Chandrakanta – Deception – {Ep.224} – Stories From India – Podcast

Today we’ll be doing a Chandrakanta story about how Kroor Singh gets into big trouble for telling the truth, also featuring Tej Singh’s clever aiyyaari and how Princess Chandrakanta and Prince Virendra meet in secret at midnight!

Welcome to “Stories From India”. This is a podcast that will take you on a journey through the rich mythology, folklore and history of the Indian subcontinent. I am Narada Muni, the celestial storyteller and the original “time lord”. With my ability to travel through space and time, I can bring you fascinating stories from the past, the present, and the future. From the epic tales of the Mahabharata and Ramayana to the folktales of the Panchatantra to stories of Akbar-Birbal and Tenali Raman, I have a story for every occasion.

The purpose of the stories is neither to pass judgment nor to indoctrinate. My goal is only to share these stories with people who may not have heard them before and to make them more entertaining for those who have.

Today’s Story

Chandrakanta is a historical science fiction/fantasy novel. It was written and published by Devaki Nandan Khatri over a century ago, in 1888.

If you haven’t heard the story so far, that’s okay. Because I’ll give you a quick summary.

Prince Virendra of Naugarh loved Princess Chandrakanta of the neighboring Vijaygarh. And she loved him back. But Chandrakanta’s father was opposed to their union. All because Kroor Singh has poisoned his mind. Kroor Singh was the Minister’s son, and also his assassin. And by that I don’t mean that he was employed as an assassin by his father. I mean that he assassinated his father. Besides poisoning the King’s mind, he also poisoned his father’s body. The almost casual way in which he intentionally committed patricide should tell you that Kroor Singh was the main villain here. 

Any villain in literature is usually motivated by money, power or love. In Kroor Singh’s case it was all three. He wanted to marry Chandrakanta, he wanted to become King and he wanted the keys to Vijaygarh’s treasury. But unless he took some drastic steps, the best he could hope for was to be minister, and that too only after his father passed away. That might have prompted him to poison his father.

Most of the main characters are aided by some very special sidekicks. These were Aiyaars. You could even argue that the Aiyaars were the real heroes, because they did all the real work.

Rival Aiyyars were locked in a cat and mouse game – trying to outwit each other. Aiyyaars were something like a cross between Mystique from the X-Men, James Bond, and Sherlock Holmes. Because they could shapeshift, they had access to futuristic technology, and they were experts at chemistry. 

Virendra’s aiyyaar Tej Singh single handedly outwitted and arrested Ahmed, one of Kroor Singh’s aiyyaars. Tej Singh imprisoned Ahmed in a beautiful valley that had no entrance except through a secret cave. Only Tej Singh, and his brother-in-law and fellow aiyyaar Devi Singh knew about the place.

Kroor Singh’s other aiyyaar was at one point caught by Chandrakanta’s aiyyaars Champa and Chapla but he managed to escape.

Despite the twists and turns we’ve seen so far, not a lot has changed. Virendra Singh and Chandrakanta were still banned from meeting each other. They were still pining away for each other. Tej Singh was still secretly delivering messages back and forth between the pair. Kroor Singh was still thinking up nefarious plots. Nazim was still on surveillance in Chandrakanta’s garden in case either Tej Singh or Virendra Singh tried to make contact with the Princess.

Everyone is back to their starting positions. Except Ahmed – he’s locked in a cave. And Kroor Singh’s father. He’s no more.

So we begin the story back with Tej Singh and Virendra Singh. They were making their way towards Chandrakanta’s garden in the dark of the night.

“Are we there yet?” asked Virendra Singh.

Tej Singh shushed the Prince hurriedly. “Almost. We just have to swing over the snake pit of terror, and then scale the mountain of madness and swim across the river of death.”

Virendra wanted to groan but he held himself. No way was he going to admit to Tej Singh that he’d made a mistake by insisting on coming along.

That was a good thing, because Tej Singh said “Relax, I’m just kidding. We’re here. Just go on here, through this hole”

It was a hole in the hedge. It looked like it had been there a long time. And what’s more is that Jai Singh’s people were aware of it. It was surrounded by traffic cones and a caution: men at work.

“In you go, Virendra, right through the hole”

“But it’s got a construction sign – it says do not enter” Virendra protested.

