the immortal of maluha

Nandi and Shiva crossed the river Beas on a boat. Their three soldiers waited to cross on
the following craft. The Beas was the last river to be crossed after which stretched the straight
road towards Devagiri. Unseasonal rain the previous night had made the crossing-house
captain consider cancelling the day’s crossings across the river. However the weather had been
relatively calm since the morning, allowing the captain to keep the service operational. Shiva
and Nandi shared the boat with two other passengers as well as the boatman who rowed them
across. They had traded in their existing horses at the crossing-house for fresh horses on the
other side.
They were a short distance from the opposite bank when a sudden burst of torrential rain
came down from the heavens. The winds took on a sudden ferocity. The boatman made a
valiant effort to row quickly across, but the boat tossed violently as it surrendered to the
elements. Nandi stretched to tell Shiva to stay low for safety. But he did not do it gently
enough. His considerable weight caused the boat to list dangerously, and he fell overboard.
The boatman tried to steady the boat with his rows to save the other passengers. Even as
he did so, he had the presence of mind to pull out his conch and blow an emergency call to the
crossing-house on the other side. The other two passengers should have jumped overboard to
save Nandi but his massive build made them hesitate. They knew that if they tried to save him,
they would most likely drown.
Shiva felt no such hesitation as he quickly tossed aside his angvastram, pulled off his shoes
and dived into the turbulent river. Shiva swam with powerful strokes and quickly reached a
rapidly drowning Nandi. He had to use all of his considerable strength to pull Nandi to the
surface. In spite of being buoyed by the water, Nandi weighed significantiy more than what any
normal man would. It was fortunate that Shiva felt stronger than ever since the first night at the
Srinagar immigration camp. Shiva positioned himself behind Nandi and wrapped one arm
around his chest. He used his other arm to swim to the bank. Nandi’s weight made it very
exhausting work, but Shiva was able to tow the Meluhan captain to the shore soon as the
emergency staff from the crossing-house came rapidly towards them.
Shiva helped them drag Nandi’s limp body on to the land. He was unconscious.
The emergency staff then began a strange procedure. One of them started pressing Nandi’s
chest in a quick rhythmic motion to the count of five. The moment he would stop, another
emergency staff would cover Nandi’s lips with his own and breathe hard into his mouth. Then
they would repeat the procedure all over again. Shiva did not understand what was going on
but trusted both the knowledge as well as the commitment of the Meluhan medical personnel.
After several anxious moments, Nandi suddenly coughed up a considerable amount of water
and woke up with a start. At first he was disoriented but he quickly regained his wits and turned
abruptly towards Shiva, screeching, ‘My Lord, why did you jump in after me? Your life is too
precious. You must never risk it for me!’
A surprised Shiva supported Nandi’s back and whispered calmly, ‘You need to relax, my
friend.’
Agreeing with Shiva, the medical staff quickly placed Nandi on a stretcher to carry him into
the rest house that was attached to the crossing-house. The other boat passengers were
looking at Shiva with increasing curiosity. They knew that the fat man was a relatively senior