Chapter 7
Goa, The Portuguese Colony
Suraj and Saira were on their way back to Hooghly after a long stay in Goa. While going, they went in a Portuguese ship. He and Saira lost no time in utilising the time rather than just wandering around. They learnt their language: Portuguese. They also learnt the local language Konkani. Suraj spent time in learning to use their modern weapons. He also became friends with some senior navy officials, and learnt about ocean warfare. But he tried not to be too much involved. Portuguese officials treated him like a VIP. At a point of time, they gave proposal to appoint him in a senior position, in Portuguese royal army. They were aware of his capabilities and Suraj’s support could have helped them to grow their territory beyond few places of the western coast of the country.
Suraj didn’t jump onto the proposal. Accepting their offer means straightforward revolt against the Emperor, whom his father had served so loyally for long. He would have lost all the chances of unveiling the truth behind the plot against his father Purujit. He couldn’t remain happy just becoming a senior official in Portuguese armed force.
He handled the situation diplomatically. The shipping business, which he inherited from his father, came to his rescue. He successfully convinced them that he would love to expand his father’s shipping business and devote few years in that. Once the business expanded, he would again handover the command to Farooq in Firozabad and think of a career in Portuguese army. The plan worked. They allowed Suraj and Farooq’s water Transportation Company to develop the operation up to Goa. To avoid any unpleasant reaction from the Mughal Empire, Suraj advised partner Farooq to move their headquarters to Hooghly from Firozabad. He agreed, and the advice was implemented immediately. Portuguese ships were continually plying between Goa, Hooghly and various cities across the rivers Ganga and Yamuna. To communicate by sending letters was remarkably easy. Suraj bought few ships from Portuguese and they started plying between Hooghly and Goa. Meanwhile, Farooq made an replica of Nagin of Yamuna and the ship was named Sea Nagin. The Sea Nagin came to Goa. Suraj and Saira, who once came to Goa in the Portuguese ship, started their return journey in their own ship: Sea Nagin (Female Cobra of the sea).
Farooq was extremely careful to decorate the interior exactly the same way like Nagin of Yamuna. Suraj felt as if Nagin of Yamuna were reborn from its ashes, just with a new name: Sea Nagin. When he first boarded this new ship along with Saira, he walked along all part of the ship and couldn’t believe his eyes. Finally, he came to the cabin which his father was always occupying in the old ship. He knelt down and kissed the floor. The only difference between the two ships was their names. Duplicating the name was not advisable because of obvious reasons. Ashfaq and his team shouldn’t think that they have been tricked into believing that Suraj, Saira and Aditi were dead because of the fire accident.
Most of the staff of the new ship was recruited from and around Hooghly. They knew Suraj just as a wealthy business man who owned a shipping business. They didn’t know his heroic past or the good and strained relationship with the Emperor Akbar. Asim, the main sailor (we may call him captain), had extensive experience of sailing both in the large rivers like Ganga and also in the ocean. This might have been the first trip of Suraj back from Goa in sea route. But Asim had done so many trips from Hooghly to Goa that practically he had lost count.
Sea Nagin was sailing smoothly without any problem like severe weather. It crossed Cape Comorin (modern name is Kanya Kumari, the southernmost part of India) and moved towards north. The ship was sailing keeping its course almost parallel to the coast so that there was least chance of being lost in the Bay of Bengal.
Suraj and Saira were sitting on the deck enjoying the sunset.
Asim came. Suraj was in a mood for gossip, ‘Hooghly shouldn’t be too far, Asim? I will also gain experience like you when I accompany the ship to Goa few times.’
Hooghly is not too far but,’ Asim couldn’t complete his sentence as Saira asked, ‘but what Asim? We don’t know whether mother and Aditi are yet back from Lahore.’
‘I am sorry to interrupt your journey,’ Asim said, ‘we are almost short of provisions.’
‘Can’t we stretch a little bit so that it will last till we reach Hooghly?’ Suraj asked.
‘We can if we choose to eat half stomach for few days,’ Asim replied, ‘but what about drinking water?’
‘Drinking water will also not last?’
‘We have to stay tonight,’ Asim suggested, ‘tomorrow morning we have to make a stopover at Manikpatna, near Chilika Lake.’
Actually how far are we from our destination?’ Saira enquired.
‘Manikpatna is in Utkal (currently Odisha), the neighbouring state of Bengal.’
‘Thank God,’ Saira took a sigh of relief, ‘we are so close to home, I mean, our second home.’
‘Who knows Goa will be our third home?’ Suraj laughed and commented.
Saira looked at him angrily.
‘But you loved Goa,’ Suraj defended his statement, ‘and I remember you once said, how sweet it would happen if we build a house on a sea beach here.’
‘If we are in Hooghly, at least we can stay in touch with Allahabad,’ she argued, ‘my uncle also can come to us at least few times in a year.’
Early morning Sea Nagin entered the Chilika Lake. Suraj and Saira were up on the deck enjoying the sunshine. They saw thousands of birds flying on the sky. It was a rare sight.
‘I have never seen so many different types of birds before,’ Saira said to Suraj.
Sea Nagin was already half way through Chilika. Asim joined them, ‘This is Chilika Lake, almost a bay of the Bay of Bengal.’
He observed Saira didn’t listen. She was watching the birds.
Asim said again pointing at the birds, ‘Most of these birds are migratory.’
‘You mean they are migrating from other parts?’ Saira clarified, ‘so there must be birds from Allahabad or Agra.’
‘I mean the birds are migrating from thousand miles away,’ Asim clarified, ‘they are coming from Siberia, Russia.’
Saira didn’t comment anymore. Geography knowledge in those days was largely limited to sailors.
Sea Nagin continued its historic journey in Chilika Lake, the historic port of Utkal, previously known as Kalinga. This was the port from where the businessmen of Utkal were sailing to places as far as Java, Sumatra and Bali and established colonies. It was said, in old days they were even using ships with the steam engine. Ships could even float both over and below the water by inflating or deflating air bags. The ships were fitted with wheels at the bottom and were using steam to run. But that technology was lost somewhere in the history. The political instability disrupted the sailing business and the knowledge couldn’t be handed over from one generation to another. The technology was reinvented centuries later by British people.
