It was a stormy night. May be the wettest of the monsoon season. Flashes of thunder could be seen and heard a few seconds later striking the Earth at some distance. Striking at trees, mountains, livestock or perhaps people, who knows. Jaswant wondered how fortunate it will be if the thunder fell upon his uncle Veerbahu the usurper, and end his misery tonight. But then mocking himself for such stupid thoughts, he tried picking up another train of thoughts riding in this terrible weather.
Jaswant was the fugitive prince of Chakrapuri and declared a wanted criminal for murder of his own parents King Mahadik and Queen Mandira. While some dared whisper only in privy, it was a widespread belief that the murder was actually orchestrated by Jaswant's uncle Veerbahu, commander and the king's guard. However benevolent and beloved king Mahadik was, Veerbahu couldn't have been more opposite. A vile, cruel and suspicious ruler he became. he never left hunting Prince Jaswant, but the prince was a master of disguise, diplomacy, weaponry and warcraft. Aided with his silver tongue and knowledge of many languages, he kept surviving Veerbahu's attempts on his life as a fugitive.
In his constantly moving journey for revenge, one day Jaswant arrived to the kingdom of Kandhar. Kandhar was a situated on a popular trading route to Asia and was thus a hot cauldron of sell-swords, philosophers, healers, musicians, magicians and what not. Jaswant had heard tales in childhood, of strange travelers coming via Kandhar possessing Damascus steel swords, knowledge of dark arts and sometime wielding artifacts with otherworldly powers.
The town he entered was full of taverns serving customers from all ranges, from the shared halls to more discrete establishments. Jaswant stopped at an inconspicuous lodge, tied his horse inside the barn and fed it water and hay. Once inside the lodge, he noticed a queerly-dressed grumpy-faced old man with a saffron turban sitting over the counter and checking him out thoroughly. Fixing his fake mustache subtly, Jaswant approached the inn-keeper and asked for one bed in a shared dorm. That was the prince's routine typically, to stay in crowded places, mingle with ordinary folks, listen to their gossips, speak in their dialects, exchange harmless stories, remain alert and informed. Staying discrete or aloof on the other hand, ran the risk of being mugged or even killed in sleep for a petty purse. By now Jaswant knew many stories from various lands by heart- exaggerated, hilarious, mysterious and wise at times. He never felt a hesitation in getting along with any kind of crowds anymore. The grumpy turbaned inn-keeper took the coins and pointed him down the hall towards a dormitory. Jaswant went down obediently, but could feel the inn-keeper's piercing gaze over the back of his head walking down the aisle.
In the dormitory, Jaswant noticed an unusual assembly around the fireplace tonight. Three large hooded figures were sitting there smoking, brooding, quarreling and murmuring in hushed voices, compared to the regular vulgar spirits flying high at such place. Jaswant was drenched and cautiously seated himself near the self absorbed group around fireplace. With a quick glance, he observed his three companions- tall, thin, bearded wraiths of old men. Not just old, but ancient looking enigmatic faces. The herbs they were smoking had a strong intoxicating stench. Jaswant feared he might begin hallucinating if he passively inhaled it any longer. It took a while for one of the old men to notice Jaswant keenly observing them and with a paused look the three stared at him in unison with glaring red eyes. Jaswant looked startled for a moment, and drew a little courage to break the ice first- "Oh, don't mind me dear sirs, I am just a passerby for tonight. Please carry on." The three identical looking wraiths nodded at each other as if telepathically communicating. At last, the one sitting nearest to the fireplace broke the silence- "Greetings prince Jaswant, how fortunate of you to arrive here!"
"But how... how do you know my name?"- Jaswant was startled and ran his fingers on his fake mustache and beard.
The old man in the middle assumed command now to speak on behalf of the three and divulged their identity and intent- "We know about everyone and everything that there was and there is. We three have come from the land you know as Africa. I am Buk, this is Tim and sitting on my right is Tu. But I must say that despite all the gifts we possess, we three could have never hoped for a more suitable arrival in this room to settle our quarrel by such a stroke of fate."
"Fate favors you perhaps, not me. But wait a minute. I know you. I mean I've heard stories in childhood. Stories about a city called TimBukTu. But isn't it supposed to be a place? Like a very ancient one?"
"So you too have misheard it all? WE ARE TimBukTu. The city near the west coast of Africa is known because of us."- continued Buk- "We are disciples of Sidi Yahya, the most powerful spiritual leader ever born in history of mankind."
"Yeah, right. But sorry I haven't heard of this guy either."- the prince started suspecting them to be swindlers.
