CHAPTER ELEVEN – Global launch
Joshua rose to his feet while pouring the NIL into the five small cups. “I would like to propose a toast. We are diverse. We represent faraway places; India, Belgium, the west coast of America; yet today we are one, in one place, to do one small but wonderful thing. So in the name of a global embrace, lift your cups, like this. The fragrance is the hope; the tinting of your lips is the vision of our hope taking wings. Now ingest the love of one another deeply into your soul. To love, to joy, to peace.”
“Amour, joie, paix,” Tracy added in her native tongue while lifting her cup.
“Liebe, freude, frieden,” Van toasted in the little German he knew.
“Pyara, harsa, santi, haHA,” Namanda said with a radiant smile. “This is why I came to your country and I love it.”
“Namanda has had a wonderful time so far. I want to show you something, I’ll be right back.” Tracy left to go to the mountain cabin. She returned carrying Namanda’s sketch pad and also her violin and bow. “Namanda drew this while on the flight from Orlando to Knoxville.” She flipped through several pages, found the drawing and passed it to her left, which is where Van was sitting.
“Oh my, she did this from memory?”
“That she did.”
Van passed it to Adele. “Believe it or not I have never been there; but I’ve seen it on television enough to know this is an exact likeness of the Disney World castle.”
She passed it to Joshua, who examined the drawing in detail. He turned to other pages and realized the girl had an incredible talent. It was obvious that whatever she perceived with her eyes was locked in and available to the minutest of details at any time she wanted. He wasn’t as gifted but had an appreciation of the depths of Namanda’s abilities. He turned another page and was surprised to see a drawing that was a reasonable likeness of himself. Perhaps that was why she reacted as she did when she first saw him. He turned another page.
“What’s this?” He handed the pad to Namanda turned to the page of a hand written musical score.
“When I learned I would be coming to America, I researched your music and wrote this for you.” She withdrew the instrument out of its case and spent a minute tuning it since the strings had to be loosened before the high altitudes of flight.
Tracy added, “You will need to listen closely; she has written two melodies into one. Because of her musical skills, she was invited to perform a solo at the symphony in Mumbai. It was an Indian classical piece for which she received a standing ovation.”
Namanda stuck the instrument under her chin and began to play in a very slow tempo……’Oh beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain’, was the melody she played artfully. Then in understated bass notes, she simultaneously played the….’Amazing grace, how sweet the sound’…melody. Both works were distinguishable and blended harmoniously.
When she reached the refrain of “God shed his grace on thee” she “bent” the strings in such a way that it sounded like the violin was weeping, as if God was making a great effort to bestow his gifts of grace and mercy. The emotion of the strings caused Van to question the phrase “shed his grace.” The weeping of the notes conveyed that God’s gifts were of great cost to Him.
Namanda’s musical sermon was more memorable than most pew-occupied sermons that he could remember. He wondered if Namanda intended it to be as spiritually profound as it seemed. He gazed at her, wondering if, in his fifty-five years, he had ever encountered such a gifted mind, make that minds, since Joshua must be included in the extreme category as well.
When she finished, she laid the violin down and celebrated with, “haHA,” to a round of applause from her audience, to which she gracefully bowed.
“That was spectacularly beautiful, Namanda. Thank you for thinking of us when you wrote it. And what an accomplishment to be able to not only hear two different melodies but also to play them at the same time.” Adele knew when to abandon the use of caustic sarcasm.
Joshua was tempted to bring out his old guitar and improvise a duet but there wasn’t time for that. Instead he reached down to the floor and produced three manuals, each a half-inch thick, and passed them out to Tracy, Namanda, and Van.
“I don’t like changing the subject from such beautiful and inspirational music, but we need to talk about the NIL formulation. In the reports you have, you will see a page or two devoted to each ingredient and its characteristics in producing beneficial health. For instance, on the eucalyptus page, notice the usage as an analgesic, with antibacterial agents that assist in cleansing pathogenic bacteria from the respiratory system. It is effective in fighting bronchitis, for example. It helps fight the common cold as well as the flu. You will also notice some of the tangent benefits, such as an insect repellant, or it can be used for tick removal.
On each ingredient page I have converted the weights to be used to the metric ounce, which in India is twenty-five grams to the ounce, so you will need a metric scale. Each ingredient will have listed the weight to use to make the finished product. At the end of each page there are some cautionary notes about overdosing and possible side effects for some of the elements. Adele already has a manual so that’s why she isn’t reading along with you, by the way.”
“I see you also instruct on how to cultivate and process the plants, and what equipment is needed for each,” Tracy said. “And I haven’t told you this, but my parents, they’re farmers in Belgium; they are interested in what you are doing. Would it be possible to obtain another report before we leave?”
“Of course, it’s just a matter of printing them out and binding them. Adele had mentioned that to me. What is vitally important is access to spring water. Do you have that near New Delhi?”
“I don’t know. I will have to check out the areas surrounding the city.”
“So how do you feel after drinking the NIL, the both of you?”
“I feel great, like I want to dive in to studying these pages at every detail. How do you feel, Namanda?”
