CHAPTER 18

By the time I returned Indira had removed not only Lord Krishna, but the low table on which he was playing his favorite flute. She was sweeping there.

"You didn't have to wipe there now. Any way it is going to be littered with stones and mortars."

"It doesn't matter. Let the place be clean when you start the work. Anyway I had to clean the table and all. I haven't done it this time yet."

The table is 2 ft long and half a foot wide standing on four turned legs with handiwork on it. It was made of rosewood. There was dark mark on the wall where the table was kept. I decided to start breaking there itself. I took the pick axe.

That wall was made of bricks made of mud and baked in kiln, so it was much easier to break. The walls in other rooms are made of red stones and are big in size. It was difficult to break the wall in Old Man's room.

When I removed plaster in an area covering four bricks and when I was about to remove the first brick the current failed and it was pitch dark. There is the sound of wind lashing outside and raindrops falling heavily on the rooftop.

"I will bring the torch just now." Vandana said.

"No, Vandana." I forbade her from going alone. "Don't go there alone. Not only that the torch light won't do. Let the current come back."

"Indira fumbled on the table and took the matchbox, and lighted the brass lamp.

"I don't think the current will be coming in the near future." Indira said. "Do you think they're going to repair the line in this strong wind and rain? Some trees might have fallen and snapped the electric line."

"Let the current come, or we'll do it tomorrow during day time. God knows what is in store for us when the wall breaks!"

"That's enough Mummy," said Vandana. She has also started a bit shaky seeing the hurry with which Mom is doing things at the last moment. "What Dad said is true. We don't know what we are going to see. So let us break it when the light is on."

"I will bring a lantern. That light is enough. Once we started we should finish it today itself. Why are you two so scared?"

Indira has gone to fetch the hurricane lantern and returned immediately with a lighted lantern. Keeping the lamp on the floor she stretched her hand.

"Come, get me that axe. I will break it."

"No thanks, I'll do it." I started breaking the wall. When two bricks were removed Vandana called out.

"Look Dad, there is something in it!"

I was taken aback. Indira stooped to look down and said.

"It looks like a jar."

True it is a big copper jar, scarred with oxidation."

At last! It was for this moment we have been working for all these years!

"Guess we'll have to remove at least three or four layers of bricks." Indira said. "And then we can take it out by tilting it."

It is better to remove as little bricks as possible, so that repairing that portion will be easy. I continued breaking it. The jar was mighty heavy and I with the help of Indira took it out. It was closed tightly with a copper lid. When the lid was wiped with a wet cloth the figure came visible. It was full of triangles, and more triangles inside triangles, and some letters inscribed in each triangle. It looks like a tantric image. I was wondering what it all means."

"Now, how to open this jar?"

"I will open it somehow. Nandetta you bring it upstairs." Indira said.

Indira has already picked up the lantern and started walking. It wasn't easy to climb the staircase with the heavy jar, and by the time I reached the top I was panting heavily not only from the weight of the jar, but with uncontrollable excitement. The ecstasy I have been feeling was beyond the tolerable limits for me. Indira went straight to the window to close it.

"Place it here." Indira said pointing to a mat made of grass reeds spread on the floor. I kept the jar on the floor and there was a jingle heard from inside, must be coins. Indira was inspecting its lid.

"You have to turn this lid to open, looks like it has threading." Indira said. "Let me try it."

She was trying to open it.

"Mummy, I will...." Vandana said.

"No, you can't. It has stuck there due to oxidation. Nandetta you try." She said panting.

I used all my force to open it, but it came off during the first twist itself. The force I had used was not necessary to open it. Indira and Vandana made an exclamation sound and looked at each other, as if to say 'Just See!' I was, but scared. The same freight that I felt when opening the writing table in the attic.

Indira brought the jar to her, removed the lid and tilted it in the mat. There were gold coins, innumerable coins. There was no visible damage except that the color is slightly dim. We took those coins in our hands. They were sovereigns issued in the name of British kings and queens. The one I have taken bore the image of George V and was issued in the year 1811. It hasn't lost its luster.

Indira poured the contents of the jar on to the mat. Countless coins, and in between there were many tiny cloth bags. Indira took out a bag and opened it. There were various ornaments in it, necklaces, bangles, thick bangles with designs on it called kadakam, ear drops etc.

"Let's first count the sovereigns." Indira said with enthusiasm, and before she finished her sentence she has already started stalking the coins. Vandana, who had shown her displeasure in the haste her mother was showing, also joined in stalking the coins.

