assurto christie &amp rise of vidhiputra - a preview

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Assurto Christie&

Rise of Vidhiputra



Assurto Christie&

Rise of Vidhiputra

Abilash ChandranSupratick Basu



Notion Press

5 Muthu Kalathy Street, Triplicane,

Chennai - 600 005First Published by Notion Press 2013

Copyright© Abilash Chandran, Supratick Basu 2013

All Right Reserved.

ISBN: 978-93-83185-97-9

This book has been published in good faith that the work of

the authors are original. It is a work of fiction and should be

read as such. All names, characters, places and incidents used in

this book are the product of the author’s imagination. Historical,

religious or mythological characters; historical or legendary

events; or names of places are always used fictitiously. Any

resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, past events

or historical location, is purely coincidental.

All efforts have been taken to make the material

error-free. However, the authors and the publisher disclaim the

responsibility.

No part of this book may be used, reproduced in any manner

whatsoever without written permission from the author, except

in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and

reviews.



Edited By Pallavi Baruah

Sanskrit Language Support By

Sunil Govind

Devidas Kandath



Dedicated toour families and our loving better halves,

without whose support we couldn't accomplish this...



Tere was a prophecy.

Te Vidhiputra (Destiny's Child) would rise one

day and take what is rightfully his. Tat day was

coming...



Chapter 1

Prince, Monks and the Brothers

¹

Somewhere in the Indian Ocean, a ship was trying toorce its way past the high tides. The wind was blowing

heavily, the waves were crashing against the ship’s bow,the sky was covered with dark black clouds, and a lightdrizzle lled the air. It was a new moon night – dark andgloomy.

The sea made a deaening noise unremittingly, whichwould unnerve even the bravest o men; and the giantwaves made the ship heave and sway so prooundly thatthe sailors elt it like a never-ending see-saw ride. Thiswas no place or the ainthearted.

As oten happens under such circumstances, somesailors started showing symptoms o sea sickness ater agruesome unending quest that challenged them day aterday, rom dawn to dusk.

All o a sudden, amidst the howling winds and choppy waves, consecutive thunderbolts struck somewhere in thevast ocean, ollowed by a loud cracking sound – as i the

gods were angry! This added uel to the re, increasingthe horror maniold. The sailors eared or the worst, as i death was beckoning their ate with a smile.

Unable to apprehend the situation, they looked at thecaptain with pleading eyes – hoping to be spared romthis suicidal mission.



Assurto Christie Rise of Vidhiputra

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Captain Sahay stood some distance rom the helm

o the ship, looking up at the sky, rain piercing his ace,taking in the ckle play o the weather. He had been aearless guide o ships or decades. He was not one to bebludgeoned, even by the horric drama that unurledbeore him. The stage was no dierent rom innumerableothers he had encountered in his lie. He would not allow this to pull him down, no matter what; he was born

to conquer the waves, he was in his element. But whatdisturbed him was the ear that he witnessed in the eyeso his sailors.

He heard one o his men murmuring a prayer orthe mercy o the gods, and gradually realized that it wasgaining momentum with more voices uniting to create a

chorus.As the wrath o the sea kept on increasing maniold

with every passing moment, even the captain could eelthat this journey was slowly turning into a lost cause. Hecould not persuade his sailors; actually he did not wantto, as everyone in the ship looked at the captain with thehope that they would get an order to turn back.

Captain Sahay, realizing the dilemma o his men,turned to the talismanic owner o the merchant vessel,who stood like a rock near the bulwark even in thatdeceitul condition, wondering what all the uss wasabout. For him, it was like any other day.

Sahay walked towards him gripping to rails o the

swaying ship and called out, “Rathore ji.”

Rathore, the prince o Rajputana, looked over hisshoulders and ound his aithul companion.

Sahay saw his prince – his calm ace, his brave smile,his long manly moustache, his broad shoulders, his strongwrists – everything instilled a sense o condence in him.



3


Rathore, who had his eyes set on a scroll, put it back

into his pocket as Sahay bowed his head in respect.“Yes my riend!”

Sahay tried to make himsel audible against the noisy sea, “Sir, I am araid we may need to turn back. The windis gathering in intensity and sailing against it would leadus to our doom; i we don’t turn back now, the ship may

not see another port. Ever!”

He could eel his throat drying up, as he eagerly looked at his prince.