“haHA, I am happy, and I want to stay here forever.” That statement caused quite a stir of laughter.
“But I want to point out that I think kava is illegal in my country unless it is used topically. I think you have to have a medical license to use it even then.”
“You are partially right. I researched the regions where kava has been temporarily taken off store shelves, because it was done in the United Kingdom and Germany. India banned it; but when tests showed no significant damage to the liver as was reported in Europe, it has since been deemed safe.
I do mention at the bottom of the page, the warning of possible liver damage when used in conjunction with liver stressors such as alcohol. You are wise, Namanda, to point that out. Each element should be researched to check out the legality of its usage wherever the product is marketed. And Tracy, I haven’t checked out the banned substances in Belgium. That will have to be done.”
Van asked, “What does kava add to your mixture?”
“Good question. It reduces anxiety, it’s like what some call a chill pill. It has a mellowing property and heightens the sense of well-being. I’m sure you know stress reduction is an important factor in building an efficient immune system. It also demonstrates the ability to lessen pain, as in a headache or joint pain. Namanda has hit on the reason I use it in a low dosage, only five metric grams which amounts to only two percent of the combined ingredients not including the mineral water.”
“I am very familiar with amla,” Namanda added, “and am happy to see you have included it. Most Indians eat the gooseberry daily, since it has so many health benefits. One little berry has the vitamin C content of two oranges. Besides the benefits you have listed in your report, it fights hair loss, acne, reverses aging, and soothes a sore throat. And, as you have mentioned, it is very effective fighting cancer, as well as the other things you have listed.”
“You know, Namanda, I’m going to increase the amla because I may have to exclude the limpet. Good observat
ion. So, by slightly increasing the kava and increasing the amla by fifty percent, we can overcome the loss of the limpet and the cactus flower.”
Tracy was next to speak. “Adele has mentioned to me that you are familiar somewhat with the Searchers of Truth, otherwise called SOTs. My area of involvement is with global health issues; and currently there is a growing concern about the strains of Avian Flu. As of this morning, there were three more deaths in the Guangdong province of China, and one in Zhejiang. Thankfully, there were no new cases reported in India. Since we are in the warm weather months, it is not expected to gain much strength; but come cold weather, we are fearful there is not enough vaccine to keep up with the infection rate. The reason I mention that now is that we in India use the amla to defeat the flu viruses. Has anyone with the avian flu virus received the NIL, and, if so, has it been effective?”
“Tracy, there has been no local outbreak of any of the bird flu strains; so the answer is no. I simply don’t know how effective it would be with any of the five avian strains; but Adele has had encouraging results with other types of flu bugs. I would like very much to provide the NIL to those infected, but our reach is limited at this point.”
“That’s right, this past February there were two of my students down with the flu. Both recovered after a couple of days in bed. It’s ironic that the flu shots they both had received months earlier did not prevent them from contracting the virus. As you probably know, the flu vaccine is from the eggs of a fowl. It was encouraging in that there was no adverse reaction after they used the NIL. Ok, folks, it’s a three hour ride for me; and I need to get back home. I have to get gussied up for a big wig dinner this evening, so I’m gonna saddle up and hit the trail.”
Adele rose, shook hands with the two young ladies and wished them well. Joshua carried a box of six jars to her car while Van helped her with her overnight bags. “So Van, are you in or out?”
“All in, my dear.”
“Great. Keep me up to date with how the product works out your way. We’re going to have some bumps along the way. For one, we will not have enough raw materials if we keep adding distributors. And there will be other obstacles from among the envious and the dubious. So give me a hug, you two, and you keep your noses clean.”
After embracing Adele, he and Joshua stood and watched her car disappear through the trees. Van wondered if he would ever see his rough and tumble, cancer burdened friend again.
+ + + + +
Jackie Bingham printed out the hot off the presses pathology report from the Director of the Public Health Agency of Canada. Li Xiu Ying, the avian flu fatality in Alberta who became ill aboard an Air China flight that eventually carried candidates into Houston, Texas, was a carrier of two H viruses. She was a dormant carrier of the H1N1, and secondarily contracted the H7N9. That could be the worst possible news. She pressed *1 on her phone.
“Larry, have you seen the PHAC pathology on H7?” she asked the Director of Infectious Diseases.
“Reading it now. So there was a reassortment; they found the subtype H7 hemagglutinin molecule and the H1 strain in the same sialic acid compounds. So now we’ve got a brand new replicating strain and the definite possibility of human to human contamination. What have you found out about the passenger list?”
“There were thirteen passengers that continued on from Calgary to Houston. We have located three of them and they tested negative. Ten more to go. I’ll call Texas Diseases Center and obtain the finals on the three airport-related deaths. Those three made me suspicious anyway, and now we have good reason to go full-court press.”
“Well, the Pentagon got the lion’s share…..360 million, and we got 40 million in our department. It isn’t a lot of money but you’re right. Get all of them on the hook, Novartis, Glaxo, all of them; and catch them up to speed. This could get out of control. And chase down those ten candidates PDQ and let me know.”
“Larry, there were 153 new passengers on that flight from Calgary to Houston.”
“Get on it. Now.”