the payyoli draupnir

THE PAYYOLI
DRAUPNIR
An Asgard-Kailash Expedition
THE PAYYOLI
DRAUPNIR
An Asgard-Kailash Expedition
Mohan Narayanan
Notion Press
5 Muthu Kalathy Street, Triplicane,
Chennai - 600 005
First Published by Notion Press 2015
Copyright © Mohan Narayanan 2015
All Rights Reserved.
ISBN: 978-93-84878-90-0
This book has been published in good faith that the work of the author is original.
All efforts have been taken to make the material error-free. However, the author
and the publisher disclaim the responsibility.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by
any information storage retrieval system, without the permission, in writing, from
the publisher.
To my Mother, affectionately called Ramakutty
by everyone, who brought me into this world
when barely 16 and on whose milk, music and
mythology stories I grew up.
The Author wishes to express his deep gratitude to
Lauren Brancato, Riti Kaunteya, Shyam Rajagopalan, Vinod Reddy
and Shriram Narayanan for their valuable time in editing the
manuscript and the text block.
Author's Photograph (back cover): Kerstin Binnwerk
Indian Ink Sketches: Sibes Bhattacharya
Digitization: Mohan Narayanan, M Velumani & V Appavu
AUTHOR’S NOTE
When my first novel in the Payyoli series appeared in early 2009, I
could see how the combination of mythology, history and the present,
extending itself to the technologies of the future contained in The
Payyoli Pendant, proved to be a major fascination for readers around
the world. Not at all surprising, a great part of the interest came from
the Scandinavian or Nordic (Norse) countries, extending southward
up to Germany. This I was able to observe from the disproportionately
high number of Internet outlets for the book in Norway, Sweden, and
Finland, as well as in Germany.
Because of this, I decided to dwell more on Norse mythology—
of course combined with the current and future technologies in
their shaping— in this sequel, The Payyoli Draupnir. As I delved into
mythology over the centuries, the resemblances between the Norse
and Hindu gods became really fascinating. To start with, both resided
amongst the highest mountains covered with eternal snow and ice. Both
had a main god: Odin in the Norse and Shiva in the Hindu religions.
Each had a powerful spouse—Frigga and Devi (Parvati), respectively—
and all of them had their hordes of brothers, sisters, relatives, etc. Each
set of them was indeed a sort of large joint family, a concept that is
almost dead today.
Thus, connecting both sets of gods and the mythologies that
surrounded them became the focal point of this fantasy novel. Of course,
the two young protagonists of the first book, Harani and Manikkam,
had to be here as well, to provide the technology element and also for
the sheer continuity of the Payyoli saga.
The Draupnir, the golden arm band of Odin, when translated,
means “dripper,” since fresh gold dripped from it sufficient to form
eight new rings on the ninth day morning. It was indeed a magic ring,
and was different from the other Norse “Ring of The Nibelungs”, one
of the most famous epic Opera series by Richard Wagner, explained in
Chapter 26. The Draupnir gets lost in norse mythology, a fact that I have
utilized in this book, of course under totally different circumstances.
Linking the Draupnir, and along with it the Norse gods to the
Hindu gods, thereby interconnecting both mythologies, became the
viii Author's Note
central concept for the sequel. In place of the spectacular rocky Grand
Canyon scenery of The Payyoli Pendant, the settings here are the snow
and ice landscapes of Asgard and Kailash, where the Norse and Hindu
gods are believed to have their abodes.
In the pre-written word days, the tradition of storytelling was
purely oral—from Homer through Valmiki to Sheherazade—but it
had to be full of fantasies to keep the listeners spell-bound, and the
Sultan from falling asleep. It is this art of storytelling of our ancestors,
extremely popular even today in India, using fantasy to hold the
readers’ attention, something I am trying once again.
I will be more than satisfied if this sequel to The Payyoli Pendant is
able to achieve even a part of what I had intended.
