30 Days To www.TheLifesWay.com 5th Birthday Celebrations #5YearsofTheLifesWay #27Dec2017 #Hope

Hi Friends,

#Hope

It all started when we visited one of my wife’s friend and she told that she had won a Kindle from a contest from writing a blog post. After some days, she visited our house and I asked her how and where she won the same?

Before that time I used to participate in Facebook contests and used to win 1 or 2 every week or month and was happy with the goodies received from the same. Then I tried participating in twitter contests and my winning rate multiplied significantly by 7 to 15 per week. It was awesome where I need to track which contests I won on which date and then whether the goodies/prizes have been received or not? It was awesome and then there were times when I didn’t win even a single contest for 3 months at one go despite more efforts and it was really devastating. So I thought about the same later and connected the dots and the results was that you need to be grateful for every small as well as big wins and you have to stay in the attitude of winner. It’s something that take time to come but can be mastered with practice. I really loved learning new things as social media channels grew and worked on many different social media channels.

One of the dreams came true to visit Wimbledon and see all the Tennis Stars live

As she hesitated but finally introduced me to the website after several requests on the same, I only focussed on remembering the website she logged on my laptop and this way I came to know about Indiblogger. Indiblogger is the biggest bloggers community with their unique and advanced platforms in India and they used to organize several bloggers events collaborating with brands. As I was good with my tweets and continued to win several contests, I blogged about all the goodies received from several brands.

The first year of blogging was slow till March, when I just launched the online blogpost page and did some posts to get into the Indiblogger community. After I got some posts done and I got chance to be on the Blogadda bloggers platform too where they has these fastest blogger wins sure shot gift vouchers. I participated in the same and got some gift vouchers from the branded posts. My biggest break came in my first Indiblogger meet for Microsoft where I met some of local bloggers and they gave me some good ideas to advance my blogging skills. I won several gifts at the event and at the second meet, I won my first big prize of HP Sleekbook for one of my posts on HP Connected Music. 

Blogadda and Indiblogger became my family networks as I continued to win several prizes in many of their contests. With Blogadda I even got their esteemed Notable Newbie Blogger award and many books and products to review on their platforms. 

I will continue my journey during these 30 days to the 5th Birthday of The Life’s Way on 27th Dec 2017 and write more about my experience with the social media channels. 

Any brand or company wants to sponsor any of  my social media channels or to do sponsored posts are welcome to contact me on email - thelifesway@gmail.com

29 Days

Cheers!!!

Contact me at thelifesway@gmail.com to blog, share and influence about your products and services on all my Social Media channels #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra !

Space is Infinite And So Are #ColgateMagicalStories By #Children

Hi Guys,

Moon and Stars are the first attraction that I was fascinated towards in my childhood. Some stars used to bright more and some less, some used to create a pattern and some didn't. Sometimes some of them used to move around the same time which later I came to know as satellites sent to space by humans. But always the world of SPACE was filled with never ending questions and curiosity to know more and more.

My daughter too is fascinated by the Magical Space and various adventures that comes with these. Starting from the basics of planets and Milky Way Galaxy, she always has a lot of questions. We then go and find out all the answers to those queries on the internet as with each of her new question, I too learn new things. 

Colgate has come up with three packs of "Magical Space Adventure" where it have given every buyer a unique experience to create more than 15 space characters from the packaging of toothpaste. The kids and adults alike can cut those pieces and create any story they are fascinated about. The story can be anything from mystical Alien Planet to Zero Gravity Space Walk to further magical world of dreams and fascinations.

My daughter is fascinated by the recent movies on space travel including The Martian so she was more inclined towards the space walking and floating in the spaceship. But before that her query was how we reach the stars and how much time it takes? She was thinking that it will be just like going to nearest burger joint or maximum to her grand mother's home and she can be back home in no time. Never she could think that it's a huge effort and lot of science that goes into getting to space.

It took a while for her to understand that it's not like car travel and it will require a lot of patience to learn more about stars before we can actually be there. Still science has not solved all the queries which an adult mind has too. But in her own world and on her study table, she has decorated all the characters cut from the empty packs of Colgate. I know she will be fascinated by something else soon but from time to time, she will come back to flashing twinkling little stars again and again.

