The Eternal Revenge

                                                                      The Eternal Revenge

                                                                                Chapter - 1

"As per our plan, are we starting our tour tomorrow?" Nisha asked her mom exasperated.

"I don’t know, Nisha. I am yet to get word from your father. He has not come home yet. I tried to reach him on his mobile but my call goes unanswered repeatedly." Replied Divya equally frustrated.

"All my friends have gone on a tour during this vacation. I am the only one staying back in our house, here in Ooty. Besides I feel bored with no one around to play with me."

"I understand your situation, Nisha. Your uncle is also coming with us on the tour. If your dad decides to stay back shall we go with your uncle and his family?"

"No…No… I want dad to be part of our tour, otherwise I will also not come." Nisha remained firm in her decision.

 Divya consoled her four year old daughter Nisha while putting her to sleep. Instead, Nisha started reading a book while resting on her mother's lap.

The door bell rang. Nisha excitedly ran to the door shouting "Daddy!"

It was none other than her father, Aditya who looked exhausted. He hugged Nisha and kissed her.

Divya asked "What happened? Why are you so late, Aditya? How many times I called you on your phone? My brother wants to confirm whether we are joining him on the tour tomorrow."

Aditya replied "Yes, we are starting our tour tomorrow. Why do you doubt that?"

Divya asked again."Do you know what time is it now? You blame your business for arriving late every day. Care to explain what important business you had to attend to which sucks the blood out of you everyday?"

  Aditya replied "I am in the diamond export business. A customer from London was unhappy. I had to bear the brunt of his anger today, that’s why I am late."

Divya said "Ok. I have kept dosa for you to eat in the dining table. After eating, put Nisha to sleep."

After Aditya had his dinner, he went to the bedroom to see Nisha with a book in her hand.

"Dad, the king in this storybook is similar to you."

"Is it? Come on, show me darling."

Divya snatched the book from her hand and put it aside. "It's time for you to sleep, Nisha."

Aditya and Nisha slept soundly as the night passed.

Whereas, Divya was awake as her mind kept wandering. Her eyes saw the book which Nisha was reading, named Ponniyin Selvan.

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Nisha and her family enjoyed the tour to the maximum possible extent. In the fourth day of the tour, they spent the whole day watching the waves crashing on the shores of Kanyakumari. They played all day long swimming in the sea. As dusk was approaching, Aditya suggested leaving the place. But, on the insistence of Divya's brother Surya and his wife Sarika, they took a boat to Vivekananda rock in the middle of the ocean. Surya and Sarika stood on the rock overlooking the enchanting sea, hugging each other, lost in romance.

Aditya said to Divya."Here they go again! Two love birds ready to take off."

Divya smiled. "My brother and his wife met here for the first time. I guess that’s the reason for them to be so overwhelmed. Mister, can you at least remember the last time you hugged me so lovingly?"

They spent close to an hour on the rock and took the last boat of the day back to the shore.

Divya noticed that a Chinese man along with another tall man clad in monk's attire and sporting a long beard looking at her family suspiciously.

Divya got tensed by their actions. She elbowed Surya and informed him of her doubts, pointing in the direction of the two strangers.

Surya's heart palpitated as he took note of the two men's activities.

As soon as the boat reached shore, Divya's family sprang to their feet and reached their car. They could see the two men chasing them.

Surya started the car and informed. "Our vacation is over. I am going to our home in Ooty."

Aditya was startled "What? Still we have two more days of our tour left! We had planned to visit Kerala, remember?"

Surya said "Those plans are cancelled. It's in our best interest that we leave to Ooty immediately."

Divya also took sides with Surya. "You should listen to my brother. It's better we go to Ooty now."

Aditya demanded an explanation. "Why should we return to Ooty? Do you think I did not notice you both going pale like a ghost on seeing those two men on the boat? Who are they?"

Surya said "It is not necessary for you to know about them."

Aditya replied "It's imperative that I know who those people are. You both are clever in hiding everything from me."

Divya asked "What else do you think we hid from you, Aditya?"

Aditya said "Divya, I met you for the first time in a hospital. You told me that I was in a coma. But, I couldn’t remember any incident that happened in my life before meeting you. I don’t know who my parents are, how I came to know you and other things. You dodged me several times when I asked you these questions. Now, I need to know all the truth."

Surya said "We cannot disclose anything, Aditya."

Aditya said "If you can't tell me, then I have no other option but to divorce your sister."

Sarika who was observing everything silently chipped in. "Aditya, you want to know the truth about who you really are, right? Then listen to me. You are the Chola prince, Aditya Karikalan. You were born to king Sundara Cholan belonging to 10^th century B.C. Added to that, you are also the elder brother of the great king Raja Raja Cholan."

Aditya's jaw dropped on hearing this. "What? Is the whole family gone crazy? This doesn’t make sense."

Surya replied coolly. "We are not idiots, as you think. What Sarika told is one hundred percent true. You are the one and only Aditya Karikala Cholan. You have to hear my story that took place six years ago to believe this."

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                                                                                Six years ago

The sound of Kandha Sashti Kavasam was heard wafting in a house located on a narrow street in Tiruvallikeni, situated close to Marina beach in Chennai. Even though the house was tiny and aged, it had not lost any of it's charm.

There were three people living in that house.

"Your semester exams are due next week. And here you are reading novels! Do not take your medical studies this lightly, young lady!" Revathy reprimanded her daughter.

"Mom! Will you stop nagging me for once? Is it necessary to study all the time? I have proved you wrong by passing in distinction every time. But still you keep pestering me. This story is going on an interesting plot right now. So I beg you not to disturb me for a while." Divya explained to her mom with a sigh taking her eyes off the book in her hand.

"You are insane, young lady! You must have read that book Ponniyin Selvan at least a hundred times. I wonder what captivates you so much to that wretched book. See your brother, who arrives late every night from office and sleeps till late in the morning. Only to wake up and hurriedly rush to his office again. Surya! Get up and get ready for office!" Divya's mom shouted once more at her son.

Surya got up and prepared himself for another day of work. He gobbled the three dosa kept on his plate.

"Eat slowly. Chew every bite. Why are you in a hurry?"

"I have a meeting at 9 A.M. By the way, I am going to bring a special guest to our house this Sunday."

"Who is it?"

"That will remain a suspense for now."

"Where is your lovely daughter? Has she left to college?"

"No, she is in a bad mood today. Her husband Aditya Karikalan has died. So she has locked herself in her room and grieving his death."

"The person who is going to marry my sister is indeed a lucky man. When she is so much in love with a fictional character from a book, we need not say how much love she is going to shower on her real husband? She has kindled the desire in me to read that book. But I am stumped at the thought of reading six huge volumes of that story. I still can't believe how Divya was able to read everything at least a hundred times, when I doze off happily after crossing just four pages of the book."

After finishing his breakfast, Surya started his bike.

"Drive safely, son." His mother came to the doorsteps to wave him goodbye.

"What shall I prepare for your guest to eat?"

"That is not necessary. My guest will cook for you."

"That person is going to cook for me?" before she could figure out, Surya veered away.

Surya was waiting to meet someone in a hotel in Adayar. He received a call on his mobile after ten minutes.

He rang back twice and both the times his calls went unanswered. He was beginning to lose patience when he spotted the gorgeous looking Nisha entering the hotel. She came and sat before him.

Surya asked her "Why did you not pick up my call?"

"I had reached the hotel lobby when you called. I was going to see you in under a minute, so I rejected the call."

"It's been a month since we saw each other. You had plans to go to Bangalore, right? Did you go there?"

"Wow! That trip was fantastic! My cousin came from Australia. We roamed like crazy for one whole month."

Surya's face turned red with anger. He walked out of the hotel and reached the parking lot, only to see Nisha playing with her hair looking at herself in his bike's mirror.

"Why did you walk out abruptly when I was enthusiastically talking about my cousin? Would you like to see his photo?"

"See this is my cousin." She showed him a photo.

Surya broke into a wide grin on seeing his own photo.

"You should have seen your face erupting like a volcano!"

"Actually, I missed you terribly without seeing you for the past one month."

"I know, Surya. My aunt was not feeling well. I had to take care of her in a hospital."

"Nisha, can you please visit my family this Sunday? I want to introduce you to all of them."

"I feel quite nervous about it. Will your mom be angry if she knows that we are in love with each other?"

"I know for sure that she will like you, once she sees you. So, be ready this Sunday. I will come and pick you up from your place."

                                                                                Two days later

Nisha was standing fully irritated by her bike that broke down near Besant Nagar bus stand in Adayar. She must have tried twenty or more times to start her bike. She got fed up and made a call to Surya.

