Now I Know Who I am

By Bhanu Chander V

Welcoming you to an all-new imaginary world with the introduction of a fictitious superhero - who has Indian Mythology roots. 

'Now I Know Who I am' is the story of the superhero from the past, who has been assigned the responsibility of saving the world at present. The book contains the elements of heroism, adventure, power, humor, friendship, family, emotions, trust and the right qualities of a good-natured human. 

The first part of this fantasy fiction describes the tale of a youngster, Somu, who faces several hurdles in his life. The story narrates on how Somu overcomes his negative thoughts and how he perceives them as positives. Soon, he realizes that he was made to suffer for a reason. Despite his sufferings, some supernatural powers keep watching him and impose difficult yet miraculous situations to test his abilities. After he overcomes those difficult situations by exhibiting his compassion, courage, deterministic, lust-free and celibate qualities, the supernatural powers appear and educate him of his connection with the superhero, who happened to be a warrior. While the current book revolves mostly around the story of Somu, the upcoming sequel will narrate the tale of how Somu realizes the superhero, how the superhero gains his previous as well as new powers and how he saves the whole world from the upcoming danger. 

This happened to be Bhanu's first book and is best for all age groups including children. The above-mentioned elements were highlighted so as to induce moral behavior in the readers. Especially in today's digital world where we all have access to different platforms that can easily distract us, talking about someone who does heroic deeds by exhibiting the praised qualities might try to change the mindset of the readers - making them think and act ethically (children and adult in specific). So, the characters in the story were carefully designed accordingly. This book could thus be a good gift for your dear ones and to youngsters.

Author's Appeal - Go green by choosing ebooks instead of paperbacks for genres like Fiction, fantasy, romance, sci-fi etc. Book genres like motivational/positive-thinking/self-help are worth to be kept in print forms and stack in your shelves or borrow to your known people for they come handy every now and then.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bhanu Chander V
• Release date: Jan 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386134541

Bhanu Chander V

Bhanu Chander V completed his masters (M.S. by Research, Robotics) in the year 2018 from IIT Madras, India. Apart from being passionate about research and engineering, he is a social worker, motivator, counselor and educationalist too. His blog Stuff you look, which covers many design related exams, provides free materials and strategical tips to thousands of students every year. Through his personal blog Bhanu stuff, he had shared career related free posters, videos, and PDFs that help the youngsters in their career and scholarship selection – exclusively made for the poor and the deserved. He had also sent the printed posters to hundreds of govt. schools around Tirupati. His upcoming two books on positive thinking and short moral stories will help the readers build confidence, attain success, turn their negatives into positives and also induces ethical behavior – ideal for all age groups.

Book preview

Chapter 1

The Supernatural Watchers

His eyes were still shut...

It had been more than half an hour since he was in that posture.

Well, that’s what Somu did every day between 6.30 to 8.00 in the evening. He sits down on the pavement walkway with his eyes closed, his back erect, and fingers and legs crossed. Somu had made it his routine—neither for any benefit nor because he had plenty of time.  Somu was still in his college, studying to his full potential. He usually doesn’t spend time like the majority of his age group does—like chitchatting, movies, hangouts etc. But visiting the temple, having darshan, sitting in that meditative posture and remember the God’s form for some minutes became his norm.

It's my obligation. Somu always felt so.

The pavement walkway was a raised platform measuring half-feet above the mud ground, situated inside the compound of Somu’s favourite Shiva temple. The walkway connected the main way to the Pavithra Kund situated at the southern corner of the temple. Pavithra kund was the name given to the well, which was pretty old, but was always filled with water. It had been customarily followed from several millenniums to explicitly use the well water for the regular seva to the temple deity.

At that minute, Somu’s intention was only three things—forgetting his surrounding disturbances, forgetting himself, and trying to retain his concentration at the top of his eyes. Somu had been practicing that for several months, trying to memorize the form of the God as if they were attached to his eyes pupil. Earlier, he could do that only for a few minutes. But things had improved with time. Somu’s body got accustomed to his routine and he would do that for quite a long-time without feeling stressed.

Enough, his inner conscious reminded him, Focus.

Few minutes passed. Somu felt a chill creep around his neck due to a swift breeze supplemented with a natural aroma. It triggered a soothing effect on him, assisting him to enter into a trance-like state. The chirping of insects gradually receded. Somu was virtually back on track with his focus on top of his eyes. That feeling persisted for a while until he got disturbed by a gentle touch of something above his right thigh. His whole body quivered as if his sensations were hyperactive.

