The Secret of the Chalisa (12 page)

Aur manorath jo koi lavai Sohi amit jeevan phal pavai

Whosoever comes to you for fulfillment of any desire with faith and sincerity, Will he alone secure the imperishable fruit of human life.

Charon Yug partap tumhara Hai persidh jagat ujiyara

All through the four ages your magnificent glory is acclaimed far and wide. Your fame is Radiantly acclaimed all over the Cosmos
.

Sanjeev stood there helpless. Normally he would panic and become restless. However, today he felt a surge of energy seeping in to him. He had a feeling of déjà vu and realized that his premonition had cautioned him. He knew he had to help Pawan anyhow.

He looked up in reverence and said to himself, “Just be there with me as you promised,” and set out for Suresh’s house.

When Sanjeev reached Suresh's house he realized that he had come there for Dr Anjana’s funeral. He felt a sudden pang of sorrow in his heart as he saw the place again. He gulped his saliva and went inside the house knocking at the door.

The house was ajar, and inmates seemed restless. He saw a man in his thirties who resembled Pawan and at once realized that he must be Suresh.

“Sureshji, Pawan Sir sent me. He…,” Sanjeev could hardly complete his sentence when Suresh answered. “Oh yes, I was waiting for you. I got a call from the police station. Bhaiya told me you will be coming. Let’s go to the lawyer and then to police station. Surely
kalyug
has come, when saints like bhaiya are taken to police. I can’t believe how anyone can say that he killed Ma. How stupid of that Vikram. If bhaiya had not stopped me I would have killed him outside the ICU only that day,” Suresh muttered the entire story as he fidgeted himself to find car keys. The moment he got the car keys he took Sanjeev by his arm and dragged him to his car.

“Let’s hurry up,” he sat in the car and drove off with Sanjeev. He drove as fast as he can to reach the lawyer’s office.

“Pawan bhaiya told me that Ma left some wooden vault with you and that you needed some help,” said Suresh as he drove.

“Yes Sir, it’s a wooden vault in which the idols serve as keys. There are two drawers, one of which has some inflammable material and a key perhaps. Pawan Sir said you like designing gadgets so he wanted me to speak with you once regarding it,” explained Sanjeev.

“I would love to see that. Actually when you get boxes or vaults like this, you should see them under X-Ray scanner, it reveals all the parts clearly,” Suresh suggested.

Sanjeev was delighted at the idea, which was so logical. In his despair and hurry he missed out very logical reasons.

“I want to help Pawan Sir first, after that I will show you the vault,” Sanjeev said.

“Yes, that’s the priority task. The lawyer will guide us,” answered Suresh and speeds his car.

As they reached the lawyer’s office, Suresh rushed into the chamber.

“Police took away Pawan bhaiya. Do something immediately,” Suresh said.

“Have a seat and drink some water first,” he said to the panicked Suresh. “I heard he was arrested for Dr Anjana’s murder. Seems very unlikely to me, but we still need to produce evidence.”

“Can’t you do something today?” asked Suresh.

“He is on non-bailable warrant, can’t do anything today. They have a hand written letter saying that Pawan provided the extra medicine dose to Vikram and tried to kill him as well. Now that Vikram is no more, the most likely suspect in the crime becomes Pawan as his name is mentioned there.”

“Are we sure that the letter was written by Vikram?” inquired Sanjeev.

“If we can prove it otherwise it will strengthen our case,” the lawyer responded.

“How can we prove that?” asked Sanjeev.

“If we get a sample of Vikram’s handwriting we can match it with the letter,” the lawyer suggested.

“Yesterday night someone threw a threatening letter in the house,” Sanjeev added.

“Do you have it with you? We can check that too for handwriting.”

“Oh yes, I must be having it,” said Sanjeev as he started searching for the crumpled paper in his backpack. “Here it is,” he said handing it over to the lawyer.

