The Krishna Key (6 page)

Saini was about to stand up and walk towards the car when he noticed Kurkude in panic. The old man was feverishly searching his pockets. ‘What’s the matter, Professor?’ asked Saini.

‘The seal!’ he cried. ,’ replied Sir Khan71bmef‘I can’t bloody find it! Someone has stolen it!’

During the Rajasuya ceremony, the Brahmins asked Yudhistira to select a guest of honour. Yudhistira chose me because the Pandavas attributed their progress to my guidance. Shishupala could not bear to see the man who had stolen Rukmini
away from him being given so much importance, and began insulting me in open court. Given that Shishupala was my cousin, I had granted his mother a boon that I would forgive a hundred insults by him, but not a single one more. I warned him after his hundred insults had been uttered but he kept going. As soon as Shishupala hurled his hundred and first insult, I released my Sudarshan Chakra and lopped off Shishupala’s head. Some kings stormed out and attacked Dwarka to avenge Shishupala’s death. I thus had to leave Indraprastha in a hurry in order to defend Dwarka.

The mood inside the car had turned sullen ever since the professor had discovered that the seal was missing. Taarak had helpfully suggested that they should consider going back to the restaurant where the professor had been poisoned. After all, it was possible that the missing item may have simply slipped out in the restroom or even when they had been carrying the professor out to the car. Saini knew that it was not an option that could be considered. The possibility of the police trailing them outweighed all other considerations.

Saini was feeling rather depressed himself. The first seal—given by Varshney to him—had been taken away by the police from his house. The seal that Varshney had planned to send Dr Nikhil Bhojaraj had obviously been taken by the killer given that it hadn’t been found either at Varshney’s home or in Bhojaraj’s ship. The third seal—the one with Kurkude— was now missing. Even if they met Devendra Chhedi and saw the seal that Varshney was supposed to have sent him, it would be of little use in the absence of the other three.

‘We’ll just have to make the best of a bad situation,’ said Saini to the others during a rest break when Taarak was away. ‘We do have photographs of the missing seals. Unfortunately, the photographs only tell us what is on the face of the seals, not what is on the reverse. In any case, we’ll make best use of the photographic evidence along with the actual seal that is in Chhedi’s possession.’

‘You’re assuming that Chhedi will cooperate with us,’ said Priya. ‘We need to be careful. It’s possible that the police may have already told him to hand us in.’

‘You don’t know Chhedi, Priya. The man hates authority of any sort. Schoolteachers, corporate honchos, government babus, politicians and policemen usually get his hackles up,’ replied Saini. ‘I doubt that he will turn us in. In fact, we were pretty good friends in school. He could never understand why I was best friends with Varshney instead of him!’

‘Sir, we are on the outskirts of Chandigarh. I think that you had better find out the exact address so that I may seek directions,’ said Taarak to Saini as he returned from his break. Saini nodded, turned to Kurkude and said, ‘Could you possibly Google-search Devendra Chhedi on your Blackberry? I do recall that he was working for a company—the name was… what was it? Something like Immuno…’

‘Immuno Molecular Life Sciences Limited,’ replied Kurkude. ‘I’ve found it. Want me to call?’

,’ replied Sir Khanba on the KaliyugaKurkude called the number and handed over the phone to Saini. The call was made to the company’s switchboard, which patched it through to Chhedi’s secretary. ‘Who should I say is calling?’ she asked.

‘Please tell him that it’s Ravi Mohan Saini and that I’m seeking an urgent appointment with him,’ replied Saini.

‘Please hold for a minute, sir, while I transfer your call,’ requested the secretary, subjecting Saini to some more elevator music. Chhedi came on the line within a minute. ‘Roger, you old devil, how have you been?’ he asked jovially, addressing Saini by his school nickname. Saini breathed a sigh of relief. There seemed to be no antagonism or distance in his demeanour.

‘I have some stories to tell you, Dumpy, but can’t do it over the phone. Can I come over? I’m in your neck of the woods already,’ replied Saini, keeping up the friendly and informal tone.

‘Sure. How does half an hour from now sound? I’m located at Chandigarh Corporate Plaza on the sixth floor,’ said Chhedi.

‘Perfect. Listen, did our common friend—Varshney—send you an artefact for safekeeping? He did? Good,’ said Saini.

‘Do you need directions to Chandigarh Corporate Plaza?’ asked Chhedi, carrying on the conversation over the speakerphone at his desk while Radhika Singh and Rathore sat opposite him, listening to every word exchanged between the two men. As the conversation ended, she nodded to Rathore who picked up his phone and began getting his men in place.

Sitting inside the car, Saini looked at the notepad in his hand. He jotted down a few sentences to remind himself of the status of the seals and those who had them:

Varshney: Had four seals
—
was supposed to send them to four friends
—
three were passed on but Bhojaraj’s never reached him. Varshney was killed with a discus symbol imprinted on his forehead.

Bhojaraj: Was supposed to receive one seal, but didn’t get it. Killed nonetheless, with a lotus symbol imprinted on his forehead.

Kurkude: Received one seal but it was lost or stolen during the car journey.

Saini: Received one of the seals directly from Varshney but it was taken away by the police when his residence was searched.

Chhedi: Received one of the seals and claims that it is still with him.

Saini looked at the bulleted points once again. Then his face drained of all colour. He looked at the names written down once again just to be sure that his mind was not playing tricks on him. It wasn’t.

