiva was adopted at the age of five and was in this village till he became fifteen. We all had seen so much of him, his manners, attitudes etc. He was a very thin, lanky, soft-spoken, polite boy. Above all his complexion was very fair just like Purohitji. Now, look at this man. He looks like a giant, he looks more than six feet high and his body is so muscular like a wrestler. He is absolutely mannerless and rude. How can everything change when he goes to study in Banaras for five years? A Purohit boy cannot become a wrestler. Above all he keeps on filling the ears of Purohitji and I strongly feel that Purohitji is also listening to his words and getting swayed these days.”
Nakul gave a long look at Acharyaji. He understood the crux of the matter and the reason for Acharya’s anger towards Shiva. He said “Sir, boys are lanky when they are small. But when they turn eighteen many of them become sturdy young men. May be Shiva’s biological father was well built and he has taken after him. Again, when he was in Banaras, he must have got exposed to a lot of sun and outdoor activity for his prayer etc. and must have got tanned to a darker shade. Just because of this you cannot say he is not Shiva! Purohitji knows his son well enough and I am sure he must have visited him a number of times when he was studying in Banaras. So he cannot get fooled if someone walked in and said that he was Shiva. And above all, a million dollar question is why should some imposter bother to come here claiming to be Shiva, in a tiny, poor village temple, which doesn’t have much wealth also?”
Acharyaji, for the first time, realized the truth in his words and remained quiet. Nakul gave him a half smiling look, feeling happy with himself about his own way of winning the argument and then turning inside the house he called, “Shiva, are you ready? Shall we move?”
Shiva who was so for standing, just near the kitchen door , listening to Acharya’s every word came out and said, “ Yes Sir, let us go.” He added, “Sir, today’s Suddhi Puja is over. We can go inside the temple if it is Ok with you?” Nakul nodded. He noticed that Shiva had already taken the key to the door which was located behind the temple.
As they walked, he turned to Shiva and said in a teasing voice “So you were hiding and listening to all those praises Acharyaji was pouring on you right?”
Shiva did not deny his statement but smiled mildly and said, “Sir, as there was no lady doctor, and the village was suffering it was actually I, who suggested to Doctor Netra that she can help in the hospital in her free time. That is Acharayaji’s first grudge. Secondly our house is the only one in the village, which has an internet connection with a computer and Netra used to come frequently to use the computer and that is the second reason. But you can understand what the concerned father’s mind of Acharyaji imagines?”
Nakul liked Shiva’s frankness. He laughed loud and said, “Oh, a love story in the making and Acharyaji is the villain. To be frank, Doctor Netra is quite good looking, not a bad choice!”
Shiva said, “Sir, please, don’t talk like Acharyaji. I have so many important things to attend than wasting my time in...” His talk was interrupted as Nakul’s cell phone started ringing.
Shiva said, “Sir, I will walk ahead. You please attend to your phone call.” He briskly walked away. Nakul noticed his good manners, not to hang around to overhear the conversation of a police officer.
Nakul saw the caller ID and noticed that it was the ACP who was calling. He said, “Good afternoon, Sir, tell me.”
The ACP said, “We have got the feedback from our contacts in the US. John was found visiting Muslim Mosques and was moving with some Muslim extremists in the US for some time. On suspicion, he was once even actually arrested by the US police. He was supposed to have some links with ISI. But due to lack of evidence, he was released. One fine day John became a follower of a Hindu God-man who was very famous in the US. Since then he had been visiting all Hindu temples from one country to another supposedly for research.”
Nakul said, “So, if John had earlier been suspected of having connections with the ISI then this is a strong point, Sir. His coming to this sleepy village might have some strong motive other than his research.”
The ACP said, “This lady Julia was his companion. She worked as a nurse with the Red Cross and had moved to the war hit places. But nothing suspicious about her is known. Then from the scratches on both the dead bodies, skin tissues found under the nail of the lady and John, it is clear that both of them had some physical scuffle before death. From the angle of stabbing it is possible to conclude that she had stabbed him. But though the gun was in John’s hand and his finger prints were there, the gunpowder test in his hand is negative. Hence John had not shot the lady. That means there was a third person present there, on the murder scene who had shot the lady, and he might have cleared the lady’s pockets and removed her travel papers also. That is all the information for the time being. I will call you if any more things turn up. Ok then.” He hung up. Nakul found Shiva waiting at a good distance away from him. He started walking towards him.
The shadow standing behind a tree now reported in his cell phone “He is going to the temple now.”
Chapter 14
The Visit to the Temple
Shiva inserted the key and opened the back side garden gate of the temple. Both of them entered and walking through the outer corridor, they came to the front side of the temple. The Suddhi Pooja Hawan[9] was performed on the second level of the temple, straight in front of the great Nandi and the fire on the Hawan was still smouldering. A thick cloud of heavy smoke was hanging in the air.
