 
# Guarded by the Greats

## By

## Firoz Khan

## Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without written permission. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

"Guarded by the Greats" Published by Firoz Khan

Edited: Adena Wright

Cover design: Rajesh Paleri Thyvaleppil

Copyright © 2014 Firoz Khan
Dedicated to youth and posterity,

and every girl child who was mercilessly killed

by their own parents!

## Chapter 1

I am going to die this evening. I will commit suicide. My body will be submerged in the black depths of the Arabian Sea.

'Hello! We've arrived at VT, please exit,' someone bawled in one of the coach cars of the local train. VT – that was what the locals called the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus. The government had changed the name of the railway station from the Victoria Terminus to CST a long time ago as part of their efforts to "Indianize" everything, but for some, the new name had yet to catch on.

As the train jerked to a stop, Vel woke up from a short slumber, looking around to see the people hurriedly disembarking, and the oncoming crowd that was struggling to mount the train and get a seat. He rose, jostled along by other people, and tried to get off the train before it started to return to Matunga.

He was tired.

Not because of the train ride or the lack of food in his stomach. His exhaustion wasn't physical, but mental. His impending actions had been weighing heavily on his mind all day.

Vel disembarked and walked down one of the roads that lead away from the railway station. He walked straight ahead, paying no attention to the innumerable activities happening all around him on the streets of India. He had a purpose that day. A purpose that very few people have in their life.

To die.

Although he had been preparing to end his life for a long time, today had emerged as the day of decision. He could finally gather all the energy to do it, especially since he felt that his soul had been so hurt the previous night and his heart was still bleeding.

The horrible secret came with a bolt from the blue.

He had never felt such a disturbing experience. Never seen such an ungrateful people.

Mumbai. Truly multicultural, the axle city of Indian economy, the city of freedom and hope. It was bursting with entertainment just like any other day, offering countless opportunities to the thousands of people who landed there every hour. The city was home to a medley of diverse ethnic groups – Marathis, Parsis, Tamils, Gujaratis, Negros, Keralites and many more. Nothing seemed to attract Vel though, not even the grandiosity of Mumbai city on a Saturday evening with its various sites, lights, and lively atmosphere.

He continued walking, turning onto walkway which was illegally occupied by street vendors.

He did not notice any of it; his absent mindset ignored the world around him. The perspiration of the masses of people on the train, the shopkeepers and their intrusive efforts to sell their products, the noise of busy malls and streets full of traffic - it was all just a distant blur.

Practically, it appeared as if the entire middle class population of Mumbai was out on the street then, but Vel felt completely isolated from them as he was sitting in an empty room. The only thought on his mind was of his destination: the Arabian Sea. He'd traveled all the way from his home in Matunga and he had almost reached the end.

'Sir, sir...'

There was a sharp tug on the hem of Vel's T-shirt, and he felt someone scraping at his hand. And that brought him to the moment of existence. Instinctively pulling his T-shirt away, he swiveled around and saw a boy in tattered clothing. He was unmistakably a beggar. The boy looked to be around twelve years old, and practically every inch of him looked dirty.

Vel looked at him enquiringly. Why is this child roaming the streets alone and without supervision? A question rose to his lips, but a second thought stopped him from asking it. Look at all with a kind heart, because you don't know in what kind of hardships they have been faced with. They were wise words that Vel tried to live by.

'Saar...' The little beggar raised his hand, his eyes were wide and hopeful as he waited anxiously for Vel's response.

My last evening. Tomorrow is not another day. Life ends here and now. Smiling at the young boy, Vel put his hand inside his pocket and removed a hundred rupee note. He had no use for the money, it was no longer of any value to him. At least the boy could eat a good meal that night.

Shocked and surprised to see the bluish-green currency note, on which Mahatma Gandhi was smiling proudly, the boy received it. It was clear as he flipped it over in his hands that he could not believe his eyes. He joined his palms together, placing the rupee note between them and praised Vel as if he was his God. Then he scampered off down the street and disappeared into the crowd.

I am not the God, rather I need a kind glance from the God. Today I will meet Him and I will ask Him why he made such differences between people.

Vel continued walking, lost in his own world, and crossed the western railway terminal known as Church Gate, to reach the beach front. The beach front was a four kilometer long promenade, along a semicircular-shaped natural bay in South Mumbai, called Marine Drive. It was a much loved family place for leisure and get-togethers and one of the best places in Mumbai for a refreshing walk. He was at the Land's End Point, the southern end of the marine drive, and at the northern point was the famous Chowpatty, the Mumbai beach.

He walked along the interlocked pedestrian path, ignoring the roaring Arabian Sea. I want to release all of my tension and welcome my death with a smiling face. Atleast I have the right to be happy at the end of my life. No one can seize that from me. He raised his hand up and took a long breath. He could feel the refreshing sea breeze filling his lung with the fresh air, although it tasted salty. He looked up and saw the sky, which was turning reddish as if someone was painting on a great blue wall.

It was sunset and Mumbai was springing to life. That's why I have chosen this place for my death. I will die where life springs. That's my protest to life for its partiality.

He looked at his watch. A Timex Indiglo, presented by his uncle when he came from Madurai to Mumbai to see his sister - Vel's mother. Vel was then studying in high school, preparing for the public examination. His uncle understood the importance of time, and he was very strict about it, as he was a veteran from the Indian army. It was nearly five years back, but the watch was still running well, except some scratches and the dry rice flour stuck at the corners and the crevices between the strap and the case. The dots were blinking between the hours and minutes. Five twenty-six.

'Mama, look at there,'

Vel turned his head to see a child pointing her finger on a zooming aircraft taking off from a carrier in the distance.

'That's a naval ship, honey' her mother was telling.

A white family, seemingly European, were enjoying on a beautifully decked horse carriage that was adorned with red and golden clothes. They were looking happy on the picturesque atmosphere: the vast blue sea, the people, the evening sun and the palm trees on the drive.

He stopped for a moment, looking at the innocent face of the little girl. 'Oh my sister,' he whispered, desperately. Then as he gained his awareness, he walked further to his destination. The beach.

The mighty Arabian Sea sent out powerful waves that continuously hit the blocks distributed evenly all around the sea wall. He felt the presence of salt as his tongue slipped out to wet his dry lips. Darkness started to embrace the sky. The streetlights, standing tall between the palm streets on a long stretches, shone beautifully. He realized why the British called it the "Queen's Necklace." If viewed at night from an elevated point anywhere along the drive, the street lights would resemble a string of elegant pearls.

Walking vendors crossed him, calling out to people as they tried to sell their products. The massagers were weaving through the crowd with two stones in their hands. They clicked them together, trying to attract customers. Many couples were walking along the path to enjoy their Saturday night and the smell of dinner wafted out of the hotel and restaurants that were on the stretch of road. Everything was lighted to catch people's eyes and draw them in. And he found the evening was electric and was heralding an aura of happiness and excitement.

I am the only one who is sad and depressed.

As he keep walking north Vel noticed an increasing number of food and drink vendors busy selling roasted corn on the cob, fried snacks, masala-dusted peanuts, ice cream, fresh coconut water, and fizzy drinks. Crossing all those vendors, finally he arrived at Mumbai's famous **Chowpatty Beach** , a magnet for young couples and families who paused there for a plate of delicious _bhelpuri_ \- fried savory snacks, a much loved Mumbai specialty.

Vel looked at the riches around him in wonder: the sky scrapers, Bollywood stars, high fashion, and nightlife. Mumbai was undoubtedly the richest city of India, maybe one of the richest cities in the world. His thoughts again circled about the other side of Mumbai's face: the impoverished people in the slums, and their lives heartbreakingly sad and full of struggle. Children lived in the streets, begging for whatever they could get, with little hope of the future that so much of the population in the other part of the world took for granted.

He was alone in his own existence, though he was surrounded by the thousands of people gathered there from different parts of India. Gujarati ladies wrapped up in their thin saris, were walking gracefully with their heavy husbands following behind. There were some well-built, smart youngsters with their shirts tucked into nice jeans and casual slacks. Their hair was crew cut, and the deodorant they used was sufficient to identify them as the sailors, whose ships were harbored at the dock or the jetty.

At home, he had returned the books, CD's and other borrowed items to his friends. He had cleaned his little room and kept it neat and tidy, though he had never done it in such a way in his life time. When people come to see his dead body, no one should say he was living in a mess. His body and the departed soul needed some respect, though he was unsure about whether his body would be found at all, and in a good enough condition to be placed at his home for last sight and the last rituals. He had arranged things well. Books on the shelves. Shoes on the shoe rack. Dresses were neatly pressed and hung on the hanger. He was preparing his life for that day. Preparing to die. Sometimes he found it amusing that even for death he had to be ready. He needed to be prepared. Absurd.

Scanning for the right place to enter into the sea, he found an area which was less crowded. There weren't too many people milling about. Vel moved to that place and sat there, drawn back, hands placed firmly on the ground, legs crossed, chin down, and eyes focused far away on something which he could not see in the darkness of open sea. He saw the mighty Arabian Sea in all of its supremacy. It was only a sea. Exactly like a sea on any other day, but now he felt as if it was a supernatural body, which was extending its hand to embrace him and pull him into its darkened depths.

Thoughts rewound and repeated in his weary brain as if in a DVD player. Back in his little hut of a hotel, Vel had tried thinking pro-actively expecting his father to change, to behave better. He had expected his father to let him enjoy his youth like other fathers did in his locality, but as time passed he realized that the chances were growing steadily dimmer. Eventually, they vanished altogether. Life seemed miserable and he felt no one wanted him there in the world.

'Why are you wearing new clothes, your job is to clean the table and serve the people. You know, don't you?' his father shouted in front of the customers. He was glaring at the new dress Vel had bought for the last Diwali.

He looked at his father, detested, 'How does it matter to you, papa? Either way, the job is done, and the customers feel happy seeing neat and clean waiters, no?'

'Look,' his father shouted, 'We don't just the same kind of customers here as they do at the five-star Taj hotel, now go and change in to lungi and shirt.'

Vel could not understand what was going on in the mind of his father. He always hated wearing lungi - a piece of long cloth to wrap around the waist to cover the lower part. How illiterate and ridiculous could my father be? He did not like to think of the status of his son, that too in the same locality where most of his friends were from.

Vel remembered one day, while he was cleaning the tables, wearing the lungi and a torn and untidy t-shirt stained with patches of dry flour, his friends had entered into the shop for evening tea and also to meet him.

One of them even asked, 'what is this dressing style man, you guys wouldn't change even if you get a job at NASA, no? We are almost a thousand kilometer away from Tamil Nadu.' He cracked his nasty joke with a piercing smile.

Listening to that, his friends laughed. Unable to digest that sarcastic taunt, Vel stared at his father for a moment, as if his glare alone would burn the man on the spot, and then he paced out from the little shabby hotel.

Things like that never mattered to his father, his life was like machine. He woke up daily at four o'clock in the morning and kept the shop open until eleven at night. He was a single man army. He came from Madurai, a city in the south of India, when he was a very young, and like every run away kid does in India, he supplied the tea from the local vendor to the shops nearby and to the little budding business offices that ran in a single room with a maximum of two staff members. As he grew up, he also started making tea on his own in a different corner of the city, and with his shrewdness, he acquired a little shop and a room attached to it, using the space behind the shop as their house. Later as their business grew, they had shifted to a two room house, a little away from the shop.

Now he wanted Vel to work like him, supplying tea to the neighbors, shops, and offices. Nothing changed his mind, despite the fact that his son was a graduate and twenty years old, and that the times had changed. He wanted his son to work like him so that he could save one man's salary.

Vel had done the job from when he was a little boy until he reached high school. The friction started as he first refused to go and supply tea, and it expanded when he became ashamed to wipe the table in front of his college friends. His father shouted at him in front of his friends and most of the time his friends walked out of the shop feeling sorry for him. The matter worsened as the days passed. Every day became extremely difficult. Started with a fight and ended with a fight. Scared of his father, his mother just kept her mouth shut, though she felt pity for her son. To teach his father a lesson, an idea was sprouted from the tender mind of Vel: to kill himself. Revenge.

Vel could not stay at home. He hated his father, his ideology was maddening but now he hated his mother too, after the accidental revelation from his father. An unpardonable crime that his father had committed years ago. And what was worse, his mother did not even respond to it.

Tears welled up in his eyes and Vel cried in the darkness. No one could hear his sobbing in the midst of the mighty roaring of the Arabian Sea.

## Chapter 2

He did not know how much time he had spent lying there. When he glanced down at his watch it showed eight fifteen. He looked around. There in the distance, the Guajarati family was still enjoying their weekend, sitting around and eating their food on the beach. Half of the food they had brought from their home, and half they had bought from the beach vendors. He knew by nine the beach would be empty and he would not face any difficulty dying. He did not want to be rescued, not even by mistake. And he did not want a scene immediately after his death.

He bent back again to lie on the beach. Placed his back bone straight on the ground. Stretched, throwing his hands back behind his head, and took a long breath. His eyes fixed on the distant shining stars.

'Soon, I will be one among you.'

The waves were tremendous. Unwavering, Vel waited for the right moment to enter into the raging Arabian Sea.

The darkness grew and the rays from sodium bulbs on the beach shone brighter. Whistling wind from the cold sea at times gave him the chills, raising goosebumps on his arms. The sea was still boisterous, but that was not frightening anymore. Vel looked at his watch. Twelve twenty-three AM. Today is the day, now is the time.

He stood up from the sandy bed, looked around, and ensured that he was not seen by any lingering people. Once again he looked back to Marine Drive, where car lights where zooming, their horns dimly honking in his ears. The lights of the big buildings were illuminated, big banners with the Bollywood actors were shining. This was the life. My final look of the world, and the end of this short and difficult life. He turned around and walked forward quickly. There was no fear. There were no regrets. Only one thing was on his mind: to end his life. To end the tortures of this life.  Who said it was a precious one?

As the waves touched his feet, for a fraction of second, the coldness of the water make his leg retreat. But he advanced and took another step, cutting into the waves. One step, and another, then two more. The water was up to his knees. He continued, and in couple more steps, he was in the water up to his chest. He felt the sand slipping under his feet, and at any time, he would be taken away by the waves into the depths of the Arabian Sea.

Vel stopped there for a moment, tremblingly in the water as the waves beat forcefully against him. With this next step, my leg will not be touching the hard ground, and my lungs will gasp for the air.

Doubt began to creep in and a slight fear rose in his mind. Should I go back?

No.

That was a firm decision. I have been waiting for this moment. This is a bad world where only bad things occur. He took one more step into the water. A return wave swept him further into the sea. He was drifting into the chilled water. The situation suddenly changed. He wanted a base, some kind of foundation to raise himself above the killing water. Vel wanted to live, at least for a little longer. His leg was searching for a solid piece of anything, but he could not find it in the swirling water as it pulled him away from the safe shore. Frantically, he beat his arms and legs. He craved for air, the thing all animals needed to survive. And finally for want of air, he opened his mouth, and the water gushed in and filled his lungs. He coughed water, but only ended up consuming more. He fought for his dear life in the darkness. As the water filled his lungs, he drifted further away from the beach and from consciousness.

In that last moment of the fight for his life, he realized something. Dying is not easy. This is really terrible. What have I done?!

All he wanted was to end the torture of death. Only one power could save him, he knew that. He raised his voice in his mind. God... help me, get me my life back, forgive me! Earnestly, he cried out in his own mind. God, please forgive me. Save me from this hell.

##  Chapter 3

Swim the seas of wealth and happiness, guided by those

Who have swam the sea of virtues – Thiru Valluvar

A magnificent light descended from the sky and enveloped him. Vel squinted upwards, wondering what it could be. He was completely encapsulated and surrounded by the light. For a few short moments he lost his awareness of the world around him. He couldn't distinguish where he was or even the passing of time.

The mysterious light closed in, then passed through him altogether. It was as if it was scanning him. Then Vel felt a question in his mind. It wasn't his own voice, but the voice of the light.

'You had been given a longer life, why did you end it prematurely?

A million reasons flashed through his mind. He gathered his energy and spoke.

'I chose to end my life on my own because I was a failure in this world.'

'If all the men in this world died due to their failures, then this world would have been devoid of humans long ago.'

Vel could not locate or pinpoint the direct source of the sound, but he heard it crystal clear. He didn't understand what was happening, but there was nothing for him to do but continue talking to the light.

Interrupting his thoughts, the light asked, 'And what makes you so certain that you are a failure?'

'I- I have no happiness in my life.'

'And you think happiness is found outside?' The incredulous question resonated in his ears. 'Anyway, what exactly is making you unhappy?'

'My father is disappointed with me, he doesn't understand me.'

'Do you think you are the only person in the world with that problem?'

'I don't know, I suppose not, but he doesn't care for me.'

'How do you care for him?' the light inquired.

'I loved him, I truly did, but how can I continue to love if it is not reciprocated? He always tells me to work and clean the tables at his shabby little hotel in front of my friends and neighbors. And more importantly, I discovered that he is responsible of the death of my dear sister. He is a brutal murderer. How can I feel anything but disgust towards him?'

'Each individual must answer for their deeds,' the light said. 'Who are you to punish your father? There is a day for everything and you yourself have not lived a blameless life. And do you think that hard work is shameful?'

'No, but it was embarrassing to play the role of servant in front of my friends, and I wanted to study and find a better job.'

'You can study while helping your father.'

Although Vel felt answerless, he sensed an inexplicable tranquility. He was aware of a sense of weightlessness. It was something like being suspended in the core of a globe of serene light.

'Life is not that loathsome. Man is the most noble of all creatures. You cannot finish your life just because it becomes difficult. Giving up is never the best option.'

'Who are you? Where am I? Why am I here? Do I owe anything to you?'

'Yes, you have an obligation. You owe me your soul.'

'My soul?! Who are you? The one and only Supreme Power that created everything?' Vel blurted impulsively.

'Yes, I suppose you can take it that way; I am a messenger from Him,' the light replied gently. Then His tone changed. 'You will be punished for killing yourself. Are you not aware that suicide is a sin? You don't have the power to kill yourself. You will burn in hell.'

A violent scene of hell was flashed before him.

'My God!' Vel shouted, his jaw dropping open in deep terror of what was waiting for him on the other side.

'My God, please save me,' he cried.

'You would have entered there, but for the time being, you are saved, because you prayed to God at the end of your life. God has favored you. He is the most Merciful.'

'Yes, God! He is the only one I could think of to call out for in my time of need. But I have made a mistake. I committed suicide because I was poor and felt love from no one, and God provided His bounty to many people, but He created me poor and helpless. I was not wealthy, I was not famous.'

'When has God said that He would withhold His treasures from you?'

'What?' Vel asked, not understanding the answer.

'Have you ever tried working towards what you want?'

Vel remained silent.

'Why don't you try to become what you want?'

'I don't know what I want.'

'You just told me: wealth and fame'

'But how can I achieve those things?'

'Through your father's business.'

'Impossible.'

'Regardless, you were ready to die. Why can't you give it a try?'

'That's true,' Vel said, becoming more and more convinced. 'But I don't know how to run it in order to reach the wealth and fame I desire.'

'Knowledge. Knowledge is the power.'

'But I don't have knowledge in that field.'

'There is a path for success. And the road is the same for all.'

'What is the road?'

'Find it. Simply follow the people who have already walked on that path. God has sent enough privileged people to teach the common people the way to succeed in life. The problem is that not many people follow the principle. The way to success is the same for all. The law is the same too. No matter who or where you are, when two atom of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen compound, you get water.'

Vel stood there, thinking hard. 'In that case, who should I meet? To whom have you given such wisdom?'

'It has been given to many. You just explore. You can meet many people out there in the world!'

'I have learnt about great men who changed this world by sheer hard work, values, and morals. They are famous people, but all dead. If only it were possible to go and meet them personally, and obtain the treasure that they had in their mind. The power to reach the heights. The secret to their success.'

'I am happy to hear that you admire them. All people have been created equal, though. Successful people have put in the effort and gained what they wanted. They learnt it from their ancestors and their experience. Similarly, you can learn from them, you don't need to spend all of your lifetime gaining the much treasured knowledge, simply copy it.'

'I am sorry, but how can I? They all died long ago.'

'So what? Go and meet them. Should I remind you of who I am, and about the favor that God has found in you?'

'You're saying that I shall travel into the past?'

'Yes, everything is possible for Him. You can travel into the past. Time is a measure, made for running the creation. To prevent things happening all at once. There is past, present, and future. But to the Creator, it's all the same.'

'Sorry, my dear messenger, I cannot understand.'

'Time is like the water in the swimming pool. When you do a length, the distance you covered is your past, the present is where you swim, and the future is the water ahead of you. For the swimmer it makes a difference, but for God, who is watching from above, it is all the same. There is only one thing: the water in the pool.'

'What if we drown?' Vel asked innocently.

'If you believe that there is a Lifeguard watching over you, you will never worry about drowning, though at times it may become difficult to swim ahead.'

Vel listened carefully and the words calmed him. He looked around in disbelief to see the magnificent light. It was blindingly powerful, but still he was able to look at it. He felt as if he was not looking at it, rather he was in that Light. Surrounded by the aura of brightness, where love and peace prevailed.

'If you want to be successful, you must choose successful people and walk side by side with those people in order to grow like them. I can do this for you, I can bring you into their lives.'

Suprised, Vel asked, 'Venerable messenger, you mean, I can go and meet those people in the past?'

'Yes. You can do it. But with one condition. Nothing is free. You have to pay a hefty price for it.'

'Price? What is the price I have to pay?'

'The time right here and the time in the world are different. Time is relative. Time stretches and compresses according to the condition. The law is made that way. You may feel seconds here with me, but years might have crossed in the world you live in. All runs according to the law. You will lose the years of time as spent with the people in the past. So you cannot come back to the same day and age you lived in before.

'But I would like to return to my own time, when I return. I want to see my parents, my girlfriend, my friends. I like the evenings in my time.'

'It is not possible Vel, time is different, but I can help you in one way. Rather taking the time in the front, I can take it from the back. You will have to give some part of your allotted life in the end. That is, your age will be cut short. Is that ok with you?

'In that case, I agree.'

'You will lose seven years of pre-written life for the time you spend travelling past. That means you will die seven years before your allotted time of death if you choose to go on an expedition with someone in the past.'

'I had been thinking of ending my life all these days, but it did not happen until now. I am already in profit. If you are right, what else could be so exciting and fortunate than travelling into time and meeting the ancient people? In both ways I profit. I agree to the conditions. Take my seven years of life and take me to the ancient people where I can learn the secret for success.'

