Two men were leading a long narrow boat towards the foothills of a mountainous valley. The boat swam languidly in the placid waters of Lake Loktak. One end of the boat dipped lower than the other. When it reached the shore, the first rays of the sun had started to wash the gently rolling hills. Colors of orange and violet, and yellow filled the eyes wherever they looked. The cold morning breeze would have chilled any mortal to the bones, but it was harmless to the two immortals.

“Ah, the East!” Elephant God, Lord Gajanan, sighed in a carefree, nasal voice, stretching his lazy arms.

“Clear skies, little wind on my skin.” Demon God Puru observed.

“And yet, Lord Arya has never blundered in his prophecy.”

“Have you ever visited this country before, Lord Gajanan?” Puru asked the Elephant God. The two started to hike along a narrow trail that ran uphill from the shore through the field of poppies and lilies.

“Not before this. But I have admired it from a distance. One can always peek through the clouds and find these lovely sights on display.”

“Pray tell, what other marvels you have located from heaven?”

“Hmm..,” Lord Gajanan thoughtfully turned his eyes towards the clear, blue sky. “The Kailash mountain range looks remarkable, harsh and unyielding, standing there like an ancient warrior. I imagine the humans cannot see its peak, hidden among the clouds. They say it rises above the heaven, the sole path from earth to the fourth sphere!”

“Ah, the fourth sphere!” Demon God Puru exclaimed. “Do you think it exists?” His silky voice was more amused than curious.

“Hmm..,” Lord Gajanan regarded Puru’s question for a few moments before he spoke. “Indeed, the last sighting of the Great Lord Shiva was thousands of years ago. Words change as they travel and get passed down. As inhabitants of this universe, we do not see our creators. Are they real? Were they ever truly seen? Does the fourth sphere or the Holy Trinity really exist? I believe they exist because it gives me hope. It is something that tells me to be benevolent, or else what reason do we have to be kind?”

The Demon God nodded to the wise words of the half-elephant half-human deity. “I would be a savage if it wasn’t for your wisdom, Lord Gajanan.” Puru gave the god a playful grin.

“It is my honor to add to the insurmountable wisdom that Lord Arya has imparted you. But do not let your master, Lord Arya, hear this.” Lord Gajanan quipped as he casually bit into a flower that he had plucked from the side of the trail.

Demon God Puru chuckled and nodded. He thought the warning was understood.

The chirping of the birds filled the valley, and the main road emerged into view, up ahead where the trail ended.

“Having an undemanding palate must be convenient for you, Lord Gajanan.” Puru teased his companion, noticing him munching down on his fifth flower of the morning.

“I do have a refined taste, Lord Puru. But these hills have a mind of their own. Who knows how long it will be before we find a proper meal?” Lord Gajanan sighed, strolling over the last lap of their trail path. “What of you? I thought asuras had bigger appetites than gods.”

“I watched you for last half hour chomping down on all those leaves and flowers, my lord. You mustn’t be so reckless about reminding me of my hunger, unless you are willing to sacrifice yourself for my nourishment,” Puru’s words had the echo of a hollow threat.

The Elephant God laughed but that did not hide his unease. “We must find a town, then, with some people in it.”

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It was a weekly market day in the small town of Maiyang. The usual farmer’s and fish markets were incredibly chaotic. Vendors from nearby villages came in with all their fresh produce and catches to sell at reasonable profits. Haggling was out of question due to the abundance of buyers waiting in line. The customers fell on each other, barely finding the ground to step on. Other days, the hawkers would produce peculiar high-pitched calls to draw customers. Today, they barely had a chance to look up from their scales and moneyboxes as they made sales to one customer after another. But if they did look up, they would discover rows and rows of hands shoved at them with coins tucked inside.

Two men, one tall and brawny, other short and corpulent, wandered towards the market, when the short man exclaimed in disgust.

“What an awful stench!” The short man pinched his nose with his thumb and index finger.

“That, my lord, is the delicious smell of fish.”

“Hmm…should come with a caution. Do you eat fish, too?” The short man was curious. They did not have a lot of those in heaven.

“Sometimes, my lord.” The tall, brawny man raised his voice to be heard amid the hubbub of the market. “Let us mingle in the crowd.”

The two men deviated from their path to enter the farmer’s market. Soon, they stopped in front of a fruit vendor, who seemed less busy than the rest of the traders there. One look at his fruit basket, and it was easy to guess why.

“How much are the apples?” The tall man picked up one that looked less wrinkled than the others.

“Oh, the apples. They are the best, my lords. Special import from the south. Dark…”

“How much are they?” Puru cut in.

“Oh, that would be one coin for a dozen, my lord.” The scrawny vendor answered.

“One coin for two dozen.”

“My lord….”

“They are about to spoil. Either sell them for one coin or let them rot.”

“Very well, my lord! As you say.”

The two friends exchanged a satisfied glance as the seller packed them two dozen fruits. Puru tossed a coin to the merchant, and Gajanan carried the heavy bag of fruits on his shoulder. The two companions made their way towards the fish market. The vendor stared quizzically at their retreating backs as he held the tossed coin in his palm, not the expected copper coin, but an expensive gold coin!

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