THE MYSTIC: PART I - THE SEEKER (Part 1 - THE SEEKER)

by Arindam Bhattacharjee

  “And what would that be? How do we scare him?”

  “We, especially you need to tell him, as he trusts you, that he suffers from blood cancer and all these symptoms are because of this. Then we will do an artificial bone marrow transplant operation on him and then tell him that he needs to be in a place that facilitates improvement in red blood cell count. We would demonstrate by putting him in hyperbaric chambers and show him how his RBC counts get affected and how his health improves in low atmospheric conditions. We would infuse into his body a change that will have an impact on his mind.”

  “So we do a fraud on Raghav's body to help him cope with this mind?”

  “This will only work when he completely follows our procedure. You will also have to play a role of dissuading Raghav from taking this decision by reminding him about the movement. The defense mechanism of his body will push him towards health away from what he is doing here.”

  Kutty replied ,

  “I will do everything to get Raghav back in sound mind. I think your plan will work.”

  Kutty left Dr Venkataraman's camp to bring Raghav for the procedure.

  7.6: Raghav’s Plan for the Scientists

  Understanding the plan Kutty ran to Raghav’s tent and saw him revising his chart. On seeing him in this position Kutty remarked, “Ganguly was right. You have developed an obsessive compulsive disorder about your chart. It is about to be published. Why don’t you get prepared for the medical examination that we had talked about yesterday?”

  Raghav looked puzzled,

  “What medical examination are you talking about?”

  “Raghav did you forget what I told you yesterday evening, when I came to meet you in the camp?”

  “I don’t remember.”

  Kutty visibly shocked replied.

  “That’s why Raghav we need to get you medically examined. Dr Raman has already made the arrangement to do some physical examinations. This will just take a few minutes of yours. Ganguly had been also complaining about your ill-health. So we just need to do a precautionary test.”

  Raghav hesitated saying,

  “I am okay I do not need a test. I just need to rest for some time.”

  “I insist you take this test as all of your friends over here are worried.”

  Raghav agreed.

  Raghav was brought to the medical tent where the chief physician Dr Joshi and his team were already ready for carrying out the tests. Dr Joshi asked Raghav to take part in a series of tests to check the proper functioning of his internal organs. Dr Joshi said,

  “You don’t need to worry. We will just take few blood, urine and stool samples to send to the lab. Next we will do some routine X-rays and perform a complete CT scan and ultrasonography of your internal organs.”

  Raghav looked worried but Dr Venkataram said,

  “Don’t worry Raghav this is a routine exercise. We also need to do this so that we know that you did not catch any infection during brain surgery. Thank god we have all the equipments available here.”

  Raghav quietly lay on his bed without saying anything more. Dr Joshi gave Raghav an injection and he went to sleep. Dr Raman performed few basic tests on Raghav.

  Next day Raghav woke up to see a team of doctors, Kutty and Ganguly standing next to him looking worried. Raghav asked

  “What happened? Why are you all looking so gloomy?”

  Kutty placed his hand over Raghav’s head and said,

  “We have bad news. Your test reports say that you are suffering from leukemia. We have sent the reports for secondary opinion and will wait for it to come back, but Dr Joshi over here is quite confident about the results.”

  Raghav looked tensed but Dr Joshi mediated saying,

  “Raghav it’s still in the first stage and if we perform a simple bone marrow transplant there is hope. But I must say this might be the reason you must have been feeling delirious for the past few days.”

  Raghav looked convinced by Dr Joshi’s argument. Kutty continued, “Raghav, you also need not worry about moving anywhere. We have all the facilities available here to do a bone marrow transplant. Luckily we also have a matching bone marrow donor from one of the comrades connected to the machine.”

  Raghav looked at Ganguly still not able to grasp the condition at hand. Kutty continued,

  “I know it would be ethically wrong of we don’t take his permission but in this scenario he would not know what actually happened to him. He will not feel anything and it won’t even harm him.”

  Dr Joshi commented cutting off Kutty,

  “It's a small procedure that we need to perform. A chemotherapy session and then we hope you will be fine. But given the condition of your mind as Dr Raman had reported to us, we need to be extra cautious during the whole procedure. I would insist you agree to this as soon as possible for your own benefit.”

  Raghav looked lost and in the state of confusion the images from the chart started floating in front of his eyes. He quickly closed his eyes to look the other way. Kutty and Ganguly looked worried and rushed towards him trying to get him out of an imminent fit.

  As Raghav woke up, Dr Khurana rushed to the tent screaming,

  “The intelligence now knows Raghav’s role behind the Manipur operations. Some images which we think are of the future suggests that the army is planning to flush us out from this location. So it would be better to lay low as probably there will be many satellite swipes over this region and moving the base might be risky now. We are doing more research to build up our ability to better the images. This will help clearly map out our threat perceptions. ”

  On hearing this Raghav suddenly sat up and said,

  “If the machine can see the future, then we must put all our resources towards making it better.”

