99 Palms: Horn OK Please (5 page)

From Bhubaneshwar to Nalanda:

The sight of the beautiful doctor lying in a pool of blood had freaked us out. Goose drove like a maniac as we tried to get away from the scene of the crime as fast away as possible. If Natalie had to be avenged, we had to stay alive.

Heading from Dr. Natalie Jackson’s house toward the resort, I called up Monica Garg, the historian, per Natalie’s last instructions. She was shocked when I told her that Natalie was no more. While we stopped in the parking lot of our resort, Hound and Goose rushed in to check out and pick our stuff up while Derek and I waited inside Motormouth.

“Let’s not talk about this over phone. Leave Orissa immediately and come straight to Nalanda. You will find me there. Call me when you reach here. I still cannot believe it that Natalie is…” Monica’s voice trailed off at the other end of the phone. She was the Historian that Natalie has asked us to get in touch with just before she breathed her last. Hound and Goose were back and we zipped off toward the highway.

“Where to?” asked Goose as he got behind the wheel.

“Nalanda, Bihar. Quick. I just got off the phone with Monica Garg, the person Natalie asked us to meet just before she kicked the bucket” I said, fishing out cans of Redbull from the cooler at the back of Motormouth.

“What the hell!” exclaimed Hound as he punched in the coordinates for Nalanda, Bihar on the GPS.

Nalanda, the most prestigious Buddhist University once upon a very long time ago was our next destination. Located in Bihar, this 5
th
century AD school had over five thousand students from all over the world. It was built at a site where Buddha had often stayed. The Turkish invaders had razed it to the ground and now the whole place is in ruins. The monasteries and temples still emanate an aura of serenity and learning. Even the Chinese scholar and monk, Huen Tsang came to study and teach over here, sometime around 7
th
century AD. Once he got back to Xian, China, he translated the Buddhist scriptures he got from Nalanda. Had he been one of the Nine Unknown? We’d never know. The place where he settled down in Xian is at a
pagoda
known as ‘Big Goose’. No, it has nothing to do with our friend, Goose Goldsmith.

Meet Dr. Monica Garg:

Monica Garg could be spotted from a mile away. There she was, sitting in front of the ruins of the votive stupas near a temple. She seemed to be lost in a different world as she stared at the standing bodhisatvas and seated buddhas carved out in the stupas. It was a magnificent sight watching this sexy, young and athletic historian just staring at the figures as though she was conversing with them.

Yet another myth shattered when I wondered if all historians would be so beautiful. She was wearing a white top, skirt and sandals. The straw hat and shades suited her well. She’d told me that this is where she would be waiting for us. Once we were barely a few feet away, Goose whispered, “Dudes, lay off her. She is mine. Anyone remotely try to make a pass at her is a dead duck!”

“Kiss my ass, Goose. Winner takes all”, whispered Derek as I could see Hound staring, drooling with lustful eyes at the beautiful woman sitting on the rocks. I took off my Raybans and wiped them clean with a dry tissue. Too much steam covered my shades from the inside.

“Oh! I didn’t see you folks walk up. You must be the famous four?” said the beautiful woman, rudely interrupted from her trance as she stood up to face four neanderthals bathed in lust and sunshine.

“Er…Monica? Garg?” I said, waking up and trying to sound business like. I must have failed miserably at this poor attempt as she smiled and said, “Forget the name, Dude, you must be Chief. Natalie had briefly told me about your pursuit and your dreams that could lead you to a hunt for the lost treasures in the world of Shambala”.

Getting comfortable, she took in a deep breath and continued, “I feel so bad about her. In fact, I was thinking about her right now when you walked in. Come, let’s go to that corner in the shade under the tree. We’ll have our privacy. I’ll tell you everything as I need your help with something.”

We left the ruins, walked across a grassy knoll till we reached some benches under the shade of a tree. It was a bright sunny day and this would have been an ideal day to romance her, had the circumstances been different.

Goose had a strange look in his eyes. It was evident that he was falling in love with her. He seemed to fall in love with every pretty girl every single day. He really did like Monica and she did seem to notice that. In fact, I suspect, Monika had taken an immediate liking to Goose for she did slyly check him out when we were walking to the tree.