Buk grinned- "Oh, but indeed you have. Everyone has as a matter of fact. Many of you know him as Adam, while some call him Noah- the first man. Arabs from our land call him Sidi Yahya- the great preacher. Jews and Christians know him as 'John the Baptist' or Saint John. He is the one who announced the arrival of prophet Jesus of Nazareth and the one who started the chain of events leading to birth of Islam. In your land, you call him Manu- he first man mentioned in your scriptures. He predates all religions, and might have inadvertently started a few. He caused the birth of humanity, and he alone knew when and how it will end. We are the only three still surviving disciples of him."
"So where did he go?"- Jaswant asked with a mesmerized look. Not because of this unbelievable story, but by the unmatched skills of the storyteller.
Tim raised his finger to silence Jaswanth, while Buk continued- "We traveled along with him for centuries until one day he decided to make a stop at a deserted place and commanded us to continue our journey further without him. We were told to return at the exact same spot a year later where the greatest gift we desire would await us, if we were truly worthy. We complied but returned within a month itself only to find in that spot a mosque erected- Sidi Yahya's mosque. And inside the mosque on a mammoth door, it was carved-
"Do not open this door or it will be the end of the world.
Behind this door lies the secret to conquer your past, present and future."
"End of the world? That surely sounds terrible."- exclaimed Jaswant.
Tu spoke for the first time with a trembling voice- "Indeed. It's terrible, quite terrible. Can't open the door. Can't open it." Buk put his hand on Tu's shoulder and he came back to his senses.
Tim poured more logs in the fire while Buk resumed where he left- "Our teacher deceived us and deprived us of his gift of foresight. You see, travelling with him, we mastered many gifts. How to see anyone's past by looking at their faces. How to see anything happening anywhere across the world at the moment. But Sidi never trusted us completely. He feared we would use these gifts to manipulate the course of events to foster our own nefarious agenda of ruling the Earth."
"The old man's gut feeling was spot on, we gotta admit that", winked Tim mischievously- "The point is, he never taught us how to look into the future. Now that Sidi has disappeared and left us this puzzle of the cursed door, we are neither able to look inside the door, nor break it open without unleashing an unknown death instrument. So we explored for decades, in search of the right device to solve our dilemma. Finally, we found an old wandering spirit in this part of world. We were able to imprison it in this glass pendant." Buk exposed an inconspicuous pendant hanging to his neck and went on- "Now that we have caught hold of it, we'd command it to phase through the gate without causing it any harm and let us know what's behind."
"What happens then?"- the mortified prince inquired.
"Well, firstly if there is any death trap, mechanical or mystic, we would know how to counter open it. And whether or not there is indeed a secret artifact Sidi left for his worthy successors."- Buk took charge of the conversation again.
"Why are you telling me all this?" - Jaswant asked eventually.
"It doesn't matter. I shall erase this episode from your memory like we were never here in the first place, if only you could help us break our deadlock."- Buk shifted his tone from nonchalant to curious- "You see, Sidi was a wise master. He taught Tim how to look into someone's past, Tu how to view the passing moment anywhere in the world, and myself how to distort and manipulate someone's reality. We three can't now teach these in turn to each other, only Sidi had that skill. Our gifts are unique and complementary to each other. But now that we wish to command this wandering spirit trapped in bottle, it says it serves only one master at a time. If one of us actually commands it, spirit will obey and share the secret behind the mosque door only to him. The power to foresee the future makes him our de facto leader. Whose gifts qualify him to wield this deadly power? That's our deadlock."
Jaswant understood the dilemma now but still asked perplexed- "Ahhmm, that's all fascinating, but where do I come in the picture?"
Buk said- "Remember Tim here can see your past and tells you are a good man with a bad fate. You are the legitimate heir to a noble king, a royal blood with a pure heart. Perhaps a suitable person to be entrusted with the breaking our discord. We want you to command the spirit and retrieve the secret. Then the person you choose among us will be the leader. None of us will interfere and you and you alone shall decide it. Do you agree?"
Jaswant asked with amusement- "And what if I want none of this foxy business?"
Tim almost hissed this time displaying his sharp teeth- "We have tasted human blood all across the world. But never a royal blood." Buk rebuked him instantly- "Control the blood lust you fool. It took me an hour to get him under my influence."
Turning toward the prince, Buk spoke with a finality- "Comply with us and we will fill you with riches. Your enemies shall be our enemies. Or you could just choose to erase this memory altogether and be done with us, your wish. But if you dare cross us, it will be your most fatal mistake, perhaps the last. So what say you?"
