‘I am uncomfortable with the attention that comes when anyone sees the blue throat,’ replied
Shiva.
‘But you will have to get used to it. The blue throat is not going to disappear.’
‘True,’ answered Shiva with a smile. ‘But till I get used to it, the cravat is my shield.’
As the caravan left, Parvateshwar and Kanakhala came up to Daksha.
‘Why do you have so much faith in that man, my Lord?’ asked Parvateshwar of Daksha. ‘He
has done nothing to deserve respect. How can he lead us to victory when he has not even been
trained for it? The entire concept of the Neelkanth goes against our rules. In Meluha a person is
supposed to be given a task only if he is found capable of it and trained by the system.’
‘We are in a state of war, Parvateshwar,’ replied Daksha. ‘An undeclared one, but a state of
war all the same. We face a terrorist attack every other week. These cowardly Chandravanshis
don’t even attack from the front so that we can fight them. And our army is too small to attack
their territory openly. Our “rules” are not working. We need a miracle. And the first rule of
serendipity is that miracles come when we forget rational laws and have faith. I have faith in the
Neelkanth. And so do my people.’
‘But Shiva has no faith in himself. How can you force him to be our saviour when he himself
doesn’t want to do it?’
‘Sati will change that.’
‘My Lord, you are going to use your own daughter as bait?’ asked a horrified Parvateshwar.
And do you really want a saviour who decides to help us just because of his lust!’
‘IT IS NOT LUST!’
Parvateshwar and Kanakhala kept quiet, shocked by Daksha’s reaction.
‘What kind of a father do you think I am?’ asked Daksha. You think I will use my daughter
so? She just may find comfort and happiness with the Lord. She has suffered enough already. I
want her to be happy. And if in doing so, I help my country as well, what is the harm?’
Parvateshwar was about to say something, but thought the better of it.
‘We need to destroy the Chandravanshi ideology,’ continued Daksha. ‘And the only way we
can do that is if we can give the benefits of our lifestyle to the people of Swadweep. The
common Swadweepans will be grateful for this, but their Chandravanshi rulers will try
everything in their power to stop us. They may be able to resist us, but try as they might, they
cannot stop a people led by the Neelkanth. And if Sati is with the Neelkanth, there is no way he
would refuse to lead us against the Chandravanshis.’
‘But your Highness, do you really think the Lord would come to our side just because he is in
love with your daughter?’ asked Kanakhala.
‘You have missed the point. The Lord does not need to be convinced to be on our side,’ said
Daksha. ‘He already is. We are a great civilisation. Maybe not perfect, but great all the same.
One has to be blind to not see that. What the Neelkanth needs is the motivation and belief in
himself to lead us. That belief in himself will assert itself when he moves closer to Sati.’
‘And how is that going to happen, your Highness?’ asked Parvateshwar, frowning slightly.
‘You know what is the most powerful force in a man’s life?’ asked Daksha.
Kanakhala and Parvateshwar looked at Daksha nonplussed.
‘It is his intense desire to impress the person he loves most,’ expounded Daksha. ‘Look at
me. I have always loved my father. My desire to impress him is what is driving me even today.
Even after his death, I still want to make him proud of me. It is driving me to my destiny as the
King who will re-establish the pure Suryavanshi way of life across India. And when the
singke
(singke)
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