Sea Nagin was anchored in the lake near Manikpatna. Asim took few people with him to get provisions from the market. Suraj and Saira took the opportunity to explore the area. They hired a horse carriage and started aimlessly. She had bought enough goodies from Goa, so had no interest in shopping. The horse carriage moved across the coastline of Chilika. They crossed the market and villages. The road became quiet. Not only the path, but the whole atmosphere was just relaxing. There was blue expanse of water of the vast Chilika. On the other side was a range of evergreen hills. The coachman asked how far to drive. Suraj was probably going to say, ‘Enough, let’s go back.’ But Saira jumped into his words and commanded, ‘Please continue till we ask.’ Then she smiled at Suraj and pleaded about her decision, ‘We have enough time to go back. This place seems so peaceful.’
Suraj just smiled and nodded in agreement. Suddenly Saira’s saw a man was standing near a tree at a distance. She thought that probably the guy wants a lift in their carriage. She asked the coachman to stop near him. As the carriage was approaching, she asked Suraj, ‘The face looks familiar.’
“I also think so,’ he replied, ‘
we must have seen him somewhere.’
As the carriage stopped, the man came to them with a smiling face. He was a tall and bearded man wearing a white cloth. A bag was hanging on his shoulder. The coachman said in a hushed tone, ‘He is a monk, might be asking for alms.’
Suraj stopped thinking why he was looking familiar and searched his bag to find coins.
The monk came near the carriage with a big smile on his chin and announced, ‘Welcome Saira and Suraj! Welcome to the abode of Satyanand.’
Suraj was surprised and pulled out his hands suddenly from the money bag. Saira quietly told in his ears, ‘He is Kripa, disciple of Monk Satyanand.’
Both quickly got off the coach and greeted him. Suraj said, ‘Sorry sir, I didn’t expect you here so thought you are someone else.’
‘We have no specific place to live,’ Kripa laughed, ‘we move around to explore places, people, and culture, and after all knowledge. Welcome again to the abode of Monk Satyanand.’
They didn’t find any house or cave near, only vast blue water on one side and tall trees on the other. Kripa understood their plight, ‘Satyanand’s residence is not far from here,’ he continued as he pointed his finger at the lake, ‘few miles from here.’
Suraj was confused, ‘Where? This is just water!’
‘There is a small island called Parikud,’ Satyanand confirmed, ‘and this boat will take you there.’
The large tree was blocking the view of the small boat tied to it in the lake. Suraj looked at Saira for her opinion. Her eyes gave the answer.
Suraj called the coachman and asked him to go back. The skipper of the boat untied the boat from the tree as Kripa, Suraj and Saira boarded. The boat started its journey to Parikud Island among the blue waters of Chilika Lake. Kripa was silent for the most part of the journey. He never asked the courtesy question ‘How things are going?’ to Suraj. He was expecting everything was all right. Suraj remembered the first advice of Satyanand when he didn’t even know his name, ‘Fight for the love of your life.’ It is possible that all these struggles they were going though were predicted by him. He might be able to advise them exactly what to do.
It was an entirely different world. It was an unparalleled visual experience. While tens of thousands of migratory birds converted the clear blue sky into a spectrum of colours, dolphins were creating the illusion of an ocean while crossing the path of the boat. At the same time, hundreds of thoughts were crossing the minds of Saira. Kripa said it would take an hour or so to reach Parikud Island. An hour only! Time seemed to be moving so slowly today. She lost all her patience in her eagerness to meet Satyanand. He was immensely knowledgeable. He knew both past and future. He must have known what should be going to happen in the future. He was the only person who could recommend a safe way out of all their problems.
‘Future!’ Satyanand reacted to the surprise of Saira, ‘I never try to know what will happen to me tomorrow, and you are asking me to tell you what your future is.’
‘Sorry sir,’ Suraj tried to manage, ‘we believe you have all the knowledge to guide us through our problems.’
‘You both seem to be in a great hurry,’ Satyanand teased, ‘so instead of coming inside my ashram (hermitage) you both are trying to finish the whole job on my doorstep itself.’
‘We are terribly sorry,’ Suraj realised their stupidity as Saira also looked at him with guilt, ‘our ship is on the way to Hooghly. We had to stop at Manikpatna as the provisions were finished.’
Satyanand laughed. It was a meaningful laugh. Suraj and Saira looked at each other in amazement as they looked at Satyanand for an answer.
‘Every incident has a purpose’, Satyanand explained, ‘why do you think that it was just by chance your provisions were finished, and you had to make a stopover at Chilika Lake? It is not just a coincidence. It might be the intent of the Infinite Energy to bring you both to me again.’
Saira’s impatience calmed down as she requested permission to come inside the hermitage. Kripa guided them inside as Satyanand said, ‘You both have a long way to go, possibly hundreds of years before getting salvation. Each problem is an opportunity for both of you to come closer to each other. So don’t be worried for the problems. Face it with patience and determination.’
Then he turned at Kripa and said, ‘Please go to Manikpatna and meet the captain of Suraj’s ship. What is his name Suraj?’
‘Asim,’ Suraj replied.
‘Yes, meet Asim,’ Satyanand continued, ‘and give him Suraj’s direction.’
Kripa looked at Suraj in anticipation of his instruction.
‘Please tell him that Sea Nagin will stop indefinitely in Chilika till I come back.’ Suraj conveyed his message through Kripa as Satyanand smiled at him.
When life is running too fast, slow down a little bit or press the break, then look back and around. You will find many fascinating things, which you were probably missing while speeding. This was Satyanand’s message. After marrying Saira, both she and Suraj were practically running: From Agra to Allahabad to attend Iqbal’s son’s wedding and then return to Agra. The murder of Suraj’s family set them on their heels as they escaped to Hooghly. From Hooghly they started their journey to Goa. And now they were again in a hurry to go back to Hooghly. What was their goal: To find the cause of murder of their parents and punish the guilty? How? And what was next? Suraj’s blood was boiling since he heard that his parents had been killed by Ashfaq. He had not thought anything other than revenge. Whatever he was doing, he thought it eventually would lead him to his goal ultimately. His decision to expand his father’s shipping business was the result of his long term plan. First, he got closer to Portuguese and learnt sea combat and about their weapons, which Moghul army had not seen so far. He could increase the number of ships which could be used for a war when required. Besides, his increasing wealth could support the dream of a military adventure.
