A Short Story

The Wizard Tower trains gifted youth to cast magic. After a long period of Apprenticeship, they take a battery of tests to graduate into full Magehood.

The Temples to the Gods of Light, Darkness, Fire, Water, Air and Earth train youth touched with the Divine Gift of that sphere to act as Clerics on the field, or Priests in the temple. Paladins are ungifted but dedicated fighters serving the temples.


Kael spurred his horse to keep up with Jared. However, his mind was still hovering over the events of yesterday and he couldn't help but smile.

"So who's the girl?" asked Jared, with a twinkle in his eyes. He slowed down to make conversation easier. Kael looked confused for a second, then grinned. "There's no girl. Just that I overheard my teachers praising me behind my back."

"And one of them is the guy who teaches that Heck class?"

"FEC, not Heck, you idiot," said Kael, leaning out of the saddle to land a punch on Jared's shoulder, "Fire Elemental Control." He was amused that Jared had remember that much from his incoherent tirade last week.

"Whatever you say, oh mighty Apprentice. I'm sure the Arch Mage himself is jealous of your power!"

This provoked another punch that Jared neatly evaded by swerving away and pressing his horse to a gallop. Kael gave chase but couldn't catch up until Jared pulled up on reaching a spot close to a stream he knew. The conversation resumed as though there had never been a break.

"So, they were giving you a hard time not because you were bad but because you were good huh?" pondered Jared as he teethered his horse to a tree, "Well, fortunately, we know you're bad at this, so you know exactly why I'll be giving you a hard time!"

Kael groaned. He hated these hunting lessons, but Jared seemed to think that it was critical that he know how to survive in the wild. Fortunately, the Gods seemed to have heard his silent prayer and it began to rain. He looked up and was rewarded with a lightning flash, boding a good long storm ahead.

Jared swore. "I remember seeing a cave near here. We can take shelter until the storm blows over," he said, and got back on his horse. Ten minutes later, soaked to the bone, they arrived at their destination.

Jared immediately set himself to the task of starting a fire, but the driest brush he found was still too wet to catch fire, even when doused in oil. He sighed and sat down, resigned to a cold evening until the brush dried out. Kael snorted and waved his hands theatrically, and the brush started crackling with fire. He held it until he was sure it would continue to burn, the sat down near the fire.

"Show-off!" grumbled Jared, but he couldn't hide the admiration in his face. Then, he frowned and stood up abruptly. "Did you hear that?" he said.

"Hear what?" asked Kael, as Jared prepared a make-shift torch and started walking further inside the cave. Kael sighed and followed him, and then heard it himself - a muffled call for help - and suddenly, they were both running, and came to a barred steel door.

The call was coming from behind the door, and they could make it out more clearly now: it was a female voice, frantic and pleading. "I don't understand it," said Jared, examining the floor, "Nobody's been this way for years. Maybe whoever is inside came in another way."

Kael's mage sense told him a different story. There were residues of conflicting magics on the walls and on the door, but he didn't have sufficient training to make sense of it. He shared his fears with Jared, but that merely made up his mind to go through the door. "If magic is involved, someone must be in deep trouble." He examined the lock. "I can't pick this lock. Can you unlock it with your magic?"

"I can try," said Kael doubtfully, and took a deep breath as he let his mind quest into the workings of the lock. He patiently worked one tumbler after another as Jared paced the floor. Five minutes later, he announced, "Done."

They lifted the bar and pushed open the door. As they walked through, Kael sensed that they'd triggered a weak ward spell of some sort, but he was distracted by the sight in front of him.

Miles away, Cleric Penedra stiffened as the breaching of a secure location sent warning bells ringing madly inside her head. She was already in full armour; her job demanded that she be ready to head into a fight at a moment's notice. She grabbed her mace and set off at full gallop in the stinging rain, the distance and direction of her target spell-burned into her mind.

