The village (Samansadasurya) was a small village on the bank of river Indus (Sindhayan as called then). The social structure of the tribe was bizarrely different. It was a democratically socialistic village. The village head was a shaman who was nothing like the other shaman of the era. He was more of a guy who predicted whether, calculated dates, seasons etc. The village had a big piece of land near the bank and cultivated the land together. They distributed the produced among themselves on per head basis. The shaman was the one who normally presided over such things. Though farming was done but was not enough for all so every family went for hunting and fishing. Both were done by use of crude spears made of wood and stone. Copper was used but due to the rarity of the metal and the softness of it, it was mostly used for decorative purposes. Women loved copper and envied them who wore copper jewelries. The spears were prepared with caution by first finding out the straightest piece of shaft. Then the shaft was dried in sun and put in water for months. That made the wood stronger and then by putting animal fats on it, it was baked in the sun. The oil would get into the wood and make it even stronger but heavier. Then it was cut down to size and tested for its strength. This wood then with the help of naturally occurring resins would be fixed with a small sharp stone (flint) and would be tied by a piece of animal skin. This formidable weapon made the Samansadasuryas great hunters. Their throws were immaculate and their hunting skills intimidating. They also used them to catch fish.
The fishing technique used by the Samansadasuryas was even cooler. They would go the shallow water in the river and stand there for a long time, until the fishes would no longer feel the presence of a stranger. Then when a big fish would be in range with accuracy and speed they would throw their spear and make the kill. Such patient technique would normally be done in groups of two to five to achieve better success. They were a tribe who helped each other and lived a peaceful life. Since no pottery was evolved those days, the used banana leaves as plates. The huts they lived in were made with leaves, mud, sticks, bamboos and animal skin.
As any other tribe they had a strong judiciary system. The system was based on democracy and the punishments were strong. There was no fixed punishment and the truth of a person was judged by the villager’s votes. The shaman presided over it. Shaman was a powerful man but chosen by the earlier shaman and the villagers at the age of 5. Then the child was to live with the shaman and the shaman would teach the child about all arts of life. He would be taught to learn the secrets to calculate the days, the seasons, to identify weather.
But the most astonishing fact about the tribe was lack of a marriage ritual. Here the catch was to mate a female you needed to impress her and after mating you never had any responsibility. The tribe lived as a team and took care of the women, young and old together. Once someone died they would bury them with all his/her riches in the field. They followed the rules to make their life easier and were always welcome to change.
“This is a fascinating day. The sky is clear and sun god is smiling upon us today “. Salunkenta gave a nod at the speaker and told, “yeah a great day for fishing “. Salunkenta and the speaker, Sandhukirana were friends from their childhood. They were good hunters and lived their life by hunting, fishing and farming barley with the other villagers. The village shaman (Pundikura as they called him) was Kolantha. Kolantha was a hard man, with enormous skills in hunting and leadership qualities made him very popular. When he was selected by the previous shaman, he was 5 years old and was selected as he was the one with the strongest arm when he took birth. The previous shaman was right in his decision and Kolantha proved it times and times again.
The Samansadasuryas before going to any work normally went to him to find out the weather. This was what both Salunkenta and Sandhukirana were about do for seeking out confirmation from the expert on their inference on the weather. As they went along to the shaman, Salunkenta said, “This time around I think we will get a great crop. The water is good in the river. Sun is shining on us and the cool in the air will help wheat to grow”.
“Yes, but I don’t know what about the rats. Kolantha told he was doing something for them, but the rats are destroying the crops. May be this year we will have to hunt a lot if the rats keep on doing this”. Sandhukirana said with an expression of disgust. He was wearing a long piece of tiger skin he earned in his last hunting tour into the forests. His torso was covered by a series of garlands made by threading thin leaves of different exotic color with a single string of deer skin he killed a month ago. Deer was a nice food but only if you can catch it. They were fast and usually lived deep in the forest with wild animals like tigers and lions and elephants. They were an evasive target even for the most trained hunters like Salunkenta. So a deer killed was utilized properly by using its skin for dresses. Its horns for making tools like knife. Its meet was eaten. Its bones were used to make ornaments.
