The Mystery of the Lingeshwar Temple and the Lurking Shadows

by Laxmi Natraj

  11th January- Luckily the builder had only fever and had recovered. Finally he gave me two plans for underground chambers. I am compelled to hire only him as a builder for construction and get the secrets chambers done. Now he has become very greedy and is demanding more dollars. But I have no option but to pay.

  13th January- Today, finally I have reached the Village and met the Purohit. He was genuinely a great man and had a divine aura around him. I felt deeply guilty that I am approaching him for a wrong motive. But I need my family back and there is no other way I can get them.

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  Purohitji stopped reading the diary at this point, because his eyes were full of tears and his vision got blurred. He closed the diary and thought about the first day when John entered and fell down on his feet and prayed for acceptance. The memory of him kneeling down in front of the village and begging for permission to build a school and hospital flashed in front of his eyes.

  Who could have dreamed that behind all that begging it was a dangerous plot? But John wanted his family and at any cost he was ready for that. He cannot be blamed as he himself was a scapegoat.

  Shiva entered the room and said, “Purohitji, don’t read the whole diary today itself. You can read it leisurely. Acharyaji wants the temple well to be deepened and cleaned before monsoon. He wants to discuss it with you. He is coming to see you.”

  As Purohitji was about to answer, Shiva took the diary from his hand and walked quickly to the table near the wall. He opened the table drawer and placing the diary in side he locked the drawer. At the same time Acharyaji and two more Panchayat members entered the house to discuss about the temple well.

  Chapter 37

  More Planning

  Nakul and Utkarsh, still with their makeup on, reached the ACP’s office and reported everything. The ACP was more worried than shocked.

  He said, “Oh, God! How dreadful and outrageous! Terrorists have percolated our deep villages and have actually stayed there. Then this antiterrorist squad did not even bother to take our words seriously. Anyway Nakul , you make another visit now in a different disguise as we planned, and see if any one of those men are hiding there as labourers or some other form. But best thing is you take two or three days off and take some rest. Too many visits to the village though in different avatars might make the villagers suspicious. It is very important that the villagers should not get any wind of our activity. If you are able to catch even one of them, it would be a big break for us. We could make him talk and then report and hand over the case to the Anti-terrorist department.” Nakul and Utkarsh saluted their boss.

  Nakul and Utkarsh went back to office. The ACP started telephoning different departments for the various support systems which his two boys would require for their visit.

  Chapter 38

  More from the Diary

  Narayan Purohit woke up and sat on his bed. He had been tossing and turning but sleep just eluded him. Maybe with all that sedatives in the hospital, he had overdone his quota of sleep. He got up and walked to the table and poured himself a glass of water.

  As he drank the water, an idea flashed in his mind. He thought “Anyway, if I am just tossing in the bed I might as well read the remaining portion of John’s diary.” He opened the drawer and took out the diary. Walking to the recliner chair, he sat, his eyes moist already with thoughts of John, and switched on the light just above the chair. He turned the pages and located the page he was reading the previous day. He started reading.

  16th January: The Purohitji is such a divine person. Back in US, I had heard that Indians have a lot of Caste prejudices. But Purohitji is above all that. He must be what is called truly enlightened. I am a Christian and he is not only a high caste Brahmin, but he is also a Purohit of the temple. In spite of all this, he served me food in the same table as himself. He had no hesitation in allowing me, a person of different faith to stay in the temple hall room which was very convenient and comfortable. Actually while coming to the village, the lodging arrangement was my most worrisome factor, because I knew there were no hotels in the village or anywhere near it. Actually I could make out that the Panchayat head Acharyaji and some of the members of the Panchayat did not like this move of Purohitji. But it seems that Purohitji has a lot of respect in the village and no one directly opposed him. I should start my activities in full swing from tomorrow.

  17th January. Today morning Purohitji had gone to the town. There is only one bus in the morning to town. I must soon buy a car for myself to make my movement easy. As I sat on the porch of Purohitji and recited my usual Gayatri Mantra, I was half afraid that some villager would walk in and drive me away as Purohitji was not around. But nothing of that type happened. In fact the lunch and Coffee from Acharayaji’s house all were delivered as usual by their help. He even cleaned up the table after I ate. The villagers must be having very high respect for him. And such immense respect cannot spring without real goodness. Purohitji must be really a great man. And my mission is so..

  18th January: Yesterday Purohitji returned only in the night. The first thing he asked me was whether I had my lunch and Tiffin in time. I was too touched. Then he told me that his son who was in Banaras, studying Vedanta and Shastras, will be back in two days and then he will start assisting Purohitji in puja. I felt happy for Purohitji.

  19th January: Surprisingly Purohitji’s son Shiva landed today- two days earlier than what Purohitji told me. Purohitji was too happy to see him. In the evening he called for a village meeting and announced about his son Shiva and told that would be taking up his responsibilities of the temple along with Purohitji. Village people were happy for Purohitji. I miss my family more today.