You too checkout these Magical Space Adventure packs and let your child weave their own story and create a magical life full of dreams. We never know when the inspirations from Kalpana Chawla or Sunita Williams can hit our child and they do aspire to reach for the sky too! Check out more - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op995I4Rh7A

“I’m blogging my #ColgateMagicalstories at BlogAdda in association with Colgate.

Cheers!!!

Contact me at thelifesway@gmail.com to blog, share and influence about your products & services on all my Social Media channels #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra !

A Memoir - This Month Last Year - May 2014

Hi Guys,

May is the month when winters starts setting in here in Johannesburg. Last year I didn't posted much of posts which I will try to correct this year. 

1. Blogadda & Starsports - Cricket Crazy Pepsi IPL Fans - http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/05/blogadda-starsports-cricket-crazy-pepsi.html This was a contest post for blogadda and I didn't win anything but post reached top posts on my blog in terms of pageviews very soon. 

2. Product Review - HUAWEI E3121 HSPA USB Datacard - http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/05/product-review-huawei-e3121-hspa-usb.html - It's always great to blog about the products you have bought as you have good time to use and test the same. The post got some great readers as data cards is an everyday necessity.

3. Product Review - Skullcandy Titan Supreme Sound Earphones - http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/05/product-review-skullcandy-titan-supreme.html - Earphones and headphones are always my first love and these were going for sale price as a discount. These are nice for a daily use as they offer great audio quality. 

4. Product Review - Royal Dansk Oat & Cranberry Cookies - http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/05/product-review-royal-dansk-oat.html - The cookies were awesome to eat and I really liked writing about them. 

5. Indiblogger & Sunsilk - Naturally Recharged - http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/05/indiblogger-sunsilk-naturally-recharged.html - This was another contest post from Indiblogger but I didn't won anything for the same. But I really loved writing the first post for Sunsilk and their products. 

Cheers!!!

Follow me on twitter @araijain or @thelifesway
Email - thelifesway@gmail.com for invites to launch events / sponsored posts and product reviews!
Checkout my Instagram (araijain) page
Checkout my photo blog - www.photoyatra.blogspot.in
Like The Life's Way Page on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TheLifesWay

A Memoir - This Month Last Year - April 2014 #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra

Hi Guys,

April is the start of Winters in South Africa and it brings in a lot of relief from the warm summers here. Johannesburg weather is moderate and remains really good throughout the year but when the sun shines the rays are strong enough to burn you.

Last year April 2014, I wrote the maximum number of posts i.e. 25 to regain my lost position as a blogger and also the Indiblogger rank. The posts which remind me of this month are - 

1. #IndiSpire - I blog because of Indiblogger - http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/04/indispire-i-blog-because-of-indiblogger.html I started blogging to be a part of Indiblogger community and I wrote a post for the same too. Though my first prize came from Blogadda community but I was not aware of this community before starting my blog. 

2. Indiblogger #Indispire - Five Places I wanted to visit- http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/04/indiblogger-indispire-five-places-i.html It was the initial topics of Indispire when it was launched last year on Indiblogger network and I thought of writing my own memoirs for the same. This post has a lot of questions and I think it's funny. Check it out!

3. Product Reviews - I bought some stuff and posted reviews of the same on my blog. 

Creative Wireless Speakers - D100 - http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/04/product-review-creative-wireless.html

Eveready Ultima Mobile Power UM22 - http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/04/product-review-eveready-ultima-mobile.html

Ronin Earpollution Headphones - http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/04/product-review-ronin-stereo-headphones.html

Mobi Headphonies - http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/04/product-review-mobi-headphonies-mp3.html

Sony Ericsson MW600 Bluetooth - http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/04/product-review-sony-ericsson-mw600.html

Maglite Solitaire Torch - http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/04/product-review-mag-lite-solitaire-torch.html

MyLight Wireless Lamp - http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/04/product-review-game-mylight-wireless-12.html

BodyShop Maca Root Men's Range - http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/04/product-review-body-shop-for-men-maca.html

Old Spice Deodorant spray - http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/04/product-review-old-spice-deodorant-spray.html

4. Nature Walks Series - I posted some of my clicked photographs of flowers and other stuff. 

http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/04/photo-walk-gardens-of-nature-5.html

http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/04/photo-walk-gardens-of-nature-6.html

