A judgement for humanity

SC Judgement on Article 377

Thumby playing national anthem

The Banished Secret: Chapter Six

“Hi big bro,” chorused the two in unison as they plopped in front of Aditya. Aditya looked up, somewhat bemused, from the book he was reading. Shyam and Vina gave him identical smiles.

“Big bro?” he asked. “Where did that come from?”

“When we’re in class, we do call you professor,” Shyam replied with a cheeky grin. “But here, I think we should be allowed to call you what we want.”

“Besides,” Vina chipped in, “we’ve known you for far longer before you ever became our professor, and we always called you-”

“Well, we can’t call you that,” Shyam said hastily. “So, big bro it is.”

“I’m not foolish enough to argue with your generation,” Aditya said, his lips quirking in a half smile as he thought of the twins’ nick name for him when they were younger. Big bro was good, at least it wasn’t something to make him cringe.

“Ooh! Gramps!” Vina exclaimed, her eyes alight with laughter.

Shyam and Vina were alike to look at though not exactly identical. Shyam was slightly shorter though that could be because of the inch high heels that Vina wore. He was also stocky with a round face, broad forehead, small eyes and a snub nose. Vina was leaner, and had an oval face, though her eyes and nose were the same. They both also had the same stubborn chin and thin lips, though Vina’s clever application of lipstick made hers look fuller.

“Ha ha,” Aditya said in a bored voice. “So, why have the terrible twins chosen to honour me with a visit?”

“To invite you to our birthday party,” Shyam replied. “Coming Sunday, evening 6, our place.”

“Tomorrow is Sunday,” pointed out Aditya.

“Yea, we know. That’s why we’re inviting you today,” Vina grinned.

“Afterthought? I should be flattered.” Aditya said drily.

“Come on, big bro,” Vina pouted. “Don’t be like that. You don’t have to bring anything. Just come.”

Aditya sighed. He hated parties. He hated crowds. He preferred books to people. But there was no getting out of this one. He had known them since they were children, had visited their home and they had visited his, their parents knew each other, not to speak of the bond Abhi had with them.

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll definitely come.”

“No gifts,” Vina said, rising. “And if you really want to bring anything, I’m not at all choosy, anything would be fine.”

“I’m picky,” Shyam said. “Just reminding,”

“I’ll keep it in mind,” Aditya replied.

He watched as they walked away and shook his head, looking regretfully at the half finished book on the table. The cafeteria at the college was always deserted at this time since classes for the day were over. Aditya always stayed an hour or so after hours in the cafeteria reading unless he had grading to do. He did most of his grading in the staff room after hours, but he also took assignments and papers home for the weekend. He glanced at the watch. It was barely thirty minutes after classes had ended, but if he was to go shopping for gifts, there was no way for him to finish his book today.

While Aditya went shopping, Shyam didn’t waste any time in calling Abhi and telling him about inviting Aditya to the party.

"You what?" Abhi was surprised.

"Invited your brother for our birthday, so be sure to bring him when you come."

Abhi looked at the phone, wondering if Shyam was pulling his leg. "I was planning to come over early, and help you with all the arrangements."

"Nah, you relax, we have it all under control. You be on time with our professor Aditya." Shyam sounded amused.

"Is this some underhanded trick to get on his good side to improve your grades? If so, I must warn you that you're wasting your time."

Shyam laughed. "Don't impute underhanded tricks, Abhi. Not to your best buddies anyway. Would we do something like that?"

"Without any shame and without any doubt," Abhi snorted.

"This is just an attempt to have a social contact with your brother." Shyam said in an injured tone.

“Yeah, right.” Abhi scoffed.

“I’m serious.” Shyam sounded offended now.

"My brother hates social occasions. Just thought I'd let you know." Abhi said, grimacing a bit as he thought of how much Aditya was going to hate this.

"Why the hell did he become a teacher, then? Not that he's bad at it, but it's hardly the kind of job for an introvert." Shyam sounded surprised.

"Why don't you ask him?" Abhi asked. “I don’t know how you couldn’t know when you’ve known him as long as you have.”

“Well, I wasn’t, I mean, we weren’t the most observant of children and once we grew older, he was so- grown up, you know, and it’s not as if we ever hanged out with him.”

“Fair enough,” Abhi said, sighing. “He’s going to hate this, is all I’m saying.”

