Welcome To Muntaland!

In the middle of the Sahara Desert, four strangers mounted on individual camel’s back. Half of a group followed them in a Hummer, while the other half, on camels. The dry heat, unending sand, and zero vegetation would leave anyone wanting for water. Those four were no exception. They were provided water containers with strict instruction to use judiciously. They were trying their best, but the rocking motion on the camel’s back was making matters worse.

“Hey! We are almost there”, shouted a man peeping through the binoculars. The four couldn’t see anything but large mass of sand ahead, but as the man had foresighted, their camels stopped before a miracle. Out of nowhere, there was a beautiful patch of vegetation surrounding crystal blue lake. A man plunged with a cowboy roar “heehaw!”, and many followed, into the oasis. One man in a white suit exited the Hummer which turned into a throne. He sat on it comfortably. He took a Cuban cigar, bit a bit off, and lighted it with his finger. He dragged the smoke, and a glass of whiskey with ice appeared on his free hand. “Let us begin!” thundered the man. All other men hurried and sat on the array of magically formed chairs while the four strangers sat around a round table with a pen and a paper.

Meanwhile, the man said, “We have writers among us and whatever they write will happen before our eyes.” The writers started scribbling – Out of the water rose a robot with a Mohawk haircut. It was dressed in cargo trousers, leather boots and torn jeans jacket. Its iron face glistened in the sun as it looked up, ready for a selfie. It said, “I’m Mobot!” in a monotonous tone. Few feet away formed a creature with slender legs fit carefully on a leather trouser and head of a lion. Its mane waved in slow motion as it made a circular movement on one leg. “I’m Lionson!” it roared. Out of the tree flew a strongly built woman-like figure which had black feathers and long straight hair. One could not help falling in love with her after eye contact. It seductively said, “I’m Wogle!” Behind the throne appeared a grizzly bear. Widest hips, colorful aviator and distinct nose ring made it stand out. Strangely, it had few rounds of tiny led bulbs around its waist, which flickered at the interval and a semicircular headset around his head. It sang, “Hey yo! I’m Punkly!”

The man jumped out of his throne, rubbed his palms and smiled crookedly. The rest of the men stood behind him; the scene looked like band members posing for the cover picture. The throne in the background turned back into hummer, and the chairs vanished. The writers were already waiting for the next set of instruction. The man in white approached them in one giant leap and said," Thank you! I would not have been able to conjure them up with my imagination. You all are free to leave.” He ordered his men in camels to escort those writers back home. The man entered the vehicle followed by a few men from all sides. Lionson and Punkly sat on the roof, while Mobot and Wogle preferred to fly.

After about an hour drive, they approached a huge wooden gate standing in the middle of nowhere. The man in white suit winked at the gate from inside the vehicle; the gate responded in a deep echoing voice and said, “Welcome… to... Muntaland…!” The door flung open shifting tons of sand on two sides. The earth behind the door opened and revealed a circular route like the ones which led to a parking lot below. The man accelerated and waived his right hand and said, “Thank you Mr. Dailo!" Mr. Dailo, the door, closed behind as Hummer plunged into the opening. The tons of sand shifted back and covered the entrance as if nothing had happened there.

The vehicle flew in the air for a while before it landed on the mouth of steep hairpin bends around a pink mountain. The mountain was surrounded by huge roots of multiple colors mainly orange, red and white, while the atmosphere was of almost pure oxygen. It felt livelier with every breath in, but it was not as lighted as it was earlier - only enough to see the surroundings. The vehicle braked in front of a tapering hole and all the men fell forward inside. The four super forms were still at their place. A strict voice asked for a password. The man replied, “Pulimowo bloom!” As the voice allowed entry, the other end of the hole peeled open like a flower till its end and inward flew Hummer into a blinding white light.

The wheels of the vehicle creaked stop before coming to a halt. Never seen creatures walked near the vehicle at their own pace – some with horns while some with tails; some associative while some totally out of the blue. The men got out of the car; Lionson, Punkly, Mobot and Wogle were there at a distance, facing towards them but staring high up with a sparkle in their differently shaped eyes. The men turned back, stretched their neck backwards as if pulling a string of a bow and stared upward. Gigantic bird-like figures somersaulted and painted the sky like an animated poster. It had words too, which read – "Across the universe and beyond, we gather to witness the greatest dance show ever, here at Muntaland. We call it Muntance!" Music played in the background accompanied by lights from flying objects. The earlier flying figures started dancing in perfect synchronization. “Wow! Finally, we are here”, the man exclaimed with a well-rehearsed dance move. That act back on Earth would have been viral on social media but here it was just another amateur performance. The man’s eyes looked around to witness perfect dance steps; he was elated.

After imbibing the surrounding for a while, they walked to a saucer-shaped platform. Meanwhile, the Hummer transformed into a pen and the man clipped it in his coat. The lady on the platform said in a neutral tone, “Welcome to MTC! Where would you all like to visit?” “To the place where the dance contest will happen”, said the man with a growing smile. A transparent cup-shaped glass covered the saucer and flew into a blue tunnel. After some time, the object jumped from the blue tunnel into a red one. Here the speed was much lesser compared to the blue tunnel. Nevertheless, in a short span of time, the glass shield opened, and they were pointed towards the crowd. A huge crowd marched towards a forest of mirrors, hundreds of feet tall.