5. Twitter and Promotional Goodies - It was a great month because I got some of the nicest goodies from some of the brands. 

http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/04/twitter-goodies-foxfilmsza-monuments.html

http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/04/promotional-goodies-samsung-s5.html

http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/04/promotional-goodies-caltex-south-africa.html

http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/04/twitter-goodies-tata-crucible-business.html

http://www.thelifesway.com/2014/04/product-review-royal-dansk-danish.html

Last to last year also, the number of posts was 29 and I hope that this year, I will try to break the record or settle somewhere between 25 and 29 posts. Also, this month I am awaiting the final round of #MissionSamsung and keeping my fingers crossed for the Grand Finale!

Cheers!!!

Follow me on twitter @araijain or @thelifesway 
Email - thelifesway@gmail.com for invites to launch events / sponsored posts and product reviews!

Checkout my Instagram (araijain) page 

Checkout my photo blog - www.photoyatra.blogspot.in 

Like The Life's Way Page on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TheLifesWay
  

Contact me at thelifesway@gmail.com to blog, share and influence about your products and services on all my Social Media channels #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra !

Book Review - GOD IS A GAMER - Ravi Subramanian #blogadda

Hi Guys,

Ravi Subramanian is no new name in the books which are thrilling and set against the backdrop of the financial services industry. He wrote his first novel "If God was a banker" in 2008 and there has been a many novels published for all his readers like "Devil in Pinstripes", "The Incredible Banker", "The Bankster", "Bankrupt" and latest addition to these is the new book GOD is a GAMER published by Penguin Books. 

 God is a Gamer is the mixture of reality and fiction. The way author has used Bitcoins and other concepts of Gaming industry and Facebook marketing is amazingly great. The logic to all these connections is like reading a non-fiction or a newspaper editorial or rather a business books. I really could not differentiate the story amongst all the facts and logic presented in this novel. Really loved getting all the knowledge about Bitcoins and it was amazingly great to read as I got some bitcoins from my brother a week before to learn more about them. I did my research of bitcoins that week so this novel really kept me glued to my seats till the time I read it completely. 

The story is about three friends who are big in the corporate world and how their lives are changed as someone tries to hack into their lives. One of the characters lost son comes into the picture and tries to win everything over. Whatever bad happened to their companies, he tries to overcome using his knowledge and experience in the gaming industry. A call center as well as a gaming company's day to day business is affected when someone loots the bank's accounts in US at the same time. Further investigation reveals a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of characters from US Senate, Police and FBI.

God is a gamer is a roller coaster ride through the reality of bitcoins, various surprises and twists at every turn, numerous characters, suspicion, mystery, love, hate and greed. The book will keep you entertained for long and you will want to keep reading it till the end of the same. 

I was able to find out as to who is the main culprit due to my Sherlock Holmes thinking pattern and good mind but I really didn't liked the end of the novel. It was closed randomly and could have been better. Last few chapters were boring as compared to the initial rush of adrenalin that you get. But I think it happens will all the fiction novels as they unravel the mystery and try to solve it for the readers to understand. 

But overall God is a Gamer is a nice read and will keep you on your edges. Is Revenge a Crime? is the answer that you will get if you read the whole book. I really admire the writing of Ravi Subramanian and will go through all his other novels in this new year. The world of Kindle has really made it easy to read any book on your smartphone or tablet or actual kindle devices as soon as it's launched. 

Thanks to Blogadda for their continuous activities to keep us interested in the world of reading via their Book Reviews Program. It's a great pleasure to read new novels before it's launched into the world using bloggers programs. Check more Penguin books at penguinbooksindia.com & follow them on twitter and facebook. 

Cheers!!!

This review is a part of the biggest <a href="http://blog.blogadda.com/2011/05/04/indian-bloggers-book-reviews" target="_blank"> Book Review Program </a> for <a href="http://www.blogadda.com" target="_blank">Indian Bloggers.</a> Participate now to get free books!

Contact me for your product's review /sponsored posts on twitter @araijain or @thelifesway or email - thelifesway@gmail.com  Checkout my Instagram (araijain) page or www.photoyatra.blogspot.in  Like The Life's Way Page on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TheLifesWay

#CelebrateBlogging Contest @Blogadda Chapter 24 - When the Diamonds danced!