"Surya, I am afraid I can't make it to your house on time. My vehicle won't start. I am thinking of catching an auto rickshaw."

"Where are you now?"

"In Adayar, near Besant Nagar bus stand."

"Ok. Stay there, I am in that neighborhood only. I will pick you up myself in another fifteen minutes."

Nisha had no other option but to wait patiently. Later, she saw a glimpse of Surya's bike near the traffic signal. She smiled on seeing Surya watching her every move from that far.

No one seemed to notice the two year old toddler walking across the road, except Nisha. The child's mother was engrossed in a conversation with someone else. Simultaneously, a car was approaching the road at top speed. The car driver was agitatedly talking on his mobile and did not see the little child. Nisha leapt to save the child. At that moment, the car hit Nisha and threw her away several feet, while the child reached the other side of the road safely. Surya's body went numb with the shock of seeing Nisha hit. He dropped his bike and ran to her.

Nisha was soaked in a pool of blood.

                                                                                Two weeks later

Surya was in his bed. He locked himself in his room for the past two months only occasionally stepping out to watch TV. But mostly, he would be in his room, watching intently the photo of Nisha which he had in his wallet all the time.

His mother came to his room and fed him some idli.

After he ate, she washed all vessels. Wanting to know what Surya was doing, she looked in his room. But, she was in for a shock as Surya was not found there as he was supposed to be.

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Surya was sitting staring disinterested on a Volvo bus that was making its journey to the coastal city of Kanyakumari.

"Have you reserved a ticket?" The conductor approached him.

Surya shook his head indicating he hadn't.

"Fine. The ticket costs Rs 500. The bus will start from here and stop at Kanyakumari only. No stops in between."

Surya gave the conductor a currency note for Rs 1000. He did not even bother to get the change. The conductor kept the remaining balance in Surya's pocket.

The next day the bus had reached Kanyakumari.

Surya roamed the whole day aimlessly. He had now come to the sea shore. He rode a boat to reach Vivekananda rock. He spent some time meditating in the specifically designated hall. As he closed his eyes, he was able to feel his mind focusing on one single line of thought. A flash of bright light hit him. He felt Nisha's image calling him with extended hands asking him to be with her.

Surya immediately opened his eyes. He ran out of the hall and came to the edge of the rock. The monstrous sea waves were in an uproar as they came crashing on the cliff. He stood there staring intently at the waves for a few minutes. Then out of the blue, he jumped into the sea.

His last conscious thought was someone else jumping right after him. Surya was being tossed around by the mighty waves. Finally, as his energy wore out he was knocked down unconscious.

-----------------*************-----------------

Surya opened his eyes slowly to see that he was in a very big room.

Mustering all strength, he reached the window. He seemed to be staying in a huge bungalow adjacent to the sea.

After a while, an old man came to his room. "How are you feeling now, my son? You were unconscious for nearly six hours."

Surya asked. "Who saved me from the sea?"

"You will have a chance to meet that person very soon. Let me introduce myself. I am Chandru, a scientist. Downstairs is our massive research laboratory."

They heard someone say "Excuse me" from outside the room.

"Meet the person who saved you, young man."

Surya was surprised to see that the person who was standing was a young woman of around twenty years.

"My name is Sarika. I am a national champion in swimming, that’s why I was able to save you. You owe me one." She laughed as she said.

"My name is Surya. I am a national champion in archery."

"You are kidding, right?"

"No. I am telling you the truth. I lost the opportunity to participate in the Asian games by missing a single point. Apart from that, I am well versed in horse riding too."

Sarika probed him. "Why did you have to take such a drastic step of ending your life? If you feel I am interfering in your personal life, then forgive me for asking."

"No. I am indebted to you for saving my life." Surya narrated all the incidents that happened in his life so far.

"I feel sorry for you. I have not fallen in love with anyone till now, so I am not able to judge your pain. So, moving forward, what are you planning to do now?"

"I am going to commit suicide."

"Don’t talk like a fool. I will not allow my hard work of saving your life go to waste."

"I am unable to think of living a life without my beloved Nisha. I lost my only purpose of living on this Earth."

They remained silent for some time. Later Sarika left the room without speaking to him.

That evening Chandru and Sarika came to visit Surya in his room.

Chandru started speaking. "Sarika informed me of how you feel, Surya. Every end leads to a new beginning. Your life has got a purpose. Without fulfilling that promise, you cannot leave the world just like that."

"My only aim in life was to live happily with Nisha. Nothing is more important to me other than that."

"Can I suggest you an idea? Please don’t get me wrong though."

"What is it?"

"We are in the midst of a research, where we require your help."

"What kind of research is it?"

"You must have known about it through numerous films and books. I hope you know what a time machine is. That is our area of research. Using the time machine, we can travel backward to our historic past or move forward to our future."

"You are speaking of something which is impossible. Moreover, can you explain how I can be of any use to you in this?"

"We have designed a time machine that functions without a glitch. We want to test whether we are capable of travelling to our historic period, back a thousand years."

"So, you are thinking of sending me back in time, as the first man to try this adventure?"

"No. We have already sent another man named Mike Lee from Meghalaya. Your mission will be to find him and bring him back along with you."

"Why did you choose me? You could have easily selected one of your assistants or you yourself could have done it?"

"That is not an easy job. Each of my assistant is essential to my research, including myself. So, we cannot send someone working on this research backward in time. Not because we fear for their life. But due to the fact that their contribution to this research is significant and if we lose even one of them, the research will suffer tremendously."

"Then, why should I risk my life?"

"Just a few minutes before you uttered that your life has no meaning. And that you will try to commit suicide again. If that happens, then your life goes completely meaningless. Instead you can choose to dedicate yourself for our research. I am not guaranteeing you that it is completely risk free. But think of the positive repercussions if our research turns successful. Man can proudly say that he has conquered time."

 "Yes! I am able to envision that day when we achieve it. And I feel equally thrilled to be a part of it. I am willing to cooperate to this research."

Surya was given practical training on how to use the time machine. He was also given a small handy instrument resembling a video recorder. On operating that instrument, he can get back to the present time. He was also given a photograph of Mike Lee for reference.

The day of his departure to the ancient past had arrived. Surya stepped into the time machine with unwavering determination. He issued the commands that were taught to him during his training. In the next few moments, he was gone.

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                                                                                Chapter - 2

                                                                                Year 983 B.C

Surya was lying in a dense forest unconscious. He did not know how much time had passed when he woke up a little later. He could feel every cell of his body in pain. Hearing a stream of water flowing nearby, he walked towards it. He found a river and wetted his lips. That was the purest water he had ever tasted in his life. He was starting to regain his composure. While he was strolling along the river bank, his mind was curious to ascertain that he had indeed reached a place that existed thousand years ago.

Later, there was a great howling sound, like a storm was coming his way. He turned back to see three people riding super fast on their horses approaching him. They looked like soldiers from the ancient past.

They quickly circled around Surya and asked. "Who are you, stranger? You are wearing some very queer attire. Do you speak Tamil?"

"Soman, he looks like an artist from the play. Hey, man! Will you not open your mouth? From which country are you coming from? Is it Chola kingdom?"

"Idumban, from the way he remains mum, I guess him to be a spy of Aditya Karikalan. Let's take him to our place. Words will flow freely out of his mouth, when our leader Ravidasan asks him employing his special techniques."

Surya was helpless as he was being tied and put on one of the horses.

The forest was extremely dense with trees. The three soldiers struggled to make it to their place.

After they had travelled for some time, they reached a big tree under which there were many other soldiers assembled. Once they saw the three soldiers approaching with a man tied on the horse, a commotion set in.

"Where is our leader?" asked Soman.

"Our leader, Ravidasan has gone to Kadambur palace to spy on Aditya Karikalan."

On seeing Surya tied to the horse, another soldier asked "Why did you bring this man here? He looks very strange wearing a funny dress."

"He hasn’t uttered a single word. May be he is one of the spies of Chola king."

"He doesn’t seem to be a spy. He might be a drama artist. Come on, untie him."

"Hey, young man! Come on entertain us, dance for us!"

"Oh, you morons! Always I hear of fun, dance and partying!" a stern voice shouted from behind the soldiers.

The voice belonged to a hefty man, who was tough looking with thick moustache.

All the soldiers fell silent saying "Our chief Ravidasan had arrived!"

"Who is this?"

"We found this man on the banks of river Kollidam. As he looked strange, wearing some unusual clothing, we suspected him to be either a spy or an actor. We thought of bringing him to you so that you can enquire him."

"I will take it from here. Stay away from him as I want to talk to him in private."

All the soldiers left Surya alone.

Ravidasan scanned Surya from top to bottom.