  Raghav looked at Dr Khurana and asked,

  “How much certain are you that you will be able to do what you are saying?”

  Dr Khurana replied,

  “As I explained to you earlier - technically there is no difference for the subconscious mind to understand what is the past and the future. Since we never focused on digging so deep into the subconscious hitherto, all we need to do is to implement the old techniques on these new types of signals.”

  Raghav looked at Kutty and said,

  “Very well then, Kutty I hope you were able to tap into good reserves of dollars and other currencies that I had asked you to get.”

  “Most of the information you had given was accurate. I think we have more than enough resources right now to run our own country.”

  “That’s very good. I would suggest that we take this facility to international waters, far away from the reach of Indian security agencies.”

  Raghav then looked at Dr Joshi and added,

  “For god’s sake, fix me as soon as possible.”

  He looked at everyone and said,

  “Thank you all for the support and for helping me. I think the key lies in the future. Now I need to take some rest and I want you to leave me alone in this room.”

  As everyone left the room tears rolled down Raghav’s eyes and he started sobbing and quietly whispering the name of his wife. Kutty waiting outside the tent could hear Raghav. He knew how hurt his friend was with the lie!

  Next day doctors prepared for the surgery. Dr Joshi had suggested that to make Raghav feel that he was being part of any serious procedure, he must be given a small dose of radiation and both Kutty and Ganguly agreed to this idea. Raghav came mentally prepared for the surgery. After many days his mind was able to clearly think about one issue and not wander around the images of the past. Before lying down for the interview, he called for Dr Khurana to the operation theatre.

  Now concerned about his own health Raghav said to Dr Khurana, “Yesterday I talked to Kutty and we have decided to give $500,000 from our funds to your research on the future and the setting up a ship. I want you to start building up the requirements for a state of the art facility. You should be ready with your plan after I wake up fro
m the surgery.”

  Dr Khurana replied, “You will wake up tomorrow only.”

  “Or never! So that much time you have got”…”.

  Dr Khurana left the tent. Raghav looked at Dr Joshi and asked, “What are you waiting for? Start the procedure.”

  Dr Joshi and his team started assembling the anesthesia to be given to Raghav and began getting dressed for radiation therapy. Raghav looked at Kutty and Ganguly and asked,

  “What are you two guys waiting for? Go and help Dr Khurana with his plans. Don’t worry about me, I will be fine.”

  They left instantly and Raghav became unconscious after the basic dose of anesthesia. Next Dr Joshi gave Raghav few light doses of radiation that would not have a massive effect on the red blood cells but would show signs of radiation exposure like hair fall, weakness etc for few days. Dr Joshi and his team gave enough Becquerel of radiation that they knew could be treated by medicine in the next couple of weeks.

  Raghav was woken two days later to give the scientists more time to finish their plan. As Raghav woke up Dr Joshi explained, “Congratulations on the successful completion of the whole procedure. We have wiped out your cancer cells. Now your new bone marrow will be making new red blood cells in the next couple of weeks and you would be fine soon. Also the body has accepted the foreign bone marrow too.”

  However the first thing that Raghav asked was to get Dr Khurana to his tent. Dr Khurana rushed in with a printed layout of his plan. When Dr Khurana entered Raghav asked,

  “Were you able to sort out the plans?”

  Dr Khurana hesitantly replied,

  “Well Raghav I chalked out a plan for doing this exercise. The main change was installing a set of parallel processors that will act as an adaptive filter to sort out the signals that will represent the future. That would be the major set of changes from our past model.”

  “Good job. I hope you get the complete support from Kutty and his team.”

  Dr Khurana had not expected that Raghav would let him go so easy. Next he asked for Kutty. Kutty who was standing just outside the door entered. Before Raghav could ask Kutty said,

  “Raghav we have made the arrangements for moving our camp to an offshore facility on a ship. Don’t worry about this now; all we need to see is that you recover completely.”

  Dr Joshi made Raghav lie back again and explained,

  “Raghav we have given you chemotherapy treatment and your body needs to recover now. It would be better if you focus on your recovery rather than politics.”

  Kutty also chipped in,

  “Raghav you should rest and keep these thoughts out of your mind for the time being. We want you gain sound health and once more give the lead to our efforts.”

  Dr Joshi gave Raghav another shot of sedatives so that he could go back to sleep. After Raghav went to sleep Kutty said,

  “I think our efforts are working quite well. His mind is responding to external stimulus and suddenly he is not speaking nonsense. We have to make him realize that he needs to take time off from this responsibility. The other few days are critical.”

  Dr Joshi said,

  “I will keep giving him medication so that his body develops a sequence of low and high blood pressures at different times. Hopefully this will confuse the mind. We will keep him sleeping today also.”

