Conjurer & The Sacred Lemons (15 page)

Whatever information Bob had collected so far, Rag Peter appeared to be a harmless creature living in the community and was living on the generous support from the community. There was no complaint or case against him in the last 15 years.

The overall opinion of the community about the victim was that of a strange but peaceful fellow, although his appearance, his yelling and shouting were sometimes was seen as something strange.

While going through the autopsy report again, detective Bob stopped at one sentence.

“During autopsy in one of the hand which was closed, a paper chit was found. The chit was having “LION “written on it.

“Look Sargent Tayler, it seems Rag had left something for us “Bob commented.

“Are you referring to the paper chit?” he asked Bob.

“ Yeh “Bob replied.

“I thought over it. The attackers purposely put that paper chit to mislead us “Sargent Tayler shared his opinion.

“The whole crime took place in few minutes. I doubt the attackers would have thought such a prank “Bob was confident about his observation.

“We need to investigate further what this particular paper chit and the word “Lion “means “Bob said in slow but confident voice.

“Well … if you insist we would surely check… whether “Lion “is a real Lion or a person or a Gang” Sargent Tayler replied.

“Be serious Bro. I am suspecting something fishy here “detective Bob replied.

The day ended without any further happenings. The dead body of Rag Peter was put to the rest by the Municipal Corporation, as there was no one which came forward to claim the body.

Chapter 13

Ursula & Patrick in India

Ursula and Patrick reached Newark from New Orleans via air .The video group of the magazine consisting of Paul Jacob and Liz Taylor was already there at the airport. Ursula and Liz knew each other as they had worked together on one magazine feature covering Canada two years back. Ursula introduced Patrick to both Paul and Liz. The flight from Newark to India was not a direct one. They had to first travel to Frankfurt and then change the plane there and Take a new plane from Frankfurt to the Indian Capital Delhi. Paul alone had experience of India in the group. He had travelled to India twice earlier few years back. Patrick, Ursula and Liz were travelling to India for the first time. Naturally Paul was giving tips on India to the group. His first comment on India was about finding crowd wherever you see. He told his colleagues that we are not used to such crowds in US.

The team landed at Delhi airport late in the night. Clearing their luggage and video equipment from the customs took almost one hour. When they came out of the airport a Taxi arranged by the local India representative of the magazine was waiting for them. It was a Sport utility vehicle and could easily accommodate their entire luggage. By the time they reached hotel it was almost 3 am. The trio was exhausted by the long travel and immediately went for sleep.

It was Monday morning in India. The local India representative of the magazine Shikha Gupta was waiting in the reception lounge since 8.30 am. The trio managed to prepare themselves and came to the lobby at around 9.15 am. Shikha got introduced herself to all of them. Paul knew Shikha due to his earlier two visits to India.

The Group had a brief discussion on the plan which was prepared by the head office earlier and was shared with the group beforehand. Today’s agenda consisted of covering a feature on Delhi based travel attractions and included 5 major attractions the Red fort , the Kutubminar , the Raj ghat , Chandani bazar and  the Mughal garden . Ursula had done her preliminary work and knew that Indian capital had a legacy of the Mughals and the British who combinly ruled India for almost 350 years both put together. She could also understand through her literature study that the 5 selected sites for the documentary have great historical significance.

Two big sport utility vehicles were arranged by Shikha Gupta. Considering that some of the Indian roads are filled with potholes and obstructions, a sport utility vehicle was a safe option as compared to the normal cars .The trio accompanied by Shikha covered all the five places in Delhi till late evening. The video unit under Paul and Liz did an excellent shooting of these places from various angles while Ursula was busy in interviewing the people on these sites. Patrick of course was busy in moving around with them and was trying to do as much sightseeing as was possible for him.

In the evening Shikha had arranged a special dinner in their honor at one of the most upmarket hotel cum bar lounge serving multicounty cuisine. Shikha from her experience knew that most of the foreigners are unable to cope up with the spicy Indian food and water so she was careful in selecting the venue. In the morning only she had advised Patrick and the trio to have only bottled water for drinking.

During the dinner the group had lot of discussion on the balance attractions to be covered in next 8 days. The last 4 days of the tour were reserved for any contingency and also for the purpose sightseeing and shopping for the group.

“This week in the remaining four days we will be covering city of Agra famous for the world known structure the Tajmahal built by the emperor Shahjahan in memory of his wife. Besides we will plan covering a fort in Agra and the leather industry there.” Shikha was discussing the plan in detail.

“Balance 3 day we have to cover the Hill stations namely Simla, Kulu Manali and one religious town Amritsar. Next week first 3 days we will cover religious places of Haridwar and Rishikesh. That will cover our entire plan “Shikha continued her conversation.

“I had been to Haridwar last time when I was India. A weird place where you find the Yogi’s, Sadhus, Tantric, Faith healers and persons helping you to get rid of troubles in life “Paul interrupted Shikha in between.

“Paul... do not call Haridwar a weird place. Yes it had all the elements you mentioned but all those Sadhus, Tantric are devotees of certain sects and follow different traditions. You will not believe until you see it-people from world over come here and some of them really could get benefit from the advice by these so called Sadhus and Tantric “Shikha tried to defend her country’s heritage.

