Road to India: Between Hell and Nirvana
Author: XS GAMES
Version: Microids
Platform: PC

Disclaimer: This is my first walkthrough.  If you choose to use this walkthrough
on your site then it's okay but please let me know and give me credit for it.  I
should also say that this is not for making money.  It's strictly free.  Contact
me at renodox@hotmail.com

Thoughts:
Nirvana: Road to India is a very straightforward game.  Most of the puzzle
solutions are simple enough to figure out and those that aren't can easily be
solved through trial-and-error.  There are no dead-end situations and the only
good puzzle in the game provides you with a solution if you take too long to
finish it.  You can't die in this game either.  All the same, this walkthrough
should at least give you a feel for the game and provides some answers if you
don't want to wait for the solution to present itself.

The Story:
One year ago in New Delhi: a suitcase is left next to a fruit stand.  A woman in
red happens to be shopping around there at the time.  It turns out that the
suitcase contains a bomb (big surprise).

One week ago in New York: You, Fred Reynolds, are in an airport saying good-bye
to your fiancé Anusha.

Yesterday in New York: A letter arrives addressed to you.

Today over Europe: You're riding in a plane and fall asleep.  Apparently, Anusha
has dumped you and she doesn't want to talk to you.

Dream:
Yes, this is a dream.  You can tell by the cloudy aura around the screen.
Anyway, observe Anusha being kidnapped and go ahead to try and aid her.  Here's
your first puzzle.  There's a piece missing from the puzzle but go ahead and
arrange the pieces in this order 3-2-6-5-1-4.  Unfortunately, without the
missing
piece you're stuck outside.  Go to the right and look around.  There's a FLUTE.
Take it.  Now return to the main entrance and head down the stairs.

Turn left and you'll eventually hear a sound.  Look around and see that there's
a
monkey standing there.  And look!  He's got the missing piece in his tail.  Of
course, he's not going to just give it to you and you don't have a proper bribe.
Move on for now.

If you keep going, you may notice an elephant.  It's possible to go up to the
elephant but you can't do anything with it right now.  You can also go left of
the elephant and find a weak wall section but that's just as useless as the
elephant.

Back up on the paved wall, move as far left as possible.  Pick up the ROPE and
head as far right as possible.  You've found an orange tree!  Of course, the
oranges are too high for you to reach.  Put the ROPE down and play the FLUTE.
The rope will rise (this is India and it's a dream) and you can take the ORANGE.
For some reason, you can't pick up the ROPE and the FLUTE disappears but you
won't need them.  Return to the monkey and give it the orange.  The monkey will
eat and take off leaving the PUZZLE PIECE.  Take the piece and return to the
main
door.

If you didn't arrange the pieces before do so now and put the final piece on the
seventh slot.  You can now enter the palace.  Once inside you'll see Anusha get
dragged further in.  If you want, ignore her predicament (you cad!) and search
the other two rooms in the palace.  They're dead ends so it's just a waste of
time.  Follow after Anusha.

Good thing that was just a dream.  After a long cut scene you'll start off
standing in front of Anusha's house.  Her mother seems to be pretty upset.
Maybe
you should introduce yourself.  Oops!  It doesn't seem like she wants to talk.

Okay, you're kind of limited on where you can go, so I'm not going to go into
full detail on how to get to places.  Anyway, from the start pick up a clump of
GRASS from the front of Anusha's house.  Then cross the street and find a STICK
lying on the ground.  Take it.  If you want you can return to Anusha's house and
head right till you find a metal gate.  It's locked.  There's a KEY just out of
reach.  Oh well, there's not much you can do just yet.

Leave Anusha's house towards the left until you find a boy.  Talk to him.
You'll
now have CHANGE (how did a beggar get change for a dollar?!).  Go right and
you'll find a theatre.  It's closed at this point but there's a gumball machine.
Buy some GUM (pretty expensive stuff).  Combine the GUM and the STICK.

Now you can go back to the gate and pick up the KEY with the stick.  Unlock the
door and go in.  There's a pretty odd altar here.  That statuette looks like a
representation of Kali.  Check it out and take the PICTURE.  Well, the picture
doesn't end up in your inventory but you get an entry in the diary.  This will
also open up some new talking options.   Talk to the boy and head left of him.

First, you should find a store.  Go ahead up to the window and look at the
newspaper and the magazine.  You recognize that car.  Leave the store and keep
going left.

A cow blocks your path.  And as we all know, cows are sacred in India so you
can't just shove it out of your way.  Feed the cow the GRASS and it'll leave.
Move on and you'll meet an old beggar.  Talk to him.  Once you've exhausted all
talking options, go into the alley (how stupid is Fred?!).  It's dark, but you
should be able to find a CLOTHES HANGER.  Take it.