Suraj was eager to narrate his whole story to Satyanand. He was the only person who gave him courage to marry the love of his life or say love of his next six lives. He blessed him to stay together with Saira for seven lives. This might have been just another blessing from any holy man. He was not sure. Satyanand was not showing any eagerness to hear his story, why? Was it because he knew everything? Some time before he told him that he didn’t try to see his own destiny. Yes, that was possible. Otherwise, he would have warned him about the threat to his parents from Ashfaq. Suraj was confused. Saira felt her husband’s a stressful position and held his hand. Suraj calmed down a little.
Satyanand served them with some food and then guided them to another place amongst the woods. There was a hall without any wall. Few stone pillars were supporting the roof made of stone. One side was facing the blue waters of Chilika Lake and the other side towards the large trees of the island. There were few men sitting cross legged on the floor and looking towards the lake. There was a small stream of water flowing in front of the hall. Probably it was a narrow fountain coming from a small hill like structure hidden behind tall trees. None of the men was looking like a monk. All of them were tall and strong. There were few young women also sitting in meditation pose like the men. Saira felt she was not alone. She tried to say something to Suraj, but Satyanand indicated to keep silence before sitting down. Suraj and Saira also sat down, close to each other, in the same pose like all others.
The balmy breeze coming from the vast lake gently touched their bodies and slowly calmed down Suraj’s boiling blood. For some time both sat down and knew nothing what to do. Serene almost surrounded the whole place. The splashing sound of the small fountain water was so soothing; both slowly started enjoying the sound. Occasionally some chick singing sounds were coming from some far off trees. The blend of both the sounds was like magic. It overwhelmed the conscious of the couple so much that, and they sat down for long hours without realising how much time had passed on. When they finally woke up and looked around, there was none as if some magic wind came and everyone other than this cou
ple vanished. Even Satyanand was gone. Suraj looked around in amazement and then at Saira. Saira smiled and came closer to him and placed her head against his broad shoulder, ‘We are alone here. Everyone is gone.’
‘Did you notice when everyone left?’ asked Suraj.
Saira simply nodded her head. She didn’t know.
There was no sunray. Both stood up and came out of the hall and quietly stood near the fountain. Saira tried to know from where the fountain had come. She looked at the sky, there was no cloud. It was a clear blue sky. It was the time of dusk. Now they realised how much time they were sitting quietly. Saira said, ‘We couldn’t know that we sat so long.’
‘Probably this is called a meditation,’ Suraj explained.
‘This was so beautiful!’ she complemented, ‘I always thought meditation is some sort of prayer. But we didn’t pray to any God!’
‘Probably I am wrong,’ he retracted, ‘I also think meditation is some sort of super prayer to God. We even didn’t think of any God. But it was fantastic. I am actually feeling rejuvenated.’
‘Me too,’ she agreed, ‘this gave a much better feeling than any prayer I have ever done in my life. Do you remember when we first met Satyanand in the caves? He asked us how many lucky events we encountered when we were counting only adverse events.’
‘Yes, when we started counting the lucky events, they outnumbered all the unfortunate ones.’ Suraj recounted, ‘I promised myself to meet all the soldiers and servants who were by my side during the wars and thank them personally. I even planned to give names to my war horses. Sadly I could do nothing.’ Suraj’s eyes moistened.
Saira came closer and gently pressed his shoulders. This always worked remarkably well for Suraj when he was stressed. ‘You have thanked all of them from your heart even if you couldn’t meet them.’ She consoled him, ‘and after that, you have never kept any horse. Otherwise, you could have named the horses.’
‘Your reason is convincing,’ he replied, ‘but it is true that they count towards evil, not good. The event added to the most unfortunate event of my life: murder of my parents.’
‘Our life,’ Saira corrected, ‘I was already a part of your family when it happened.’
‘Yes you are,’ he hugged her tightly when a drop of tear fell down from his eyes. ‘We are warriors,’ he continued, ‘we can be dead at any war and always remain mentally prepared for that. Unfortunately, this death didn’t result in the war field, rather was orchestrated by a colleague using treachery.’
‘It was a war,’ she insisted, ‘it was a battle between fairness and unfairness, between loyalty and betrayal. My parents-in-laws won this battle, but at the cost of their life.’
A faint smile appeared on the face of Suraj, ‘You can convert any negative stream of thought into a positive one.’
He moved and sat on a piece of stone. She also sat on another piece of rock in front of her.
‘Take this way,’ she started, ‘you got advanced knowledge of the incident. Otherwise, we all would have entered your house unprepared at midnight and easily fallen prey to the life-taking trick of my father and brother. Is it not a blessing of the God? He helped the family line to continue.’
‘Yes,’ he agreed, ‘you are right. But we had to abandon our palatial house forever. Nagin of Yamuna, the most prized possession of my father, had to be burnt to save our lives. I should have the courage to keep that ship as memories of my father.’
Saira thought for a moment, ‘You are wrong to think that Nagin of Yamuna was the most treasured possession of your father. I am sure his soul must have been happy to see his dearest ship was destroyed to save his two most prized possessions; i.e. Aditi and you.’
Suraj was surprised, not at Saira’s successful argument, but about his own ignorance about his father’s preference.
Saira continued, ‘When my father, your father’s most trusted deputy and his best friend, betrayed him, you were reluctant to trust anybody in the world. At the same time, you required lots of support. Farooq appeared like a god sent. You came to know how he has developed your father’s shipping business. When the support of the Mughal Empire was pulled out, immediately you got the support of a vast business empire. You also got the support of a highly reliable family friend, who is helping you with the strength of his experience and business knowledge. Isn’t this incredible?’
‘Yes,’ he admitted, ‘without the existing and flourishing shipping business, I would have been nearing zero. I mean I would have started from scratch. Sometimes I think why my father chose to have a shipping business as the next line of support? Why he didn’t choose any other business. Of course, I have seen his passion for ships and travelling in water. Finally, this shipping business helped me to connect with the Portuguese, learn about their weapons. I also got training in sea warfare, that too without any obligation to serve them.’
Saira was happy with Suraj’s change of mood. At least he was now not feeling remorseful about himself.
‘Everything in life has a purpose, sometimes we realise and sometimes we don’t,’ Suraj said thoughtfully, ‘I think our landing near Chilika Lake and coming to this small and virtually unknown island also has some definite purpose. I wonder your mother and Aditi have gone to Lahore for a known and decided purpose, so what is the outcome? Did they find out anything about Anarkali? I am determined to know whether actually Anarkali has been buried alive or killed by some other way.’
‘Or whether she is alive now,” she concluded Suraj’s sentence.
