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Episode 1: Big Uncle Energy

Sare Jahan Se Accha

Tarānah-e-Hindi

An Urdu language patriotic song written by poet Allama Muhammad Iqbal that became an anthem of opposition to the British Raj. Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian astronaut, employed the first line of the song in 1984 to describe to then prime minister Indira Gandhi how India appeared from outer space. In India, the text of the poem is often rendered in the Devanagari (based on Brahmi, developed in the 8th century) script of Hindi.
English translation
Better than the entire world, is our Hindustan,
We are its nightingales, and it (is) our garden abode
If we are in an alien place, the heart remains in the homeland,
consider us too [to be] right there where our heart would be.
That tallest mountain, that shade-sharer of the sky,
It (is) our sentry, it (is) our watchman
In its lap where frolic thousands of rivers,
Whose vitality makes our garden the envy of Paradise.
O the flowing waters of the Ganges, do you remember that day
When our caravan first disembarked on your waterfront?
Religion does not teach us to bear animosity among ourselves
We are of Hind, our homeland is Hindustan.
In a world in which ancient Greece, Egypt, and Rome have all vanished
Our own attributes (name and sign) live on today.
There is something about our existence for it doesn’t get wiped
Even though, for centuries, the time-cycle of the world has been our enemy.
Iqbal! We have no confidant in this world
What does any one know of our hidden pain?

Welcome to Vehaar.
We open on a bustling station full of commerce. The air is thick with all kinds of scents. You smell spices, arcane components, cow dung. Just about everything you can imagine, but more than anything, Ash, you smell a piece of home. A piece of a home you didn’t know you had. As you step off the boat, pondering the large airship docked just above you with a massive balloon holding aloft the Sky Haveli (city) with a beautiful brand new paint job yet to be christened with its very first voyage. You wonder how quickly it could have carried you across the ocean. Unfortunately such pursuits are out of your economic range. You ponder the leaky tub from the developing nation you’re from that brought you here, and you take in your first Vehaarian scene.
You’ve heard that there is an “uncle’s brother’s cousin” friend who is supposed to meet you here on the platform. As you gaze around, you see crates of spices, leather, fabric, spellcasting components all being trucked around and letting off little plumes of smoke as they do. So you smell a faint ammonia smell from a gentleman next to you. A tiefling with buffalo horns. He gruffly nudges you out of the way, rolling a barrel ahead of him. People rushing past each other to go about their business. Throngs of humanity giving you sidelong looks, not necessarily because of the way that you’re dressed, but mostly because you are standing very much in the way.
You don’t notice anyone you’re looking for on the platform, but you do notice a small goblin with a bushy Tom Selleck moustache, long hair, a smart conductor-style hat, green clothes, and a long woven shawl wrapped unceremoniously around his neck. He comes over and goes,
“Yeah. Take a luggage.”
He just starts calmly grabbing your luggage, stacking it up. He takes all of it; stacks it up high on his shoulders and on his head, taking a couple of your suitcases in his hands. He then wanders into the crowd.
You’re able to push your way past all of the moving people and you manage to find the small goblin again, still walking at a determined clip with your luggage.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the platform, a covered cart pulls up outside, led by two very large, very wooly, cloven-hooved animals (somewhat resembling water buffalo, but with a thick curly mat of hair falling over the eyes). You recognize these beasts, Auntie, because this is your friend Bolinder’s cart. I shouldn’t say friend, maybe nephew. He’s a young gentleman, married now (to a lovely girl who makes perfectly round roti), unlike when you first met him. You are rather fond of her Chai-making skills.
You’ve heard that your friend Marka, is receiving someone at the station today and needs a rather large vessel within which to cart all of their luggage. So of course you know Balwinder (sitting unceremoniously in the driver’s seat) would be more than happy to bring you. He studies both of the beasts (and the familiar scents of sandalwood and elechi) and they actually do smell as good as a beast of burden can smell. They have large gentle eyes and three tails that switch restlessly. Their double-sets of horns shaking impatiently.
You’re sitting here with Sitara, waiting for this man and Markha to come out. The back of the cart you’re sitting in has windows that are adorned with different color fabrics (not unlike the ones in the studio). Sunlight streams in through one and outside it is a beautiful Vehaarian day. Absolutely gorgeous. Maybe a little too hot, but you are in the coastal region, so there is a nice cool breeze kicking up and coming in gently through the window. This is Laddoo Auntie. Laddoo Auntie is a bit of a stark contrast to Sitara.