1. The Singer on the Roof

Allah ke bande hasde allah ke bande

Allah ke bande hasde jo bhi ho kal phir aayega

Allah ke bande hasde allah ke bande

Allah ke bande hasde jo bhi ho kal phir aayega 

A thousand donkeys could not have brayed with as much gusto. There were rules in the country about noise levels in the wee hours of the night. But those laws did not hold inside the campus. Most of the students had resigned themselves to their fate. They had been subject to this torture every exam night. It was his way of letting out his exam stress.

But today the powerful voice had caught somebody else’s attention. It was going to be a defining moment in the history of mankind. Little did the well built young man with a blue turban, a flowing dark beard and thick glasses realize that soon the fate of the entire mankind would come to rest on his broad shoulders. For thanks to him an alien race had become aware of the existence of humanity. He was too lost in his own singing to notice an unidentified object descending rapidly towards him. He was caught by surprise to see a strange reptilian looking creature standing in front of him.

The aliens did not speak like humans. But they had mastered their own form of telepathic communication through which they were able to communicate. They began to send images into his head. They were a merciful race and were willing to spare the humans. However they were curious about the human race and wanted to subject them to some tests and study them. The test would consist of a series of twelve challenges to test the intelligence, ingenuity and resilience of the human race. If he successfully cleared all the hurdles, it meant humans had potential to hold their own among the advanced races of the universe. The aliens would depart in peace. If he failed, the human race was doomed.

Of course there was a third option. He could refuse and leave the aliens to pick an alternate candidate. Any sane person would have chosen the option. That way the buck would be passed to someone more capable. Maybe a world leader, a scientist or an army general would have been a more suitable representative of the human race. But then he was a Sikh. And it was mid night. So backing out from a challenge was out of question. So Harvinder Kuldeep Singh, who was finding academic pressure too hot to handle, now had the burden of the entire world on his broad shoulders! The unlikeliest of champions!

Suddenly there was a heavy gust of wind. The wind was building force by the minute. Harvi lost consciousness as he found himself seized by the eye of a tornado. He did not know how many hours had passed before he regained consciousness. He opened his eyes. What a crazy dream it had been! It was still dark. Maybe time to quickly study something for the exams.

But where were the books? He could not find them anywhere. In fact he could not find anything at all. It was not even his room. Where the hell was he! This place seemed to be much larger. As his eyes adapted to the dark, his eyes fell on the furniture in the room. The place seemed like a palace? What was happening? Was he still dreaming? But then things happened in dreams. Here nothing was happening. He was getting bored. He could not remember getting bored in a dream ever before.

He put his hand into his pocket. His fingers brushed against a flat rectangular object. Was it what he thought it was? But you never know in these weird dreams. He quickly pulled out the object. And, yes! It was his Samsung Galaxy mobile phone. At least one problem was solved. He wouldn’t be bored now. Angry birds would keep him company. He got so engrossed in the game he did not notice the light flooding into the room as the sun rose.

He looked around and the place did look like a palace indeed! He suddenly noticed that he was no longer alone. A man of regal bearing stood in front of him. He was a middle aged man with a robe woven out of the richest fabric, a neatly trimmed dark bead and a laurel wreath crown. The man walked up to him taking graceful strides.

“Well young man, ready for your first challenge?” he boomed.

Harvi realized who he was talking to with a start! The aliens must be shape changers or they had abilities to create strong illusions. He was never going to find out which. He nodded his head. He had made the decision the previous night. There was no turning back now.

“Your first task is to kill the Nemean lion.”

“To kill the Nemean what?”

“Lion. Panthera Leo. A carnivorous species of genus Panthera family Felidae found on the planet earth.”

Harvi never even remotely imagined his challenges would be anything of this sort. He had never killed a mouse and he was now supposed to kill a lion. Before that he had to figure where this lion could be found. He turned to the alien to ask him. The alien had disappeared. He was now on his own.

Next Part of the Story: Singer and the Lion

Picture credit : http://www.allgoodseats.com/fiddler-on-the-roof-tickets.html