“Have faith, Mother Nature is not so ruthless. She will hear Kolantha’s Prayer. He will increase snakes in the field and rats will be killed out”. Salunkenta said. Then they were indulged in hot stories of their time and reached Kolantha’s hut. The houses in Samansadasurya were not planned. Usually better hunters had better houses as one of the most important part of their house: Animal skin was got by hunting only. But one man’s house was always at the center of the village since the time of the first crops, and had never been shifted, and has doubled in its glory. The house of the Pundikura was passed on to the present Pundikura by the previous one. The house was big enough for half of the village and was made by putting 4 feet thick mud walls reinforced by bamboo pillars. The house had a big door that lead to a compound. Small rooms surrounded the compound. Each room was thatched by straws, leaves, plants and was covered by an elephant skin. The elephant teeth were used to decorate the compound. In the middle of the compound was a crude chair, made with bones of animals and covered with tiger skin. There were 2 copper pillars on the sides of the chair. This was the chair that the Pundikura used to address meeting of the village.
The Samansadasuryas believed in only one type of sacrifice. The thing that is dearest to them. They normally gave the blood of the kill they made to the Mother Nature, at the altar placed next to the chair of the Pundikura. They believed blood is sacred and only Mother Nature is allowed to drink it.
“Kolantha, Kolantha”. Salunkenta called out loudly after he got to the compound. Kolantha came out from a small room. At 6’9” tall he was intimidating. He was powerful that was reflected by the cuts of his abdomen, leg and biceps. He was wearing a deer skin gown and leaves garlands. But the difference was in the number of ornaments made by bones, teeth etc that he wore. He carried a spear with a shiny metallic tip made of copper and the shaft was also bigger and looked very strong. He also had a knife attached at his belt that fixed the deer skin. Facial paints of red, brown and white color created a distinctive looks to his face. He was looking as a deity himself.
“Kolantha, we were thinking to go for fishing today, came to seek your advice”. Kolantha was standing still as if in a trance. He was staring at the arrivals as if seeing them for the first time. He came closer and closer and then collapsed on the chair in the middle of the compound. All of a sudden he started to roll his eyes and shake his head wildly. His well aligned hair pushed backward became disoriented and started flying here and there as if he was a coconut tree swinging in a cyclone. He started murmuring and closed his eyes. He was getting into the mode where they called it,”ammathalagi”, meaning mother has occupied him. He stood up and started dancing and was holding Salunkenta and Sandhukirana alternatively to gain balance. Then he collapsed to the chair again and regained consciousness. Both Salunkenta and Sandhukirana were baffled by this behavior of Kolantha. Usually ammathalagi happened during scarifies. But today was different. They knew some grave danger was upon them. He asked Kolantha for water and with a leave of Taro, brought some water from a stone vessel.
Kolantha’s eyes were blood drunk, and he was trebling. Like an unstoppable stream tears were flowing from his eyes. When a 6’9” tall muscular man starts crying like that it’s a horrifying scene. Salunkenta puzzled by the recent happenings asked, “What happened great hunter? We have never seen you crying like this. What is wrong?” Sandhukirana nodded with acknowledgement. Kolantha caught his breath and with a strong yet soft voice responded, “Everything you know the way it is going to get transformed. Mother Nature herself will put forth her fury. We will have to flee to the great paniila (desert) of the east crossing the giriunta. Then will have to travel into the unknown, till we get to the Samundal (Sea). Fish and hunt as much you can. We will leave during the next black night.
Both the hunters were terrified. They could not understand anything. “Why Mother Nature is furious on us?” Salunkenta said. “We pour her blood of our kill. We give the ashes of our remaining crops to her. Why?” it was a question whose answer even the wise Kolantha didn’t have. He just said calmly in his strong yet soft voice, “This is life. Our father’s fathers were Banjaras (nomads). They knew the truth. Life never lets you stay at one place for ever. Mother Nature wants us to go to learn. Learn more of her mysteries. She wants us to be strong, strong against the biggest calamity. She wants us to understand and outlive the rules of death. She is mother. Every mother has her way to teach her children. She wants us to be alive. So she is informing us. Don’t dare her, cause she lets us live. Now go. Go deep in the jungle. You will find elephants, deer and boars. Gather all the goats & lambs. We need a lot of meat. I will tell the villagers to gather today evening here. We need to tell everyone about this.”
