Lava of an ancient promise

​The novel idea is based on time travel :The present time in India and the ancient past of Roman empire when they traded with the Indian kingdoms of the south are bound by an ancient event.

The time period is narrated in alternating chapters by the two protagonists in episodes based in Kerala, India and in Pompeii , Italy .

The theme is the universality and continuity of human emotions like love, hate, curiosity and greed; family myths and stories of certain family heirlooms with strange secret beliefs , weave the stories of two unrelated families of two different races and gets to bring to fruition an ancient love and start a modern one. Historical remains and writings in Ancient Greek and Roman empires are well known of trade between kerala and Italy in the ancient times .

Synopsis 

A young woman , Anjana, from Kerala visits her best friend, Leena studying art in Florence . She accompanies her to Pompeii as a tourist. Her fascination for Pompeii starts in childhood when she heard stories of discoveries of artefacts like coins,broken pottery and stone statues , metallic remains that was unearthed when their old ancestral Tharavad was built and fresh finds turned up as they renovated the area round the house with modern amenities, in the village in Kerala. 

She has a strange experience when she meets the young Italian tourist guide Vincenzo, in Naples who is taking her group to visit Mount Vesuvius and the stunning ruins of Pompeii frozen in time.

She feels a sense of dejavu when they wander around and she goes down the rock paved path of the well preserved and excavated villas and streets of the city as if some unknown power is leading her to show her something . The excavations are still going on and the areas are cordoned off but she walks as if in a dream to the street of the ancient mariners where the harbour was the Center of activity. The gold coin locket which hung around on a chain like a talisman was one of the ancient finds which her family had found when their Tharavad was being built . She felt the ash petrified statues come alive in a different century and pull her to corners of the town as she resists the feelings and fears . The tourist guide , Vincenzo too experiences what she feels and communicates to her his story and events of the past. He shares with her his dreams of visiting south east Asia and setting up a travel agency and resort in his native Naples. He is enigmatically coiled up in her fate as they live on two levels of reality driven by powers beyond their control.

The Story of Pompeii Lakshmi and it’s secrets as narrated by the guide holds a meaning for Anjana as the chain round her neck gets entangled in a peice of stone masonry hook , as she slips and falls down a hole , opening up an unseen chamber in the ruins of the private bath house of the villa.

The anthropologist and his workers are surprised and the treasure horde tells the story of the owner; The ancient life he led as a soldier and merchant in his travels to south india; the riches he earned also held a secret of his wealth . The magical formula to make metal into a mirror that could foresee the future of the individual on chanting a mantra given by an Indian woman who loved him and awaited him in the village in ancient PIndia. This was not to be and the unfulfilled promise to take her with him to his exotic land was wiped away by the earthquake. 

How the eruption of the volcano changed their fate as he was ready for the final journey to fulfil his promise to his Indian lady love who awaited his return.

In the present day a bond forms between Anjana and Vincenzo as they spent the day towards the sunset knowing as if they were meant to be together and their unexpected meeting was decreed by the powers of the universe.

That fateful day brings alive a past life, waiting in the old paved excavated streets and houses of the ancient city destined to be completed and come to gather for closure to an ancient couple: The dreams that haunted Anjana in her ordinary life in a village in kerala and the adventure loving Italian man growing up on the sea shore of Naples converge with their unexpected meeting .

The Roman remains in south india and robust trade relations given in the historical writings of the Greek and Italian philosophers and authors are woven into the fiction .

It is also a love story of the modern day and ancient time of two set of people living in two eras.

One ancient unfulfilled love that gets closure now , after two thousand years and a new one that gets fulfilled in the modern age .

South India was important for gold and other precious stones. It was also known for its spice trade. It had trade contacts with the Roman Empire and silk and spices were exported to Roman empire in return for Wine and other luxury products.

Christian and Jewish settlers from Rome continued to live in India long after the decline in bilateral trade.[4] Large hoards of Roman coins have been found throughout India, and especially in the busy maritime trading centers of the south.[4] The Tamilakkam kings reissued Roman coinage in their own name after defacing the coins in order to signify their sovereignty.[36] Mentions of the traders are recorded in the Tamil Sangam literature of India. One such mention reads: "The beautifully built ships of the Yavanas came with gold and returned with pepper, and Muziris resounded with the noise." (from poem no. 149 of 'Akananuru' of Sangam Literature).

Title 

Lava of an ancient promise.

Chapter. 1

August 9, 2016.

The warm Italian sun dappled my skin as I moved along the beach road with Leena , searching for our tourist operator.

I hung on to my straw hat, teased by the sea breeze , that came off the Naples bay. The line of tourist buses was fast filling up with the excited crowd on their way to see Mount Vesuvius and the ancient city of Pompeii, frozen in time for the last 2000 years . 

Leena peered into the tourist brochures murmuring , “I can feel your excitement , Bhavna . One of your dreams is coming true. “

“Yes ! I finally get to visit Italy .

Thanks to you ; If you had not been here to fulfill your dream, mine would have remained a deep seated longing.

Your one year art course completion and my PhD thesis submission just coincided.”

The name of the tour operator was emblazoned across our bus, “Luciano Wonder tours”, the air conditioned, blue gleaming bus throbbing to go , up the winding path into themountains .

We settled down into our seats and Leena read from the brochure,

“Hey! this is for you . Your dream is coming true. Your guide will hold a sign with the name of the local partner, Worldtours, written on it. Please contact the local partner after making your booking to confirm your pickup time. If you're arriving by cruise ship into the Port of Naples, meet your guide at the end of the dock. If you're arriving by train, meet your guide outside the Hotel Terminus. Meet your guide/driver at your hotel or at these locations in Naples, including: Starhotels Terminus, Hotel NH Napoli Panorama, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, 50 Kalò, Hotel Naples, Cattedrale di San Gennaro, or Cruise Terminal Napoli…”

Her voice made me nervous and I recollected my own voice reading it with thrill, enamoured with the descriptions of the places. “Stop it please ! It’s great and I know you can read and write in English and Italian.“ I closed my ears as she rattled on teasing me “Do you want to hear it in Italian. “

“No ! thank you . Let me feel and breathe the place and live my dream. I am curious to see who are our co travellers .We have a guide I hope to tell us about the trip : Describing the sight and sounds and the stories behind it .”

“Don’t you want to look out for the handsome Italian like Alessandro, my friend ,” she said munching on some Italian savouries .

The sudden shiver went through my body and as I looked out of the window feeling a buzzing in my ears; the day seemed to darken and strange whispers trilled a strange tongue in my ears . Echoes of cries and rumbling falling masonry froze me as if I was part of a movie in 3D.

I struggled to shake off the feeling and shook my head wildly to get rid of the feeling . I was scared and excited as I mumbled , “ All that can wait . Let me read up on Pompeii. I have such fascination for it as a child when I read my father’s 

books .” 

“Your father was a professor in Archeology and I remember the stories he told us, “ she said in remembrance of the happy child hood days.

“I don’t know why , I often dream of Pompeii; “ I said and closing my eyes thinking of my home in Paravoor: the green coconut trees swaying in the monsoon rains and the pepper plantations amidst the emerald rice fields stretching away. Never far off the silver ripples of the foliage coved Periyar river swirled with the boat man’s songs.

But my dreams were always of the hissing sounds of red hot, glowing volcanoes and trembling earth , as the ground rumbled and shook , The feeling of suffocation in the grey light making me breathless andI got up from the night mare , soaked in sweat and the heart drumming in fear. 

It was a recurring dream.