33 The shocking revelation

A voice over the intercom up in the corner of the wall and ceiling awakes him. It is the voice of a woman with a strong German accent.

“Johan, rise and prepare yourself for your interview! They will come and fetch you soon!”

Slowly he rises and walks drunkenly to the bathroom. The sun shines brightly through the tinted windows of his room and also in the adjacent bathroom both barricaded by sturdy metal meshes so that he would not even be able to put his finger through and touch the glass and he can’t see anything outside. There is only an entrance to the bathroom and even there is no privacy. High up in the corner he sees a camera that watches him and an intercom. There is no shower, only a bath; so he doesn’t even have privacy when he bathes or uses the toilet.

He concluded that the cameras watch him because they are afraid he would do something to himself. The cupboard and mirror in the bathroom underscore his suspicion. The mirror is attached to the wall covered with thick safety glass so that he could not break the mirror and cut an artery with a shard. There is no toothbrush; only toothpaste in a soft plastic tube. The shower gel is the only soap and also in soft plastic. He smiles wryly. They must be afraid he would smother himself with real soap. The cupboard in his room has no hangers but only clothes upon racks, folded neatly with no strings or belts. There are only sandals and no shoes with shoelaces. There is even no attachment on which he could hang himself but it looks as if they are making extra sure. The only way in which he can think of injuring himself is to break the ceramic washing basin in one way or another and then use the sharpest shard to cut an artery or to try and drown himself. But they are watching him and he is sure they are ready to react immediately should he try to do something.

Johan presses a little toothpaste out of the tube, rubs with his finger over his teeth and opens the tap to rinse his mouth. He looks in the mirror and wonders how he will look by the end of the week. He simply hates a moustache or a beard and any shaving utensil is simply absent. His face already shows signs of stubbles. He must remember to ask the person he is about to see for a razor or something. They won’t give him a blade, but they can supply him with an electric razor. But then he realizes that there are no electric plugs in this cell. It is only the lights high up which they brighten and dim; thus he will have to ask for a fully charged electric razor. He suddenly feels hungry and hopes he will be fed this morning. They locked him up yesterday afternoon and he had not eaten or drunk anything since then.

It is Monday. His first day in this jail! Yesterday the voice of the woman tried to pacify him over the intercom. She told him that he and Martie are very important new members of their family and the small room in which they were keeping him was only temporary to make sure that he doesn’t do anything stupid as he did in India. It is for his and Martie’s safety alone.

Johan feels dirty and wishes to bath but the camera in the corner is too high to try and cover it. It is an old building with high ceilings and even if he would be able to turn his bed in a vertical position, and stretches to his utmost, he would not be able to reach it. He uses the toilet and then decides to make himself accustomed to doing everything in front of the camera. He takes off his clothes and opens the tap. At least he wants to do the interview with a fresh body and head and try to solve one of his many challenges.

He has quite a few challenges to overcome before Sunday. He wonders where they are keeping him and how he will be able to identify his position. He will have to convince them that he needs some fresh air and it should be in the evening so that he can use the stars to work out his position against North. From the park to the garage in this building, he had to travel in the back of a van and couldn’t see anything but he has a good idea of time and speed and they are not far away from the park. They are definitely in the vicinity of Port Elizabeth. This gives him hope. How is he going to get his hands on a booklet and pencil and make them accustomed to his habit of writing down Sanskrit so that he can hide a secret message for Nico? Maybe they will be afraid to give him a pencil. How is he going to convince them to meet Martie in the park? At least he has sunlight that would keep him up to date with which day it is and how much time is left before he and Martie will be meeting in the park.

Ronald and Elize sit at the breakfast table and watch him as he emerges from a long corridor with two bodyguards, one on each side. The table is stacked with bowls containing salads and food and an Indian woman in a lovely, colored sari stands nearby. Johan looks around for a window that could give him an indication of what might be going on outside but the blinds’ angle only let sunlight in but obscures the view. One of the sturdy bodyguards pulls out a chair and shows him to sit down opposite Ronald and Elize. He smiles and sits down.

The bodyguards retreat and stand a little back on either side of him. Ronald smiles and looks quite happy and points to the food on the table.