Nakul noticed that though the temple looked small from outside, inside it was an enormous one, carved out of solid rocks. Last time as he was preoccupied with the murders, he had failed to notice it. A broad spacious outer Prahar, the outer corridor ran all around the temple. The corridor ended in a large, wide garden, full of blooming plants on the backside. A cluster of thick trees were fanning the entire area of the compound. A compound wall of about eight feet height ended in a small, single, wooden door on the back side through which they had entered now.
On the second level of the temple, another wide corridor was built at a height of eight steps from the first one. About twenty strong stone pillars distributed all over supported the heavy stone ceiling. Nakul looked up at the ceiling of high dome structured rock and said, “Shiva, this looks like a very old temple and the structure seems to be carved out of solid rock.”
Shiva replied, “Yes Sir, Our Purohitji says, originally, it was a small hill and a cave. This temple is partially carved out of that cave.”
Nakul said, “You mentioned that some centuries back a Raja built this temple, right?”
Shiva said, “Purohitji tells a story about this temple’s history. It is said that once some Maharaja was injured badly while hunting. He managed to come near this hill in a bleeding, half dead condition. He saw a Sanyasi sitting on this hill and meditating. The king fell unconscious and when he woke up he saw that he was totally healed and the Sanyasi wearing a tiger skin was near him. As the king watched, the Sanyasi disappeared right in front of his eyes. The king was a great follower of Shiva and he believed that the God himself was present there to cure him. Hence, from the very same rocky hill, where the Sanyasi was meditating, this temple was carved out and the temple was named as Sanyasi Lingeshwar. The king willed the entire land around the temple as the property of the temple and appointed Purohitji’s fa
mily as the caretaker of the temple. The village came into existence only later. According to Purohitji, this temple was probably constructed approximately at the same period when the Ajanta and Ellora caves were painted , around the 2nd century BCE, as they were also caves carved out of hills.”
Nakul said, “Very impressive story”. He looked at the Sanctum, which had to be reached by climbing five more hard stone steps from the second level of the temple. There was no electric light inside the Sanctum and a small Diya flickered inside. The large idol of Lingeshwar sat majestically on the platform and once again Nakul felt that the idol was really huge, and he had never seen such a large Linga anywhere else.
He looked back at Shiva and said, “The Lingam is a huge one.”
Shiva replied politely, “Yes Sir. The Lingam is a very special one, made of special black rock stone. It is 38 inches tall and is said to be thousands of years old.” Nakul carefully examined the base of the Nandi and once again looked at the ornamental lotus carved on the platform.
Shiva added, “Sir there is one more specialty for this temple. Though the ceiling of the cave looks all packed, there is some invisible small crack on it, exactly over the Lingeshwar. So when it starts raining, a water stream continuously falls on the Idol of Lingeshwar, as if there is a natural Abishek[10]. Now and then a few drops will cool The Lord’s head now, but during the monsoon season, many pilgrims especially come here to this temple see this nature’s wonder.”
Nakul craned his neck and looked up at the ceiling. There was no sunlight coming out of any crack. Shiva laughed and said, “Sir I told you, the crack is not visible to our eyes. But when the rainwater from the stream falls we know there is a crack there.” Now both of them came down the steps and started walking.
Nakul said, “Shiva, according to the post-mortem report, John was stabbed by Julia. However, it has come to light that John did not shoot Julia. Someone else has done it. That means there was a third person here when John and Julia were having a scuffle.”
Shiva looked stunned, “Sir, the gun was in John’s hands. Was another man here? But, when I came there was no one here.”
Nakul said, “He must have left even before you came, or was still hiding around here and when you were looking at John’s body he must have escaped. Julia had died first and John had died about one hour later.”
Shiva said, “Was John alive for one hour? But, when I reached here he was nearly dead with a very low pulse. By the time I called Acharyaji and we came back, he was already dead. That means I had come to temple very late! Maybe I had wasted time in trying to wake Purohitji. Poor John! If I had come in time I could have saved him.” Then he remained silent for some time. Nakul could see some pain in his face as if he was feeling guilty at his own delay.
Nakul continued, “Shiva, the big question is, after Julia was shot, in a bleeding condition, instead of running out for medical help, why did John come inside the temple and climb these eight steep steps to the next level and reach up to the Nandi God? If he had come in for shelter, then why did he go out again? What was he doing in the temple for nearly fifty minutes, before you arrived here?”
Shiva said, “Absolutely no clue Sir. Though, John was doing some research about this temple, he had not actually come into the temple anytime at all. Only once, Purohitji had taken him inside the temple, through the back door only up to the walls of the front corridor to show him the scriptures. Hence he could not have been very familiar with the setup of the temple. When he was stabbed in a bleeding condition fearing more attacks he must have run inside the temple to hide. Or as you say, if there was a third man in the picture, fearing for his own life, he might have run inside the temple. But, by this time, he might have realized that he would n’t survive, and didn’t have much time to die. He would then have again dragged himself out so that he should not die inside the temple and damage its sanctity?”
Nakul still persisted on his argument, “But Shiva, if he was dragging himself out in a dying condition how did he manage to stand up and lock the back door? Also, he was a Christian. Why should he think of the sanctity of the temple?”