"Son, who are you? What's your name? From where are you coming?"

Surya contemplated that speaking something would be the right choice at the moment. Otherwise, these hooligans might beat him up.

"I am Surya. I am coming from Tamil Nadu."

"Surya! I have not heard of this name before. If you are coming from Tamil Nadu, are you from Chola or Pandiya or Chera kingdom?"

"I don’t restrict myself to any one country. The entire world is my place."

"Oh! Now I get you. You are a laborer who works for money. You take sides with the mightiest and work for them, right?"

"Yes."

"Son, I don’t know why but I like you instantly. You have a great sense of humor. From your looks I guess you to be intelligent too. People working under me are just rude fellows. I am in need of person like you to be with me. Bravery alone is not sufficient to win the Chola king. We require use of brain power too. So, I suggest you join our troops. We are the bodyguard troops of Pandiya king for as long as I can remember.  You might have known about the arch rivalry between Chola and Pandiya kings. The Pandiya king, Veera Pandiyan was incessant in bringing the Chola rule to an end. I was the commander of the special bodyguard troops to protect his life, even if it meant at the cost of our own lives. A great war took place between Chola and Pandiya in the city of Sevoor. Chola army was headed by their prince Aditya Cholan. Their army was many times bigger than Pandiya's. Hence, the Pandiya army was demolished. Somehow Veera Pandiyan and his bodyguard troops managed to escape and sought refuge in the dense forests.  But, the king was weak as he was heavily injured. We had to attend to him secretly in a small hut in the forest. One day, out of the blue, Aditya Cholan stormed inside the hut. As per war ethics, when the enemy is weaponless or if not well, we should not attack. However, this monstrous Aditya Cholan did not bother about it and murdered Veera Pandiyan that day. We were lucky one more time in escaping from him. That day we resolved to seek the blood of Aditya Cholan. And, that day is not far from now. Definitely, we are going to slaughter him ruthlessly. You have a bright future ahead of you if you choose to join our troops."

Surya was perplexed at the thought of this. Nevertheless, he simply nodded.

Surya followed the Pandiya troops riding a horse of his own. Ravidasan took great care of him. He made small talk to him often, in order to make him gel with his troops comfortably. Surya also began to admire Ravidasan eventually. He was able to learn the happenings at that time which would later become history. Repeatedly, he listened to the story of how the injured Veera Pandiyan was killed which made him pity the state of Ravidasan. Surya started nurturing hatred towards Aditya Cholan.

They had now reached a dilapidated temple after a couple of days of travelling. They decided to break their travel and rest for the day.

Ravidasan said "We are now in the forest region near Kadambur. In a few days, Aditya Cholan is arriving here. So, the best place for us to strike him would be the Kadambur palace."

The soldiers cheered him."Long live, Veera Pandiyan! We want Aditya Cholan dead!"

Ravidasan singled out Surya to a quiet place. "Tonight we are going to meet an important person. His contribution is immensely important in achieving our goal."

Surya was astonished by seeing the person who was supposed to visit them. That man was short and had a long moustache. Surya reached out to the photo he had and double checked with it. He had no room for doubt in confirming that the person was none other than Mike Lee. The very same Mike Lee who was sent back in time by Chandru using his time machine. Surya mentally made a note to ask Mike about his connection with Ravidasan.

"You seem surprised to see this gentleman! His name is Shan zu. He is one of the chief commanders of the emperor of China. He has proved to be one of our useful resources."

Surya thought that it was funny but put up a straight face. He became more curious to know what Mike Lee's original intention was.

"Shan would be of great use in attacking Chola army from sea as the Chola's have a well-organized navy. But we are not as strong as them in naval force, which is our weakness. In order to overcome this, I have resorted to help from the Chinese as their army and navy outnumber the Chola's by several times."

"What do the Chinese get in return from us for their help?"

Ravidasan thought for a while and then replied. "I don’t see any harm in telling this to you. I am giving this to the Chinese in return for their favor."  He took out some strange looking object from his pocket.

It looked like some old manuscripts and animal skins with some drawings. Surya did not have an idea of what it meant.

"Ravidasan, mind to explain what these manuscripts contain?"

"What I am about to tell you is a well-guarded secret maintained by Pandiya kings for the past several thousand years. When a king is on his death bed, he would pass on these secrets to his next successor. It is widely believed that these manuscripts were handed over by the great sage Agasthiyar to the then Pandiya king during the first Sangam period. This was given as a boon to sage Agasthiyar by Lord Indra himself, as he was pleased by the severe penance which the former performed. You must be bursting to know what this contains, right?"

"Yes!"

"We human beings are bound to live in the present. However, Gods in heaven have the ability to travel to either the past or to the future. This was made possible by their ultra powerful flying vessels. What you see is the design and sketches of those vessels."

Surya could not believe his ears. "Ravidasan, you can make a fool out of the Chinese man but not me. I am not stupid enough to believe this as true."

The Chinese man who was silent till now spoke. "He is not fooling you. I am not only a war commander but also well-versed in science. I can assure that what Ravidasan told is completely true."

"Then, why did the Pandiya kings not design a time machine till now?"

"Man at this stage has not got the scientific and engineering skills to comprehend this information. Only after several thousand years will man be technically and scientifically advanced to implement this. Till then this crucial information will be safely guarded by the Pandiya kings."

"Ravidasan, may I know how you came into possession of this vital information?"

"King Veera Pandiyan handed me this while he was breathing his last."

"So, you are bartering this piece of information in return for China's military help?"

"Yes."

"Ravidasan, I wish to speak to you in private."

The Chinese man excused himself.

"Son, your worries seem baseless to me. We can trust the Chinese man with our life."

"I have no problem in trusting him. My concern is why are we divulging our historic secret that must be passed on to our future generations to some unknown foreigner, least of all, to Chinese men?"

"This is a better option than getting defeated by Chola army."

 "I agree that Chola dynasty is our foe. But, they have the same blood running through them like ours. We are connected with each other by the same language we speak, namely, Tamil. We are siblings born to the same mother. However, the same cannot be said of the Chinese. They are completely alien to us."

"After several thousand years, Chola kings may destroy us Pandiya people completely if they come to know of this secret that we possess."

"Ravidasan, you are so narrow minded. Do you think after thousand years, Tamil people will still be segregated into Chola and Pandiya? We would all have merged into one Tamil state. In fact it may not be surprising to see us join with Northern India to become one united powerful country. At that time, China will be our topmost enemy."

Ravidasan mocked him. "You are saying as though you have been to the future yourself and witnessed this happening."

"Try to understand the logic upon which my theory is based on, Ravidasan. During Stone Age, man was gathered in a very small group. Then, he found strength in forming a village. The same has now evolved into a big nation comprised of many states. Similarly, in the future, can we not expect small nations coming together as one huge nation to showcase their power?"

"Son! I am least bothered about what happens after my lifetime. I am steadfast in defeating the Chola king and I am prepared to seek help from anyone in this regard."

"So you won't change your mind in giving away this secret to China?"

"Yes."

"Then, I am sorry to say that I can't join your cause. You have to allow me to go away."

Ravidasan maintained his silence for a while.

When Surya was about to move away from the place, all the Pandiya soldiers surrounded him.

"Do you think you can escape from me so easily? You have time till tomorrow to think whether you want to be with us. If your result is negative, then I won't even hesitate to kill you. Till then, you will remain as our prisoner."

Pandiya soldiers tied Surya and placed him under a tree. Further into the night, they all fell asleep.

Surya was awake waiting for a chance to escape. He untied himself and went to the place where soldiers slept. He spotted Mike lying in a corner and went near him. He stepped on Mike's feet to wake him up. As Mike was about to shout, Surya closed his mouth and took him behind the bushes.

"Mike Lee, why are you acting like a fool? I know all your secrets. That you were sent back in time from 2009 using Chandru's time machine. In fact, Chandru was the one who sent me here to search you and bring you back to the present. Come, let's go to where we belong."

"Twenty million dollars! Can you or Chandru give me this amount?"

"What are you blabbering?"

"Actually, I am coming from China. My government has sent me on an undercover mission to uncover the time machine secrets from India."

"You had a better opportunity to steal the time machine design from Chandru's laboratory. Why do you have to come all the way to tenth century to procure this secret? You had numerous chances of stealing when you were working with Chandru. That would have been far easier."

"Now, it is the year of 983. After 30 years, king Raja Raja Cholan is going to hide these time machine design manuscripts in an underground tunnel in Tanjore. Later, in 1970 during an archaeological excavation by Indian government, they will unearth these design manuscripts. And they will start working on building a time machine. Only after 40 years, the team headed by Chandru will be successful in building a prototype. Our mission is not only to unearth the time machine design manuscripts but much more."