What’s that? His hairs stood on end while his body shuddered with perturbation. At that instant, Somu felt like opening his eyes to examine what it was. But in a span of one second, he changed his mind for he considered it a challenge to assess his mastery. With that motto, he arrested his quiver and sat still.

Somu felt like something was being dragged over his right thigh from behind to front. He sensed the friction between his thigh and a smooth cloth-like thing. Initially it was light. But within a fraction of a second, he experienced the weight of that material. Alongside, he heard Padma murmuring. Her tone was not the usual and it disclosed her disquiet. It was as if she tried to say something but couldn’t. Padma also had the habit of visiting the temple every day and she happened to be the primary cause of disturbance to Somu during his meditation. Whoever she met, she would converse with them about her children, her family story, and anything that appears inane to the rest but a big wonder to her. She didn’t even bother speaking in low volume, seated as she was near Somu, even if he was meditating. At present, Somu wondered why her tone was different, added with few other people’s mumblings.

The weight had landed on his thigh for a few seconds and shortly afterwards that sensation was gone. It appeared to Somu as if a waste torn cloth had been dragged over him and was blown away with wind. He was satisfied by the way he quickly got back to his meditation. After a few more minutes, he sluggishly opened his eyes and leaned his body forward to relax. Somu could still visualize the imaginary form of the God on which he had contemplated till then.

A little later, Somu heard some people talking in a hushed manner. He looked towards the direction from where the noises came—only to notice seven people gathered. They kept gaping at him with startled looks as if they saw some wonder. Nagamani Swami, the head pujari of the temple, sprinted towards Somu. His eyes wandered left to right, as if searching for some lost precious gem. Leaning down, he questioned Somu in a low tone

‘Are you alright, son?’

‘Yes, Swami. What happened?’ Somu asked.

Swami looked flabbergasted. ‘How did you do that?’

‘How did I do what? I just sit and close my eyes. What’s new in that, Swami?’ Somu replied impatiently.

‘But...but...how did you stay still when that big Cobra crossed you?’ Swami revealed the fact.

‘Wh...what?...A snake?’ Somu uttered. He sprang up at once and promptly circled around to check if he was still in the company of a snake. But it was nowhere to be seen.

‘Yes, that’s what the pujari has been asking you.’ Padma finally spoke. ‘How did you sit motionless when the snake was crawling over you?’ She added in her shaky voice, ‘I would’ve gone crazy even if a small insect crawled on me. When it comes to big snake...’ she stopped. Her eyes widened to the size of an owls.

Before Somu could retort, Padma continued in a bitter tone, ‘I already told you all. He has been dozing instead of meditating.’

What? Is this the right time to joke? Somu was peeved, unable to appreciate her opinion. How could anyone sleep with their back upright?

‘Is that right?’ she turned towards Somu and grilled again.

‘I was meditating, aunty,’ replied Somu crossly.

‘How did you remain quiet then?’ Someone from the crowd raised the same question.

Somu was wordless as he was thoughtful, still trying to apprehend what had happened. A few seconds later he replied, ‘I don’t know. I did feel the sensation of something rubbing over my thighs, but I wasn’t perturbed.’

‘Nothing to worry, Somu.’ Nagamani Swami spoke, ‘Like the saying goes: ‘everything happens for a reason,’ there must be a reason why the snake crossed you without harming you in any way.’ he continued, ‘Come with me, son. Apply vibhuthi on your forehead and go back home. Don’t keep anything in mind,’ saying so he strode towards the Garbhagriha. Somu marched behind Swami. He offered his obeisance to god and applied vibhuthi on his forehead. He finally thanked the audience that was still gaping at him and then started back home.

Back at the temple, Subramanyam, the temple manager was informed of the appearance of a snake. The people that had witnessed the event couldn’t provide enough information. Although they sat near the entrance, they couldn't discern the snake until it magically materialized behind Somu, having climbed over him. Subramanyam engaged one of the temple's housekeeping men to pursue the snake and drive it away from the temple. He was oblivious as he was not certain how the snake had entered. Since the temple was surrounded by a pond and they had never seen a single snake or even a frog in it, they felt astounded by its unexpected presence.

'Regardless of how it came,' Subramanyam spoke to the workman, 'we should find it and let it out. There is no way out other than the entrance, not even holes in the compound wall, and therefore we need to force it out.' The housekeeping guy nodded. He then took a meter-long stick and engaged himself in searching the whole temple.

