had me assassinated.’
‘Aren’t you afraid of being killed now?’ asked Shiva. ‘A lot of Meluhans will be angry with you when they discover you weren’t the victim, but the perpetrator of the attack on Mount Mandar.’
Brahaspati breathed deeply. ‘Earlier, it was important for me to remain alive since I alone could have done this research. But I have failed. And the solution to the Somras problem is not in my hands anymore. It’s in your hands. It doesn’t matter if I live any longer. Mount Mandar will be reconstructed. It’s a matter of time. And Somras production will begin once again. You have to stop it, Shiva. For the sake of India, you have to stop the Somras.’
‘The reconstruction is a charade, Brahaspati ji ,’ said Sati. ‘It’s to mislead enemies into thinking that it will take time to get Somras production back on track. To make them think that Meluha must be surviving on lower quantities of Somras.’
‘What? Is there another facility?’ asked Brahaspati, as he looked quickly at Kali. ‘But that cannot be true.’
‘It is,’ answered Sati. ‘I was told by father himself. Apparently, it was built years ago. As a back-up to Mount Mandar, just in case...’
‘Where?’ asked Kali.
‘I don’t know,’ replied Sati.
‘Damn!’ exclaimed Kali, scowling darkly as she turned to Brahaspati. ‘You had said that that was not possible. The churners needed materials from Egypt. They could not be built from Indian material. We have allies constantly watching those Egyptian mines. No material has gone to Meluha!’
Brahaspati’s face turned white as the implications dawned on him. He held his head and muttered, ‘Lord Ram, be merciful... How can they resort to this?’
‘Resort to what?’ asked Shiva.
‘There’s another way in which the Saraswati waters can be mixed with the crushed Sanjeevani branches. But it’s considered wasteful and repugnant.’
‘Why?’
‘Firstly, it uses much larger quantities of the Saraswati water. Secondly, it needs animal or human skin cells.’
‘Excuse me!’ cried Shiva and Sati.
‘It doesn’t mean that one skins a live animal or human,’ said Brahaspati, as though reassuring them. ‘What is needed is old and dead skin cells that we shed every minute that we are alive. The cells help the Saraswati waters to grate the Sanjeevani branches at molecular levels. The waters mixed with dead skin cells are simply poured over crushed branches placed in a chamber. This process does not require any churning. But as you can imagine, it wastes a lot of water. Secondly, how would one find animals and humans who would come to a faraway facility and get into a pool of water above a chamber which contains crushed Sanjeevani branches? It is risky.’
‘Why?’
‘Dead skin cells of humans or animals are best shed while bathing. A human sheds between two to three kilograms every year. Bathing hastens the process.’
‘But why is this risky?’
‘Because Somras production is inherently unstable; the skin cell route even more so. One doesn’t want large populations anywhere close to a Somras facility. If anything goes wrong, the resultant explosion can kill hundreds of thousands. Even in the usual, less risky churning process, we do not build Somras production centres close to cities. Can you imagine what would happen if the riskier skin cell process was being conducted close to a city with a large number of humans ritually bathing above a Somras production centre?’
Shiva’s face suddenly turned white. ‘Public baths in Meluhan cities...’ he whispered.
‘Exactly,’ said Brahaspati. ‘Build the facility within a city, below a public bath. One would have all the dead skin cells that one would need.’
‘And if something goes wrong... If an explosion takes place...’
‘Blame the daivi astras or the Nagas. Blame the Chandravanshis if you want,’ fumed Brahaspati. ‘Having created so many evil spectres, you can take your
‘Aren’t you afraid of being killed now?’ asked Shiva. ‘A lot of Meluhans will be angry with you when they discover you weren’t the victim, but the perpetrator of the attack on Mount Mandar.’
Brahaspati breathed deeply. ‘Earlier, it was important for me to remain alive since I alone could have done this research. But I have failed. And the solution to the Somras problem is not in my hands anymore. It’s in your hands. It doesn’t matter if I live any longer. Mount Mandar will be reconstructed. It’s a matter of time. And Somras production will begin once again. You have to stop it, Shiva. For the sake of India, you have to stop the Somras.’
‘The reconstruction is a charade, Brahaspati ji ,’ said Sati. ‘It’s to mislead enemies into thinking that it will take time to get Somras production back on track. To make them think that Meluha must be surviving on lower quantities of Somras.’
‘What? Is there another facility?’ asked Brahaspati, as he looked quickly at Kali. ‘But that cannot be true.’
‘It is,’ answered Sati. ‘I was told by father himself. Apparently, it was built years ago. As a back-up to Mount Mandar, just in case...’
‘Where?’ asked Kali.
‘I don’t know,’ replied Sati.
‘Damn!’ exclaimed Kali, scowling darkly as she turned to Brahaspati. ‘You had said that that was not possible. The churners needed materials from Egypt. They could not be built from Indian material. We have allies constantly watching those Egyptian mines. No material has gone to Meluha!’
Brahaspati’s face turned white as the implications dawned on him. He held his head and muttered, ‘Lord Ram, be merciful... How can they resort to this?’
‘Resort to what?’ asked Shiva.
‘There’s another way in which the Saraswati waters can be mixed with the crushed Sanjeevani branches. But it’s considered wasteful and repugnant.’
‘Why?’
‘Firstly, it uses much larger quantities of the Saraswati water. Secondly, it needs animal or human skin cells.’
‘Excuse me!’ cried Shiva and Sati.
‘It doesn’t mean that one skins a live animal or human,’ said Brahaspati, as though reassuring them. ‘What is needed is old and dead skin cells that we shed every minute that we are alive. The cells help the Saraswati waters to grate the Sanjeevani branches at molecular levels. The waters mixed with dead skin cells are simply poured over crushed branches placed in a chamber. This process does not require any churning. But as you can imagine, it wastes a lot of water. Secondly, how would one find animals and humans who would come to a faraway facility and get into a pool of water above a chamber which contains crushed Sanjeevani branches? It is risky.’
‘Why?’
‘Dead skin cells of humans or animals are best shed while bathing. A human sheds between two to three kilograms every year. Bathing hastens the process.’
‘But why is this risky?’
‘Because Somras production is inherently unstable; the skin cell route even more so. One doesn’t want large populations anywhere close to a Somras facility. If anything goes wrong, the resultant explosion can kill hundreds of thousands. Even in the usual, less risky churning process, we do not build Somras production centres close to cities. Can you imagine what would happen if the riskier skin cell process was being conducted close to a city with a large number of humans ritually bathing above a Somras production centre?’
Shiva’s face suddenly turned white. ‘Public baths in Meluhan cities...’ he whispered.
‘Exactly,’ said Brahaspati. ‘Build the facility within a city, below a public bath. One would have all the dead skin cells that one would need.’
‘And if something goes wrong... If an explosion takes place...’
‘Blame the daivi astras or the Nagas. Blame the Chandravanshis if you want,’ fumed Brahaspati. ‘Having created so many evil spectres, you can take your
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