Ravi the Unknown Prince

by Rookmin Cassim

  “Dad told you of his illness, cousin Hasan?” he asked.

  I could not speak so I nodded my head in response and then I said, “He has, cousin.”

  Alam told us that he was going home and that he would see us in the evening and bring the girls to meet me.

  He got up and gave uncle a hug and I stood up and hugged him. He waved to us as he drove through the black wrought iron gates.

  I asked uncle what girls were cousin Alam talking about. He told me his two wives, not his children and that he called them his girls.

  He also told me that Alam was a good man and when I took his place here I should hold on to him like my own.

  He had his own business on the mainland which he bought for him and that he now owned two restaurants.

  One of his wives owns a bakery and the other one is a nurse in the local hospital.

  He has six children, four with one woman and two with the other, three boys and three girls beautiful children and they all call him grand-dad.

  That plane he said belongs to him, but Alam took care of it and takes him around and if he needs it he uses it.

  “Tell me about your son in Canada?” I asked.

  He said that his name was Nazir and that his parents died in a flood one rainy night when the river burst its bank and swept away their house.

  The house landed next to a tree and inside it was a three year old child crying. Some fisher-men heard him and brought him out.

  When his wife Shereen heard that news she went to the police station on the mainland and asked if she could take the child and care for him.

  No relatives came forward so they handed him over to her. He was very intelligent and always top in his class.

  When he grew up he told them that he would like to become a doctor and to help people.

  He sent him to study in Canada so that they could visit him regularly and he could come home from a flight from Ottawa in five hours.

  Then he met Nasreen a Pakistani girl at the same university, she was doing business studies.

  They wanted to get married after he qualified, but her parents took her away to Pakistan to get married to her cousin.

  Nazir came home devastated he went off and stayed with the work men in the ranch.

  He lost his parents when he was a child and now the woman he was looking forward to settle down with was taken away from him.

  He had no words of comfort to say to him and his wife was also feeling Nazir’s pain.

  He and his wife both met Nasreen a few times he said, and that she was a lovely girl and had her heart set on Nazir.

  She ran away before her wedding in Pakistan and came to Barbados where she knew a business man and his Indian wife.

  One night he had a telephone call from a woman asking to speak to Nazir. She would not tell him who she was although he told her that he was Nazir’s father.

  She wanted to speak to him in person and he told her that Nazir was not at home and that he would have to send for him, and that she must ring back in the evening.

  He could hear someone crying in the background before he placed the receiver back on to the telephone.

  Then he thought that it could be Nasreen and he sent Alam to fetch Nazir and when he arrived he told him about the phone call.

  He said it could be her and asked what she wanted with him; she was now married to someone else and that he did not want to speak to her.

  He told him if she rings again he must take that call as it could be something very important.

  She rang again in the evening and he spoke with her and told her to come to the airport in Georgetown and he would be there.

  Alam went with Nazir and they brought her back here; with-in a week he got them married.

  Then her father turned up and he said that he thought we lived in the jungle in tree-houses.

  He said he became annoyed and asked him who gave him that idea and does this building looks like a tree house.

  Nazir and Nasreen stayed with them for six months and then they returned to Ottawa.

  He bought them a business which she runs and two houses which he rented out for extra income.

  “He and Alam are not entitled to inherit anything from this Estate, only if you wish to give something to them.

  I do not trust Nasreen’s father he said, when I told Nazir that I found my nephew and that he is a Professor in a Cairo University.

  His father-in-law was there and he asked me whether his daughter and son-in-law would inherit Manaos and live at the Palace.

  I told him that my nephew had not made contact as yet, but when he did if he decided not to be the next ruler of this Kingdom the Estate would be sold and the proceeds would go towards his children, the next generation of Latchman.

  “Does this Pakistani man knows that Nazir and Alam are not your own children?” I asked.

  He replied that he made it clear to Nasreen before the wedding ceremony to give her enough time to change her mind.

  He told her that Nazir was an orphan but he loved him like a son and would make sure that he was well provided for before he died.

  They do not have my surname he remarked, Alam is Alam Brown and Nazir is Nazir Persaud but they were brought up as Muslims.

  Edwin is my Lawyer and you must use him also, he knows every-thing about this Estate and what is going on.”

  Then uncle’s carer Habib came in to remind us that it was our prayer time, we both got up and went to have a wash before praying.

  Habib was waiting for uncle holding a white enamel jug filled with warm water.

  He was pouring the water slowly while uncle was performing his ablutions.

  Then he handed him the towel to dry his face and hands and another one for his feet.

  Habib then sat on the stool and performed his ablutions afterwards the three of us went to pray.

  Habib led the prayer and when it was over he left us. Uncle sat on a stool and I sat next to him on a prayer mat.

  He asked me how I found Islam and I told him that I was always searching for the truth.