Even further away, Paladin Ferarthor was in prayer at the Temple of Elnys, when the spectacle of several senior priests jumping to their feet simultaneously drew him out of his meditation. "To the High Priest's Chambers!" one of them barked, but Ferarthor was already running. A handful of Clerics and Priests, including a visiting Priest of Pyr, were gathered. The High Priest looked grim. "Where?" asked Ferarthor. "About 20 miles south-south west. An old one, we didn't even know it was there until the wards were breached just now. Penedra should be there before us. Hurry!" said the High Priest. Ferarthor's heart sank. Penny. Elnys protect her! He ran to the stables, the rest of the team a step behind him.

Jared and Kael stood transfixed by the sight of a cylinderical, magical cage of crackling scarlet energy, holding a solitary prisoner. She looked up as they entered. She was a young woman, with delicate features and rich clothes suggesting noble birth. On seeing them, she burst into tears, "Oh! Help me! Help me please! They killed my father and imprisoned me here! I don't know how long I've been here, it must be years!"

Jared moved to console her, taking care not to touch the wall of the cage as he cajoled the full story out of her. She spoke between sobs, and he gathered that her father had been a nobleman, and a magician to boot, but had many enemies. They'd kidnapped her and lured her father to this cave, where they killed him. For some unknown reason, they spared her life but put her in a magical cage where she never felt hungry or thirsty, and had no sense of time passing.

Jared's face was a mask of rage as he turned to face Kael. "Can you break that spell?"

Kael shook his head. "It's too powerful. I doubt if the Arch Mage himself could break that one."

The young woman spoke, "My family ring had a powerful protective spell on it. Maybe if I put it on, I could walk through these bars unharmed."

"And where is this ring now?" asked Jared.

"It might still be on... on my... father's body," she shuddered, and pointed towards the far corner of the cavern.

Jared wasted no time in rushing to that corner, and found the body exactly where she'd pointed. It had been picked clean to the bone, and only the skeleton remained. Nevertheless, it had a ring on one of the fingers, and Jared prised it off. "Ugly one," he commented, and started walking back to the cage. Kael stopped him. "Look there!"

Jared looked and took in his breath in a sharp hiss, as several dead bodies lay strewn around the area where Kael pointed. He called out to the girl, "Was there a battle here?"

"Not a battle," she replied gravely, "Treachery. They fought amongst themselves."

"That explains it," he muttered, and continued walking.

"Jared, wait!" hissed Kael, "This doesn't make sense. Why would they spare her, and then go to all the trouble of fashioning that cage? And a spell to keep her from feeling hunger or thirst? I've never even heard of such a spell, leave alone think of a way of creating one! And I found traces of magic on the walls of the cavern we came from, can you explain that? Jared! Are you listening?"

Too late, he noticed the vacant expression on his eyes, and the insidious signature of a charm spell on Jared's mind. "No!" he screamed and tried to pull Jared back from the cage but being the stronger man, he just shook him off and proceeded to hand the ring to the woman. His fingers could not go through the magical barrier, but the ring did, and the woman snatched it out of his hands as soon as she could.

Inhuman laughter reverberated around the cavern as she put on the ring. Jared had snapped out of the spell, and was looking a little dazed. "You witch! Who are you?" asked Kael. The woman looked amused. Her voice changed to the deep one of a middle-aged man, and her appearance changed to that of a cadaver. "Not a witch. A Lich. A hundred years have I languished in this prison, the key to my freedom lying but a few feet from my grasp! A hundred years did it take to weaken the wards and erase the warnings! At last, you blundering fools walked in!" She - or he - or it, broke into another paroxysm of laughter and then started chanting a spell, and the magical barrier visibly thinned to a light pink in a matter of seconds. Then, realizing that they were still there, the Lich said, "Oh! I don't need you anymore," and waved its hand. A dozen of the dead bodies in the corner stood up and walked slowly towards them.

