Chapter Seven: Further Inside
When Kutti regained consciousness, he found himself lying on a soft bed in a well-lit and well-furnished room. After almost an hour of deliberation, he sat himself up and looked around in fear. There was no one visibly present inside though he had been hearing deep human voices since 'awakening'. All the four walls and the ceiling were milky white with a few graceful decorative patterns in places. Apart from these, he was sorry to have discovered there were neither any ventilators, nor any windows, and nor even a door--the thing he had taken for a door was, in fact, a large Belgium mirror fixed in the middle of a wall. And, astonishingly, the mirror was frequently changing its background wall--now on the left, now on the right, now at the back; what was more, whenever Kutti was looking at himself in the mirror, he was getting the reflection of a new unknown boy or beast--as if all his previous incarnations were appearing before him one by one.
Next, despite putting in a great deal of effort, he couldn't find out a single hole in the whole room, through which fresh air would flow in. But it was also surprising that he wasn't feeling any breathing problems because of lack of the so-called means of the oxygen supply.
Again, the human voices were audible but not intelligible, and their sources seemed to be undetectable.
Kutti questioned himself, 'What should I do now? Will I shout for help? But who will help me out? Am I here a captive or a guest? Are the people who have kept me here hostile or hospitable? What sort of people are they? Are they robbers or sorcerers? What is their motive?'
While moving about in the room, once he stopped in front of a wall and, by touching it, commented, 'It'd look splendid if it were painted pink.' O my God! The next moment the colour of the wall changed completely from white into pink. He went to another wall more inquisitively and said, 'If it were green. . ..' Good heavens, the wall changed into green immediately.
After a while, feeling absolutely ravenous, he started pacing up and down saying, 'If there were food kept here. . ..' Not even a moment elapsed, he suddenly spotted something on the glass table set by the expensive cot. He approached it with boyish curiosity and soon uncovered some scrumptious dishes arranged beautifully on a large silver plate. It stands to reason that he didn't hesitate at all to sumptuously feast on it without delay.
Right after the grand meal, he wished to take some rest and lay on the bed. When he got up, it was all morning. Birds were twittering in the trees, dogs were barking in the fields, and squirrels were quarrelling over fruits in the bushes. Surprisingly enough, Kutti found himself in the same prayer hall of the temple where he had had a magical vision yesterday evening. But where was the mysterious room without any windows and doors? It was the building of the same tumbledown temple. How had he gained access to the luxurious magical accommodaton? It was really all confusing. At last, he concluded that those magical scenes had surely taken place in his dreams.
Next he stood up and started looking at everything carefully and thoroughly. After a few minutes, he concentrated on the closed door of the inner shrine and easily pushed it open. The inside was faintly visible for want of adequate daylight. However, Kutti was able to see the altar but there wasn't any idol on it. And the floor was littered with rubbish of different sorts, contributing to a kind of stink in the whole ambience. Discouraged by this all, as he turned back and stepped out of the door, he heard somebody speak out from inside in a thick loud voice, 'Won't you see the god of the temple?' Frightened by its suddenness, Kutti ran a few steps away at first, and then bravely turned towards the source of the voice and came to see with difficulty a robust long-bearded middle-aged man with matted hair on his head standing beside the altar. Then he beckoned and said, 'Come in, boy. This is not the main inner shrine but a rejected one. The main altar with our God on it is further inside. Come this way.' Kutti obeyed him and entered the first inner shrine again and saw there was really another door in the side-wall on the left. The man pulled it forcefully remarking, 'It's an age-old door made of iron wood. None else but me can open it. When I'm away on duty or on business, it's generally left open so that the inmates can come in and go out.'
The door led them to a long corridor with a number of rooms on both the sides. All their doors remained closed. At the end of the corridor was a large yard covered with mosaic tiles cracked in places. And just in front of it was a lacklustre commodious inner shrine. After arriving at the gate, the man shouted, 'Nilli, come and see your new friend.' Soon a bright boy of Kutti's height and age came out of a room situated on the other side of the yard. Just then the man spoke to Kutti, 'Do you remember him?' Kutti gravely answered, 'I've never seen him in my life.' 'Don't tell a lie. Did I not introduce myself to you yesterday evening? I see you've got a very short memory. How would you be able to memorize all the intricate long formulas? Masterji, don't get him admitted please--he'll sure damage your reputation.' So saying, the boy burst out laughing alongside his master, with Kutti standing there a complete idiot and looking much insulted. A little later, the man explained proudly, 'Don't you remember the blue cat you spoke to yesterday before entering the temple?'
The boy added, 'And that was me, Nilli. Nice to meet you again.' Kutti could hardly believe his words. But the man, alias masterji, informed, 'Yes, Kutti! Nilli has learnt that much only. He's a bit indolent, I should say. But if you want to achieve the highest, then work your hardest.'