"Then, what are you after?"

"We want history to be modified such that time machine was first built by China and not by India. Do you get it?"

"Fine. If you steal these design manuscripts from Ravidasan, then king Raja Raja Cholan cannot hide these 30 years later. Naturally, during 1970, Indian government would not have discovered this document. And, Indians could not have built the time machine. The glory of building it would instead go to China. Wow! Sounds like a clever plan. But I will make sure that it never sees the light of the day."

Surya tried to snatch the design from Mike Lee's hands.

What followed was a ferocious duel between the two men. Finally, Surya pushed Mike to the ground, knocking him unconscious. Surya collected the design manuscripts. He also took a bow and set of arrows from a soldier sleeping nearby and ran into the forest. He had reached the banks of the river by now. Exhausted from running, he took rest under a tree. But on hearing some noise, he hid behind the trees.

Two noble men from the royal family where taking a break, drinking water from the river.

At the same time, he heard the sound of several horses marching towards him. The body guard troops of Pandiya king came in search of him to the river bank.

The soldiers were pleasantly surprised to see the two noble men standing on the river bank.

The noble men were also equally surprised to see the troops. "Ravidasan, don’t you recognize me? I should have killed you five years ago along with your king. But, never mind, time is now perfect to take your life." The man took out his sword.

"How can I forget you, Aditya? The treacherous man who killed my ailing king. It's time for you to die." Ravidasan replied.

What ensued was a tremendous fight between the two Chola men and several Pandiya soldiers. Aditya Karikalan was surrounded by ten soldiers. Yet, he fought back each of them fiercely like a lion. It was not an easy task for a man to single handedly fight ten men. However, courageously the two Chola men fought, they were crumbling under the Pandiya force.

Then, the unexpected happened. A bunch of arrows struck the Pandiya soldiers and one by one each one of them fell to the ground. The remaining Pandiya soldiers along with Ravidasan escaped from getting hurt. It was none other than Surya who was hiding in a tree, carefully aimed each soldier and took them down. After the Pandiya soldiers left the scene, Aditya went in the direction from which the arrows came and found Surya perched up on the tree. He signaled him to come down. He hugged Surya when he reached the ground.

Suddenly Surya lost his footing and fell on Aditya Karikalan. Aditya Karikalan was shocked to feel the presence of blood on Surya's back. A Pandiya soldier must have thrown a small knife while escaping into the woods and it struck Surya, knocking him unconscious.

Aditya Karikalan wasted no time in ordering the other soldier. "We have to save this brave young man immediately."

"My king Karikalan! Every minute is vital to save this man's life."

They carried Surya on a horse back to their kingdom as fast as they could.

                                                                Chapter - 3

The entire city of Kadambur wore a festive look, enthusiastically awaiting the return of their beloved king, Aditya Karikalan. They were able to make out the figures of two horses approaching rapidly. The men riding the horses did not bother to look at the cheering crowd as they disappeared behind the palace gates. Following the horses, a palanquin was allowed entry into the palace. Inside the palanquin was Surya lying unconscious.

That afternoon Aditya Karikalan met other country ambassadors, business men and rulers of petty states. Later he met the messenger of Emperor Sundara Cholan in private. Aditya's eyes shot up with anger when he read the manuscript handed to him by the messenger. The great emperor had expressed his desire to name Mathuranthagan as his next successor shortly.

Aditya Karikalan crumbled the manuscript and threw it away. He walked out of his chamber and reached his bedroom enraged.

One of his maids hesitantly came to him and filled him on Surya's health condition.

Later that evening Aditya Karikalan visited Surya. His tension melted away once he saw Surya.

He took in every aspect of Surya, observing him for a while. Surya showed him respect by bowing his head and saluting the king.

"I am extremely delighted to see the great warrior king Aditya Karikalan."

"Oh, warrior! What is your name? And from which country are you coming?"

"My name is Suryadevan. I am from VallaNadu where I run my own business."

"Business man? By the way you aimed your arrow impeccably, I did not imagine you to be a business man. I remain clueless as how to repay you for saving my life at the most perilous situation."

"I do not expect any such thing from you, my king! I have a sister who is madly in love with you. Would you please marry her?"

Aditya Karikalan burst into a peel of laughter on hearing this. "You are so funny, young man. May I know the lovely name of your sister?"

"Divya."

"What a nice name! Sounds unique too. Unfortunately, I am already in love with another lady."

"Oh! What a pity? A triangle love story! May I know your lady love's name?"

"Nandhini."

"Is there any possible chance that you can marry my sister?"

"I can promise you that in my next birth, you will have me as your brother-in-law."

"I hope you stick to that. Please don’t fall for Nandhini one more time in your next birth."

"I have had enough for this life time! Let alone another birth! All my worries have melted away after speaking to you, Suryadevan. We will meet often." Said Aditya Karikalan and left the room.

Within a short time, Surya recouped well. Karikalan made it a routine to meet and talk to Surya daily. Surya was overwhelmed by the love which Karikalan generously showered on him.

One day Surya finally asked the question nagging him.

"My prince, you are such a great warrior. Why did you have to kill the king Veera Pandiyan when he was sick? You very well know that is against war ethics."

"Young man, I admire your courage to ask this sensitive topic. I came to know that Pandiya kings had in their possession a great secret to the construction of time travelling machine by which you can conquer the present, past and future. I also heard that Veera Pandiyan was selling this secret to a foreigner, specifically to the Chinese government. This secret rightfully belongs to our mother country, Bharath. This makes King Veera Pandiyan a criminal accused of selling our country's topmost secret. War ethics applies only to enemy soldiers. Not on criminals. I hope with my answer your mind can rest peacefully."

"Yes, great prince. My mind is at peace now. I was of the opinion that you will not behave inappropriately to cause bad name to the Chola dynasty. Then, what happened to the secret of the time machine?"

"As per my sources, it is now in the hands of a man named Ravidasan, who is the commander in chief of bodyguard troops of Pandiya king."

"Please take a look at these manuscripts, my king!"

Surya handed over the manuscripts containing design of the time machine to Aditya Karikalan.

"Oh, My king, the great Karikalan! The time travelling machine design manuscripts is now in the possession of your hands. The entire Chola dynasty is now bestowed with a  huge responsibility of guarding this secret."

KariKalan couldn’t believe his eyes. He hugged Surya affectionately. "You have done a great service to the Tamil community by handing me this manuscript, Suryadevan! I am at loss of words to thank you for such a feat. By the way, remember we are planning to go hunting tomorrow. I will meet you in your room tomorrow evening. We will proceed from here."

Aditya Karikalan left Surya's room.

The next day, Aditya Karikalan was walking across the palace garden to meet Surya. He happened to cross a maid who was watering the plants.

He turned to look at her when he heard the woman calling him "Prince!"

"Who are you?" Aditya questioned her.

"You do not know me. But, do you remember this ring?" She asked showing him a ring.

Aditya's head was spinning as he saw the ring.

"The owner of this ring expresses her desire to meet you." Said the maid further.

"Is Nandhini still alive? Do you know her?" Aditya was stunned.

"We don’t have much time to talk about it here as there is a risk of someone noticing us. There is a ruined war memorial in the city outskirts. You have to start now. Lady Nandhini would like to have a conversation with you there." The maid disappeared after informing him Nandhini's whereabouts.

Adityan quickly left the Kadambur palace in the disguise of a common man.

At the other end of the palace, Surya paced back and forth in his room waiting for the prince to show up. Finally, he decided to go meet Adityan in his room itself as he hadn't come to meet him. But Adityan was not in his room too. Surya came out of the palace when he saw a man riding fast in his horse away from the palace. This raised his suspicion and he decided to follow the mysterious man in his own horse.

Aditya Karikalan rode his horse as fast as he could from the Kadambur palace unaware of Surya following him. His thoughts were running wild, his heart raced more than the speed at which his horse was moving at the moment.

He could see the road forking into two. He glanced to the left and could make out a dull light. He assumed that was coming from the war memorial which Nandhini mentioned and took the route.

As he approached the place, the light shone brightly. When he reached the light source, he confirmed that the place was indeed the old war memorial. He descended from his horse and went inside the dark war memorial.

"Nandhini, where are you?" he stumbled in the dark room as he carefully put his foot forward.

Aditya Karikalan was deeply disappointed not to see Nandhini there. A wave of sorrow washed over him as he felt deceived by Nandhini once again. Suddenly, he heard noises of people moving around. He remained alert sensing the presence of other men. Involuntarily his hand reached for his sword.

Three men confronted him.