Jared was still dazed from the spell and caught a swipe from the lead zombie full on his leather armour, and went sprawling. Kael snapped out of his shock just in time to fashion a shield of air to stop the first blow. "Elnys!" came a roar as a cleric came charging in through the door, in full battle armour and wielding a mace that looked too heavy for the young woman to swing. She bashed the skull of the zombie that had struck Jared and it crumpled to the floor. Meanwhile, Jared had come to his senses and was chopping away with his sword. A zombie lost both its arms but persisted in its attack. "The head!" shouted the cleric, "Chop off the head!" Jared complied and was rewarded with the headless body crashing lifeless to the floor.

Kael blew two zombies into the far wall with a powerful blast of air that should have knocked any human dead. But the zombies merely stood up and began their ponderous walk back to their target. He shook his head and cast a ball of fire into the midst of a closer pack. This brought a more satisfying response as they screamed as they burned. Then they fell, and didn't get up.

The Lich stopped his casting to wave at the burnt bodies, and they rose again - this time, only their skeletons were left, their rotting flesh having burned away completely. "Delay them!" barked the cleric, and started casting a spell of her own. Jared kept the undead creatures at bay with broad swings of his sword. Kael just stood there, all blows bouncing off an armour of air he'd cast around himself. It took a whole minute for the cleric to finish casting her spell, and then the cavern was filled with a searing bright light that caused Kael and Jared to cover their eyes, even though they had their backs to the cleric. When they opened them again, not one of the creatures still twitched.

She turned to the Lich behind the barrier - now down to a faint translucent sheet. As they watched, the barrier winked out completely and the Lich bent its neck as though amused and said, "Now you die!" The cleric dropped her mace with a clang and sunk to the floor, gasping for breath. Jared lunged with his sword but the Lich batted him away like a bug, and he went flying across the cavern.

"No!" screamed Kael, and flung a magical bolt of energy at the creature. It hit an invisible shield inches from its body and disappeared, but it drew its attention and it released the cleric, who lay unconscious on the floor, but breathing. Kael tried a different tact and started a fire right on the Lich's body. The creature laughed its inhuman laughter again. "Boy!" it said, "You cannot destroy me that easily!"

But Kael's eyes blazed with fury as he thundered, "You will not harm me, nor my friends, nor any mortal soul upon this Earth. Foul creature! You will not leave this cavern alive!" The fire increased in intensity, and crackled nearly as loudly as the creature's laughter.

At that instant, the contingent from the temple piled in through the door, but they could do no more than gawk at the spectacle in front of their eyes. The Lich threw a bolt of energy that was absorbed by a shield Kael had magically erected around himself. "Go back to the world of death, whence you came to our blessed land. This cleansing fire shall rid the world of your evil presence!" The fire now turned white hot, and the creature screamed in pain. It started throwing one spell after another at Kael. His shield weakened and gave out, but it was too late for the Lich. The fire waxed in a final flare, and all that was left was ash. Kael stumbled, dizzy from his expenditure of energy, and collapsed unconscious to the floor.

Ferarthor rushed forward first. "Penny!" he cried, on seeing her body. "She's alive!" he cried, with relief. "There's another boy here. He's unconscious as well, and might have a broken rib." came the shaking voice of one of the clerics. The Priest of Pyr was bent over Kael.

"It is fortunate that one of your Order was here," observed Ferarthor. The man shook his head. "He is not of Pyr. Look," he said, and pointed to the crest of the Wizard Tower on Kael's robe. "A Mage. That explains it." replied Ferarthor. The Priest shook his head again. "Look closer. He is an Apprentice."

"Impossible," scoffed Ferarthor, "Only a powerful mage or one touched by Pyr can command fire the way he did."

"You are right," replied the Priest under his breath, but Ferarthor was already busy supervising the healing and transfer of the three unconscious bodies to the temple.

(Ah well, that didn't quite come out as gripping or adventurous as it was supposed to. Looks like I have a long way to go before I can call myself a writer of any talent - or even just a writer! *sigh* )

From the Outside

For all the 22 years of my life that I was in India, reading about the Kargil War, the Parliament attack, the Kashmir situation, the Pokhran-II blasts and subsequent sanctions, the joint military exercises between India and other countries, international arms sales and treaties, India's position in the UN, etc. they never sunk in beyond the skin level. We are aware of the facts; we have a half-formed opinion; but we have our own lives to lead, and we don't really think in depth on these issues, even though we are Indian to the core.