'Alright. You can travel into the past. But be careful with the time limit. You will be returned to present life before the first sunray that hits the earth in your time, and you also have the privilege of coming back early at your descretion.'

'Alright, agreed.'

'Yes. Now, be specific. Who do you want to meet now?'

'Really!?' Vel was fascinated.

There was again a little stretch of silence as Vel could not decide who he should go and contact for the greatest mantra of becoming successful. He had been taught in history classes about many great people who had changed the course of the world. Whom should I go and meet for the secret of success? If this is real, then I want to meet the perfect man, for the perfect secret, so that I can get the real recipe for success. He pondered it over, to choose the best man to meet, but no one came to mind.

Finally, he decided to put it in front of the Power that encircled him.

'Dear messenger of God, I am not able to think of a name. Can you suggest a man who can give me the perfect secret for success?'

'You should be the one to make that decision. That's upto you. You must take the responsibility for your success or failure. So the decision has to be made by you only. Think well and zero in on one personality you to go to and get the secret for success.'

Some more time passed in thinking, and then Vel asked, 'Can you please give me a day to select the personality that I require to meet?'

'Sure, I can do that. So see you tomorrow, in the night. Until then, goodbye.' It reminded him of a TV anchor at the end of a program, but it was also peaceful.

##  Chapter 4

Vel woke up as if he had been shaken roughly by somebody. He looked around frantically. Silence and darkness. The light was gone. He looked up in the sky in disbelief, and then he sat up and turned around. No one was there on the beach. The sea was calm and showed a different face, so serene, the waves did not make sound. When he looked around he saw a car zooming past on the Marine Drive, in the distance. All the vendors on the beach had closed their shops and there was no one to be found in the vicinity. He pressed the button on his electronic watch. The dial lit up and numbers illuminated the darkness. Three fourteen AM. Vel stood there, perplexed and wondering what to do next. He knew he had come out there to the beach to commit suicide, but he was unable to believe the episode that had transpired just now. Did I really see God or an angel? Or was it all just a hallucination? He could still recollect what had happened to him after sitting there on the beach: the dream that he had had with the light. Was that true, will I be able to travel through time and go to the past? Did I really ask for one day from God to select the perfect man for the great secret? A lot of questions ran through his mind.

Vel walked purposelessly through the streets. Any thought of dying was not present in his mind at that point in time. It took forty-five minutes for him to reach the railway station after walking through the deserted Mumbai city in the dark hours. He found that the first train of the day to his home, Matunga, was ready to thrust forward. He ran to catch up to it.

As he reached the station of Matunga, the suburb was yet to wake up and start its day. He got out of the railway station and crossed the main road, then walked fast to the street where his home was. A police car veered out before him.

At the end of the street where his house was situated, in front of a big building, were the police vehicles. Half a dozen policemen seemed busy talking and listening to the orders of their senior. Something unusual was going around. He walked quietly. As he was passing the front of the building, a policeman stopped him.

'Hey, stop! Yes, you there. Come here.'

Vel felt thunder rumbling in his stomach. He stopped, turned around and went back to the police officer who had called him.

'What is your name?' the officer asked.

'Vel.'

'Vel, what are you doing here at this time?'

'My house is further down the street, I am coming from CST.'

'Show me your identity.'

Vel removed his wallet and removed the ID card, and showed it to the police man.

The man took the details from the card. 'You may go, but you may be called anytime and you should be present at the station without delay, is that clear?' he asked.

'Yes sir,' Vel replied with a polite nod.

'You can go now.'

'Thank you, sir,' Vel said, and hurried to get home.

##  Chapter 5

Vel woke up at eight thirty the next morning, listening to his alarm. He saw that his parents were already away to the hotel. They did not wake him that morning and that seemed very unusual to him. No fight, no shouts from his father, no tension mounting in the air. He sighed, feeling very light. Quickly, he completed his morning routines, slipping into his jeans and putting on a round neck t-shirt that had been presented to him by his girlfriend, Gowri, on his last birthday. Then he opened the drawer of his table and removed the suicide note he had written the previous day. He tore it into pieces, crushed them into a big paper ball, and threw it in an empty cardboard carton that served as his dustbin. Then he grabbed the rupees he kept in there, and went back to the railway station to catch the train to CST. He hastened to visit one of the least frequented buildings of Mumbai.

The Asiatic Library. Shahid Bhagat Singh Road, Fort. The steps to the entrance to the library stretched up long and high so that the library building appeared as if it was standing on a mount of stairs. Though he was there for the first time in his life, it was very familiar to him as he had seen it many times in the movies. Many of the Hindi movies cast these steps as the steps leading to courts or some other important government institutions. On the stairs, he found some sailors sitting and phoning their loved ones, as they might just have returned from the open sea after a long and lonely voyage. There were other couples sitting, caressing each other and living in their own world, bunking their classes from college. It was Mumbai. No one cared what you did or how you did it. Everyone was too consumed by their search of their own treasure, as they had come from a different part of India to the magical vibrant city on the western coast of the subcontinent, the gateway to India, from the Arabian Sea.

He climbed the steps and entered into the library and found people scattered all around, silently reading and referring to books. He took a seat and searched through the generous books at the referral section. He was looking for a noticeable invention that had influenced the human race substantially. Ultimately, he wanted to find the person who was responsible for the great change in the human history or the greatest influencer to the mankind through his discovery or invention.

I want to know what his secret of success was.

He flicked through pages in silence. Initially, he waded through the books of great inventions. He considered many inventions and discoveries, that he jotted down on a notepad as he shortlisted. As far as the world is concerned, the invention of fire is counted as the single most important discovery, but that was not invented by single person, it was discovered perhaps by accident by the nomadic people, and it would have taken generations to contain the fire for the domestic use that we rely on today. And the invention of the wheel, probably the most important mechanical invention of all time, has changed the world in many ways, as nearly every machine is run by the wheel, from a tiny watch gear to computer discs. But again it was also invented by many people and would have involved many generations, and tracing down one person for the invention is not possible.

Vel's search for the perfect man with the success recipe shifted from one category to another. Farming procedures had an incredible impact. They were responsible for changing the life style of man from nomadic to settled communities. Here again, he had difficulty pinning down one man who he could ask for the secret of success.

Bronze Age weapons, Ayurveda- the natural healing science which was dated back to Rig-Veda, Yin and Yang in China, Greek medicines... The list went on. Phoenician alphabet systems which had changed the way of writing and coding systems were developed by the Sumerians and Egyptians. The invention of tapering monuments to record time, by analyzing their shadows.

In his ecstatic mind, the inventions and ideas that had changed the world danced before him, and sometimes he felt like the inventors pleaded with him to consider them as the influential people in the human history.

These all obviously had great influence in the history of mankind, but since no one man be dedicated to these inventions and discoveries I cannot consider them. I need a single man. A great man to meet. To get the secret of success.

Now, he shifted his wandering into the greatest discoveries and inventions where he would be able focus on one person. There were innumerable books of famous personalities who lived in this world; he skimmed through all of them quickly. He found many interesting facts and inventions in that short period of time and continued to scribbling them down in his notepad.

Around six hundred years ago, Gutenberg invented the printing technology and that really influenced the human generations. It was immensely helpful in spreading knowledge and education like never before. Earlier, the books were not like the books that they had in the present. Gutenberg is a nice try, Vel thought, but before selecting him, he had many others flashing in his mind. Copernicus, a polish astronomer and the founder of modern astronomy, who had shattered the age old theory of all the heavenly bodies revolving around the earth. He first proposed the idea that the solar system was heliocentric and not geocentric, that is, that the sun was at the center and earth and other planets were orbiting it. In another book he found information on James Watt. He was the man who had first perfected the steam engine and made train travel much quicker, also making the transport of raw materials easier as well, which finally led to the industrial revolution. There was a picture of Henry Ford, who brought about the automobile revolution. He also found a strange fact about a man was put on house arrest by the church for his discoveries in astronomy. That man was Galileo, a man of courage.

From all the scribbling in his notepad, Vel was zeroing in on a few men. He had added many names and also ruled out many names. His circle of great men was getting smaller and smaller. And still, he was searching for the one man of greatness from whom he could obtain the secret for success.

At times he considered whether he had gone mad, or become psychotic.

The stress of life and urge to die at such a young age might have brought me to madness, yet something from the core of my heart tells me to go ahead and find the right man by evening, and go to the same place where I had that dream or hallucination. Whatever it was, today I will try. Either I will have the same dream, or this will be the last day of my life.

He continued to analyze the efforts of the great people that came to his mind. Michael Faraday, who proved that magnetism could produce electricity, just as electricity could produce magnetism. His findings in electricity paved the way to many further inventions in that field that made modern life simpler. The life of human beings, from the mud hut to big buildings, had been changed by electricity. He also considered other discoveries, to find the greatest person, so that he could find the elixir of victory, or the success recipe. Just one night, and lo, he would be the most successful man in the world. The secret mantra. He would join the list of the greatest men to ever live. Yes I will. He was very much excited about it. In his notebook, Benjamin Franklin topped the list with many inventions and multifaceted activities. He presented the idea of positive and negative charges of electricity. Thomas Jefferson was next, the third president of USA who doubled the size of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase from France, invented help desk, a decoding device, and also developed the decimal system of coinage that is the basis of American money – dollars and cents. After that was Karl Marx, a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and popularly regarded as the father of Marxism, which had influenced communist movements all over the world. The great Abraham Lincoln, who created the Emancipation Proclamation which freed over three million slaves in America. Charles Darwin changed the way people thought about life on earth. The invention of the radio by Marconi had proved to be a historical and social landmark. There were the Wright brothers who finally made man's dream of flight come true. Rudolf Diesel made the first diesel engine that was ignited without spark. Though accidentally, X-rays were discovered by Roentgen which was a great leap in medical science. Einstein, the great scientist known to everybody for his E=MC2 equation. Dr. Edward Jenner discovered the modern form of vaccination and that eradicated the most deadly diseases from the face of globe. Alexander Fleming, the man who discovered the penicillin that helped physicians to treat several diseases. The world had become smaller by the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell. The father of computing, Charles Babbage, designed the first automatic computer. India won their independence by the non-violence campaigns of the father of nation, Mahatma Gandhi.

The list went on.

Unable to find the perfect man to visit, frustrated and impatient, Vel sat on the chair, throwing his head back. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the darkness between his eyes, at the center of his forehead. In a few seconds, he found himself calming down. Then, as he opened his eyes, he saw a book on the top end of the upper shelf with words written on the spine of the book. It read, 'The Most Influential Scientist of All Time.' That switched on a light in his brain and he could not wait another second. He got up, removed the book from the shelf, and saw the name printed on the cover page, 'Isaac Newton'. Impatient, he quickly flipped open the pages and began to read.

He came to learn that Newton was instrumental in the scientific revolution, and he was credited for many inventions and discoveries such as the theory of gravity, and also his famous three laws of forces. He read in the book that Newton was a theologian, scientist, and philosopher.

Can a man be so multifaceted to look after these many dimensions of study and still be successful?

His search for the perfect man had finally come to an end. Isaac Newton was the man he'd been looking for.

Vel looked at the watch. It was four forty-six PM. He did not know how so much time had gone by. As his search was completed, he felt something which had been absent until then: hunger. He remembered that he had not eaten anything that day.

As he was walking through the aisles of the library, something in the newspaper section caught his eye. He read it the headline on the front page.

'Real Estate Baron Killed, Police in Search of Culprit.'

Remembering the police man who had questioned him the previous night, he quickly read through the news article about the man who had been killed.

Vel moved out of the library. Standing atop the steps, he looked at the tall, curved building sitting in front of him amidst the little concrete jungle. It was the Bombay Stock Exchange, the building where the fates of many people were decided every day. His uncle, an army veteran, had once told him that the business of India was performed in that building. Vel sighed, descended steps, and turned left, walking down the road towards Colaba Causeway. He crossed the big gates of the dockyard, and reached the famous Regal Theatre. He stood there in front of it and saw that a big English movie poster was erected before the hall. People were gushing out as one of the movies was ended and there were other people queuing up to buy tickets for the next show. All of them seemed very happy.

Fortunate people. God, why did not you make me like one among them? Alright, I will get the secret to be like them.

He walked ahead. He saw a lot of girls and boys standing before a bar. Some had already lost their control, and some people were about to enter, ready to lose their senses and enjoy the evening and acting as if the drinks supplied by the bar were the Elixir of Life. And then, adjacent to the bar, Vel found a small shop selling 'vada pav,' a bread with fried potato and other local ingredients. He bought one and ate it voraciously, then ordered one cup of tea for himself. That quenched his hunger and thirst, at least for the time being.

Vel witnessed the magnificence of South Mumbai, which was rare in his part of the city. For every ten people he saw, he found at least three foreigners, and there were little children following them, hoping that they would get a ten rupee note, rather than the coins from the locals. A girl was standing loosely in the arms of a man, and they were sharing a cigarette, at a half-conscious level. The smoke that blew out through her pink lips was like the exhaust from the diesel train, especially from the train of Nilgiri hills, which he saw in one of the Sharukh Khan's movies.

The sun had not yet set. He stood there undecidedly, wondering what to do in the meantime. Then, as if led by an inner force, he took a left turn and reached the Arabian Sea wall, crossing the great Taj hotel which was attacked by the terrorists, a heritage building and Indian landmark which his father mentioned often in his dialogues. He looked in wonder at the posh cars parked in front of the hotel, and the guards dressed like old warriors were saluting the people at the entrance. A police van fitted with high tech accessories was patrolling, and the police men were equipped with weapons that he had only seen in the movies. Everyone seemed to be very engaged, and moving.

He sat on the wall. The thoughts repeated again.

It was one of the fiery fighting nights.

As Vel entered into the little house, his father began to shout.

'The king is entering, serve him well, or else he may order to kill you,' he said mockingly to his wife.

Without looking at his father, Vel unbuttoned and removed his shirt and hung it on the nail that was protruding from a wooden beam.

'I have made a mistake. I should have kept that little angel with me, and killed this useless one long ago.'

The words came out of his father's mouth accidently, but it was as if thunder had struck. Vel turned back to his father. Shocked.

Realizing the blunder that had come out of his mouth, Vel's father began to mumble something.

'Err...Revathi, have you made the flour ready for dosa for tomorrow?' he asked, trying to divert the matter.

Vel stood, still as a rock, and then when he snapped out of his shocked state, and made out what his father might have done years ago, he went to his mother.

'Tell me, Amma, what happened? What did you do? Am I not the only one for you, have you killed my sister?' a stream of questions came from Vel.

There was only a silence. His mother was looking down, not able to meet her son's eyes.

'Amma... you betrayed me!' Shouting, Vel shook his mother and raised her head. She made a vain attempt to look away from him. But Vel kept her face tight. Their eyes met. He saw tears streaming profusely from her wide black eyes as they washed away the black mascara, leaving long black streaks on her face.

'Yes, my son, he killed your sister!' Then again, unable to hide her grief, she sobbed.

Vel froze. He could not digest what his parents could have done to his elder sister. He had heard it many times before in the newspapers that in many parts in India, especially in the rural areas, parents killed their female children soon after they were born. But he had never thought that it could have happened in his own home, and his father could be so cruel. Killing a newborn baby before she even opened her eyes to see the world! What had she done to you, you bloody monster? Vel's blood was boiling in anger and desperation.

'Yes, that was my mistake. Before you there was a female child, and she did not simply die, I killed her. Who would want a girl child when we were striving hard to find a meal for ourselves? That's why I poured the poison between those little lips. But, I was happy to see you in this same bed.' He pointed onto the rag bed that lay in front of him. 'But now it is clear that my decision was wrong, I should have given poison to you!'

The world stood still. Words did harm more than anything else.

Vel took his shirt back, covering his face with it to hide the sorrow and the tears that were pooling at the corners of his eyes. He felt his legs were weakening, that they could not hold his weight. He suddenly knelt down, and sobbed.

'God, how cruel these people are!'

As he shed his tears, he was comforted for a moment, as if they washed down his sorrow. He turned to his father.

'The brutal killer? You kept me alive for your own benefit, not because you loved me, not because of your responsibility, not because you were the reason for my birth.' Then he turned his shirt, put it back on, and left the house. He spent that night at one of his friend's houses. And the next morning he returned only to write his last words and to make his room neat and tidy.

The sun had set and the bright lights illuminated the streets of Mumbai. There was a marriage taking place on the raised platform that extended into the sea. Crackers and rockets shot high into the sky to show the world that they were celebrating. Must be a big shot marriage. And as the darkness grew, he checked the time. It was seven fifty-three. Time passed very quickly, as if it had been condensed. He stood up, raised his arms wide, and took a long breath, filling his lungs with fresh air from the sea. He then made his way to Chowpatty Beach on the other side of the land strip.

Vel walked slowly. But it was a long walk. By the time he reached the beach, people were starting to move out of the area. A particular calmness prevailed over the stretch of sandy beach, though the sea was boisterous with waves. He searched for the place where he had had the dream.

Today I will come to know whether it was true or false. He sat on the beach and slipped into sleep within minutes.

'Vel?'

The light. It happened again. So it was true.

'Decided?'

'Yes, dear messenger. In that case, if you are not a dream, and if what I see is real, then I want to meet Isaac Newton.'

'Do not doubt me. So you want to go almost three hundred years back in time.'

'Yes.'

'Deal?'

'Yes, deal.' Vel said firmly.

'Ok, granted. You can travel back in time and meet Newton. You will be returned to this present life at the first rays of the sun and your meeting will be over before that.'

## Chapter 6

The light illuminated on the watch dial as Vel checked it. It was just past twelve in the morning. The weather was rather chilly in England. I should have taken the jacket. In light of this unusual journey, he'd failed to account for the difference in weather. He was in a big hall of a sumptuous apartment. At the end was a large table, facing the window. The table was covered with scattered books, and in the middle, in a comparatively empty space, there was an open book. A middle aged man had his head burrowed in it. From behind, only his large, wavy hair flowing onto his shoulders could be seen.

On the opposite wall, which was adorned with drawings and pinned notes, was a big shadow of that great man, Isaac Newton, flickering according to the dance of the candle flame before him.

There was no movement. Vel stood there silently. He did not want to disturb Newton, as he might be deeply immersed in the thoughts of any number of new inventions. After a short while Vel checked the time. Eight minutes had passed, but it did not seem that Newton found any interest in the world outside of his books. Vel humbly cleared his throat.

Newton raised his head to find the origin of the sound.

'Who are you?' asked Newton in shock, seeing the youth in his unusual attire at that unusual time.

'My name is Vel.'

Newton looked astonished and moved his head up and down as if he were scanning him with his eyes.

'What is this dress? You look as strange as a circus clown!'

'I am not a clown, and my dress is not unusual. This is the latest fashion,' said Vel, lifting his low waisted pants up.

'Your hips are unable to hold up your pants. There are two ways you can correct it. Either you give the pants to a tailor and make it fit, or develop your back and hips to hold your pants,' said Newton. 'Anyway, what are you doing, and how did you enter into my room?'

'Sir, I am from 2009, a time which is approximately three hundred years ahead of the present time in which you are living.'

Newton shifted his chair, and stood up. Vel could only guess what he was thinking. 'This poor boy may have thought too much about astronomy. He has lost his sanity, it is not uncommon with serious thinkers. It is not a problem, this youth will be fine. I too faced insanity some days ago. It is not so much that people go insane – they are merely unable to comprehend the level of knowledge which they seek.

'Alright, then. What exactly do you mean?' Newton asked, looking at Vel inquiringly.

'You are the most influential scientist in the history of man,' Vel said, smiling at Newton, 'and your laws of motion led to many discoveries, from automobile to airplane.'

Newton raised his eyebrows.

'What is an auto-maabil... and the other one you said?' Newton asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

'Automobile, but of course you haven't seen one. They are cars- vehicles, to put it simply. Wagons and carts powered by motor engines that run on petroleum oil,' said Vel. Then, he lifted his left hand, made it like an aircraft, and waved it in the air to mime flight, 'Aircraft are vehicles that fly in the air. Flying machines, that fly with the help of your third law of motion, that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.'

Newton looked at the boy, puzzled.

'And your interest in theology and alchemy are also very fabulous, you are really a genius and multi-talented.'

Newton still looked confused. He leaned against his table as if he was taking time to recover. 'Sorry, I don't understand. It's impossible.'

'Not in my time. I am from the year 2009, I have travelled back to your time, by a strange twist of fate.'

'2009?!'

'Yes, almost three hundred years ahead of your time.'

Newton looked at Vel, perplexed. 'What you said was right, I have been working on alchemy. And I have not even published my studies on the laws of motion, but you say that your people have used them to build extraordinary machines. This is unbelievable.'

'It's possible if you believe in God,' said Vel. He took a couple of steps toward Newton and checked the papers and diagrams on the desk of many circles which he understood to be the earth and other planets. 'What are you working on? On the great forces of gravity?'

'What? How do you know about it? I have just discovered it!'

'I know about it, you had a revelation about gravity by means of an apple falling on your head.'

'Impossible!' shouted Newton.

'What? An apple falling on your head?'

'No, I am not talking about the falling of an apple. It only just happened this morning and when it fell there was no one with me, and I was just thinking about it and working on some ideas. How can you possibly know about it?'

'Simple. You discover the force of gravity between the planets and masses and publish it, and we study it in our elementary schools in the future. Now do you believe I am from 2009?'

Now, a change of thoughts was occurring in Newton's mind. He couldn't understand how this boy had come to know so much about his private projects.

'Whatever it is, what you said is right. I am working on the forces of gravity. It's really very interesting. This universe is tied one to one with the force of gravity. There is an invisible pillar between all the masses and planets. Everything attracts everything. The law of attraction. The universe is in existence because of that power. Great God, it's incredible.'

'Yes. That same God allowed me to travel through time. You know, you are one of the foremost scientific intellectuals of all time. You are the most revered scientist in our era. The most influential scientist till my time. You are a great personality. Your work in many fields is still helpful in building many things in our day, from trains to rockets, from bridges to great ships. Our life is beautified by you. You are a great man. Thank you, it is because of this I have come to see you.'

Controlling his emotions, Newton's gaze traveled to the illuminated dial of Vel's watch. 'And what is that ribbon around your wrist, which is shining?'