Head out of the alley and keep going left till you see an ATM on the other side
of the road.  Go to the ATM and use your CARD to get some CASH (You can only do
this once).  With cash in hand head back to the boy (No, you can't give it to
the
old beggar).

Tell the boy about the magazine then give him the cash.  He says you need to
help
him break in.  Go back to the store and use the CLOTHES HANGER to unlock the
window.  Go back to the boy and talk to him.  He'll give you the MAGAZINE (you
thief!).

Reading the magazine (it's in the written items section of the diary) gives you
the name of Anusha's kidnapper.  Talk to the boy but he has nothing.  Now go to
the beggar and ask him about the name.  He knows him.  Like an idiot, follow him
into the dark alley and see what happens to trusting fools like you (Well, the
beggar didn't lie anyway).

Dream
Okay, so now you're back in the dream sequence.  You “wake up” in prison.  Go to
the cell door and see that you're guarded.  There's nothing much to do here, so
look around the cell itself.  Move the bed and you'll find a BANANA (why they'd
leave a banana I'll never know).  Bribe the monkey with the banana and he'll
enter the cell with you.  Take the BANANA PEEL.  Now go back to the door window
and drop the peel.  Go back to the bed and pick it up.  The noise attracts the
guard and the classic comedy manages to knock him out cold.  However, you're
still stuck in this cell.  Well, now it's time to have your monkey friend help
you again.  Talk to the monkey.  You'll get five commands: Eek (Forward), Hoo
Hoo
Hoo (Turn right), Gnee (Jump), Whahee (Pick up).  Basically, tell him: “Eek,
Gnee, Hoo Hoo Hoo, Gnee, Whahee.”  He'll get the KEY and give it to you (if you
want, you can have the monkey bump into the guard and discover the guard is
still
alive but it's not necessary).  Once you have the key in hand, unlock the door
and leave.

This next part requires some exploring but it's pretty straightforward.  Pick up
the KNIFE/BLACKJACK next to the guard and go out.  You'll enter a sort of maze
of
staircases.  This part is where you'll need to do some exploring.  As always,
you're stuck in a small area, so just walk around and you'll find your way.
There are three guards in this room.  You can get behind two of them hit them
with the KNIFE/BLACKJACK.  One of the guards (black shirt) has a KEY.  Take the
KEY.  While you're exploring you should also find a VASE.  Take it.  Once you
have the KEY and the VASE open the only locked door and go inside.  Go up the
stairs and you'll come to a window just over the third guard.  Drop the VASE on
him.

With the guards out cold, you can walk out of the palace easy enough.  You
should
find a MAP lying on the ground not far from where you get out of the stair maze.
Take the map and go back to the elephant.  Use the KNIFE/BLACKJACK on the rope
and the elephant is free.  Climb on the elephant and use its superior might to
break down the wall (hope your insurance is paid up).

Alley
Okay, you wake up staring into Hanuman's (the boy) face.  You discover your
wallet's gone and you find you have a pretty standard threat note.  Talk to
Hanuman and learn what you can.  Walk around the alleys.  If you keep walking
past the screen with the rat, you'll find that Fred has gotten pretty stirred up
by his experience: he won't leave the alleys.

You'll find that the old beggar has your WALLET.  Try to take it and discover
he's not letting it go.  Continue through the alleys and you should discover a
Taxi Man.  Talk to him and discover he'll need an address before he can help
you.
It looks like you'll need to get your wallet back and some information.  In a
screen where there is a red door look down and you'll find a FEATHER.  Take it.
Go back to the beggar and tickle him with the FEATHER.  Okay, you can get your
WALLET.

Now that you have some money, you'll also need to get an address.  Go to the
alley with the rat and duck into the alley way to the right.  Here you'll find a
NECKLACE and if you search well enough you'll also find a BUSINESS CARD.  The
card isn't for Dharmesh Shareef but it's in the general area.  Make you way one
screen past the old beggar and into the apartments (You can also ask the Hanuman
about Maitreyi).  Find the apartment 1-D and walk in.  Talk to Maitreyi and
learn
that Dharmesh is in fact a client of hers, but she won't tell you anything.
There's a BILL on her desk but you can't take it.  Well Hanuman did say if you
need help come see him.

Talk to Hanuman and he'll agree to help.  Give him MONEY (now where'd that cash
come from?) and he'll leave.  Go back to Maitreyi and wait for the phone to
ring.
Take the BILL and go.  Now you have Dharmesh's address.  You can now go to the
Taxi Man and tell him the address.  Give him MONEY and you're on your way.