But Rathore would not agree. He was not someonewho would accept deeat; he would rather accept death.The sea might have scared every other soul, but not this

brave-heart.

He laughed out and roared back with his thunderousvoice, “What happened to you, my brave commander?”

“But sir…”

Rathore didn’t allow him to complete, “It’s

disconcerting to see you cower so, when aced with a slightsquall over the sea. We have aced countless aggressions,challenged nest o warriors, tested treacherous terrains;but I have never seen you give up on anything even whenthe odds were stacked against us. What’s wrong now?”

Captain Sahay had no words, he stood there resolute,knowing what his prince was about to order. He had

never disobeyed him, and always ollowed him devotedly throughout his lie – even i it meant marching towardshis death.

Rathore continued, “I reuse to believe that my captain is unnerved by this mere puppet show. We’ll notstop; we’ll ght till we succeed in our quest.”




4

But then, looking at the way things were, Rathore

perceived the reason or Sahay’s request and wasdispleased to see his men slowly but steadily developingcold eet. He was determined to reach the destination andachieve the unachievable, no matter what. Discerning thesituation o the men, he decided to address them.

Rathore looked undeterred as he approached thecenter o the deck. He did not pay attention to thethunderbolts criss-crossing the ocean in silver streaks inthe background, or the monstrous waves that continuously tried to overturn the ship like a weightless toy. Thenervous sailors swayed trying to latch on to anything they could to avoid being thrown over. The scared ones gainedhope, as they watched their lionhearted leader marching

towards them.He stood in the middle o the deck like a tiger, earless

and assured. The weather also bowed to his presence, itrelented or some minutes with only the sound o thewaves beating in its own rhythm. His eyes blazing and hisvisage erocious, commanding the attention o his men,he spoke, “My men, today I stand beore you ashamed. I

regret that I believed in you all this while, as it now turnsout to be nothing more than a ool’s aith.”

Some o the sailors looked down in disgrace, realizingthat they had let their prince, whom they held as thedearest in their hearts, down.

Rathore added, “It pains to nd out that my men –

who were the immortal guardians o our motherland,whom I considered to have no equals in this world,who reused to accept death even when death smiledat their aces; now stand here like weaklings, tremblingwith ear. It hurts me that you have orgotten why we arehere. You have orgotten the promise you made to yourmotherland.”



5


Each and every word rom their leader was like

a poisonous dart to them. The men, who heard himdenounce them or the rst time, were bereaved onrealizing that their act o cowardice had indeed broughtgreat embarrassment, not only to their reputation butalso to that o their ancestors. The prince’s captivatingvoice and majestic presence made them obliterate the earwhich lled their minds them a moment ago.

Rathore continued, “What pains me more is thattoday you have orgotten your past. Comrades, I urge

you to remember who you are. Do not orget yourchildren and amily who are at the mercy o our enemies.Remember the promise we took beore Ma Durga.”

The men, who had orgotten about their true selves

or a brie period, started gaining strength as they slowly came out o the despair on hearing the upliting wordsrom their prince.

He asked again, “My men, the word cowardice wasnot written or us, it doesn’t suit us. The word retreatnever crossed even the minds o our children. Think

about them or a moment and tell me, are we scared?”“No” shouted the sailors in chorus as courage and

spirit lled their hearts.

He pressed on, “Men, I am sure that the sea godwould have heard our name. It’s easy to imagine why he isscared today, naively thinking that we are here to conquer

him. He will not sleep tonight, ater learning that theRajputs are here. He is determined to stop us, mistakenly calculating that we are mere men who will give in to hisgimmicks.” As i in response, there was a sizzle o lightningollowed by a loud bolt o thunder, echoing around them,throwing their aces in stark silvery relie.




6

The men were now completely spellbound by

Rathore, not even finching at the crack o the thunder,looking like they were under his spell – such was hispresence.

Rathore did not stop, “Do not orget that the bloodthat fows through our veins is that o the Kshatriyas, theearless o men. Should we give in to our ears and let itrule us? Should we be scared by the empty noises? Are wegoing to give up?”

“No” the soldiers shouted back, their voice and theirpostures gaining in ortitude.

Finally Rathore raised his pitch “You know that thismission is our last hope to take back what is rightully

ours. I am ready to give up my lie to achieve this, andI know I will, or at least die trying. I am asking you togive me this day, so that we can pay back our debt to ourmotherland. Are you with me, brothers?”