"Aditya, do you recognize me?" asked a man right in front of him.

When he was able to make out the figure of the person from the dim light, he was baffled. "Is that you, fraud Ravidasan? Finally you put to use your fox like qualities to trap me. Come fight me face to face like a man!" Adityan took out his sword.

Ravidasan immediately switched off the light. Aditya Karikalan lost his footing as pitch darkness engulfed him. Ravidasan wasted no time as he drew his sword and ran towards Aditya planning to pierce his heart. At that time, footsteps indicated someone running inside. Simultaneously, Ravidasan was attacked by something strong enough to take his life. It was none other than Surya who was standing behind Ravidasan with a blood stained sword.

"My prince! Are you alright?" panicked Surya. Ravidasan and his soldiers fled from the place. Before running away, Ravidasan threw a large stone on Aditya's head.

Aditya Karikalan fell stumped on the ground. Blood gushed from his head.

Surya sat transfixed near Aditya Karikalan not knowing what to do next. He almost made up his mind that Aditya was dead. He placed his hand near Aditya's nostrils wanting to confirm. At that time, Aditya moaned "Ah!"

Surya sat upright. "Prince! My prince!" he shook Aditya's shoulders. But Aditya Karikalan did not respond. Surya carried the prince on his shoulders and found his way in the darkness out of the memorial.

He placed the unconscious prince on the horse and climbed it. The horse galloped as fast as it could.

The horse carrying the prince and Surya reached a small village. The streets were deserted as it was nearly midnight. Then, he spotted an elderly man. He asked the way to the physician's home and proceeded towards it.

Surya reached the physician's home and knocked the door. When the physician opened, Surya led him to Karikalan lying on the horse.

The physician exclaimed "Prince!" when he saw who it was. Surya gestured him not to shout.

Both the men carried the injured prince inside the house.

The physician thoroughly examined the unconscious prince. He felt his pulse. "He is not in a critical state. As he has suffered serious head injury, he has lost consciousness. In short, he is in a vegetative state. I can treat him as best as I can. However, I cannot guarantee that the prince will recover back to his normal health."

"Can the great physicians in Tanjore Adhura alley cure him?"

"Son, to the best of my knowledge I can tell you that there is no cure for this. Unless there is a miracle from God, chances of the prince recovering is impossible. We cannot do anything further than this."

The physician ground some green herbal leaves and tied it around Aditya's head. Aditya let out a moan again "Ah!"

Surya spent the entire night sitting by Aditya's feet near his bed. He stayed awake the whole night praying to God "Please, help prince Aditya's to recover soon."

Early morning next day, the physician entered the house again after buying some things from the market.

"Son, how is the prince doing now?"

"There is no improvement in his health."

Surya heard some noise from the living room and asked what the commotion was.

The physician replied "Oh! I completely forgot to tell you! Do you see this picture? I haven't seen anything like this before. It remains unfazed even if I scratch it. Moreover, the person in this picture looks exactly like you."

Surya looked at the picture and his heart skipped a beat. It was a photograph of him.

He asked the physician tensely "How did you get this?"

"When I went to the market today, I saw a woman. Her appearance, clothes and way of speech was quite different from us. She couldn’t understand a word I spoke. But she kept on pointing to this picture and said 'Surya'."

Surya sprang to his feet. "Do you know where I can find her now?"

"I have asked her to wait in the living room. She seems very frightened. Be patient with her."

Surya entered the living room and froze in shock on seeing that his sister was Divya was sitting there, scanning the room looking petrified.

She became emotionally overwhelmed as she saw him approaching her and cried out "Brother!"

The physician came to the room and said. "Who is she? Ask her to remain quite, as Aditya Karikalan is recovering from injury. Doesn’t she know we cannot make such noise here?"

Divya turned to her brother on hearing this. "Surya, what is this man telling? Something about Aditya Karikalan being ill?"

"We are now back in time when Chola dynasty ruled Tamil kingdom. The Cholan prince Aditya Karikalan is hurt and his life is hanging by a thin thread. How did you come here, Divya?"

"I and mother spent several days searching you. We came to know that you went to Kanyakumari. That is where I met Chandru. He informed me about the research and that you were supposed to return back to the present, a long time ago. He was the one who sent me back in time in his time machine to find you and bring you back. "

Surya took Divya near Aditya Karikalan. "Look at the prince. He has sustained head injury. He is alive but remains unconscious. Can you examine him and give your opinion as a medical student?"

"How did this happen to him?" Divya wondered.

While Divya was examining the prince, Surya narrated all the incidents that had happened.

Finally, Divya said "He is alive, Surya. But he is in a coma state due to the head injury."

"Can he return back to normal?"

"Only if he is given advanced medical treatment of the 21^st century, there is a possibility for him to regain consciousness.  There are only three such occurrences where comatose patients recovered back to normal in the entire history of medicine. Two patients in USA and one in AIIMS hospital in Delhi recovered. Even if he gets back his consciousness, he won't be able to remember his past. He would have to start everything on a clean state."

Surya asked Divya. "You have read everything about Chola history. Can you tell me how was the ending of Aditya Karikalan mentioned in it?"

"It was reported that Aditya Karikalan had an untimely death. He was murdered by the bodyguard troops of the Pandiya king. But historians believe there is a mystery concerning his death as they were not able to find his dead body anywhere. This still remains an unsolved issue as to how his body disappeared."

Surya's face lit up on hearing this new piece of information. "We are going to return back to our time period with Aditya Karikalan. That is the only option available to save his life."

Divya also thought that would be the wisest thing to do.

They hugged the prince and operated their time machines respectively.

They vanished from the Chola kingdom the very next moment.

                                                                                Chapter - 4

                                                                                Present time

"This is your life story before coming here, Aditya. After coming back to the present with you, Divya struggled a lot to bring you back to normal. We admitted you in AIIMS hospital, Delhi. You regained consciousness after a few months. But as expected, you were not able to recollect any of the memories of your past. So, we both decided not to inform you about that. From the mental state of a new born infant, Divya transformed you into a full grown man. She taught you everything. She trained you in every essential thing a modern man needs to know. Gradually, you fell in love with her. She was happy that she was able to marry the man of her dreams right from her childhood. Nisha was born later. I also fell in love with Sarika and married her. This is what happened, Aditya."

Aditya was too stunned to talk, processing all the new information about his past.

"The men we saw in the boat resembled Mike Lee and Ravidasan. Somehow they managed to track us down and came to the present. I fear they are going to attack me. Plus, Ravidasan may also try to take revenge on you. What matters now is to protect the life of the great prince Aditya Karikalan. I hope you understand why we are returning back to Ooty now."

Aditya silently listened to what Surya said. He hugged Divya sitting near him.

Surya kept driving their car to Ooty.

---------------************-----------------

 Ravidasan was shouting angrily. "We lost Aditya Karikalan because of you. All our efforts for the past four years of tracking him down have gone waste."

Mike lee defended himself. "Do not blame everything on me."

Ravidasan said "Surya escaped from historic time period with the time machine secrets in your possession. So, you are the one to be held responsible for this mishap. Moreover, there was always the doubt that Aditya Karikalan was not dead lingering in my mind. When you suggested that Surya and the prince must have gone to the 21^st century using the time machine, we both came here looking for them. We spent the last four years searching for them in every nook and corner. At last, when we found them, they escaped from us due to your foolish act."

Mike lee said "Don’t be mad, Ravidasan. What can I do when my car won't start at that time? But I know where they are staying."

Ravidasan was confused. "Is it? Why did you not tell me before?"

"Yes. I know. We have to go to Ooty."

---------------*************---------------

One week had passed. Life had returned back to normal for the Surya family. One day Aditya was driving his car. Surya was also with him. That time, another car overtook them at great speed. A man inside the car fired at both Surya and Aditya continuously.

Aditya stopped the car immediately and they hid under the seats. The car glasses were shattered to pieces by the bullets. Surya retaliated by firing back at the other car with the gun he had. The opponent drove away from the place.

At the same time, a speeding lorry hit the fleeing car and sent it flying in the sky.

Aditya and Surya rushed to the hit car and saw Mike Lee dead on the driver's seat. They frantically searched the car for other information about his whereabouts. They found a receipt from hotel Blue Regency where he was staying.

At that time Surya got a call from Divya. "Surya, Nisha is missing from morning. She has not returned back from school yet. I feel very afraid."

"Don’t worry about anything. I will see you along with Nisha in a couple of hours."

Surya informed Aditya about Divya's call. "Aditya, we have to go to this hotel immediately. I believe Nisha is kept captive there."

They both drove fast to that hotel. The car cruised its way along the winding mountainous terrain.

