particular puja, however, celebrated their warrior form. Daksha eloquently explained the
reason. The Meluhans were not just celebrating the marriage between the Neelkanth and their
princess. They were also celebrating the massive defeat of the despised terrorists at Koonj.
According to him, the echoes of Koonj would reverberate deep in the heart of Swadweep. The
Suryavanshi vengeance had begun!
This puja was followed by the formal marriage ceremonies of Shiva and Sati. Though some
of the celebrations were still on, Shiva excused himself and tugged Sati along with him.
‘By the Holy Lake!’ exclaimed Shiva, shutting the door to their private chamber behind him.
‘This is only the first day! Is every day going to be as long?’
‘It doesn’t seem to make a difference to you! You walked out when you pretty well pleased!’
teased Sati.
‘I don’t care about those damn ceremonies!’ growled Shiva, ripping his ceremonial turban off
and flinging it aside. He stared at Sati fervently, slowly moving towards her, his breathing
heavy.
‘Oh yes of course,’ mocked Sati, with a playfully theatrical expression. ‘The Neelkanth gets
to decide what is important and what is not. The Neelkanth can do anything he wants.’
‘Oh yes he can!’
Sati laughed mischievously and ran to the other side of the bed. Shiva dashed towards her
from the opposite side hurling his angvastram off in one smooth motion.
‘Oh yes he can...’
‘Remember what I told you to say,’ whispered Nandi to Veerbhadra. ‘Don’t worry. The Lord
will give his permission.’
‘What...’ whispered a groggy Shiva as he was woken up gently by Sati.
‘Wake up, Shiva,’ whispered Sati tenderly, her hair falling over his face, teasing his cheeks.
‘Careful now,’ murmured Sati softly, as Shiva looked at her longingly. ‘Nandi, Krittika and
Veerbhadra are waiting at the door. They have something important to tell you.’
‘Hmmm?’ growled Shiva, as he walked towards the door and glared at the trio. ‘What is it
Nandi? Isn’t there someone beautiful in your life that you would like to bother at this hour
instead of troubling me?’
‘There’s nobody like you, my Lord,’ said Nandi, with a low bow and a chaste namaste.
‘Nandi, you better stop this nonsense or you are going to remain a bachelor all your life!’
joked Shiva.
As everybody laughed out loud, Krittika remained anxious about the task at hand.
‘Well, what did you want to talk about?’ asked Shiva.
Nandi nudged Veerbhadra roughly. Shiva turned to Veerbhadra with a quizzical look.
‘Bhadra, since when do you need the support of so many people to speak to me?’ asked
Shiva.
‘Shiva...’ murmured Veerbhadra nervously.
‘Yes?’
‘It’s like this...’
‘It’s like what?’