“Aye...” all the sailors shouted in chorus. Their soundechoed across the ocean that rivaled the voice o thethunderbolts. They could again eel strength in their eet,

and blood in their veins.

Just then, a series o lightning lit the sky or a brie period – as i this was a war o the clouds, ollowed by aheart-angst cracking sound and towering rains, indicatingthat their test was ar rom over. The giant waves startedbecoming monstrous as the Indian Ocean literally took

the shape o a mountain range. But none o the mencared or it anymore, as they went on with their choreswith renewed vigor and purpose.

Suddenly, Rathore heard a strange clatter; he looked

around but couldn’t fnd anything, as it was hard to see

anything other than the stupendous rain that tested



7


their limits. He had a strange eeling as i they were

ollowed by a pack o wolves ready to pound on theirprey.

“Ha Rey, Rey Rey, Rey Rey.”

It was not rom the ship. Did he hear it wrong?Rathore kept his ears wide open and looked around.

The rain kept on growing stronger and stronger, andthe raindrops started exerting pressure like darts madeo water – hurting the ones exposed. The sailors tried togather any vessel that they could nd, or they were now tasked to throw the rain water out o the ship’s deck, back into the ocean.

Rathore again heard the aint scream.

But, lightning and thunder mufed it; as i the godswere playing tricks on them.

Suddenly, a sailor, who was tasked to guard theoremast, cried out “Pirates!”

Hearing this, all the sailors immediately ran towards

their positions as quickly as possible and waited or theircaptain’s order.

Sahay, who had aced many pirates in his career,commanded “Turn the ship to wind side and surge to ullspeed.”

He wanted to give some more time or his men to get

ready beore the pirates got to their ship.Rathore took ew men to the inventory and started

gathering swords. He could hear Captain Sahay shoutinghoarsely, ordering some o the sailors to continuethrowing the rain water out o the ship’s deck.




8

Rathore was in ull throttle. He was happy in a way

to see the pirates advancing towards their ship; he knew that once his men touched their swords, they wouldremember what they had orgotten and would get back their courage. He considered this as a blessing in disguise.

One o the sailors shouted aggressively, “So what i pirates are here, they don’t know that true Kshatriyas arewaiting here to slay them – and slay them or good.”

Rathore elt proud looking at his men or the rsttime since they took up this journey. As expected he saw his men slowly change back to the warriors he knew.

“Swords” shouted Rathore, as the accompanying menpromptly threw a wide range o arsenal on the deck.

Rathore looked out at the sea, and could now see thepirate ship clearly. The voices rom the ship were now growing louder and louder.

“Ha Rey, Rey Rey, Rey Rey.”

The pirate ship was gaining speed, and probably would catch up with them in no time.

Unlike Rathore, Captain Sahay was not sure whetherhis men were ready or a battle. He ran to the side andstarted helping the men who were rowing.

The men chanted loudly in an age old rerain,“Heisha, Heisha…”

But the pirate ship was aster. Within no time, theirship was right next to the merchant vessel. The piratesthrew ropes and started tying them to the mast o Rathore’s ship. Rathore and his men took guard. Somemen tried to cut the ropes, but there were too many andmost were too high.



9


Rathore closed his eyes or a moment; there was such

calmness in his ace that would even make a holy manproud.

He opened his eyes slowly, beore roaring, “Har Har

Mahadev !”

“Har Har Mahadev !” roared back the sailors.

As the rain came down incessantly – hard and ast, the

pirates few in rom all directions, and the sailors oughtthem ercely and valiantly. There were many who weresoldiers o the erstwhile Rajputana Army. Though they eared the sea, they were at ease when it came to head-on ght with little-trained and poorly-skilled enemy combatants. It was in act the pirates’ ill ortune that they had attacked a ship lled with such men.

Rathore took two pirates on with a sword ght. They could eel that he was at ease in handling them. It wasmore like a child’s play to him, and hence they decided tosplit up and attack him rom opposite ends, rather thanhead on. By then, one more had joined them and they surrounded Rathore in no time.

In the pirate ship, the pirate leader was commandinghis men rom the top deck. In the lower deck, a maskedman – who wore a black robe, hid himsel in the shadow o the mast and watched the movements o the princekeenly. He waited or a perect opportunity to strike, witha bow in his hands.

Captain Sahay and some o the men stopped theironslaught on the pirates or a moment as they noticedtheir prince being surrounded by three men. There wasno worry in their aces, in act their aces brightened atera long time. They knew that they were in or a treat today.It seemed to them like three scared hyenas were trying totake on a hungry lion.




