THE LOST CYMBAL

-SRINIVASAN
Chapter 1
The secret is how to hide.

The sun has set. Time is ripe for the task.

These were the thoughts of the hooded figure, as he was walking along the dark corridor. This task
had been in the planning stage for the past one year, and the first stage of the mission has been
successfully completed. Now, there is no turning back. Another few minutes of walking, and I shall
be there. Then, no one would know. Until the victim reaches the sanctum. Ah! How I wish I could be
there, to see the bewilderment, to see the blood draining out from the victim's face. But the strict
rules of brotherhood stopped him from getting back to the sanctum. He had taken care of it, by
installing a wireless camera, through which he can watch every single movement inside the
sanctorum. The stage is all set, he murmured to himself, a sheepish grin spreading across his face.

It all began when a lanky figure stepped in front of the altar a year back. He proclaimed that he was
capable, and that the brotherhood would benefit from his services. The brotherhood was very
famous, unlike many of its predecessors, for the members knew that, the best way to keep a secret
is to hide it in the open. Though the entire world knew the brotherhood through a better name,
within the higher circles they called themselves "The Order of the Mythic Rah". To the outer world,
they seemed like an innocuous group, dedicating themselves to entertaining people, and make them
forget the miseries that surround them. But within, they indulged in darker activities depriving
people of their priced possessions.

When the lanky figure stepped forward, a year back, he proclaimed, "Here I am, Haggai Heaver, and I
swear that I shall protect the secrecy of the brotherhood , and shall serve it to the fullest of my
ability", Thespian, the then "Master of the Order" spotted something weird about the initiate. The
doubts soon transformed into facts, and Thespian wanted to teach him a lesson. He had marked this
date, 09-09-09 for the task.

Now, on this very date, the hooded figure reaches his abode, completing the task, and we see a
sense of satisfaction in his face. Though the highest post of the Order had passed on to the next
generation, he, Regand Thespian, could still feel proud of being a servant of the brotherhood.
 Chapter 2
Haggai Heaver was never happier than today. The day marked a year of his stay at the brotherhood,
and it felt as if it were the first day. As he stepped into the "Temple of the Order", he recalled all the
services he had done to the group, and it was time, he reached the next level, now that the new
initiates have entered the group. The time for the next performance was closing in, and Haggai had
to do the necessary rituals to get himself mentally and physically prepared for the great deed.

As he entered the sanctum, he smelt the familiar rat urine. His mind raced back a few months, when
he had listened to a lecture from his beloved professor about the medicinal values of rat urine, and
how it played a pivotal role in the rituals of the earlier brotherhoods.

But suddenly, his mood shifted. There was a deep feeling in his heart, that there was some disaster
waiting to unfold in front of his eyes. The minute he stepped inside, and walked close to the altar, he
realized what it was. The image that he saw sent a shiver down his spine. His Cymbal was missing.

Haggai, was the chief drummer of the performing group. His daily ritual included spending an hour in
the sanctum, at his altar, and hitting his head on the cymbal till the metronome ran out of battery.
He felt this gave him the sense of time, stretching from the transience of human life to the
permanence of God's rhythm. He got inspired after watching one of his idols, doing the same. He
never knew that this ritual, which originated three milleniums ago, somewhere in the middle of
Egypt, had passed on over civilizations, until the 20th century Master, Led Zeppe, coined the term
"Headbanging". Ever since, this ritual has been followed sincerely by all his predecessors, every
single day of their lives. But today, of all days, this ritual will have to stop. Haggai has lost his Cymbal,
and he can no longer "head bang". He felt as if Led Zeppe himself, banged a huge cymbal on his
head, and he felt like he was about to faint.

Far away, Thespian was watching all this in his laptop, and he could not suppress the smile in his
face.

Chapter 3
Haggai had just recovered, and he stared at the place where his cymbal used to be. How will he live
upto the oath he had taken for the brotherhood? How will he survive the wrath of Mythic Rah? How
will he look into the eyes of his master and the initiator, Duchu NarNar? He felt as if his life was
doomed.

He spotted a crumpled sheet of paper, placed very close to the altar. When he picked it up, and
opened it, a wave of nausea hit him. "No, it cannot be", he screamed. On the sheet of paper, was a
closed fist, with the middle finger protruding upright, as though pointing to hell. Being a member of
the group, he very well knew what that symbol meant. This symbol had lost all the initial sense to
the outside world, who constantly use it to showcase their anger. But, only a few knew, that this
symbol meant something supreme for the ancestors. It urged the public, to rise from the ashes,
denoted by the closed fist, to reach for the sky,pointed at by the middle finger, and were used to
indicate a social uprising. All those great minds, which were once branded as heretics, used this sign
to inform the public, that they were aiming high, and soon the world would accept their way of
thought.

This divine symbol of uprising, sketched in black and white, brought back several memories to
Haggai's mind. He recalled all the occassions when he had used it without knowing the true
significance. The truth dawned on him, exactly a year back, on his day of initiation, and ever since,
he has used it only when the situation demanded. Now, as he looked at the same revered symbol,
he thought "What could this symbol mean?". Anyone who had left it here, left it with a purpose.