While everyone was searching for the snake inside the temple, the snake, which had vanished inside the temple, had appeared in the deep forest—several meters away from the temple compound, behind the backside compound wall. That location was usually deserted because of being covered with thick forest that didn’t even allow sunlight to pass through the trees.

The cobra crawled slowly, crossing the bushes and stones behind the temple. It kept crawling for a few more meters until the ground was reasonably free of bushes. It halted and raised its hood while it hissed, flicking its long tongue out. The snake's eyes were dazzling brightly in the combined darkness of the dusk and the deep forest. It turned its head around and inspected the area—to see if it was alone or being watched. After ensuring its lone presence, it slowly raised his head higher than before. The snake changed colour from wheat to yellow as it kept rising and at the same time its body grew in size too. As it continued rising, flames appeared above its head. Initially, the flames were too low. Within seconds the flames picked up, creating smoke above its head.

The entire upper part of the snake’s head started melting, while it kept raising its head. Concurrently, its body grew thicker in diameter and the body colour turned white. Slowly, the whole upper body of the snake melted like wax and the molten material started taking the shape of a human head. Hair appeared and it continued growing while two branch-like structures emerged from the body. It kept growing until the trunk-like branches took the shape of hands, while the head was ready with long hair. Few more seconds passed and the snake had taken the shape of a six-foot tall woman with white silken hair touching the ground. The woman wore white clothes and held a lotus in her left hand. She looked beautiful with her milk-white complexion. She wore saree in an unique way that covered her whole body except her legs, arms, neck and face. She illuminated the whole surrounding—making the evening look like noon. In some time, the intensity of her radiance diminished to a level that kept her glow in that darkness.

No sooner did she take human form, the adjoining trees started waving, generating a gust of wind around the whole area as if they welcomed her. Plantains and flowery bushes around her started blooming in that darkness. All the flowers faced her. Birds and animals surrounding that area went unconsciousness because of her presence. She hovered in mid-air. Turning around, she gave a gentle smile before she rose above the trees and flew in the opposite direction of the temple compound, passing over the forest. The forest ground was flat behind the temple for almost half a kilometre after which it sloped up leading to a hill. The lady flew over the hill and landed above a stone-made structure, situated on top of that hill.

By then, someone was waiting for her arrival at that site. A bizarre form emerged from behind a nearby tree trunk, making itself partially visible. It was neither human nor animal. It looked half transparent and had neither hands nor legs. The creature wore a hoodie while the lower portion were made of a black semi-transparent gown that kept fluttering due to wind. Nevertheless, its inner body parts were invisible. The hoodie was hollow, which appeared to be the creepiest part of the creature. However, regardless of the hollow head, the creature had two circular eyes—illuminated with dim light. The circular flat eyes neither had iris nor pupil. The size of the eyes was bigger in terms of its body to eye proportion.  Of all the creature's body, its eyes were the only part that kept gleaming, while the rest was dark. The creature hovered forward towards the lady and asked while it bent down.

'Did you get it?' The creature’s voice sounded abnormal as it made a squawking noise.

The lady smiled and opened her hand—revealing a handkerchief to the creature.

That was Somu's kerchief!

She had managed to steal it from Somu when she, in the form of a snake, crawled above him.

'Very well,' the creepy creature replied in its squawking voice. 'Shall I proceed then?'

'Did she come?'

'Not yet, I thought you both will come together!'

'No,' the lady replied, 'Let me call her then.'

The lady landed on the structure underneath her. Her milky white legs melted into the structure as she lowered. Within seconds, her whole body got dissolved into the rocky structure, making her disappear. The creature stood at the same location patiently, without being bewildered. It had seen her do that earlier, on multiple occasions. After a few seconds, the surface where the lady had merged before—started fizzing. The creature hovered a little backward when it saw the woman’s head appear and raise above the bubbling stone structure. She showed her head, her upper parts and finally the whole body. It took her only a fraction of a second to come out completely. But before she could come out, the black creature witnessed the wobbling of the earth on the open land of the flat hill surface, to its left, above which the structure was present.

On the way—while returning back to his home from the Somakaileshwara Temple—Somu recalled the unforeseen incident that had ensued earlier. Typically, during his round trip to the temple, he used to contemplate on Gods. Along with that, he observed the environs, nature and climate—relishing the muteness and the natural sounds of the deep forest, animals and insects on both sides of the road leading to the temple. But today, from the minute he stepped out of the temple until now, his mind was filled with the thoughts of the snake. In order to avert his distractive thoughts, he shifted his focus in appreciating the temple facts and about the surrounding forestry hills.