'Oh, this is an electronic watch. This shows the accurate time. It is now twelve thirty-six. Look at this.' He moved his hand towards Newton, and showed him the dial. 'See, this is the hour, and then the minutes, and then the seconds, and in the upper corner it is the month and the date and the day. Saturday, the 10th.'

Startled, Newton looked at the watch, 'You mean, you get an accurate time that quickly?'

'Exactly, we can even measure the micro seconds, if needed. It is a common gadget, in my time you will find this on every other kid's wrist.'

'That's fantastic. Unbelievable. When you say 'in your time,' you mean the twenty-first century?'

'Yes, we are at the start of the twenty first century. I came to you by the grace of God and I will be regressed to my actual life by the end of this night.'

'Like a boomerang!' Newton laughed, still confused and amazed at the boy who was standing erect in front of him. 'After reaching the point of inclination at the end of the force, the boomerang has to return to the man who threw it, no?'

'I've heard about it, but don't know how it works,' said Vel. 'You know, my high school calculus lessons cracked my brain and you are to blame, dear Mr. Newton." Vel then pointed to the stool in the corner and asked, 'Can I take a seat? I am tired.'

'Please, take a seat,' Newton said graciously.

'Today- Sorry, in my day, we have even charted the course from earth to the moon by using your calculus, what you called the 'science of fluxions.''

'God! You did it?' wondered Newton.

'Yes! And we also know of your fight with Gottfried Leibniz, who independently developed calculus around the same time.'

'This guy is talking sense!' Newton muttered.

'We knew you are very good at theology too. I read your prophecy with your famous words, "Move along, folks, nothing to see here." Your projected date for the end of the world would be the year 2060 – possibly later, but absolutely no sooner and you are right till this day, in my time.'

'I am happy that the world did not end till 2009. This I guessed from the ancient scripts. By the by, it's a compliment that you have chosen me. But why? What is the purpose of your coming here?'

'My life is dragging. Newton, I am a failure. My father scolds me all the time. He was good when I was a child but things are getting worse and worse.' Vel briefly explained how he had ended up there.

'You want to say that that the attraction between a father and a child is always inversely proportional to the age of the child?' Newton laughed.

Vel too laughed at the Newtonian humor and said, 'Sir, what should I do to win in life, to become famous, healthy and wealthy?'

'Come.' Then Newton led Vel to another room where a coal fire was steadily burning. He sat near the fireplace, showed his palms to the fire, and bringing them to his cheeks, he said, 'There was child. Three months before his coming into this world, his father died. And as the child was born prematurely, doctors remarked that he would not live for long. But the child survived. His mother married another man, and the child was sent to his grandparents. So he lost his mother too. But as the child grew up, he did not quit or lament his poor circumstances, instead he aspired to be a successful person. And he prospered.'

'Who is that?'

'That is I, Isaac Newton, the man who is sitting in front of you,' said Newton with a smile. 'Your coming to me is proof of my success.'

'I apologize, I knew very little about your personal life. I actually did not read about your life as a child.'

'Never mind,' said Newton, 'the secret is hidden within you. The raw material which makes you who you are is the same raw material that I found in myself. There is no extraterrestrial thing which came to me and that helped me with my many discoveries. I simply tried and overcame all difficulties,'

Newton put a log into the fire, and then asked, 'what could be the most important attribute that has shaped my life? Any guesses?'

'Hard work?'

'Nothing is achieved without hard work. That is common. Work is the input that you have to deposit to receive the output you desire. That's what I have said it my third law of motion. Every action delivers a result. Work is the action but what are the ingredients? Just working is not enough. It is the elements that take part in the reaction that matter most, because the result is dependent upon the ingredients you add into the cauldron.'

Now, Newton rose from his chair and came near to Vel and rested his right hand on his shoulder.

'Dear Vel, I am very much fascinated by the world you are living in. But I am very sorry for your desperate conditions. I have learnt from the old scriptures and my studies of history, where it is clearly written that the most important attribute a man should have is...' Newton stopped for a moment, took a long breath.

Vel looked straightly up, curiously his eyes were locked up with Newton's eyes, to draw the pearl of wisdom from the ocean of knowledge.

'Courage.' Newton continued, 'it is courage that keeps me standing up though life beats me down. It is courage that brought me here, into this successful world, though I was raised like an orphan. It is courage that lets you overcome a barrier made of difficulties, and that makes you strong enough to face even bigger obstacles in the future. That's the measure of success. Like a caterpillar, you must fight against the obstacles to come out and fly with colors in the world.'

Vel was all ears.

Newton carried on, 'I had no solid education until the time I was in my teens, later I learnt it. I had the courage to come out of the darkness of the illiteracy and think of the future, think of the world.'

'Comparing my problems, yours is nothing, I suppose. You can do better in your world. I don't know how close it is, but most surely, the problems are the same, more or less. They are universal. Wherever you have courage you can overcome the problem. That is the most important quality, which made me what I am now.'

'Courage? Courage made you a scientist, a successful man?'

'Yes. Do you think courage is only required for the soldiers, generals, and kings? They need courage to fight the enemy. And everyman is required to fight with himself, his inner self. The negativity that surrounds him. Fight against every negative thought. It takes a lot of courage. Courage made me grow up, though I was practically an orphan. Courage is the most important attribute to a man who wants to succeed in his life, whatever his field may be.'

'Courage was what made Jesus Christ ready to lose his life for his people. Courage is what makes a child takes another step though he falls again and again. Because of courage, Lord Buddha left his home and gave up everything, including his family and kingdom, in his search for atonement to save mankind. Courage is not just valor for fighting with each other, it is the quality that tells you to smile even though failure circles you, and whispers in your ear to take another step forward, because you are near your goal. The man in the woods took the first step to settle on the banks of river and make his colony, due to the courage he had, that he could lead his own civilization. In sports, it is the courage that makes the athlete perform better than his opponent at the crucial time. It is the psychology, which is more important than the physical strength. And in business, courage urges the man to make harder and riskier decisions which bring more prosperity.'

Vel stood silently, listening to the words of Newton.

'Courage is the most important quality. Other than courage I can tell some more about the law of success. You must have learnt about the three laws of mine.'

'Yes, I have. Newton's laws. Your first law says "An object will remain at rest or moving in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force."'

'Yes. That is nothing but motivation. You need to be motivated to achieve anything. However, in the case of human psychology, it can be either external or internal. You must be motivated, either by yourself or by someone else. Your dream, your wish, your friend - anything or anyone can motivate you.'

Vel nodded his head, understanding the philosophical meaning in the law he had learnt in primary school.

'I derived the second law as, "When force is applied to an object, it will accelerate," right?' Newton said.

'Yes. I remember.'

'When you have motivation and determination to do something, you will work. Work is the force. When you work towards your dream, you will accelerate, or in other words, your dream will come nearer to you.'

'And your third law, every child knows that,' said Vel.

'Yes. "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." That means that your success is directly proportional, again, to your hard work. The success will be equal to your efforts.'

'It seems simple.'

'It is always simple. We only make it complicated.'

As Newton said this, Vel looked at his watch.

'Are you out of time?' asked Newton.

'Yes, I am nearing the deadline.' Vel wondered how the time had gone so quickly.

'Why don't you go and meet someone greater than me? A great philosopher and a wise king.'

'Who is that?'

'King Solomon, the wise king. I am very much fascinated by his life. If you have the opportunity to travel to the past, why can't you go and meet him?

'But I don't know whether I would be able to meet him.'

'You said just now that if you believe in God, everything is possible. If you can come to me, why can't you go to King Solomon?' asked Newton.

Vel looked at his watch, again. 'Dear Newton, as of now, I must return, do you have any last words to say?' Vel asked, feeling rushed.

'Courage. That is the mother of all attitudes. Be courageous and you will be successful.'

##  Chapter 7

A sudden breeze from the sea woke Vel up. Though there were still a few minutes left until night's end, he could see gray light starting to spread across the sky. Where am I? Bewildered, he looked around. The shops, which had been bustling with people the previous evening, were all closed. A few cars zoomed along the Marine Drive, their solitary headlights brightening the road in front of them. The drivers were probably men rushing to get home after a late night at the bar. Vel raised himself up and glanced around in disbelief. 'Where is Newton? Am I back to the present day Mumbai?' He was confused, but also strangely happy.

He could not think of going back home. As he looked up at the sky, the face of Newton appeared clearly in his mind as well as the dialogues he had with him. It all appeared as easily as if he had just run into the great scientist during his stroll down the beach.

Courage. That is the mother of all attitudes. Be courageous and you will be successful. The words echoed in his mind. Yet he was not sure if what he had experienced just now was real, a hallucination, or a dream. He sat there, staring at the sky.

Suddenly his feeble mind started thinking of his lost sister, and the brotherly affection he felt towards her made him cry. He sat on the raised wall which divided the beach and the road, and then, burying his face on his palms, he cried and cried. After his tears had dried and he had regained his energy, he thought he would walk ahead to his house. Courage. I have the courage to face it. I am not the only one. I am just one among the myriad of struggling people. He made his way towards the road. He walked sluggishly and wandered aimlessly, unable to believe what had occurred to him in the last two nights; he wondered whether he had gone mad.

Vel reached his home by eight o'clock in the morning. The door was locked from the front. It did not matter to him, he had been living there since his childhood, and he knew how to get in without the key. He had done it many times. He went to the rear door and craftily put his finger into the opening under the wooden bar, that joined and locked the two half-doors, and slid it slowly. Within seconds, the wooden bar moved to one side and he opened the door. After entering the house, he took a bucket of water, had a shower, and found some idly \- a bread of rice baked in steam - in the kitchen. He ate it with the remnants of coconut chutney his mother had prepared for the shop. Then he went to his room to take a quick nap.

As Vel entered his room, he heard his cheap china-made mobile vibrating in the table drawer. He opened the drawer quickly and grabbed the phone. The display read, 'Gowri'. Dejectedly, he turned away without attending to the call. After the phone finally stopped buzzing, he looked at the shining display and saw that he had thirty-one missed calls. He sighed slowly and put the phone back on the table. The phone gave a small beep every few minutes, reminding him about the low battery. He searched for the charger, and cursed himself for not able to find it. He had put it somewhere the previous day as he was securing all his things before the suicide as he had been sure that he would not be returning home again. With much effort he unpacked a cardboard box, where he struggled to recover the charger and then plug the mobile in to charge. He had just set the mobile down on the table and was turning to face his bed, when the phone rang again. He waited, looking at the screen. When it seemed as if there was no option, he reluctantly took the phone.

'Hello,' he said hesitantly.

'Oh God, at last you've picked up. Vel, where are you? Happy to know that you are alive. I waited for you in the garden, till seven in the evening. Do you know how awkward it is for a girl to wait for a boy alone in a garden? Why didn't you turn up? And why didn't you have the basic courtesy to pick up the phone and reply to me?' a female voice demanded, sounding equally relieved and annoyed.

'I... I... I'm not well.' He remembered their weekly meeting at the park on every Sunday.

Unable to contain her anger and her love for him, she exploded, 'Don't lie to me! I came to your home in the morning. Your poor parents weren't aware of your whereabouts either. Where were you, and why are you trying to get away from us?!'

An air of melancholy hung over the atmosphere; he shook his head, and kept quiet.

'Vel, speak up! What happened to you?' the girl asked, trying desperately to get an answer out of him.

'I don't want see anyone, please just get out from my life!' Vel barked. Then he cut off the phone call and threw the mobile onto the bed. He leaned against the bed frame, bending forward, and took long breaths.

Then he lied down, and as he buried his head on the pillow, the vibration from the phone reached him. He did not attend to the call. Soon, the phone vibrated again. Lying there, without taking his head from the pillow he rummaged around to grab the phone. His fingertips made contact with the phone and he picked it up, pressed the answer button, held it near to his left ear, and said nothing.

'Vel, I love you,' said the voice on the other end.

Silence.

'You can run away from me, but I still love you. For the last four years, you have been in my heart, and you will be in my future too,' a weeping female voice spoke up.

Vel didn't respond.

'I know there is something wrong with you, come to me. Speak up, tell me what is going on.'

'Please, forget me,' said Vel, shedding tears uncontrollably onto the pillow.

'Impossible. How can you say that?' Her voice broke as she began crying on the other end. 'I want to see you immediately, my days are not moving without being with you. Joggers Park, this evening at five. I will wait for you.'

'No!' Vel shouted, 'Don't come. I will not come for you.'

'I will wait for you,' she said. He could feel her determination mixed with the feeling of desperation. 'I will come. I will wait for you until seven.' Then the call was disconnected.

Vel tossed the phone aside and kept his face buried on the pillow. He did not care as the phone died soon after that.

Evening. Gowri looked at her watch. It was ten past five. Every minute went in anticipation. She knew that he would come. Four years of love since high school could not be easily thrown away in a single day. She was really worried about Vel's condition. She wanted to help. But Vel never revealed how he was really feeling to her.

Her heart swelled as she saw the skinny boy in his favorite blue jeans and white T-shirt, walking as if his legs were unable to take his weight. He had turned up for her. He walked towards her, near the culvert bridge where they had sat together for the past four years. His eyes were expressionless and seemed yellowish, dry and weary. His hair was wavy and unkempt.

'I knew you would come,' she said as she took a Cadbury's chocolate from her purse and handed it over to him.

He took it, sat next to her, and removed the wrapping, chewing the chocolate expressionlessly, like a robot. He didn't even seem to notice the wrapper or the tasty bar that he was eating. It was his favorite chocolate that she always bought for him.

Seeing him in such a state, she frowned, 'Vel, what happened to you?'

Vel stopped eating the chocolate and looked at her. He felt that her pensive eyes penetrated into his soul. Turning his gaze to the open grass, he said, 'Nothing.'

'Why are you behaving strangely?'

'Have you called me here for an interrogation?' Vel opened his mouth, although he did not want it.

'No, baby!' she replied, there was concern for him in her voice. 'I just want you safe and sound,' she kept her hand on his lap.

He pushed her hand away, like brushing off something unwanted.

'Do you have anything important to say other than this?' he asked, looking at the horizon, where the sun was like a burning yellow circle, far too bright for the naked eye to linger on. A cloud made a streak before it. Birds in the distance looked like dark spots on a reddish-yellow background. Perfect scenery for any artist. But the two souls in the park were not in a mood to enjoy it.

'No, nothing. You mean a lot to me, and nothing else.'

'Then leave me alone, I have many important things to do.' Vel's mouth snapped shut, and he stood up then swiftly walked ahead to get out of the garden.

She looked at him desperately. It took her a moment to realize what he was doing, and then suddenly she shouted, 'Vel!'

He stopped for a moment.

'Vel, I was selected for a job in a travel agency. I wanted to share the news with you. I tried to contact you many times, but I couldn't reach you.'

'Good. That's it. I'm leaving.'

Gowri was shocked by Vel's behavior. What happened to him, why is he so distant?

'Ok,' she went near him, 'Since I keep getting disturbed by customers well after working hours, I have taken a new phone number for my friends and family. Therefore, as soon as I step out of the office I switch over to the personal number. This is it.' She searched for a piece of paper from her bag and handed over it to him.

Vel received that paper, glanced at it for a moment and returned it to her. 'Keep it with you. I don't need this.' Then he walked away.

She stood there in disbelief. Her eyes welled up and tears washed away her mascara, leaving black streaks on her cheeks.

'Vel...' She tried to call him, but the sound did not come out.

As he walked back from the garden, his eyes misted over. It is very hard my dear, to behave like this, but I am insane and may die soon. So you should not worry for me. Sorry for my harsh words. I love you always. He looked down, and swiftly took out his handkerchief and mopped up the tears before they fell.

Vel walked back to his house to retrieve his jacket before returning to the beach for a second journey through time. When he was ready to leave, two police men stopped at his front door and knocked.

Vel's mother came out. She went pale as she saw the men in uniform. 'Does Vel live here?'

'Yes sir, he is my son,' she said in a low tone, avoiding the sharpened fishy looks from the neighbors. 'Is there a problem, sir?'

'Send him with us to the police station.'

'What happened with my boy?' she asked, horrified by their request. She was starting to shiver. 'May I ask why you want him, sir?'

'We believe he was involved in the murder of the builder.'

Vel's mother fainted.

##  Chapter 8

As the flash of light disappeared into oblivion, Vel slowly opened his eyes to see the world of King Solomon. Dim light from the oil lamps reflected on the glossy walls, adorned with beautiful handiworks. The wonders of the ancient world shone majestically in front of him. The walls were marvelously carved, and he turned round and round to see and absorb the beauty. It was an opportunity that no one in his time had and he wanted to make the most of it. The distance between him and the walls indicated that he was in the center of the hall. As he marveled at the room around him, a question arose in his mind, the purpose of his coming there.

Where is the great Solomon?

Suddenly the middle of the wall that he was admiring broke open and the king in all of his glory stepped into the room. A warm and contagious smile spread across his face. He spread his arms wide in greeting.

'Welcome to my abode, dear Vel. I know you would come.'

'How so, great king Solomon? Newton was unaware of it.' Vel said, unable to quell his curiosity.

'I am a prophet, Newton a scientist. I have been gifted with divine powers which Newton shall never have. Newton will, however, be victorious due to his sheer hard work and persistence. I, on the other hand, am a prophet. God tells me directly what I should do, and for that God has favored me with some unnatural abilities too. God has given me plenty of wealth, a large kingdom, and prophecy.' Solomon stepped ahead and put his hands on Vel's shoulders. Vel felt an immense divinity radiating from the man who stood before him.

''So you want the mantra for success?'

'Yes, that's correct. But the word mantra is Indian, how do you know about it?'

'I must talk according to your time and knowledge, no?' Solomon chuckled.

My brain is too small to comprehend the universe and the way it runs, pondered Vel.

'Yes. It is difficult for us to comprehend the whole universe.' He explained as if he had heard what Vel had just thought, 'and as we advance in our knowledge of the universe, we become more inclined to accept and trust unwaveringly in God's ability and creativity.'

'Great. You read my mind!' Vel smiled. 'Luckily, not everyone can do it, or else no one would be able to cross his fellow human being, unless the other one was sleeping. We are such nigglers that we judge everyone and everything.'

'You mean, you cannot walk in front of a beautiful girl who is wearing provocative or revealing clothes, nor can you listen to the advice of your parents or teachers?'

'You read that too.' Vel felt uncomfortable.

'Very well, let's leave it at that. You have come from far away, and far ahead of our time.' Solomon invited Vel to another great hall. The dancing light from the wall lamps shimmered on the floor as if the very ground was made of rippling water. Vel thought of a swimming pool and he stopped at the edge of the water. To his surprise, King Solomon was walking ahead, and he was not drowning in the water. He stopped and turned around.

'Why, Vel, why have you stopped? Come, come with me.'

'This water... I don't want my clothes to get wet.'

'Who said this was water?' Solomon laughed. 'The floor is laid with glass. So it appears to you as if it is a pool of water. This is my architects' creativity,' he said, spreading his arms wide.

Amazed, Vel slowly took a few steps ahead and confirmed the floor was simply glass panels laid like water. The arrangement and manipulation of the light was so impeccably artistic that it was enough to fool the eyes of the beholder. Absolutely fantastic! We, the twenty-first century dwellers are mere children in comparison to your engineering skills!

Crossing the large hall, they reached the balcony. From there Vel understood that he was standing on a high rise building, which was built on a hill. The balcony was as large as a football field, and was adorned with beautiful indoor flowers and cages of birds. And as he entered, one of the birds chirped, and the sound of the twittering echoed in the silence of the night. Solomon waved his hands and made a sound as if he was replying to the bird.

'The bird was welcoming us. I said thank you,' he explained.

'I have read that you can understand the language of birds and animals.'

'Yes. That is a favor from God.'

As they talked, Vel reached the other end of the balcony. From there he saw the beautiful and vast city of Jerusalem as it shone in the moonlight.

'Beautiful!' Vel was dumbfounded as he looked at the densely populated city, the line of windswept hills on the plains and beautiful homes that seemed to be carved out of the hills themselves. 'Your era is renowned for the artistic skills and architectural prowess that your people possess.'

Solomon extended his hands into the air, pointing at the lofty buildings. 'I am obliged to take you for a trip around my country.'

'Country?' Vel replied quickly, ascertaining the natural lay of the land and habitat in the moonlight. 'I have only this night to be with you, King Solomon. I will be returned to my actual life at the first hint of sunrise.'

'Did I say you would stay with me forever? No, son, you will go back safely to your world, at the end of the given time. I too am helpless in that matter. Time is governed by God. All we can do is flow along with it'

'Then how can we go for a visit around the country in one night?'

'You are from a time period where rockets go around the world in hours, are you not?'

'Please, no joking, you definitely could not have the hi-tech rockets we have in our time!' said Vel. He regretted the words as soon as he uttered them, as he had been convinced, by the divine power that he had experienced over the past few days, that anything could happen.

'Do not regret. The doubt is humane. An aircraft is lifted up by the air underneath it, the pressure variation due to the profile of the aircraft body. There air is controlled. Likewise, here, by the grace of God, I too can control the air. Come, I will l take you to my country.'

Solomon led Vel to the edge of the balcony where raised his hands and prayed quietly for a moment. The moon was shining, and city was beautiful in the milky light. How glorious it is! Vel thought. He was sure that in 2009, although they had made incredible advances in technology and science, the peace that prevailed in Solomon's kingdom was absent. The city was sleeping. There were guards roaming in the night. There were no dogs barking or car horns honking. The houses were laid beautifully and precisely measured, like the little boxes in the Chinese games he had has seen on the causeway in front of the Victoria Terminus Railway Station. There up in the air, a full moon was spraying light onto the city. There was a large and grand temple of God with a shining golden minaret standing in the center of the city.

'Do you think this is beautiful?' asked Solomon.

'Yes, of course. No doubt. I have never experienced anything like this, where everything is beautiful and harmonious.'

'I have asked God for the type of kingdom none after me shall have, so would not it be beautiful and peaceful, my son?' asked Solomon. 'And God showers his blessings onto us, because we love each other. Grace to God,' he continued, 'if you want to see the city, you must come in the morning, my son, but that is not permissible to you. I will do my best to show you whatever I can in this moonlight.'

As he waved his hands in the air in a typical fashion, there came a carpet with shining golden threads hanging on all sides. It came there and floated near King Solomon at knee height. Solomon put his hands on the hanging carpet, and pressed it down, and when the carpet remained in its place, he brought his legs up and sat on it very casually.

'Come, we will see the world from the heavens.' he said to Vel.

