Immortals of Meluha

heat. So we have to use a lot of water during the processing to keep the mixture stable. Also,
the crushed branches of the Sanjeevani tree have to be churned with the waters of the
Saraswati river before processing begins. Water from other sources doesn’t work’
‘Is that the strange noise I keep hearing: the churners?’
‘That’s exacty what it is. We have giant churning machines in a massive cavern at the base
of this mountain. The Saraswati waters are led in here through a complex system of canals.
The water is collected in an enormous pool in the cavern which we affectionately call Sagar.’
‘Sagar An ocean You call a pool of water by that name?’ asked a surprised Shiva, for he
had heard legends about the massive, never-ending expanse of water called Sagar.
‘It is a bit of hyperbole,’ admitted Brahaspati with a smile. ‘But if you did see the size of the
pool, you would realise that we are not that off the mark!’
‘Well I would certainly like to see the entire facility. It was too late when we came in last
night so I haven’t seen much of the mountain as yet.’
‘I will take you around after lunch,’ said Brahaspati.
Shiva grinned in reply. He was about to say something, but checked himself in time, looking
at both Kanakhala and Nandi.
Brahaspati noticed the hesitation. He felt Shiva might want to ask him something, but not in
front of Nandi and Kanakhala. Brahaspati turned to them and said, ‘I think Shiva wants to ask
me something. May I request you to wait outside?’
It was a measure of the respect that Brahaspati commanded, that Kanakhala immediately
rose to leave the room after a formal namaste, followed by Nandi. Brahaspati turned to Shiva
with a smile. ‘Why don’t you ask me the real question you came to ask?’