Salunkenta and Sandhukirana confused and afraid of the Kolantha’s prophecy and determined to get enough meat for their small tribe started walking deep into the jungle until they came across the lake in the middle of the jungle. This lake was created by elephants and was often regarded by the Samansadasuryas as a haunted place where many different types of animals and birds met and conspired against them as Mother Nature favored them with unique knowledge of the earth. They were afraid yet cautious. They hurried but yet slow enough to watch their feet. Both the hunters took their bone clubs and spears in their hand and went into the open land around the lake. This was the richest place in the forest with elephants, deer, boars and a lot other types of animal coming together to drink water. But it was not a piece of cake for them to go on and hunt at such a place. The cover near the lake was bad. And it was surrounded by leopards, tigers, lions, bears, jackals, wolfs; hyenas and the most feared the crocodiles.
They had to be very cautious as neither the water nor the land was safe. Even the tree tops were covered with deadly cobras and king cobras. They walked silently and swiftly as a perfect hunter taking cover behind big stones, trees and sometime by crawling in the thick undergrowth. The mesmerizing music of the koel from a nearby tree, the trumpets of the elephants blowing their long nose and trying to mud each other, the hustle of the deer, the breaking of twigs and branches under the feet of the elephants all helped the hunters to come closer and closer until the spotted a bull elephant charging towards them from the other side of the half dried beach. They were afraid of being spotted. In panic they were about to get up and run but the found out another bull running towards the bull charging towards them. It was a mating ritual. The bulls fought to get the best female. But Salunkenta and Sandhukirana both knew these fights could well be very intense and this could be an ideal way to ambush other panicking animals. They wanted to get some deer and boars. So they waited near the trees so that anything that came in their path could be hunted. Their patience paid and at the end they were able to gather 5 deer and 6 adult boars. They brought a bamboo and tied them on the bamboo. With one end of the shoulder of each hunter both of them carried their prize out of the wilderness to the village. They took the meat to the shaman. Kolantha was sitting on the chair in his courtyard and they found the whole of the village gathered around him. They were all silent as if it was the silence before a storm and Kolantha was sitting as if all grace from his strong body has gone out.
At the sight of Salunkenta and Sandhukirana all the villagers turned. The sun was dying out and the eyes of all the villagers were swollen with tears still pricking down their chicks. There was nothing left to tell. The situation told it all and both the hunters knew straight what just happened. They were dumbstruck. They knew nothing of what to tell. Kolantha wanted to tell the villagers about the journey and the prophecy. Yet here he was sitting like a king at the center of his people unable to speak anything forever. And then something struck to them. What if Kolantha could not speak about the prophecy to the Samansadasuryas? So Salunkenta asked the villagers in a voice of such command and authority that he could have been easily misunderstood. But the fear and dilemma of the question in his mind could not hold his tongue. He demanded “Who was the last one to meet Kolantha? Did anyone speak to him before he died”? Seeing this anxiety, Sandhukirana came up and stood beside Salunkenta and whispered “you may just create a panic n the village and the big cats around the forest might ambush us in the panic. Calm down and explain every one the incident that happened today morning”. But it was too late, Salunkenta was already making statements. “You fools don’t just keep mum. Speak up or else we all shall die”. This was like a jolt of lightning on the Samansadasuryas. There was a huge murmuring going around and Salunkenta was standing near the body of the shaman with authority and tears in his eye.
Then a village elder stood up and told, “We don’t know what you are talking about but, Kolantha told us that a young man will lead us to a distant land. And we will have to choose him by our wisdom. So we have decided that anyone who could talk to Mother Nature will take the place of Kolantha and we will follow him even to the depth of the Samundal. By the way you are demanding we think you know about the fate of our future and so we challenge you to talk to Mother Nature herself”.