Vel doubtfully touched the carpet. Though it was waving in the wind as all the carpets in his time, it was hard like steel plate. He pressed down, and tugged it to the side, but the carpet stayed in the air just as it was.

'Climb, Vel, this is stronger than your carbon fiber.'

Although tense and wary, Vel spread a wry smile on his face and then carefully climbed up and sat there, a little scared of what was going to happen next.

'Do not worry; I have brought this exclusively for you. I can fly like a bird. You can come with me too. Sit at ease.'

The carpet floated in the air like a plain sheet of paper floats in the Mumbai floods during the rainy season. He cautiously sat on it like a baby sitting upright for the first time in its life, and was happy in his ability to maintain the position.

'So, shall we start?' asked Solomon, raising his thumbs up. 'Here you don't have to wear seat belts.'

Vel raised his thumbs up as well. He felt a cool breeze as the carpet flowed ahead. Folding both of his legs inwards and crossing them, securely over each other, he gazed wide-eyed at the surroundings. Even though he was scared, he trusted in the magical power of Solomon, and ultimately on the supreme power of God. He admired the glory and picturesque earth underneath the carpet. As it moved further, his jaw dropped in awe and he grew more excited to see the rest of the world of Solomon. He knew that neither the people from his world and Solomon's world were blessed to have such an experience. He silently thanked God.

The carpet moved steadily as per Solomon's wish. They ascended to a particular height and sped fast. Though it was impossible for Vel to guess the altitude, he was comfortable in seeing what lay under him. The carpet did not move like a jet, as Vel had expected. It moved gracefully and at a comfortable speed that was perfect for looking at all that God had created down below. The blue earth shone well in the milky moonlight.

As the carpet continued moving at its designated speed, Solomon turned to Vel.

'How do you feel, my guest from 2009?'

'I am comfortable, and sir, you said we'll have a circuit around your country, but I do not find this carpet to move at such a speed to cover your entire kingdom.'

'You are right. We will travel to the farthest point slowly, and we will come back at lightning speed. That is our aim.'

The carpet flew up in the air above the densely populated city. The houses were well built in columns and rows. The roads between the buildings were well paved, wide and with closed sewages on either side. There were manmade ponds for irrigation and to conserve rain water, and high raised tanks with a wide network of pipe lines for supplying drinking water to the public.

We are proud of ourselves for the technology that we have. But we have made nothing greater than this planned city, where peace also prevails.

As they crossed the city, the carpet entered a beautiful landscape where palm trees were standing high, lined up in equal distance, as if they were soldiers ready for the war. They were very neatly laid and cultivated. The garden was filled with lush fruit trees. There was a small lake in the middle of the palm trees, from which the water was drawn for the irrigation the garden by means of a cool stream winding through the plant life.

The carpet hovered at a point right above the pond. The greenish-blue water shone in the soft light of moon. A reflection of the moon shimmered on the surface of the pond. From there, Vel was able to gaze at both moons, shining in their splendor.

'Wow, marvelous!' exclaimed Vel.

'You like it?' asked Solomon.

'Yes, why not? Could any sane being be absentminded enough to miss this wondrous scene?' Vel replied, not taking his eyes off the moon on the body of the water, surrounded by the palm trees.

The drizzling sound of water flowing through the meandering streams full of colored, round, shaped stones, were clearly audible to Vel. This is the best music that I have ever heard in my life. Then the carpet changed course, making a large circle and spiraling down to make a circuit of the garden before stopping at an even lower height. Vel could smell that the air was rich with the fragrance of many beautiful flowers. He closed his eyes, pushed his upper body back, and took a long breath. He felt lost himself in the natural scent that was calming to the soul, which was already serene in the presence of the beauty of earth. Then, as he looked down in the next moment, he could not stop his jaw from dropping wide open as he saw thousands of fireflies flashing in a rhythm and lighting up the whole garden. They had illuminated in such an order that indicated they had some sort of a communication between them. It all seemed like an event perfectly fashioned by a team of different bodies of a company, designed to highlight a very important person.

'What do you experience, Vel?' Solomon whispered enquiringly.

'Unforgettable! And unbelievable! I am very much grateful. How beautiful it is to see this beautiful garden from the top, whoever made this obviously worked hard. He must be the happiest person to be able to live and enjoy these bounties of nature.'

'Whom do you think is the creator of this magnificent part of the earth?'

'The gardener, who else?' Vel said, turning to Solomon.

'The gardener only placed the seeds and made the channels to the field from the pond. Who made the seed grow and rained the water to fill the pond and wet the land?' Solomon asked as the carpet slowly moved ahead as if to show the entire garden to Vel.

'The lake is an earthly body. The moon is a part of the celestial universe, and the palm trees were planted by the humans. But who has created all of this and brought it together to give you the wonderful combination... the Supreme Power.'

'Are you talking about God?'

'Of course. It's His creativity that made this all possible. He created the earth, moon, sun, and countless stars and the things in them; including us, the human beings and animals. All of this together, we call it the universe. This was once a vast empty space filled with a smoke-like substance.' He said it as if he was a science teacher.

'Then, on the earth, He created the palm trees. He created the water and he made man: the highest of all his creations on earth,' Solomon continued saying it philosophically.

'I learnt about it in school. The universe was made after a great explosion. The Bing Bang theory.'

'Big Bang?! Oh, the scientific theory about the creation of universe. Remember, things that had existed prior to such developments must also have had some source of origin.'

'You are right. The final point is God, and He created this entire universe.'

'Thank you for understanding. The Beneficent, the Merciful God! There is no one but He, the Living, the Self-Subsisting, the Eternal. No slumber can seize Him, nor complacency. All things in heaven and earth are His.  
Who could intercede in His presence without His permission? He knows what appears in front of and behind His creatures. Nor can they encompass any knowledge of Him except what He wills. His throne extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them,  
for He is the Highest and Most Exalted.'

'Now we will see more of his creation.' Solomon said and directed his carpet to his destination. It banked to one side, climbed up and flew like a living bird. Vel almost stooped forward involuntarily, to keep himself closer to the magic mat.

As they were steadied at a height again, Solomon carried on, 'The world we live in is a wonder for us. Everything is simple but beautiful and according to a law. When the earth is dried for months, then comes the rain, and before the rain we are informed by God about his creativity and showering of blessings by means of a cool breeze.'

'Think about His creativity, how he makes the clouds from the sea and sends them towards the land to shower down on us. He made the mountains and hills with beautiful trees and animals. They act like a nails on earth so that it won't shift, preventing the plates of the earth from moving around and colliding each other. The rain which falls on the mountains finally reaches to the ocean, wetting all of the land so that people and animal can live. Finally, it returns to the place where it started, and the cycle goes on. Do you understand what I am saying?'

'Partially. But not very clearly.'

'You will understand in time. He created days for us to work and draped the days with nights for us to sleep and rest. He produced us from the rushing water, safeguarded in the womb, provided us with perfect heat and nutrition, and divided us into two as male and female. Everything in perfect harmony. The only Creator, the Exalted.' Solomon was excited in explaining the power of God. 'I am a prophet. A philosopher. I preach in such a way. I was referring here to the creativity of God. And how we must be thankful to Him.'

As Solomon was talking about God and his creativity, the land under them gave way to another and greater body of water. Waves unrelentingly attacked the land as if one day they would engulf all that surrounded them. The frothy white patches of waves could be seen from high above the earth. The carpet glided above the beach where land and sea met together and after some time it flew out over the sea. As its altitude increased, Vel could see only a round black body. The only thing that prevents me from falling down into the depths of the sea is this piece of cloth!

'There is no mayday when it comes to this flight. We are completely safe,' said Solomon.

Vel laughed and cupped his face with his palms as the wind grew colder. Then he felt the altitude decreasing. The carpet was closer to the waves and it circled around the blue water.

'What happened? Why we are circling around this area?'

'Can you see the greatness over there?'

'Yes. It's the sea.'

'Yes. Did you know that the water to your left and the water to your right are different?'

'Sorry?'

'One is salt water. And the other is fresh water. They do not mix together.'

'How is that possible?'

'It is another sign of the greatness of God. Fresh water is coming from the river, and the salt water from the sea. That's the creativity. In your time, you may attribute it to a difference in density, but here, it is seen simply as the creativity of God.'

'Wake up! You man... wake up.'

The sound of clanking woke Vel with a start. He turned his head in the direction of the source of the sound, and saw a hazy picture behind the bars. As he rubbed his eyes to clear his vision, he found a police constable was banging his stick on the vertical bars of the jail door, and he was incessantly shouting.

Vel turned to the door from the raised platform he was laying on. It was hardly big enough for a man to lay on. The stone cell was colder than the air outside and still dark. Vel got up and moved to the door.

The constable opened the door and said, 'Make it fast, the SI is coming early in the morning to question you. And be prepared! His interrogation method is very different,' he said with a dry laugh. 'He is cunning and his hands are strong. He never leaves cell without making a prisoner admit to being a convict.'

A shiver ran down Vel's spine.

##  Chapter 9

It was much earlier than the usual time for the police station to operate. The constables were hastily making the station neat and tidy. The police officer opened the cell again, and clicked the handcuffs around Vel's hands and brought him down a hall and into a room where a man was sitting behind a table. The man in front of him was dark and his face was plump. His skin was harsh due to years of clean shaving and it was wrinkled and sagged slightly at the cheek bones. His neck was so small and his chest and upper body so fatty, that it seemed as if his head was planted directly on top of his shoulders, like God has forgotten to make a neck for him. His grey hair was protruding from the brink of his cap. With just one look, Vel guessed that the officer was a worn out policeman nearing his retirement. He might have been promoted to this level as a credit to his long service rather than his ability. Many files were scattered around on the table. Closed files were piled on top, and they stood as a tower before him, with a few files kept open. A telephone and some writing materials sat at one corner. The man had his head buried in a file, clearly showing that he was struggling to read the contents, while he tapped his hand absentmindedly on the table. Vel was reminded of a foolish inspector in a Hindi comedy movie. The image of a strong police officer had changed to one of a stupid man. Vel looked down on his own feet, not wanting to see his surroundings.

The officer raised his head as he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. He lit a cigarette and exhaled the smoke to his right side, where Mahatma Gandhi was smiling in a photo.

'This is the first time in my long service that we have nabbed the criminal in just few short hours. Great. My next promotion practically guaranteed.' He laughed loudly. 'Yours too,' He motioned with his hands, pointing towards the constable.

Fear gripped Vel. 'Sir I did not commit any crime,' he snapped sitting on a chair that was given to him.

'Ha ha,' the man laughed again. The constable joined him. 'Have I said that you did? I hope that you haven't heard about me.' He stood up from his seat, then walked around Vel's chair. 'Constable, please tell him my interrogation procedure,' he laughed again, and then he picked Vel's slender neck, then quietly whispered in his ear, 'we'll prove that you are the killer.'

He eyed one of the constables. Understanding the meaning, the constable brought a recorder and set it on the table, switching the button to the on position.

The officer sat on the corner of the table, where he found a little space among the files. One of his legs was on the ground, partially taking his weight.

With the stick rotating in his hand, he asked, 'So, what were you doing in the street in the early hours of the day the incident took place?

'I was coming back from CST railway station.'

'Ok, what were you doing in CST?'

'I was coming from Chowpatty Beach.'

'And may I know what were you doing at the beach for the whole night?'

'I went to see the beach, but I ended up sleeping there. I woke up at around three in the morning, returned home, then I saw the policemen standing around my street.'

'You slept at the beach?' The inspector looked at him suspiciously. This is really fishy. He looked at the constable, and the constable shook his head as if he knew what he meant.

'Why did not you return from there in due time?'

'To meet Newton-' he replied immediately, and then regretted saying it. The next moment he decided to continue in his status. Let's be courageous and honest. Mustering his courage, he said, 'I returned to home soon after the meeting.'

'Nutan,' the inspector lowered his face, and furrowed his eyebrows, but he was happy inside, for he was getting more information. 'How long have you known Nutan?'

'Since my school days.'

That means a long friendship. The SI looked again at the constable. And again the ever-pleasing constable nodded.

'Ok. Where is Nutan now?'

'Now? You cannot find him now. He's dead.'

'Dead! How? You killed him too?'

'Me! Why? He had a natural death. Are you some kind of backbencher?'

The inspector's expression changed. Trying to keep his countenance calm, he stood aside, sat down on the chair again, and lit another cigarette. The constable went over and poured him a glass of water. After drinking the water and simultaneously smoking the cigarette, the inspector beckoned the police constable.

'He's really dangerous, and a serial killer. He and Nutan worked together to kill the builder and when it came time to share the money, they had a fight and this guy killed Nutan too,' the inspector explained to the police constable. 'Immediately make warrant for his arrest and lock him up, and have a special eye on him until the Superintendent of Police comes. We won't be able to sleep until this mystery unfolds completely. The media are already tearing our ass apart. And search for the body of Nutan,' he ordered.

To prove his ability in interrogation and his loyalty to the inspector, the constable went near Vel and shouted, 'Where is the body of Nutan?'

Vel was slightly angry and surprised to hear their questions. He answered, 'It was buried.'

The constable turned his gaze towards the inspector. Looking at him, the inspector nodded his head to continue his interrogation.

The constable continued to shout, 'Where is the body?'

'It's far away' said Vel.

The inspector called the constable back. He whispered in his ear, 'Then we'll be preparing to excavate the body. Let the Superintendent come here, we'll do the rest. Meanwhile, make a request to the Court for the right to exhume the body to obtain evidence to make out the case.' Then he picked up the receiver of the phone and typed in the numbers.

'Good morning sir.'

There was silence as he listened to the Superintendent on the other line.

'Sir, we've got the criminal. I am sending the CD containing the interrogation information to you.' Then his face went red with happiness, as he was convinced that he had unveiled the mystery in a very short time.

He then called the IT specialist. 'Send the CD to SP, very confidential,' he said to him with a smile, proud of his intelligence.

Then he signaled to the constable. As a result, Vel was taken to the special cell for the brutal criminals, where they were kept alone and monitored with high security.

Staring at the camera fixed on the high walls of the cell, Vel studied his situation, and the grave danger of the place he was in. I am not worried. Courage. That makes the man stand up when life knocks him down. I will face this problem. He felt a surge of confidence flowing in his mind.

He took a long breath and asked himself, 'Who is Sakyamuni?'

Creativity: an important quality a successful man should have. He must think creatively for all the problems in his life. Creativity makes new things. And all successful are most creative. Vel remembered Solomon's words from the previous night, and he was sure that he had learnt it well. Thinking out of the box. The dream had occurred to him in the lock up last night and he was ready for the next part of his expedition as per Solomon's advice. If you want to learn more about life, you may spend your time with Sakyamuni in the foothills of Himalaya.

##  Chapter 10

The man was sitting there in the lotus position. Vel stood there. Thinking what to do, whether to wake up the great man or to stand still.

'Sit down.' Came the voice.

Vel looked at the man, amazed. He was not sure whether to tell his name and story to him or not. He opened his mouth, 'Venerable Guru, I am from-'

'Sit down, Vel. I know. You are from 2009.'

Vel sighed. 'Oh! My job is simplified.'

'I knew you'd come.'

'Dear guru, I'm confused.'

'You're confused because you don't know how the universe works. Because you are living in a time and space continuum. The rest of the universe and the life beyond it, is not comprehensible to you presently. Did you not wonder at school, when you were taught that one day on Jupiter is equal to many days on Earth?'

'Yes, you know that I wondered.' Vel was surprised to hear his past thoughts from the man sitting before him, who lived hundreds of years ago!

'Time is related to the space in which you live. And the universe is too gigantic that you are not able comprehend it.' The sage stopped for a moment and continued, 'If you go to Jupiter and spend a day there and come back to the earth, you would have missed many days. You might see the difference in many ways, such as the fact that your girlfriend may have grown old. You would be searching for someone young,' he said with a laugh.

Vel laughed too. 'You are humorous, guru. I like you.'

'There is beauty and happiness in everything, but you don't see it often, and then when you are tired of seeing the wickedness of earth, you can become depressed. That's why you decided to commit suicide, no?' the wise sage asked.

'I was tired of the misery from my unreasonable father. I wanted to get rid of him, so I decided to kill myself.'

'You don't know about life. If we don't know life, how can we know death? You are enslaved to your negative thoughts.'

'I hate him because he never looked after me well. He was not happy when I was wearing good clothes, when I was spending time with my friends. He wanted me to do the table cleaning, wearing the tattered clothes. And you know he killed my sister. I hate him. He is not a good father at all,' Vel burst out.

'Listen, son, do not hate your father. What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.'

'I know, I've heard that. Jesus said it.'

'You forgot, we're presently five hundred years before Jesus.'

'You mean, you said it before the Christ? Or Jesus learnt it from you?'

'No. I don't mean that. The law is the same and universal. We all are different messengers for different communities and we came to the world at different times, in order to save people from the chaos. The message is simply the same.'

'Whatever it is, I cannot love my father.' Vel was adamant.

'You are worried. Come, take a walk.' The ascetic stood up and led Vel outside. The moon was shining in the sky, and that was enough for them to see the footpath outside the wooden building. There were oil lamps burning on the walls. There were signs and marks coded on the wall as well, which Vel did not understand. They all looked same, the ancient scripts.

The building was square and wooden, with a conical top, where every end was folded up to a particular angle. It stood in the center of a big garden full of various flower and trees. A long footpath snaked through the large garden. Little plants stood in a line like the small children of the garden. In the middle of the flowers, the tall pine trees were moving their heads in the wind like they were dancing to slow music. And in the distance were the great Himalayas.

'This is refreshing,' he commented.

'You are not required to come here to enjoy this scenery. The Himalaya and its valley are still there in your life also, in 2009.'

'But I have seldom experienced such a beauty and inner peace.'

'Because you have never searched for it. You were busy thinking of your problems, and were never grateful for what you had.'

Vel was ready to absorb the wisdom from the man in a single moment, whatever it was.

Sakyamuni walked through the garden and Vel followed. As they walked, in some time, they reached the end, where they found long steps that led down to a large, flowing body of water.

'This is the River Ganges,' Sakyamuni said as he sat on the steps.

Vel followed him, putting his legs into the water. It was tranquil. A fish jumped out of the water into the air and then dived back, making a soft plopping sound. The reflection of the moon travelled to the shore through the waves and bobbed at Vel's feet. He felt mesmerized sitting there. He felt a peace which he had never felt before in his life. He wanted to sit there forever. What a beautiful life.

After a moment of silence, he spoke.

'You mean, guru, that I can feel the same tranquility even at my home, surrounded by my ever complaining father, demanding work, a materialistic generation, and the challenging future which lies ahead me?'

'Of course. You can find the happiness. Still your mind like a pond. It will be settled, just like a dirty pond becomes crystal clear in some time.'

Then Sakyamuni said, 'A few years ago, in the southern foothills of the Himalayas, along the Rohini River, the king Shuddhodana Gautama in his capital at Kapilavastu was unhappy because he had no son, even after twenty years of marriage. His queen's name was Maya. But one night, Queen Maya had a strange dream, in which she saw a white elephant entering into her womb through the right side of her chest, and she became pregnant. And on her way to parents home she took rest in Lumbini garden, in the beautiful spring sunshine. And there a prince was born. The joy of the king was overwhelming and he named the child Siddhartha, which means 'every wish fulfilled.' The sage stopped and looked at Vel to find him immersed in the story.

He placed his hands on Vel's head lovingly and continued, 'In the palace of the king, however, delight was followed quickly by sorrow, for after few days the lovely queen Maya suddenly died. At the age of seven, the prince began his lessons in the civil and military arts. But his thoughts naturally tended towards other things. One spring day, he went out of the castle with his father. Together, they were watching a farmer plowing his field when he noticed a bird descending to the ground. It carried off a small worm which had been turned up by the farmer's plough.

The boy sat down in the shade of a tree and thought about it, whispering to himself, "Alas, do all living things kill each other?"Although surrounded by the earthly bounties, the prince was unhappy. He had lost his mother at a very young age, and now he was deeply affected by the tragedy of these little creatures. The suffering of human life became more and more deeply engrained in his mind.

At the same time, the king was increasingly worried and tried in every possible way to cheer the prince and to turn his thoughts in another direction. The king arranged a marriage; the prince was immersed in rounds of music, dancing, and pleasure. But as always, his thoughts returned to the problem of suffering as he pensively tried to understand the true meaning of life.'

The sage raised up, opened his arms wide and showing palms outward, and said, his tone was so firm, 'the prince thought, "The luxuries of the palace, this healthy body, this rejoicing youth! What do they mean to me?... Someday we may be sick, we shall become aged. From death there is no escape. The pride of youth, the pride of health, the pride of existence..."

Thus the spiritual struggle went on in the mind of the prince and so he decided to do something. He finally had an aim: to leave the palace and all earthly blessings in search of the true meaning of life, in search of enlightenment. So he shaved his head and carried a begging bowl in his hand. He wandered in the streets and the jungle and met many sages, hermits, and people. He became weak, but he continued his meditation and waited for the right path.

It was an intense and incomparable struggle for him. He was desperate and filled with confusing thoughts, dark shadows overhung his spirit, and he was beleaguered by all the lures of the devil. But he was determined in achieving his goal. He sat under a tree and decided, "Blood may become exhausted, flesh may decay, bones may fall apart, but I will never leave this place until I find the way to enlightenment."

And one day, when the morning star appeared in the eastern sky, the struggle was over and prince's mind was as clear and bright as the breaking day. He had at last found the path to enlightenment!'

The man then turned to Vel and said, 'I am that prince. I found the enlightenment. I am Buddha.'

'Buddha?'

'I endured the struggle of life. I had an aim and I walked through it, so I received the path of enlightenment from the Great God.'

Then Buddha rose up and walked along the stony path, and Vel followed him like a calf following its mother.

They reached the building and entered into it. The sage went in and sat on the sacred place where he was accustomed to sitting. He gestured for the boy to take a seat on the wooden stool. Vel obeyed and sat near him. The atmosphere was cool and breezy. The wind rattled through the square holes in the wooden walls.

'Sit down. Dive deep into your heart. See your own reflection. If you are right in all aspects, nothing wrong will remain there for you to find. You need not panic. You need not worry. Worry takes you nowhere. Ending your life because of worry is not at all a solution for anything. A man's mind may make him a Buddha, or it may make him a beast. When misled by error, one becomes a demon. Therefore control your mind and do not deviate from the right path.'

Vel listened, absorbed by the words of the wise man and his great kindness and compassion.