Shyam chuckled. "Sounds like you didn't like us inviting him."

Abhi sighed. "It's not that. It’s just that Aditya is really, really, uncomfortable in social gatherings. He avoids them like the plague. I know the kind of games you guys get up on your birthday. I don't want Aditya embarrassed." Abhi could never explain how protective he was of his elder brother who was a full ten years older than him.

"Oh," Shyam said. "Point noted and taken. Don't worry. We'll see to it that your brother has a good time and nothing else."

"Where's Vina?" Abhi asked, changing the subject. It was pointless expecting Shyam to fully understand. He’d just have to keep an eye on Aditya.

"Gone to invite boyfriend number-I don't know, what is the number right now?"

Abhi laughed. "You're asking me? She's your sister!"

"Yea, and I do have better things to do than count the number of boyfriends she's had till date." Abhi could hear Shyam’s eye roll and he chuckled again.

"She does run through them, doesn't she?"

"Yes, and she's quite happy doing it. As long as that remains, I don't care. Bye for now, Abhi. I need to make a few other calls."

"Bye," Abhi said as he hung up.

The Banished Secret: Chapter Five

“You failed.” the voice was dispassionate, the face expressionless. The man swallowed. Somehow the very indifference of the being that confronted him was more frightening than anger or recriminations. He knew that failure would not be acceptable, but he had not expected this level of judgement. He could feel sweat beading his brows, and much as he would have liked to wipe it off, he knew that to show any sign of weakness would be a mistake.

“The assassins I hired could not do the job,” he conceded. “For obvious reasons, I cannot show my hand openly. I have to put on a neutral facade at the least.”

“That is understood.” The creature answered, its voice a susurration that sent shivers down his spine. “But that does not explain the reason for your failure. You know as well as I that he cannot be killed by any ordinary assassin, not when he has his – protection.”

“I know. I just thought...” he could feel sweat trickling down his face and body. “I don’t see how he can be killed at all if that enchantment is as strong as you say.”

“The enchantment can be weakened and destroyed, but it requires strong counter enchantments, but even they won’t be effective unless he is struck by someone who shares his bloodline.”

“One of his brothers, then.”

“Yes. Now, you understand. They must be turned against him. That is your task. As you say, you cannot show your hand openly, but they know and trust you. Poison their minds against him. Slowly… slowly… just change them… and they will destroy him.” The voice had dropped into a whisper, almost hypnotic and he felt drawn into it, and nodded his head before shaking it violently. He couldn’t fall under its spell. He had to ally himself with it, but that was out of necessity. His agenda was different.

“Even if somehow I turn one of them against him, there’s still the fact that he’s a very skilled warrior. They call Arnava the best, but he’s no match for Bhaskara.” He pointed out. He had seen Bhaskara fight, and he had seen Arnava fight, and he had no doubt that in a battle between the two, Bhaskara would always prevail.

“Are you here only to create objections?” the voice came out in a growl, and the man felt a prickle of fear, but he refused to be cowed.

“I was just pointing out the obvious,” he said.

“Don’t worry about that,” The creature said. “The enchantment needed his mother’s life force to cast. To weaken it would require the life force of its subject.”

“You mean, the spell to weaken it will weaken him.” he guessed.

“Yes. But even then, only someone who shares his bloodline can strike the killing blow. Nothing else will suffice.”

“I see,” he paused.”I see my task. It is not easy, but it can be done. We need turn only one against him, and one is already against him. I can use him.”

“Use the warrior,” the creature or being or whatever it was spoke. “He’s the one who must do it.”

“Why? Maitreya is easier to manipulate. Arnava and Bhaskara are already as thick as thieves. It’ll be a difficult task to turn him against Bhaskara.”

“Do not speak names!” the creature hissed. “Names have no place here! It must be the warrior, for otherwise, he will ascend to the throne and he will not rest until he has taken his revenge on us!”

“What have you against him?” he asked now, curious. “I know why I want him gone. I have plans for Jwalamukha and they are not served easily if – the usurper is on the throne, and yes, the warrior on the throne could be easily problematic and so it helps my goals if he would get rid of his brother, but what is your stake in this?”

“The witch, Malavika,” the creature hissed. “She stole the enchantment from us, and cheated us of our revenge when she used it to protect her child. We would have killed her, and had our soul for ours had she not sacrificed herself.”

