Chapter 1. Lore

"are we close? " asked khushi while she gazed outside the window of the SUV. The road, and the trees seemed endless. The car was moving and yet it felt as if it was going nowhere. The winding road through the thick forest now seemed like an infinite loop to her.
" Gopal…?" she asked again,  still looking outside.
There was no answer. There was only silence.
With her eyes still transfixed at the passing trees she reached out with her left hand for Harshita who was sitting right next to her. She felt Harshita's hand. It was cold wet and sticky. A chill ran down khushis spine.
"Harshu...? " she called out. An intense urge of not looking inside flooded over her.  For some reason khushi was scared to look inside. She drew her hand back. She knew what the sticky fluid was. She was a doctor. She recognized it almost immediately. The car kept moving. And apart from the humming engine,  all was silent. Every instinct she had,  screamed to not look inside. But finally,  she gathered all her courage and looked.

Harshita sat next to her looking straight ahead. She was covered in blood. Her eyes were missing and she had a hideous smile on her face. Next to Harshita on the far end of the seat was Aman. At least what was left of him. If it was not for his yellow T-shirt,  khushi wouldn't have recognized him without his head. Gopals wrists held the steering wheel tightly,  but that was all that was left of him. Josie who sat in the passenger seat remained seated with an axe dug deep into his head with streams of blood running down his face. Khushi froze with terror.  She let out a scream...  And that was when the pain hit her. She felt weak as she looked at her own belly. There was a dagger stuck deep in it. Tears streamed down her face as she such her eyes tight.
"Nooooooo" she yelled as her last breath escaped through her lungs.

"and that's all that is known of that story" said Angelo staring deep into the flames of the campfire. " you see Geeta,  this forest is haunted... All the stories say so... "
" well I don't believe in ghosts" said Geeta " The only evil that I know of is corrupt politicians and criminals... And why would a ghost kill with an axe or a dagger!? …"
" Because it's a ghost,  it does what it likes... " said Angelo crossly " besides, we are reporters,  we should be open to all sorts of information."
" There is a difference between information and misinformation Angie. A reporter should know that! " said Geeta.
" what do you think new guy? " asked Angelo completely ignoring Geetas statement.
" well,  where I come from,  people do believe in ghosts and demons but they also believe that good always defeats evil." said the new guy as he adjusted his glasses.
" I'm stuck with a bunch of morons" said Geeta with a sigh as she got up to leave.
"wait" said the new guy.  "should you be going alone?"
" yes" said Geeta annoyed. " I prefer to go to the bathroom alone."
"sorry... " said the new guy as Angelo burst out into laughter.
" hey new guy,  why don't you tell me a scary story till she comes back... " said Angelo as he reached for a marshmallow.
" It's dangerous for her to go into the dark alone" said the new guy with a grim expression on his face.
" she is a black belt is some martial art bro" said Angelo casually. " Im actually worried for the ghost if  it shows up! "
" I'm serious angelo" said the new guy. " This place...  It doesn't seem right. "
" more than fifteen mysterious deaths in this forest.  Fifteen on record that is. This place is sure as hell not right!  But hey,  she reported from wars...  I guess. Bathroom run in a forest won't really harm her. " said Angelo.
" hmm I hope not." said the new guy as he gazed in the direction that Geeta had gone.
" well stop worrying." said Angelo. " now, about that story.  You got a good one? "
" as a matter of fact I do." said the new guy.
"so what are you waiting for? " asked Angelo with a smile. "tell me! "
" long ago there was a temple in this very forest. A cult temple that belonged to the God of demons. The high priest was a powerful necromancer who made a deal with the God of demons that if he consumed human flesh and drank human blood, the God would grant him immortality. The God agreed and made the necromancer a demonic creature with long dark hair and teeth and fangs like nails. The  necromancer then began hunting people from the nearby villages. The fear grew so much that the villagers prayed for a saviour. And then one day a hermit came along and decided to help the villagers.  The hermit searched the entire forest until he found the necromancer. After a bloody fight,  the hermit finally defeated the necromancer and turned him to a stone statue. " said the new guy as he munched on some marshmallows.
" interesting... " said Angelo
" the fight had worn the hermit down and he could only muster the magic to bind the necromancer for a hundred years." said the new guy.
"that sucks..." said Angelo. "continue…"
" that was a hundred and one years ago." said the new guy.
" oh,  so you mean the necromancer is back?  And those people,  he killed those people? " asked Angelo.
" yes! " said the new guy. " I have been researching it.  And frankly that's why I agreed to come here with you guys. To see if it was all true"
" and you call yourself reporters! " said Geeta as she emerged from behind a tree.
"woah. You scared me there! " said Angelo
" No you guys are scaring yourselves! " said Geeta. " I've heard those stories too and I don't believe one bit of them"
"you should Geeta ji" said the new guy. "If God exists, so do demons! "
"And what makes you think I believe in God? " asked Geeta with a smile. "Get some sleep guys,  we have a long trek tomorrow if we are to reach the latest crime scene in time"
"Isnt she is more bossy that she appears to be?" asked Angelo with a frown.
"Get some sleep" said the new guy. "I'll be on guard. I'll wake you up when I'm sleepy. "
" very well then" said Angelo as he stood up. " I hope that necromancer doesn't show up. And if he does,  do me a favour and run slower than me will you? "
" don't worry,  he won't get you on my guard! " said the new guy with a smile.
" before I go to sleep though,  I'm curious...  What was the name of this demonic necromancer?  Asked  Angelo.
" I don't know for sure,  but the people called him...  Something that starts with a k...  I can't quite remember... "said the new guy adjusting his glasses.
" was Ekta Kapoor the villager that named him!? " asked Angelo bursting into laughter.