Team #Alphabet Soup

Read the previous part of the story Chapter 23 on Reema's blog

Chapter 24

She wiped her tears. That must be it. She grabbed her bag and left her room immediately.

She sent a text to Ravi, Tara and Sudheeran.

Lets meet madman ASAP!

She reached the Janamaitri police station.  He was seated inside the station. But not imprisoned. Sudheeran, out of deep respect towards him, had asked Ravi to just keep an eye on the madman. The madman had made the station his place of meditation.
As soon as he saw her, he guffawed loudly.

“I was waiting for you. Where are the others?”

No sooner did he speak those words, the team reached the station.

“What is it?” Sudheeran asked looking at the madman and Jennifer.

“He can help us.”

Ravi moaned, “Not again! He has already caused enough-“

“Just think Ravi! One evening, release the nightingale and she’ll sing her song. He is the caged nightingale! Aren’t you?”
She looked hopefully at him.

“I am but a Bhranthan (Madman)”

Ravi ran his fingers through his hair in irritation. “Do you know anything about the temple?”

“I know many things about the temple. Amma has-“

“Alright! Alright! Let me rephrase it. The child is missing. Again! Wait! Did you arrange her kidnap again?”

“Hahaha! I was under your observation. How do you-?”

Tara interjected half sobbing, “My daughter is missing. She must be inside the temple. Please! Please tell us about the secret chambers.”

He said, “I know some of the chambers and passages. But I don’t know how many chambers there are in all.”
Sudheeran was calm again, “Is there any other way we could find that out?”

“The temple has immense powers. More than you can imagine. There is a chamber in the temple that holds the entire world within its walls. Come with me.”

*****

They entered the interior of the temple where the Garbhagriha was. After an area around the Garbhagriha for circumambulation, the rooms lay. He took them inside the 4^th room from the left.

“These aren’t the secret chambers. These are but rooms. The secret chambers are hidden within these rooms. That is how the temple has been built. To normal people’s eyes, these are the secret chambers. While they are deep within. It is like our mind. We think that the peripheral thoughts and desires are important. We think that we are our emotions and actions. While the self, is deep within.”

He asked the priest to open the only chamber inside the room.

“Isn’t this the chamber of scriptures?” the priest asked.

“yes”

“you spoke about the power of the entire world.”

“Think again! This chamber houses numerous age-old scriptures, Vedas, Vedantas, Shlokas and Stotras. There are very powerful Shlokas in here. You utter one word wrong, and you shall be beheaded. Pronounce them right, with the right intonations, you will attain Moksha. Tell me another chamber as powerful as this.”

Jennifer felt a chill. Her hands involuntarily went for her camera. But she stopped herself.

Some things were better unknown.

She noticed that the madman was looking at her, hint of a smile on his face.
The scriptures room had never been opened for several years and there was a lot of dust and moisture in the room. The chamber was big and there were racks on all the four sides with a small door on one side of the room.

The priest went and got an old torchlight. He hit it hard thrice and then it lit up the room.

“What are we searching for?” asked Ravi

“The details about the temple architecture.”

“Are all these in Malayalam?”

“Most of the scriptures are in Sanskrit. There are a few in Malayalam too.”

The madman went towards one of the racks. The writings were on dry palm leaves. They were all neatly arranged in piles. Each section of a rack had six piles of palm leaves. He sat down on the floor and began leafing through the age old dry leaves on which there were many writings. He skimmed through one set of writings in a pile, skipped a pile and reached for another. After around five to six trials, he sat still with a set of palm leaves in his hands. He poured through them and kept saying “Hm…” as though he was humming in approval to an invisible voice. 

“So, that is it.” The madman looked up.

No one dared to breathe.

“There is a meaning for everything happening in this cosmos. There are 18 chambers in this temple and 9 passages.”

“Meaning?”  Ravi questioned.

 “8 indicating the Ashta-lakshmi – The eight Lakshmis’.  9 indicating the number that cannot be destroyed.”

“A number that cannot be destroyed?” asked Ravi. Tara was now becoming restless.

“ Any number multiplied with 9 adds up to 9.