The man again felt a prickle of fear. This was no ordinary being. It was a spawn of hell, and he knew that one misstep could cause his soul to belong to it.

“So, now you want her son’s soul.”

“We want his life by breaking the stolen spell! And we will have a soul, his or his brother’s. The one who strikes the killing blow will be ours! You just have to make certain that he doesn’t live long enough to redeem himself.”

The man nodded. The thing was right. Once Arnava had killed Bhaskara, it would be better to get rid of him. Mahakarma was a doting father and might decide to forgive his son for fratricide, and Arnava on the throne was no different than Mahakarma on the throne. Sumitra, on the other hand, was weak. He could be manipulated, failing which he could be removed easily, and they could take control of Jwalamukha and its vast resources. But first, he had the daunting task before him of turning Arnava against his brother.

The Banished Secret: Chapter Four

Abhi moaned in his sleep. He was having a nightmare. He and Aditya were walking on top of a cliff. A giant bird swooped down and took Aditya up in his claws.

"I shall get rid of him for you!" The voice rumbled like thunder.

"No!" He screamed, and the sky changed, became dark and reddish and red clouds massed overhead before blood started pouring from the heavens and another voice thundered, “Fratricide! Is this the payment for all the love your brother gave you?”

He woke, panting, and sweating, the sheets tangled around his body. He stared around wildly. He sprang out of his bed and ran to his brother's room, and opened the door without knocking.

Aditya was fast asleep, one of his legs dangling from the side of the bed. The bed clothes were in disorder as if he had been tossing and turning. Abhi frowned. Was Aditya having a nightmare too?

Aditya groaned in his sleep. “No,” he muttered. “No, don’t. Please don’t!”

Abhi went to him and shook him by the shoulder. "Wake up, Aditya, you're having a nightmare!"

Aditya clutched his arm as he opened his eyes. There was a wild look in his eyes which were unfocussed. "Arnava!"

"Aditya, it’s me, Abhi." Abhi was worried. Who was Arnava?

Aditya's gaze focussed on his face. "Abhi?"

"Yes, you were having a nightmare." He said soothingly.

"Yea… Thanks…. but what are you doing in my room?" Aditya gave him a questioning look.

"I had a nightmare. I... I came to check if you were all right." Abhi muttered.

"I'm fine," Aditya said and was surprised as he was pulled into a hug. Abhi clung to him fiercely.

"Hey," Aditya’s voice was gentle. "I'm all right, you know."

"It seemed so real," Abhi said, his voice muffled by Aditya’s shoulder. He was shaking.

"They always do, but they are not.,” Aditya stroked his brother’s head, holding him close. He could not remember his own nightmare, but Abhi seemed shaken by his. “They disappear as soon as we wake."

"I know," Abhi murmured as he relaxed, and pulled away, though Aditya’s arms were still around him. "It's strange that we both should have had nightmares on the same night."

"Yes. I'm gonna kill mom." Aditya released his brother.

Abhi gave a weak chuckle, "She's not even here. What did she do?"

"For not telling us that guzzling ice cream before bed can cause nightmares!" Aditya said in an injured tone.

"You think the ice cream caused our nightmares?" Abhi sounded sceptical.

"What else could it have been?" Aditya quirked an eyebrow teasingly. “We both had it, and we both had horrible nightmares. Ergo, the ice cream is the culprit.”

"I so enjoyed eating it." Abhi said wistfully.

"So did I," Aditya said, sighing, before perking up. “But you know, we didn’t finish it."

"May be that's why we are having nightmares.” Abhi said grinning. “Our subconscious could be telling us that we forgot to finish the ice cream!"

"Let's finish it!" Aditya sprang up from the bed.

Abhi chuckled. "Remember how dad says there's always something that brings out the kid in us?"

"Yea. For me it's ice cream!" Aditya laughed as he raced out of the room.

"For me too!" Abhi laughed as he followed Aditya to the kitchen, all nightmares forgotten.

The Banished Secret: Chapter Three

The attackers came out of nowhere. There were twelve men in all, and Bhaskara frowned as he saw that their faces were covered with a dark strip of cloth which showed only their eyes. They were all dressed identically, angavastra, upavastra and daggers sheathed at their waists, and drawn swords in their right hand. Their left hands were empty, but Bhaskara had no doubt that they could draw their daggers with it just as easily or transfer their sword to it in the blink of an eye. Their bare torsos were covered with an inky pattern which he could not see clearly in the fast dimming light.