  20th January: Shiva talks very good English. He is warm and talks a lot with me and I find his company giving me strange hope. He knows to drive also. I am thinking of taking him with me to town and buying the car tomorrow. And, in the middle of the night the threatening call came again. I should somehow start the work immediately.

  21st January: Today, I brought the car inside the village. It was a wonderful feeling to see the innocent village children staring at the car. Shiva offered them a ride and almost twenty of them jumped into the car. We drove them around for half an hour. Now the children have started calling me, “John Uncle”. Good, I have started bonding with them.

  28th January: Today somehow I convinced the whole village about the reconstruction (actually it is developing), the school and hospital. I sat late in the night and with a lot of difficulty, managed to send the coded message. Even with the code book I find it so hard to send messages. I have to get the contractors and start the construction in two days.

  Purohitji now really started feeling very sleepy. He closed the diary and kept it back inside the drawer and locked it. He put off the light and went to his bed. If Shiva was around he would have definitely not allowed him to read in the night instead of sleeping. Purohitji found himself smiling fondly. He was a loving and very caring son.

  Chapter 39

  Discussions about the getup

  On reaching Makarant’s office, Nakul explained the purpose of his next character. He said, “Makarant, this time I want a disguise which would help me to move closely with them from house to house on some pretext. Even in close quarters none of them should recognize me. In this way I will be able to find many hidden men working there in disguise. That is my idea.”

  Makarant said, “Good plan, but see if you are just going to make a visit for one or two hours just like they appear on stage or appear in just one scene in the movie the makeup is easy. You can turn a man into anything like they did in the movie, Pa to Amitabh Bachchan. But, if you are going to stay in the village for two or three days then it is a totally different question. You have to shower every day and you cannot refit your make up by yourself. And by any chance, if someone happens to see you without makeup then you are dead.”

  Nakul stared at Makarant. Then, just like a petulant child throwing a tantrum, he sulked and sai
d, “What is this Makrant? I thought you are the best make up man, who can change anyone to a totally different person. And now, you are giving me all these lame excuses. You know I am not asking these for acting in a movie. But I want to catch some deadly criminal who might be even a terrorist.”

  Makarant said in a calm voice, “My dear friend, don’t get irritated. I was just explaining the facts for your own safety. Ok, first tell me what do you expect to be doing? Where? Then from those points, I can get some ideas.”

  Nakul now looked calmed down and said, “See, most of these villagers are farmers. And I want to enter almost each and every one of their houses. So I was told by my bosses that I should become an agricultural specialist from government who wants to test the soil of their farms.”

  Makarant said, “That is a wonderful idea. Every villager will only be too happy to show you their farms, and in between, you can make inquiries also.”

  Nakul beamed and said, “Good idea is it not?”

  Makarant said, “Government officers, especially connected with research, means, you should be converted into a middle-aged man say of about forty years old.”

  Nakul nodded vigorously and said, “Yes, exactly.”

  Makarant continued, “Nakul, that won’t be so easy especially when you are going to be moving around in close quarters with those villagers! First of all, your body language! Years of practice makes you policemen walk in a particular authoritative way which, the criminals can easily and definitely notice. Generally, for any person, their looks are mostly determined by the definition of their facial features and then the main factor is their hair. Since you had already stayed in the village for three or four days, everyone would have closely looked at your face and hair. They can easily look through your disguise.”

  Nakul said, “What if I put on some grey paint on my head and just wear a pair of glasses or put on a false beard like the last time……”

  Makarant laughed loudly and said, “Then imagine what will happen? When you are talking seriously something to your villagers your false moustache will slip and reveal your face. I told you this is not that simple. Just keep quiet for some time. I will do some sketches and let us select.”

  Utkarsh was really awestruck. These are things one never thinks of under normal circumstances. Disguising looked so complicated! He appreciated the intelligence of Makarant that more than the disguise he was taking care that the disguise should not fail at any time. He started watching the sketches carefully. Half a dozen of Makarant’s staff quietly came and stood behind him with ready materials needed for the disguise.

  After one hour and a number of sketches, it was decided the Nakul had to totally shave his hair. As a totally shocked Nakul looked on, Makarant said, “Nakul, I am sorry, this might be very shocking to you. But your hair is very curly and thick. A forty-year-old man’s hair will not only start greying but it will also start abruptly thinning. I can bleach your hair and make it totally grey, but I cannot make it appear thinner. Secondly, within even three days your hair will start re-growing and that hair will be black in colour. How will you hide this? New growing black hair at the roots would prominently standout on the grey background and what will people think of you? Getting back to your youth?” He paused for a second and then continued, “Hence, alternatively, a totally shaved head will totally change the very look of your face. Secondly, even if the hair starts growing no one is going to suspect something. You can say that you shaved your hair as you lost some close relative recently or you went to Tirupati and offered your hair to Lord Balaji.”

  Nakul nodded. He had no other option. He said, “Ok then what about the other things?”