However, you may not want to leave just yet.  The next section is completely
OPTIONAL so don't do it if you don't want.  You can get a slight alteration to
the ending but that's about it.  If you still want to do it then here's what you
need to do.  Walk to Hanuman's bed and take the CRATE.  You may need to look
around a bit but you'll also find a STICK you need to take.  Now find a house
with an open window.  It should be near the Taxi Man.  Use the CRATE under the
window and look inside.  Take the CHEESE (Sheesh, Fred has a problem stealing a
bill from Maitreyi and not food from a stranger?  He's got issues).  Look around
the old beggar and you should see a BROKEN BOTTLE.  Take it.  Walk past the
beggar till you're about three screens away from the Taxi man.  There's a
clothes
line just out of reach.  Use the CRATE and look at the rope.  Cut it loose with
the BROKEN BOTTLE to get the ROPE.  Okay, now combine the ROPE with the STICK,
then the CHEESE to the STICK, and finally the BAITED STICK with the CRATE.  You
now have a RAT TRAP.  Take the RAT TRAP to the alley where the rat comes out of
and where you found the NECKLACE and BUSINESS CARD.  Leave the RAT TRAP, next to
the wooden walls and you'll get the RAT.  The RAT is useless but it'll alter the
ending and getting the CRATE and ROPE now saves you some trouble later.

Dharmesh Shareef's House
After a quick cut scene you'll see that you need to find a way into the place.
Walk around the wall until you find a STICK pointing out of the bushes.  If you
got a ROPE in the alleys then you're okay.  If not, then look around the opening
screen till you find a ROPE lying on the ground.  Combine the ROPE with the
STICK
and you've got a GRAPPLE.  Walk around the wall till you see a crack near the
top.  Use your GRAPPLE to climb up.  You're in!

Explore the estate.  You should come across a tool shed.  Once you're inside the
tool shed, look around.  You should find WIRE CUTTERS, a SCREWDRIVER, and (if
you
didn't get it in the alley) a CRATE.  Take everything.

You will also find a rather large statute of Kali with a slot fixed on it and a
garage where Dharmesh keeps his car.  You can't do anything with either place
right now.

There's a gazebo on the estate.  If you explore it, you'll discover a HAMMER
lying under one of the benches.  You can take it, but I've never found a use for
it.  If anyone has found a use for that hammer please let me know.

Search around the house till you find its ancient security system.  Bah!
Criminals have been bypassing these alarms since the dawn of time.  Put the
CRATE
below the system box and climb up.  Use the SCREWDRIVER to open the box and
expose the wires.  Obviously, you need to use the WIRE CUTTERS to cut the wires.
The alarm is now off.

Strangely, you can't take the crate with you (I guess Fred doesn't care about
leaving evidence behind).  Walk around the house till you find a window.  If you
broke the alarm system then you can go right in.  If you haven't you'll have to
do that before Fred will enter.

Once inside, explore.  There's nothing in the first room nor is there anything
in
the hall or the bathroom.  When you find the trophy room, look around for a book
lying on a table and for a puzzle box on the opposite end of the room.  The
puzzle box is one of the easiest things to open.  Just pull out all the slots.
There's no real style to this puzzle so you're on your own here.  Once you open
the box, take the key and leave the room. It's now time to go upstairs.

There's a locked door that you can unlock and see a cut scene.  You can go in
now
or you can explore a bit more.  Eventually, you'll find a bedroom containing a
box of MATCHES.  Take them if you want but it's unnecessary.

When you're ready to end this section of the game open the locked door and walk
inside.  Talk to the woman who you thought was Anusha.  She's pretty out of it.
And now so are you.

Dream
Well, now that you're out cold, its time for another dream!  This time you're in
the temple of Kali.  You can't reach Anusha so you'll have to find another way
in.  There are six STAINED GLASS WINDOWS in this room so go ahead and take them.
Once you have the WINDOWS leave the chamber.  Going down the stairs, you'll need
to enter the first room on the left.  This appears to be a torture chamber.
Take
the CHAIN and leave.  There's a room further down to the right but don't enter
it
yet.  Instead, go down to the door and try to open it.  This leaves you with a
broken HANDLE.  Combine the HANDLE and the CHAIN to make a GRAPPLING HOOK (you
sure do make a lot of those).

Enter the room to the right and look around.  There's a weird clover-shaped
statuette sitting on the ground and a window letting in a beam of sunlight.
Fred's comment should give you some insight on what to do.  Fit the WINDOWS into
the panes.  Looking only at the heads of the “keys” in their patterns, you'll
need to use the BRIGHT BLUE WINDOW, the RED WINDOW, and the GREEN WINDOW.  The
combined pattern makes a key appear on the statuette and opens the way into a
maze.