Salunkenta was standing puzzled. He knew that talking to Mother Nature is not simple. He will have to sit ideally for hours and come up with information that is unique and could only be derived from Mother Nature. He looked at Sandhukirana but then again the village elder talked.
“You will not have to do anything sitting here. We have talked and decided that you will have to travel to the distant land and comeback with a piece of evidence. Kolantha told there will be a Samundal near the distance land and that will have many tortoises that will be big and different. Bring us the shell of it and we will go to that land. But beware before you accept the challenge. You have only 2 years to do it and you can choose only those who want to travel with you. The path is difficult and uneven. See the stars. Only the brightest star of the sky that doesn’t move can help you find your way, but make sure it is to the left of you”.
Salunkenta was watching like he has dragged himself to be a hero but didn’t want to be one. He didn’t choose anything for himself. He was just a simple man trying to express his emotion. Seeing the contours of his face, Sandhukirana told, “Don’t worry friend, we both were into this together and I will not leave you alone. I will come with you even to the stars to save our people”. The elderly man knew what was going through the mind of Salunkenta. So he told “It’s not in our hands always to determine the path of our future. But yes with determination and courage if we face it, we might shape its outcome. So go, I know there will be plenty who will help you and if it was not for my age and the fear of slowing you down I would also have come”.
This gave Salunkenta hope and courage. He with all his might shouted “yes I will go. Yes I will find the tortoise. Yes I will get to safety. But before I go I must warn all, don’t go to the river alone. Each day one of the villagers takes shift to watch at the river, even during summer. And any chance of a flood, go away to the forest and climb the tallest tree in the middle of the swamp. And stay there until the flood is gone”. Then he turned to Sandhukirana and told, “Dear friend this expedition is ours, but we need someone with the knowledge of the forest with the villages as the flood might come any day. So you stay behind and pray to Mother Nature to help us. To give us strength and pour blood to her every night from your hunt”. To this Sandhukirana was reacting but then the old man intervened again. He said, “Yes one of you must stay back for you have the courage to fight and the knowledge to prosper. So you need to stay to lead us during these difficult times. May Mother be with you”.
Sandhukirana told, “Okay but I will not stay until I feel Salunkenta has got a big enough and skilled crew on this expedition. And also we will have to swear that you will follow my words during the difficult times without questioning. If you agree to this I might give away my honor and stay back as a coward with you. So ‘WHO WANTS TO GO WITH SALUNKENTA’”? The question echoed round the place as if it was told by a thousand people at a time and a deathly silence fell among the people. Everyone started to look at one another with a compelling look that translated to “are you going”?
“I will go”. A voice sounded from the back of the crowd and a barbaric looking, dark strong man came up and repeated, “I will go”. There was a loud murmur in the crowd. His name was Dukku. Dukku was a tall man with the power of lifting a mountain alone. He was the strongest among them but definitely not the brightest. At 6’9” tall and a broad chest, he was looking like a mountain. His appearance was that of a true warrior who could win a battle with the fiercest lion with his bare hand. His strength was a legend among the Samansadasuryas. He wore a brief made up of deer skin, roughly sewed with some short of old brown leather. Apart from this he wore only one locket that looked like a canine of a crocodile or tiger. His hairs and beard were long and gave him a dirty yet powerful look. His voice was coarse like a roar of a lion and his eyes glittered like the brightest sun.
“Sandhukirana, you lead our people and I will help Salunkenta. I promise in the name of Mother Nature herself, that if I betray Salunkenta in his sacred quest, I will die in my hut with no one to bury me. And vultures will eat away my body”.
“Dukku, your help is welcome and appreciated, but not you alone. Who else is ready to come”?