“Welcome Johan, we are sorry to lock you up temporarily but you are now going to enjoy a meal with us. You must be quite hungry and thirsty by now. You gave us a nasty surprise back in India and we don’t want things to turn out so badly again and everything we do is to protect you from yourself.”

Without emotion on his face, Johan looks at him quietly. Let them talk as much as they like.

“Here we have a typical Vedic karma-free meal prepared by Lakshmi and her friends, Saraswati and Aditi.” He points at the lady. “You can serve us now, Lakshmi.”

The names of Lakshmi’s friends sound vaguely familiar. Saraswati and Aditi! It must be pure coincidence. He doesn’t recognize Lakshmi.

Lakshmi smiles at Ronald and takes a plastic plate and dishes up and place it in front of him. She also serves Elize and Johan. Then she pours something like juice in plastic glasses and puts it in front of each and then she brings little plastic bowls of water with a little cloth to each. She smiles and stands back.

Ronald speaks again: “You see we don’t use knives and forks but eat with our hands and you are familiar with the Prasad which is an offering to Krishna and this way of eating should be old news to you, not so?”

Johan nods. “Yes, we eat with our right hands and wash it with the water and little cloth.”

Ronald nods. “True Johan, we know also that you know Classic Sanskrit and enjoyed personal, spiritual training from swami Prabupada. May I ask you to bless the food to Krishna before we enjoy it?”

Johan sings a song of gratitude and offers the Prasad to Krishna in Sanskrit while he silently wonders what Ronald has up his sleeve. Does he know that they at the time escaped via the Vaishnava ashram, and if so, he hopes his old friends are safe.

Ronald nods thankfully when Johan finished. “Let’s eat.”

The meal brings back old memories of his days in the ashram. He now actually feels guilty that he had not kept their customs and reverted to the things he enjoyed in which they don’t believe. Back in South Africa, it didn’t take long to revert to his fatty meat and alcoholic drinks.

Ronald smiles again. “Don’t you miss this tasty karma-free Prasad that Saraswati and Aditi always prepared for you, Johan, and what about their brother, your old friend, Arjuna, who smuggled you to the temple? You became good friends over there and I understand that you had difficulty to leave them when you escaped from there with the ISKCON movement.”

Johan suddenly feels the tension building up in him. Ronald now affirms that they know everything. How? It means they caught his old friends and why is Ronald lingering on this subject? He becomes suspicious. This Prasad tastes just like the ones Arjuna’s sisters prepared for him. The women who helped Lakshmi prepare this Prasad have the same names. Could it be them? No, it can’t be! It must not be so! Ronald is again playing games with him.

Ronald continues: “Johan, are you not eager to see your old friends again?”

Johan looks up straight into Ronald’s eyes. “What game are you playing? I don’t hope you have messed with those lovely people’s lives.”

Ronald smiles and points with his hand to something right behind him. “Look who came in quietly to surprise you, Johan.”

Johan looks back and sees Arjuna standing there looking at him with a broad smile. Surprised he jumps up and hugs his old hero. “Arjuna, my angel, sent by Vishnu! What are you doing here?”

Arjuna hugs him warmly and when they disengage he smiles at him while he holds Johan by his shoulders.

“Vishnu has sent me again because the time has come to fulfill your mission for which you were born. Just like Krishna explained to Arjuna when he was confused before the battle of Kurukshetra, I must lead you to the truth.”

Suddenly Johan realizes that there are things that don’t make sense and the shock of seeing his old friend after twelve years has resulted in him forgetting temporarily about his predicament. Now his friend, who saved them out of the occult’s claws and smuggled them out of India, stands in front of him and smiles as if everything is just fine. Arjuna’s words slowly sink in. As Krishna divulged Arjuna’s responsibilities in a moment of weakness, Arjuna must now divulge Johan’s responsibilities to him.

His hero, Arjuna, is completely in the power of the occult!

The smile vanishes from Johan’s face and is replaced by anguish and shock. “Arjuna, what is going on? Are you also a captive like me?”

Arjuna smiles again honestly. “No, Johan, we are not captives; we are part of the chosen ones and you will understand shortly. We are highly privileged and the only ones who are really free.”

He turns his head and calls to the door. “Come in, girls, come and greet our old friend!”

Flabbergasted Johan stares at the beautiful Saraswati and Aditi, laughing and ecstatic of joy to see him, coming in running and charging straight at him.