Bhaskara knew he was at a disadvantage since he was unarmed. His eyes swept the area just as the men closed in on him, their strides measured. The temple was deserted at this time in the evening. The sun had already gone down. They had chosen a good time for their attack. It disturbed him that someone should have followed him so closely as to know his times for visiting the temple. He never carried his weapons when he visited the temple and they certainly must have known it. He was still not used to having bodyguards and left them behind whenever he could.

On the positive side, the enchantment his mother placed on him ensured that their weapons could not damage him, but the enchantment did not make him imperious to pain, and the swords and daggers would cause enough pain.

The unknown assailants were very near to him.

"Who are you? What do you want?" He asked.

"We are your death!" one of them said even as he lunged at Bhaskara with his sword. Bhaskara caught the blade with one hand. He grimaced at the pain, but it was no less than he expected and he did not relax his grip. He clenched his other hand into a fist and slammed into the man's jaw in the same instant. The man's grip on the sword slackened and Bhaskara yanked it from his hand, transferring the hilt to his palm and taking a defensive stance. His attackers hung back a bit, since he was armed now. The owner of the sword snarled and lunged at him and Bhaskara slashed him across the chest.

With a shriek of pain, he went down. One of his fellows bent down and slit his throat with his dagger.

"We don't want noises, here!" He said as he rose.

"Why are you after me?" Bhaskara asked. "Who sent you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" another one jeered.

They attacked him together, with sword and dagger. Though they tried to spread out and surround him, Bhaskara shifted his stance, always keeping them in front of him, and attacking furiously at the same time as fending them off with everything he had. He didn’t want to kill them all; he wanted answers, and dead men provided none. That didn’t mean he didn’t have to kill anyone, and he stabbed one through the heart and grabbed his dagger to plunge it into the neck of another before yanking out his sword and facing the rest.

"Hey!" There was a shout and then an arrow pierced the heart of the man on the right flank.

"Run!" One man shrieked, and the rest of them fled from the arrows. Bhaskara thrust the sword into the ground and stood with his hand on it, breathing heavily.

"Are you all right?" Arnava was anxious as he came running towards his brother. His heart had nearly stopped when he saw Bhaskara being attacked, and he had fired his arrows almost on instinct, drawing his sword and dropping his bow even as the two arrows found their marks.

Bhaskara nodded, too winded to speak.

"Who were they? Why were they attacking you?" Arnava asked again. He was angry and frightened.

"I have no idea," Bhaskara said as he straightened. He looked around him. There were five corpses there, including the first man and two had arrows sticking from their bodies.

"Thank you," he said, giving Arnava a weak smile.

"Don't thank me!" Arnava burst out. "I am sorry I didn't get them all!"

Bhaskara bent down and ripped off the strip of cloth from one of the dead men's faces. He frowned. The man was a total stranger.

"Do you know him?" Arnava asked.

Bhaskara shook his head. He was confused. “Do you?”

Arnava too shook his head. “What is that symbol on their bodies?”

Bhaskara frowned as he looked at it. It was drawn in dark ink and was hardly visible in the gathering dusk. “Why should anyone be after me?” He muttered, almost to himself, confused and shocked.

"Let's go home," Arnava spoke, pulling at his arm. "It's getting dark. We shall send some of our guards here to remove the corpses and to examine them. There's nothing more we can do here."

They walked away from the temple, going down the hill at a fast pace, their eyes and other senses alert for any ambush.

“I’m glad you showed up when you did,” Bhaskara said.

“You were late getting back from the temple, and we’d both promised Sumitra to pose for his new painting.”

Bhaskara grimaced. “I should have known you would have an ulterior motive!”

Arnava gave a smile, but it was strained. The remnants of the nightmare he had last night still clung to him. The nightmare in which he’d watched Bhaskara being attacked by a group of people, and he’d been unable to help.

The Banished Secret: Chapter Two

"Life sucks!" Abhi declared. His older brother, Aditya lifted his eyebrows but did not answer. Abhi was normally even tempered and sunny, but he too had bad days.

