‘Of course we may, my Lord,’ smiled Daksha, pulling himself together.

‘I have got the story so far, your Highness. While I can understand your reasons for not wanting to attack right now, you clearly have a plan, in which my blue throat has some strange role to play’

‘Yes, we do have a plan, my Lord. I feel that as an emperor, my giving in unthinkingly to the righteous anger of some of our people will not solve our problem. I believe that the people of Swadweep themselves are not evil. It is their Chandravanshi rulers and their way of life that has made them evil. The only way forward for us is to save the Swadweepans themselves.’

‘Save the Swadweepans?’ asked Shiva, genuinely surprised.

‘Yes, my Lord. Save them from the evil philosophy that infects their soul. Save them from their treacherous rulers. Save them from their sorry, meaningless existence. And we can do this by giving them the benefits of the superior Suryavanshi way of life. Once they become like us, there will be no reason to fight. We will live like brothers. This is the unfinished task of my father, King Brahmanayak. In fact, it is the unfinished task of Lord Ram.’

‘That is a big task to take on, your Highness,’ said Shiva. ‘It is sweeping in its kindness and reason. But it is a very big task. You will need soldiers to defeat their army and missionaries to bring them to your side. It is not going to be easy.’

‘I agree. There are many in my empire who have concerns about even attacking Swadweep, and I am putting forth a much bigger challenge to them, of reforming Swadweep. That is why I did not want to launch this without the Neelkanth, my Lord.’

Shiva remembered his uncle’s words, spoken many years back, in what was almost another life. Your destiny lies beyond the mountains. Whether you fulfil it or run away once again, is up to you.

As Daksha spoke once again, Shiva refocused his attention on him.

‘The problems that we are facing were prophesied, my Lord,’ continued Daksha. ‘Lord Ram had himself said that any philosophy, no matter how perfect, works only for a finite period. That is the law of nature and cannot be avoided. But what the legends also tell us is that when the problems become insurmountable for ordinary men, the Neelkanth will appear. And that he will destroy the evil Chandravanshis and restore the forces of good. My Lord, you are the Neelkanth. You can save us. You can complete the unfinished task of Lord Ram. You must lead us and help us defeat the Chandravanshis. You must rally the Swadweepans around to the side of good. Otherwise I fear that this beautiful country that we have, the near perfect society of Meluha, will be destroyed in years of endless war. Will you help us my Lord? Will you lead us?’

Shiva was confused. ‘But I didn’t understand, your Highness? What exactly would I do?’

‘I don’t know, my Lord. We only know our destination and that you will be our leader. The path we take is up to you.’

They want me to destroy the entire way of life of eighty million people by myself! Are they mad?

Shiva spoke carefully. ‘I empathise with your people and their hardships, your Highness. But to be quite honest, I don’t really understand how one man like me can make a difference.’

‘If that man is you my Lord,’ said Daksha, his moist eyes opened wide in devotion and faith, ‘he can change the entire universe.’

‘I am not so sure of that, your Highness,’ said Shiva with a weak smile. ‘Why will my being present make such a difference? I am no miracle worker. I cannot snap my fingers and cause bolts of lightning to descend on the Chandravanshis.’

‘It is your presence itself that will make the difference, my Lord. I invite you to travel through the empire. See the effect your blue throat has on the people. Once my people believe that they can do it, they will be able to do it!’

‘You are the Neelkanth, my Lord,’ added Kanakhala. The people have faith in the bearer of the blue throat. They will have faith in you. ‘Will you help us, my Lord?’

Will you run away once again?

‘But how do you know that my blue throat makes me the genuine Neelkanth?’ asked Shiva. ‘For all you know, there may be many Meluhans with a blue throat waiting to be discovered!’

‘No, my Lord,’ said Daksha. ‘It cannot be a Meluhan. The legend says that the Neelkanth will be a foreigner. He cannot be from the Sapt-Sindhu. And that he will get a blue throat on drinking the Somras.’

Shiva did not answer. He looked stunned as truth suddenly dawned upon him.

Srinagar. The first night. Somras. That’s how my body got repaired. That’s why I’m feeling stronger than ever.

Daksha and Kanakhala looked at Shiva breathlessly, waiting for his decision. Praying for his right decision.

But why only me? All the Gunas were given the Somras. Was my uncle right? Do I really have a destiny?

Parvateshwar stared at Shiva with narrowed eyes.

I don’t deserve any destiny. But maybe this is my chance to redeem myself.

But first...

Shiva asked with controlled politeness, ‘Your Highness, before I answer, may I ask you a question?’

‘Of course, my Lord.’

‘Do you agree that honesty is required to make any friendship work? Even if it means deeply offending your friend with the truth?’

‘Yes, of course,’ replied Daksha, wondering where Shiva was going with this.

‘Complete honesty is not just the bedrock of an individual relationship, but of any stable society,’ interjected Parvateshwar.

‘I couldn’t agree more,’ said Shiva. ‘And yet, Meluha wasn’t honest with me.’

Nobody said anything.

Shiva continued in a courteous, but firm tone. ‘When my tribe was being invited to come to Meluha, we had the impression you wanted immigrants because you needed people to work. And I was happy to escape my benighted land. But now I realise that you were systematically searching for the Neelkanth.’

Turning to Nandi, Shiva said, ‘We weren’t told that a medicine called the Somras would be administered to us as soon as we entered. We weren’t told that the medicine would have such effects.’

Nandi looked down with guilty eyes. His Lord had the right to be angry with him.

Turning to Daksha, Shiva continued, ‘Your Highness, you know that the Somras was probably administered to me on my first night in Kashmir, without my knowledge.’

‘I am truly sorry about that dishonesty my Lord,’ said Daksha, with his hands in a penitent namaste. ‘It’s something that I will always be ashamed of. But the stakes were too high for us. And the Somras has considerably positive effects on your body. It doesn’t harm you in any way.’

‘I know. I am not exactly upset about having to live a long and healthy life,’ said Shiva wryly. ‘Do you know that my tribe was also probably given the Somras that night? And they fell seriously ill, perhaps because of the Somras.’

‘They were under no risk my Lord,’ said Kanakhala apologetically. ‘Some people are predisposed towards certain diseases. When the Somras enters the body, it triggers the immediate occurrence of these diseases, which when cured, never recur. Hence, the body remains healthy till death. Your tribe is actually much healthier now.’

‘No doubt they are,’ said Shiva. ‘The point is not about the effects of the Somras. Both my tribe and I are better for it. Yet, from what I understand of Meluha, getting somebody to do something without telling him all the facts would not have been Lord Ram’s way. You should have told us the complete truth at Mount Kailash. Then you should have let us make an informed choice rather than you making a choice for us. We probably would still have come to Meluha anyway but then it would have been our choice.’