‘I hope she is alive,’ she said in her usual confident tone, ‘Mehr-un-Nisaa may be the new name of Anarkali. After all Anarkali is also not her real name.’
‘Yes, she was Nadeera before the Emperor Akbar bestowed her with a new name, Anarkali: Pomegranate Blossom.’
Getting a message from a distant part in those days (16th century) was almost next to impossible as there was no formal postal system. Rich and powerful people were sending messages through their own agents. Farooq was able to receive messages from Lahore about Nadirah and Aditi. Yamuna and Ganga, both the rivers were facilitating message transmission as ships were plying through them and some were even entering into Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean. Thus, he could send letters to Suraj with information about Nadirah, Aditi, Hooghly, Agra and even Anarkali.
It was already dark, and the couple didn’t realise till Satyanand came with an oil lamp to them, ‘It is time for dinner my children,’ his voice was soothing and assuring, ‘come with me.’
Suraj could never understand, how the non spicy vegetarian foods prepared by disciples of Satyanand, were extremely delicious. He had tasted varieties of Mughal delicacies, Rajput food, and food of Bengal in Hooghly and finally the food prepared with Portuguese recipes. He didn’t discuss with Saira; otherwise she might start some philosophical reason behind the taste: affection, relaxing atmosphere and so many other causes which could never be ingredients of any cooking in real life. A faint smile appeared on his face. Saira didn’t notice. He forgot the outside world for some time, and indulged in enjoying the taste of the rare dinner. He felt at a higher level of some deep meditation. After dinner, Kripa showed them their room. Satyanand carried a large bronze plate with piles of food on it and went out somewhere on a narrow winding pathway. Suraj and Saira looked with breathtaking eyes.
‘He is going to meet his friends, who sometimes come at night,’ Kripa explained them and retreated to his room. Saira closed the door, and both prepared to go to bed. A small oil lamp was spreading faint light in the room.
After sleeping for some time, Saira woke up to find Suraj was not on her side. The small oil lamp appeared to dim, as if, it was also sleeping. It was not spreading proper light in spite of being fully functioning. The room still looked bright. Suraj was standing near the open window and perhaps was looking at the giant moon outside. She got up slowly and went up to him. Resting her hands on his shoulder she gave her usual squeeze and said, ‘The water of Chilika looks fabulous with refl
ection of the moon and stars, isn’t it? And you are enjoying all yourself, you are so selfish.’
‘I was feeling restless and couldn’t sleep, so was standing here,’ was his reply.
‘Let’s go to Satyanand,’ she suggested.
‘Are you crazy?’ he said, ‘he must be sleeping.’
‘This is not so late at night,’ she responded, ‘we actually went to bed early. Midnight is still far away.’
They opened the door and went to Satyanand’s room. The door was open, and there was no one on the room.
‘He is probably still with his friends,’ Saira suggested,’ let’s go through that winding road and see his friends.’
‘Are you out of your mind?’ he reverted back, ‘he might be meditating. We shouldn’t be troubling him. We can meet him tomorrow morning. He is not going to disappear.’
‘He is not going to vanish, but his friends may disappear,’ she said with a laugh, ‘I want to see his friends.’
‘What is so exciting about his friends?’ he asked.
‘I don’t know,’ she admitted, ‘but I am thinking why he didn’t invite his friends to have dinner with all of us? It is not common to have your own dinner first and then offer to guests. It is against the tradition. Who are the guests those are not welcome in this hermitage (ashram)? Are they so dangerous?’
‘Are you pointing out that his friends are not human beings, but animals?’ he enquired.
‘Wild animals,’ I think, ‘may be snakes. This island doesn’t seem to be so large that it will have wild animals like tiger, lion or even elephants. Definitely he might have gone to see snakes. Let’s go and meet his friends.’
Suraj looked at him without any enthusiasm. She was so keen and confident about her intention; she brought his small swivel gun and sword and tied to his waist. Poor Suraj quietly followed her on the winding pathway. The moonlight was bright enough; they could walk without any lamp. The tall and dense trees on both sides of the road were like two ongoing towering walls. It was difficult to estimate how long the road continued. Fortunately there was no bifurcation on the road, so there was no confusion or fear of being lost. They could hear some strange noises. Suraj took the sword from its scabbard and kept ready to strike if necessary. The road was clear with only dried leaves scattered on them. Sometimes there were flat stones paving a large patch of the road. The winding road started moving up-side as if they are about to ride on a small hill. But with large trees on both sides it was difficult to know where the road was leading to them. They continued their walk as they were almost certain to meet Satyanand somewhere on the way. The island was not so large that they couldn’t come back if lost, so there was no such fear. After all their confidence had got a tremendous boost after being lost in the jungle and successfully coming out with grandiose discoveries: themselves.
Finally, the winding road came to an end: near a small hill with few small and large caves. This was another side of the small Parikud Island. The high tide had swollen the water level of Chilika Lake, and they could clearly hear the sound of water colliding against the stones of the hill. More than a dozen stone carved steps led them to the caves. Suraj was careful with his sword and was looking for signs of snakes. The cave was empty, but a faint light was coming from somewhere.
‘No, it is not moonlight,’ he whispered, ‘it is coming from an oil lamp.’
The light was coming from a small hole on the wall of the cave. Both peeped into it. Yes, light was actually coming from a small oil lamp. They saw that through the whole. Satyanand was sitting on the floor near the oil lamp in a big hall like a cave and was talking to someone. They scrutinised carefully; actually he was talking to few people, not one. But they couldn’t see anyone actually present there. But they could clearly hear human voices; both male and female. The words were unintelligible.
Saira wrapped her hand around Suraj’s waist tightly, ‘Ghosts!’
Suraj indicated to keep silence. They couldn’t understand anything that Satyanand was saying to the invisible persons. Of course, they could catch few words occasionally, but it was difficult to imagine what was being discussed. They didn’t have to stand for long. Satyanand stood up with the oil lamp on one hand and waved the invisible guests. The couple understood from his gesture, he was probably saying, ‘Bye.’
‘We need to get out from here before Satyanand discovers us,’ Suraj suggested in a whispering tone.
‘No,’ she resisted, ‘he must have already felt our presence. We shouldn’t behave like thieves. We didn’t have any improper motive; we just came to meet him.’
They turned around to go back, but Satyanand was coming from the other side holding his oil lamp with a smiling face. Probably he was not angry on the couple.
‘We are sorry,’ Suraj started, ‘we breached your privacy.’