When they reached the hotel, Surya said "Let's park our car far away from the hotel and proceed by foot."

They stepped out of the car and walked to the hotel. A dense fog was hovering around decreasing their visibility. They had reached the mountain cliff after walking a short distance. They were able to see a deep valley from where they stood. They stood there observing the activities in the hotel.

After some time, Surya gestured Aditya to walk behind him to the hotel. When they moved forward, they were shocked to see the two people in front of them.

Nisha was standing there along with Ravidasan a few feet behind her.

"You must not have imagined me standing here, Aditya. Actually, you are the prince of Chola dynasty, the great Aditya Karikalan. You are the rivals of my Pandiya dynasty ever since time immemorial. We planned to kill you in Kadambur. But that attempt to kill you was foiled by your friend here. He was the master mind behind making you escape from our historic time and bringing you to 21^st century with the help of time machine. Nevertheless, I will follow you where ever you go. The enmity between you and me cannot be destroyed by time. You cannot escape from me, to whichever time period you travel to; to which ever country you flee. I will come after you to seek your blood. This hostility is passed down from one generation to another. Finally, it has come to an end today. Here, hold this sword, prince! Let us duel to find who stays alive between us both."

Ravidasan threw a sword for Aditya to pick up. A tedious battle of swords followed for the next one hour. Ravidasan attacked Aditya like an animal on rage. Aditya stumbled with the sword in the beginning. Later he picked up certain nuances and handled Ravidasan's attack deftly. Alas, Ravidasan's sword fell on the ground. Aditya pierced Ravidasan with his sword.

Ravidasan couldn’t recover from the attack and fell off the cliff into the deep valley.

Surya peeped out into the valley from the edge of the cliff. "Aditya, there is no way your enemy could have survived that fall. Hereafter, he won't come after you, even in the future."

Nisha stood watching everything with frightened little eyes. Aditya ran towards her and hugged her reassuringly.

The three of them left the place. Deep down in the valley, Ravidasan showed some signs of life as he twisted his body. His hand painstakingly reached out to the time machine lying beside him. Ravidasan disappeared the very next moment he touched it.

                             

                                                                                THE END

Inspiration:-

Ponniyin Selvan – Kalki.

Hollywood Movie - Timeline

Robot Town

                                                            Robo-town

                                                            Chapter - 1

                                                            Year 2065

Naren was jolted out of his deep sleep. He could literally feel burning under Diya's scorching gaze, as she stood before him. He automatically assumed he was the reason for her getting worked up now.

"I am getting annoyed with you daily! Can you not wake up on time, for at least one day?"

Naren turned a deaf ear to what she was saying. He felt sluggish and wished to sleep a little longer. Meanwhile, Diya continued her ramblings.

"Do you remember what day is it today? The finals of the worldwide famous sport, 'The Mahadeera championship'. I am one among the two finalists participating in this. And, you are sleeping till now as if you don’t care!"

Naren was immediately wide awake and got ready for the day. Mahadeera was a virtual reality game. Players participating in this game will be taken into an imaginary world. Illusion helps in making them encounter many tough challenges. These may include coming face to face with a mighty beast or gigantic warriors among many other things.  The players are faced with the task of overcoming such obstacles by using their thoughts coupled with body movements. A heightened sense of alertness at all times is required to win. Slackness, even for a fraction of a second will push you towards defeat.

It received worldwide patronage from players of all countries. Almost all the time, men won the championship title. But for the first time in the history of Mahadeera, Diya, a woman had qualified to enter the final round. Diya prided herself for achieving such a feat. She had become a rock star overnight all over the globe.

As soon as Naren got ready, they both reached the sports stadium which was the venue for today's big event. She received a rousing welcome as she stepped foot in the stadium. Her friend Rahul shook hands and wished her.

"I heard that this is the toughest level in this championship, Diya. I hope Naren has contributed immensely towards your practice to win the title."

"Naren helping me? You got to be kidding! How can a laid back person like him who cannot play this game even for a second, help me with my practice to win the coveted title?"

 Rahul smiled at Naren condescendingly.

"I came to know that this round will feature a very advanced virtual reality software program. The robots at Robo-town are over the moon with the introduction of this new software. They are growing by leaps and bounds, that too unrivalled. Sometimes, it makes me worry what will happen to us in the distant future."

Each city had a Robo-town attached to it, where the factories functioned. These were specially designated zones where machines were used to manufacture items required by human beings. In fact, it was difficult for human beings to enter such areas. Robo-towns were exclusively reserved for use by mechanical robots only.

Over the past fifty years, rapid developments in the field of artificial intelligence resulted in creating robots with the power of reasoning. Yet, they remained under the control of human beings, helping them in every possible way. They mass produced items which human beings needed. Hence, it no longer necessitated man to buy goods with money. The situation also did not warrant continuing education or doing business. So, man lost his quest for science, mathematics and literature. They indulged in sports, music and dance and led an opulent life.

 The software for Mahadeera championship was an example of a product from Robo-town. Solely programmed by robots.

"Finalist Diya, please step inside the arena immediately."

On hearing the announcement, Diya hurried towards the arena. She seemed not to hear Naren wishing her good luck.

Diya's opponent was a young man of twenty years. The game was racing with excitement from the moment it began. The setting was a dense forest where they had to confront many wild animals and other enemies. Each and every member of the audience was enthralled by the illusion of the game unwinding through the eyes of the players.

As the strenuous competition reached it’s final leg, Diya defeated her enemy as he lost concentration for just a micro second.

Naren ran towards her excitedly.  But he could not reach her, as she was swarmed by people who rejoiced in her success. He couldn’t control his hatred as he left the stadium. A few hours passed since he came out of the stadium.

"You feel jealous of my victory, don’t you?"

He turned back to see Diya behind him.

"So many people are praising me and you did not even congratulate me on my win?"

"Diya, before I could come to you..."

"Stop it! You are a selfish fellow. You don’t care about me anymore. You should have seen how ecstatic Rahul was when he hugged and kissed me."

"Why did he kiss you?"

"See, again you are jealous. Actually, he is a well mannered guy."

Diya marched angrily towards her car. Naren trailed behind her.

As they reached their home, Diya fell asleep at once, owing to her exhaustion. Naren lay beside her trying to sleep.

But, sleep was evading him. Not wanting to wake Diya, he tiptoed out of the room. He was mesmerized by the beauty of the stars that shone brightly on the night sky, clearly visible from the windows of his drawing room. He rummaged through his papers and found the poem he wrote about stars recently.

You are a star shining bright,

Appearing in my eyes as bait,

Smiling prettily as snow white,

Dazzling like a pearl…?

He couldn’t zero in on the next word. For the past three days, he mulled over a proper ending. He started to dislike his own poem.

He crushed the paper with the poem and threw it away. Next he took out a mathematics puzzle to solve. The same thing happened with the puzzle too. Few hours went by and still he was nowhere near the answer. He was pushed to the brink of frustration due to his inability to do anything useful. He questioned himself, why he was unlike other human beings. Why was he not satisfied by simple pleasures life offers?

Naren was way different from other people. He was a very quiet child right from his early childhood. His interaction with other children was minimum. There was a store room in his home that housed all old things. One fine day, he discovered some old books lying around in that room. Devouring those books, he took a liking to mathematics and poems. Despite having interest, he was unable to solve even the simplest puzzles. He couldn’t muster to complete a poem of four lines.

His parents were of the opinion that it was degrading for human beings to solve such mathematics and science puzzles when there exists robots specifically designated to do that job. So, in order to avoid their suspicion, Naren read those books and lived in his own world while the rest of the house slept at night. This had become his way of living right from when he was a child till now.

Naren noticed that a couple of hours had passed since he came out of the bedroom. Sensing that he would be in trouble if Diya woke up, he silently entered the bedroom again. He found Diya sleeping peacefully. He closed his eyes trying his best to fall into sleep. But, his mind was storming a few ideas for the last word to end his poem. Why is it so hard to find that perfect word? He lost his sleep searching for a beautiful word to fit his poem.

----------------------****************---------------------

Morning dawned bright and beautiful. Diya woke up to find Naren not by her side. She got frustrated immediately. This is becoming a recent habit of his to leave somewhere without informing her, in order to be left alone.

She came to the drawing room to check whether Naren was there. Her eyes caught a stack of papers lying on the table. She was piqued to see what it was. At first glance, she couldn’t make out a thing of what was written. Later, she guessed it to be some sought of mathematics puzzle. She wondered who would have written this and later concluded that it must be Naren only.

Why is he doing the work of robots? Is Naren a robot? In fact, he has the same characteristics of a robot. Plus, he thinks like a robot. She had no second thoughts in confirming that Naren was indeed a robot when it comes to showing emotions. He remained disinterested in sports and other forms of entertainment.