“That’s nice. Now we need a sample of Vikram’s handwriting too,” he suggested. “Then we can compare all these letters. This threatening letter which you received hints that someone wants you out of the house and he did so by putting the blame of Vikram’s death on Pawan. However, we need evidence to prove this theory.”

“I can go to Mussoorie and collect it from his home,” said Sanjeev.

“No, I wouldn’t suggest that. People who have killed Vikram and threatened Pawan must be keeping a watch on you too. You need to take precautions.”

“Then how will we find proof,” said Sanjeev.

They sat rattling their brains when Sanjeev came up with an idea. “Vikram was a close friend of Dr Kamalbali. He must have send letters in the department in his name. We can check that. In fact I’ll ask Chaubey ji to help us,” Sanjeev said as he pulled out his phone to search for Chaubey ji’s number.

“Nice idea, call him and ask him to check. If he finds anything ask him to give them to me,” the lawyer stated.

“In the meanwhile let’s go to the police station and submit this threatening letter. They won't release him today, but at least we will initiate the process,” the lawyer said and they all left for the police station.

Sanjeev called Chaubeyji enroute and asked for help.

“Sanjeev babu, the department is closed and I cannot check anything till tomorrow morning. I was cleaning the desk and cupboards last week. It was then I discovered that Dr. Kamalbali had taken all the letters to his home. There is no new mail in the department right now,” Chaubeyji told.

When they reached the police station, Sanjeev felt empathy to see Pawan behind bars. He sincerely wished for his early release. Pawan has always emphasized him the power of a one-pointed mind. Today Sanjeev wanted to use this power of thought for his release. He collected all the energy within him and sincerely prayed for Pawan. Suresh went to meet his brother.

The lawyer explained the police how Pawan himself was threatened as he showed him the piece of letter.

“Please match this handwriting with your letter which you got from Vikram’s house,” suggested the lawyer handing over the crumpled paper to the police.

“I know it’s a good proof, but this work can
be done only by our forensic experts. However, if you had some more evidence that would have been better,” said the inspector.

“Right now we don’t have anything else,” said the Lawyer.

“Then we can’t do anything,” answered the inspector.

They had to leave the police station because they realized that any kind of argument would be in vain. Suresh took Sanjeev to his home. “Come to my place we can plan certain things.

When they reached home Sanjeev’s phone was ringing. He saw it was Bhumija and hesitated to answer. “Is Pawan bhaiya in prison?” she was almost screaming on the phone.

“Don’t worry he’ll be out soon, we had given some evidences. But please don’t mention about it to anyone,” answered Sanjeev.

“Please take care of him.”

“I will, don’t worry at all. I won’t let anything happen to him,” Sanjeev assured and hung up the phone.

“Sit and have tea,” said Suresh. “You can stay here if you want.”

“No thank you. I’ll go back to the house, have some work there. I wanted to ask you about the vault,” Sanjeev said.

“Oh yes, that vault! I can tell you more if I see it. If you want I can arrange for X-ray scan for it. Once I had designed a box which opened through voice activation. Mostly opening and closing of locks is programmed with noise. You must have seen those toys which light up when you clap and switch off when you clap again. However, I wanted it to recognize the pattern of voice. It was a very tedious task as I had to convert voice into binary pattern. I was inspired by the story of Alibaba and forty thieves. There was a scene in the story when the thieves open the cave by saying ‘khul ja Sim Sim (open up Sim Sim)’. So I made a box on the same principle.”

“That’s very interesting. I will definitely bring the box to you, it’s there at Pawan Sir’s home,” said Sanjeev.

“However I was wondering about Vikram’s death. Pawan bhaiya never met Vikram before, how will he give him medicine to kill Ma? What a ridiculous notion!”

“Let’s hope we can get some more evidence. However, all this just proves that Madam’s death was planned. There must be some loop hole which we need to figure out,” said Sanjeev.