"sleep angelo" shouted Geeta from her tent. " and you,  stay close to the tents and don't sleep before waking one of us up... You got that... Ugh.. What's your name again? "
" Gangadhar, Geetaji...  Gangadhar mayadhar vidhyadhar Omkarnath shastri. "
" I'm stuck with morons" sighed Geeta as she drifted off to sleep.

……….

Epilogue:

The foul stench of death filled the ruins of the temple as J.J. stood before the hulking demon creature.
" I sense a powerful presence in the forest. " he said.
The creature growled in acknowledgement.
" Could the Suryavanshi really be here? " J. J. Whispered to himself.
The creature growled again.
" it does not matter former priest,  as the new priest I assure you that you have all my power at your disposal. As far fetched as it seems,  even if the Suryavanshi is here,  you shall easily defeat him. Only two sacrifices left and you shall be completely immortal and command my army in the name of the tamraj."
The creature turned and began to leave.
" may the powers of evil guide you former priest." said J. J. " the world shall bow down to the tamraj and I Will be the king of the human realm. Along with my trusted commander,  you...  The ruthless kapala."

…………………..

This is specifically for you!

Hi,  has this ever happened to you?  You are sitting with a group of friends and there is total silence. The people sitting around you seem fixated on something and too dislocated from the environment around them to indulge in human interaction. Their face is illuminated and their mind is lost due to this device they hold in their hand called the mobile phone. Has that happened?  Is it happening right now as you read? Put down that phone and talk to the person nearby moron.

See you next time!

Why I play old games!

Hi, This is a short clarification on why I am a retro gamer. Why clarify?  Well why not?  So if you want to know why I'm a retro gamer,  read on. ( If not,  I'm glad you have better things to do... Congratulations on that.)

So yeah in order to understand why I...  Or for that matter why any one loves retro gaming, one needs to understand what retro games represent. History.  That's what they represent. See every art form has a history that is celebrated by studying it and there are only few art forms whose history you can celebrate by experiencing it first hand. Like for example, I could listen to old songs but maybe wouldn't get to see the musicians perform live in all their glory.  I could watch an old movie but maybe not in a drive in or a vintage movie theatre but with games,  owing to their recent birth,  I can experience them as they were meant to even in this modern era! Why?  Because I and others like me have preserved that history in a functional form. You could still find a zx spectrum or a coleco vision or a Famicom and hook it up and play it as people used to way back in history and that amuses me to a very large extent. It's like visiting Jurassic Park.