He was trying to recall all that the symbol could denote. Suddenly it dawned upon him. Who could
forget the most profound impact of this symbol in world history? How, the greatest heretic of all
time, stayed above all criticism? Yes he was referring to none other than Galileo. And he also
remembered that, on Galileo's death, Anton Francesco Gori had detached Galileo's middle finger
and preserved it, to remind the Vatican about their leader's determination. Galileo's finger is on
display at the Museo di Storia del Scienza in Italy. Haggai immediately realized that where all this
was leading him. Galileo's greatest contribution was in the field of astronomy. He heard a voice in his
head "Follow the fingers. Count on them to reach the portal". What better place could be referred
here, than the Department of Physics, where great minds are still at work, trying to unravel the
mysteries, the way Galileo did 4 centuries back.

Haggai took the crumpled sheet in his hand, and with determination showing in his face, rushed out
of the sanctum, on his quest of retrieving the Lost Cymbal.

Thespian, who was watching the transformation on Haggai's face, from agony, to despair, to
confusion and finally enlightenment, was completely puzzled. He doubted whether he had left any
clues in the sanctum, that led the victim to his abode. If so, he had to make amends. He picked up
the small pebble-like object from his shelf, and left his room, for the second time in the day.

Chapter 4:
Haggai climbed over the yellow stairs, and went around the long-winding pathway to reach the main
world. He found Thespian walking towards him. His instincts wanted to report what had happened
in the sanctum, but he suppressed the instinct. He had to find out the Lost Cymbal, and restore the
dignity of the brotherhood. So he relaxed himself, and smiled at Thespian.

"Where are you headed to? Seems you are out of breath. Any assignments to be submitted?"
chuckled Thespian.

"No. I have an important job to finish at the Physics Department. Nothing much to bother you."

"Oh. Ok. I just thought I could give you a few chocolates I brought back from my trip to Russia.", he
said handing over a few wrapped chocos.

"Gee.. Thanks."said Haggai, "I have to rush. Catch ya later,Thespian", and headed off.
These chocos can wait. I have a task at hand. Will devour these, once I have retrieved the Cymbal
and returned it to its sacred location, thought Haggai.

Thespian, was finally relieved as he walked back to his room. Along with the chocolates he had
actually placed a GPS tracker, which can report back to his laptop, showing the location of Haggai,
with a precision of a few cms.

Chapter 5
Haggai reached the Physics department and started looking around the department. Here we have
to mention that, though Haggai wasn't overtly handsome, he had a fan-following for his drumming
abilities. He found one of his past crushes walking towards him. He had always wanted to talk to her
but couldn't summon up the courage to do so. She came right up to him and smiled at him. He
started "Er... I need to ask you something..... ". She, giggling as though she understood something,
tore out a piece of paper from her notebook and wrote something and handed it over to Haggai, and
ran past him. As she was going past him, she made a "Call me" sign to Haggai.

When he looked up the sheet, he noticed that it contained a phone number 9919343191. For one
moment, Haggai thought of giving up this quest and tried calling that number. The phone number
was busy. He realized how big a fool he was, and saw the importance of his quest. If he failed to
retrieve the Cymbal by midnight, then he would be banished forever from the brotherhood. As he
was thinking about this, he suddenly remembered the sign that his crush had made when she passed
by. It was the "Call me" sign, now made popular by the AXE ads, but Haggai knew that the sign had
its origins from Hawaai, and is called the "shaka sign", and is generally used for greeting. But what
struck him was not the sign, but the number of fingers that were held up. The first clue had one
finger up, and this has two fingers up, symmetric about the first sign. What greater indication did he
need to understand that this was his second clue.

He first thought of calling that number, and asking her about the Cymbal. But he soon gave up that
thought, and was trying to figure out what those numbers could mean. He had heard of cryptic
codes, which substitute alphabets by numbers. He tried it on this number.

It gave him 9-9-1-9-3-4-3-1-9-1 ===> IIAICDCAIA

This did not make sense, but he still believed that he was on the right track. He then noted that he
had forgotten the most important rule of this code. To substitute for 2 digit numbers whenever
possible. When he tried it on this number, Bingo!

9-9-19-3-4-3-19-1 ===========> IISC DCSA

So there it was! The clue pointed towards the Department of CSA. He was triumphant and headed
towards the CSA Department.

Thespian, on seeing Haggai running towards the other side of the campus, was satisfied. The farther
he goes from the Cymbal, the lesser his chances of finishing his ritual.
 Chapter 6:
On reaching the CSA department, he started looking around the department, and he could not find
any clues. One of his classmates crossed by him and said "Hey Haggai... You look damn smart today..
Anything special?" and grinned. But Haggai wasn't listening to his words. He looked at the sign that
his friend was making, the "Pukka" sign. He realized that this was his next clue. Those words he had
heard in the sanctum "Count on them to reach the portal" made sense again. This was the third clue.
But where was it leading him?