Step outside India and you start seeing everything differently. Things that seemed insignificant earlier, appear more important when you look at them from the outside. As the sole Asian in my bridge club, let alone Indian, I get asked a lot of questions about India. Things that nobody have asked me before because it was either obvious or unimportant for our everyday life... but now that I'm forced to think about them and give facts as well as opinion, those same things appear far from obvious or unimportant.

For example:

- What is the attitude of the average Indian towards Islam?
I said that there are a lot of Muslims in India, and they are very much part of our culture. We don't have a positive or negative attitude towards Islam, because it is already part of us, and we cannot judge it like it is an external thing. But the Muslims in India are happy with us, and we Hindus are happy with them; except for the odd sparks.

- How do you, and Indians in general, view the US?
I thought it best to restrict myself to politics. So I said that in the past, there was some friction because the US tended to support Pakistan over India in most disputes or issues - Russia was usually our saviour. But after the events of 9/11, things are looking up, as the USA seems to understand our situation better. The average Indian most definitely holds no rancour towards the US.

- You don't drink? Is it a religious thing?
I talked about the fact that I'm from an orthodox family in an orthodox part of India; religion does not enter the picture. I don't smoke or drink because my family expects me not to, and I am perfectly happy with that. Society, as a whole, considers these as vices, though not so much in recent days.

- You want me to roll up the windows entirely before we get out? I thought it would get a little too warm.
This was when we were stopping for lunch and I reminded my friend to roll up the windows completely before we went in to eat. This brought up the issue of crime levels, as I seemed quite horrified that she would do such a thing. I said wryly that where I come from, if you left your windows half open and left for half an hour, you won't find your car when you come back. Then I corrected myself and said that it was probably only because I lived in a large city. Just like State College has very low crime levels, but surely nobody would do such a thing in a city like New York.

And so on and so forth. One might remark that such questions/incidents are common and inevitable for an Indian living in the US; but the thing is, the mere act of thinking about some things and forming an opinion, puts them in a new light and underlines their importance which I scarce realized at one point of time.

Yet another thing I observed is that none of the students have ever asked me such questions. Come to think of it, I don't ask my international friends about issues concerning their country. Why are we youngsters so self-absorbed? It isn't enough to think about and talk about the here and the now; we really should be more thoughtful, more inquisitive about things that may not concern us directly. We should be more aware of the bigger picture, and think about where we stand. It feels less human to do otherwise.

Cheers,
Prashanth.

Respect...

I remember watching Nagesh Kukunoor's Bollywood Calling and laughing until my stomach hurt. I remember falling off my chair when Om Puri said, "God Promise..." in that accent so typical of Indians. I remember chuckling when he said, in a rough translation of the South Indian bromide (and I say South Indian only because I don't know that much about North Indian sayings), "You can live without money, but you cannot live without respect..."

The years pass and it stops being funny. The part about respect, I mean. There was a time when I would look up to my elders, and try to prove myself to them. Try to impress them, show them the stuff I'm made of. My teachers. My parents. My elder brother. For most of my existence, I've lived to grow up to be the man that everybody would be proud of. But this kind of pride - what you would get for being the good son or the bright pupil - is worth earning when you are a kid. After the teens, it quickly stops being something you aim for. Instead, all you want is some respect. To be recognized for a man and treated as an equal.

The thing I respect about respect is that it cannot be bought. It cannot be taken. It has to be given. And in that undefinably human way, when given, it is inevitably returned, whether you want to or not. Because when you are respected, the acknowledgement that you are worthy of that respect gives you something even more important: Self-Respect. The biggest compliment you can give a man is not given with words, but with actions that bespeak your repect for him. Assuming he has earned it.

