Valley of Death Read online

  “First of all understand that there is a difference between corruption, criminality, and evil. Understand it as three successive stages of a process. It is like gas, water, and ice; Hydrogen and Oxygen are gases, which fuse to become water, which in turn freezes to become ice. Likewise, the physical, moral and emotional corruptness lead to criminal behaviour, in pursuit of an individual’s corrupt and selfish goals. This, in turn, makes a person slip on the slope, which leads directly to the quicksand of evil, with selfishness and fulfilment of one’s greed as the ultimate motive, Sin as the means and Devil as the deity.”

  “In Rudolf’s life too it was the same process; the moral and spiritual bankruptcy that he had inherited from his ancestors, led to his criminal deeds, followed by his present condition. His primary goal became the pursuit of greed, sinful desires, and naked self-advancement through the path of evil. So much corrupt and evil he had become, that he could not stand goodness in society and life, and wanted to make all people corrupt in his fashion and to see evil triumph.”

  “How do you know all this, Uncle?” asked Payal.

  “His half-brother Vincent Costello had come one day; he had told me about their family history and his evil brother’s psyche, before he left this country, to run a swimming costume kiosk on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. In addition, he also told me about Rudolf’s obsession with Peter Kurten – the vampire of Düsseldorf, whom he considered as his idol and whose actions he tried to emulate. This fact was confirmed when a large number of books, CDs, and files downloaded from the internet on Peter Kurten that were found on Rudolf’s computer, during a Police raid on his house for search and seizure of evidence. ”

  “Who was Peter Kurten and why was Rudolf interested in him to such an extent?” Abhay asked curiously.

  “Peter Kürten was born on 26 May 1883 in Cologne-Mulheim in Germany, and it is estimated that the killed at least seventeen people in 38 years before he was caught by the Police. His alcoholic father used to beat him on a regular basis and forced his wife to strip and have sex with him in front of their 13 children, with whom they lived in a single room; he was later arrested for molestation of his own daughter. During his incarceration, Peter met a dog-catcher that introduced him to sex with dogs and their torture.”

  “The Vampire of Düsseldorf – which became his numero de grumme, started his career in evil at the tender age of 5 by drowning his tow friends whilst rafting. In the jungles of Grafenbergerwald, he tried to kill a girl after raping her; but she probably escaped, as her body was never found. He attacked two unknown travellers with an axe and felt sexual pleasure seeing blood ooze out of their wounds. At the bank of river Rhine, he stabbed a girl 30 times, whose body was later found; another time he raped and killed a woman in the jungle outside Düsseldorf. Likewise, he killed a maid after raping her, and another time after two unsuccessful attempts he killed a girl by brutally stabbing her 36 times with a knife. However, he let Ms. Maria Budlez go away after entrapping her, immediately after which he was caught, convicted and executed on 23 July 1931.”

  “Rudolf understandably saw many parallels in his life with Kürten and became obsessed with the latter. He tried to match and if possible surpass Kürten’s revolting achievements. It may have also given Rudolf a sense of belonging and reassurance that he was not alone, and that the path shown by his ancestors had been travelled upon by quite a few men earlier as well. To their evil-clan did Rudolf belong and this justified to an extent in his confused and troubled mind, a lot of horrendous acts that he committed. That maybe the reason that he shows no remorse or guilt, just as Peter Kurten felt none before he was about to be executed by chopping off his head – an exemplary punishment awarded by the Judge to ensure that no one dared to emulate his evil deeds. In fact, he told his wife, “Digame, after my head is chopped off the body, I will be able to hear, although it only is a little while, the blood spurt, when it appears of my neck that would be the greatest of all my pleasures.”

  “But why do men like Rudolf or that Peter Kurten choose to take the path of Evil?” Abhay asked.