Another reason is the representation of an idea within the confines of limited resources. I respect the fact that the limit of just 8 bits did not stop the creators in telling a grand interactive story. This is evidence to the fact that an artist is not limited to his tools when it comes to expression. A retro game is a testament of human imagination and his willful suspension of disbelief.

Some people say that gaming is an activity children indulge in and they aren't completely wrong... Because gaming does being out the child in you. The pure joy after defeating a tough boss,  the frustration of a difficult level and the bliss of a completed game's ending are not logical and yet affect you deeply. And so as an end note,  I'd just like to say I'm a retro gamer because I have the wonderful and rare opportunity to be one! 

I hope you understand now...  And If you don't,  sorry...  Your princess is in another castle!

We might be in the matrix.

Hi,  so... To begin with,  I'm inspired to write after a year long break because of two things. First a friend just started doing a blog (Dr. Rajesh Khade.  Seek him out on facebook... He has good stuff to talk about),  reminding me I had started one centuries ago too which I had blissfully ignored. Second,  I got thinking and making a YouTube video about what I was thinking would be tedious. So here's what I have been thinking about.

You have seen the matrix right?  Sure you have. Remember all that stuff about simulated reality and those blue and red pills?  Well I watched a YouTube video about that and got to thinking about our perception of reality and what not. You see the movie speaks of a simulated reality that people perceive as the real world and how they remain oblivious to the... Ahem.. Real reality. It seems fantastical at first,  the entire premise. But as you go on watching,  it kind of makes sense and starts feeling logical. I mean the day and age that we live in, technology  could easily allow something of that sort to happen if we take cue from all those multi-player games and virtual reality doohikeys. But my concern is weather its already happening... Now now, don't think I'm paranoid or anything, I've got a good theory to explain it. You see, Facebook is the modern world matrix. And here's how I came to that conclusion. Some years ago,  a bunch of us volunteered to participate in this 'virtual community' out of curiosity and outright necessity of socialization. It began innocent. Simple even. Make a profile,  find your friends,  make new friends and connect with all those people.  Eventually we could share information in terms of literature, pictures and later on videos and audios all in the name of social interaction. We also felt heard owing to the likes and even shares that people made to our posts. Pretty soon communities and groups were formed and pages dedicated to ideals, idols and culture became abundant.  They said it helped us reach like-minded people and increase our circle of 'friends'. And thus, the purpose of facebook was served.
Today,  most of the world is on facebook.  All kinds of people. With all kinds of hopes,  dreams,  philosophies and thoughts. Facebook is where people go to say things and to hear what others have to say. But here lies the problem...for some people,  Facebook has become THE place to say things and hear what others have to say (me included). This has made likes and shares way more important than they have to be as important as real life reactions from real people. But is there a comparison?  If I get many likes on a post of mine...  Has everyone who has liked the post really liked the post? That's a philosophical question open to debate but I'd say no...  I don't believe everyone tfuely liked that post. Some were just being polite I guess others might be following common courtesy. Now if I know this,  why do I still yearn for likes? Why do you still yearn for likes? Because even if we agree we know the fact,  we don't truly believe the fact! Maybe we like the fact that many people agree to our thought and the glory of it makes our judgement cloudy. In other words,  we choose to be in an illusion of grandeur. Then there's the part about analyzing the state of the world through facebook. We as humans love to love and hate passionately. We realise that every post on facebook is biased owing to the fact that it is a statement made by a human and yet,  we see it as the reality of the state of the world. Why do we do this?  The same reason we watch a TV series. We love all the drama. This would all be OK if we could identify the line where facebook ends and real life begins...  But unfortunately,  the line has disappeared.  For some the virtual,  biased anarchist world of facebook is entangled with the mellower, more relaxed and orderly real world. For these people reality is something else. Now we can't escape this virtual world. We don't want to. Because the real world is mundane. But it is real. It is the truth.  And so I have to ask...

Do you choose the red pill...  Or do you choose the blue pill.