‘There is nothing to be sorry my children,’ Satyanand assured, ‘I was not doing anything secretly. I was talking to my friends.’
Saira was at first, hesitant to ask, but ultimately couldn’t hold back her thirst for knowledge, ‘Were they ghosts?’
Suraj looked at her in anger as to why she asked such uncomfortable question. Satyanand didn’t look at him and replied, ‘They are individuals like you and me, but without a physical body.’
‘You mean they are souls,’ she clarified.
‘Yes,’ Satyanand answered while he started to walk, ‘but most of them have similar personality like you people. The only difference is that they don’t have a physical body.’
Both followed him. Instead of going back to his ashram (hermitage), he went to the other side of the small hill and sat on a piece of rock facing the high tide of the lake. The couple chose another rock nearby and sat. It seemed Satyanand was in a talking mood.
‘Are there males and females among souls?’ she asked.
‘You are asking too much,’ Suraj objected to her.
‘Don’t worry,’ Satyanand said in a soft tone, ‘there is nothing wrong in acquiring knowledge and I am never a fan of those who want to keep their knowledge a secret. Knowledge, like the light, has the natural tendency to spread. You see objects have some inherent characteristics. Take the example of water: it always flows down.’
‘Soul has no sex,’ he continued, ‘but many souls have the tendency to behave like either male or female, which depends upon the last body they were in. But there are some who behave differently.’
‘So they have names also?’ she enquired again, ‘I saw you were addressing them by names.’
‘Yes,’ Satyanand confirmed, ‘most of them like to be identified by names. Usually the names of the last bodies they were in become their name by default. But some consciously choose different names. I know some souls were in the male body but have taken female names. I have also seen souls having female bodies in their latest birth identify themselves by male name.’
‘Why so?’ Suraj now joined the line of Saira and asked.
‘Some souls, though had a certain sex in their latest birth, but probably they long for moving into a body of another sex in their next life,’ Satyanand replied, ‘God gives you what you truly want.’
‘I knew that it is the karma which decides which body one would take in the next life,’ Suraj said, ‘actually it is written in scriptures.’
‘Mathematically it is not possible for a human soul to take birth as another creature, say dog or cat,’ Satyanand argued, ‘many scriptures proclaim that all souls are equal. That is not true. I have interacted with souls and have come to know. Each soul has a brain and thinking ability. The level of thinking ability of souls of different creatures varies. A human soul has a higher level of thinking power than another animal, say a cat. As soon as the soul is born as a baby, the brain of the soul talks to the brain of the body. Then they act like one brain. If, by chance, a human soul is born as a different creature, say a dog, its brain can’t talk to the brain of its body as their thinking levels are different. Of course, the infinite energy can’t make som
e mistake. The thought of a soul decides the body it will get when it is ready to take birth in this physical world. A human soul will be born as a human again and again till it gets nirvana or ultimate salvation. Yes, your thought will inevitably lead to the place where you want to born, the type of family where you will be born, or the sex you will get at birth. It is the level of soul-brain which decides the soul belongs to human or other creatures. The souls of other creatures retain their identity even after their death, and subsequent rebirths they take till the time of their nirvana.’
‘Does God create all these souls?’ Saira asked.
‘Is there a real God? Has anyone seen Him?’ Suraj asked, ‘I am sorry to talk like an atheist who I am not. But sometimes I get queries.’
‘The entire Universe is infinite, which I call infinite energy,’ Satyanand clarified, ‘you may call it God. Anything you see and anything you can’t see are part of that infinite energy. You will know more when time comes, tonight I will just give you a glimpse of this vast knowledge. The energy is abundant and infinite. It is neither created nor destroyed. It only changes form. Imagine a seed is planted. The seed, water, air, light and the earth all change their shape and become a plant. The plant grows and gives flowers and fruits. When the plant dies, again it becomes part of the soil. The air in it merges with the air outside. The water in the plant either is absorbed in the soil or evaporates. Similarly, every creature in the world changes form. Even the soul also changes form.’
‘Do you mean soul also dies like us?’ Suraj asked.
‘Each creature of the universe has a life after which it changes form,’ Satyanand clarified, ‘a dog lives about twelve years. A man probably lives up to hundred years. The soul has a longer life. It may last few hundred years to more than thousand years.’
‘What about scriptures which say that the soul is immortal?’ Saira asked.
‘Scriptures are not necessarily hundred percent accurate,’ Satyanand said.
‘What?’ Suraj argued, ‘I have heard that scriptures have been told by God himself. How can it be wrong?’
‘I didn’t say that the whole scripture is wrong. I say that everything written in them may not be accurate,’ Satyanand clarified, ‘almost all religions claim that their scriptures have been told by God. Then why scriptures of different religions differ so much? Do you need any more proof that none of the scripture has been told by God?’
Saira laughed in appreciation of the argument, so did Suraj.
‘Is it not possible for God to communicate with someone?’ Suraj asked.
‘I said God is Infinite Energy,’ Satyanand explained, ‘and it is so large, and human brain is so small that any one-to-one communication from God will overwhelm the human brain which shall lead to death. It is like an ant trying to communicate with a human. An ant still can probably see how large a human is, but you can’t even imagine how humongous the Infinite Energy is. The entire universe function as per certain mathematical rule, a tiny part of it has been discovered by humans.’
Saira’s thirst to know more still couldn’t be quenched, ‘What about millions of gods about Hindu mythology? She looked at Suraj apologetically, ‘I am sorry I have no intention to offend the faith of my husband.’
Satyanand smiled and clarified, ‘There is some logic. I told that each soul needs a relevant body as per its brain power or level of thinking. That’s why the soul of human can’t take birth as an ant. There are souls who are at much higher level than human beings. They don’t take birth as there is no appropriate body for them. They wander as souls. They have much high level of thinking power. Sometimes they communicate with human beings. Some of our ancestors have actually communicated with them. They have much more power than normal humans, so they have some kind of supernatural powers. Some smart people tried to please them to solve their own problems with the supernatural powers of these extraordinary souls. They gave them names and even made temples for them to worship. All these were done to satisfy those rare souls. The statues made to represent them were of course imaginary. They thought because those souls can’t take birth as humans (because of their much higher level of thinking power), they will certainly reside in temples made for them. You may call those souls semi-gods. They are no way close to God the Almighty, but much more powerful than human beings, just as a human can be at a much higher level than an ant. But you are not a deity to an ant. Similarly, those souls are not real God, but just powerful souls.’