  Taking a deep breath and after a pause to gather his thoughts, Colonel Narang said, “As described in Shri Bhagavad-Gita (14.5-8); Sattva, rajas, and tamas are the three qualities born of nature, tying down the imperishable soul to the body. Of these, sattva being immaculate is illuminating and flawless. Rajasare of the nature of passion, as born of cupidity and attachment. Tamas, the deluder of all who look upon the body as their own self, is born of ignorance. Sattva is associated with white, the colour of purity and is worshipped as Saraswati – the Goddess of knowledge, music, and arts. The second or Rajas is associated with red colour and worshipped as Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth. It represents the part of Nature associated with activity, passion, and ambition. While the third, Tamas is associated with black colour and represented by Goddess Durga or Kali; the Supreme power and force. She is prayed for us to destroy all our impurities, vices and evil within.”

  “The man under the influence of Sattva tatva is the thinker, musician or artist who chooses knowledge as the path to attain moksha. The man under the influence of Rajas is the one who chooses activity or karma as his route to salvation. While the man under the influence of Tamas is called a tamsik person, who has no power to distinguish right from wrong and good from evil. He is unable to rise above the animal desires of the human body; he is selfish, primitive, and barbaric and is narrowly focused on here and now. As it had been said in Dhammapada (136) –an ignorant man committing evil deeds does not quite realize the consequences. The imprudent man is consumed by his own deeds, like one burnt by fire. All humanity belongs to one of these three basic groups or has varying proportions of these three basic tatvas within them.”

  “The whole world is then divided between good and evil; is that it?” Abhay questioned the great thinker.

  “Yes, for Nature itself has made two basic divisions in the plant and animal kingdom. First is of do-gooders to the society, who give fruits and shades, and the second is of evil-doers: which are ugly, full of thorns and give no fruits and deface their surroundings. The same thought has been expressed in the Holy Bible (Mathew 7.16 – 19) ‘You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns or figs from thistles? Every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.’ In human terms, these are recognized as Satvik and Aasuri shaktis, tatvas or powers, viz. the goodness & pureness and devilish & evil.”

  “All life in this vast world, as we know it, is made around these two fundamental and basic divisions. Perhaps both are necessary for life; or rather the constant struggle between the two is what the drama of life on this planet is all about. Perhaps this whole world is a great stage, an experiment, a laboratory in which a man can either purify himself of his vices and evil or else debase himself by sinking deep into the quagmire of physical, moral, emotional, intellectual corruptness and evil. As per his genes, background, upbringing, inclination, and instinct; the individual chooses his path, of either light or darkness.”

  “Good and Evil are then the two inherent and basic powers in men?” Abhay asked.

  “They are the constructive and destructive, the positive and negative energies both,” explained Colonel Narang. “Ancient Chinese scholars described them as Yang and Yin and in the occult, they are recognized as white magic and black magic. Both are as opposite and incompatible as fire and ice, day and night, light and darkness, God and Satan.”

  “And Warlock represented the negative, satanic or the dark side of life and character,” Abhay said.

  “Yes; take his example. He drank, smoked, ate meat, took drugs and was full of vices of every kind one can possibly imagine, a living example of what a man ought not to be! His was a criminal and evil mind and even heinous crimes like rape and murder also come easily to him. If yellow gold symbolizes purity then Warlock’s character can be called the black gold of impurity, at the opposite end of the sc
ale. Worse still, he was not even content with his own evil, but dreamt of making the entire society corrupt! His interest in Payal was not merely physical; but he believed that he could make her also morally, emotionally and intellectually corrupt, through the physical corruption. That was his goal, to make the very soul of people corrupt. Warlock is the metaphor of darkness, of ignorance, of impurity and corruptness, which seeks to swallow society and civilization. His criminal and evil deeds are only a physical manifestation of that philosophy.”

  “But he lost and was not able to realize his evil dream,” Abhay commented.

  “He had to lose because he didn’t realize the unalterable law; which states that the Evil is always defeated in the end and that is the universal law of nature and existence on this earth. Goodness always triumphs; the evil of men simply cannot overcome or defeat the good of life, existence, and universe. If goodness, God forbid, were ever to lose, then human species itself would become extinct in the subsequent darkness of evil, which will engulf the planet. An evil society is a nightmare in our life, which can never come into existence in this world because its structure itself is unsustainable and unworkable. Evil men and women themselves would kill, eat each other off and become extinct as a species - to put it crudely. The goodness is creative, contributing something to society and the evil is destructive, which keeps on stealing and snatching from society. Therefore, Nature has to keep balance by annihilating evil, if it exceeds its limit.”

