Meenakshi Mohan
He came and spread his venom through every drop of blood he spilled,
created a devil fiercer than himself,
terrorized the earth with his wild havocs.
The gods together could not save the planet from his horrific rampage.
Then, they decided to go to Kailash Parvat
where Lord Shiva resided.
Shiva opened his third eye,
created Kali, divine energy, a superpower, the dark Goddess.,
Kali, in a fierce way, with her long black hair unbound,
crackling like a crone with her tongue lolling out,
wearing the heads of all the devils around her neck,
entered the battleground dancing her wild dance.
Raktabeej (blood-seed) laughed, knowing no one could ever kill him.
He had the power to create and be reborn with every spill of his blood.
The Black Goddess with her tongue sticking out
swallowed all the demons created by Raktabeej
and devoured all the blood
before Raktabeej’s blood spilled on the ground.
She destroyed Raktabeej forever from the face of the earth.
Once upon a time in the year 2019, on a thunderous night with biting winds and the smoky abyss of night, a demon was born in a place called Wuhan in China. He was small, ugly with a round face. His parents named him COVID, but soon after his birth, they passed away. COVID, being a demon, not only survived, but he could take care of himself. From the time he was born, he wanted to be all-powerful and rule the world. No one paid any attention to this little demon. When he mentioned this to his other demon friends, cholera, malaria, tuberculosis, plague, and others who now lived-in small crevices of the earth, they made fun of him. This made him furious.
There was an old Demon with a long beard reaching down to his knees. He used to watch this desperate little demon every day. He called him one day and said, “Son, I have been watching you for awhile and I see you so sad and desperate. Can I help you?”
“Sire, my name is COVID, and I want to be the strongest demon the world has ever seen.”
The old, bearded Demon looked at him up and down. He said, “I can help you. I have been watching you. You have all the makings of being a powerful demon. But you have to make some effort for it.”
COVID’s chest swelled with pride hearing such compliments. “I will do anything you ask me to do, Sire.”
“Well, it is not easy, and you have to do this for twenty-one days.”
“You have to put a lot of effort into keeping the rituals.” The old Demon continued, “You have to go to an old burial ground. Make sure that there are no ditches, roads, villages, and pits nearby; otherwise, your efforts will be futile. You have to go there by yourself, alone and at night for twenty-one-days.”
The little demon was a bit scared with the thought of going alone to the graveside of all the dead.
“Sire, what do I do there?” he asked in a trembling voice. “Is there no easier way to be powerful?”
The old Demon laughed, “Ha, ha, ha. You want to be powerful or stay as insignificant as you are now?”
“Well, I do want to be powerful and show the world how important I am. Can I take a lantern with me when I go?”
“Absolutely not. This is your journey by yourself.”
“This is not all.” The old Demon added, “Before going, you have to go to the Wet Market Place where they sell snakes, possums, and bats, among other things. There is one shopkeeper, his name is Wo Ho, and that is the name of his shop as well. He just sells bats.
You have to buy a fresh dead bat with dripping blood from him, one bat per day for twenty-one days. The bat has to be freshly killed. Take it to the graveside. You will see a huge tree bare of leaves with a big hollow in its trunk. The tree is surrounded by spiking cactus-like plants in the middle of a quagmire. The spiking plants talk and swallow if they see anyone infringing their property lines. But don’t be afraid, as soon as you get there, tell them that the old Demon with a long beard who lives in a cave has sent you. They will not harm you. Raktabeej lives there.”
“Raktabeej, who is he?” COVID was trembling with the prospect of going to this dreadful place.
“Good question,” the old Demon smiled. “Raktabeej was one of the most terrorizing demons the world had seen at one time. Killing him was not possible as with every drop of his blood, he created himself in a fiercer Avatar. And do you want to know a secret which you don’t know yet? He happens to be your Great, Great Grandfather from billions of years ago.”
“My Great, Great Grandpa of billions of years ago. Wow! That is interesting. He should be very nice to me then.”
“Well, he does not come to earth anymore and does not believe in favors. You have to earn your reward through his blessings.”
“And how do I do that?”
“Well, well, well, don’t get impatient. You will go there with the freshly killed bats for twenty-one days and find that tree with a big hollow in its trunk. You have to tell the spiky plants who you are, so they don’t bother you. Leave the bat there in that hollow and then pray sitting on the muddy marsh in a lotus position.”