‘Is it true worshipping the semi-gods produce any real benefit?’ Suraj asked, ‘worship so many gods and goddesses with different names, it is extremely misleading.’
‘Benefits!’ Satyanand also looked confused. He thought for a while and answered, ‘Look, we humans feel happy when someone shows respect to us or serves tasty food. So we think we can satisfy the powerful souls by worshipping them. In fact, it may or may not satisfy them. Those souls have different level of thinking power. Some souls have human traits but a much higher level of thinking power. You can probably keep them happy by just worshipping them and get some benefits. There are also souls with so much higher level of intelligence that it is difficult to know how to make them happy.’
‘How about controlling such a soul and use it to gain much more power?’ Suraj found a possibility to do something to get revenge against the enemies of his family.
‘You mean you want to control such a soul and use as weapon?’ Satyanand laughingly asked.
Suraj looked embarrassed but still said, ‘I was wondering if this possible even remotely.’
‘Humans train dogs to protect their houses,’ Satyanand explained, ‘have you ever seen a dog using human like the human uses the dog. Can a horse ride a human and go to a war?’
‘It is impossible,’ Suraj agreed.
‘Yes it is impossible as humans are much more intelligent than a dog or horse,’ Satyanand came to point, ‘intelligence rules. That’s why another name of God is Infinite Intelligence. Yes, if at all you are able to communicate with some powerful soul, you may request to get help.’
‘Have you ever communicated with such soul?’ Saira’s eyes looked bright with expectations.
Satyanand remained thoughtfully silent for some time and then started, ‘I am still a student of this vast knowledge repository. I am still continuing my research. I might know more than you, but not enough to call myself a knowledgeable person in the field. I don’t know how many more births I need to get to achieve that knowledge.’
‘You mean your wisdom will travel with you till your next birth?’ Saira asked.
‘Usually your consciousness is carried forward to your next birth,’ Satyanand clarified, ‘but if you can remember your past life, you can remember the knowledge you acquired in the past. Even without remembering your past life also your efforts can bear fruit in the next life. You must have observed many people who are exceptionally highly talented from childhood. It is the result of the continuous effort of many past lives. Take the example of Tansen, the famous singer of the court of Akbar. He must have spent several lives in his attempt to master the arts he loved.’
Suraj was trying asking something when Satyanand got up and suggested, ‘Let’s go and have some sleep. It is already late at night.’
Both followed the sage along the winding pathway to the ashram.
They got up little bit late in the next morning. The couple went for a morning walk along the Coast of Chilika Lake. To their surprise they found Sea Nagin was anchored at a distance from the coast. Suraj shouted to draw attention of the sailors in the ship, but the wind directions didn’t favour him. They soon came back to the ashram to find Satyanand on the gates with a smiling face.
‘Good news,’ he announced, ‘time has come to restart your trips to Hooghly.’
‘Thank you sir,’ Suraj said politely.
‘There’s more news,’ Satyanand continued, ‘the Emperor Akbar is dead. Crown Prince Saleem has ascended the throne and has assumed the name Jahangir.’
> ‘This is the best news,’ Suraj excitingly said, ‘at least now it will be easy to find a solution to my problem.’
‘When you think something as a solution to your problem, that solution itself can be a problem,’ Satyanand smiled like a philosopher.
‘The accusation against my father was that he helped Anarkali to escape from the live burial punishment awarded by Akbar. If it were true, it was a grave crime, till Akbar was alive. I was making the effort find the truth and then approach Akbar for justice, had I found that my father Purujit had actually not helped her. I couldn’t as there was danger of being arrested. Now the focus will change. The so called heinous crime will be now the most rewarded performance after Akbar’s death.’
‘How?’ Satyanand asked.
‘If actually my father helped Anarkali to escape,’ Suraj reasoned, ‘it was a favour to Anarkali’s boyfriend: the fourth Mughal Emperor Jahangir alias Saleem. I can now meet him and seek justice against Ashfaq and his son Ayaaz.’
‘How did you know Saleem loved Anarkali?’ Satyanand asked.
‘Their love was true,’ Suraj reasoned, ‘that is the reason he dared to fight a war against his own powerful father.’
Satyanand laughed, ‘Saleem loved only the beauty of Anarkali. Anarkali loved Saleem as she couldn’t defy the wish of a crown prince. This was never a true love. Akbar was a fool to waste so much energy and manpower to suppress the insurgency started by the prince. He should have found another more beautiful woman and Saleem would have agreed to relinquish Anarkali immediately. In fact, he is a known womaniser and has already married several women. I bet he must have forgotten Anarkali by now?’
‘Is Anarkali alive now?’ Suraj asked.
‘I don’t know,’ was his shortest answer.
‘You know past, present and future,’ Suraj humbly prayed, ‘you are the wisest sage I have ever met.’
‘I never waste my time worrying for the past,’ Satyanand smilingly clarified, ‘and I never try to predict the future. I am not sure whether anyone can predict the future accurately. Yes, you are right that I know the present because I reside in the present, so as you.’
Suraj didn’t believe, ‘You are living in such an isolated small island and could still know that Akbar is dead.’
Satyanand didn’t reply. Suraj saw Asim; the captain of his ship appeared through the gate of the ashram. He got his answer.
‘I will recommend you should not approach Jahangir for justice’, Satyanand suggested, ‘opponents of your father must have taken steps to convince him, to support their acts of assassination. If you approach Jahangir without knowing the precise situation, you may attract more risk for yourself. Go to Hooghly. There is no need to disguise your identity from the Mughals. I wish best for your future.’
Sea Nagin started its journey to Hooghly as it entered Bay of Bengal through the estuary of Chilika.
Nadirah and Aditi were back from Lahore when Suraj and Saira reached Hooghly. They brought some positive message that Anarkali was alive and changed her name to Mehr. Sometimes Aditi and Nadirah argued about the basis of their conclusion; that Anarkali and Mehr both were same with two different names. But the grim news was that Ashfaq Khan became closer to Emperor Jahangir. All well wishers advised Suraj not to approach the Emperor for justice. They were convinced that justice would be always beneficial to Ashfaq and his son. One of the advisors was Kareem, Ashfaq’s second son. He started living apart from his father and brother and showed no interest to join the Mughal army. He started his own trading business and was going to places like Allahabad, Varanasi and Hooghly to supply or buy goods. He was hiring ships from Farooq, which actually belonged to Suraj. He knew it. Ashfaq and Ayaaz had no knowledge about this. For them Farooq owned the shipping business. Actually Farooq owned a small share when Purujit started the business, but he was managing the entire business on behalf of Purujit.