Varshney
—
Bhojaraj
—
Kurkude
—
Saini
—
Chhedi.

Krishna had been a Yadava, but the Yadavas had been composed of eighteen different clans, some of whom had fought on the Pandava’s side and others on the Kaurava’s. Some of the clans that had helped Krishna build the magnificent city of Dwarka were the Vrishnis, the Bhojas, the Kukuras, the Shainyas and the Chedis. Saini mentally struggled with the similarities as he made notes with a trembling hand:

Varshney—
Vrishni

Bhojaraj—
Bhoja

Kurkude,’ replied Sir Khanvi sai—
Kukura

Saini—
Shainya

Chhedi—
Chedi

Duryodhana, who was still seething with envy, returned to Hastinapur and decided that the time was ripe for revenge. Upon the advice of his maternal uncle Shakuni, he invited Yudhistira
—
who was addicted to gambling
—
to a game of dice. Unknown to Yudhistira, the dice were magical and Shakuni could make them fall any way that he wanted. As the game commenced and it looked like luck was not on his side, Yudhistira’s kin pleaded with him to withdraw but he refused, believing that he would win back everything during successive wagers. I wish I had been there to take matters into control. Unfortunately, Yudhistira lost everything—first his chariots, then the jewels in his treasury, then the slave girls of his palace, his elephants, his horses, his cattle, his kingdom, his brothers, himself and finally, even his wife, Draupadi.

Priya had noticed the look of panic on Saini’s face. ‘What’s the matter? Tell me,’ she urged. They made Taarak stop the car once again and got out along with Kurkude, so as to be out of Taarak’s earshot.

‘Krishna was a descendant of Yadu. The all-encompassing term “Yadava” was used to describe Yadu’s descendants,’ began Saini. ‘But the Yadavas were composed of several clans—eighteen in number. Amongst the Yadava clans mentioned in ancient Indian literature are the
Haihayas, Chedis, Vidarbhas,
Satvatas, Andhakas, Kukuras, Bhojas, Vrishnis, Shainyas, Dasarhas, Madhus
and
Arbudas.
Now, when I see the names of the five people who have had the seals in their possession, I find it spooky that all five surnames have ancient Yadava connections!’

‘Ancient Yadava connections? How so?’ asked Priya.

‘Krishna’s grandfather was Shurasena, and some of his tribe came to be known as the
Shainyas.
Over several generations, the Shainyas eventually settled in the Punjab and came to be known as
Sainis.
That’s my surname!’ exclaimed Saini.

‘Fine, but what about the others? How are they connected?’ asked Priya.

‘Another clan was established by a son of Satvata—also a descendant of Yadu,’ said Saini. ‘His name was
Vrishni
and that’s the name by which his clan came to be known. They first settled in an area called Barsana in Uttar Pradesh and as they migrated to other parts of India they came to be known by various family names such as Varshnei, Varshnai, Varshnaya, Warshne, Varshni, Vrishni, Vrushni—or like my late friend Anil—
Varshney.’

‘Hmm. What about Nikhil Bhojaraj? That name sounds more Dravidian than north Indian,’ said Priya.

‘The word
“Bhoja”
literally means “bountiful”. The name of this clan appears as the descendants of Mahabhoja,’ answered Saini. ‘The Bhojas went on to construct the Bhojeshvara Temple at Bhojpur—not far from Bhopal. They eventually assumed various family names, depending on the regions in which they settled—including Bhoj, Bhojwani, and Bhojaraj. A dialect of northern India—now famous for a rather
risqué variety of Indian cinema—is ,’ replied Sir Khana,b scripturesknown as Bhojpuri. It is from the Bhoja clan name that Dr Nikhil Bhojaraj derived his surname.’

‘And my surname?’ asked Professor Rajaram Kurkude curiously. ‘In what way am I connected with Krishna’s Yadava lineage?’

‘Kautilya’s
Arthashastra
describes the
Kukuras
as a Yadava clan. The
Bhagavata Purana
says that the Kukuras occupied the territory around Dwarka and that Kansa’s father—Ugrasena—belonged to this group. Many surnames—including yourh as Kukura, Kurkude, and Kurkure are derived from the clan’s original name,’ replied Saini.

‘Does Devendra Chhedi fall into the Yadava lineage too?’ asked Priya.

‘Absolutely,’ said Saini. ‘The
Chedis were
definitely a Yadava clan. They were descendants of
Chidi,
the grandson of Vidarbha—a descendant of Yadu. They eventually carved out their kingdom in the region that is represented by modern-day Chhattisgarh and their descendants continue to be known by the same name—Chhedi. Can you blame me for finding this eerie?’

‘What do you think is the reason that you five people were chosen?’ asked Priya.

‘Obviously, Varshney knew something that I don’t,’ said Saini. ‘He specifically chose four other people who, like him, were Yadava descendants. Varshney was never one to do anything without a very specific reason.’

‘Why don’t you discuss it with Chhedi? He may have an alternative view. Geneticists also tend to
be equally enthusiastic about issues of genealogy,’ said Kurkude.

‘You’re absolutely right, Professor. This is a perfect issue for Chhedi to sink his teeth into,’ said Saini as he thought about that fateful day when he had been visiting Kalibangan and Varshney had told him:

‘You are not just my best friend Ravi, you are almost my brother. One day, you will realise that this statement was not made in a burst of sudden emotion but was based on logic. I know your genetic makeup, my friend!’