“I will”. Said a voice that from the way it sounded was of a female, and so it was. A very good looking female named Lastuka came forward. She was at her prime with nice curves and a body any one will lust. She was dusky in color and was wearing dress made up of many colored skins of different animals the prominent being that of a tiger, a fox and a deer. But the thing that made her appearance distinct was the prominent lack of any jewelries and a semicircular band of swan feathers creating a circular background to her face that was attached to her hairs. She was a strong woman by the standards of any woman. She had a distinctive strong arm and was regarded as one of the wisest in the village. She had a round face that with her glittering eyes was looking both cute and curious.
“I appreciate your gesture of selflessness”, said Sandhukirana. ”But this is a dangerous quest and I don’t know if a woman can keep up to these men’s speed”.
But Salunkenta intervened. “No, she is one of the brightest of all in our tribe and she can be of great help with her brain. She is strong enough to keep up the pace and we may need a female for gathering roots in our way”.
These words got Lastuka to smile and she gave a single nod to Salunkenta approving his comments.
“Okay if you say so. But only two, no one else wants to go”? The words echoed around again as if everything around them was hollow. Sandhukirana was having a look of both disturbed and surprised. “No one is brave enough?” He asked again. No one replied. After hesitating one voice came, “Okay I will go. But I don’t know how useful I will be”. The voice was of a man called Sammu. Sammu was lean and was not very strong. He had a dusky complexion but not as dark as Dukku. He wore a simple brief made up of fox skin and was having no ornament what so ever. He was regarded as the most useless man in the tribe. He seldom hunted. He scavenged for dead meat near the village and was usually busy collecting herbs that he claimed could cure curses. Every disease we know was thought to be curses, by the Samansadasurya. He claimed that eating the leaves of a tree which was so bitter one could not even imagine touching it (neem) could help reduce chance of measles. Though everyone was frightened to try anything he told after he claimed some cobra venom could be used to reduce pain of an injured. He was teased by all and was never taken seriously. But he was determined and truly believed in what he was saying. He even tried to cut open to body of a man from another tribe who died in a small battle. He was considered as a mad but only Kolantha appreciated his efforts to cure people and only due to him he was still in the village. Perhaps as Kolantha died he knew he had little chance of living in the village and so he wanted to go for the quest. His curiosity was his curse.
“No! No! No! The last thing we want is a paranoid among the questants. You are unpredictable and god knows what you will do with them if left alone. Back away now or you will be dead”. Sandhukirana was about to beat him up when the elder told calmly. “Don’t be so rude. He might be different but he definitely is brainy. His skill with some medicines is exemplary. He could be useful in a land where nothing is predictable. His unpredictability can be a boon. Mind you Kolantha himself told that he is restless like a monkey and cunning like a fox. He would be useful mark my words”.
Sandhukirana was shaking his head with disagreement but Salunkenta came and put a hand on his shoulder and nodded.
“Forget about him, until I am there no one can shake the determination of the questants to reach the goal and get the tortoise”. The voice had components of enthusiasm and strength in it. The man who spoke was one of the best fishermen of the village. His name was Machua. Machua was average in health and looked like a normal man. But it was not strength alone that helped a fisherman. He was calm yet curious. He was focused and yet could see a lot. He was fast like a lightning and his aim was perfect even in the delusion of running water. His bravery against crocodiles was themselves a chronicle and he was regarded highly among the villages. His inclusion was cheered by one and all and hence an order was created.
Machua, the fisherman.
Dukku, the strong.
Lastuka, the brainy.
Sammu, the mad.
And Salunkenta, the leader.
The order came near to the Pundikura’s chair and held there hand towards the village elder. The village elder took their hands and said.
“I hereby as the most experienced of you all declare it. Machua, the fisherman, whose aim is perfect and whose patience is exemplary, Dukku the strong, who can kill a tiger with his bare hand, Lastuka the brainy who is bright and knows the roots, Sammu the mad, who is unpredictable and yet knows the herbs and Salunkenta the chosen who is to lead the quest form a order ‘the order of origin’ as their success should mark a new origin for our tribe. They from this moon onwards are bonded to each other to respect, care and protect each other and the cause even at the stake of their life. They are to go deep into the forests towards the sun’s home and find the tortoise that is different and big from the Samundal at the end of this land. Anybody who objects may say now or never”.