He quickly took out his pen and a small diary he kept in his pocket always and wrote an equation -  

9*3 = 27  >  2+7=9

 9*5 = 45  >  4+5=9

“And the 1 chamber?” asked Jennifer.

 “This one. The chamber of scriptures is the last one.”  

“ In total 18. The number again adds up to 9. This is the 18^th chamber because scriptures, and 18 are connected. There are 18 puranas, 18 upa-puranas, the epic Mahabharata has 18 parvas. So does Bhagavad Gita. The temple was built keeping all these in mind.”

 Shekhar quickly asked – “How many of these chambers and passages do you know?”

“I know 13 of them. And 7 passages. The directions about the passages or the chambers aren’t given here. We’ll have to find the rest.”

He quickly added based on his experience, “There is another thing that you have to keep in mind. Some of these chambers do not have ventilation at all. So make sure that none of you get stuck in any of these chambers. You will suffocate to death.”

He gave the team the directions about the 13 chambers he knew. They quickly began the search.

They first tried to find the passages, mainly to stop Cyrus from leaving the temple. This was the topmost priority at the moment. They had to find the right chamber before Cyrus escaped with the child. They decided to guard the known passages with the help of the Sub-Inspectors and extra constables called by the Ravi. He informed them that it was an urgent operation. No questions asked. The search continued. They had strict instructions not to make any noise.

The madman hadn’t left the room. From the start, his eyes were tied to some kind of a symmetrical arrangement between two racks. He used all his force to drag one of the racks aside to reveal the wall behind. It took him a while to notice an outline of a door. After applying varied amount of force and moving the door in all directions, it opened. He had found the first chamber.

Apart from a few empty earthen vessels lying around, the chamber had nothing exciting to offer. He informed the others that one of the unknown chambers were found. The team slogged continuously for a long time. After what seemed like a couple of hours, they heard someone scream. They quickly ran in the direction of the voice.

It was coming from below the 5^th room around the Garbhagriha. A police constable had fallen into a chamber accidentally & was stuck halfway through. It was a chamber whose door was on the floor. They pulled him out of the chamber. Two of the constables checked inside the chamber. It was one among the unknown chambers and looked like an old well without water.

Sudheeran said, “Three more to go.”

Going from chamber to chamber, wall to wall, Tara and Jennifer met and hit many things but with no luck. They began to feel dejected. Jennifer began feeling guilty as she entered another room. She kept blaming herself for involving Cyrus in this. She kept searching every nook and corner trying to fight against her guilty conscience. 

Suddenly an idea struck her, she remembered the pictures Roohi had clicked the day the idol went missing. Jennifer had spent a lot of time safeguarding her in this very temple premises. She looked at them and decided to compare the pictures and the premises. It might take some time. But she would do it so thoroughly that a second time check wouldn’t be necessary. She called a few others and told them her plan. She asked them to feel each part of the temple & search. She had read a lot of books and seen many movies. A picture might just speak a thousand words.

She took the eastern side and began with the temple kitchen first on the row.

Kitchen was the usual Kerala Style temple kitchen with big utensils.

The first room after the kitchen was a kind of service room.  The temple gave Annadaanam – donating food. The food prepared for the same was kept in this room. Third was a hall with a huge sitting space. They had small stools everywhere along with a lot of utensils and mats to sit on.  On the right side of hall, it had stairs to go up. She began climbing the stairs.  In one picture, Jennifer saw something shining on the stairway. She began searching for the source of the reflection. She climbed around five steps and there she saw it. A tiny loop, towards the right, almost in line with her eyes.

Who would look for a chamber while walking up the stairs?

She pulled the loop. No luck! Her fingers hurt. She pushed at the wall with all her might and it slightly moved. Again, she pushed hard with the pent up anger, guilt and memory of the accusations. It gave away to a room. Extremely excited, she entered and saw someone in the room. She moved closer to realize that it was a dummy wearing a kathakali dress. It was the room where the dance and elephant's costumes were kept. She  was disappointed. She informed the others that there were just two to go. She continued searching with a renewed energy.

Two more to go

Two more to go

Cyrus! You jerk! Where are you?

She continued comparing the pictures to the fourth room only to be disappointed further by finding nothing in there.

