Episode 42
As the voice of Ranjan sounded business like to Rajan, he didn't waste any more time.
In the field, the masked sports instructor was waiting for him. Ranjan left the place, but Rajan had to work like a donkey for the entire day. He got intermittent breaks of 15 minutes, and a longer break of 30 minutes during lunch. The main task was to run 100 meters within 15 seconds, which he could not do during the entire day. In between, he had to do a lot of free hand exercises and yoga. A physiotherapist also took care of him from time to time.
Rajan tried hard to talk to the instructor. But, that medium-height, stout man seemed to be a robot like guy. He didn't say an extra word. At 5-30 PM, he blew the whistle thrice calling it a day. Only at that time, in a stern voice he announced,
"Your performance has not been satisfactory Rajan. You have got only one more day. Try hard to reach the target tomorrow."
"Okay Sir, but may I know why?" Inspired by his sudden utterance, Rajan asked enthusiastically.
"Sorry Rajan, I don't know the reason. All I know is that I have to prepare you to run 100 meters within 15 seconds by tomorrow." He shrugged his shoulders.
After the day's tiring, back-breaking efforts to reach the unreachable, Rajan was relaxing in his cozy bed. The temperature of the room was set at a very comfortable level of 24°C, the humidity was set at 40%, and a very soothing music was being played in the background. Rajan learnt the technique of relaxing in this house. He relaxed every muscles of his body, and soon he fell asleep.
But, his nap was rather short-lived. Rajan woke up hearing the sound of a roar of a lion coming from the 42" LED television, mounted on the wall. A worldlife documentary was being shown on the television. The place seemed to be the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. A big, ferocious lion with a deadly look was chasing an impala. The cute, little, playful impala won Rajan's heart. He was praying to the God for the survival of the innocent animal. The impala was running for his life, taking quick, unexpected turns to keep the lion at bay.
The lion was not a good chaser. He couldn't keep pace with the impala. He gave up the chase withing just 6 minutes, huffing and puffing heavily. For sometime Rajan forgot to breathe. Now, he felt happy and thanked the God for saving the life of the deer. The monitor went blank.
It was 6-30 PM. Suddenly, someone spoke from the hidden speakers in the room. It was not the Joker's voice, but someone else's. He instructed Rajan to go to the 6th floor, room number 66. He didn't say why. But, Rajan knew that he had to obey the order. So, he followed the instruction.
At Room No 66, he met the spiritual guru, whom he had seen only once during his stay in the house. That meeting was very brief. The spiritual guru, whom Rajan never understood belonged to which religion, had asked him a few questions on Rajan's understanding of religion. As Rajan was deeply religious, he wanted to speak about his religion in detail. But, that guy gave him only 5 minutes. With an expression of great displeasure on his face, he gesticulated him to get out of the room. That was almost 2 months back.
The room today looked completely different. Last time, Rajan remembered that the room had bright lights coming from 2 fluorescent lamps. But, today the room looked completely different with a dim red light coming from a 3W colour LED bulb. The guru, too, looked completely different. Last time he wore white shirt and white pant. But today, he wore a red satin robe. Even in the dim red light, Rajan noted that the Guru's eyes were flashing like an animal, and that scared Rajan a bit. A heavy metal music was being played in the background. It was not as if Rajan hated rock music, but this one sounded very disturbing to him.
The guru was sitting on a wooden chair, which was the solitary furniture in the room. Slightly scared, Rajan stood standstill in front of him. He didn't know what to say. The guru gesticulated him to sit down. Ranjan looked down. The floor was covered with a checkered red and black thick carpet. Rajan sat down on the carpet.
Suddenly, the music stopped, and the guru said,
"Nice to meet you again Rajan! I heard that you have indeed done well to reach the final stage."
The guru seemed to be complementing Rajan. With folded hands Rajan said,
"That's all due to the grace of God, Guru ji!"
"Stop, you stupid!" The guru reacted violently. Rajan's jaw dropped, as he couldn't understand what wrong he said!
"You idiot, you think that it was due to God that you survived here, eh? What an idiot!"
The guru seemed to have mocked both Rajan and the God! Thankfully, the flash in his eyes had gone. Rajan became speechless. A spiritual guru is mocking the God! He wanted to pinch himself.
Watching Rajan's flummoxed face, the guru uttered a mantra in an obscure language for 2 minutes. Rajan knew many languages partially or completely. But, he had never heard this strangely obscure language before.
"You are a good engineer, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you are equally good in linguistics. You haven't understood a single word of the mantra? Ain't it?"
"Yes Guruji! What language is this?" Rajan asked.
"This is a secret language known to only the members of our cult. But, this language has words which are taken from Hebrew, Arabic, Latin and various tribal languages across the world. Anyway, that's not important. The important point is the mantra. I am translating the meaning of the mantra in English.
O the foolish inhabitants of the Earth
Worshiping false Gods for eons.
Worshipping idols and a cross
And something even more stupid in a mosque
Wake up from your stupor.
There is nothing called God
It's the creation of shrewd mind
They wanted to rule the world by proxy
They wanted to make future of their progenies
Wake up from your comatose.
O the foolish inhabitants of the Earth
If there were anything called God
Would you have perished in millions
In cyclones, hurricanes, famines and other calamities?
Wake up from your slumber.
If He is so powerful why do religious gurus die
Why do good people face misfortunes?
Why do bad things happen to even newborns?
And why does your planet become toxic?
Wake up from your hebetude.
O the foolish inhabitants of the Earth
Worship Satan, the most powerful in universe
The least merciful, the least compassionate
The taker of souls, the maker of fortunes
The maker of kings and the giver of treasure.
Rajan's jaws again dropped in sheer astonishment. The guru was a Satan worshipper!
Looking at Rajan's bamboozled face, the guru said,
"If you have to be thankful to somebody for surviving here, it's definitely not your God. It's your hard work, your inborn ability to adapt, your resilience and lastly but most importantly your good luck. You cannot attribute your good luck to the God, because no God resides in this house. Have you ever seen a picture or staute of God in this entire mansion or in its premises? Each and everyone in this house is a worshipper of Satan. Satan is regularly worshipped here, and by Satan's grace everyone here makes great fortune."
The guru paused for a few seconds, and quickly looked at the wallclock. Then he said,
"I know you have been a god fearing, religious person throughout your entire life. But, as you know, you are standing in the threshold of life and death. You have one more day, and then you will face the final test. I am afraid to inform you that you will not survive in the final test, if you don't come to our clan, that is if you don't become a Satan worshipper. Do you agree? If you have any questions, you can ask?"
To be continued on Saturday night
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