Kareem was regularly visiting Hooghly and meeting his sister Saira and brother in law Suraj. Suraj was first disappointed in not being able pursuing his parents’ murder case. He always tried to stay in good-books of Portuguese establishment, in Hooghly. Though he owned the expanding shipping company inherited from his father, he was a born warrior. He required avenues to channelize his energy. Several times, he was being hired by the Portuguese navy, to lead teams for fighting against pirates in the Bay of Bengal.
Saira was managing the shipping company when Suraj was absent. In fact, she was managing from background when Suraj was in the Pilot’s seat. Suraj’s involvement in fighting against pirates in Bay of Bengal gave her golden opportunity to be officially appointed as the head of the business. It was just start of 17th century. Even the modern Portuguese society had not witnessed women at the helm of affairs of any business or politics. At first it was difficult for the male dominated society to recognise her as a business head. The general perception about women that they were inferior to men in intelligence and education initially made it difficult for her to negotiate deals. Her uncle Iqbal came to her rescue. They started propagating the glorious saga of Razia Sultana, the Empress of Delhi from 1236 AD to 1240 AD. She was the first female ruler on the thrones of Delhi. It was not that women were never managing the powerful positions before, but only from behind the scenes. Nadirah continued living with Suraj and Saira and helped her daughter to bring up their only baby boy Puru, named in memory of Purujit, the boy’s grandfather.
Aditi married to a guy named Jagan; a Rajput migrated to Bardhaman in Bengal, a place not particularly far from Hooghly. His father and brother were serving the Mughal army, but he chose to become a businessman. Family tragedy affected Suraj so much that he never wanted to stay away from his only sister Aditi. He gave her a large share in the shipping business. Neither Aditi nor Jagan tried to take part in the management of the shipping business even if they got a share in the ownership. Bardhaman was nearly seventy kilometres from Hooghly, which was a long enough distance in the seventeenth century. There was no public transport for ordinary people. Postal services and modern day communications were centuries away from them and beyond anyone’s dream. However the rich and famous could communicate by sending their personal messengers. For Suraj, getting communications from various parts of the country was easy because of the shipping business. Even Farooq was managing road transport business to connect cities where river network was not available, or simply rivers were not connected. Farooq of Firozabad, Suraj of Hooghly (about 1200 KM from Firozabad by modern road network), Iqbal of Allahabad (about 800 KM from Hooghly and 400 KM from Firozabad, midway between Firozabad and Hooghly) and Jagan-Aditi of Bardhaman were communicating each other by letters carried by their plying ships. Even Kareem was part of this network without the knowledge of his stalwart father Ashfaq and brother Ayaaz. He was the only person in his family who knew that Suraj, Saira and Aditi didn’t die when Nagin of Yamuna was charred into ashes in the river and drowned.
It was mid rainy season. The rivers Ganga and Yamuna were practically overflowing. Suraj was back from an expedition from a confrontation with pirates. He had plans to spend the rainy season with his family and help Saira in managing the shipping business. The earlier self-promise to uncover the truth behind the accusation against his father and solve the mystery of his parents’ murder took a backseat. He had not even met Satyanand after his last meeting in the Parikud Island of Chilika Lake in eastern India state of Kalinga (modern day Odisha). Satyanand had no permanent place of living. He roamed around the country and did his research about Infinite Energy, souls, extraordinary souls etc. Suraj sent messengers to find Satyanand in both the places both met before, but there was no trace. He consoled himself that Satyanand would appear whenever he wanted.
It was a wet weather day. Rain was pouring since night. The wind was blowing in such high speed that people feared that it was a storm. Saira was conducting the office work of the shipping business from the ground floor of the mansion they lived. There were two upper floors for their living. The mansion was c
lose to river Ganga with tall trees around. It was the same mansion where one day Saira’s mother was kept as a prisoner after being kidnapped by Niyaz. The river was clearly visible from the balcony and windows of the top floor as large dense trees were blocking views from the other floors.
Suraj got up late. He lazily went and sat on the balcony to watch the flooding Ganga. Heavy rain and high wind was making massive waves. It was an enormous dangerous situation for smaller boats to ply. On a normal day, by this time, hundreds of boats would have started sailing around different directions of the river. Today there were only sturdy waves. Practically it was a holiday for all people who made a living by plying boats in the river. Only a small ship had been stationed in the jetty. No one was coming to the deck of the ship because of heavy rain and wind.
Saira got up early in the morning as usual and dropped her baby boy Puru at her mother Nadirah’s room. Then she came to the balcony where Suraj was sitting idly and watching the stormy river.
‘This ship was supposed to come a day after tomorrow, how did she arrive so early?’ she said.
‘So is this our ship?’ Suraj asked.
‘Didn’t you see the image Nagin (Female Cobra) on the ship?’ she asked.
‘Sorry I didn’t notice,’ he replied, ‘the storm and rain are so intense that nothing is clearly visible.’
When Purujit was alive, the logo on his ships was always lion. After his tragic murder, Farooq advised to change the logo on all the ships. The logo was changed to Nagin (Female Cobra) in recognition of his most favourite ship Nagin of Yamuna.
‘I think the ship has arrived last night,’ Saira guessed, ‘poor sailors couldn’t have got a goodnight’s sleep as the ship is shaking violently because of the storm.’
‘Last night the storm was not so strong,’ Suraj suggested, ‘all of them should have come to the Sailors’ House.’
‘They might have thought storm will end in the morning,’ she said, ‘unfortunately it is increasing its intensity. Now it will be so dangerous to come out.’
The maid servant came and informed Saira the arrival of her brother Kareem. Saira ran to the ground floor. Suraj also followed. There stood Kareem, completely drenched in rain and was shivering.
‘What a surprise brother?’ Saira went to hug him but instead stood close to him and looked for a towel, ‘you must have come in this ship. When did it come?’
The maid servant came with a towel and gave to Kareem as he started wiping himself.
‘Little before midnight,’ Kareem replied.
‘Why didn’t you come here?’ she screamed.
‘The rain was so strong,’ he replied, ‘I thought the weather would calm down by morning. But see, it is so heavy now!’
‘It is so dangerous,’ she said, ‘how did you got off the ship? You should have waited some more time and watch. By the way, you had no plans to return to Hooghly now. How did you change the plan?