Shiva said, “Sir, though he was a Christian he had converted himself into a Hindu by learning the scriptures, reciting the Gayatri Mantra etc. Hence he knew the sanctity of the temple very well. With the left over strength, he would have managed to lock the door so that the dead bodies remained outside.”
Nakul thought for a moment on what Shiva was saying. Yes, it was possible. He had noticed the other day that the door had an automatic lock. So in a sitting position also if John had slammed the door it would have got locked. Secondly, in that impact, he must have fallen in that head down position in which the body was discovered. If there was a third man there probably he did not chase John inside the temple. If he was someone known to John then he would not have run inside the temple and that man would have saved John. So he must be some stranger, Julia’s enemy.
Nakul changed the topic and said, “Shiva you said that all the wealth of the temple is with the bank. You are sure that there is no hidden treasure here in this temple? You know some days back in Kerala inside the famous Kerala’s Shree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, they found a almost one trillion dollars of treasures under the temple’s stone floor in a secret vault. So is it possible that John or Julia could have come to the temple, under the pretext of research, to look for the treasure?”
Shiva said, “Sir, I told you this temple for ages is known as a Sanyasi temple. You can see that the deity Lingeshwar does not have even silver ornaments, which is very rare in Hindu temples. So where is the question of treasure? And John was genuinely a researcher. I had watched him discussing with Purohitji for hours about the Scriptures.”
Nakul asked, “Does anyone in this village have a license for possessing a gun?”
Shiva looked shocked as he said, “Sir, What? Possess a gun? Here in this village Sir? I don’t think anyone has a gun Sir.”
Nakul said, “But it is a fact that someone had a gun and someone had shot the lady . If he was a villager or not is left to be found out.” Shiva looked at him silently without giving any answer.
Nakul said, “Ok, Shiva let us go back.” They came out and as they closed the door, the lock clicked and Nakul now carefully noticed that the door was not very heavy and could be easily closed without much effort.
The shadow now spoke in cell phone “He has left the temple. He may come to the temple hall. Be careful.”
Chapter 15
The Goats
Nakul said, “Shiva, now I will go to my room. I have some reports to write. You send the dinner to my room itself. Ok?”
Shiva said, “Sir, One minute. I am going to make some tea for you today. Yesterday I learnt from Dr Netra how to make tea.” He went inside without waiting for Nakul’s answer. In five minutes he brought piping hot masala Chai. It was really good, and Nakul enjoyed it. As he was giving back the cup randomly he remembering something and said, “Shiva, this Acharyaji, puts some strange hair oil in his hair. It has got a very pungent smell which I have noticed whenever he is around. Is it not?” As he spoke, he was carefully watching Shiva’s face for any change.
Shiva now laughed a bit loudly and said, “Sir, that oil. Sir, here in this village one Ayurvedic doctor sells that oil, saying that it reduces stress. Nearly all the villagers use it.”
Nakul was a bit disappointed because he was associating that smell with Acharyaji and that way was almost sure that it was Acharyaji who came to his room prowling that night. But if many villagers were using the oil, then it widened the list of suspects. He walked out of the house.
Pushing open the hall door, he entered the temple guest house. He latched the door and stepped over the crimson carpet. He suddenly stopped and stared at the soft, costly carpet. It looked as if it was a fairly new one. In a tiny village why should there be a carpet on the floor of the hall? The villagers were used to sitting on the bare floor. A common practice would be to use a thick and rough cotton r
ug! Why this unusual luxury of a carpet? He kicked the carpet in two or three places to check if there was any noise variation or a hollow sound. But the carpet looked as if it had almost been pasted on the solid marble ground floor and there was nothing different about it.
He went near the window and watched. The evening was fast disappearing and a vague dusky light painted the trees with a tinge of yellowish red colour. He could see the beginning of a forest at the end of the village road. He did not notice it in the morning. As he was wondering why Shiva never told him about the forest close to the village, he noticed some movement. With the background reflection of the setting sun and a dense cloud of dust rising in the air from the mud road, he could not clearly make out what was happening. But he could hear clearly the bleating of goats. He understood that a herd of goats was coming home.
Then he saw a man driving the goats, and there were about eight or ten goats kicking up a lot of dust from the muddy road. The man efficiently moved from side to side and was managing to streamline the goats. Nakul saw a second man now along with the goats. As the goats moved towards the forest, the two men stood for a few seconds and exchanged a few words. Though they were at a distance of about 80 meters away from the window Nakul had a strange feeling, an inexplicable vague familiarity about those two men. He was sure that he had definitely seen them somewhere earlier. As he tried to scour his memory, the men and the goats started moving and soon disappeared into the forest. Now the sun too disappeared and darkness enveloped everything.
Nakul’s police head started reeling and bursting with questions. Firstly the goat herders would take the goats for grazing in the morning and bring them back in the evening. But these goat herders were going just in the opposite direction. Were they really goat herders? Why were they taking the goats towards the forest in the night then? What were they going to do with those goats in the forest? Very strange! Goats inside the forest! Why in the night?