While walking, he spun back to have a quick glance at the fabulous front-view of the Somakaileshwara temple. No doubt—the temple and its locality topped the list of incredible places he had ever visited. Somakaileshwara temple was encircled by a small pond on all sides and stood near the foot of a narrow hill located in the valley between two other hills. River Jalamukhi separated the town from these hills and the temple. The temple was situated around 1.2 miles from a bridge made of boulders, constructed several centuries ago. Jalamukhi flows from a water reservoir preserved by a dam. Little before the boulder bridge, Jalamukhi splits into two branches that flows on either side of the temple, a little far from it. Both the separated water bodies unite again somewhere behind the hills.

The temple was thus on an island with the two water bodies flowing on either side. That old yet strong bridge was the only way to enter the other side of the town, leading to the temple. While Somu recalled the temple specifics as he paced forward, he saw giant banyan trees present on either side of the road. The trees were pretty old and were present in large numbers throughout the stretch. Even during the sunny days, the dense and thick foliage prevented even the passage of sunlight through the gaps.

The first half of the road connecting the bridge to the temple was reasonably wide and pleasant. The walkway was so convenient and enjoyable that many residents of the town usually strolled around for morning and evening walks. Second half to the temple was even more silent and pleasing, but was just half as wide. The surroundings were fused with the strong aroma of flowers, leaves and saplings—enough to enchant anyone into a stupor or a tranquil state. The road gets narrow down further as it approaches the temple. People therefore favoured strolling only till the first half. Only those going to the temple took the second half too, which was thus less congested.

The forest and the hills had historical significance—just like the temple did. The temple had been built several millenniums ago and there were numerous stories that narrated the reasons behind its construction and the split of river Jalamukhi into two branches. Irrespective of the divergent stories that different sectors of people claimed to be apt, one thing was clear—the temple was constructed during the period of Lord Rama after his successful battle over Ravanasura, the great demon king who abducted Mata Sita and demanded her to marry him by giving her time to decide, before which Rama invaded Lanka with the backing of a massive vanara (monkey) army of the vanara king Sugriva and his minister the great Hanuman.

By the time Somu recalled the history of the temple, he was no longer feeling unsettled and he was back to his typical steady state. As his focus shifted to observing the environs—the chirping noises of the insects reminded him of the beginning days of his temple visits. A few months ago, when he had started visiting the temple, alone, after dusk, the intense chirping sounds used to be eerie. Now, it became a part of his everyday activity. He grinned, feeling exultant of his adaptive nature. Crossing the boulder bridge, Somu focused on the Shiva Linga form and took long steps as he walked on the cantonment road.

At last! She is here, the creepy creature thought when it witnessed the flat earth surface crack and mix inside, next to the structure on top of which they hovered. It appeared as if the earth was drilled from inside—causing the loose sand to rise and slide above the surface. Soon, the loosened earth started transforming into a silhouette. Initially, it took the form of a head along with hair—totally with sand. The whole silhouette rose upward slowly, while the transformation kept on. In parallel, the loosened sand became sticky as it converted into mud. The silhouette took the shape of a mud-woman, with the body surface having cracked-mud texture. The silhouette eyes were the only part that shone. It was eerie to see her in that form, especially with the dry cracked texture all over her body. At last, the cracked-mud skin texture liquified and transformed into regular human skin. After the complete formation, the newly emerged creature appeared as a regular woman of a dark complexion would. Her long hair pierced the ground, retaining perpetual contact. Her body illuminated lustfully though she appeared brown in complexion. The earth underneath her formed a platform and moved up—upraising her. While the platform ascended, the ground surface—from where she emerged—and the platform got linked by a thick mud-made pillar like connection, except that the pillar was not straight but took curves as she floated. She landed above the structure after which she took slow steps towards the center where the first lady and the bizarre creature had been waiting for her. The two beheld her as always.

'Any progress?' questioned the beautiful second lady. Her voice was sweet and pleasant.

'I got his kerchief.' The first lady revealed the piece of cloth in her hand.

'Very well,' smiled the second, 'we will proceed with our plan then.' She looked at the black creature.

The creature bloated its round eyes and drifted forward near the first Lady. The first Lady slid her hand with the kerchief into the black semi-transparent creature's body. Her hand disappeared till the wrist as she moved forward. A few seconds later, she retreated her hand. Her hand was now bare and the kerchief was gone. She had dropped it inside the body of the creature.

'You may proceed now.' The first lady gave permission to the creature to implement their experiment.

'Meanwhile, we will wait here until you arrive. We have things to discuss,' she added.