'The River Ganges is stirred up by the tramping of horses and elephants and disturbed by the movements of fish and turtles, but the river flows on, pure and undisturbed by such trifles. The human mind is like the flowing water of river or the burning flame of a candle, or like an ape, it is forever jumping about, not ceasing for even a moment. Both delusion and enlightenment arise from mind, just as different things appear out of the sleeve of a magician.

'The mind forms your surroundings. An impure mind surrounds itself with impure things and a pure mind surrounds itself with pure things. Hence surroundings have no more limits than the activities of mind. Your surroundings are created by the activities of mind, just like a picture drawn by an artist. There is nothing in the world that the mind has not created. If a man speaks and acts with a good mind, happiness follows him like a shadow. Those who act in evil are followed by their thoughts. If anyone has done wrong, then the memory of the act is stored and works out its inevitable retribution for the remainder of their life. But those who act out of good motives are made happy by the thought that they have done some good in the world. They are made even happier by the thought that the good act will bring continued happiness in their life and the lives of others.'

'But is it appropriate for me to wash the dishes and clean the tables, when I have a degree?'Vel asked.

'You can develop your father's business. Work is never shameful. Even a good thing, when it becomes a burden, should be thrown away. Once there was a man who, after a long journey, came to a river. He understood that the other side of the river was better, so he built a raft out of branches and safely crossed the river. Then he thought that the raft had been very useful in crossing the river, so he decided to carry it along with him. And thus he voluntarily assumed an unnecessary burden. Your thoughts on your education seem to me reminded me this story. Do not be prideful about your education. Use it for the development of your father's hotel.'

'But how can I escape from the suffering incited by my father? He killed my sister.'

'If people assert that everything is suffering, that is a mistake, and if they assert that everything is happiness, then that is a mistake too. The body feels what the mind knows, and the mind knows what the body feels.'

'But I cannot run the hotel, I don't have the capability.' Vel was in his own world.

'You don't have the capability? You don't know that the treasure is within you. There was a man who fell into drunken sleep. His friend stayed by him as long as he could, but being compelled to go, and fearing the sleeping man might be in want, the friend hid a jewel in the sleeping man's garment. When the drunken man recovered, not knowing that he had a jewel in his pocket, he wandered about in poverty and hunger. A long time afterwards the two men met again and the friend told the poor man about the jewel and advised him to look for it. You are like the drunken man in the story. People wander about, suffering in this life, unconscious of what is hidden away in their inner nature, pure and untarnished.'

Buddha sighed. 'Alright Vel. Let's come back to the point. You want to become a successful man.'

'Yes. I want a peaceful life with health, wealth, and happiness,' Vel said respectfully.

'So, as of now, you know that courage and creativity are important.'

'Yes. Those were taught to me by Newton and Solomon.'

'So you have the creativity to think beyond what is in your hand and the courage to follow your heart, but you lack the definite target.'

Vel looked at the man, puzzled.

''You should have a definite aim, and the will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential. These are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. Preparation brings the success. And to prepare you must have a definite aim. A ship without rudder is useless, even when it has the powerful engine, right?'

'Yes, you are right, it will drift and eventually run aground.'

'Exactly,' nodded the great sage. 'My aim was to gain enlightenment, so I burned the bridges behind me, I left my palace and all other luxuries in my life. Likewise, you must have an aim and courageously work towards it. When you set your aim right, follow it with all your heart, and at last, after a lot of hard work, if you realize that your goal cannot be achieved, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps. It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. As we tread up to the mountain of success it is expected that we fall. In every failure, remember that our glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.'

Night seemed to pass quickly, like lightning. Time is relative. Time went like an express train when he was sitting with his girlfriend at the beginning of their love and it went slow like a local train in the time of their parting. Countless lectures in the school about Einstein's theory of relativity did not help Vel understand very much, but his love with Gowri helped him to learn the theory instantly. It happens here too. Vel checked his watch. The first rays of the sun would reach the earth in some time. Maybe in twenty minutes' time.

'Vel, time is important, as your life is made of that matter. What I want to tell you in regard to your success in life is that you must have an aim and walk towards it.'

'Aim. What is my aim?' he asked.

'You came here with one goal only. To have a healthy, wealthy and peaceful life.'

'Yes. But how?'

'You have no definite aim. Wealth comes when you work hard to make it to possession. Health comes when you eat well and lead an active and good life. Peace comes from within, with the good thoughts.'

Vel listened quietly.

'Still your mind. Peace will come. Be active and lead a positive life, health will be with you. And decide about your profession. Think about what you want to do.'

'I don't know, I have no idea.'

'Why can't you run your father's business and make it a success?' questioned Buddha.

'I don't like the business.'

'Why? Because it is owned by your father?'

'I don't feel anything great about it. I want to do something great. And I hate my father in the first place.'

'Do not hate your father, I repeat. Do not hate your parents. Listen to this story:

Once upon a time, there was a country which had the peculiar custom of abandoning its aged people in remote and inaccessible mountains. However, there was a minister who loved his father very much. So he built a secret underground cave and he hid his father in it.

One day an angel, appeared before the king of that country and proposed some puzzling problems, stating that if he could not solve them satisfactorily, then his country would be destroyed.

The angel asked the first question, 'Here are two serpents, tell me the sex of each.'

It was a tough question for the king. The serpents looked similar. So he produced the question before his ministers. Eventually, the king approached the minister who had hidden his father in a cave and relayed the angel's question.

The minister, in turn, presented the question to his father.

The old man said, 'It is easy. Place the serpents on a soft carpet. The one that keeps quite is the female, and the one that moves about is the female.'

The king followed his instructions and answered the question correctly.

Then the angel asked the second question, 'How can you weigh a large elephant?'

Again the king brought the question to the old man, and he answered, 'Load it onto a boat and draw a line to mark how deep the boat sinks into the water. Then take the elephant out and load the boat with stones until the boat sinks to the same depth, and then weigh the stones.'

That was a satisfactory answer.

The third question was, 'What is the meaning of the saying, "a cupful of water is more than the water of an ocean?"'

'A cupful water given in a pure and compassionate spirit to one's parents or to a sick person has an eternal merit, but the water of an ocean will someday come to an end,' said the king, after seeking council yet again.

Then the angel brought in a starving man who was just skin and bones, and asked, 'Is there anyone in this world hungrier than him?'

Receiving the answer from the old man, king replied, 'The man who is so selfish and greedy that he does not make offerings to his parents, is not only more hungry but he will fall into the world of demons and there will suffer from hunger forever.'

Next, the angel said, 'Here is the plank of sandalwood. Which end was the bottom of the tree?

The old man answered, 'Float the plank in water, the end that sinks a little deeper was the end nearest to root,'

And the next question was, 'Here are two horses apparently of the same size and form. How can you tell the mother from the daughter?'

'Feed them some hay. The mother horse will push the hay toward the daughter.'

The angel was pleased and disappeared. The king was grateful to the minister, and when found out that the answers had come from the old man, he lifted the law of abandoning the aged people in the mountains and ordered that they were to be treated kindly.

'Vel, just like in this story, during in your difficult times, when you were helpless, your parents looked after you, so you should be kind to them in return. You can work with your father and make the hotel large. It could become a whole chain eventually, like McDonalds or KFC.'

Twenty-five centuries before my time, and you are aware of the hot businesses of the future?  Brooded Vel in disbelief.

'You still think about the impossibilities, not the possibilities of Nature?'

'Yes... No. It's possible, I can see it. I can feel it.'

'Make your dosa business flourish, let every household know about the varieties of your dosa. Have the courage to do it. Be creative in making new products and live with one aim – the number one dosa-maker in the world.'

'Nice to hear that, Buddha talking about dosa.' Vel laughed at the hilarity of Buddha and his idea of making varieties of Dosas. The air around them was unbelievable, and he wanted to believe Buddha's words.

'I am talking to you, putting myself in your shoes, Vel,' Buddha said with a smile.

Vel became respectful and smiled back. 'Guru, time is nearing. Any last words?'

'I can summarize my advice to you in four words,' he said. 'Have a definite aim.'

The cell was very congested and nothing but the four walls surrounded the little empty space. Where am I? Vel felt terrifically lonely and stressed out inside. Still the camera hanging from the roof was pointed at him. Other than that, he could see nothing else in the room.

'Open the door! You cannot just shut me in and blame me for the murder. I did not do it!' he shouted, looking at the camera. He kicked on the wall, frustrated.

In a little while as he walked back and forth impatiently he heard the sound of footsteps coming in. Then the door screeched open. A policeman came in and said, 'Come with me.'

Vel followed him.

He was so exhausted. He was taken to the interrogation room again. Vel sat on the chair with his hands cuffed behind him. The SP had arrived at the station directly after seeing the interrogation video.

As the door opened, a smart young police officer appeared. He signaled for the Police Inspector to leave, so he went out silently. Standing on his strong legs, his chest wide, and his face heralding an unmistakable intelligence, he studied Vel.

Vel's heart raced. What is next, oh my God! But I am courageous. I will face this problem. God is with me, and He will not just leave me to struggle. He had a change of attitude.

'Where did you meet Mr. Newton?' His voice was crisp.

'I met him at his home.'

'Where is his home?'

'In England.'

The police officer nodded his head as if he was thinking of something, then he asked, 'What was he doing when you were with him?'

'He was deriving the formula for the gravity constant.'

'Gravity?' The police officer's eye brows went up. 'And he said he discovered gravity because an apple fell on his head.'

'Exactly, he did. As we had learnt in school.'

'But he lived in the seventeenth century!'

'Yes. I have traveled through time.'

'Have you met anyone else along with Newton, like his wife, his friends, etcetera?'

'He had not married. But I had a chance to meet other men. King Solomon and Buddha.'

'King Solomon and Buddha?!'

That was the end of the interrogation. Through the glass window, the Superintendent of Police gestured at the police inspector. Vel was taken back to the cell again. The SP turned around and took out his mobile phone. He dialed a number and held the phone to his ear.

## Chapter 11

Between the hills was the Kuruksetra, the vast, plain, and barren field which might have once been fully cultivated land. Historically, it was a land of dharma, or righteousness. The place for performing sacrifices, and a place that served as the residence of the Brahma Rishis, the great sages.

Vel scanned the historical field, excited to see for himself the war that he had read about in the epics.

The Pandavas and the Kauravas: face to face, the ferocious army of the sons of Pandu and Dhritarastra were lined up in rows and columns, ready to fight and even sacrifice their lives for their cause. Vel observed the powerful warriors in the enemy ranks such as the mighty Bhima, Arjuna, Bhishma, and Dronacharya, all perfect masters in the use of celestial weapons.

One of the greatest epics in the world that he had read in his childhood was the great war of Mahabharata. It was a story about the fight between the sons of two brothers. The Pandavas and the Kauravas. The war between the righteous and the wicked. Dhritarastra, the father of the Kauravas and also the king of the Gandhar, previously had not the slightest intention of giving the Pandavas half of the country, which was their rightful share. The Pandavas were the children of his deceased brother Pandu. Even when they had to suffer further miseries in the forest for thirteen years, the king did not consider granting them a reprieve.

Being born into the exalted lineage of the righteous and noble King Bharata, it would not be appropriate for the blind Dhritarastra to betray your nephews the Pandavas - the five sons of your brother. Vel pondered over the wickedness of Dhritarastra. You are making a mistake, and I know the result of this war.

As he could see the whole battlefield from above, Vel took that opportunity to watch the warfare and observe the way the ancient people fought. He thought of a better place to sit and watch the war, and to learn the wisdom of life. He hoped by the grace of God he would not be noticed by the warriors or be hit by any weapons.

There were innumerable warriors of great caliber on both sides. Many kingdoms mustered in divisions, all of them having pledged their very lives for the sake of their allies and out of their sincere affection for their leader, with their extraordinary strength and their unsurpassed skill in military science. A world war in the ancient times. A great war between the righteousness and wickedness. Morality and immorality.

Instinctively, he drew near to the most incredible chariot in the field, Arjuna's chariot. As Vel positioned himself at a corner of the chariot, he saw Arjuna, , the great warrior son of Pandu, standing and watching the whole field with his fingers tightly clasped around his bow and arrow. Vel knew that Arjuna was not aware of the little man from 2009, but as he shifted his gaze further, there standing was a great figure, his body shining splendidly: Sri Krishna.

The chariot moved as Sri Krishna, who humbled himself to be Arjuna's chariot driver, was carrying out Arjuna's wish to station their chariot in the middle of the first file, in such a commanding position as to be able to readily view the belligerent Kauravas. And then, as if he knew Vel sitting in the corner at his back, Krishna winked.

'I hope you will have a nice time, Vel.'

Vel heard the words from Krishna, but he wasn't sure whether the great soul said it or he was simply hearing things. But Vel did not have any doubt, he knew he was on a divine, unimaginable, and unbelievable travel, and that anything was possible.

Krishna then turned Arjuna and said, 'See what chances there are for the Kauravas to hold victory over us.

Vel put himself into Arjunas's shoes and first looked to the Kauravas' side. Their leader, Duryodhana, the eldest brother and a great diplomat in politics as well as a skilled orator, was speaking with the preceptor and the master bowman, Drona. It looked like they were discussing the war strategy. With the pretense of going to offer his respect, Duryodhana approached Drona.

Vel could see the strategy of the Kauravas, clearly. The soldiers were all divided at strategic points in their various military formations, especially to protect the Maha-Ratha Bhishma, the great fighter. He was like the king pin, he could assure the victory that the Kauravas needed.

As the time passed, the war field was ready for bloodshed. Bhishma roared like a lion and blew a thunderous blast on his conch shell. It signified Ksatriya, the fighter cast, and was true to the warrior code of warfare that stated that he would fight to the death. That raised the alertness of all the soldiers, and goose bumps appeared on their skin. Vel was amazed to see their readiness to die. They all followed suit, making many other sounds with drums and horns, indicating their readiness. It was a great uproar. This is real bravado.

Tumultuous sound coming from the Kauravas army subsided. Vel turned his head towards the Pandavas side. The Pandavas and their allies were assembled, all ready to fight to take back their rightful share of the land from their cousins. Their determination was such that they would do anything to win, they had nothing to lose. They had lost everything, and this was only gain. A flag bearing the portrait of Hanuman, who set the Lanka ablaze in Ramayana out of devotion to Rama, was flying in the dry and dusty wind.

They courageously blew their conch shell, Panchajanyam, to prove the potency of the Pandavas. That not only powerfully ignited the Pandavas' eagerness for battle, but also shattered the hearts of Kauravas as well. They may have felt as if they had already lost the war.

Suddenly tired of seeing the weapons and the cruel faces, Vel had a realization.

'What the hell am I going to learn from this battlefield, where everyone is dying to kill others? Where hatred, rather than love, is heavy in the air?'

Even though he was at the site of one of the famous battles in history, he was not sure whether he had been right to choose to come here and watch the bloody war. He had selected this war because of a poster that he had seen hanging on the wall when he was being taken back to the cell by the police officer. The poster read:

Bhagavad Gita

"Whatever happened, it happened for good.

Whatever is happening, is happening for good.

Whatever that will happen, it will be for good.

What have you lost for which you cry?

What did you bring with you, which you have lost?

What did you produce, which has destroyed?

You did not bring anything when you were born.

Whatever you have, you have received from Him.

Whatever you will give, you will give to Him.

You came empty handed and you will go the same way.

Whatever is yours today was somebody else's yesterday and will be somebody else's tomorrow.

Change is the law of the universe."

Vel knew it was said by Sri Krishna to Arjuna at the time of the war of Kuruksetra. And therefore, he had decided to see what he could learn from the one of the greatest epics in the world.

'I can't do it.' Arjuna said it very unexpectedly.

Vel was brought to the war by the archer's confession.

Sri Krishna looked back as if he knew exactly what was going on in Arjuna's mind.

'Why can't you do it? Are you thinking of all your relatives on the other side?'

'Yes, O Krishna, seeing these relatives directly in front of me ready to fight- My hands, arms, legs, and feet fail me and my mouth is completely dried up. They are my fathers, uncles, sons, friends, and well-wishers who have rendered me some favor in the past.' Grief stricken and greatly despondent, Arjuna lamented, 'Moreover, my body is trembling, with a bristling of hairs. I feel I will slip, fall down, and I'm burning, feeling scorched all over.'

Vel wondered what was going on. Although fully capable of defeating the aggressive warriors of the Kaurava army, Vel understood that Arjuna had become overwhelmed with compassion for his family and friends arrayed against him. Then, as if by a flash of revelation, he knew. Yes it's quite possible that just before battle even such a mighty warrior as Arjuna would be under pressure with such untimely feelings of compassion.

'It is as if my mind is unsteady,' with the words of dejection and weakness, Arjuna stood there unsteadily as if he was close to losing consciousness.

'In this war I am seeing the consequence of opposing results. This means that even if I were victorious in obtaining the kingdom I would not feel any satisfaction. To the contrary, I would feel just the opposite, I would feel remorse. The burning sensation in my skin and tremors in the left side of the body are all indicative of evil forecasting adverse omens of dire consequences.'

Krishna tried to encourage Arjuna to fight. 'O, Arjuna! Out of compassion you do not wish to slay your enemies; but it is certain that your enemies will surely slay you to keep the kingdom free from thorns.'

'Nonetheless Krishna, even if they intend to slay me, I will not slay them,' Arjuna replied. 'I do not desire to rule over the three worlds, let alone this tract of land called Earth! In the anticipation of temporary, earthly pleasures, fratricide is not in any way an appropriate action and will only ensure eternal damnation to hell.'

'Arjuna where has this delusion arisen from in this hour of crisis?' Sri Krishna asked calmly. 'Yield not to unmanliness, or be overcome by cowardice. It is not befitting a Ksatriya and it is unworthy of you. You must immediately cast off this unseemly, contemptible, faintheartedness and prepare for battle.'

'My sin would be accrued and hell would be the punishment as a result of slaying one's relatives.'

'You cannot even maintain your own body without slaying them, Arjuna.' Sri Krishna was persistent. 'Have you forgotten the Vedas? One who administers poison, one who commits arson, one who attacks with deadly weapons, one who steals wealth, one who usurps property or one who kidnaps a wife can be rightfully slain. The sons of Dhritarastra have committed these heinous acts of aggression against you, the Pandavas. So the sons of Dhritarastra should be slain without any hesitation or guilt.'

Arjuna's eyes were brimming with tears and because his vision was obstructed, he could not see the situation in the correct perspective.

'Krishna, it would be better to live by begging, than to slay my own relatives, my superiors,' he said with misted eyes. 'My life would be tainted with their blood. Man is a slave to wealth but wealth is the slave of no man, this is the truth. I am bound to the Kauravas by the acceptance of wealth. My natural qualities of valor and courage subdued by a feeling of helplessness in not having the desire to live and in sinfulness for even considering to participate in the destruction of a dynasty.' Arjuna was despondent, and agitated by grief. He sat down on the chariot in view of all the troops.

'When the spiritual traditions and spiritual values are destroyed in society, unrighteousness dominates,' said Sri Krishna, who was situated between the two armies, with a slight smile upon his face as he spoke to the grief-stricken Arjuna who was enveloped by the entanglement of fraternal delusion.

Perplexed by the situation and the advice from Sri Krishna, 'I am confused regarding my duty and responsibility, whether it is righteous or unrighteous for a Ksatriya to give up fighting and take up begging.'

Finally, taking a long breath as if he had decided to something, Arjuna continued, 'I surrender, my dear Krishna. I am waiting for your orders.'

'For a Ksatriya there is nothing more welcome than the opportunity to fight a battle to protect righteousness,' Krishna emphasized to Arjuna, hoping that he would follow his duty as a Ksatriya and act like a warrior. 'Whatever you are thinking, O Arjuna, is not in accordance with the Ksatriya code that comes from the Vedic scriptures. Such a deviation by you would be considered an act of unrighteousness. Righteousness is the duty which is not separate from those who are righteous.'

Krishna went on, 'One should perform the duties one is authorized to do according to one's station and rank in society. You are a royal prince educated and trained by the strength of his might to uphold and protect dharma, or righteousness, and although war enacts terrible suffering, it is necessary and is appropriate for you to engage in it.'

'If you decline to fight this righteous war, then by refusing to accept your responsibility and avoiding the battle, Arjuna, you would be abandoning your duty. You are a renowned warrior, and your duty brings rewards and boundless glory. If you act contrarily, you will lose your reputation both worldly and divine, and that eventually would in fact incur great sin.

'In the normal course of events, actions and merits have a finish at the end of one's lifetime. The actions have a conclusion in this world and the merits have a conclusion in the next world. It is likened as to a farmer tilling his crops. By industrious action the merits of an abundant harvest are assured. But if he is to omit any of the steps such as watering or pruning within the process the harvest is put into jeopardy.'

Sri Krishna continued to instruct Arjuna, who was confused. 'One should neither be attached to not performing one's prescribed activities. We should not allow our egos to dictate to us that we should be inactive. In that case, we incur the sin of not performing both our natural everyday duties and the duties undertaken in special circumstances. One inclined towards spiritual advancement should never perform prohibited actions but with the understanding of responsibility one should always perform ones obligatory activities.

Vel listened to Krishna, although he was unable to understand much of it.

'Discard the mentality of being attached. Be balanced in either victory or defeat and perform your duties. The minds of those whose actions are performed as a matter of duty are not disturbed or unbalanced by delusions of rewards gained or lost.'

Moving his right hand from left to right, making a half circle, pointing the battle field, Krishna said, 'This is dharma-ksetra, the land of righteousness. Ksetra means the field of cultivation. In rice field there are unwanted grasses that pose as the rice paddy, but which must be uprooted. Similarly, at this dharma-ksetra the unrighteous sons of Dhritarastra will also be uprooted...' his voice was firm, 'We should not be inactive, Do your duty,' although it was said by Sri Krishna to Arjuna, Vel felt as if Krishna was looking at him and saying the words. 'I repeat, one should perform the duties one is authorized to do according to one's station and rank in society.'

And then Vel heard a voice in his mind, 'It is your duty to work and help the world to make it a better place, by giving your share.'

As Vel felt it was time to return to his original time. He saw the determined Arjuna with his bow and arrow, aiming at the Kauravas to eradicate the wickedness and to bring righteousness instead. He was ready to perform his duty.

As the alarm on the mobile phone rang loudly for the third time, Vel threw the bed sheet down and squinted his eyes in the bright daylight. Surprisingly, his father had not been disturbing him much, as if he had lost faith in his son. Or perhaps he believed the police and thought of Vel as a brutal murderer.