Abhi was a handsome young man of around twenty. Though he was lounging on the couch, looking fairly indolent, he did have a good physique. He was tall and loose limbed. His dusky complexion only enhanced the brilliance of his eyes and smile. Aditya too looked much the same as his brother, except that he was at least ten years older and his complexion was molten gold. Apart from that, they looked exactly like the other. On his bad days, Abhi used to remark sourly that their mother loved Aditya so much, she gave birth to his xerox copy ten years later. Except that the settings were off, so the copy came out dark and not quite the same. Rochan and Achla used to laugh at Abhi's statement, but not Aditya.

Aditya wondered if it was going to be one of those days. He glanced at the newspaper, sipping his coffee, hoping against hope that Abhi would let him read in peace. Though twenty, Abhi often behaved like he was much younger.

"It really sucks!" Abhi repeated, sitting up in the couch and looking at Aditya where he was sitting next to the coffee table in an armchair.

"What happened?" Aditya asked, sighing and setting the newspaper aside.

"That old professor of yours," Abhi said moodily. "That Professor Alex. He’s never satisfied. Whatever I do is never enough. The other day he asked me if I was really your brother!"

Aditya chuckled. "He’s like that with everyone. He asked me once if I was really dad's son!" He winked at Abhi. "It's his style. Don't let it get to you."

"I don't care for his style," Abhi muttered. "Thank God he's retiring this month!"

"Who's coming to replace him, do you know?"

"No, and I don't see why you should be bothered. You are free of it!"

Aditya laughed. "Do you think only students have it tough?"

"I tend to forget you are a teacher these days," Abhi moaned. "I don't know why teachers forget all about their own student days as soon as they stand on the other side of the desk!"

"For the same reason why parents forget all about their childhood as soon as their first child is born," Aditya replied.

"That’s so true," Abhi said, grimacing. "Talking of parents, when are dad and mom returning? Do you know?"

Aditya shook his head. "No, but shouldn't you be concentrating on your assignment for Professor Alex? Granted, he's retiring at the end of the month, but he's certainly going to make your life miserable for the entire month if you don't turn it in on time."

"I know," Abhi sighed. "I've finished it. Just some fine tuning required."

"What's your plan today? It’s a holiday, isn’t it?"

"Nothing much. Shyam wants me to go to his place. He and Vina are planning to watch some stupid mytho show."

"And you don't want to?" Aditya looked amused.

Abhi grimaced. "I don't dig mythos. I don't even know why they hang out with me. We’ve absolutely nothing in common."

“A bit too late to gripe on that, don’t you think? The three of you have been inseparable since primary school.”

“Yea, but the differences were not so glaring then. Now… it’s as if we can’t agree on anything.”

"Life might be pretty boring if everyone agreed on everything," Aditya remarked.

"Please," Abhi groaned. "Spare me the platitudes till later in the day."

Aditya laughed as the doorbell rang.“Must be your friends,” Aditya smiled.

“I’ll be going then,” Abhi said, sounding thoroughly disgruntled as he went to open his door.

“Ready?” Shyam smiled brightly.

“I suppose,” Abhi said wearily.

“Come on, sleepy head!” Vina laughed as she dragged him to their car.

Abhi was feeling bored. Shyam and Vina were waxing eloquent about the actors and the costumes and stuff, but all he could see were a set of people dressed up in too bright clothes and a lot of unnecessary ornaments and too much glitter. He did not like their wigs either, and the dialogues made him yawn.

"Bored?" Shyam leaned against him.

"Oh, don't mind me," he said, yawning again. "You two carry on. You know I don't like this stuff."

Vina turned to look at them and rolled her eyes. "Perhaps we should have asked your brother to come."

"Aditya?" Abhi chuckled. "He likes this stuff even less than I do!"

"Why don't you try to know the story?" Shyam suggested, his arm snaking around Abhi’s shoulder. "You might find it interesting."

"Please," Abhi said, groaning. "I can't read anything other than thrillers. You know that."

"Imagine this is a thriller, then. It is thrilling enough." Vina smirked.

"Yea, sure!" Abhi laughed. "If that's a thriller, then I'm Ved Vyas!"

"Impressive!" Shyam laughed too. "So you know Ved Vyas' name!"

"Ha ha!" Abhi said. "It’s a side effect of hanging around with you two!"

"It's a start!" Vina said, winking. "We'll make a mytho lover of you yet!"

"Why can't you two just take me as I am?" Abhi asked plaintively, as his friends broke into laughter.