Mohan Narayanan
CONTENTS
Prelude1
1. Exposition of A Fable
3
2. A Swamiji from Norway
11
3. The Skeleton Lake
17
4. Pilgrimage to Payyoli
21
5. The Gods Decide
25
6. Retrieving the Cursed Ring
29
7. At the Feet of Devi
33
8. Prasnam at Kodungallur
41
9. Off to Vardø
47
10. Ring into Cash
53
11. Mysteries at Midnight
59
12. The Twins and the Yeti
65
13. Killing the Golden Goose
71
14. To Asgard as Stowaways
75
15. Devi Travels Northward
81
16. Sci-Fi Shattered
87
17. The President’s Day Out
95
18. An Allied Air Strategy
101
19. A Giant and Genius
107
20. The Three Devis
115
21. The Mentalist from Sweden
119
22. A Solution at Last!
125
23. The Exchange that Went Wrong
129
24. The Birdman
135
25. Going Home at Last!
141
x Contents
26. Two Stories Around the Magic Ring
147
27. Garudan’s Grin
151
Glossary157
This Is A Sequel
To
THE PAYYOLI
PENDANT
Have You Read
It?
Frigga, Freya and the Ring
PRELUDE
At Asgard, the abode of the Norse gods and goddesses,
Frigga and Freya were engrossed in a lengthy discussion about the long-lost
Draupnir, the magical arm ring belonging to Odin, Frigga’s consort.
“You have been always insisting that the ring was carried away by that
Garudan, the bird on which the God Vishnu flies about and is now lying
somewhere at the bottom of a
frozen lake in the Himalayas,” said Frigga.
Frigga was the highest-ranking goddess in Asgard, representing motherhood,
fertility, love, and all the good things
one attributes to divine figures.
Totally in contrast to these was Freya, the goddess of scheming, magic,
prophecy, battles and wars, love and most important, wealth.
And they were twins.
Freya replied, “You know very well about my networking
capabilities with gods and goddesses in other parts of the universe—
the Greek and the Hindu ones, I mean. Among the latter, I have found
ready acceptance – they have given me even an Indian name: Priya. So
what I have is after all authentic information.”
She continued, “That is the reason we sent that lad Kristar Distall to
the Himalayas to search for it. Unfortunately, he discarded our religion
and converted himself into a Hindu. Now I am trying the same using
Sindri. At least he seems to be faithful to us.”
“I agree.” said Frigga. “Best thing so far is that Sindri has not fallen
into the attempts made by Kristar for converting him into a Hindu.”
“It is high time we get the Draupnir back . . . soon!” she sighed.
Freya nodded her head in total agreement.
After all, it is wise to go along with the ultimate boss.
Crowding towards the slum
CHAPTER 1
EXPOSITION OF A FABLE
In all its forty odd years of existence, Ambedkar Colony in Payyoli
had never witnessed such a galaxy of devout Hindu priests,
politicians, ministers, and visiting dignitaries from all over the country.
And of course, the local bigwigs, who normally ignored and
even shunned the dalit colony’s very presence.
l
The occasion was the very first ever darshan by the public of the longlost bronze idol and its diamond pendant belonging to the fabled, onceupon-a-time prosperous, historic Payyoli Temple.
Devaraj and Abbas had been steadfast—even adamant—in their
decision that the two sacred artifacts brought back to Payyoli after all
that adventure in the Grand Canyon should get their first display to the
general public only at their nondescript hut in the slum, a matter that
was not quite acceptable to the upper-caste religious majority of the
Payyoli township.
The town’s residents had even taken the extreme step of going to
court on the issue, but the Supreme Court in New Delhi had rejected
their pleas. India, after all, was a secular country, it declared, and the
Constitution had even decried any form of untouchability or a society
based on casteism.
On this momentous day for the slum, the narrow entrance to the
colony was richly decorated with an arch built of banana plants and
strings of mango leaves, apart from the garlands of roses, jasmines,
champaka, and other flowers.
