The Other Side(51)

‘This is it! The mystery lake of my dreams,’ he thought. Someone called his name and he realised that the other members of the team had trekked down the fifty meters to the edge of the lake and were calling him. Vikram had already discovered a few skulls and a bone on the edge of the lake above the black coloured rocks and the team was clustering around them, jabbering excitedly. Ravi could not share their enthusiasm as he joined them. He felt a deep sense of melancholy, of having lost something very personal and priceless on these icy slopes. He felt a strange compassion for the victims of the massive tragedy which must have occurred here hundreds of years back. While the others members of the team poked around, looking for more skeletons and posing for pictures, Ravi felt himself drawn towards the ridge on the opposite side of the lake. There was an indefinable feeling in his heart as he ascended up towards Junargali. The silence called out to him, pulling on his mind as he trudged ahead. He saw a large boulder and moved behind it. There, half buried in the snow, he found a skull. He felt a strong sense of empathy with the unknown person who had died on those icy slopes centuries back. He picked up the skull, dusted it with his hands and wondered what connection he possibly shared with it.



“You are back!” He was startled to hear a deep voice. He turned around and was surprised to see a tall figure regarding him from a distance. He was dressed in robes and had a turban topped off with a huge ruby. Somehow he looked familiar and with a flash of intuition, Ravi realised that it was the man from his dreams. He wondered if he was hallucinating. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. The man was still there and he appeared to be smiling at him.

“My son! You are young and may not understand many things. Everything in this world has a purpose. That is why you had those dreams and came here. Dig deeper into the snow where you found that skull,” the man said. It appeared to Ravi that his lips did not move and Ravi blinked profusely.

“What do you mean? I don't understand all this. Why do I get those dreams? Do I have a connection with this place? Who are you and what are you talking about?” Ravi was completely confused. He wondered if the lack of oxygen up here was playing tricks on his mind.

“You will understand everything later. Please do what I am telling you. Hurry, there is not much time left,” the man spoke from within.

Ravi found the command a bit strange but something deep inside him compelled him to obey. He discovered the shaft of a long bone and used it to dig through the snow.

“Deeper, deeper!” urged the apparition. “There is not much time.”

The bone struck something hard and Ravi prised the stone out of the snow. The ruby was the size of a pigeon's egg. Ravi held up and admired the shine as it glittered eerily in his hands and Ravi realised that it was similar to the one on the man's turban.

“I had pledged to place this ruby at the feet of Nanda Devi but changed my mind at the last moment. That provoked the wrath of the Goddess and my whole entourage perished. Just take it down to the lake and immerse it in the waters. Be quick as there is very little time left,” the voiceless man ordered.

“This seems to be priceless. Why should I do what you say?” Ravi asked, tightening his grip on the stone. The man's eyes blazed with sudden fury. “Avarice! It was the undoing of us and now it will be the end of you. Do what I say if you want to live.”

Ravi stared at the dusky man and nodded. For some reason, he found he couldn't deny him. “Don't harm me. I'll do what you say,” he promised.

“But I must to warn you. You are in grave danger. You must hurry and escape from here immediately after immersing the ruby. Otherwise you will perish here once again,” the man said.

“What are you talking about? I don't understand,” Ravi said, grabbing his head.

“There is hardly any time left. Offer the ruby to the Goddess. Then take your friends and run from here. Climb up the ledge and go down the other side. There is a cave beyond the ledge. Take shelter in it. Do not let history repeat itself. Seek shelter before it is too late.” And in a blink of an eye he was gone.

Ravi stood there, perplexed! He touched his forehead and found drops of sweat gathering on his temple, almost turning to ice in the chill. Impossible, he thought! Then he decided to act. He turned back and started screaming at his friends. “Vikram, Sailesh, Ajay; come up here quick.”

The others looked up, surprised. They saw Ravi beckoning from a distance.

“Hey dude, what are you doing up there? And why are you shouting?” Vikram shouted back. Ravi realised that they would not listen to him. He rushed down the slope, sliding and slipping and managed to reach his friends in a few minutes, panting with exertion.