Sanjeev and Suresh chatted some more when he left for Pawan’s house eager to work in the lab. When he reached home he had a strange feeling. The house was calm as usual but not disturbed. It still had a peacefulness surrounding the house as if some divine power was protecting the house. Sanjeev went in to the lab and collected all the ingredients at one place. He was perplexed; his mind was occupied and couldn’t think clearly. So he started searching on the desk for some papers which could give him a hint. There were different types of papers, some articles, some newspaper clippings, and some handwritten notes.

Amongst them he found extracted verses from the Chalisa with elaborate meaning. He sat reading them to find solace. They looked like an explanation from some mentor. The papers were folded, marked and highlighted as if read again and again to find wisdom.

Aur manorath jo koy laavai
,
Soy amit jeevan phal paavai
.

Whatever wish or desire is cherished by a devotee, Lord Hanuman grants that to him. Even more, He bestows upon him the very nectarine fruit of human existence—God-realization. God-ward movement of the mind is the bestower of
bhoga
(enjoyments of the world) and
Moksha
(Liberation). Movement to
Moksha
requires
chitta shuddhi
(purity of the heart). Even while an aspirant is struggling in the world of transient goals, Hanuman’s grace bestows upon him all that he desires: removal of obstacles, attainment of objects, improvement in human relations, relief from maladies of body and mind, prosperity and success of all kinds. His blessings have no limits.

Chaaron jug parataap tumhaaraa Hai parasiddha jagat ujiyaaraa
.

Your Valor has been acclaimed throughout the four yugas (time-cycles). In fact, this world is illumined by Your glory. The importance of faith (Hanuman) in spiritual movement is timeless. From a practical point of .view, the
yugas
are experienced in the daily life of every individual. When
sattwa
predominates, you are in
Satya Yuga
. You are able to think clearly and feel qualitatively. When
sattwa
is overpowered by
rajas
, you are in
Treta Yuga
. The intellect—Sita Devi—has been kidnapped by the distracted mind (the ten-headed Ravana). When sattwa is further thwarted by
rajas
and
tamas
, you are in
Dwapar Yuga
(refers to battle of the Pandavas and Kauravas—forces of light against the dark forces). When
rajas-tamas
reduces
sattwa
to a minimum, when you are overpowered by stress, dullness, and delusion, you experience
Kali Yuga
. The role of faith (Hanuman) is the center and support in all these
yugas
.

Sadhu sant ke tum rakhavaare
,
Asur nikandan raam dulaare
.

You are the protector of saints and sages. You are the destroyer of demons, and You are the beloved devotee of Lord Rama. God incarnates for establishing dharma (righteous order), destroying the forces of darkness, assisting spiritual seekers, protecting saints and sages and doing immense good to the world. Hanuman (the spirit of faith) assists Rama (the avatara movement) in all His Divine activities.’

He sat there reading and rereading the passage. It filled him with fresh motivation. He realized that Anjana would have read it over and over in times of stress and doubt.

Suddenly an idea struck him. He may not know the exact titer value but he can try individual anticancer drugs on Lakshman. Who knows there might be some improvement?

Ram rasayan tumhare pasa Sada raho Raghupati ke dasa

You possess the power of devotion to Shri Ram. In all rebirths you will always remain Shri Raghupati's most dedicated disciple.

Sanjeev couldn’t sleep that night. He was too eager to go and give the medicine to Bhumija. He got ready early morning and took some antimony extracts with him. He reached Bhumija’s house and waited for Pratap to leave. When he saw him leave in his car he sneaked into the house.

“Come in,” Bhumija said as she opened the door. “Mummy, he is Sanjeev. He is a student of Bua and he has some medicine for Lakshman.”

“Oh, really? Can you help my son? I never thought that he will have such rare form of cancer and….,” she couldn’t complete her sentence when tears broke out in her eyes.

“It’s OK mummy, we are trying to find a solution,” Bhumija said consoling her mother. “Sanjeev, you have to come upstairs, to Lakshman’s room to see him. He doesn’t come downstairs,” Bhumija said escorting Sanjeev upstairs. “I don’t know how he’s going to react to you; he doesn’t like strangers these days. Even when he sees us he gives a different response each time.”

