Code K

"What?! Asurs?" Samir couldn't of anything else to say other that that at this revelation.

"Whoa... Whoa... You are over-reacting. We are still step-siblings. Can't we help each other sometimes?" Yam chuckled and joked.

"Seriously, man... You are kidding right now of all times?" Samir said in irritation.

"Ha, my bad. Just couldn't help myself. Ok, so here's the case. When Bhagwan Vishnu proposed about this idea every one of us Dev also had the same reaction as you and Bhagwan Vishnu had also joked about it in a similar way. I just thought that why not do it in his stead this time so that I can take rev... Ahem, take a feeling of what he was feeling right then." Yam clarified.

But Samir had caught on what was going on and played along and said, "Alrighty, that's fine. Just continue on the story now."

Yam then hurriedly continued, "Okay, as I've told you earlier we were going to churn the cosmic ocean to summon the treasures and to be honest the main goal of this event was the elixir of immortality, 'Amrit'. We were ready to take Asurs' help but would they help us? That aws the question that we asked of Bhagwan Vishnu and he said that the proposal should be handed to them by someone capable enough. We all knew that only one person could accomplish this task and that was 'Devarshi Narad'."

Samir asked in curiosity, "Why only him? Is he good in diplomacy or such things?"

"I know you are going to laugh when you hear it but the one and only thing he does other than chanting Bhagwan Vishnu's name all the time is sowing discord between everyone who interests him, even Dev and Asur are not free from his sharp tongue's grasp. Hmm...", After thinking for a bit Yam continued, "Just a brief introduction will suffice. So, Devarshi Narad is actually one of the many children of Bhagwan Brahma but instead of following his father's words, to procreate on Earth. He became a devout follower of Bhagwan Vishnu and remained unmarried. After that, because of his faith and devotion he was granted the title of 'Dev Rishi' or 'Devarshi' which made him an equal to us Devs. He became a playful man who took active role in leela."

Samir asked casually, "So he's an important man to the tale and not only is he someone who is difficult to understand but also a discord sowing demon who does it with justification."

Yam tried to retort and said, "Oh? Umm... That's not what I said."

Samir remained silent and thought in his mind, "But that is what you mean. I mean, doesn't he go anywhere he wants and wreaks havoc with his mouth? And that is what you said."

And Yam said, "No, that isn't what I mean. But, well, if you put it this way. Maybe..."

Samir choked with laughter and said, "I will definitely not get used to this."

Yam retorted and said, "What's so funny? You cunning little toad."

Samir quickly raised his voice and said, "Hey! You can't call me a toad. I am a proud human."

Yam jokingly said, "Okay, proud little human. I won't call you a toad."

Samir took a deep breath and said, "Stop it man. And just tell me what happened next."

Yam also became serious and proceeded with the tale, "Devarshi Narad was informed the plan and obviously he agreed. He went into one of the lower seven Loks called Patal Lok and proposed the idea to Shukracharya. When Shukracharya asked about what they would get then the answer was simple half the loot would belong to Asurs and half would belong to Devs. We and Asurs were going to take turns at claiming the rewards. Also, it was decided that the Amrit would be split in half. We were not happy at first but we had no other choice and so we decided to do the Samudra Manthan."

Samir asked to clarify, "Do you mean the churning of the ocean?"

Yam said in affirmation, "Yes. You are right."

Samir asked again, "So how did you churn the literal cosmos?"

Yam then explained, "Now, think of the universe as an ocean. What do you think now? How can one churn the ocean?"

Samir contemplated for some minutes and then said, "We can use a big structure for the churning umm... like a mountain? And a huge and sturdy rope."

Yam laughed and said, "Fantastic! You really have a good head on your shoulders. Yes, we used a mountain, the biggest mountain peak of that time was Mandaranchal or Mandara peak. And as you said, we were planning to use a rope but no rope was good enough for this task."

Samir retorted, "Are you sriously telling me that you churned the universe like that?!"

Yam sighed and said, "Well, not exactly but even if I told you, you wouldn't understand. So, I am simplifying it for you."

Samir felt dissatisfied but couldn't argue back.

After a moment of silence, Yam continued, "Bhagwan Vishnu knew about this problem but there was another big issue in this plan and that was where were we going to place the mountain for a good foothold so as to allow us to churn. Just as we were going to fall in despair again, Bhagwan Vishnu assured us and said that he would personally take care of this matter. The rope problem was also not without a solution, Bhagwan Vishnu told us that we could use the follower of Bhagwan Shiv, snake king Vasuki as the rope for the great task."

Samir's face twisted in grimace and he said, "You guys really know how to use something, no, someone very flexibly. Firstly, Sheshnaag and now Vasuki?"

Yam ignored Samir and said, "With these problems solved, we were ready to set sail to our voyage and do the task at hand but then we were bombarded with another big, fat problem. At that moment, were just as frustrated as you are right now, no actually our frustration was on a whole another Lok than you! Ahem... Ahem... sorry for the outburst but you can understand, right?"

"So what was the problem?" Samir asked with a mixture of sympathy and amusement in his eyes.

"Well, nothing much but we would just die while churning the ocean." Yam said with a sarcastic smile.