Ursula now got interested in the topic after hearing the Sadhus, Tantric and the faith healers. She thought she might get a solution to Patrick’s problem here. However she did not want to discuss her personal issue in open. She decided that she would talk to Shikha from time to time during the balance trip and check if they could some help from these people in curing the issues faced by Patrick in USA.

Next day the group started for the famous city of Agra. The trio was impressed by the marble structure of the Tajmahal.  After the Taj mahal the team covered features on the Agra fort and the leather industry. They started for Delhi back at around 4 pm. Ursula thought next 2 hours in the vehicle was a good opportunity to talk to Shikha Gupta and get as much information as possible from her on the Haridwar Sadhus , Tantric and the faith healers.

“Shikha you spoke of Haridwar and Sadhus, Tantric and so on. Can you brief me in detail as we travel “Ursula requested.

“Sure. But there are hundreds of sects, rituals and customs among the Sadhus and the tantric. Even I may not know them all. If you have any particular topic in mind which I know I would surely help you on that “Shikha replied.

“You talked about people coming there from all over the world for their problems and issue “Ursula tried to clarify her interest.

“Yes that is true. But again the reasons for visit are different for each one of them. Many of them come to find solace in spiritualism .Some come there to use tantric to get rid of their business and the personnel problems. So you know it is very vast canvass” Shikha replied back.

“Can you elaborate more on the Tantric who help people to get rid of personal problems “Ursula enquired.

“Again there are many sects among the Tantric. Personally I am against some sects like Black magic and those indulge in animal sacrifices. One sect which is mystic but yet respectable is the Nathas “Shikha answered.

“Ok then tell me about the Nathas “Ursula replied.

Meanwhile Driver stopped the vehicle at one hotel so that they could have some quick snacks, water and Beverages. All of them got down. The conversation between Shikha and Ursula stopped suddenly.

When the travel again resumed after a brief break. Shikha explained the Nath sect and their customs in detail to Ursula.

“The nine Naths are the incarnations of Nine Narayanan (Indian Gods) who help Lord Narayan (One of the main deity) in taking care of the worldly activities. Lord Krishna (One of the main deity) had summoned the nine Narayan’s to his court for deciding the establishment of Nath Sampraday (Sect). The Nath tradition is a heterodox
siddha
tradition containing many sub-sects. It was founded by
Matsyendranath
and further developed by
Gorakshanath
. These two individuals are revered and are credited with great powers and perfected spiritual attainment.” Shikha started narrating the origin of the Nath Sect.

Ursula was listening carefully. Time to time she was asking questions on multiple Deity’s referred to by Shikha. This was something new to Ursula when Shikha mentioned that there are millions of different deity’s worshipped by the Indians.

“The Sanskrit word
nātha
is the proper name of a
Navnath
initiatory tradition
and the word itself literally means "lord, protector, refuge". The related Sanskrit term
Adi Natha
means first or original Lord, and is therefore a synonym for
Shiva
, Mahadev, or
Maheshvara
, and beyond these supramental concepts, the Supreme Absolute Reality as the basis supporting all aspects and manifestations of consciousness.” Shikha continued detailing out the origin of Nath Sect.

Most of the names mentioned by Shikha were too difficult for Ursula to remember. She was however more interested to know the sect and how they help people.

“During the last 11 centuries, the Nath sect grew under the concept of Guru-Shishya (Teacher and the disciple). It has assumed multiple forms depending on the Guru (Teacher) so in Nath sects also there are 5 to 6 major schools depending on which aspect they put stress. Some Gurus of Nath sect laid stress on the devotation, some on the Yagnya, some on Hath yoga, Some on Shabari Vidya (a mystical collection of various supernatural ceremonies for the benefit of the people. In short there is a wide variety in this sect “Shikha continued.

Shikha seemed to have studied the Nath sect in detail. She was providing a lot of information to Ursula.

“Nath Gurus spread the thought that the entire world is born out of the Nada (sound), the divine principle, Light & fire, physical principle and the supreme reality. They propounded the thought that the physical principles and the supreme reality emanate from the Lord Shiva. According to the Nath sect Liberation from worldly matters is the ultimate aim of the Naths after which they get merged with the supreme reality that is Lord Shiva “Shikha continued explaining Nath sect Philosophy.

This was tad difficult for Ursula to grasp as she has never come across Indian Gods, sects and their founding principles and Values. What she could gather from Shikha’s conversation that the Nath sect believes that lord Shiva is the Supreme reality.

“The Navnaths (The first 9 Naths and the founders of the sect) believes in Rishi (Sage) Dattatreya, an incarnation of the Hindu trinity Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva to be its first teacher.” Shikha provided further details on the Nath sect.

By this time they had reached their hotel. Ursula thanked Shikha for a detailed guidance on the Nath sect and requested to cover the balance details while they travel to Simla town the next day.

The Trio along with Shikha started early morning by air from Delhi to Simla. It was a one hour travel. After reaching Simla the group got freshen up and had some heavy breakfast and started their coverage of Simla shooting important places in Simla and interviewing experience of the other tourists. By 6 pm the group was back to the hotel after finishing their work. Due to hectic schedule Ursula hardly got time to speak to Shikha on the Nath sect during the daytime.