Being a Friday, the auspicious weekday for the Hindus, the entire
ceremony was to start at 8:00 in the morning and finish in about two
hours, definitely by 10:30 a.m., since beyond that time started the
inauspicious Rahu Kalam—the bad hours on all Fridays.
4 The Payyoli Draupnir
Devaraj and Abbas stood proudly, each on one side of the bronze
idol with Harani and her mother standing a bit behind them. Manikkam
and his parents were also there, having come all the way from Madras
to be present at this once-in-a-lifetime celebration.
Manikkam’s parents, being non-residents of the slum, apart from
the father being a prosperous businessman in Madras (the Mercedes
said it all), could mingle freely with the high society crowd, which they
happily did, standing right at the front of the hut and greeting the eager
visitors with folded hands.
Thousands who just wanted to have a look at the bronze statue,
not to speak of the huge flashing diamond adorning the gold pendant
around the idol’s neck, were slowly pushing their way through the
narrow alley of Ambedkar Colony.
Controlling this size of human flow through the slum was no easy
task, even for the policemen with their lathis being brandished from
left to right and top to bottom, often hitting the backs and heads of the
hapless devotee viewers.
Each of them had only a few seconds to stop briefly in front of the
hut to get a good glimpse of the statue, and when they did get to see
the brass figurine with the sparkling pendant, each one involuntarily
patted both his or her cheeks—the left cheek with the right hand and
the right cheek with the left hand—a traditional Hindu way to pay
obeisance of faith to the Almighty.
Suddenly, there was the loud sound of the temple drums right under
the banana plant arch at the slum entrance, with the pulsating beats of
the thavil and the chendai, accompanied by the high-pitched pipe music
of the nadhaswaram; some really important people were now coming
into the slum to pay their respects to the idol and the pendant.
Leading the group of holy men was the Chief of the State’s public
institution for governance of its Temples, the Devasom Board, who
could not miss this great occasion. The priests behind him were the
prominent religious leaders from the area, the Namboodiris, Ayyars,
and Bhattars, accompanied by prominent yogis, gurus and sadhus
who had come all the way from as distant holy places as Rishikesh,
Haridwar, Varanasi and Kancheepuram, etc.
The policemen were busy clearing the way for the VIPs, pushing
the men and women backward and to the side, as the procession of
dignitaries walked slowly toward Devaraj’s hut.
Mohan Narayanan 5
The policemen cleared the front of the hut to accommodate the
dignitaries, so that they could view the idol without being jostled or
pushed around by the other equally devout visitors. The latter were
after all just ordinary people, a class below them.
From a respectable distance away from the small pandal erected by
Abbas and Devaraj, within which stood the idol, decorated in a red
silk sari and bedecked with garlands, flowers, sandalwood paste, and
kumkum, the dignitaries, with folded hands and mutterings of chants
and mantras, bowed their heads and paid their respects to the idol.
A few even had the courage to prostrate on the ground in front
of the idol, ignoring that the earth on which they lay with their faces
touching it was part of a slum, sullied by the feet of hairdressers,
butchers, and washermen of the lower castes, not to mention the pigs
and hens, which usually ran up and down the alley on other days. This
would, however, not happen today.
Some of the priests and gurus lit camphor lamps and circled them
facing the idol; others chanted mantras; some others closed their eyes
and went into a trance, while others started to sing devotional hymns to
the goddess as if to wake them up. Altogether, it was an unprecedented
scene in the unholy surroundings of a slum whose residents were
con- sidered to be untouchables, hailing from the lower castes of the
religion. The fact that it was the goddess who brought them together
was perhaps the most interesting aspect of this event.
The chief of the Devasom Board muttered a few words into the
ears of Manikkam’s father, who in turn briskly walked up to Devaraj
and Abbas and conveyed to them the big man’s message. Both looked
at each other for a short while and nodded their heads in agreement.
Manikkam’s father rushed back to the prominent visitor and conveyed
the consent of Devaraj and Abbas.