The 13
th
Rock Edict at Kalinga:

“I have a confession to make. I have something to give you that doesn’t rightfully belong to me. I want to come clean for the guilt has been gnawing inside me since I got a hold of the …99 Palms” said Monica as her voice trailed off, “Not that I stole it, but I know it doesn’t belong to me”.

“What on earth are you babbling about woman? We don’t know each other yet!” Derek blurted out much to Goose’s chagrin.

“I do. Maybe, the only way I can atone for my sin is by handing over the 99 Palms scriptures to you with a promise that if you succeed in finding the Lost treasures of Emperor Ashoka, you will give away half of the treasure to charity, to the children of the Tibetan Children’s Village in Leh, Ladakh and to the Mahesh Memorial Cancer Foundation in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. I want you to promise me that before we get started. If you agree, we have a deal and I’ll tell you all I know about the Lost city of gold –
Shamballa
. Deal?”

Hound and Derek looked at each other and before I could say anything, Goose said, “Deal. We have no idea what you are talking about but you have my word on this!”

Monica smiled as I could sense that Derek and Hound knew that the boy was a goner and we had a couple in the making right here in Nalanda.

“OK, Deal, but what is
99 Palms
?” quizzed Hound, unable to back his curiosity any longer.

99 Palms – the long forgotten ancient scriptures:

“I know you know about the mystery of the thirteenth Major Rock edict in Kalinga. Natalie told me everything, we were very good friends. You are aware that the thirteenth Major Rock edict of Emperor Ashoka carries the remorse and pain post his transformation in the Kalinga war. Unfortunately, the original thirteenth Rock Edict that you see in Kalinga today, along with the inconsistent fourteenth one was vandalized by my Great-Grandfather in the year 1869. He was an archeologist, a bounty hunter and his greed got the better of him”.

The guilt in her eyes was obvious and I knew she was speaking the truth. It must have melted Goose’s heart as I saw Derek and Hound snigger and take notice of the fact.

Monica had taken off her hat and her black hair blew across her pretty face, making her look even more beautiful. Toying with her shades, she spoke in a soft voice, “He was at Kalinga. He was after the secret treasures of Emperor Ashoka. This is a family secret. The original thirteenth Major Rock edict at Kalinga spoke of the secret land called Shamballa and they had pointed to some ancient scriptures written in 99 Palm leaves. Since Emperor Ashoka had destroyed Kalinga, he wanted to make up to the people of Kalinga and so he left them clues about the path, secret maps and hazy details of his legendary treasure, neatly written down in great detail in these 99 Palms scriptures”.

“So 99 Palms are ancient scriptures? Written in Brahmi script? Where is it? And what about the fourteenth Major Rock edict that was missing and seems to be substituted as well?” quizzed Derek, leaning forward in anticipation.

“Yes, these are ancient scriptures and my Great Grandfather unearthed them in Kalinga itself, in the year 1869. The original fourteenth Major Rock edict over there actually spoke of the remorse of Emperor Ashoka and was a proclamation about a secret society that he had formed to protect his treasures and dark sciences. It spoke about the ‘Nine Unknown’…” replied Monica, avoiding eye contact with any of us.

“Monica, your Great Grandfather was a just a bounty hunter. So what’s so wrong about it? He discovered the ancient 99 Palm scriptures. You should be proud of it! Why are you ashamed of it?” Goose asked, taking her hand in his, taking obvious advantage of her vulnerability. She seemed to relent.

“Here’s the thing, Goose. Since he figured out that these ancient scriptures called 99 Palms was buried under the thirteenth Major Rock edict, he blew it up with gunpowder and dug out the remaining pieces of the rock edict, unearthed an iron chest which contained these 99 Palms. And since the keepers of this treasure in the lost city of Shambala are the Nine Unknown and that was mentioned in the fourteenth rock edict, he blew that up as well. He vandalized a holy site of peace, just to satisfy his greed!”