  “Just as every night has a morning, the goodness, the forces of good also overcomes evil. The night of evil, selfishness, and terror, no matter how long, is in the end defeated by the morning of Sunshine. Like the turn of the wheel, day replaces night and goodness comes up, forcing the evil to go down. God’s Justice is as powerful as it is perennial or everlasting, all prevailing. That is the undefeatable law of nature itself, that God is almighty and all-powerful; which no Devil can defeat, which is why murderers, raiders or even evil rulers, have never been able to destroy the world and civilization permanently. Their plundering and massacres are no more than footnotes of history, and the world has survived it all because God’s justice, the law of Nature states that in the end, it is Goodness and righteousness that triumphs, always!

  “Thank God that Warlock’s evil dream never came true and that the nightmare is finally over,” said Payal.

  “Maybe for you; but this city, country, and the world at large is full of such evil people. Rudolf and his friend Rohit were only two small fry or pygmies. The world as a whole has much worse versions. Forces of good will have to wage a constant battle to survive and defeat these evil men,” said Colonel Narang in the manner of a General. “It will have to nip this poison plant in the bud itself, and most importantly, not let them corrupt the new and successive generations.”

  “Rudolf’s story ought not to be forgotten, but used as a lesson, for you and the future generations, that the path of evil is self-defeating. Debasement, physical, moral and spiritual bankruptcy or corruptness can never lead to a life of peace and harmony or self-fulfilment. Unlike a good man, an evil man or a criminal is never calm or at peace with himself or the world. Even Rudolf, at the peak of his evil and dominance, was never at peace with himself and had to resort to the false and temporary refuge in drugs and such intoxicants. Because Evil is foreign, artificial to human nature, which destabilizes the personality of a person, who finds his psyche in constant turmoil.”

  “But how can a man absolve or repent for his failings, his sins? What if they are unforgivable, Sir?” asked Abhay.

  “Don’t blame yourself needlessly my boy; we are all puppets in the hands of God. We do only what He wants us to do and without his wish, even a leaf cannot move. There was a reason why Payal suffered; because God needed her, a woman to bring the end of an evil Warlock like Rudolf, just as Sita was needed to end the reign of terror unleashed by demon-king Ravana.”

  “These are all goods things, to listen to and to read, Sir. But it cannot change the fact that I killed my daughter with my own hands!”

  “Though I know that Rudolf is exceptionally cunning; still how was he able to influence you to the extent that you agreed to sacrifice Anshul?” Colonel Narang questioned him.

  “In hindsight, I realize that Rudolf had poisoned my mind continuously regarding Payal and it was all part of his diabolic plan to prepare me to commit the sinful deed.”

  “That alone cannot explain it, son. I suspect that there were a lot of other misunderstandings, the breakdown of communication and lack of trust between the two of you. Rudolf was only fishing in troubled waters or fanning your suspicions. How did things come to such a pass?”

  ”I had once seen Payal meet tantrik Bharoo Shah and obtain a talisman from him. On the day I met with an accident, I had seen her sitting before the idol of Kali next to which she had kept that black magic amulet,” said Abhay.

  “Payal; you tell him the truth,” Colonel Narang said letting go of a sigh.

  “I was angry and upset because Abhay had shouted at me, but for my life, I would never have used black magic to harm him. The talisman had been prepared to protect me from Rudolf and I sat before the idol of Ma Kali to find solace and peace that evening. My mistake was that I didn’t tell Abhay who had really caused that accident, after you, Uncle had told me about the same.”

  “Bharoo Shah had informed me that the ghost of Harry, enslaved by Rudolf was responsible for your accident and the intervention of Bharoo’s ghost had in fact saved your life, rather than the other way round,” said Colonel Narang.

