‘I don’t know. It was probably a bit of both. We learnt from their noble culture and they learnt from ours. Of course, we can go on about who learnt how much and from whom, but that is nothing but our ego, showing our desperation to prove that our culture is superior to others. That is a foolish quest. It is best to learn from everyone, regardless of the cultural source of that learning.’

The Parihan rode ahead in solitary splendour. They had been travelling for a week now, and Kurush had determinedly remained uncommunicative, giving monosyllabic answers to Shiva’s companionable queries. The Neelkanth had finally stopped talking to him.

‘Did the Lord grow up here?’ Shiva asked Gopal.

‘Yes, Lord Rudra was born around this area. He came to India when we needed him.’

‘He was from the land of fairies. That would obviously make him our guardian spirit as well.’

‘Actually, I believe he wasn’t born in Pariha, but somewhere close to this region.’

‘Where?’

‘Anshan.’

‘Doesn’t anshan mean hunger in India?’

Gopal smiled. ‘It means the same here as well.’

‘They named their land “hunger”? Was it so bad?’

‘Look around you. This is a harsh, mountainous desert. Life is perennially difficult here. Unless...’

‘Unless what?’

‘Unless great men are occasionally able to tame this land.’

‘And Lord Rudra’s tribe proved to be such men?’

‘Yes, they set up the kingdom of Elam.’

‘Elam? You mean the same one that the Akkadians conquered?’

‘Yes.’

‘That would explain the Vayuputra support, wouldn’t it? The Elamites were the people of Lord Rudra.’

‘No, that’s not the reason why. The Vayuputras supported the Elamites because they genuinely felt the need for a buffer state between them and the Mesopotamians. In fact, Lord Rudra had made it very clear to his fellow Elamites: they could either join the Vayuputra tribe, giving up all links with any other identity that they had previously cherished, or they could choose to remain Elamites. Those who chose to follow Lord Rudra are the Vayuputras of today.’

‘So Pariha is not where Anshan used to be.’

‘No. Anshan is the capital of the Elamite kingdom. Pariha exists farther to the east.’

‘It appears to me that the Vayuputras accepted other outsiders as well, and not just the Elamites. My uncle was a Tibetan.’

‘Yes, Lord Manobhu was one. The Vayuputras accept members solely on merit, not by virtue of birth. There are many Elamites who try to become Vayuputras but do not succeed. The only people who were accepted in large numbers, because they were refugees, were a tribe from our country.’

‘From India?’

‘Yes, Lord Rudra felt personally guilty about what he had done to them. So he took them under his protection and gave them refuge in his land, amongst the Vayuputras.’

‘Who were these people?’

‘The Asuras.’