  It all started when I went to New York and met a student from South Africa in my College and he gave me an insight into Islam.

  We met again at Harvard University and then we went travelling together to India to look for my ancestors’ with-out success.

  I went with him to his home town in Durban South Africa and stayed a few days for his sister’s wedding and then I returned home to get married.

  Uncle told me that he had also done some travelling. He went to India and Pakistan. In India where grand-mother Razia once lived was now a hotel.

  He visited the Summer Palace up in the mountains, four people on the back of an elephant going up a steep hill.

  The air, he said was fresh and cool and in the evenings the ceilings of the bedrooms lit up like stars.

  He bought some of those glittering stars and had them fixed on the ceilings in some of the bedrooms upstairs.

  He also travelled to the state of Punjab to visit the golden temple in Amritsar and the river Ganges where thousands of pilgrims journey each year to bathe in those waters.

  Afterwards he went to Pakistan to visit Nasreen’s grand-parents he said that they were lovely people; very welcoming, poor but humble.

  Then he met the man Nasreen was going to marry and take back to Canada for residence over there.

  He did not know who he was and he was cursing Nasreen that she was an educated so-and-so and she thought the sun shined off her backside.

  He was in a fight and two of his front teeth were missing, he said that he thought; why someone in their right mind would give their beautiful daughter to an unemployed uneducated foul mouthed man like this.

  That evening after we had our supper, uncle took me to the opposite side of the Mansion when the sun had disappeared over the horizon.

  We sat on the veranda on a large sofa overlooking a back garden which was divided into different sections.

  It had water features with f
lowering plants, another part had a variety of fruit trees, and the last section was a vegetable garden. It was well-maintained and tidy throughout.

  Habib brought us a tray of tea; he poured it out and gave uncle a medium sized cup with “Dad” written on it.

  Then he handed me a blue mug with a maple leaf and Canada written at the bottom of the leaf.

  I was wondering whether he was trying to tell me something, I said, “Thank You,” and he smiled and walked away.

  Uncle told me that we were going to visit the ranch the next day and we were going to spend the night there.

  He wanted me to meet with some of his men and to get acquainted with them.

  So far he had not asked me whether I was willing to come and live at the Palace but he assumed that I would take up the offer.

  While we were sipping our tea he said, “I would like to ask you one favour, Hasan, you can either say yes or no.

  I would like to go back to the West Coast to be buried next to my mother in the family grave-yard.”

  My heart sank when he said those words and I thought that this man had been looking for me for nine years because he wanted to be buried next to his mother.

  I owned that land in which he wanted his body to be laid to rest, it was that important to him and I could not deny his request.

  I put down my mug and gave him a hug with tears in my eyes I said,”Uncle your wish is granted.”

  He answered softly, “Thank you, Hasan.”

  Then he told me that his mother loved him very much and would give him money every time he visited her.

  And that he was not a good son he did not get on well with his father, his father loved Arjuna his brother.

  And he would ignore him where-ever he came to visit them, but their mother loved both her sons equally.

  He said when he told his wife about his past life and how his father disliked him and that he was going to look for his brother to keep in touch, but she stopped him.

  She wanted him to leave every thing to Alam and Nazir but after she died he felt that it was important to bond with his brother and his children.

  Arjuna had done him no wrong neither had his children, like the saying goes, blood is thicker than water or blood runs in the vein and water runs in the drain.

  Some months later he went to ‘Hope Village’ and went to his brother’s house and he saw that the gate was padlocked.

  A neighbour from across the road saw him and told him what had happened and that Ravi had survived, but he left the country for America.

  Then his search began and he hired a Private Investigator to look for me, it was difficult at first because my first name had been changed.

  The first sighting of me was at the airport in New York and Dan Wilson the P.I took some photos of me and send them on to Edwin and he forward them to him.

  When he looked at the photographs the face looked familiar but he only saw me when I was a child.

  I was quite tall and wore a business suit. Dan got on the flight to Cairo to find out what exactly I was doing out there.

  “I was being followed,” I said.

  “You were, he answered but for the right reasons.”

  “Dan followed you to your address and later found out that you were an academic Professor at the University in Cairo.

  Your name was written on a notice board in the entrance hall as Hasan R Latchman PhD and the subjects you taught.

  He wanted to make sure that he got the right person and he asked a few students what the “R” in the professor’s name stands for and they said that they did not know.

  And then he decided to approach the Dean for what he was looking for, he told the Dean that he would like to send his son to that University to be taught by Professor Latchman.

  But he would like to know a little more about Dr Latchman. The Dean brought out a file and read a part of your C V.

  It had your full name Hasan Ravi Latchman and where you had studied in New York and in Boston; he knew he got the right person and then he left and returned home.

  Three months later he went back and you were gone, you surfaced again in Kuwait City. That took him a few years to catch up with you.