  Makarant said, “Your nose is very sharp and prominent. So I will give a rubber attachment which can be removed and reattached without difficulty. It will make your nose a bit large and flat looking. I will try different spectacles for you with a very large frame, and the lens will be with a minimum number. So your vision will not be affected but at the same time, your face will change. The spectacles will give you the look of an intelligent research scholar and at the same time will totally alter your original face. Let us do a trial just now.”

  He then put a rubber cap used in drama etc. for a bald head look, and stretched it all over his hair and tucked all his real hair underneath thus making Nakul’s hair invisible. Now it made Nakul look totally bald, and Utkarsh had difficulty in controlling his laughter. At the same time, he was totally amazed at the change that came over his boss’s face. Then Makarant took an original looking latex nose and fixed it on Nakul’s nose. Next, he started trying a number of glasses on Nakul’s face. Finally, he decided on a very broad brown framed one and tested the fitting. He asked one of the dozen assistants standing just behind Nakul and helping, to fix a blue tinted convex lens of plus.02.number on the specs.

  Then he said, “The blue tinted glass will further help you so that even if people look at your eyes very intensely they cannot see your original eyes.”

  Finally, he gave a half bodysuit to be worn under his shirt. It was to make Nakul look like a middle aged man. This rubber suit made Nakul a bit fat and plump. After all the discussions, it was decided that they would come back next day morning and continue the discussion as they had two days time in their hand.

  Chapter 40

  The Diary Again

  After the two young boys Mahadev and Manjunath from Banaras joined the temple, Purohitji’s job became quite relaxed. The boys were sincere and performed all Pujas, Aarathis and other daily rituals. Purohitji had already added both the boys’ names as joint account holders in John’s Bank Account.

  As he sat on the recliner he thought of John’s diary half-read diary. He got up, opened the drawer and went back to the recliner. He now sat comfortably and switching on the table light started reading.

  February 18th :Today the construction materials and workers from the town arrived. I stood and personally watched all the materials being unloaded. We have built two new floors with rooms on the existing structure of the school as an extension to the already existing rooms. We carefully built a large basement underneath as we had planned. We have done it so meticulously and secretly that our special construction underground would not be discovered. The architect and his contractor were pleased as punch. I have sworn them to secrecy as they were not only getting triple the amount for construction but also they got the money in Dollars.

  Purohitji now feeling unsettled and restless, skimmed through the pages and then came the month of April in John’s diary. He started reading

  April 8th To everyone’s surprise the construction of school and hospital together were completed in such a short time and it was unbelievable for everyone. They did not know the truth that the party for whom I am building these cannot wait. They had some ultimate deadlines to keep. Those men were already in the village and had started occupying the basement. I am at a loss as to how they are going to hide in the village once the construction is over. I hardly know what their plans are or what they can do. Moving with Purohitji, listening to his discourse on Geeta, I have started feeling highly pained and guilty that I am forced to do all this and I am cheating such a good man. My Karma will not spare me. I can almost feel it with certainty.

  April 10th It was a good idea that I bought the pre- pressed ready walls, and which did not call for much manual labour of brick working. I have started feeling very guilty on one side and on the other side my health is failing very badly. Often I am feeling giddy. Soon, I will go to town and get my blood checked.

  April 12th So ultimately, what everyone says that your karma will be your destiny is so true, at least in my case. And for all the crimes I have done, I have landed up with this incurable cancer. Blood cancer. I wish I could have died of a heart attack than this. Now I have to wither and die every day till finally one day I will physically die. This waiting, for the approaching death every minute, when my body will be decaying inch by inch every passing hour is the greatest punishment God h
as given me!

  Purohitji saw that on this page ink was smeared and smudged in many places. John was crying while writing this. He took a deep breath and exhaled sharply.

  Chapter 41

  A Flash back

  12th April night

  The happenings on the night of April 12th flashed before the eyes of the Purohit. He closed the diary and started re-living those moments of his life. After discovering his own ailment, and then waiting for two more days, John straight away came to Purohit and fell at the feet weeping uncontrollably begging for a confession.

  It was as bit late in the night. Purohit closed the Geeta he was reading and asked kindly, “John. Please don’t cry. Tell me, what ails you?”

  John blurted out everything he had done in short bursts and then holding Purohitji’s feet he begged, “I am dying a most painful death just because of my sins. Please give me forgiveness so that at least my heart won’t be heavy when I die.”

  Purohit picked up John by his shoulder and made him sit on a chair. Then he said in a soft soothing voice, “Don’t ask forgiveness from me as you have not wronged me. You have done things which are very wrong, because fate put you there. You made a choice and it has consequences. John, we don’t have the concept of confession in our Hinduism. You are not doomed. If a man has erred, but later he repents for it, then his sin can be reduced by right actions. The more he repents for his action, the more good he does, he can still build good Karma. The more he helps the downtrodden people with money, charity or physical service, his bad Karma cannot go away, but the good Karma will not go unrewarded either. So, serve the village people as much as possible till you are around. Peace of mind will come to you on its own.” John had looked at him as if he had now got a new direction.