Vel was released as per the orders from SP, on the condition that he had to be present in the police station each morning at ten o'clock and sign the register kept there. In addition to that, he must be present whenever he was called.

What to do today? Up until now I have visited many people, and it has been quite enjoyable, although they were all unbelievable.

Lost in his thoughts, he made himself ready to go to the police station to grace them with his presence. Vel stood up from the bed and walked to the kitchen. It was a little adjacent room, where the tungsten filament of a 60-Watt bulb was still burning red. His mother must have forgotten to switch it off. Nonetheless, he did not switch it off, as the room was poorly lit even at noon. Vel's little house was surrounded by big buildings, and direct sunlight into the room was a luxury that was not available to them.

Brushing his teeth, he searched for something to eat for breakfast. In a corner, on a dinted aluminum dish, he found the idly and some sambar, a gravy made of cereals and spicy ingredients, that his mother had left for him. He also found the cold tea, which he put on the stove to heat up.

He took his time bathing, and then had breakfast. He found himself happy to be alive. But his mind was restless, he wanted to know more about the successful leaders of the past. He knew what he had, the power that was unique. He had talked to the greats and now he was confused, unsure whether to live or not or what to do with his newfound knowledge. He made up his mind and decided to go to the beach again.

It was nine o'clock in the morning. As he was readying himself to leave, his phone rang. His adrenalin surged as he glanced down at the illuminated dial. It read, Police calling...

He answered the phone.

The voice on the other side said, 'Come to station immediately.'

## Chapter 12

The sky was overcast. Black clouds covered the sky. A brisk wind heralded the oncoming rain. There were intermittent lightning sparks and rolls of thunder. Many people had gathered at the beach, as if they did not want to miss a chance to see an unexpected rain on Marine Drive. They had settled there, with umbrellas at the ready. Vel looked at the watch. The dial told him that it was 3 PM.

He was a good officer, thought Vel. He had just reached the Marine Drive from the police station. When he arrived at the station that morning, he was taken to the interrogation room, where there was a young man waiting for him. He was impatiently walking to and fro, rotating a pen between his fingers. However, he was in civil dress, and looked handsome and pleasing, and his face was peaceful. A notepad sat on the table. As Vel was taken in by the police constable with the handcuffs on, the interrogator ordered the police to remove them and to give him a glass of water. His way of interrogation was amiable and there were two sessions that lasted until lunch. He allowed Vel to take water whenever required during the interrogation and around eleven thirty he went for tea break and ordered the police constable to get a cup of tea for Vel too. Vel felt very grateful to him. And as a result, he was truthful and honest in answering his questions.

As Vel walked along the beach, two people were walking in front of him. It looked a father and his son. In the distance, above the Arabian Sea, the blades of a helicopter were whirring, keeping the machine steady above the water, and a diver was diving into the cool water. A routine for the sailors.

Holding the hand of his father, the little boy stood there, startled by the sight of the divers disappearing into the water.

The boy yelled in amazement, 'Papa, look there, a man is going down, won't he die if he sinks in the sea? How can he breathe under water?'

As Vel walked behind them, he unintentionally overheard the conversation.

The father, watching the naval exercise, replied calmly, 'Son, no. The sailor won't die because he is trained to swim in the water and also, he might have an oxygen cylinder.'

'Papa, when I grow up, I want to be a diver like him.'

'Sure, son, you can be a sailor.'

'But I don't know how to swim, how can I be a diver?'

'Do not worry son, if you want, you will get it anyway. You know, this diver could have been a non-swimmer before entering the navy. The navy can teach you everything you need.'

'Then I will become a sailor. And papa, who invented the helicopter?'

'The helicopter was invented recently, but the astonishing fact is that the blueprint for a helicopter was drawn by a great scientist, some five hundred years ago.'

The son looked up at his father.

'It was sketched by a man of unquenchable curiosity. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived.'

Vel turned his head and looked at the man who was speaking. 'Who was that?' he asked him uncontrollably.

The man looked at Vel curiously, surprised by someone overhearing and intruding on their conversation, then he smiled and said, 'Leonardo Da Vinci.'

It had begun to drizzle and the man opened his umbrella, holding his son close to him. He invited Vel into it as well.

'Come in, or you will get wet,' he said, raising his voice above the pattering of the rain. People without umbrellas started running to get a under a bus stop roof. Vel accepted the invitation and stood under the umbrella, not to save himself from the rain, but he wanted to know more about the man who had such great knowledge.

Speaking a little louder, the man said, 'Leonardo is revered for his technological ingenuity. He conceptualized flying machines and tanks, concentrated solar power, created the double hull and much more. He also outlined a basic theory of plate tectonics. He made important discoveries in physics, chemistry, and biology as well as anatomy, engineering, optics, and hydrodynamics. He studied in almost all fields of science and technology.'

'Excuse me.' Vel interrupted the man before he could continue. 'Thank you sir, I don't have time to hear any right now, the library is closing soon.'

Vel ran through the rain to reach the Asiatic Library before it closed.

As Vel walked into the library, he noticed that very few people were reading in one corner and so he went inside and searched for the painter-scientist. Once he found a book, he walked back over to the table and sat down. He wanted to see whether this man was worthy of spending a night with, and after some minutes skimming the book, he read that Leonardo was often described as the archetype of the "Renaissance man" - a man with seemingly infinite curiosity. He was widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived, just as the man outside had said.

Vel was in high spirits and excited. He thought to himself, I will have missed a great man if I do not go to him.

'Mr. Da Vinci, I am coming,' he murmured.

He looked at the big clock on the wall, it was nearing five o'clock, and he returned the book and happily walked away from the library to see the Colaba Causeway before going to the Marine Drive.

##  Chapter 13

'Knowledge is serene and indestructible wealth;

There is nothing else in benefits to compare.'- ThiruKural

Midnight at a burial ground. The moon was about to set and the light was slowly diminishing. The mud was very fresh and loose, and as the man dug steadily, trying to unearth the heap of mud above a buried body, Vel was sweating. Is this the way to find the truth? He was surprised to see the courage and the extent of the desire to know the truth of a man who the world praised as the one of the greatest minds to have ever lived. A dog barked restlessly in the distance.

'My name is Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, and I wonder why have you come to see me when there are numerous other greatest personalities who had lived in this world,' the man said humbly as he was digging up the tomb.

'You are not less great when it comes to intelligence and wisdom,' Vel replied and asked, 'Are you digging up this grave to exhume the corpse for studies concerning the human body?

'Yes,' Da Vinci replied as he picked up the mud and threw it to the side. 'Recently, I have been curious to explore the anatomy of humans, it really is marvelous and a great example of engineering. I have already drawn the 'Vitruvian Man', now I want to know more about the structure of the human foot. The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art.'

'Are not you not afraid of ghosts?'

'Ghosts! Haha,' he laughed. 'This is not the first time I have dug up a tomb.'

'You are really courageous.' Vel stood in silence as the cold air brushed his face. He recalled what he had learnt from the books about Da Vinci. He was not just a renowned painter but a polymath, having been a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer.

'So you've come here to learn about success and peace. You are worried because your life is not easy.' Da Vinci sighed wearily, setting his shovel aside. 'And can you please help me to lift this out?' he asked as he entered into the grave. He removed rest of the mud and held the head end of the coffin. Vel entered into the grave too, and held the bottom, and together they slowly lifted the coffin up.

'What about you? Are you scared?' asked Da Vinci while brushing off the mud on the coffin and carefully removing the nails hammered into it with the pliers he had brought.

'Do you think this is a work that everyone does on a daily basis in the broad day light? Neither in your time nor in my time. Being truthful, I am really scared,' Vel replied.

'Alright, then you move a little further away and watch what I am going to do.' Then the great man slowly removed the cover. 'It's really fresh.'

Vel watched him as if he was a witch or black magician doing some of the many rituals that he had read about in ghost stories. He looked around to see only blackness surrounding him. 'I am really scared.' Even in that cold atmosphere, he was sweating like it was a hot summer day.

'I am not a magician or ghost rider, dear Vel. I am only a learner.'

'You have read my mind, Mr. Leonardo. How did you do that? Do you also have the divine power to read the mind?'

'Nothing like that. I just guessed. What else in the world could have occupied your mind at this scary moment? When you told me how you traveled from 2009, I really was surprised. I almost didn't believe you, but I had to believe because your proofs convinced me,' Da Vinci said. 'And can you please hold this candle for a moment?' he requested.

'No wonder they say you are a great man,' said Vel, receiving the candle from Da Vinci.

As the coffin was kept open, a pungent smell leaked out into the atmosphere. Not noticing the smell, Da Vinci took his notebook and started sketching and writing in the dancing light of the candle.

'You might have read my history, I was born as the illegitimate son of a notary, Piero da Vinci, and a peasant girl, Caterina, at Vinci in the region of Florence,' said Da Vinci, measuring the length of the foot of the dead body with the measuring tape he had bought, and carefully studying the anatomy of the deceased. And as he spoke he offered Vel a piece of cloth to shield his mouth and nose from the strong smell that was emanating from the dead body.

'No thanks. I have a kerchief with me.' Vel took the kerchief from his pocket and covered his face with it.

'I was educated in the studio of the renowned Florentine painter, Verrocchio. Much of my earlier working life was spent in the service of Ludovico il Moro in Milan. I later worked in Rome, Bologna, and Venice, and in all this my time I did not receive much love from my parents.'

'So you are another victim of bad parenting?'

'You can say that, perhaps. Some people live their life uncontrollably, satisfying their pleasures, and someone else becomes the victim,' Da Vinci said, although he was deeply involved in taking the measurements and drawing the anatomy, 'I could have just sat around and wasted my time, cursing my father and the situation.'

Then he stopped and took a round about the coffin and continued, 'but as iron rusts from disuse and water loses its purity from stagnation...' Without moving his eyes from the dead body, Da Vinci continued, 'Even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind... It is finished, let's put it back.'

After Da Vinci had finished taking notes on the corpse, he placed the cover as it had been before and buried it well, ensuring that no one should come to know about its removal from the ground, then he said, 'Come on, let's get out of here quickly,' and walked hurriedly from the cemetery. Intermittently he stopped behind trees and walls; then scanned the area ahead, careful not to be seen by anyone. Vel looked pale and wanted to get out of that eerie place as soon as possible.

Winding through the Italian streets, they reached Leonardo's residence. He took Vel to a secret path that led to the backyard of his home.

'I use this path when I don't want people to know that I am out.'

Da Vinci led him to the table where he had been experimenting and noting his inventions. He pulled out a chair and put it in front of Vel.

'Be seated, we'll talk as the work goes on.' Then, as he spoke, he pointed a finger at the heap of papers on the table. 'You may also see some of my paintings and studies, if you would like.'

Vel found in the middle of Da Vinci's living room, when he let him in, a mess of papers spread all over the table, as well as scissors, boxes, paints, and brushes.

'Of course, I am most fortunate to have the opportunity to see your original drawings and studies,' said Vel, looking at the heap on the table in the dancing candle light. He looked into the vast collection of his works, together with his notebooks, which contained drawings, scientific diagrams, and his thoughts on the nature of painting. He went over to the table and carefully studied the works of the great Da Vinci. As he shuffled a few papers, he saw the famous Mona Lisa smiling at him. He swiftly retrieved his hands and took two steps back. Oh my God! Are these really the legendary works of Leonardo?!

In the other corner of the room, Da Vinci opened his drawing tool kit, took out his notebook, and started drawing the human foot with the help of the doodle that he had just sketched at the cemetery. Vel was astonished as he watched Da Vinci writing with his left hand in neat and beautiful handwriting.

As Vel watched his magnificent drawing ability, he said, 'You are a gifted artist.'

Leonardo replied, 'Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art. I put my heart and soul into it. Into anything I do.'

'You are regarded primarily as the artist of the "Mona Lisa", which was just lying here like any other paper. Along with "The Last Supper", it occupies a unique position as the most famous, most reproduced portrait and religious painting of all time respectively. Did you know that, Mr. Leonardo?'

'Is that true?' Da Vinci raised his head and a passionless smile bloomed on his lips as if he had nothing to do with the fame. 'And those are not the perfect ones, because art is never finished; only abandoned. I have offended God and mankind because my work didn't reach the quality it should have.'

'If your work has not reached that quality, then whose works have?' Vel asked, surprised by the humble reply from Da Vinci. 'And your studies are in various fields,' Vel exclaimed as he was carefully flipping through his works. 'You put your mind on subjects including geology, anatomy, flight, and optics. You have a sketch here for the bicycle, airplane, helicopter, and parachute.' Vel could not hide his astonishment. 'Some of which are a staggering five hundred years ahead of their time!'

'I did that because I thought that every second that we live on this earth must be utilized. I still believe that I have wasted my hours.'

'You have wasted time? According to me, you have used all the time you have lived in this earth. You have studied and invented most of the things which cannot even be produced, Mr. Da Vinci.'

'Dear, Vel, if that is so, can you tell what has helped me to make such inventions and discoveries?'

'Oh my God! I was about to ask that question to you, Mr. Da Vinci. The answer from my little brain is-' Vel stopped as if he was thinking, then he said, 'Because you worked hard.'

'Of course I toil in the midnight, but I never felt that I was working because I had the curiosity. I had the passion to learn things. I wondered about nature and I always wanted to know the truth and the science behind everything. I am even ready to dig up a grave to find the treasure, the truth, the wisdom.'

'I have read many treasure hunt stories related to you, Mr. Da Vinci.'

'Ha, the biggest treasure is within you. Where else have you been looking for it?' Da Vinci laughed and flipped a page in his notebook, and said, 'My curiosity and insatiable hunger for knowledge never left me. I have been constantly observing, experimenting, and inventing. And whatever I found, discovered, or invented, I add it to my drawings. Learning never exhausts the mind. The real treasure is nothing but wisdom. The wisdom to learn and the wisdom to know the nature of things. The insight of your mind, that it can learn and achieve whatever you wish. It is that wisdom that will bring you to success and keep you there.'

'Is wisdom so important to live a successful life?'

'Why wouldn't it be? There are three classes of people: those who see, those who see when they are shown, those who do not see.'

Vel listened raptly to the great man's speech.

'Wisdom is held in high respect by God. I will tell a story. There was a man in Africa, his name was Luqman. He grew up in the jungle and walked barefoot. He was fearless and strong because of his daily encounter with the wild animals. Even in the wilderness, he thought deeply about nature and its wonder, and from the nature he learnt new and fascinating things daily. One day while sitting in the shade of a tree, he fell into a deep sleep and saw an angel before him. The angel announced that God had favored him and given him a choice: he could either become a prophet or ask for wisdom. And Luqman chose wisdom! Immediately when he awoke, he felt in complete harmony with the nature, aware that his senses and understanding had sharpened. He bowed down and praised God for this wonderful gift. Even though he was later captured by people to be a slave, because of his wisdom, he was appointed as the judge during the rule of King David.'

Da Vinci continued, 'Yes Vel, wisdom is a wonderful gift from God. In our times, we have books and in your time things may have advanced. Explore the new things, and from every little thing you will learn the wonders of nature and the creativity of God. Human subtlety will never devise an invention simpler, more beautiful, or more direct than does nature because in her inventions nothing is lacking, and nothing is superfluous. And once you understand this, live according to what you have learned.'

He went on while Vel hung on his every word, 'Vel, one can sit and curse his life for what he has been dealt, but that's not a productive way to live. We must explore in order to learn the new, and do different things, things that may be foreign and strange. I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. It is the business of little minds to shrink, but those whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles until death. It has long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sit back and let things happen to them. On the contrary, they go out and happen to things.'

'But how can I learn from this little origin?'

'The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions. You can do anything and everything. And I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do. And at last, a well-spent day brings happy sleep. As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death. And I hope now that you have received what you needed from this miraculous expedition.'

'Of course, I have gotten exactly what I need from one of the most prominent souls of the earth. I am very much grateful for what you have provided me, Mr. Da Vinci,' Vel said.

Then, as an idea occurred to him, he asked, 'Can you please suggest another great mind from whom I can seek more wisdom?'

'You can learn it from nature, and of course there are people who have learned more from the nature and their experience,' Da vinci looked down as he was thinking for a great soul to suggest, then he looked up and said, 'Sure, I can suggest a man. He was a powerful man and a brave leader.'

Unable to quench his curiosity, Vel asked, 'Who is that?'

'A political genius, a mighty ruler in tattered clothes. He led the sons of Ishmael from the zenith of the desert.'

'Sorry, Da Vinci, I am not following.'

'Umar. Umar Al Khataab. You can visit him, he is one of the most influential figures in history. He was in a true sense the architect of the Islamic Empire. A king of Arabia known for his simple, austere lifestyle.'

'Umar, who is he? I have never heard about such a ruler.'

'He was one of the most powerful and influential Muslim guardians in history and he was the companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. An expert Islamic jurist and is best known for his pious and just nature. His food consisted of barley bread and dates and his drink was water. Being a ruler, he preached in a gown that was torn and tattered in many places. He was a ruler of Arabia, who took buckets on his two shoulders, and always rode his donkey without the saddle.'

'A ruler of rich Arabia wore patched clothes, and took buckets of water for himself? Unbelievable!'

'He was so simple and just that a Persian satrap, when he came to pay his homage to Umar, found him asleep among the beggars on the steps of the mosque!'

Da Vinci continued, 'Because he was certain about his death and he knew that man is not immortal, he had on his ring were written the words, "Enough is Death as a reminder to you O' Umar." He did not seek advancement for his own family, but rather sought to advance the interests of his community. He was well known for his extraordinary willpower, intelligence, political astuteness, impartiality, justice, and care for the poor and underprivileged people.'

'Then I should not miss the chance to meet such a great human being.'

'Don't miss him if you have the opportunity to meet him, dear Vel.'

As he was about to bid him goodbye, Vel noticed a mirror on the wall. He stood there and noticed the wide-open notebook, on which Da Vinci had just been scribbling. There was a neat sketch of a human foot, and below the picture it was clearly written, 'Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!' 

##  Chapter 14

A slight cool breeze hit Vel's face. He raised his head to see the minarets and palm trees standing tall in the light of shining gibbous moon. The sky was clear and deep blue. The muddy but well-paved road was deserted and he found no one in the street that ran between the abodes of Arabs. The great Arabia, where Islam in its nascent state, is sleeping. Thank god, I am lucky to be able to visit this place at this time. He looked onto his left and right and found no one. I am here to see the great ruler Umar, but where is he? Then he looked around the deserted street. I must be in a place, like a royal palace, to see the ruler of Arabia. But in contrast, here I am on a street. Have I mistakenly reached this place? No, that's not possible. Or what, the great king of Arabia is living in the streets? Many questions ran through Vel's mind as he stood there in the street.

As he was thinking, a rustling sound, as if someone was placing steady steps on the dry leaves that lay on the street, came from around the next turn. Unintentionally, and according to the time and situation, fear gripped Vel and he tried to look for a shelter to hide himself.

'Do not worry; you don't need a shelter from the thieves in Umar's rule.'

A man appeared at the next turn. He looked like an Arab of the desert, possibly a nomad. Startled, Vel watched the man as he came closer. His fear slowly faded and he felt more comfortable.

But as Vel looked closely, he was surprised to see a whip in his left hand, which was hanging like a black cobra, as if the Arab held the snake's head in his hand and its tail trailed down to the ground, as if to make its mark on someone's skin. A slight sense of fear returned to Vel.

The man stopped right in front of Vel, and looked him from top to bottom like an alien would scan a being of Earth in a Hollywood movie.

'But... err...' Vel stammered. 'I... I... came to see Umar...,' Vel humbly said, but he could not complete the sentence, as the man pulled him to one side and gestured for him to follow.

'Come with me. You'll see Umar.'

'Amazing!' Vel looked at the tall, strong man, like a wrestler in the WWF. His head was covered in a turban and his skin was reddish white. His thick beard was colored red, long and touching his chest. Vel noticed in the moonlight that his clothes were tattered and were stitched at many places. Am I standing in front of the ruler of Arabia? I must be. The radiance from his face was cloaked by the tattered clothes, but anyone would accept him as he had a royal and divine aura.

'Where are we going? I don't have much time,' said Vel, panting and striving to catch up with the man.

'You'll see the purpose of your coming. Keep silent and come with me,' said the man.

Slightly unsure, Vel followed the man. It was a cold night. As they walked further, Vel understood that they were on their way to the distant hamlets on the outskirt of Madinah. The man made the round of the tents and houses of the Arabs, examining them intently until they had been to all. Then when they were about to leave, suddenly he stopped and pointed his fingers to a fire glowing far off.

'Can you see the light?' the Arab whispered to Vel.

'Yes! That's a little hut. And it could be someone who might have made a fire for heat.'

'But... Can you hear the children's crying?'

'Yes,' Vel nodded his head.

'Mmm, let us go and see,' said the man.

What am I going to learn on this cold night from this little house, Vel thought. And where is Umar? Is Umar staying in this hut?

The man walked at a brisk pace and Vel followed him. As they reached the tent, to their surprise, they saw a woman sitting with her children around her. She was stirring a pot on fire while her children cried incessantly.

As she continued mixing, she kept saying to her kids, 'My children, food will be ready in a while, and then I will serve you.'

Leaning on the thin wall of the abode, being careful not to apply too much weight as the wall may crumble, they watched the lady and the children for a while. All the while the woman was repeating to her children to wait as the food was not yet ready.

'Excuse me,' Vel whispered to the man. 'Why are we standing in here? Let us go back.'

'Shh.' The man put his finger on his lips, and said, 'Wait just a bit longer.'

The moon in the sky moved down towards the distant horizon. It had been a long time since they they'd come from the Arabian street. Vel saw nothing useful there. He looked at the man and then at the lady, who was still cooking, and finally at the crying children. He gazed on all of them one by one, and as he grew restless, Vel opened his mouth once more.

'Hello, what's the use of standing here like this? If someone sees us they will suspect something's wrong.'

Then the man said, 'All right, I will go in and inquire. You stand right behind this wall and watch.' And with that, he entered, and Vel followed his advice.

The man knocked on the door, and as the lady opened it, he said, 'Peace be with you, O aunt!'

She returned his salutation warmly. 'Peace be onto you, O stranger.'

'May I ask why these children are crying?'

'They have not eaten food today.'

'Why don't you serve them? What is in the pot?'