“I might be going out on a limb here,” Tej Singh said “but a Vijaygarh magistrate is unlikely to care that you ignored a construction zone sign when they are signing your execution order”

Virendra went in reluctantly and then was suddenly glad he did. Because once he had crossed the hole he was in a similar construction zone on the other side of the hedge. The sign there said not to enter, but it didn’t say anything about exiting. So he coolly strode out and bumped straight into someone. Luckily for him, it wasn’t one of Chandrakanta’s guards. It was Chandrakanta.

The Prince and the Princess squealed in delight and hugged each other. Tej Singh went away and made some small talk with Champa and Chapla about some article in the latest Aiyyaar’s Digest magazine.

Everyone in Chandrakanta’s garden that night was happy. And that included Nazim. Because, yes, Nazim was in the garden too. Remember, he was keeping watch for just such a scenario. He had hoped to catch Tej Singh, but to get the big fish Virendra Singh in the bargain was an absolute cracker!

So he didn’t mind that it was the middle of the night. And that Kroor Singh was in the middle of mourning, when in theory he ought not to be disturbed. He rang the bell over and over until finally Kroor Singh opened up and asked “What in the blazes do you mean by waking me up? Go away unless you want me to slice you up with my sword?”

“Kroor Singh, Kroor Singh, open up. It’s me Nazim” the aiyyaar said

“Nazim, eh? Well, that changes everything. Hold on while I fetch my whip so I can flog you while I slice you up”

“But Kroor Singh, I have the best news for you. We’ve got them. We’ve got them both!”

That changed Kroor Singh’s immediate plans. He set aside the sword and the whip for a later date, and let his Aiyyar in.

Nazim hastily explained what he had seen in the garden. And concluded his tale by adding that now they were going to catch Virendra Singh red-handed!

“Why red-handed?” wondered Kroor Singh “were they eating Paneer Tikka Masala or something?”

“No,” Nazim said. Though that could be arranged for Kroor Singh if was in the mood. They’d place a Swiggy order for him, the aiyyaar suggested. But they must get a move on after dinner. “Virendra wouldn’t hang around forever, you know.”

Kroor Singh hesitated. Technically the King expected Kroor Singh to stay indoors for 13 days given his father had just passed away. But, it was a very temporary hesitation. So he put on his shoes and rushed to the palace to wake up the King.

The King’s attitude at being woken up was not that much different from Kroor Singh’s.

“What is it?” He asked his servant petulantly.

“You have a visitor, your highness. Kroor Singh says he has bad news”

“Kroor Singh is bad news” Jai Singh mumbled. “Alright send him in. But fetch my whip and my sword in case this was all for nothing”

Kroor Singh came in and said that the King should immediately have his troops surround Chandrakanta’s garden. Because inside it was Virendra Singh himself. He’d snuck in from somewhere.

Jai Singh found that hard to believe. None of his guards had reported anything. But Kroor Singh seemed so confident that the King decided to investigate after all. If Kroor Singh was right, the King would be rid of Virendra Singh forever. It’s not that Jai Singh couldn’t stand Virendra. In fact, long ago Jai Singh had made a deal with Surendra Singh, Virendra’s father, for Virendra and Chandrakanta to marry when they grew up. It was just, well, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. But it didn’t matter. Virendra Singh was the Kingdom’s most wanted criminal. He couldn’t very well just sneak in and stroll in the palace gardens. What sort of a message would that send to other most wanted criminals?

So the King put on his clothes and went himself to the garden. And before doing so he gave the orders to have the palace gardens surrounded. Kroor Singh stayed back at the palace, at the King’s orders.

Meanwhile back in the garden, Chandrakanta and Virendra, as well as Tej Singh, and Chapla and Champa were all busy engaged in conversation. That’s when a beggar popped in. He seemed to appear out of nowhere. He had a ragged beard, and was dressed in rags. He was dirty all over – as if he hadn’t bathed in days. “Fly, you fools” were his opening words. “The King is coming, the garden is surrounded”. And saying that, he winked out of existence.

Virendra hadn’t paid attention to the warning, but luckily for him Tej Singh had. The Aiyyaar quickly dragged him away into the direction of the hole in the hedge. And not a moment too soon. For just then the King entered.

Chandrakanta coolly asked “Father! You’re here at this time of night? Is everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine” said Jai Singh while glancing quickly in every direction possible “I just wanted to see my favorite daughter”

“I’m your only daughter,” replied the princess dryly.

“All the more reason then” the King said.

A guard ran up to the King and said “We checked the entire garden and the perimeter, your majesty. There’s no one here.”

The King was disappointed. “You’re sure you checked everywhere?”