All people have their faults. They make mistakes. They can be narrow minded. They can have poor knowledge, or make poor judgements. Nobody is free of those things. And hence, through a logic I cannot easily put into words, everybody is equal, and deserves to be treated as an equal. I no longer try to be the perfect student or perfect son out of a blind obedience to authority, or devotion to duty. Instead, I just try to do the right thing.

What a wickedly convoluted statement. Do the right thing. A statement that can be interpreted in a hundred different ways by a hundred different people in the same situation. And yet, I think it is not obscure or difficult to understand what I mean by that. By virtue of being human, we have the in-born gifts of intuition and conscience. What two people interpret as right may differ, depending upon their beliefs and backgrounds, but I think a rational person can understand another's reasons, if armed with all the facts. Sometimes, a little evil has to be done to prevent a greater evil, or achieve a greater good (the movie, Kingdom of Heaven immediately springs to mind). Other times, there is no good or evil, just the arbitrary greys we tackle in our daily lives; and yet, you would respect a person who does what he thinks is the right thing, rather than the easy thing. Full circle. Respect, and self-respect, are irrevocably linked with this nebulous notion of what is right. But respect is more tangible, even if it is no more quantifiable than right and wrong.

I have no doubt that I have lost everyone (at least in part) in that last paragraph, though it is crystal clear to me. It may seem melodramatic or overly simplistic to say this, but whenever you feel doubt about some action you are considering, just look inside your heart to know if it is right. Neither rule, nor law, nor duty, nor custom, nor society ought to dictate your actions; they can only guide.

I think I have been stating things that any ordinary person knows. Still, we only have to look around to see that what we know and what we do are far from being the same. I feel like I finally understand many of my own actions and can sleep more soundly at night.

Cheers,
Prashanth.

IITians: The People You Love To Hate

I've always maintained that the IITs appear to be populated by people of various extremes. Most of the people I've known at IIT seem to be way off the "Normal" mark, in behaviour and in attitude. I often wonder if we were that way when we entered the portals of the institute or whether the freedom and isolated existence that we enjoy there makes us that way. I suspect the answer is a bit of both.

The crux of the matter is that people do not understand us. We live for four years with our individuality respected, and are suddenly forced to reckon with society in force when we step out. Our words and actions are often misinterpreted. IITians have a reputation for being arrogant and egotistic. But half the time, it is only because people try to judge us by the wrong yardstick. Ultimately, the result is that people don't like to get close to IITians. Those who do, get burned, and it is nobody's fault; pretty soon, people learn not to touch us.

Understand that I am speaking in general terms here. IITians are, after all, human beings and get along fabulously with the rest of the world - sometimes. But some people who see us getting the high-paying jobs ask, "What makes that person better than me? It's just the brand name that's doing it!" Others acknowledge the presence of those superior skills and hold us in awe. And either way, people find it convenient to keep their distance from us; and we find it convenient to keep our distance from them. The IIT fame and brand name is professionally and academically a blessing; personally, it is a curse.

Our friend Smugbug sums it all up thus: People love to hate IITians. Why is it so few people have managed to make such a huge impact everywhere? We are praised for being such able torch bearers for India in countries like the US, impressing the world with our intelligence, hard work and dedication; but in the same breath, people utter some derogatory remark about brain drain and how much better off our country would be if we'd stayed. Every little issue that has anything to do with an IIT has to be bashed about in the press, and everybody has an opinion, even if 90% of them know nothing about what it means to be an IITian. And us fiercely independent and outspoken IITians have to respond, to something that concerns us, and the controversies and debates drag on until nobody can tell black from white any more.

The latest "IIT Controversy" is the new reservation policy being considered by the government. Personally, I feel like screaming that the people who did come in under the existing reservation scheme have struggled in the high-pressure environment far more than the others, and if only you'd been in an IIT you'd know about the depression and other psychological problems they go through. Just imagine the shattering blow to self-esteem a person would have if he had reason to think that he did not earn his position, but got it through something akin to charity; it's too good to give up, yet too hard to cope with. It's a living hell.