'Please,' she said, 'Come over and see for yourself what is inside.' She opened the lid and showed it to the man.

Seeing what was inside, the man looked shocked. 'My God, this is cruel, these are just pebbles!' The man was devastated to see the pebbles in the container. He was tensed as if his mighty Arabian valor had melted at the sight of the children's weary faces. 'What is the purpose of doing this?'

'Yes, they are just hard, inedible stones. We can't even break them. I have been acting as I am making food for the little ones,' she cried, tears slipping down her cheeks. 'It is only to divert their attention until my children become tired of crying and fall asleep, for I have nothing to feed them on.'

Deeply hurt, the man looked at the little children. With misted eyes, he asked, 'How is it that you are in this condition?'

'I have no husband, brother, or father, I am all alone. It is up to me to feed both myself and my children.'

'Why don't you put up your problem to your ruler, Umar?'

'May God not spare Umar's life, and may God pull down his standard! For by God, he had oppressed me!'

When the man heard these words, he trembled. In a shaky voice he asked, 'O aunt! In what way has Umar oppressed you?'

'My children lost their father in a war,' she told him. 'I'm going to claim my rights from the ruler on the Judgment Day. These children's father died in the war and the king does not know that I am here all alone. I have nothing. And the ruler is sleeping comfortably in his bed.'

'O lady, if you didn't go to the king and tell him about this matter, how is he going to know?'

She replied, 'By God! Surely it is the duty of a good king to inquire into the needs of all his subjects. A person in dire poverty may perhaps have been overcome by a sense of shame, and thus prevented from going to the king to inform him of his condition. It is, therefore, the duty of Umar to inquire into the condition of the poor amongst his subjects, rather than the poor man going to the king to inform him of his condition. Neglecting to do this constitutes as an act of oppression on the part of a good king. It is the law of God, and whoever transgresses it is surely doing wrong.'

'O aunt! You speak the truth; now keep the children occupied, and I will return to you immediately.'

The man then went out and Vel followed him. Night was nearing its end. He followed the Arab of the desert, slightly growing irritated as he could not see the man. There were street dogs barking at them, but they didn't dare to approach once they saw the man's whip waving back and forth as he walked.

After a long brisk walk they reached a building that looked like a storehouse. The Arab had the key and he opened the large door. He entered and Vel followed him as he had nowhere else to go.

There were many sacks piled up. He searched for something, and once he had found it, pulled out one of the bags and lifted it onto his shoulder. A white powder came out from the tiny holes of the sack and it powdered his long beard. Then he moved swiftly to carry another jar that was stored a little away from them. Then they left the building and the Arab locked the door.

'Come, let us go quickly or else the children will fall asleep. This is wheat flour and ghee,' he said to Vel. Then he picked up the pace as if he had some train to catch that he couldn't miss. As he walked, the flour continued to fall on his face, turning his eyelids, beard, and mustache white.

Vel offered, 'Dear man of Arabia, may I help you? Transfer the bag from your shoulder and let me carry it.'

Panting like an ox in a field, the man answered, 'No, by God! You will not be present to bear my sins and burdens for me on the Day of Judgment. Carrying a mountain of iron is better than having to account for an unjust act, be it great or small, especially as has been done to this old woman who has been diverting her children with small pebbles. Oh! What a great sin it must be in the eyes of God! Let us hasten and go, my friend! Before the children get tired of crying, and fall asleep.'

Confused, Vel just accompanied him until they reached the old woman's tent. The man then put down the bag of flour and the jar of ghee.

The lady was surprised by their return.

The man of desert said, 'O dear lady, may I help you in making food?'

Still surprised, she gestured her with hands towards the fireplace. Then the Arab went forward to make the fire, but he found there was no more firewood. So he went out and fetched some wood, then tried to kindle them. The wood, which was still green, didn't light easily. So he bent towards the fire and started blowing gently on it. Smoke was rising up through his long beard and Vel was worried that fire would catch on his long beard. Tears were pouring profusely out of his eyes due to the smoke. He was persistent until the fire blazed strong enough to melt the ghee. He then began to stir the flour and ghee to make food for the hungry children.

All this time the children were shrieking around him. When the food was ready, he asked the old woman for a bowl, which she brought to him. He poured out the cooked food into the bowl and let it cool, then served the children around him. He continued to serve the children until they were content. After everyone had eaten, he started playing with the little kids and crawling around them like a horse, making them laugh and giggle.

Seeing all these generous acts from a stranger, the lady came forward with tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. She said, 'May Allah bless you. You are better than Umar himself, the king of Arabia. He takes our welfare onto his shoulders and forgets about us.' Then she enquired, 'O my dear brother, may I ask who you are?'

The man replied coldly, 'O dear lady, I am the king, Umar!'

'Oh my king!' She was shocked to hear those words from the nomad. She took a step back. 'But, O my king, I was just...'

'You are right, my dear lady. It's my responsibility and my duty to look after everyone under my reign. But how was I to know about you? You should have come to me. Anyway, I will order a pension from the public treasury for all the widows and their children to receive each month.'

Then Umar, bidding her goodbye, left the tent.

'Majesty, I too did not know that you were actually Umar.'

The man in the tattered clothing said, 'O Vel! When I saw the old woman diverting her children with pebbles, I felt as if mountains had quaked and fallen upon my back until I brought wheat and fed them until they were satisfied. I felt light when I sat down playing and laughing with them. It was then that I felt that these mountains had fallen off my back.'

Umar then returned to his own house. Vel finally understood that the man in the in rags was Umar, the caliphate, the king of Arabia, fearlessly walking alone on the streets of Medina to see his people's welfare.

As they reached the house, he invited Vel to enter with him.

'Now come, let us speak. I know how you ended up here with me.'

Umar sat on the muddy platform where he used to sleep. Vel had seen the threadbare robes hanging on a hanger and the dry dates and water jar in the corner. Too simple to be a king! Why does the king of Arabia reject worldly riches? he wondered.

In the little abode of mud and stone, the man made himself ready by ablution and prepared himself for prostration. The dwelling was small but the divine presence was highly effective. Vel saw no one else in the vicinity, except a man who was on his knees, head bowed so far forward that it was touching the ground, like Vel had seen when he had visited his Muslim friends. He waited.

Umar completed his prostration quickly and he said, 'Vel, I was begging for forgiveness from God. And we must be grateful to the God for what we get, no?'

You are grateful to God in this midnight for this tethered cloth, muddy hut, dried dates, and the enormous responsibility? Now I realize why great people are called great.

Umar continued, 'I like your attitude, your courage to stake your life and gain wisdom.'

'Thanks Umar, I am the only one to see all these people in one life time, in one short week. I have been blessed with this opportunity.'

'That's a great blessing.'

'But you, the ruler of rich Arabia, dwell in such a hut?'

'Dear Vel, live in simplicity. We have to answer to God for everything that we use excessively and without reason. That is, we are answerable for everything except for the food taken when we are hungry, for the clothes to cover our bodies, and the space that we use for simple shelter,' Umar said. 'Ok let's come to your matter. Why did you want to end your precious life?'

Vel stood silent. He just looked down. Now he realized he had no answer to that question.

Umar said, 'You must be happy that you at least have father. You don't know the pain of being a fatherless child. There are many. It is very difficult to be an orphan. Muhammad, peace be upon him, was one. You're lucky that your parents are still alive.'

'My dear king, that's true. But he doesn't understand my feelings. And I feel like I am a failure.' Vel tried to explain his problem.

'You must have learnt the lessons of life from other great people: the importance of trying hard and being persistent until you achieve your dream.'

'Yes. I was sufficiently coached by those people. Do you want to say the same to me?'

'No. I don't want to waste your precious time. All those qualities you learned are the pillars of success, and what I am going to tell you is the steel of those pillars which helps them to stand erect. Before that, I want to tell you that you should not resent the condition in which you live. Successful people are not born with great talents and did not have great luxuries in life.'

Sitting on the raised bed, Umar continued, 'I was born in Mecca, I belonged to a middle-class family. In my youth, I used to tend to my father's camels in the plains near Mecca. My father, Al-Khattab, was a ruthless man. He used to make me work hard; if I didn't work he used to beat me and he would work me to exhaustion. Has your father ever beat you?'

'No.'

'So, you have a better father than mine, and many others in the world! No?'

'It seems so.'

'Despite my family situation, I learned to read and write and learned martial arts, horse riding, and wrestling. I actually became a renowned wrestler.'

'Oh, that's great,' exclaimed Vel.

'And later I became a merchant and made several journeys to Rome and Persia, where I met various scholars and analyzed the Roman and Persian societies closely. As Muhammad started preaching the message of Islam, I, alongside others in Mecca, opposed Islam and threatened to kill him. He resolved to defend the pagans of Arabia. I was adamant and cruel in opposing Muhammad and very prominent in persecuting the Muslims. And you know, Vel, I was among the first to conclude that Muhammad had to be murdered in order to finish Islam. I firmly believed in the unity of the Quraish, the Meccans, and saw the new faith of Islam as a cause of division and discord among the people.

'One day, we, the opponents of Islam, got together and decided to kill Muhammad and his followers and wipe his teachings from the face of the earth. I was the one detailed for killing Muhammad. Muhammad had very few followers. As we had decided, I stepped out to kill him, with my sword unsheathed. However, God had a different plan. On the way I had a change of heart, by listening to my sister reading the Quran. Its beauty and meaning converted me to be a Muslim.'

'You were impressed by the new religion,' Vel concluded.

'Yes, the truth in the new religion. But, I would like to tell you that Islam is not a new religion. Muhammad, peace be upon him, is not the founder of Islam.'

'Muhammad was not the founder of Islam? But we learnt it that way in school.'

'Muhammad was only a reviver of God's given way of living, the same religion that Solomon taught centuries ago, and what Abraham brought to the people. He only taught what Jesus, Moses, and David taught the people to do. About God and our duty to submit ourselves to Him. You are lucky to meet some of them in your life time. You are one of the luckiest souls in this world.'

'But, I am afraid to tell you that nowadays people attack each other in the name of religion.'

'I know, Satan is at large and always persistent... when Muhammad ordered his followers to migrate to Medina due to the torture of their enemies, they usually migrated at night due to fear, but I have never feared those people. I left openly during the day saying: "Anyone who wants to make his wife a widow and his children orphans should come and meet me there behind that cliff."'

'Wow, that's real bravado! I heard that you were one of the bravest men in that time, and you had a key role in spreading Islam. Was it difficult?'

'Islam is now supreme in Arabia. After Abu Bakar, the mantle of the Caliphate has fallen on my shoulders. I swear it before God that I never coveted this office. I wished that it would have fallen to some other person worthier than me. But now, the responsibility of leading the Muslims has been vested in me. So I assured the people that I would not run away from my post, and that I would make an earnest effort to discharge the onerous duties of the office to the best of my capacity in accordance with the injunctions of Islam. In the performance of my duties, I seek guidance from the Holy Book, and follow the examples set by the Holy Prophet and Abu Bakr.'

Umar stopped for a moment, took a long breath and continued, 'Vel, if a dog dies hungry on the banks of the River Euphrates, I will be responsible for dereliction of duty.' He smiled at him, and his shiny white teeth sparkled even in the dim light of the oil lamp.

As they spoke, Vel looked at his watch and grew tense. Understanding his concern, Umar told him, 'Stay with me for few more minutes, then you can go home.' Then he made himself ready for the Morning Prayer. He invited Vel to accompany him to the mosque. The city of Medina was hit by the early morning grey light before the sunrise.

As they left the hut, they saw some people hurriedly walking past them. They said, 'Peace be to you, Umar.'

Umar replied to them and then said to Vel, 'This is the month of Ramadan. People had their morning food before the dawn and are now walking to the mosque for the prayer.'

Vel noted that no one was looking at him, he did not care either. He just walked along with Umar.

The great man led Vel into the streets. As people saw him, they nodded as a sign of respect and wished him well. He returned it in the same way. Vel thought about the ruler of Arabia walking the streets alone to see his subjects. The people were very happy to come and talk with him like a normal man.

'Respected king, I have a question,' Vel said.

Yes? Go ahead, Vel.'

'You said Muhammad was an orphan, so how did he become the leader of all Arabia?'

'I can teach you an important quality with the help of Muhammad's life and teachings. He was a normal man until age forty, an illiterate. His father died before he was born and his mother also died when he turned six. As a young child, he was looked after by his uncle and in his adulthood, he became a merchant, married, and lived a normal life. With his business, he soon became a rich man. He had a normal life like everyone else in Arabia. Things suddenly changed when he had a revelation at age forty. Initially he felt very strange and was too shy to talk to the people. He did not tell anyone about it, other than his wife and some close friends, for many days. But the orders from God kept coming. So he stepped out and talked about praying One God. It was not an easy task, Vel. The wealthy merchants of Mecca thought that they would lose their status and businesses as Islam spread, due to the Islamic belief that there was only one God and the rest were idols. Secondly, there were classes and castes and slavery, which were all at the brink of collapse as Islam preached that all were equal before God.

'Initially, they thought Muhammad was lunatic and his preaching would eventually end. But the power of God did not stop; it slowly swept over the land, gathering a following.'

'Many people, myself included, tortured him, and as I said, I was one among the people who wanted to kill him and erase his vision from the world. We put the intestines of a camel around his neck when he was praying in the Ka'ba, the holy mosque. We killed his followers. We took away everything from him. Though he had become a wealthy merchant in his youth, finally he had to leave Mecca. In the initial days he lived the jungle, eating leaves and shrubs. For the first ten years he only had a few countable followers, and the by the next ten years he became the ruler, all because he was optimistically persistent.'

Returning a salute to a guard of the morning watch, Umar continued, 'Like Muhammad, you must be an optimist, Vel. He was optimistic to the core. For the sake of his people's welfare. An optimist develops various coping skills to fight against failures. Life is more meaningful in a positive atmosphere. Life is healthy and abundant and without stress because an optimist believes that things happen for a reason. He does not delve into the worrying past, hence, his shoulder is light and he is always filled with the fresh air of happiness. He respects everyone and is respected in turn. The most important trait of an optimist is that he is always persistent. He is patient and always hopeful about the good things to come into his life. Therefore, he works harder for his success and rises from every failure. All of this brings productivity. He is focused on solving problems by creative thinking, looking for different and vivid ways of solving things, rather than sinking into the problem. He is not irritated by little things, because he is busy making new things and sees life in a bigger picture. He is self-motivated and always has an aura of enthusiasm around him; his motivation and the smile on his lips are contagious. He sets his mood himself, not letting circumstances set it for him. He has positive relationships and deep bonds. He forgives easily, unaffected by the meager behavior of meager men. He is flexible. He is spiritually connected with the Supreme Power, therefore he has peace of mind. He believes in his dream and he is successful; if not right now, he believes one day he will be victorious. And he will be.'

'Muhammad had an aim and he, optimistically believing in God, persisted' said Vel, understanding the fact.

'Yes, he had a divine goal, and he persisted,' Umar agreed.

'We are what we think. I remember reading a quote like that once,' said Vel.

'Yes. The difference between happiness and sorrow is the selection of thinking process. Whether it is a positive outlook or negative, that determines the quality of our life,' Umar stressed. 'Good expectations are a feature of belief, and nothing can be achieved without belief and hope. If we look into religions and their sacred books where the wisdom hides, we don't have the liberty of being pessimistic and leading a miserable life. Be optimistic and trust in God that nothing is impossible for Him and for us if we believe. Be optimistic and good shall be found.'

Umar went on, 'Though optimism is a way of life, it also brings other attitudes, such as perseverance, patience, kindness, etcetera. A man never struggles to get up time and time again, after each failure, if he has a positive attitude. He is patient about his oncoming success and has an infallible faith in himself and the Supreme Creator. He is never reluctant to give to charity because he believes the richness is on his side and it will come to him ultimately, if not now, soon in the future. The prophet mentioned once that God said: "I give what my servant is expecting from me." A pessimist says it's a bad weather, an optimist waits for the rain to come as he believes it's the grace of God, because we cannot live without water.'

'You mean the trouble in my life is for my growth? We should not concentrate on our problems, rather we must see the big picture?'

'This universe, the creation of God, is extremely large. My religion says that the human life on this earth is like the water drops stuck on a needle which was dipped and taken out of the great ocean. The comparison says we are nothing in front of the power of God and the magnanimity of the universe. If a Power can create such a thing, do you not believe that the same Force can make you happy, healthy, wealthy, and give you whatever you want?'

'Of course, I believe in God's power. I have enough proof.' Said Vel.

'God has been called ninety-nine names in Islam, including: the Forgiving, the Giver, the Provider, the Light, the Generous, the Merciful, The Opener, the Just, the Patient, the Thankful, the Loving, the Enricher, the Guide... Once you understand the names of God, you will never be worried and you will never be submerged in sorrow, because all the names have such a positive power. If we know God is the Enricher, shall we think of poverty? If we know the God is the Opener of opportunities, shall we be depressed if a door closes in front of us? If He is Just, we definitely feel that whatever happens to us because of His justification, and that there is some reason behind those happenings in our life. Surely, we will be happy and optimistic. If we believe in the opposite, we are not really understanding the power of His names and what God can do and we become disbelievers. If you fear poverty, you don't believe He is really the Enricher, the Generous, and the Provider. If you fear that your efforts will be fruitless, you don't believe that He is the Opener and the Guide. You don't believe that He opens doors and opportunities for you and that He rewards you for all of the good you do. Therefore it is said, besides faith in God, expecting good from Him is an act of sublime merit. There is a Prophetic saying, "Hoping for good is also an act of worship of God."'

'Vel,' Umar continued. 'Everything was created in duality. Positive and negative, good and bad. The same rule is applied to the negative part of creation- with the negative part of our thoughts. We repeatedly worry about our past and invite more tragic events into our life in the future. As we repeatedly think of bad things they eventually come to us: the result of attracting them into our life. God warns us about negative thoughts in the Quran in the chapter Al-Israa- 11: "Man prays for evil just as he prays for good; and Man is ever hasty."'

'But who would pray evil upon themselves?' Vel asked.

'You are right. No one intentionally does. It may be the worst expectations from our mind, the repeated thoughts and indulgence of negativity. The pessimistic thoughts. You are what you think you are, and we become what we think, great or small, good or bad, wealthy or poor.'

'I should have been optimistic. I should have stopped complaining about my father for his poverty and his behavior due to it. I was wrong in committing suicide. I realize that now, dear Umar.' Vel's eyes welled up.

'Vel, thanks be to God that you realized it. Listen to this saying from the Quran, 'Satan promises you poverty and encourages evil doing, and God promises you forgiveness from Him and abundance.' Read it again. Who brings you poverty? And who brings you abundance? Poverty is the promise of Satan, while forgiveness and abundance are God's promises. Satan was persistent in filling your heart with hatred and leading you to commit suicide.

'Vel, you should know that poverty is not the lack of money or material things. It is a state of mind. Likewise, wealth is the feeling of abundance and gratitude toward God. Nothing is going to make you happy from the outside world unless you are ready to be happy with what you have. And the feeling of abundance and the optimism for a better future combined with great faith in God brings you riches. And that's the real treasure. God has created us in divine reflection. Therefore, we must be creative and optimistic, not destructive and pessimistic. Our thoughts make us who we are. Even we can say it is unhealthy to have destructive thoughts. The prophet spoke of the liability of those who are pessimistic: "If a person says people are perished then he is the most perished of them," and, "Ask God with firm conviction that He will answer your prayer." Optimism is the belief in the certainty of good things in our lives. Yes, God will answer your prayer if you have that "firm conviction." It is the certainty in realizing your dream. Everything is possible for you, if only you believe in firm certainty.'

'Yes, I can do it. I can live a happy life,' said Vel. The morning breeze carried with it a fresh scent. He took a long, deep breath and his hope rose.

'Action and a productive life are the byproduct of optimism and hope. Inaction and a stressful life are of pessimism. A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. What do you see?' Umar asked, looking intently at Vel.

'I will see the opportunity.'

'Focus on what you need rather than what you don't. Do not worry about the failures. Think vividly about the victory.'

Then as the Adaan, the prayer call, was heard again, people rushed to the mosque for the Morning Prayer. As Vel followed Umar into the beautiful mosque, he felt an inner peace that he had never felt in his lifetime. A few minutes later, the prayer begun. All the people gathered there stood in lines and files to prostrate themselves to God, the Almighty.

Umar said to Vel, 'Now it is time for me to go and lead the prayer. Remember, without being happy there is no possibility of concentrating the mind. Without concentration of the mind there can be no meditation and without meditation it is not possible to have inner awakening or soul-cognition. Finally, Vel, before leaving I want to tell you once again, do not worry about your present struggle, the Quran assures you that, "With every hardship comes ease."'

Then he stood as the imam, the leader, and started reciting the Quranic verses.

Alhamdu Lillahi Rabbil Aalameen...

Praise be to GOD, Lord of the universe  
Most Gracious, Most Merciful  
Master of the Day of Judgment  
You alone we worship; You alone we ask for help

Guide us in the right path,  
The path of those whom You blessed; not of those who have deserved wrath, nor of the strayers

As Vel stood there and listened, he dived deep into a spiritual place where he felt only the power of the Great God. This time he did not wonder how he came to know the meaning of the verses he was hearing. He was very well convinced about the power of miracles. He felt streams of tears flowing from his eyes. He felt as if all his impurities were wiped out and his mind became clear, all sorrow terminated.

Umar, the imam, was in his own meditation, concentrating all his energy onto Allah. He continued to recite Quran as the followers silently listened. Then suddenly, Vel heard something he did not expect as one of the verses from the Quran, from chapter Al Baqara, meant, 'And We gave Jesus, the Son of Mary, clear proofs, and We supported him with the Pure Spirit.'

'Jesus... in the Quran, Jesus...' Vel mumbled.

## Chapter 15

The world knew Him as a great teacher, spiritual prophet, and moral leader. The preacher from Nazareth, Jesus. He was sitting between the trees and his face was shining in the darkness. There were his disciples around him in different places: behind the trees and mounds, watching guard, as if there was an imminent threat for their leader's life. Yes that was true. He was in danger.

'Come, my son.' Jesus spread his hands out toward Vel. One of his disciples kept on staring into the darkness as if they did not notice Vel's coming. That could be Peter. Vel guessed.

'Jesus, the great. I- I-' Vel could not complete his sentence. It was as if he'd lost his ability to speak.

Jesus came forward and touched his head, and Vel felt like he lost all his weight, and was floating. He stared at Jesus, unable to stop himself from shedding tears.