She went to the next room and looked at the pictures. Nothing. She looked at the wall. A white mark! It wasn't there in the image on her camera. She moved closer and sees something stuck to the wall. Sandal paste? She began to scratch it absent mindedly wondering why it was not in the picture. She noticed it was shaped well and was just drying.

Why would someone play with the sandal paste while searching for the chambers?

She removed her finger from the mark. A triangle!
 

'Triangle means, you're close to me.', she thought to herself.

Roohi is somewhere nearby!

---end of chapter 24--- 

Read the next part of the story here - Sarita's blog

“Me and my team are participating in ‘Game Of Blogs’ at BlogAdda.com. #CelebrateBlogging with us.”

Contact me for your product's review on twitter @araijain or @thelifesway or email - thelifesway@gmail.com

Celebrate Blogging Contest @Blogadda - Chapter 15

Team #Alphabet Soup

Read the previous parts of the story here: Reema's Blog

Chapter 15

It was very late by the time Jennifer finished reading all the files and reports. She looked at her watch. 02:35 AM. She had another 5 hours before her meeting with the team. She decided to make maximum use of her time and crawled into her bed.

Her sleep was interrupted by the phone call from Tara. 

“Good Morning, Jennifer. Where are you? We are waiting for you.”

“Is it morning already?” she spoke into the phone yawning. “Don’t worry, I will be there in a while.”

“Alright, we’ll see you soon then.” said Tara and disconnected the call.

Jennifer reached the temple office. She apologized for her delay in reaching the meeting.

“I was doing some research regarding our case. I was looking for the profiles of metal smiths who could help us. I came across a couple of them. There is one Mr. Aryan Ahuja. Looks like he could help us. He is the type of man we are looking for.”

Tara and Shekhar’s faces lit up with recognition. That was exactly what Jennifer was looking for.

“We know an Aryan Ahuja back in Mumbai.” Said Shekhar.

“Where is this Aryan you mentioned from, Jen- Jayalakshmi?”

Jennifer gave a look of warning to Shekhar.

“Mumbai. He owns an antique store at 3^rd Avenue-”

“Yes, the very same. He is our neighbour. It never crossed my mind till now that he could be of some use to us. Thanks Jayalakshmi and if all of you agree, we can talk to him right away”, said Tara.

“What else do you know about him? Is he a religious person? Will he understand the importance of this case?” – asked Sudheeran

“He moved to our neighbourhood 2 years ago. He visits the Gurudwara every Sunday and on festivals. But that isn’t all. He frequents temples, churches and mosques. I don’t know if it is because of his inquisitiveness about the religions or because he believes in all faiths. I have never really felt the need to enquire from him. But one thing I’m sure of. He is very knowledgeable in this field. He has been in this business for a long time. He is a very good friend of mine. I’m sure he will not hesitate to help us.”

Sudheeran said, “Can this Aryan come down here and do the tests?”

Tara and Shekhar looked at each other, “We could ask him. But don’t you think it is difficult to explain all this to an outsider over the phone?”

“So, I will have to go with the idol to Mumbai.” Sudheeran said more to himself than to the team.

Tara interrupted him knowing that he was not in the right frame of mind to deal with the situation at hand, “Mr. Varma, I think it will be better if you stay here as it will only induce suspicion in the devotee’s minds if you leave. It will hardly take 2-3 days in Mumbai. I can take the idol along with Jennifer and Shekhar to get it tested from Aryan. If you want to send someone as a representative from your side, please feel free to do so.”

Jennifer expressed her interest in the assignment. She had so many questions. She had to be there in person to listen to what Aryan Ahuja had to reveal about the idol.

“I think it is my family temple and idol we are talking about. I do not want outsiders telling me what to do and what not to do. Whether you like it or not Mrs. Dutta, someone responsible among us will definitely look into the testing of the idol. If that means I have to go, I will.” Jennifer noticed that Sudheeran was finding it very difficult to keep his calm.

The police officer reminded Sudheeran that the procession was scheduled for the next month and it wouldn’t look good if he left Vajrakshipuram. Besides, all the official sanctions required his signature. The officer said that he would accompany the team. It would only look like an official visit to Mumbai.

Finally, Sudheeran agreed, “But Mr. Dutta and the child cannot step out of Vajrakshipuram. He is still a suspect and the child is the chosen one.” He looked at Tara and Jennifer.
“The two of you can take the idol. You will be accompanied by Ravi as a representative from here.”