Jaswant was caught between the devil and the deep sea. With an inner courage he decided to let it unfold further and expressed his consent. Buk took out the pendant from his neck and handed it over to Jaswant. The prince twisted open the pendant and a whirlwind of thick viscous smoke filled the dormitory. A curious shape protruding from the smoke leaned over the prince and asked what he wished it to do. Prince Jaswant commanded the spirit to travel to TimBukTu, Sidi Yahya's mosque, behind the mysterious door and reveal to him what secret is kept behind it. The spirit disappeared, leaving a palpable uneasiness behind, only to reappear in a few moments. It glided over straight to Jaswant and whispered the magnificent secret in his ear, followed by an instruction which brought a sparkle in his eyes:
"Call the saffron. Shout "hala" and duck."
"Thank you spirit, I free you from these sorcerers now."- with a swift move Jaswant picked up glass pendant and shattered it on the floor- "Inform the inn keeper. Fast." The obscure spirit vanished without a trace in an instant.
Tim, Buk and Tu were stunned for a moment before quickly hovering above the ground with full height of their cloaks.
Tim grew angry and moved alone towards Jaswant while growling at his two companions- "Doesn't matter now what tricks either of you is playing. Tell me NOW boy. What's the bloody secret?"
Buk tried again with his suaveness- "Don't be absurd Tim. Didn't we agree to let the boy choose impartially?" "How do we know he is not already under your spell?"- retorted Tu this time gradually losing his composure now into a wildly beast's.
Just as they were quarreling, Jaswant took a leap of faith and shouted "hala" instantly ducking under the table in his front. The room broke open with a thud and filled with stupefying light. There were spells enchanted back and forth, sound of blasts and stuff flying in the room, followed by three earth shattering shrieks and it was all still by the time Jaswant's eyes were able to see again. The chaos was over within a few moments. And in the middle of all this commotion and a nearly decimated room, he saw the torn threads of the three wraiths but no bodies in sight. Standing victoriously there was the tavern's grumpy owner clad in queer clothes and saffron turban, only that he was no longer grumpy.
The spirit was gone and just before the inn keeper of this tavern went out too, Jaswant asked- "Who are you? What just happened?"
The inn keeper turned to face the young prince, still startled and dazed- "Don't you get it already son? I am Sidi Yahya- their master."
Jaswant blinked his eyes in disbelief while Sidi pointed out to the pieces of clothes left behind- "These three demons disguised themselves as the youngest of my disciples Tim, Buk and Tu, after killing them during our journey. And once in my camp, slowly they caused the death of the rest of my disciples too. These man-eaters mostly preyed by causing jealousy, anger or hate among humans, making a man take life of even his own blood. Tim-Buk-Tu, or whatever their real identities were, traveled with me for centuries to gain mystic powers, but they desired 'the gift of foresight' the most. It took me long enough to realize their true identity, intentions and the fact that together now the three were evenly matched with me in mystic powers. I looked into the future and saw in my visions a noble-hearted royal warrior causing these three demons to quarrel among each other, turning their own vices upon them- jealousy, anger and hate.
You must have got my instruction about informing Saffron in time, how clever of you to notice the inn-keeper in saffron turban. Though I would admit I had no clue how you came upon my clue I had safeguarded with my secret behind the door, until an obscure spirit appeared in front of me just now. You see, my foresight doesn't let me see the events which don't involve me.
Now, you and I both know now that my secret wasn't gonna help these demonic entities master their past-present-future anyway, so I lost their sight under the charade of hiding this secret behind an accursed door and waited for an eternity. Since I didn't know when it would happen but I followed these wraiths for precisely the moment when they would be at their vulnerable best. It took me good 500 years but it was worth the wait to destroy the demons I had myself empowered. My compliments on your courage and nobility young prince. Is there any worldly pleasure within my limits you desire? I shall grant you that as my token of gratitude."
"Quite a fascinating turn of events, great all father. And I will only be a fool to turn your generosity down. But I ask only one thing from you. Erase all my memories of this episode because after knowing the secret to master one's past-present-future, I don't want to keep it in my conscience. The purpose of my life has been to exact revenge upon my usurper uncle Veerbahu and after learning this eternal secret, I feel the fire burning within me now vanquishing. I cannot afford to have the purpose of my life snatched away from me. So with sincere apology, Oh first man, I beg you to wipe this knowledge off my mind."
"Let it be so then. May whichever God you worship protect you my son."- and the First man too vanished leaving the young prince with a dazed head in a destroyed dormitory.
"I guess you were that spirit in the story then."- I verified just to be sure after hearing this thrilling tale.
"Correct you are, Fatman."- Robin replied.
"But what was that secret to master one's past-present-future then? You told it to the prince. Do you remember it still?"- I inquired.
Robin responded with an air of melancholy- "Of course I do. It's actually so simple. And yet it is so rare in this world. All the problems would cease to exist in your world if mankind embraces this eternal truth."
"And which is?"- restlessly I asked.
"Power of Forgiveness, my child."- answered my ancient pet spirit pensively.
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