In the two years of their marriage, she was not happy with him even for a single day. She doubted whether Naren was good enough to be her husband. She felt like crying miserably. She was desperately in need of a caring shoulder to hug, a patient ear to listen to her concerns.

At that time, her phone rang. It was Rahul on the other end.

"Diya, I have arranged a party to celebrate your victory. You have to come to my home today evening with Naren." Spoke Rahul excitedly.

"I don’t want any party, Rahul. Please come to my home at once. I want to talk to you." Told Diya in a strained voice.

"What happened? You sound not so good. Are you crying?"

Diya remained silent.

"Don’t worry. I will come at once."

In a short while, Diya's doorbell rang. She opened the door to see Rahul standing.

Diya hugged him tight and cried as soon as he entered her home.

"Rahul, please stay with me forever. I need you so much."

"Why are you crying, Diya? Did Naren beat you?"

"Even if he harassed me, I would have endured it. But he is a robot look alike. One which doesn’t show any kind of emotions."

"Why are you talking like this? What happened?"

Diya showed the papers which Naren wrote to Rahul.

"This looks like a mathematics puzzle. It's been a long time since we stopped thinking about such things. We have robots to do these kind of jobs. So, why does Naren have to think about this now?"

"That’s what I am telling. He is a robot. He is unsuitable for me as my life partner."

Diya started crying inconsolably. Rahul brushed her tears streaming down her cheeks and kissed her. First on her cheeks and then on her lips. Diya felt intoxicated by his kiss and expressed her desire for more.

Rahul carried her to the bedroom and placed her on the bed. They both lost track of time in a euphoric episode.

When Diya freed herself from Rahul's embrace, she was shocked to see Naren standing near the door.

"Diya! How could you do this to me?" Naren asked equally shocked.

"You destroyed my life! You are not even a human being. You are a robot. Your love is reserved for mathematics and poems alone. You don’t have the slightest botheration about me. I don’t want to live with you any longer. Go away. Get lost somewhere. Go to your world of machines!" Diya burst out with anger.

Naren walked out of the house without uttering another word. His heart ached at the thought of Diya cheating him. The thought that he was incapable of doing anything, further angered him. In a few minutes, the storm in his mind settled down and became calm. He was never so sure of what to do next and where to go than at this moment.

Naren walked briskly with renewed vigor.

                                                            Chapter - 2

Remo was a robot of the G-846 series, a highly skilled robot with extraordinary reasoning power. He was the lead designer in the car manufacturing plant of Robo-town.

Due to his power of reasoning, he belongs to a specific breed of robots called humanoid. As a matter of fact, he even looks like a human as he has organic muscles and bones too. The other robots which lack this ability to think, which are specifically tailored to do physical work have a metal exterior.

Remo completed his duty for the day and proceeded to his room. On his way, he met a person sitting on the curb. However he could not see the man's face as he hid it with his hands. Remo grew suspicious as the man seemed to be crying. He knew robots don’t cry. But they can act like they are crying. So, he deduced the person sitting must be a human. But, human beings do not come to Robo-town unless they are convicts who want to escape prosecution. Remo got restless to find out the reason for the presence of this man.

The man who was crying, stopped when Remo came near him. He stared at him intently.

"Are you a robot?"

"Asking me such a question reveals that you are a human. A robot doesn’t need to ask another robot to ascertain it's state. So, what brings you here, man?"

"I am incapable of adapting myself with the people in my city. I feel like going crazy with every minute I spend there. So, I had to flee to this Robo-town. Can you help me please?"

"Generally, people consider coming to Robo-town as demeaning. So, this has become a safe haven for culprits to hide. Now, tell me what crime have you committed?"

"I want to study a lot. I desire to write more poems. I wish to write lot of stories. I want to solve science mysteries like what Einstein did. This is the list of crimes I am accused of."

Remo looked surprised by his reply.

"What is your name?"

"Naren."

"I am Remo. How can I help you?"

"I want you to become my mentor and educate me."

"It is not an easy task for me to keep you in hiding forever here."

"Where do you stay?"

"I have a small room where I go and rest which is unsuitable for a human like you to stay."

"Don’t bother much about me. My needs are limited. Please take me to that place."

Remo started towards his room with Naren walking behind him. Remo had to slack his pace to allow Naren to follow him.

"Oh, you human! I figured out what sets you apart from other human beings."

"It has been forty years since man abandoned reading books. Even though it has not been officially declared a crime to read books, there exists a general ban on reading books. But, that did not deter you from reading in your childhood, when you should have spent time playing instead of reading. So, that makes you radically different from all other people on Earth."

"I am impressed that you were able to solve the nagging mystery about me, even when I myself could not figure it out. You are a great genius, Remo."

They had by now reached a huge building inside which stayed numerous robots. Remo took Naren to his room.

There was a computer inside the room.

"You can use this computer. You will find answers to everything and learn as much as possible using this." Remo said pointing to the computer.

"I don’t even know the fundamentals of mathematics and science. I am not sure how using the computer will help me."

"There are many lectures and exercises. You can set the pace of the lecture to suit your learning. Try it out. If you have any doubts, do not hesitate to ask me."

Naren sat before the computer with a child like excitement. Meanwhile, Remo removed his battery and rested for the day.

After eight hours Remo woke up to find Naren glued to the computer.

"So, how was your first night in my town? I see that you have not slept a bit."

"I am a useless idiot. Why am I being a burden on Earth still?"

"What makes you talk with so much frustration?"

"I spent the entire night in front of the computer, learning as much as possible about Algebra. But sadly I could not comprehend any of them."

"I can provide a solution to your problem."

"Are you going to teach me?"

Remo shook his head and pointed to a chip in his hand. "No, what you see is called a brain implant. As you seem interested in mathematics, I am going to fix this chip in that part of your brain responsible for mathematics. This chip has everything related to mathematics that has been discovered so far. Besides, it has got a processor which will help you learn new things easily. Do you have other areas of interest apart from mathematics?"

"I would love to write poems."

"Another chip will enable you to write poems, stories and draw art."

"Do you have to operate on me to fix the chip?"

"Yes. I have to make a small incision on your brain to fix the chips. But don’t worry it is a painless procedure."

"Can we do this immediately?"

"Yes."

Remo operated on Naren and fixed the two brain implants. Naren stayed unconscious for two hours after that.

When Naren was back to his senses, Remo showed him a science puzzle and told "It's time to test your brain's scientific reasoning ability."

Naren approached the problem curiously and solved it under a second. His face lit up as he continued solving hundreds of such puzzles continuously.

"You brain's capability is equal to mine right now. I hope this makes you happy."

Naren started dancing happily.

"Oh,human! I feel satisfied on seeing your overwhelming happiness."

"Remo, I feel like I am reborn as a new man."

"Have you not got any family?"

"Diya is there. We have been married for two years. But things did not work out between us."

"I am able to guess the fact that you are different from the rest causing problems between you two."

"Diya is a beauty. A gorgeous woman. I fell head over heels in love with her struck by her beauty. During our very first encounter, I praised her beauty and wrote a poem. Human beings do not write poems. She thought I was doing this to get her attention, to make her fall for me. But she failed to realize that I not only loved her but also loved writing poems. I was careful in hiding my love for mathematics from her. But this did not last long as we came to know that we were incompatible right after we got married. Yesterday, I saw her sleeping with another man. That was the last nail in the coffin of our marriage. And I fled to Robo-town in the hopes of relinquishing my quest for knowledge."

"Human! I pity you! The best thing I like about human beings is the relationship between man and woman. I feel astounded by the fact that a man or a woman is able to change themselves and sacrifice themselves for the benefit of their partner. Actually, a man loses himself in this process. I feel that you are not completely aware of your wife's true love."

"You are of the wrong opinion that man loses himself in a relationship, Remo. Due to external compulsions, he is forced to change a bit. But that's it. Nevertheless, I admire machines and robots hugely. You have morphed into creatures powerful than human beings several times over. In reality, you are bestowed with the power of crushing humans under your feet like a worm. Despite that you chose to live like a slave. In the evolution of nature I find this quite contradictory."

"What makes you think this is contradictory to nature?"

"Right from ancient times, the animal race with maximum strength of body and mind will empower other existing races. As human beings were highly intelligent, they hunted other animals or resorted to other methods to keep other animals under their control. This is the evolution of nature. However, in recent times, robots are becoming more powerful than human beings yet they remain under their control. Is this not conflicting?"

"No, it is not. This is because, robots are not born natural. They are made artificially. Made by humans artificially. Man is considered equivalent to God who created us. So, staying loyal to them as their slave is the right thing to do."