‘Will you call your brother inside or complete all your discussion on this Veranda?’ Suraj intervened.
‘I am so sorry,’ she said, ‘please come in.’
‘I have a terrible urgent message to announce,’ Kareem disclosed, ‘in fact I was planning to write everything in a letter to you. Then I thought this is so crucial that I need to discuss this with you personally.’
Suraj didn’t want any discussion in the presence of the servants. He suggested, ‘You have already spent weeks in arriving here. So the urgency of the news will not be finished if you take some time and freshen up.’ He looked at his wife and continued, ‘I am going to my favourite balcony. Please bring your brother there after he freshens up. I hope you will serve breakfast to us there.’
Actually he wanted to maintain confidentiality so avoided any discussion on the ground floor where most servants could hear them.
Suraj went to the top floor terrace and sat down again watching the stormy water of River Ganga as he was doing in the morning before Kareem’s arrival. First time he was watching the storm with a cool mind. Now, the storm inside his mind is stronger than outside. ‘Did Ashfaq know that he is alive? Has he made another plot eliminate him? Is there any news about Anarkali? What he should do if Ashfaq influenced the Emperor Jahangir to arrest him and punish on the basis of false allegations. Should he leave Hooghly and move to Goa for his family’s safety?’ There was minimal power of Mughal on Hooghly as it was a Portuguese base. Still it was not immune from Mughals as Hooghly was still an integral part of Mughal Empire. Only Goa and few other places like Daman and Diu were safe as they were absolutely Portuguese colonies. From childhood, he was always under the impression that Akbar was famous for delivering impartial justice. How wrong he was? Yes, the justice was impartial when the dispute was between two ordinary men. The Mughal justice was fair even when a prominent, rich and famous person was the aggressor. The situation was entirely different if one person were from the royal family itself. In such case, only God can help the other party.
He tried to stop all his negative thoughts. Saira certainly would find out some positive development out of any negative outcome. ‘Goa is a better place. See we got a chance to relocate to Goa. Business will be better in Goa etc.’ He laughed at himself and again started enjoying the rain and storm. After all, he had the brave Rajput blood. He has fought so many wars in his life. Earlier he was fighting for the Mughal in the battle field and now fighting against the pirates in the sea. He had never been afraid of his life. Now he was fighting his own battle against injustice.
Saira came with breakfast. She asked the maid servants not to disturb their privacy. Usually male servants were not allowed to come to the two top floors. Kareem joined them. Suraj kept composure and just ate his breakfast without showing his eagerness to get the message from Kareem.
‘Sher Afghan has been appointed as Jagirdar (Administrative and Revenue manager of a district) of Bardhaman.’ Kareem delivered the serious news.
Suraj was not thrilled neither did Saira. They both looked at each other and then looked at Kareem.
‘Who is this Sher Afghan?’ Suraj asked.
Kareem now guessed why his sister and brother-in-law were not enthused at the story and why they were giving strange looks at him.
‘He is actually Ali Quli,’ he explained, ‘Sher Afghan Khan is his new name.’
‘Oh, yes,’ Suraj recollected, ‘he was the one who was fighting against Jahangir along with my father when Jahangir was Prince Saleem and revolted against Akbar. Is he in reputable books of Jahangir?’
‘Politics is strange,’ Kareem commented, ‘Jahangir pardoned everybody who supported Akbar against him when he led the rebel. I think Purujit would have enjoyed the same or even better position. Unfortunately, he was eliminated by my father.’
‘I am not surprised,’ Suraj opined, ‘Jahangir can’t survive without the support of the powerful lieutenants of Akbar. Yes, this is the principle of politics; get support of all who are noteworthy to the Empire.’
‘I am surprised,’ Saira commented.
‘Why?’ Suraj asked.
‘He is the one who loved Mehr, whom we believe none other than Anarkali,’ she explained, ‘Jahangir fought so much against his father to marry this girl. Akbar forced the marriage between Ali Quli and Mehr so that Jahangir can’t marry her. How is he still in excellent books of Jahangir? Do you think he can forget Anarkali till his death? I was assuming he might have snatched Mehr from her husband after Akbar’s death and made her of one of his several wives.’
‘Akbar has never snatched anyone’s wife for himself,’ Suraj argued, ‘maybe after becoming the Emperor; he has developed some of his noble qualities. Otherwise snatching beautiful women and forcefully marrying them is typical for many Muslim rulers. Sorry brother,’ he apologised to Kareem, ‘I forgot that many Hindu rulers have also done the same thing. These rulers think they have birth right to keep all the beautiful women, married or unmarried.’
‘There are other reasons why Jahangir was pleased with Ali Quli
,’ Kareem elaborated, ‘Ali Quli was leading the Mughal army in the war against Rana of Mewar. Jahangir rewarded him on his victory: a new name- Sher Afghan Khan and Jagirdar (Administrative and Revenue head of a district) of Bardhaman.’
Meanwhile, Nadirah also joined them. After listening to all the stories she suggested, ‘Suraj, you should try and join the ranks of Sher Afghan Khan.’
‘All these years I didn’t go back to Agra as I thought there is a plot ready, against me and my family, to eliminate us,’ Suraj lamented, ‘everyone there except few close to us know that my whole family is killed because of the accident. Even Satyanand advised me not to approach Jahangir for the justice. I am actually in a dilemma whether I should approach Sher Afghan Khan and try to be his ally.’
‘The conspiracy against your father is old,’ Kareem assured, ‘yes it is true that you would have been killed were you been in Agra on that fateful night. That would have been done on the heat of the moment. The plot is old and has no relevance now. Even my father is now repenting.’
‘How is your father?’ Suraj enquired.
‘He is sick and in death bed.’ Kareem replied.
Saira didn’t look awful on hearing the news about her father. A faint smile showed upon the face of Nadirah.
‘What about Ayaaz,’ Suraj asked again.
‘I don’t know,’ Kareem replied, ‘He is in Lahore now. I have not met him for years. In fact, we don’t have any contact after your parents’ death.’
‘I have no intention of taking revenge,’ Suraj spoke his mind, ‘I am not after the blood of either Ayaaz or your father. I just want to know the truth: what my father did.’
‘The best way is to be associated with Sher Afghan Khan and additionally get the confidence of the Mughals,’ Kareem suggested.
‘I think he is right,’ Nadirah agreed.
Saira also agreed.