The guard replied that he was absolutely sure. Not exactly a 100%, because they hadn’t checked the part where the hole in the hedge was being rebuilt.

“Is it possible?” Jai Singh wondered. “That Virendra might have snuck in through that hole and snuck out?” He pondered and then concluded “No. Kroor Singh must have been wrong”

At this point you’re probably thinking that everyone who’s not an aiyyaar is pretty incompetent. Not so. It was more that Aiyyars were very clever at staging appearances. Not just of their own bodies to make them look like someone else, but also otherwise. Tej Singh was able to move extremely fast and he could easily erase any signs of his having been there – footprints, fingerprints, that sort of stuff!

Jai Singh was terribly upset by the time he got back to his palace. By now, his opinion that Kroor Singh was wrong had changed into that Kroor Singh was incompetent. And because of that the King had lost sleep, lost face, and lost patience.

Kroor Singh beamed and said “So did you catch the blighter?”

Jai Singh couldn’t take it anymore. “Guards, arrest that man” he said, pointing to Kroor Singh. 

“Kroor Singh, do you know what your punishment is going to be for lying to the King?”

Kroor Singh didn’t want to answer. He hadn’t lied. But not answering a direct question would compound any crime the King imagined him to have committed. So he tried to answer truthfully.  

“That I don’t get an invite to the next party in the palace?”

“You don’t get an invite to the next party, and you’re going to get whipped”

“Oh, so I was half-right,” Kroor Singh said.

Before the lashes could be administered, Kroor Singh protested. “But I’ve known you for years, your majesty.”

“Maybe that’s why I can’t stand the sight of you anymore” Jai Singh retorted.

Kroor Singh said that he hadn’t seen Virendra himself. He had only acted based on information he had received from Nazim.

So, the King ordered Nazim to be summoned as well.

Ultimately, Kroor Singh got 50 lashes, and Nazim got 200. And neither was pleased with what they got. The King threw something else into the bargain – a declaration that Kroor Singh would not under any circumstances become his minister. If he had put the King in this situation before he even became minister, imagine how much worse it might be after he got the job. He might have visions of spotting the most wanted criminal at the most inconvenient times – during trade negotiations with neighboring kingdoms, during the annual Kings’ club gala, or in the middle of a gilli-danda tournament. Dashed embarrassing minister he would turn out to be.

Back in Kroor Singh’s house, Nazim cursed his master. “You stopped to think about Paneer Tikka Masala, and that’s why Virendra and Tej Singh had time to escape. And I got lashed for it”

“Don’t forget Nazim, that I got lashed too. And unlike you I’ve to look for a new job now”

Nazim didn’t say that he too was going to look for a new job. Back in those days as well, it was not a good practice to admit to your manager that you were going to quit until after you had a job offer from somewhere else.

Kroor Singh summarized their situation. “Tej Singh has upped his game. And we’ve lost Ahmed. And we’ve lost Jai Singh’s ear”

Nazim objected to that last one. “No he’s not, he had them both on. I was being whipped, but I did see his face clearly”

“It’s an expression. It means he won’t be listening to us”

Despite how close he came to rage-quitting, Nazim sighed and said that there was a way. Kroor Singh needed to form an alliance with Maharaj Shivdutt of Chunargarh.

Kroor Singh was curious of course. Nazim explained that it was a secret and not to tell anyone, but he knew from his Aiyyaar phone book that Shivdutt had six registered Aiyyaars. And not just run-of-the-mill Aiyyaars. These were heavyweights. There was Badrinath and Jagannath, who had written books on Aiyyari. And the others were top of their graduating class too. 

All Kroor Singh needed was to convince Shivdutt to support him. And that would take all the money and all the jewels he had.

So the two of them decided to go away just for a day or so. Establish a memorandum of understanding. And then 2 or 3 trips later, they’d have Shivdutt convinced.

Kroor Singh collected all the money and jewels he could, packed them up and left immediately with Nazim towards Chunargarh. Before going, he gave strict instructions to his servants not to reveal anything to the King or his servants.

So when Ahmed showed up later that morning, Kroor Singh’s servants weren’t sure what to tell him. Kroor Singh hadn’t accounted for this possibility. They had a hasty conference and concluded that this was Ahmed whom they all knew and had worked with. They knew he was missing for a bit, but he explained didn’t he that he’d been sent on a mission by Kroor Singh, and the story that he’d been captured was just a trick to throw people off his scent. And the mission must have been very peculiar, because Ahmed had come back with his voice changed and he was about 6 inches taller now, and seemed to have switched from being left handed to right handed. But what did they know? They just imagined Aiyyaars to be every bit as glamorous as the medieval equivalent of Bollywood made them out to be. So they readily told Ahmed, who was really Tej Singh in disguise, where Kroor Singh had gone and why.