  “How was I supposed to know?” Abhay said in a voice of complaint, regret, and remorse. “Then there were also mysterious blank calls that came from other cities and I saw a mysterious man who visited Payal’s hospital room immediately after Anshul was born. She lied to me about his visit and since my mind was poisoned by Rudolf, I thought that he was her secret lover and that Anshul was his daughter.”

  “Ma Durga!” Payal slapped her forehead in disbelief. “Did you heard that Uncle?”

  “The man you had seen coming out of Payal’s room was Pulkit Dutta, her maternal brother,” Colonel Narang informed him. “He is the son of my late friend Somen Dutta and always comes to visit me when he visits Delhi. He is a sculptor of international repute and the exhibitions of his work take him to different cities in the country and abroad. He and Payal have been very close since childhood and that is the reason he called her from whichever city he was visiting.”

  “He is Payal’s brother!” Abhay was flabbergasted. “Then how come he was never introduced to me?”

  “Pulkit is a man of independent character and strong individuality; he has never married and has had his share of girlfriends. That is the reason he fell out of favour with his father and the rest of the family, which strongly disapproved of his philandering. The truth, however, is that he’s a kid with a heart of gold, extremely polite, respectful and a true gentleman to the core. He is a sculptor par excellence and a gifted artist, who has made a name for himself at such a young age. Anyhow, it was the fear of Payal’s mother that made them both hide their mutual affection and virtuous relationship and the fact that had always kept in touch with each other, despite the family’s misgivings regarding him.”

  “But you could have told me about him; couldn’t you?” Abhay asked his wife in a complaining voice.

  “Now I realize that it was my mistake to hide it from you. But at that time I feared that if you ever mentioned it to Ma, she would create a row. So I feigned ignorance regarding the phone calls when Pulkit cut the line on hearing your voice. I was completely unprepared when you came in the room immediately after I had an argument with Pulkit and in my haste, I lied that any man had visited me. Had I told you the truth then, perhaps none of this would have happened,” she said letting go of a sigh of resignation. After a pause, she added, “But how I was I supposed to know that you would suspect my character and reach such a preposterous conclusion? It was simply beyond my comprehension at tha
t time,” she articulated.

  “It was when Pulkit came to see me,” said Colonel Narang, “that he learned that Payal had a daughter born to her. He called her on her mobile and they mutually fixed the time for his visit when his aunt, Mrs. Chatterjee would be away and then he went to see his niece.”

  “He’s Anshul’s mama (maternal uncle), no wonder then that I found resemblance in their faces,” said Abhay.

  “But since you didn’t know of their true relationship and because your mind had been poisoned by Rudolf, you, unfortunately, concluded that the resemblance in them was because of your wife’s characterlessness,” said Colonel Narang. “One can’t blame you; since you were petrified, confused and had been cunningly manoeuvred by that crafty man. You too were a victim Abhay; of peculiar circumstances and an extraordinarily evil man.”

  “All said and done, the fact of the matter is that my sin is unforgivable and I cannot live on like this. I will readily sign the papers of divorce and free Payal. I will not subject her to the torture of living with the murderer of her child!”

  “Don’t let the evil of one single man overwhelm you and destroy your life. As I have explained to you, you were not responsible for what had happened, but an evil man. So stop blaming yourself unjustifiably for what you did not do. It was not yours, a father’s hands, but the hands of the Warlock, which threw off the child in the drain. Ask your wife; am I not right, Payal?”

  “Yes, Uncle. I never held Abhay responsible for what had happened. And even if he had done unintentionally something wrong, I have already forgiven him; else the curse of a mother who has lost her child is so strong that it can break even a rock,” said Payal. “But unfortunately the shock of the loss of our child and guilt of what he has done has pushed Abhay into chronic depression; I have forcibly taken him to a Psychiatrist, but the treatment so far has not been very promising. He wakes up in the middle of the night screaming and has reoccurring nightmares and has not been able to follow his daily routine properly. I have seen him sit for hours all by himself, with tears in his eyes; he refuses to share his feelings and can’t absolve him of his deeds,” Payal informed Colonel Narang.