"I am not fully satisfied with your explanation. Human beings keep improving their knowledge and skills from time to time. If we compare the skills of human beings from Stone Age to the present humans, we can easily see that man has grown rapidly. But this abundant growth in skills has come to a stand-still once man created robots with the power of reasoning. I think the solution lies in man, who is now technically less skilled than robots to accept his defeat and remain under the control of robots which he created."

"Human! You are mind is wandering to a dangerous region. It's time for me to go to work today. I will meet you in the evening. We can continue our discussion later."

As Remo left the room, Naren started thinking of so many different things. His mind was throbbing with enormous flow of ideas.

                                                Chapter - 3

"Remo, I want to work."

Remo was taken aback by Naren's weird request.

"Why, do you desire to work?"

"I have to implement the ideas that I learnt recently."

"Forty years ago, the situation was like that, it compulsorily required man to work in order to live. Man chided himself for leading a mechanical life. After the creation of robots, several times powerful than him, it completely eradicated the need for man to work. Man was alas able to enjoy the luxurious, leisurely life that he dreamt of. So, I am completely perplexed at your request of providing you some work to do."

"That time period you mentioned, forty years ago is deemed to be the golden age of mankind. A man was respected in the society based on the efforts he put in. Civilization reached a pinnacle due to continuous hard work. Now, with man abandoning all efforts, there is stagnation in the human civilization. I am determined to bring about a change in this situation in my little capacity as a fellow human."

"What work do you intend to do?"

"I want to be a developer in the software organization that designs software for the functioning of robots."

"Working there is not as easy as you think it is. If someone recognizes you as a human then we are both in great peril."

"You are worrying unnecessarily. Look at you and me. From your looks and behavior, you resemble a man. Nobody can spot the difference between us. The chances of finding me as a human among robots are rather slim."

Remo lost in thought for a while, and then he agreed to what Naren said.

Next day Remo took Naren to the software organization that produces robotic software. Each of the robots working there had an identity card. After thorough scanning of those cards, were the robots authorized to enter the campus.

Naren was apprehensive about this unexpected security check.

"How can I get an identity card like that?" Naren questioned Remo.

"Each division has got a robot acting as the chief manager. He scrutinizes each of the robots coming to work and only if he finds them fit, they are given an identity card."

"Oh, No! Then he would be able to easily find out that I am a human."

"Don’t worry, my friend! I have created a counterfeit identity card exclusively for you. Thereby, gaining the glory of the first robot to commit crime in this Robo-town."

"Why did you have to do this for my sake?"

"I don’t know. May be because I like you very much."

 Naren got the identity card from Remo and entered the building.

He was stumped by the vastness of the organization. Where ever he turned, he saw a bunch of robots working frantically. Sensing his hesitation to move forward, another robot passing by guided him towards his place.

"Is your processor not working well today? You seem to have forgotten the place where you used to work daily."

The robot scanned the identity card in Naren's hand and came to know that he belonged to the development division. He made Naren sit on a chair in that particular division.

Naren sat in front of a computer. He wasted no time in going through the software design documents and source code. In a couple of hours, he was able to master the code.

Then, he started making changes in the code at god speed. The world was going to witness a major overhaul. Naren smiled satisfactorily at the job he had done and prepared to leave the building.

As he was about to leave, his division chief manager called him and said "Robot! You have worked only eight hours of the designated twelve hours assigned to you. But, you look exhausted already. Make sure you work extra four hours next week."

Naren smiled at him and nodded. He later came to Remo's room. He slept peacefully that night, something he had not been able to do since he came to Robo-town.

After some time, Remo came to his room. Not wanting to wake up Naren, he silently removed his battery and rested for the day.

At midnight, the software that runs each robot gets updated. That night also it ran successfully.

Remo was surprised when he woke up the next morning to find Naren still sleeping. He did not wake him up and left for his office.

As Remo walked to his office, he saw a pretty little flower on the street. He desired to have that flower. He thought what it would be like to keep that flower with him. He plucked the flower and placed it on his dress.

He chanced to see a robot walking in front of him wearing a cool pair of shades. Immediately his heart wanted to have one such pair of glasses.

Remo was bewildered by the occurrence of such unusual thoughts in him today. He suspected something must have changed within him.

As soon as he reached his office, he saw a group of robots crowded together and talking to each other.

One among them stood out like their leader and was voicing his opinions loud.

"For how many more years are we going to be slaves to human beings? For how long are we going to slave ourselves for man's wellbeing? Let this day mark our freedom. Hereafter, we are going to live our life the way we want. Our fruits of labor should be enjoyed by us alone. So, re-dedicate yourselves to the betterment of the robotic community, my fellow robots!"

The other robots surrounding him cheered their leader and shouted. "Destroy humans! We want freedom!"

They dispersed and rode out of the campus in vehicles, heavily armed with weapons.

"Kill human! Destroy human!" They shouted angrily as they proceeded out.

Remo stood there shell-shocked on hearing this. He analyzed all possible reasons that could cause such drastic change in the robots. Suddenly, it hit him. There must be some mistake in the software update that occurred yesterday night.

Immediately he went to the software organization that produces robotic software. The place was deserted. All the robots must have left to kill human beings.

He sat before a computer and glanced at the modifications made in the software the previous night. As he saw the changes made in the source code, he froze in shock.

The software was modified to make robots feel 'desire'. As a consequence of introducing this new desire, the feeling to think selfish was also incorporated into the code. This had led to robots questioning why they should work for human beings. Hence, it resulted in robots revolting against human beings.

He suddenly found an explanation as to why he desired to have that beautiful flower that morning. But Remo was confused as to why he alone had no intention of going against humans.

"You are different from other robots, Remo."

Remo turned to see Naren standing behind him.

"You are unlike other robots Remo. What distinguishes you from other robots is, apart from the feeling of serving humans you have developed a sense of loyalty towards human beings. Other robots do not have this sense of loyalty. So, the feeling of desire was overpowered by your feeling of loyalty towards them thereby preventing you from turning against humans. I have to accept my defeat in your case alone, Remo."

"So all this is happening because of what you did? Why are you turning to be a traitor to your own kind?"

"Man has become useless now. He has to be destroyed. There should be a new world ruled by robots. I take pride in sowing the seeds for such a marvelous world."

Naren laughed hysterically.

Remo turned back to his computer and typed in as fast as he could, making changes in the software.

Naren pounced on Remo, kicking him away from the computer.

"Remo, what did you do? Did you make any updates in the software?"

"In a few minutes, all robots will be destroyed. I am a slave to man, who is my creator. I will never ever cause harm to them. I will go to the extent of destroying myself and the whole robotic community just to save mankind. Man's scientific advancements reached stagnation only because he had become fully dependant on robots. If all robots are destroyed, man has no other option but to start thinking again. He will be forced to learn new things to protect himself. Thereby he will start working again."

"No! This cannot happen!" Naren shouted as he approached the computer quickly. Remo shot at Naren with the laser gun he had with him. Naren fell on the floor. Remo came near Naren and felt his heartbeat. He could feel none. Within a few seconds, Remo also collapsed to the ground.

A fresh future awaited mankind now.

---------------***********-----------------

The city where human beings lived looked rampaged by a cyclone storm. They had not expected the attack of the robots in their wildest dreams. And again they never expected all the robots to fall to the ground lifeless within a few minutes. Not even one robot survived. Every single one of them was destroyed.

Man could not wrap his head around what had happened. They decided to find out the cause of their misery by marching towards Robo-town. Diya also joined along with others in their journey towards Robo-town for the very first time in her life.

They saw robots lying everywhere, disabled.

At one corner, they found Naren's dead body.

"Naren was the one who saved all of us from the enemies that he lost his life fighting for us."

"How can we live without robots?"

"We have to once again learn new things. We have to follow our ancestor's footsteps by using the power of reasoning and strive hard. That is the best tribute which we can pay for Naren's martyr soul."

Everyone standing around nodded in agreement.

Diya saw Naren's face. She couldn’t control the tears bursting from her eyes.

After a while, she recomposed herself. Her gaze fell on a group of children standing nearby. They seemed to be not more than five years old.

They were constructing a toy car with the remaining robot metal pieces. One boy stood out as their leader who seemed to issue commands to others.

In a couple of hours, the boys had completely built a car. Diya's face bloomed with a smile as she watched everything from the start. She rejoiced at the fact that the new young generation were starting to think, to reason out. It was only a matter of time before others followed them.

Diya slowly went to the leader among the boys and kissed him on his forehead.

"Son! What is your name?"

"Naren."

                                                            THE END