  He promised me that he was not going to let you out of his sight, and then you came over here with your wife and two little boys.

  Edwin left a message and his telephone number for you to contact him but he heard nothing.

  When we heard of Ismael’s illness Edwin went to Cotton Tree in person and left his number for you to contact him, if and when you arrived here.

  We had a feeling that you were going to come to visit Ismael and that you had been a part of his family for many years.

  I am happy that we are finally reunited at last and Dan would like to meet you in person, although he followed you around he never spoke to you and he would like to do that some day.”

  I had to laugh as uncle was telling me how I was being followed by a P.I and how he took photos of me.

  Then uncle took out some of the snap shots and showed them to me; one with me at a shopping centre.

  Another driving to work and one sitting on a bench in a garden, he did not take any of my wife and children, which was a relief.

  While we were having a joke and a laugh about the run around I gave Dan to find me and then how I disappeared for some-time, Alam arrived with his two wives.

  They were both East Indian women, slim and pretty, looking at them I thought Alam got good taste in women.

  The taller of the two said, “I am Tara cousin Hasan. You look so much like dad, with similar features.”

  She shook my hand and gave me a kiss on the cheek; “I am Naz the nurse.” the other one remarked, “I am happy to meet you. We have heard so much about you.”

  I smiled and she giggled as she came forward and shook my hand and gave me a kiss on both cheeks.

  “We saw some photographs of you and Tara and I said that you were handsome and we couldn’t wait to meet you.

  Alam told us that you were married with children and that we should not keep our hopes up too high.”

  The women were jolly they joked and laughed and told us some funny stories about Alam and the people they came across with in their every day lives.

  They were a breath of fresh air and they even got uncle laughing and when Habib brought in some refreshments one of them told him that he should smile more often so that she could see his gold tooth.

  They spend a few hours with us and before they left, uncle reminded Alam that we would be driving to the ranch instead of flying and that he should come early to have breakfast with us.

  “Would it be alright dad; to go on this long journey?” Alam asked.

  “Yes, son,” he answered.

  I thought that uncle was now happy that he had his burial plot sorted and nothing else mattered.

  Later on he took me upstairs to show me around before we went to sleep that night.

  Four of his staff slept on the premises on one section of the Mansion. They were the cook and her husband the gardener.

  Habib his carer and his wife the house-keeper; we did not enter their private quarters.

  He showed me the rest of the bedrooms; in each room there was a king size bed with an en-suite bathroom; a sitting area with a comfortable sofa and a large rug on the polished floor.

  A double fitted ward-robe with a dressing table and matching bed spread and curtains; on the ceilings were sparkling stars in five rooms only.

  It was like a five star hotel room and there were ten rooms in total; each one was painted in a different colour.

  He told me to sleep in the room next to his. After he took his shower Habib gave him his medication and helped him in to his bed and then he sent for me.

  I walked into his room and closed the door gently behind me and sat on the large burgundy sofa with its matching curtains and bed linen.

  Then he told me that Habib and his wife were both concerned about their jobs and whether I would take up the posi
tion of being the next master of Manaos Kingdom.

  He wants to reassure his staff that their jobs were safe. “They seemed to think highly of you,” he said, “That are their first impression and Habib had told him that you seemed to be a fine gentleman.”

  I told uncle that when I decided to take up the position I would keep his staff and try not to change anything.

  However I would need at least six months to get myself and my children sorted before returning here to get fully acquainted with my position and surroundings.

  I thought if I refused this offer to come here and live, this place would be sold after the death of my uncle.

  The next master would let these middle-aged people go and bring in his own staff.

  We chatted for a while until I saw that he was closing his eyes slowly and then I said Salam[ Peace be upon you] and left the room.

  My bedroom, which was next to his was similar, it had a king size bed, with matching bed covers, and curtains and a large sofa; a patterned rug was next to the bed, all in paler shades of blue.

  On the wooden ceiling were silver stars dotted around and in the middle over the bed were a constellation of stars.

  I was tired, and after a hot shower I soon drifted off to sleep until the next morning; the call for dawn prayer from the village Mosque woke me up.

  And then there was a knock at the door and I got out of bed. Habib was standing outside.

  He greeted me and then he said, “Master Hasan, prayer in twenty minutes; the last room on your right.”

  I said thank you and hurried back into the room to perform ablutions and wore a dressing gown that was hanging behind the door over my pyjamas and headed for the prayer room.

  Habib was standing in the door-way waiting, and uncle, the two women and one man were all reading from their Quran.

  I greeted them as I entered and prayed the first part of my Salah [prayer].

  Uncle told me to read the second part of the prayer and he stood next to me with the two other men on each side of us and the two women in the row behind us.

  This part of the prayer was read out loudly for the congregation. At the end of the Salah uncle asked me where I learnt to read like that.

  Then I told him when I was in Egypt I went to learn every week-end and now I practised with my sons.