“How do I pray?” COVID asked.
“Well, with folded hands, you have to say, ‘Great, Great Grandpa of billion years ago, please come and bless me with your powers so that I can control the world with my devilish acts like you did once. As the days go by, you will start noticing a change in you.”
“When can I start?” COVID asked impatiently.
“You can start from tomorrow night. Here, take this bag of coins to buy the bats. Tell Wo Ho that the old Demon with the long beard who lives in the cave has sent you to buy one bat for each of twenty-one-days. He will know and will not ask any questions.”
“Oh, I forgot to mention,” the old Demon scratched his beard, “Once you leave the bat in the hollow of the tree, Raktabeej will come and drink all the dripping blood from the bat. He will leave the bat for you to eat. You have to eat that bat raw before dawn every day for twenty-one-days.”
So, COVID was ready to start this ritual. The next day, in the dark of night, he went to the wet market to Wo Ho’s shop to buy a freshly killed bat with its eyes popping and blood dripping from its mouth. He told Wo Ho that the old Demon with a long beard, who lives in the cave, had sent him. Wo Ho nodded his head, took the bag of money from him, and handed him a bat.
COVID had no problem finding the burial ground. He found the tree with a big hollow in its trunk as it was in the middle of a marsh, surrounded by long, dark spiky plants. As he approached the tree, the spiky plants shook violently, and he heard in a shrill voice, “If you come near, we would swallow you alive.”
In a trembling voice with his body shaking with fear, COVID told them who he was and who had sent him. At once, the spiky plants stopped screaming and lowered their spiky leaves.
With shaking hands, COVID laid the bat with dripping blood in the hollow of the tree and prayed, sitting down in a lotus position on the muddy puddle of the swamp.
“Great, Great Grandpa of billion years ago, please come and bless me with your powers so that I can control the world with my devilish acts like you did once.”
The next morning before dawn, when it was still dark, he took the bat out from the hollow of the tree and noticed that all the blood was gone, but the wide-eyed bat seemed to be staring at him. He ate the bat raw before leaving the burial ground. He did not like the taste, but his urge to be powerful was more significant than his taste buds.
So, the ritual continued. For the first seven days, he did not notice anything. But, on the eighth day, just before dawn, as he was getting ready to devour the bat, there was a harsh, crackling sound from the hollow of the tree. “Great, Great Grandson of billion years later, I am glad you have come to me. I have been waiting for this time. I want you to continue my legacy of terrorizing the world. I will give you that power.”
As COVID was leaving the burial ground, he noticed some spikes coming out on his head. When the sun came up, he saw his reflection in a puddle of water, his face turning slightly pink. He already felt some power coming to him through the spikes on his head. With vibrant energy, he continued this ritual precisely as the old Demon instructed him.
On the twenty-first day before dawn, as he was getting ready to eat the bat, he heard the booming voice of his Great, Great Grandpa of billion years ago “Son, you have earned what you came here for. From today, you will be called COVID-19. You will have many spikes on your head, and your face would look like strawberries popping out. This time there is no war to fight. You can easily spread this contagious infection in people, and then they can just spread it among themselves through contacts with each other, through their sneezes, coughs, talks through any droplets. Once people are infected with these droplets, they would have various life-threatening symptoms. You will control the world by making it stop working. People will stop meeting each other. Businesses, traveling, parties, movies, eating out, shopping, all the fun would stop – the whole world will be at a stand-still. And thus, you will terrorize and rule.”
COVID-19 was thrilled. “Great, Great Grandpa of billion years ago, can I come to see you again?”
“Sure, you must come and see me, so we can both rejoice the terror you would have caused in the world.”
….
COVID-19. A mysterious devil, born and migrated from Wuhan,
danced his pernicious, evil dance.
He spread distress and calamity all over the world,
captured the world in chains –
stopped travels, businesses, social gatherings,
and all the fun people enjoyed.
Confined billions in their homes,
robbed them of their freedom,
caused many causalities.
People suffered and lived-in constant fear.
But,
the Devil danced, reveling and rejoicing.
Whoopee!!
