‘I am sorry, my Lord,’ continued the blind man. ‘But please don’t let your anger with me stop you from protecting our country. It is the greatest land that Parmatma created. Save it from the evil Chandravanshis. Save us, my Lord.’

The blind man continued to cry folding his hands in a penitent namaste. Shiva was shaken by the dignity of the blind man.

He still loves a country that treats him so unfairly. Why? Even worse he doesn’t even appear to think he’s being treated unfairly.

Tears welled up in Shiva’s eyes as he realised that he was looking at a man whom fate had been very unkind to.

I will stop this nonsense.

Shiva stepped forward and bent down. The flabbergasted son trembled in disbelief as he saw the Neelkanth touch the feet of his vikarma father. The blind man was at sea for a moment. When he did understand what the Neelkanth had done, his hand shot up to cover his mouth in shock.

Shiva rose and stood in front of the blind man. ‘Bless me, sir, so that I find the strength to fight for a man as patriotic as you.’

The blind man stood dumb-struck. His tears dried up in his bewilderment. He was about to collapse when Shiva took a quick step forward to hold him, lest he fall to the ground. The blind man found the strength to say, ‘Vijayibhav’. May you be victorious.

The son caught hold of his father’s limp body as Shiva released him. The entire crowd was stunned into silence by what the Neelkanth had done. Forget the gravity of touching a vikarma, the Neelkanth had just asked to be blessed by one. Shiva turned to see Parvateshwar’s enraged face. Shiva had broken the law. Broken it brazenly and in public. Next to him stood Sati. Her face, her eyes, her entire demeanour expressionless.

What the hell is she thinking?

Brahaspati and Sati entered Shiva’s chambers as soon as he was alone. Shiva’s smile at seeing his two favourite people in the world disappeared on hearing Sati’s voice, ‘You must get a shudhikaran done.’

He looked at her and answered simply, ‘No.’

‘No? What do you mean no?’

‘I mean No. Nahin. Nako,’ said Shiva, adding the words for ‘no’ in the Kashmiri and the Kotdwaar dialect, for good measure.

‘Shiva,’ said Brahaspati, keeping his composure. ‘This is no laughing matter. I agree with Sati. The governor too was worried about your safety and has arranged for a pandit. He waits outside as we speak. Get the ceremony done now.’

‘But I just said I don’t want to.’

‘Shiva,’ said Sati, reverting to her usual tone. ‘I respect you immensely. Your valour. Your intelligence. Your talent. But you are not above the law. You have touched a vikarma. You have to get a shudhikaran. That is the law.’

‘Well if the law says that my touching that poor blind man is illegal, then the law is wrong!’

Sati was stunned into silence by Shiva’s attitude.

‘Shiva, listen to me,’ argued Brahaspati. ‘Not doing a shudhikaran can be harmful to you. You are meant for bigger things. You are important to the future of India. Don’t put your own person at risk out of obstinacy.’

‘It’s not obstinacy. You tell me, honestly, how can it harm me if I happened to touch a wronged man, who I might add, still loves his country despite the way he has been ostracised and ill-treated?’

‘He may be a good man Shiva, but the sins of his previous birth will contaminate your fate,’ said Brahaspati.

‘Then let them! If the weight on that man’s shoulders lessens, I will feel blessed.’

‘What are you saying Shiva?’ asked Sati. ‘Why should you carry the punishment of someone else’s sins?’

‘Firstly, I don’t believe in the nonsense that he was punished for the sins of his previous birth. He was just infected by a disease, plain and simple. Secondly, if it is my choice to carry the weight of someone else’s so called sins, why should it matter to anyone?’

‘It matters because we care about you!’ cried Brahaspati.

‘Come on Sati,’ said Shiva. ‘Don’t tell me you believe in this rubbish.’

‘It is not rubbish.’

‘Look, don’t you want me to fight for you? Stop this unfairness that your society has subjected you to.’

‘Is that what this is about? Me?’ asked Sati, outraged.

‘No,’ retorted Shiva immediately, then added. ‘Actually yes. This is also about you. It is about the vikarma and the unfairness that they have to face. I want to save them from leading the life of an outcast.’

‘I DON’T NEED YOUR PROTECTION! I CANNOT BE SAVED!’ shouted Sati, before storming out of the room.

Shiva glared at her retreating form in irritation. ‘What the hell is it with this woman?!’

‘She’s right Shiva,’ advised Brahaspati. ‘Don’t go there.’

‘You agree with her on this vikarma business? Answer with your heart, Brahaspati. Don’t you think it is unfair?’

‘I wasn’t talking about that. I was talking about Sati.’

Shiva continued to glare at Brahaspati defiantly. Everything in his mind, body and soul told him that he should pursue Sati. That his life would be meaningless without her. That his soul’s existence would be incomplete without her.

‘Don’t go there, my friend,’ reiterated Brahaspati.

The caravan left the river city of Kotdwaar on a royal barge led and followed by two large boats of equal size and grandeur as the royal vessel. Typical of the Meluhan security system, the additional boats were to confuse any attacker about which boat the royal family may be on. The entire royal party was in the second boat. Each of the three large boats was manned by a brigade of soldiers. Additionally, there were five small and quick cutter boats on both sides of the royal convoy, keeping pace and protecting the sides in case of an ambush.

‘When the monsoon is not active, my Lord,’ said Ayurvati, ‘the rivers are the best way to travel. Though we have good roads connecting all major cities, it cannot match the rivers in terms of speed and safety.’

Shiva smiled at Ayurvati politely. He was not in the frame of mind for much conversation. Sati had not spoken to Shiva since that fateful day at Kotdwaar when he had refused to undergo a shudhikaran.

The royal barge stopped at many cities along the river. The routine seemed much the same. Extreme exuberance would manifest itself in each city on the arrival of the Neelkanth.

It was a kind of reaction unnatural in Meluha. But then, a Neelkanth didn’t grace the land every day.

‘Why?’ asked Shiva of Brahaspati, after many days of keeping quiet about the disquiet in his troubled heart.

‘Why what?’

‘You know what I am talking about, Brahaspati,’ said Shiva, narrowing his eyes in irritation.

‘She genuinely believes that she deserves to be a vikarma,’ answered Brahaspati with a sad smile.

‘Why?’

‘Perhaps because of the manner in which she became a vikarma.’

‘How did it happen?’

‘It happened during her earlier marriage.’

‘What! Sati was married?!’

’Yes. That was around ninety years back. It was a political marriage with one of the noble families of the empire. Her husband’s name was Chandandhwaj. She got pregnant and went to the Maika to deliver the child. It was the monsoon season. Unfortunately, the child was stillborn.’