10

The men were ready to die, but not ready to miss the

battle taking place in the upper deck. Some o the pirateswere conused with what was going on, as they too lookedup.

Beore the pirates could start their attack, Rathorestarted his onslaught on two o the pirates leaving theother one watching. The pirates couldn’t even react tothe speed, power and agility o the prince. He twirledhis body and swung the sword eortlessly to strike thepirates. The pirates couldn’t do anything other than tryingto stop his sword rom taking their lives. He eortlessly disarmed both the men in no time. The third pirate whowas standing next to Rathore dropped his sword andsurrendered, realizing that this was no place or him.

Rathore’s men were actually disappointed to see the battlegetting over in the blink o an eye. They had expected aght back rom the pirates, but their expressions only evoked laughter.

Rathore, pardoning the three, walked towards thecenter o the deck.

The captain o the pirate ship realized their conditionquickly, and cried “Abort, abort.” He understood that thiswas a lost cause. They could not win, and had already lost more men than he could ever imagine. They were allgoing to die, i not run – he chose to run.

“Abort, abort” he cried out loud, again.

The pirates, mostly injured and devastated by now,were only happy to oblige. Some were lucky enough toget back, while others were not. They jumped out to savethemselves rom the wrath o the warriors, only to ndthemselves enguled by the claws o the hungry waves.

The captain o the pirate ship ordered to pull away,acknowledging deeat.



11


The sailors, realizing this, started celebrating.

Rathore yelled vocierously, “Har Har Mahadev ,”holding his sword high.

“Har Har Mahadev ” cheered the crew, all holdingtheir swords high in response.

The sun was coming up on the eastern horizon, asthe sea started showing signs o calmness. The rain hadstopped, the sky had cleared, and winds had receded – asi Mother Nature was nally smiling on Rathore and hismen.

As the pirate ship moved away, all o a sudden arogue arrow came out o nowhere and struck Rathore onhis chest, piercing his heart. Rathore was shocked or a

moment, but then he realized that probably the pirateshad taken their revenge. He looked back at the pirate shipand saw a masked man standing on the deck, with a bow in his hands. He tried to look closely, and could only see ahazy silver lion-aced locket on his chest. But he could seeno more, as his vision was getting blurry, and his throatwas drying up.

The sailors who watched the unthinkable were shell-shocked; some broke down and dropped their swords.For a moment, there was speechlessness, and even theocean maintained lull to salute the allen warrior. CaptainSahay ran up the deck and caught Rathore as he slowly ell down on his knees. The captain’s eyes were lled with

tears, and he did not know what to say.He mustered up all his courage and shouted at the

sailors, “Turn around, ull speed, to the port. Now!”

Rathore smiled to himsel, as he knew it was useless.His vision was getting hazier as he started breathingheavily. Suddenly, og enguled them and nothing could




12

be seen – only voices could be heard, o men crying out

or their prince. It became darker and darker – until itwas pitch black.

Then there was silence – pin-drop silence.

»

Vikram was startled out his sleep, and elt that he was

sweating even though the air was cool. He could hearhis own heart beat loudly and opened his eyes slowly as heheard a beep. He took a ew calming breaths and lookedat his digital watch, it showed: 09-JUL-2023 05:00 AM.

He looked around to nd his brother, Jay, sittingnext to him, wearing headphones and looking out o the

window – towards the clouds. He took comort rom theact that he was in a fight now.

As usual, the dream troubled him, and he lookeddisturbed as his conscience questioned, ‘The dream, why

is it increasing in clarity and intensity every day? Why am

I having it again and again? Does it really mean anything?

Or is it because I give it so much importance, like my brother

tells me? ’

A chill passed through him as he thought aboutit more and more. To distract himsel, Vikram lookedaround and realized that only a handul o people weretravelling with them, not surprising considering whatwas going on throughout the globe. He then looked back

at Jay, but ound him all the same. He knew that Jay wasnot happy with this journey. In act, he never intended togo back to India ater their mother’s demise. Moreover,the present situation was that o devastation and disarray,especially in the past ew years. It was only due to theirGrandpa’s continued pleading and Vikram’s coercing thatled to his acquiescence.



Assurto Christie&

Rise of Vidhiputra

assurto christie &amp rise of vidhiputra - a preview

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