At the entrance of the area hosting millions of creatures, swaying in the music, were creatures like the earlier flying figures. They smiled, and the man showed them his pen, they scanned it. “Verified!” sounded the scanner and in no time, they were teleported to their relaxing area. Huge screens and personal rejuvenating pods with a perfect view. The screens displayed an interesting group in peacock feathers perform from various angles imaginable. The crowd hooted and cheered – they went crazy! Next, a feeble boy came up the stage: he appeared nervous. He shook his body and started to dance. The audience clapped along. As the dance progressed, he gradually transformed into a strong being with white feathers and a muscular frame. The crowds jumped in awe and danced along with this newly formed being. The man switched off the screen and looked at the four creatures. “My friends, you have been created to win that show and here is a pill for all of you. Take one and you would have the practice and skills equivalent to ten thousand hours”, said the man in white. They took the pill. “Now we will practice!” they headed to the practice room leaving the others behind. They had their performance in another twenty-four hours. Meanwhile, somewhere in the same building was a man who looked strikingly similar to the one in the white suit. Only that he did not have the pen, luxurious clothing but had the eyes of a warrior before a battle.

Many years back, an archaeologist, Lex, backpacked and was hiking through the Copper Canyon in Mexico. He lost his way and stumbled into a secret cave; he was exhausted and decided to rest there for the night. The canyon could be hot during the day but suddenly cold at night. He prepared a fire, placed his food to cook, and laid out the sleeping bag. He planned the route for tomorrow looking at his compass and a rough map. The food was ready by then. He had his food. He then made a torch with a stick and moved inside the cave to explore. There were faint figures drawn on the walls which intrigued him even more. He reached a place which was home to strange symbols on the wall. He read those symbols and he was excited to know how primitive they were. He went deeper to find a huge nest, and on it was an egg of solid gold. He looked around – there was nothing. As if attracted by the golden charm, he took it by hand and at that moment a huge spider appeared at his left. He thought if he had stayed near the fire nothing would have happened and the next moment he was near the fire clenching the egg. He felt himself and he was fine. It took some moment for him to recover; he did not understand what had just happened. He thought about his home bed deeply and the next moment he was lying there. He thought about his bags left miles away in the cave and in no time, it was there. He understood that whatever he set is mind on would be possible. He concentrated to change the egg and it changed into a pen.

Lex’s mother was a passionate dancer and same had passed on to her two sons. He used this new-found power to learn dancing even more. He understood that hard work was something no magic could beat. He toiled, practiced and evolved better. The magic helped him show the way, but he believed in himself. He dreamed of starting a school of dance talents, which was his dead mother’s wish as well and for that he knew he himself had to lead the way. While his brother, Max, who was a street magician believed in luck and shortcut. He always said that life is all about chance. He liked dancing but lesser than magic.

All this while, Lex had kept the magic secret to himself. He knew that if it fell on wrong hands it would be a disaster. Max had been to Lex’s room and had seen the huge poster of Muntance at Muntaland. They both appreciated each other’s work and bonding. Lex had been visiting Muntaland regularly recently; he had a friend circle there from diverse cultures and he danced day and night. His passion peaked – he was preparing for the Muntance, it was just weeks away.

One day, on a breakfast table, Lex told Max about the golden egg and it’s magic. He took the pen, went outside and changed it into a plane. Lex was taken aback by the magic. They both flew to the magical land of Muntaland. On his way, crossing the gates he told him about the ultimate dance completion – Muntance and how he had been preparing for it. The very next moment they were back sipping coffee on the table. Max couldn’t believe it what had just happened; it occupied his mind.

It was just a few days left for the event, Lex returned after practice from Muntaland tired along with a new friend. Mr. Neox was short and muscular with the body of a Neanderthal and bushy tail of a fox. They both drifted into deep slumber. Late night, a figure crept into the room, opened the door carefully and tiptoed towards Lex. He hesitated for a few seconds as if giving a second thought, but pulled the drawer and took the pen. The figure sneaked out of the room, his reflection fell on the mirror near the door; he was Max.

The main day was there, Max was present with his creatures and his team’s name was announced. Lionson and Punkly entered from two sides somersaulting while Mobot and Wogle flew down from a height. The crowds cheered wild once again when Mobot moon walked and rest did slow motion, when punkly was thrown up and had a step by step air catching sequence, when lion roared and rest hid behind only showing hands all around, when Max entered at the end performed b-buoying while the rest stood in a C formation behind him and rotated their upper body. Max punched in the air and rest followed maintaining the existing the C formation. They froze while the audience cheered. Their show was done.

After a few performances entered Lex with three other members. One of the members was Mr. Neox. The second member, Emma, was like a beautiful lady with long legs and pointed ears. It had green eyes so deep that one would get lost into it. The third member, Wolfy, resembled the upper body of a wolf and lower of a human. It too had a tail like that of Mr. Neox. They revolved like a top and entered the stage from four sides making an ‘X’. They did a fusion of tango and salsa. The crowd went wild. They would throw and catch members and at one point it appeared like one was juggling the other three. The crowd roared again. They were tiptoeing, head spinning, flying, jumping – painting a story on stage. They bowed at the end and crowd formed a Mexican wave, cheered and clapped. Lex was standing there smiling and enjoying the love.

Someone from behind patted his back with a heavy hand and cried, “Laxman! Laxman!” He looked up to see a familiar man with a well-combed beard, bushy mustache and square glass frames at the edge of his nose. A few extra hairs trying to escape his nose and ears. The cheer around gradually drowned and turned into laughter. “Laxman!” once more the pat on the back. I woke up startled; I found my history teacher looking down on me and my classmates enjoying the show.