  Next day when Raghav woke up he noticed tell-tell signs of radiation treatment. His body felt very weak and he did not feel like waking up. He kept sleeping in his tent and refused to meet anyone. During the next few days he saw his hair falling off - the first signs of radiation treatment. The mixture of medication sometimes increased Raghav’s heartbeat and he would then perspire profusely. Kutty insisted that he should remain relaxed as these may be the side effects of radiation therapy.

  Raghav was given more and more medication not to alleviate but to aggravate the symptoms. After a week of suffering, Kutty insisted that doctors should stop this inhuman practice on Raghav and give him some breathing space. As soon as the medication was removed Raghav was back to business. Even after so much pain Raghav carried himself with great dignity but the effect of the therapy had not waned out.

  His argument had become very convoluted supplemented by the pressure asserted by Kutty and his team to showcase Raghav’s inability to perform major tasks. Kutty many times failed to report about a new plan but he would later blame Raghav for his inability to take action. Kutty’s ploy was working and Raghav was slowly losing confidence and control over the mission.

  Raghav wanted that he research should continue. He stressed that the scientists should concentrate more upon mapping the future and should try to generate clearer visual images. He also ordered that if the scientists were not able to finish the work by one year then they should be shot. The throes of despair that Raghav suffered from due to Kutty and Ganguly’s efforts were more devastating than the spasms he had due to the side effects of manipulations of the subconscious.

  Some of these medicines were also causing severe physical pain and Kutty could no longer bear to see this. He went to Dr Venkataram and asked,

  “We must put an end to this torture. Raghav will not give in so easily.”

  Dr Venkataram replied,

  “Well I agree with you. Now you must make him understand that this sort of siege has left him languid and pallid and he is no longer capable of leading any mass movement. Once you get through this, we will start giving Raghav treatment in hyperbaric chamber and make him realize that he needs to go to the mountains.”

  Kutty agreed to play along this last time also.

  Kutty went to Raghav’s tent and saw Raghav sitting idle looking at a corner of a table. Kutty walked towards Raghav and asked,

  “Raghav how are you feeling today?”

  Raghav who has lost most of his hair by now replied,

  “I am okay. I was just thinking about whether it was my karma that I am suffering like this.”

  Kutty responded,

  “Why do you keep torturing yourself again and again? Anyway the thing that I have come to tell you is that the doctors have said that your new bone marrow is not able to build new red blood cells at the recommended levels needed for your complete recovery. They think that whatever is on your mind is putting a stress on your body and that is why your marrow is not responding in the way it should.”

  “Guess I am not doing it voluntarily.”

  “Well we know that, but doctors have come up with a new technique to counter this which will not require you to take any extra medication.”

  “And what would be your new plan? It seems I have now become a lab rat for scientific experiments!”

  Ignoring Raghav’s comments Kutty continued,

  “Well they suggest a hyperbaric chamber that will simulate the effects of low atmospheric pressure. They say under these conditions your body will start generating more and more red blood cells. This will stimulate your body at an altitude of 14,000ft and slowly we will increase it to higher altitudes. Under these circumstances your body will push your bone marrow to generate new red blood cells. They say this procedure should work and you might feel better after this."

  "So what are we waiting for? I am ready to be your rat again."

  Kutty did not respond. He held Raghav's hand and took him to the medical tent where the doctors had already kept the chamber ready. Raghav was made to lie down inside the chamber and the atmospheric pressure and oxygen levels were slowly lowered in the chamber. As this process was continuing pictures of the death of Raghav's wife started flashing in front of his eyes. When the pressure was further reduced Raghav started viewing more and more images of death and destruction.

  Kutty and Dr Joshi from outside the chamber kept shouting,

  "Raghav breathe. Please breathe"

  But Raghav was going into convulsions. Dr Joshi quickly took Raghav out of the chamber and pulled him out from the fit. Dr Joshi told Raghav,

  “Raghav you need to put in an effort so that your mind does not take ov
er you. You need to breathe and try to keep these thoughts come to your mind.”

  Raghav looked at Kutty who said,

  “Raghav you can do this. Just concentrate on your breathing.”

  Raghav did not say anything but closed his eyes to perform the experiment. This time Raghav tried hard not to be bothered by the evil thoughts in his mind. Dr Joshi raised the conditions to 14,000ft. Raghav initially had difficulty with breathing and felt his body going numb but Joshi kept telling Raghav about the possible effects. They kept Raghav in the chamber at 14,000ft for five minutes and brought him down to 10,000ft conditions.

  For the next week the same exercise was continued and finally they were able to touch the height of 20,000ft in the chamber. Even though Raghav was not suffering from any ailment this exercise made Raghav healthier than he felt before; it gave Kutty a chance to explain Raghav the main modus operandi.

  7.7: Exodus to the Himalayas

  After a week in the hyperbaric chamber, Raghav showed visible signs of recovery. Kutty observed,

  “It seems the doctors are saying that your red blood cell count has improved dramatically from the exercise. You must be feeling good now.”