This is where an ordinary person gets affronted by my callousness and the arrogant presumption that some people are better than others. I am sorry, but some people indeed are better than others, and that is why it is best to have a purely merit-based system to determine who is good and who is not. Else, you are not only making life difficult for those who come through the reservation, you are blocking the opportunity for others who did earn their place.

And just when I though that this was the most obvious thing in the world to an IITian, I read this article written by a guy who was in my hostel, who I openly declare, is one of the biggest jerks I have ever met, and believe me when I tell you, I am a tolerant person. I acknowledge that the IIT-JEE is not perfect, but it is far better than other examination scheme we have in India. And what is wrong with a person getting through hard work and dedication rather than raw intelligence? The IIT credit system and testing system is not perfect, but pray tell me where is the comparison with, for instance, any of the local colleges in Chennai? I met a Mechanical Engineer once from a reputed college in Chennai - who had good grades, incidentally - and found out that he knew nothing about one topic because he knew he could "leave it in the choice" and little about another because he knew "which long answer was likely to come" on that topic and "mugged up that one alone". I stopped asking, for I recognized that I was embarrassing him unnecessarily, and had given him enough reason to hate me already. And for no real fault of mine.

It is true that many IITians join low paying software jobs, the same as a zillion other people in our country, but I know from first hand experience that most IITians doing research here in the US find themselves in a league of their own, making contributions that are anything but mediocre. If even an IITian can't see things that are clear as day to me, I think there is little hope of the rest of the world understanding.

Cheers,
Prashanth.

Do Something Constructive!

If we imagine that there's a devil and an angel inside each one of us, then the angel in me has always been screaming those words at the beginning of each vacation. The devil in me tells me to read novels and play computer games. Well, the devil usually wins!!

But, I've come to the sudden realization that if either my student status or bachelor status were to end, there will be no more long vacations to do all those things I wanted to do that can only be done during holidays. I mean, sure I'll have some time off now and then, but you can't beat a 3 month long summer vacation. So, I tried to jot down my "To Do" list for the vacations... and the first few things that came out were very loser-ly academic type things! *sigh* NEXT! I said to myself, and these popped out:

- Learn to skate well on ice. Right now, I can't even do a medium-speed stop maneuver. I enjoy skating, and it would be more fun, duh, if I could skate better.

- Refresh my English! We use so few words in regular conversation or writing that over a period of time, we stop using the really expressive words, even if we know their meanings and usage well enough.

- Write more poetry. Write some short fiction. Write longer fiction. Just write! Few people may read it... far fewer people may like it... but the day you lose your writing habit, you lose something precious. The day you lose your reading habit, you lose far, far more... but fat chance of that happening to me!

- Learn to cook better. With my genes I ought to make an expert cook, except that I don't believe talent is genetically encoded. But my Mom, my tongue, and my roommates will be infinitely happy if I can push my lazy self into reading a few cooking books for a change and churn out something beyond the basic few dishes I've taught myself so far.

- Keep physically fit. Go to the gym, play tennis, play squash, something. I used to play that odd game of cricket or volleyball... or, during holidays, sign up at the gym and pay them a few visits... in the past, to assuage my guilt, but I think its time for more drastic measures *determined expression*

- Learn one musical instrument, either the piano or the violin (my personal preference, no offense to guitars or drums or whatever). I've attempted to do both before, but I don't quite have the feel for them. But just because I'm bad at it doesn't mean I've lost the enthusiasm!

- And, my very own little secret wish: Ballroom dancing. Don't laugh! Chup! I said, Don't laugh! I have two left feet and a body more rigid than our last cook's puris, but I'll learn to dance with a partner and do it well, someday!

Add to this the Science blog idea, and I guess I can make this a busy summer for myself.

But why do I get the feeling I'm still not going to be doing too much beyond reading novels, playing computer games, playing bridge and doing my research? :)

Cheers,
Prashanth.