Sanjeev was curious too. Not only had he wanted to meet him, but also see the effect of his medication on him.

As he reached upstairs to Lakshman’s room, he saw the room was silent. It was neat and clean. The bed sheets were neatly folded, the flower base at the bedside was filled with beautiful flowers, and the net curtains were neatly pulled over to a side. Sanjeev noticed Lakshman sitting near the window on a chair staring outside. He was wearing loose pajamas and a pullover. The room was kept warm with heaters.

Bhumija reached near Lakshman and said, “Look who has come to meet you, a friend of Bua.”

Lakshman, who was staring with a blank face, changed his expression at the mention of Anjana’s name. He turned to Bhumija and gave a terrified look. His breathing increased and he muttered with difficulty, “Celact.”

He then slowly turned his face towards Sanjeev. What he observed next startled him. Lakshman came towards Sanjeev and started blabbering something which was not cohesive. He was speaking so fast that no one could understand. His breathing became heavy and troublesome. He was sweating even in the cold weather. Then he screamed out loud, “Help Bua,” and started seizing.

Bhumija was taken aback. No one expected this strange response, he had never spoken any other thing other than the word ‘Celact’.

“Fast, give me the phenytoin injection,” she shouted.

“Stop, don’t give that,” said Sanjeev. “Give him this antimony extract, I’ve got it in a syringe for injection,” he said quickly taking out the injection from his backpack.

Bhumija hesitated for a second, but then injected the medicine. To everyone’s surprise the seizures stopped immediately. Lakshman was unconscious but his breath became regular and so his pulse and heartbeat.

“It worked,” remarked Bhumija in exhilaration. “How did you do it?”

“I assumed that the seizure activity was due to the tumor pressing the brain or it was creating a hypoxic environment. So if we reduce tumor activity, seizing and depression will stop,” explained Sanjeev.

While they were engrossed in their talks, Bhumija heard someone calling her faintly.

“Didi.”

It was Lakshman. He was gaining consciousness, and was looking tired. Bhumija was welled up with emotion. She couldn’t believe her eyes. After his illness, this was the first time he spoke something and recognized Bhumija. She hugged him close.

“Give me my phone,” he said looking here and there. “Fast, give me my phone,” Lakshman said.

Bhumija instantly searched for the phone and found it in the cupboard. “Here it is. What happened? You should rest,” she said panicking.

But Lakshman seemed to be in a hurry. He immediately handed the phone to Sanjeev and said, “Take this. Help Bua, save her.”

Sanjeev was perplexed. He didn’t know how to react, but he took the phone. Before he could say anything, Lakshman was sick again. He was frowning and his face gave a nauseated appearance. It looked as if he was about to throw up, and by the time they could gather themselves he vomited. It was a heavy bout of vomitus with consequent release of diarrhea. He became so weak that he fell unconscious again.

“Oh My God, it seems like a side effect of the drug,” said Sanjeev. “We cannot give him un-titrated dose.”

“The drug is very potent, it can’t be given alone,” said Bhumija. “His pulse and heart rate is normal. He should gain consciousness soon. If not I’ll take him to casualty ward.”

“I’m sorry I shouldn’t have tried this,” Sanjeev felt helpless and guilty.

“It’s not your fault. He’ll be fine.”

“I guess I’ll leave, there’s a lot to work on the medicine. I’ll keep the phone with me,” Sanjeev said as he gathered his stuff to leave.

Sanjeev left the home worried. He couldn’t come out of the guilt of deteriorating Lakshman's health. He drove his bike engrossed in his thoughts. He was thinking from where he could get his answers. He didn’t realize that in his thoughts he drove to Suresh's home. When he stopped his bike he found himself in front of Anjana’s home where she used to stay most of the time, and then it suddenly struck him, “If she lives here, she must have left some information here too."