Though Tara had stayed away from Roohi for her official tours, this time she was finding it very difficult to leave her and Shekhar in an unknown place among unknown people. She asked him to keep Roohi close. The chosen team left the same day for Kochi and took the evening flight to Mumbai.

On arriving in Mumbai, Tara called up Aryan requesting him to spare some of his time for them. He said that they could visit him early the next morning at his shop as he received his regular customers only later in the day. 

Aryan’s shop stood out among the other stores lining the street. It looked like a place where the who’s who of Mumbai would shop to decorate their homes. Bronze and copper statues adorned the glass windows. The whole shop was air-conditioned and the counter was right in the end where Aryan used to sit on his plush leather chair. The section close to his counter contained all the precious metal antiques and silverware. Aryan had an excellent security system in place and there was always a guard and a store attendant standing near the gates to guide customers inside the shop.

Tara spoke first, “Hi Aryan!”

“Hey Tara! So you’re back from Kerala? Shekhar had mentioned that all of you would be visiting Kerala to see some procession.”

“Well, actually the procession is next month. We had gone there to cover the festival for N9. So, will have to return again. These are my friends. I met them in Kerala. They are in a bit of trouble. I thought you could help them.”

“Hi, I am Ravi”, the inspector introduced himself holding his hand out for Aryan.

“These are my partners.” he pointed towards Jennifer and the other police official accompanying the trio. “We own a museum in Kerala. We were out of town for a week and had left our assistant in charge of the place. By the time we got back, our assistant was tricked into buying an idol. We have reason to believe that the idol is fake. Will it be possible for you to confirm and tell us?”

“Ofcourse Ravi.It would be a pleasure to help you out!” Aryan replied while returning the introductory handshake.

They handed him the idol. He looked at it closely and said.

“This is real gold. What caused the doubt?”

“They told the boy that the nose ring was diamond. He believed it. He doesn’t have much knowledge in the field. So we had a feeling there might be...”

“Hmm... Fair enough.” He looked at the idol for a while longer.

“We’ll clear your doubts right away. Come with me.”

Saying so, he took them into a dark room. There were a couple of men working. He walked into his office. He applied a gel behind the idol and turned on an instrument. The instrument had a screen and a probe light was attached to it using a thin cable. He placed the probe light on one end of the idol and began moving it gradually to the other end. As he progressed, he looked into the screen and his mouth curved with the promise of a smile on it. He switched off the instrument. He passed the idol through another instrument. After that, he placed it on the table.

“Well Mr. –”, he looked at the officer.

“Ravi.” He obliged.

“Yes, Mr. Ravi. I just subjected your idol to an ultrasound testing. I am really sorry to say that your hunch was right. This idol has been cleverly crafted. It has been well coated with gold. Other metals, whether steel or iron, are all a lot less dense than gold. But the inner metal used here is almost similar in density to that of gold. The metal used here is tungsten. That is not all. Each part of this idol has been made separately & welded together using some excellent craftsmanship. For some reason, he didn’t want the makers to know what they were making. Or he didn’t want you all to know who made this. ”

Jennifer spoke for the first time, “So do you mean to say that a person having a basic knowledge in welding could have welded the pieces together?”

“Of course! That is possible.” He picked up the idol and looked at it.

“The welding is good. Not perfect. But good enough”

“What kind of setup is required to weld this small idol”, asked Tara.

Aryan smiled and replied “With the latest technology, we can buy Oxy-gas torches which can weld a lot of materials. It won’t take much time to master the same. The technology has been there all this while. The size & weight of the machines and welding rods is reduced every year.”

Tara felt that someone who knew the idol too well & was an absolute master mind was behind the forging of the idol. He not only had a wide knowledge about metals, but he had also done his homework very well. The maker either had direct access to the idol’s features. Or someone from inside the temple helped him with the exact details of the idol. She knew he was within her reach. But who was he?

End of Chapter 15

Read the next part of the story here at Knitha's Blog

“Me and my team are participating in ‘Game Of Blogs’ at BlogAdda.com. #CelebrateBlogging with us.” 

Follow us Facebook for the next chapters: Click here.