The fake Ahmed announced that he was going to go join his master in Chunargarh. And he had a long journey ahead, so he couldn’t stay.

Tej Singh quickly changed from his Ahmed disguise into another disguise. Into that of one of Kroor Singh’s servants. He went to Jai Singh’s court and in between sobs introduced himself as Kroor Singh’s servant, Ram Lal.

The King asked him why he was here.

Ram Lal said that he was here to complain about Kroor Singh’s treachery. Kroor Singh had turned traitor, he had fled the kingdom, and taken all his money and jewels with him. And when Ram Lal had tried to stop him in the name of the King, Kroor Singh had beaten him up. And what’s worse, Kroor Singh owed him back wages for the last several months.

The King was concerned. Kroor Singh’s behavior had been erratic. He asked his servants where Kroor Singh was, and he was told that he was in mourning.

“If you don’t believe me, let’s go to his house right now!” Ram Lal said.

And so they did. The King directly addressed the two guards at the door and asked them where Kroor Singh was.

The first guard answered “He’s very ill, your majesty. The lashes from your whip last night left him in a terrible state. And he’s continuing to mourn his father”

The King was just about to turn to Ram Lal with an I-told-you-so expression, but just then the second guard added, “Yes, your majesty. He definitely hasn’t fled to Chunargarh and he definitely hasn’t taken all the money and jewels with him and he certainly didn’t instruct us to lie to you.”

You can imagine the King’s reaction to that. He ordered the guards to open the door. There was no Kroor Singh to be found in the house, and no money, and no jewels.

The King was furious with Kroor Singh’s treachery. He immediately ordered the guards to be punished. And Kroor Singh’s house to be auctioned off. And Ram Lal was to be given some money from the King’s treasury.

So that’s where we’ll end it this time. With Tej Singh, disguised as Ram Lal, carrying all the money he could, and Kroor Singh in Chunargarh oblivious of his new homeless status.

That’s all for now

Some notes on the show

According to Devaki Nandan Khatri, Aiyyaars were not really magical unlike how they were portrayed in the television series. Aiyyaars were just experts at futuristic technology, chemistry, and stealth. 

A huge appeal of the book is in how Khatri keeps readers guessing about who’s using Aiyyari and what their real intentions are, like a mystery where you keep changing your guess about whether it was the butler or the cook or the driver or the mailman who did it.

The previous Chandrakanta episodes were Episode 130, Episode 137, Episode 174, and Episode 198. They are linked on the site sfipodcast.com. Check them out.

That’s all for now. 

Next Time

In the next episode, we’re in the Mahabharata again. It’s a story about Uloopi. She’s a princess who’s also a snake. And she marries a perfectly human Prince, Arjun, one of the Pandava brothers. We’ll see that she’s quite remarkable because she has the ability to light fires underwater, and to bring someone back to life.

Feedback

Thank you all for the comments on Social Media and on Spotify’s Q&A! I can’t directly reply to the questions there, but I’ll address them here on this show.

Moshroom, I wish you a happy birthday! I’d actually covered the story of the Blue Jackal back in Episode 141 if you want to just hear that. Happy to do any other requests you may have in mind.

Anshu and Ankush, I was thrilled to read your comments! I’m glad this podcast is helping you stay connected to your roots. It’s feedback like this that keeps me motivated! We will be doing a Mahabharat story next week. And I’ll do the talking cave one pretty soon. And I’ll be doing more Vikram and Betaal stories as well!

Thank you for the kind comments Darsh, Hiranmayee, Parasasapbi

Naomi, I’d love to do a story about Krishna or Radha, or maybe both. Watch for this in an upcoming episode!

Elina, I’m happy to do another Panchatantra story soon. I just have a few more requests to get through, so I appreciate your patience.

If you have any other comments or suggestions or if there are particular stories you’d like to hear, please do let me know by leaving a comment or a review on the site sfipodcast.com, or tweet @sfipodcast, or reply to the questions on Spotify Q&A. You can also find me on Instagram and Facebook.

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A big thank you to each of you for your continued support and your feedback.

The music is from Purple Planet.

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next time!