'Do not let your heart be troubled. Trust in God,' said Jesus Christ. 'The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and He saves those whose spirits have been crushed.'

'I trust in God, but I feel like nothing comes to me, Jesus.'

'So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you.' Jesus continued, 'You might have heard this before.'

'Yes, but the meaning never occurred to me. I never find time to be with God.'

'Vel, we desperately need God but don't really want Him most of the time. Spending time with God is the key to our strength and success in all areas of life. Be sure that you never try to work God into your schedule, but always work your schedule around Him.' As Jesus was speaking, Vel stood silently and in complete attention, taking in every bit of the wisdom.

'I will change my schedule to be with God most of the time, Jesus.'

'Anything under God's control is never out of control. It is good that you want to be a successful man, but remember my son, do not be greedy when you grow up. No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.'

'I am all ears, Jesus,' Vel said, respectfully.

'Love. Love will bring you peace. Love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.'

'I will love all.' Vel had no second thought, he said automatically, as if what he was hearing were the ultimate truths.

'Then you will find peace. That is the real success. Love your God and you must love your neighbor as yourself. For what shall it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, yet suffers the loss of his soul because he does not love his God and his neighbor?

'Even if you find everything else in this world, you will find peace only when you love. Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.'

'I tried to love my father, but I was not able to put my heart into loving him. Can I love my father again like I did when I was little kid?' Vel asked.

'Of course. You should know about love. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails. Do not hate your parents or fellow human beings, Vel,' said Jesus. 'Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs. A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Jesus looked around in the darkness. Vel followed him by looking at the darkness and found the disciple looking into the darkness, ever ready and alert. Light from the moon was penetrating through the tree branches and looked as if a blessing being showered directly from heaven. 'Before your father, be completely humble and gentle; be patient, and bear with one another in love. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. Whoever does not love does not know God.'

'But I fear my father, he is rude.'

'There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us. And over all the virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.'

'I love my mother and my friends, Jesus.'

'That's good Vel. However, loving your relatives and family is not just enough Vel, if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. Therefore, you must learn to love your enemies and that brings the real fruit.'

'But my father never understands me, Jesus. He always scolds me and I cannot love him, even if I forced myself to love him, because he has done something really cruel. You might know, Jesus.'

'Your father is not your enemy, Vel. Love your father. How can you say that he doesn't love you? Do not criticize him, because he is the one who looked after you when you were young and feeble. He fed you, he cleaned you, and he protected you from danger. Now he may be wrong at times, but before pointing a finger at him, look into your heart, and decide whether hating your father will do any good. You are in no place to judge others. Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to cast a stone. You will find no one. And we'll find more time in good things if we don't waste it in thinking bad of others. God forgives he who repents, for He is the most forgiving.'

Jesus rose up and walked between the trees. Vel silently followed him. Jesus put his hand on Vel's shoulder and continued, 'It is the feeling of love and kindness toward fellow human beings that makes a man good or bad. Love is the line between the good and bad which differentiates the two paths. Human lives are dependent on the kindness of others, and everyone is indebted to mankind. We have to repay everyone with love.'

As they were walking, there were other men sleeping deeply on the raised mud heap under a tree. 'Every success starts with the family. The family is a place where minds come in contact with one another. If these minds love one another, the home will be as beautiful as a flower garden. But if these minds get out of harmony with one another it is like a storm that wreaks havoc. Where there is love in the heart, man finds no fault of others. Always be mindful of the kindness and not the faults of others. Then your life will be better and wonderful. And even if you find the faults of others, you must have the broadmindedness to forgive them, to forget their bad deeds. Let's not think of it, let's not speak of it.'

There was a rustling and whispering as the guarding disciple, awoke another man who was sleeping. Handing over of duty, Vel understood. Jesus continued 'A heart without love is like dried up desert. Love is like the rain which brings the flowers of happiness to blossom. **Be kind, for whenever kindness becomes part of something, it beautifies it. Whenever it is taken from something, it leaves it tarnished.** What happens when you hate people? Your blood pressure rises. Unwanted, harmful hormones are secreted in our body and slowly and steadily they kill from within. Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. You are damaged by your anger, more than what we intend to instill on others.'

That's right. Vel shook his head, realizing the uneasiness he felt whenever he was angry.

'The purpose of religion is to uphold the morals and keep the human race alive. It can happen only when love between human beings is intact in their hearts. God says, "My love is guaranteed for two who love one another for My sake; My love is guaranteed for two who visit one another for My sake; My love is guaranteed for two who help one another for My sake; My love is guaranteed to two who uphold ties with one another for My sake."'

Vel was hypnotized by Jesus' words. But he was aware that he was standing in front of the man who was aware of the past, present, and future like any other prophet.

Jesus continued, 'Love all and hate none. That is what we are here for. To love, to help. The enemy of love is hate and hatred causes anger. It is one of the basic human emotions. One minute of uncontrolled anger can destroy a castle made by years of love. It shuts down the brain for a while and whatever you do at that time will only lead to regret in the future. In a momentary madness, people shoot their sweethearts and later repent for that single moment of madness for their whole life. You cannot rewind the time back. You cannot undo what has already been done.'

Vel inquired honestly, 'But Jesus, I am taken over by my anger, even if I don't want to angry at my father it still lies deep inside me and surfaces at times. How can I get rid of it?'

'You cannot put a full stop to it. Because Satan is also persistently trying to ruin you. He will do whatever he can to lead you astray and ultimately lead you to hell. What you can do is forget your father's past faults and forgive him, for the sake of God, and that will control the anger. If you want to be _free, just let it go_ _._ _You would be wise to do that_ _._ _So you will be guarded by the God_ _._ _'_

_'Yes, if that's what I can do to control the anger_ _,_ _I will_ just let it go,' Vel said.

'If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow. Anger is actually a consequence of some other emotions, like hurt or feeling a lack of importance. Understand that feeling and find the cure for that and your anger will subside as well. There are many ways to control anger. If anger comes when you are standing, take a seat. Lie down, if anger comes when you are sitting. This is nothing but reversing the force - changing the mental state by changing the physical state. Lashing out is tension and diving in is relaxation. You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger. The strongest person among you is not a wrestler, but he who controls his anger. Anger is caused by Satan, and when anger comes to you must ask for God's sanctuary from Satan.'

'You mean, my anger is caused by Satan?'

'Satan is always around us to make trouble. So we should be careful and analyze whether what we are doing is right. We must try to put ourselves in other people's shoes, and must ask ourselves, "What would I have done if I were him?" Empathy shifts the paradigm. In this way, you will come to love your father. Anger repels people away from you. If you are angry continuously and lose your temper for every little thing in your life, people will not come to you, and in the end you will die alone. Some people get angry as a plea for attention, but there are better ways to get attention. You need not be angry to show you are the head of the team, or family.'

'But my father often gets angry at me,' said Vel.

'I will pray for your father, Vel. When we angry we lose control and utter words which should not be used. More than the root cause of the anger, the words kill a person's self-esteem. So control your anger, and think well before you take action when you are persuaded by anger, for anger is Satan and it kills relationships. Love your fellow human beings and never hate them. Every one craves for love as we do. That's why it needs constant appreciation and love. We should not abandon people, as abandonment feels like a death sentence.'

Vel stood like a stone, taking in the mesmerizing words of the great Soul; he listened calmly to the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. 'But Jesus, I'd like to tell this wonderful message to all, but how can I? Can't you come again to tell them all?'

'I will come again at the end of this world, to save the people from Satan and his danger, but until then, I still come to you and I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. For me, they feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive the guilty, welcome the unwanted, care for the ill, and love their enemies.'

'People talk about God with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him with their lifestyle. Success is not about building a completely sheltered house in a meadow where you spend leisurely time with your beautiful wife and young children, where you have no troubles and can avoid the stress of life. Success is found in the middle of an ocean of problems, by learning to love like me, or other messengers of God, and hence, to love the poor and love the broken.

'Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. Live a humble life that pleases God, not men.'

'Yes, Jesus. In God I trust.'

'Amen! Never give up! Love people, your father, and all with whom you cross paths, and you will be successful. Trust in God's timing!'

Vel dropped to his knees and repeated the words as Jesus prayed. 'Oh my Lord, I acknowledge I am a sinner, forgive me and come into my heart and be my Lord, my Savior and my Redeemer. Help me to live for You and know You love me with an everlasting love. In Your name I pray. Amen.'

'Amen.'

Then Jesus turned to Vel, 'God bless you. Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than this.'

The alarm went off and this time Vel did not snooze it, but woke up and sat up on the bed. The gray light from the window was slowly brightening up his room. Chilled, but unpolluted, air rushed in as he opened the window. He took a long breath to fill his lungs with fresh air. He felt as if this was something he had not experienced in a long time. Before sunrise! Quite cool, not bad! Thank you, God, for providing me with another beautiful morning. He felt as if the morning freshness heralded a new life all over again, as if nothing horrible had happened to him in the past.

Confidently, he left the room and walked towards his father.

## Chapter 16

Marine Drive. Five years, eight months, and twelve days later. It was the same as it had been five years back. Vel looked at the part of the drive that passed under his building. It was in the same spot, five years ago that I tried to kill myself. I walked alone as if I was a total failure. A wry smile spread across his face, as he sat on the window sill of his large office in the costly building that looked out over the Arabian Sea. When his manager had been looking for a building, Vel had made it known that he wanted an office that had a window which overlooked the Arabian Sea.

Today, he was not a total failure and a poor boy, but a business magnet, one of the millionaires of India. A self-made man. There few newspapers and magazines that did not praise him for his successful rags-to-riches journey. He had made "Morgan's Dosa" an international business. Though it started in India, it had spread its franchisees to many other continents. He had created many dosas, which had become a lifestyle now for many people around the world. The board of his company occupied most of the malls in the major cities of the world, and was headquartered in Marine Drive, Mumbai.

Vel had named his company after his father, whose name was Murugan. He had changed the Murugan to Morgan for the sake of attracting the masses.

Dots of lights streamed down the street, leaving a fading line as speeding cars raced past on the drive. Gazing down from the top of the building, all of the people looked the same. The same Chowpatty, but filled with different people who had come from various parts of the world to spend a relaxing evening at the beach. There was big hoard on the beach, gathered just under a large sign that read, "Morgan's Dosa."

Years ago, in the same place, Vel had tried for another expedition after Jesus. He recollected that night.

'Have you learned the wisdom for the success of life?' the light asked.

'Yes. I am learning. Tonight I want to see...'

'You cannot time travel anymore, dear Vel,' the light interrupted.

'Why? I want to see some more people.'

'No, you cannot. You don't have seven years to sacrifice in return.'

Vel looked at the light, surprised and dejected.

The light continued, 'You are short of one year three months and 18 days to complete seven years.'

'It means...' Vel quickly calculated. 'I will die after 5 years and 8 months and 12 days?'

'Yes. The day of your death is on the twelfth day after five years and eight months. All the best Vel.'

'Wait...'

The light disappeared. There was nothing left except total blackness.

He knew that he would have very few years to live. He was grateful for the seven nights he had spent with the great people who had imparted upon him great lessons. It had been an important time, as he was sure that the stress that he had been feeling in his lifetime has vanished and he had learnt to be optimistic about life and to work towards his goal. So he was ready to go out and face the days to come, to face his father. He had no apprehensions either mentally or physically.

The day is now. The hour is now. I will be dead within the next hour. I learnt the lessons of life. I am a successful man. A tiny seed knows that in order to grow, it needed to be dropped in the dirt, covered in darkness, and struggle to reach the light. I am that tiny seed.

In his office, at midnight, there was a welcoming ambience of warmth and ease, something he had not felt in a long time. He knew he had only a few minutes left to live.

Vel turned around and returned to his table where an electronic clock was ticking. An alarm was set few years ago. The clock beeped, indicating that he only had fifty-nine minutes left. The last hour.

Vel sat there watching the flashing blip on the screen. Tears leaked from his eyes. They dripped and wet his fingers as he leaned forward and looked closely at the screen. He did not wipe them away. He stayed there for a while, summoning the strength to write a letter to his sweetheart. He had to tell someone about all of the things that had happened to him. Someone very close. And that was none other than his sweetheart, Gowri.

He opened his laptop, opened his email account, and clicked the compose button. The email was addressed to Gowri. He started tapping the keys. The words made meaningful sentences that came from his heart.

'My dear Gowri,

I'm sorry for what I have done to you.

I went through an incredible experience and I believe God has touched me. He showed me the pathway I was going down and he let me witness the tremendous pain it could cause me. I thought my life was miserable. In reality, it was not that bad; however, I felt very sorrowful. I traveled down the wrong path and cursed everything that had happened in my life. I blamed God for everything. I blamed everyone. Even you.

After my miraculous experience and the things I have witnessed I never blame God. The barrier between me and God was removed and now I know what it means to be on this earth. I pray for everyone, even for my enemies now. I know God's love should be all I need and I feel selfish to ask the Lord for an extended life and wife and kids someday.

I have made mistakes. But now I'm a dreamer, a courageous, a believer, an optimist. I had never been so before that incident, but now I am.

As you know, my parents are good people, but love was not present and this was the cause of my bad behavior, such as running away from home. Many days I sat in lonely places, looking at the waves, the moon and other natural bodies. I remember thinking, 'God, if you are out there, help me.' And one night I stepped into the Arabian Sea with the intention of killing myself. You may not believe me, but it is true that I felt I was taken up by a light, and an overwhelming peace and love filled me like never before. I talked with the Light and I was blessed to see many great people like Newton, Solomon, and others. I learned the lessons from them to be a successful man; moreover, a good human being. I want the people to know it is never too late to fall in love with God, who first loved us. Today is the day of surrender into the greatest Glory and Love.

Life is not easy. That is what I have learnt in my short time on Earth. But if you believe and work hard, there is nothing that we cannot achieve. All the successful people in this world, living and dead, all the same, knew this secret. They did it and anyone walking on the path of success can do miracles. The power is not outside, but within everybody.

I was about to kill myself. But miraculously I have learnt this truth from the great people of the past. I still doubt that you will believe me. That's why I will not explain to you all of those episodes that happened with me. But one thing is for sure, whatever I am telling you is true, and the mantra for success is tested time and time again by different people. If you follow their ways you can also do the same. Remember, I was just a boy from the slums, and now, and atleast for some time, I am one among the millionaires of this nation. Anyone can make a change. Anyone can be the change.

Remember, happiness will never come to those who don't appreciate what they already have. Be patient when you have nothing, free your heart from hatred, free your mind from worries, live simply, give more, and expect less.

I have learnt it, by a twist of fate, or by the will of God. I am thankful to the same great God, for providing me the wonderful wisdom, or else, I would have been dead years ago, and would have been experiencing the tortures of hell. But now, I am a believer in God, and a believer in Karma, that we get what we give. We will get in magnitude, in the afterlife, as per our deeds in this life. I am incredibly lucky to have met different great people in different times. Whatever they have taught me, we can learn just by reading about the lives of those great people and we can achieve that success and peace by living according to that. However, in the process, I had to shed a major portion of my life.

That's why I am writing this letter to you, my dear. I will die soon. I have some minutes left in my life. This is why I acted like I did not love you. I cannot give you a life, I'm sorry. But there is no one so near to my heart. No one is living in the core of my heart, except you. I love you darling. I love you.

I am donating a major portion of my profit to charity for the development of girl child in the nation, as you might have heard. Here I am leaving my property all to charity, except a little share of the profit of the company under your name and my father's, as well as this letter and what I have learnt from the great people.

You can do anything and everything. The secret to success is within you. I would like to reiterate that this message is more valuable than any other property that I can leave.

See you in the afterlife.

I love you sweetheart, always.'

Then Vel went through it once and hit the send button. Then he looked at the beeping alarm clock, it showed twenty-four minutes and counting. He went into the bathroom and took bath. He wore new clothes: white pajamas and a long white kurta, without pockets, that he had tailored exclusively for this purpose. Then he sprayed some perfume and sat on his chair looking at the dial of the alarm. Two minutes more. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on the Supreme Power that had provided all the blessings of life. I am coming to you, my protector, please make my trip easy and provide me one of the best places in your heaven. He lost himself in the deep meditation.

As he gained consciousness, he slowly opened his eyes. To his wonder, the table was there like it had been before, and the timer had ended its countdown and displayed the present time.

Vel pinched himself. Am I dead or alive? Then he moved near the window and was shocked to see the Marine Drive and the passing cars under the building and the calm sea in the distance.

He went to the table and opened the drawer, carefully taking out the cover, which had been given to him by the Superintend of Police years ago. He had been keeping it there like a treasure.

He opened the cover, something he had not done in the last five years. He had not wanted to do it all these days. But today he had no other option.

##  Epilogue

After he opened the white cover, which had the famous medical symbol on its face, he took out few white A4 sized papers that were stapled together. He read his name on the top in the place reserved for the patient's name. It was addressed to the SP and copied to court. What he had was a photocopy of the original. This cover was once handed over to him by the SP and he said to him, 'Keep it with you, if you have any difficulties in the future, this will come in use. This is about your disease, you have a depersonalization disorder.'

Hearing the words from the SP, Vel had not showed any surprise. I know I have no disorder. It was all real. He did not believe the police officer's words then, but now it seemed he had to reconsider his beliefs. He shifted his eyes over the report.

'Vel Murugan, 21 years old, is a victim of Depersonalization Disorder. The diagnosis of DPD was made with the use of the several interviews and other medical procedures.

It is a mental disorder in which the patients affected by persistent or recurrent feelings of depersonalization and/or derealization syndrome and is classified as an independent neurotic disorder. The exact cause of the syndrome in this patient is unknown, although bio-psychosocial correlations and triggers have been identified. Interpersonal trauma, emotional abuse in particular, is a significant predictor of diagnosis.

The patient is feeling disconnected from his physicality; feeling like he is not completely occupying his body; feeling detached from his own thoughts or emotions; experiencing a life from a distance; feeling a sense of just going through the motions; feeling as though he is in a dream or movie; and even feeling out-of-body experiences. The patient is also suffering from certain visual stimulations such as hallucinations and rapid fluctuations in lighting, and feeling as though time is passing him by. He has no notion of the present...'

The letter went on; Vel stopped reading it and put the papers back on the table. He reached for the phone and dialed.

'Hello?'

'Mmm.' A mumbling was heard after a long ring. It was Gowri. Vel could sense the anxiety and disturbance caused by the phone ringing at midnight.

'Hello Gowri.'

'Why on the earth do you want to speak to me now?'

'I miss you.'

Silence.

'Hello?'

'What happened to you now? Any sudden revelation?'

'Yes. You were there in my heart always, my dear.'

'How did you get my phone number? You were not even ready to take the number when I gave it to you years ago. Moreover, you are a millionaire right now, no?'

Vel understood the anger and dejection in her voice. 'Yes. I did not take the number from you because I would never forget it. It was so special,' he said in a low and piercing tone. 'It's the digits that come after the decimal of the golden number: 1.6180339887. I learned it from Newton.'

'Newton?'

'Yes. You will come to know when you open your mail. And I will tell you the whole story when we sit together at the beach. Now, without wasting time, can I say one important thing?'

'What?'

'I love you.'

There was a silence. All Vel heard was an affectionate cry.

Vel repeated in a low, loving voice, 'I love you, my sweetheart.'

## The End

Other inspirational books from the author

1

"Between the Cradle and the Grave"

BY FAR THE BEST NOVEL I HAVE READ IN 2013 - (one of the reviews, dated 19 Dec 2013)

A boy is miraculously rescued from a lonely island. Upon investigation it is found that he is the lone survivor of an air crash that happened thirteen years ago. Unbelievably, the boy is only thirteen years old... he was born at the time of air crash!

Two people manage to escape from the crashing aircraft; a soon-to-die cancer patient who is going for medical treatment, and a pregnant lady. They drift in the water to reach a lonely dangerous island. There, the lady gives birth to a baby, and dies due to hardships. Helpless on a lonely island, and being aware of his inevitable death soon, the man develops an ingenious idea to teach the child about the mainland and how to reach it. Then he dies.

The child grows alone on the dangerous island!

What is the 'Master Plan' that teaches the infant about the mainland at the age of thirteen? How does he come to know about the "plan", and escape from there? How did he manage to live alone for so long in spite of being so young?

A story that inspires us to find a way, even out of utter hopelessness and teaches the purpose of life.

And a striking message comes along with this captivating adventurous tale, that can change the way you think about life. Read and find the hidden treasures in you; and live towards the ultimate goal of life.

To read the free sample, please click here:-

2

Author Almighty

The extraordinary journey of a message in search of a lost boy's family!

The message was written on a slip of paper by Raja, a beggar boy who lives in the slums of Mumbai.

Many years ago, when he was a very young child, a stranger abducted him from the school premises and sold him to a beggar.

Years have gone by, and Raja grew up, begging and suffering the cruel treatments his master inflicted on him. All the while, one thing has remained clear in the back of his mind: the undeniable truth that he did not belong to the beggars' world. The event of his abduction has been haunting him day and night.

Desperately, he wants to go back to his family, but he does not know who his parents are or in which part of the country they live...

One day, heartbroken and longing to find his blood, he scribbles a message on a piece of paper and leaves it in a busy street in Mumbai, believing that the Universe works in such a manner that it brings fortune to the earnest seeker and every atom in the creation works for him.

The message dropped in the street is like a stone thrown into a pond...

It causes a ripple...

The paper silently passes through many hands, travels thousands of miles, crosses rivers and mountains...

Will that ripple reach Raja's parents and reunite the family?

Is his belief true?

Does the Universe work for the earnest seeker?

A gripping story that can take you on an emotional roller-coaster ride.

Read, learn, and get inspired.

To read a free sample, please click here:

A HUMBLE REQUEST

Dear reader, have you enjoyed reading this story? I would be glad to know it from you. If you like this story, then please post a review. I know your time is quite precious, but just a 30 seconds of it will be a lot for me.

I am a writer from India. This is my second book and I have written this story with the best of motives to entertain the reader and to pass the message, like I tried to do the same in my first book "Between the Cradle and the Grave." Please help me to reach a larger audience by writing a short review, (even if it is a two sentence review, I would be glad to receive it :-). Your review will motivate me to publish two more inspiring novels I am working on.

God bless you.

With love,

Firoz Khan.

For more books, updates and reviews:-

FB page: https://www.facebook.com/firozwriter

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Email: firozking@gmail.com

Acknowledgements

My father, for his love

Ramdas, my friend