The creature’s body bent and leaned forward as it bowed to them. It then started sinking down sluggishly. Unlike the first lady who had melted into the ground or the second lady who made the mud quiver when she appeared, the black creature did nothing to the environs. While it descended underneath, it appeared as if the transparent body was fading into the structure, while the structure remained as it was.

Before the creature’s round eyes went down, the second lady insisted, 'Remember what we talked about, and, be careful!'

The creature eyes enlarged as it spoke, 'Yes, I will.’ Saying so, it descendent down the structure, vanishing completely.

'Will that be sufficient or do we really have to take Somu there to know the exact condition?' questioned the second lady.

'I fear we can't take him there as of now,’ the first responded, ‘you know very well he is not ready to face it!'

The mud-woman nodded, 'But still, I feel the kerchief scent is too low for them to sense his presence.' She was still hesitant whether their idea will work or not.

'That can't be helped, sister,' exclaimed the first lady, 'we can't risk the worse to happen.' She continued, 'In case they sense his presence when we take him without a pilot trial, the situation would turn out a catastrophe. In fact,’ she sighed before she continued, ‘they wish to see him die awfully!’

'Agreed.' The second lady fell silent. She thought on the subject for a few more minutes. Finally, realising that the best possible attempt was what they had planned, she changed the subject to their actual talk.

Somu paced hastily towards his home as if he was in a race. For some reason, the road looked deserted that evening. Street lights were either poor or were off at some locations. But he was able to discern obstacles on the road very clearly due to the bright moonlight. After twenty minutes, he reached home. As he sauntered through his house’s half broken entry gate, he heard a familiar voice.

'What kept you so late, Anna?' demanded Krishna, Somu’s younger brother. He came out running to greet Somu.

Somu perceived that Krishna had been waiting for him for quite a long time. Krishna came forward and clasped his tiny arms around Somu’s thighs. He was only four years old at the time. He adored Somu a lot because Somu always permitted Krishna to play with him even when he studied. Somu allowed his brother to accompany him whenever he went out for grocery shopping. During weekends, Somu would escort Krishna to a nearby kindergarten playground, and carried along his own books. While Krishna played with the children of his age group, Somu would sit on one of the garden chairs and read books, keeping an eye on Krishna so that he wouldn’t run into trouble.

Krishna was still clasping his brother’s legs firmly. Somu raised him up using both his hands. He threw him up high in the air and then caught him as he descended.

'Ha...ha...ha.' Krishna's cheeks turned red as he guffawed, his expressions cute as usual. He always loved being thrown up and caught.

'Do it one more time, Anna.' He was full of demands.

Somu did it again and then asked, 'Where's Amma?'

"Our mother is in Anitha auntie’s home.'

'She left you alone? Somu questioned him with disbelief.

'Yes. Amma asked me to come with her. But I said I'm fine here and occupied with pencil sketching. Anyway, when I have this Hanuman ring why should I be afraid?' He showed the ring on his middle finger with such pride that Somu was amazed. 

'Oh, my little brother became Mr. Gutsy.’

'Yes. I can smash any monster with a single blow of my fist,' saying so, he punched his hand in the air which hit Somu inadvertently. Somu rubbed the attacked part of his body, bearing the pain with a smile. Krishna laughed loudly while he held his tiny hands near to his mouth.

With little kids like Krishna around, life would always be blissful, cheered Somu.

He then sauntered towards the left compound wall and peeped into his neighbour’s home. Shanthi, his mother, and Anitha, his neighbour, were both sitting outside Anitha’s home, mending old clothes. Shanthi had been keeping an eye on Krishna from there. They all knew Krishna was not naughty enough to cause trouble to them. Krishna enjoyed being busy in activities that typically didn’t end up in chaos or spoiling something. 

Shanthi gestured, pointing at Krishna, as she gazed at Somu.

'No problem, Amma. Krishna is with me,' said Somu. With that, both Shanthi and Anitha collected their weaving tools and went inside to continue their work. They mended old clothes part-time to earn some money for domestic expenses. Occasionally, Shanthi would receive new clothes for stitching from her contacts since she usually charged less and her workmanship was up to the mark. She had long desired to purchase a stitching machine but she couldn't afford to get one yet. The reason was their poverty. Their income was below middle class and their family often had to work hard even for a proper meal. Regardless of their poverty, Somu’s parents considered his education as their priority and so he was able to continue it.

Somu washed his legs and went inside along with Krishna who sat on his back.

Chapter 2

The Time has come

Far behind the