Saying this he remained silent and waited for objections. When no one objected he resumed.
“In this period of difficult times our people need someone who knows the forest and knows the prophecy. So I propose Sandhukirana to lead our people as the new Pundikura. If anyone objects he must say now or never”.
Now he again waited and then said “So the order begins their journey next black night and we shall wait for them till 25 full moons to follow. If they don’t return, Sandhukirana will be challenged and a rightful Pundikura will be chosen”.
“May the mother be with them”.
The morning was different the next day of creation of the order. The sun was blood red as if has taken a bath in blood and the forest appeared to be silent than ever. The whole of the village gathered together at the house of the Pundikura to bury their great shaman. The village was silent and though such a big gathering justifies noise, none of the villagers talked. The order themselves went to the field and dug a grave. The grave was not ordinary and was square in shape. It was big enough for 10 men but again it was the grave of their shaman. It had to be different. As ritual the personal possessions of Kolantha was to be buried but not the ones that were passed on to him. It was now Sandhukirana to preside over it. Kolantha with all his clothes, ornaments and spear was carried on a stretcher made out of bamboo and animal skin was taken to the grave. There Sandhukirana told “May the body of this great man go back to where it came from. May he rest there in peace and see to the fertility of the lands. May his soul carry on to the place of Mother Nature to be with the souls of all other Pundikuras”.
“He has given the true sacrifice to warn us about the future, and so let he be treated as a god in his burial ceremony”, said the village elder.
The burial ceremony was big. The body of the Pundikura was lowered to his grave by the order and Sandhukirana. And each one did their part by putting dirt into his grave. Some even added their own precious in the grave. Machua gave a spear. Dukku gave a bone club made out of the thigh bone of an elephant. Lastuka gave a feather from her crown. Sammu gave his pestle made of copper he got from another village. And Salunkenta gave blood from his kill last night and told, “May like this blood to run thorough our land and help it grow strong. And may like the great deer whose blood this is, you stay happy and energetic forever”.
The burial was over by the time the sun was at the horizon. The villagers came back to the house of the Pundikura to discuss what to do now so that the order can start their journey. The journey was tough and food and weapons they must carry. Also the great paniila towards the sun’s home was devoid of water and so they need to take with them water. The biggest problem for anyone to carry water was it could not be tied down. So it was difficult to carry.
Acknowledging this problem, Sammu told.
”Well I know I am not regarded as the best person in the order but I have a solution for carrying water. I assume the responsibility to carry water just enough to let us pass this great paniila without dying. So I will go to my house to start working on it and will meet you in the evening every two days to let you know about my progress. I think Dukku, Salunkenta and Machua can gather meat and fish for our journey while Lastuka should be able to sew some dresses and get some roots and crops to take along so that we can survive the paniila. I am sure once we cross the paniila; we will be able to hunt again and may be gather some roots and fruits. So I am leaving now”.
He started walking briskly towards his hut at the outskirts of the village where nearly no one came. He knew he had an idea and this was his chance to let the others know that he was not mad. He knew with effective sewing and burning the ends of the hairs of a fox skin he could make a nearly water proof bag that can hold water for one to cross the paniila. He just needed 5 fox, hunt them and skin them. He was confident about his plan and walked in a way never before he thought he could.
The sudden declaration and departure of Sammu was more a shock to others as they could not understand if to leave a mad with a matter serious enough to ruin their quest or to trust him as a member of the order. Salunkenta understood everyone’s thought and said, “He is a member of the order and doubting anyone from it is to doubt the whole of the order. He might be unorthodox but the problem here is also strange. So I think he is the perfect man to go after it. Also the mad has paved a plan for the members of the order, which I feel is a good one. So for the timing we will follow it and meet after 2 days here when the sun is about to be gulped by the distant lands”.
Every one from the order went to work while the villagers were gone to deal with their daily needs.
Salunkenta and Dukku went to the jungle. Machua went to the river. Lastuka gathered some women and started to smoke the meat of the hunt of the day before and kept the skin of the hunts to dry in the sun.
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