It was a request by the chief that all of them meet that evening at the
premises of the temple, currently under construction, to decide about
the permanent abode for the idol. After all, a washerman’s hut within a
slum was not quite the place deserving of such a holy relic.
That evening, amidst the oil lamps on the smooth grass of the new
temple premises, they all discussed the matter seriously and threadbare.
A couple of visiting dignitaries, like the swamiji from Kancheepuram
and Manikkam’s father, were also present at the meeting.
6 The Payyoli Draupnir
This being purely a men’s affair, and that too involving the
influential, responsible residents of Payyoli, children like Harani and
Manikkam, as well as the womenfolk like their mothers, were not
invited for the conclave.
Most of those present insisted that the idol be brought and kept
within the temple construction site to be worshipped by the thousands
of devotees coming from far and near.
Devaraj and Abbas were very clear in their counter arguments—
the new temple was not yet finished, and so what was the hurry to
bring the idol to that place before the temple itself was not fully built
and consecrated? As per the shastras, no other idol should be kept for
worship until the main goddess, Devi, was ready.
Many learned religious persons in the meeting seemed to agree
with this, especially the swamiji from Kancheepuram.
Then came up the next question: Who will from now on take charge
of the temple renovation, now that Varadharaja Bhattar, the Prasnam
Namboodiri, and his chief disciple were all dead and gone?
This started off heated arguments, which never seemed to end.
Some suggested that the two disciples of Bhattar, who were also
learned Brahmin priests, should be given the responsibility that their
guru had begun.
Others felt that the son of the Prasnam Namboodiri, now a young
priest himself, could take over his late father’s unfinished work.
Some preferred the elder brother of the Prasnam’s chief disciple,
who by now at the age of sixty-two was one of the most sought out
Prasnams in the area and commanded considerable respect. He would
be the ideal person for the temple reconstruction job.
One follower of Varadharaja Bhattar even dared suggesting the
name of Abbas, a Mohammedan. “I am sure that my late guru’s soul is
still residing within Abbas’s body. That explains why Abbas, although
a Muslim by birth, was able to bring back the lost idol from America,”
he tried to explain.
But this proposal was silently brushed aside; Abbas being what he
was as others perceived him, solely because of his religion.
But when the other four favorites, who had made it a point to be
present at this all-important meeting, were addressed individually
Mohan Narayanan 7
with the question of shouldering this great responsibility, there was
reluctance — even total rejection — on the part of each one of them.
After all, everyone who was hitherto involved with the temple
reconstruction had met with a tragic death. There seemed to be a
deadly curse somewhere. So why take the risk?
One person then stood up and asked the all-important question:
Where are the funds going to come from for the temple reconstruction?
There was a stunned silence; one could hear even the flickering
sounds of the burning oil wicks in the gentle breeze, which was creeping
across the temple lawns.
Everyone then looked eagerly at the chief of the Devasom Board.
He was, after all, the representative of the government to take care of
the temples in the state, and the government had all the money.
But the chief’s reply was disappointing to the gathering.
“Look, I know what you think—that we in the government have
enough money to spend. Unfortunately, that is not the case these days.
We are finding it difficult even to pay the electricity bills of our temples.
The government owes crores of rupees to the State Electricity Board.
We have to look for some private funds, either from the state or from
the central government, or even from foreign investors, what we call a
PPP.”
“Excuse me, sir! Does it stand for the Payyoli Pendant Project?”
gently asked one from the gathering. He was the headmaster of the
local school, and like all good teachers, was always eager to learn.
“No, no . . . not that!” laughed the chief of the Devasom Board. “It
is the government’s new abbreviation for Private Public Partnership,”
he explained.
Now, where on earth to get any private investors interested for
funding the temple reconstruction? A very big question!
With that, the meeting came to a rather abrupt end. It was time for
the chief to catch the train from Vadakara to Tiruvanandapuram, and
for the other residents of Payyoli to rush home in time for their evening
bakshanam.
THE PAYYOLI
DRAUPNIR
An Asgard-Kailash Expedition