This maze is probably the most difficult part of the game.  The rooms almost all
look the same and you have quite a few to get through.  There's two ways to get
through the maze. In the first one, you can listen to the wind chimes and move
in
the direction that they're coming from, but this requires you to have a computer
with two speakers or headphones.  The second option is to reach the first four-
exit room and wait for about five minutes.  A rat will appear and show you the
solution (great, they finally get a decent puzzle and they give you the
solution).  Of course, if you don't want to wait you can just read this
solution:
from the start move forward 4 screens (counting your starting screen), turn left
and move forward for two screens, turn right and move forward for two screens,
turn right again and move forward for four screens and finally turn left and
move
forward for two screens.

Okay, now that you're out of the maze walk through the glowing wall and see the
cut scene.  Head back to the top floor (no, you don't have to go through the
maze
again).  Well, the woman Laj Vanti has been kind enough to provide a bridge but
the flames are still too high.  Use your GRAPPLING HOOK to pull the lever so
that
the flames go down.  You can only do this from one screen so just try different
screens till you succeed.  Walk across the bridge to get the fairytale ending of
this dream.

Dharmesh Shareef's House Part 2
This part of the game really had me worried that there was a problem with the
game.  It's pitch black and all you can see is that little dot in the middle of
the screen.  What's worse is that even if you picked up the matches, they won't
be in your inventory anymore.  You'll quite literally have to fumble around in
the dark.  Whenever your cursor turns into a hand click it and see what you get.
Eventually, you'll find a box of MATCHES.  Light a MATCH on the BOX and look
around.  You need to get a RAG, and a BOTTLE.  Combine the RAG with the BOTTLE
and light it with a MATCH.  This will enable you to see and open the door.

You're still stuck in a prison.  That's okay.  Use the SCREWDRIVER (they take
your wallet and matches but leave you with the screwdriver?) on the door hinges
and walk out.  The bathroom is still useless so go back to the trophy room.
Yippee, you've found Anusha.  Talk to Anusha and find out more about the
situation.

It seems you'll need the keys and the only one who can help you is Laj Vanti.
So
go upstairs and talk to her.  She's even worse today than she was yesterday.
Check the upstairs doors until you find the study.  Once here, you'll get a
DIARY
(you can't read it but it confirms Dharmesh's connection to Kali) and some KEYS.
With the KEYS in hand, go to the bedroom at the end of the walkway and walk up
to
the painting.  Move the painting to reveal the hidden safe.  Use your KEYS on
the
safe and pick up the CD.  On the nightstand there is a CD PLAYER.  Combine the
CD
and the PLAYER and return to the woman.

Play the CD for her and she'll snap out of her trance (what did she hear in that
music?).  Talk to her until you discover that Anusha is being taken away.

End Game
Well, now that you have the keys, its time to open the garage (yes, I know they
took Anusha to the statue of Kali).  Inside the garage get the KEYCHAIN lying on
the table and the PADDLE that lies on the ground.  Leave the garage.

Approach the statue of Kali and see that it's guarded.  Try to use the PADDLE on
the guard.  For the weirdest reason, Fred doesn't want to submit to force so
you'll have to use another technique.  Go back to the garage and look in the
window.  DO NOT enter the garage because this won't work.  Once you're looking
in
the window activate the car with the KEYCHAIN.  The guard will notice the noise
and walk into the garage.

I still say Fred has issues.  The guard will be knocked out by the exhaust and
you can search him.  Take his KEYCARD and return to the statue.  Use the KEYCARD
on the statue and you can go in.

Well, well, well, it seems that Fred's dreams were special.  You're at the
Temple
of Kali.  A guard sleeps on the steps.  You can't walk up to the front door and
the other steps lead to a dead end.  So, you'll have to deal with the guard.
Use
the PADDLE on the guard (Fred's willing to use force on a sleeping man but not a
standing guard?!  What a coward) and take his KNIFE.  Walk past the guard and
use
the KNIFE to open the window.

There's not much to do in the temple.  You can search around if you want but the
main chamber is blocked by a bunch of cloaked men and you can't enter the
torture
chamber.  Once you're back in the entrance to the temple open the trapdoor on
the
floor and walk in.  There's no maze this time.  Just walk forward till you find
Anusha.  Click on her and you'll be caught by Dharmesh.  Talk to him to find out
the whole story and it's over.

Congratulations!  You've (yawn) beat the game.  Watch the lame ending and see
the
credits.

Copyright 2005 Richard Turner