"All these are gold, Dad?"

"Yes, dear, these are the original British sovereigns. All these are 24 carat gold. Each coin bears the image of the King who was ruling Britain at the time of issue. Look this is the head of George V; this is Eduard VII, then Queen Victoria. I think you'll get much more for these coins than the price of gold, because these are collector's item now. Even if we get the current price of gold it will be sizeable. The stalks are mounting in rows and somehow I was scared of counting them. At a glance there are over a hundred stalks and there are coins still to be stalked. God, what's the meaning of all these?

For the first month celebrations after the birth of Vandana we didn't have money to buy a small necklace and waste chain for her, and we had to sell one of Indira's bangles to buy a necklace. The waste chain remained a dream only. It is in front of that father and mother that gold coins worth hundreds of thousands pour in heaps. I just couldn't believe.

I looked at the clock. Time is 11 O'clock. Kuttettan will be in the office now. I took my mobile and started dialing. Kuttettan won't answer the phone and treat it as a missed call and will dial back. He didn't want me to spend money on such long distance calls. In a minute the phone rang.

"What's cooking Nandu?"

"You remember that old copper chess board, which we got from the attic?"

"Then what? That blasted board made us crazy? Why? Did you get any clue?"

"Not clue. We got the stuff; a lot of British sovereigns and ornaments. We don't know how much it is. Your sister is counting them now."

"Whom should I congratulate? It must be my niece. I know you two are just dummies."

I laughed.

"Where was the treasure that Ittiraman Menon hid so secretly?"

"It was in the Pooja room. Behind the Krishna idol there was a hidden room, just one and a half feet wide. It was in that, just behind the idol."

"So, as children we have all along been praying to Money! How can we get salvation? Have you heard anyone praying in front of the heads of British kings and queens to prosper in life?"

I laughed.

"And another thing. Half of this belongs to Kuttettan, and we'll keep it here for you."

"Don't you want to hear from me?" Kuttettan's voice suddenly became rough. "Do you remember the hits that I used to give you when you make mistakes in math? Do you want more of it now? Look, you have a lot of debts to repay. In my fair estimate it amounts to some two hundred thousand. First repay all that, and then set aside a fund for Vandana's education. If there is still left in it, keep it for her marriage expenses. And if there is still something left you old man and woman ‘live happily ever after’ with it. The American company is paying for a comfortable living, and my American wife and my two daughters make much more than what is needed. Do you understand? You know what you'll get if you talk like this......"

I was crying.

"You silly ass, why are you crying? Give the phone to my niece......"

After counting the coins, we have hidden the jar safely inside the cupboard and lay down to sleep. I was sure that it was going to be a sleepless night.

"We should get up early and clean up and room after replacing the bricks on the wall."

"We can do that." Indira said. "But don't worry. Devi is having her periods and won't enter the Pooja room for next three days. When you go out tomorrow remember to buy some cement. We have to take sand from our pond. We can repair that wall and whitewash the whole room. Same way we have to repair the wall in the Old Man's room as well. There we need to whitewash only one wall, because it will be kept locked anyway and Devi won't go there."

"All right now try to get some sleep."

On the other side of the room Vandana has fallen asleep in her bed.

"Nandetta, what’ll be the value of one thousand two hundred sovereign?"

"At today's price it is going to be a sizeable amount."

"Still, tell me approximately...."

"It could be over seven million."

"And then there are the ornaments. That itself will be a sizeable amount. I should check them up in detail once Devi goes back tomorrow morning." Indira continued. "Nandetta, we are rich now, isn't it?"

Suddenly I felt so much love and compassion towards Indira at that moment. We had started building our house immediately after marriage. It was all done with bank loan and the repayment installment was quite a sum. There were other debts, like personal loans, most of them to be repaid immediately. So very little was left of my salary. It was at that time Indira conceived Vandana and she had a lot of wants and cravings, which I couldn't fulfill. When she insists on buying something I used to get mad. Actually at a time when she should have been the happiest she must have been in a very bad position.

I said. "Yes, Indira, finally we are rich."

I felt sleepy and when woke up there was light in the room. I looked up the clock. It was 3 O'clock. Probably we had forgotten to switch off the light and it must have started burning when the current came. I tossed in the bed. If I get up to switch off the light I will ruin my sleep. It was then that I noticed that Indira was not in the bed.