COVID-19 met with his Great, Great Grandpa of billion years ago, and they celebrated their victory. COVID-19 could hardly contain his excitement, “Great. Great Grandpa of billion years ago, do you know, I have become famous in the whole world? People live in my constant terror.”
So far, COVID-19 had only heard his Great, Great Grandpa of billion years ago but had never seen him. Suddenly, a loud, booming sound, a vast dark smoke-like figure swirled around the tree. “Ha, Ha, Ha, I am Raktabeej (blood-seed) reborn again through you, my son,” howled Raktabeej and added, “Let’s celebrate.” He took out a colossal jug filled with blood. They both said, “Cheers,” and emptied the whole pitcher of blood.
….
But little did they know! Goddess Kali was already having her meetings with other Devtas to solve the havoc the COVID-19 had created in the world. All the Devtas in heaven were worried about the situation on the earth. Goddess Kali was discussing possibilities of visiting earth in her new Avatar. So, she descended on the planet in human form in manifolds. In her various Avatars, she met with pharma companies, met with WHO (World Health Organization Leaders), and wanted to jot down a plan to win over this mysterious Devil. Many COVID-19 testing sites were created. People took precautions to maintain their distances from one another, washing hands with soap and wearing masks. Research Centers were zealously doing clinical trials developing COVID-19 vaccines. AstraZeneca, BioNTech, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merk, Moderna, Novavax, Pfizer and Sanofi were making their rounds all over the world and joining the forces to fight this monster. Scientists predicted that by the middle of 2021, this Devil would be permanently removed from the face of the earth.
….
One night, in the middle of the dark night, COVID-19, in a desperate state, visited his Great, Great Grandpa of billion years ago. When he came, the spiked plants opened up their barbed, corrosive leaves to welcome COVID-19. They had come to know him very well by now. They informed COVID-19’s Great, Great Grandpa of billion years ago of his visit.
The dense smokey dark figure swirled around the tree, and it bellowed, “Great, Great Grandson of billion years later, why are you so sad and downcast? What is worrying you?”
COVID-19, in an urgent, dire voice, stated, “Sire, I am now, almost dead. The whole world is fighting against me. I will be eradicated from the face of the earth forever.”
The Great, Great Grandpa of billion years before, in his loud consoling voice, declared, “Don’t be so sad, son. You have my genes. Even if they can kill some of you, you have the power to be reborn in your mutating variants. It is not easy to get rid of you so easily. So, go and relax and don’t let this news upset you.”
The Great Great Grandpa of billion years ago’s dark and smokey figure was swallowed and sucked in by the hollow of the tree. COVID-19, a bit consoled, went to rest too.
…
The Dark Goddess Kali from heaven smiled. Her many Avatars are working continuously and diligently with researchers, pharma companies, drug companies, pharmacies, and marketing agents, all attired and powered with various technologies to rid this Devil and its multiple variants from the face of the earth for good. Her different Avatars also sent messages to people to keep themselves within their Lakshman Rekha of distancing, masking, maintaining hygiene, etc., until the world is entirely safe. All the Devtas up in heaven are also keeping a constant watch to ensure the earth is running smoothly.
…
The Evil flew far and wide, spreading its bloated wings,
overshadowing the universe under its gloomy, grim appendage,
laughing his shrill narcissistic laughter.
The world was in his control, and people lived in his fear.
But there was a beam of light behind the dark clouds,
ready to exuberate its magnificence,
and lead the world towards the victory of Good over Evil.
RaktaBeej – Blood Seed – Demon
Kali – Indian Goddess
Lakshman Rekha – Lakshman (Ramayan) drew a boundary line to protect Sita
Kailash Parvat – Pristine peak of the Himalayas
Lord Shiva – Indian God
Devtas – Gods
Meenakshi Mohan, Ed.D. is an educator, art critic, children's writer, painter, and poet. She has taught at universities in Chicago, Boston, and Towson University in Maryland. She has published widely in the academic and creative areas. She has been listed twice in the Who is Who Among American Teachers. She authored two children's picture books, The Rainbow in My Room and The Gift, and edited Tamam Shud, Poems of Kshitij Mohan. She is currently on the Montgomery County Library System's Advisory Committee in its Potomac, Maryland branch. She is on the Editorial Team for Inquiry in Education, a peer-reviewed journal published by National Louis University, Chicago, Illinois.