Having attended Praharshini Yoga classes, Haggai knew that this sign was actually the Gyan Mudra
from Yogic Philosophy. It dawned on him that the next clue was in the Old school building where the
Yoga classes are usually held.

He rushed towards that end of the campus, with a purpose.

Thespian was now watching a movie on his laptop. He suddenly heard a beep from a software
running in the background. This software was intended to beep whenever the GPS device came
within 200 metres of the laptop. This meant Haggai was closing in. Thespian immediately called up
Nasav Isnir. Nasav was the man behind this entire plan.

Nasav, picked up the phone. He said "Hey Regand, you need not be unduly worried. There's no way
in which Haggai could have found out the destination of the quest. He must be just roaming around,
out of desperation. I would advise you to switch off the GPS tracker, and relax till midnight, when we
can finally banish Haggai from the group".

Chapter 7:
Haggai was clueless when he reached the Old school building. In the previous two locations he had
people around, who led him to the next location. But this place was abandoned. Whatever, he was
sure that the next clue will have something to do with four fingers. He was looking throughout the
building, when he finally came to notice board, something caught his eye. There was an old poster of
"Order of the Mythic Rah" inviting initiates, stuck hastily over a movie poster of "Pearl Harbor".

Haggai on looking closely at the poster, realized that it was the next clue. There was an image of a
guitarist on the poster, and he was playing the C7 chord with a four-finger position. Haggai started
thinking about the relations between Pearl Harbor and four fingers. After a few minutes of thinking,
he realized that he had heard about a "four-finger" position that the aircrafts followed when he was
at an airshow, years back. He immediately got the connection, and rushed towards the Aerospace
department.

Thespian, was still worried, having seen Haggai come very close to the destination. But when he saw
him darting off in the other direction, he convinced himself that, Nasav was right, and Haggai could
in no way complete the quest in time. So he switched off the GPS alert and continued enjoying the
movie.

Chapter 8

Haggai on reaching the Aerospace department, started literally digging all around the aircraft. He
knew that he had just 20 minutes left to midnight, and he had to finish the ritual before that. But
things were not working out. After ten minutes of searching around the department, he could not
find any clue there. Crushed by grief, he started walking out of the department, when a signpost
caught his eye. It was the usual STOP sign post, but what caught his eye was the "Vote for Congress"
notice on the sign post, which showed five fingers. His eyes lit up, and he realized all hope was not
lost. Somehow, the stop sign triggered him to run towards the security officer, and ask for the
Cymbal.

He went directly to the Security officer and demanded "Give me my Cymbal back". The Officer stood
perplexed, unable to comprehend Haggai's request. Haggai lost his patience, and caught the officer's
collar and shouted "If I don't get my Cymbal back in ten minutes,.........". He was not able to
complete the sentence, for the Officer had punched him hard on his face. Haggai's face was now a
pool of blood, and as he fell to the floor, bordering unconsciousness, all he could see was the raised
fist of the officer.

Chapter 9
People underestimate the ability of the subconscious to give you unbelievable, yet correct answers
to your problems. Haggai was in such a state. All he could see was images flashing across his eyes,
fingers counting 1 to 5, with the same symbols as he had seen a few hours back. But wait,

The fingers were counting 1-2-3-4-5-0-1-2-....

And when things became slower and slower, Haggai noticed that 0 was being denoted by a closed
fist. Image of the Cymbal flashed by, and then he saw the police officer's raised fist. Strangely, there
was a song running faintly in the background. When he tried to concentrate, he realized that the
song was “Nothing else matters”.

Suddenly, all the pieces fell into place. Metallica. That was the final symbol. He felt as if he knew by
instinct, that he has solved the quest, and that the Cymbal lay beyond the doors, guarded by the
Metallica. Haggai stood up, looked at his watch. Just 5 more minutes to midnight, and he summoned
up all his strength to rush towards the destination. He knew where it was - Thespian's abode.

Thespian was enjoying the movie, and his mind was so jubilant. With just a minute to go, there is no
chance that Haggai could find the Cymbal, and hence we can successfully banish him from the
brotherhood. After all, Nasav's plan had worked flawlessly.
He heard a knock on the door. When he opened the door, it felt like a thunderbolt hitting him
squarely in the chest. There stood Haggai, and without any warning storming into Thespian's room.
Haggai picked up the Cymbal, and hit his head hard on it thrice, and looked at the clock. There were
15 seconds left, and he had finished the ritual.

Thespian still could not understand the gravity of the situation. All this meant, Haggai can no longer
be banished from the brotherhood. Dumbstruck, he asked how Haggai managed to find out the
location. When Haggai explained how he completed the quest, Thespian felt as if he was about to
faint. It was not because, he never expected Haggai to finish the quest. It was because, there was no
quest in the first place. Thespian had left the middle finger sign in the sanctum, just to mock at
Haggai. But destiny had other plans, and here he was, Haggai, standing elated, having completed his
ritual.

Thespian snatched the Cymbal from Haggai and started banging his head on it!!!!