“No wonder the Major Rock edicts in Kalinga were so out of whack. So, the real thirteenth and fourteenth and Major Rock edicts were blown up by your Great grandfather and he replaced them with two similar looking Major Rock edicts which the world now knows as the two Major rock edicts of Kalinga? Tthe 15
th
and the 16
th
ones?” I asked as I tried to figure out what we saw in Kalinga, when our guide had educated us about the Rock Edicts. It all seemed to make sense now.

“Yes, that’s right. He got hold of some greedy, unscrupulous sculptors in Kalinga, paid them and got two new Major Rock edicts forged and placed at the original site. So what the world knows as the truth today at Kalinga is actually the biggest lie forged by my family”, replied Monica. Her tone seemed as though she had actually done it herself.

“OK, so we got the story why you wish to help us. Your Great Grandfather was sure an awesome bounty hunter to have discovered the 99 Palms, but I must say that he’s the world’s lousiest archeologist who didn’t have the sense to copy the two edicts from elsewhere and plant them in Kalinga so even the Nine Unknown wouldn’t even have a clue!” guffawed Hound, in splits, obviously very pleased with himself for lightening up the atmosphere as Monica smiled. Goose glared at Hound for being insensitive.

“I agree with you, Hound, it is indeed shameful. So now you know why I want you to possess the 99 Palms and be fully aware of the Nine Unknown and their secrets? Just do the charity and I’ll atone for the sins of that old, greedy bandicoot”, said Monica, finally smiling and cheerful.

“OK, so we have one mystery solved. Now, where are those 99 Palms? Do you have it?” Derek asked impatiently.

She opened her handbag and took out a beautiful jewel box that would comfortably hold and chill ten cans of Redbull. The box had a copper hatch and beautiful carvings on it. She opened it carefully, and opened the white, silk cloth that seemed to hold the palm scriptures. “Here”, this was the 99 palms that she let open for us in full view.

We could see the neatly folded palm scriptures with many strange words in black ink, all clasped together by a gold spiral. It looked like a very expensive photo album. It was evident that Monica’s family had taken good care of the 99 Palms for all pages were laminated for the clasp was shining and new. The box that held these scriptures was an expensive one bought from a Tibetan handicrafts emporium.

“I have been able to decipher only half of what’s written in here and I speak for four generation of archeologists. For the remaining, we have been in the hunt of a
translator, an Indian astrologer who goes beyond than just reading ancient scriptures. We have figured out much on how to find the Lost city of gold called ‘Shambala’, however, I do not know much about the secrets of the Nine Unknown. I have sought the expertise of a fellow French Astrologer, who is supposed to have dedicated her life to ancient Buddhist scriptures. Her name is Dr. Geri Traver and I want you to meet her once I tell you everything I know about Shambala. You must learn about the Nine Unknown from these 99 Palm scriptures if you have to find the treasure of Emperor Ashoka that is fiercely protected by these Nine Unknown…” said Monica, quickly covering the 99 Palms and closing the box.

“Here, these 99 Palm scriptures are yours from now on. We have a deal, make me proud”, said Monica as she handed over the box to Goose as we looked on. We definitely had something brewing between the two of them.

“Yes, we do, trust me to keep our word to you. Now tell us everything about Shambala, how do we find this lost city of gold? Tell us everything you know!” said Goose, pointing to the rest of us. I suppose, we were his flunkeys when it came to Monica.

Shambala, the Lost City of Gold:

Taking a deep breath, Monica said, “These scriptures seem to point to a mythical place. This is a lost city of Gold, a lost world, the scriptures of 99 Palms refers to it as ‘Shambala’.
In Tibetan Buddhist and Indian Buddhist traditions, it is a mythical kingdom hidden somewhere in Innermost Asia. You must have read about it?”

Goose nodded in acknowledgement. Hell! The last book that the boy had read had been a menu card, that too with great difficulty, and now he was showing off in front of this beautiful woman.

“Great! So you know. Various ancient scriptures, including the Kalachakra Tantra speak of this legendary Kingdom where there is an abundance of gold and precious stones. In a nutshell, this is a Lost City of Gold that may probably contain the untold riches and wealth of Emperor Ashoka. Shambala, the Sanskrit word means peace and tranquility, a legend we also call - Paradise”, said Monica smiling as her lips made an upward curl that made her look even more beautiful.