Chapter Fourteen: The Magic Pond
After wildly dancing in the air for some time, the old man comes downward and falls on the soil with a thud. Then thumping his stick on a dry fallen leaf, he asserts, 'It's full of energy, full of charm. Have a mango, gentlemen, have a mango. And you're sure to be on the road to Damascus.' 'No, thank you, sir. We'll take a different road,' I inform. 'What fools you are! Such an opportunity! Just once in a lifetime! You can't give it a miss, can you?' 'Please don't mind, sir, but we can't eat anything here in this jungle because we're performing a special monastic vrat at the moment,' explains Vedanand. 'Then it's all right, gentlemen! I mustn't ask you to break a vrat all the more so because you're monks. Well, the sun is up now. Let's visit another place of mystery not very far away.'
The old man starts walking in another direction, with us two closely following. On the way, I inquire purposefully, 'Well, sir, you were then talking about the hidden temple of Pataleshwar Shiva. Haven't you traced it yet?'
'How should I, gentlemen? It's not traceable at all--at least for people like me. Do you follow?'
'No, actually! What do you mean by that?' I confess.
'Umm! I don't know if you've heard of Mag B the great black magician. In fact, it's his black agents who always keep the temple shrouded. They're the citizens of the underworld. That's why they don't want anybody outside their gang to find out the temple which is not only a treasure trove but also a trusted guide for travellers to the underworld.'
'That's very interesting,' encourages Vedanand.
'Yes, gentlemen, that's really very interesting. By the way, may I ask you why you two are here in this forest? No common people come here generally, after all.'
This time I try to convince, 'Actually, sir, we're looking for a dog--a very, very special one. You'd be surprised to know its real story surely.'
'Would I? Anyway, we've reached the place. Do you see the pond? There's something profoundly mysterious about it.'
'What is it, sir?' we two ask him at the same time.
'Hum-hum! It's more enigmatic than the mango tree. You can change your forms by dipping yourselves into it--any forms you like. Just stand in the water and speak, for example,'Let me change into a red cow' and have a dip only to witness the desired transformation.'
'Is that so easy?' I ask doubtfully.
'Don't you believe, gentlemen? You should have learnt from the previous incident that Lucifer does NOT lie.'
'Who's Lucifer, sir?' interrogates Vedanand.
'It's me, the one and only Lucifer on earth. Anyway, let me prove it again.'
So saying, Lucifer almost scampers towards the pond and, throwing his stick away, jumps into the water. It's a shallow pond, which lies almost hidden being surrounded by thick ungraceful bushes. Now Lucifer cries, 'Let me be a fearful tiger' and forcibly dips himself. The water turns round for a few seconds. And the very next moment comes out of it a ferocious tiger that glares at us and then breaks into a run. What is this? He's chasing after us. We, too, start running desperately into the deeper forest to save our necks.