Saturday, March 26, 2016

Sleepless Night - Part 2

Link to part 1

After he had ridden for five minutes, Rajesh stopped the bike and took out both phones he had on him. He was relieved to see that there were no calls on either phone. He quickly turned off his phone and turned on the GPS to check how long it would take him to get to Doddaballapur railway station. He cursed when he saw that it would take him another one and a half hours to reach there. He tried to memorize the route he needed to take and, saying a silent prayer, put on the helmet and set off.

He had ridden for about twenty minutes, when the phone started ringing. He ignored it and continued riding, wondering how long it would be before they realized that he had stolen the phone and what they would do next. He couldn’t care either way. It wasn’t until another ten minutes that he was greeted with a sight that sent shivers down his spine.

The next roadblock in his path was just that – a roadblock. He looked in horror as he saw policemen stopping every vehicle and checking for cases of drunken driving. And there were already quite a few people whose vehicle keys had been taken, desperately trying to negotiate with the police. Rajesh knew that there was no way he would be allowed to pass given his condition. He thought about turning back and finding another way, but he was on the highway and couldn’t find any lanes to take a detour on. He contemplated turning around, but a cop noticed him and blew on his whistle, indicating with his hands to come for the inspection. Rajesh was sweating profusely under the helmet. His mind racing, he slowly moved forward towards the cop.

As he was heading towards the policemen, he realized he had no other option. He saw that the divider on the road was not in very good condition, with several areas cracked creating small gaps. He knew that people on bikes regularly used such cracks to get onto the other side of the road rather than traveling long distances looking for a U-turn. He also knew that right now, he had no other option. He turned the bike left and headed for the divider. He picked up speed, trying not to think what would happen if he was wrong.

The bike did a small jump as it hit a broken piece of the divider. As the bike landed on the other side of the road, it swerved and Rajesh nearly lost balance; but managed to steady it. He recovered quickly and started speeding away. The cop, who was momentarily in a state of shock, now started blowing his whistle. It took some time for the other policemen to react. Rajesh kept looking to his side and he saw the entire scene unfold, almost in slow-motion, as a lathi came hurling towards his front tyre. He swerved and managed to miss it, turning around to see the pandemonium behind. He heard the lathi clatter on the floor, and the cops hurling insults at him, as he turned back ahead and saw the green liquid on the road. “Oh shit!”

The next few minutes were a blur. The bike skidded out of control once the tyres touched the diesel. Rajesh desperately tried to control it, but the bike fell over to the left and dragged him along for a bit, sparks flying around.  Once it stopped, Rajesh pushed the bike up and wriggled out. Once free, he rolled away from the bike and lay on the road, too shocked and tired to get up. He had barely caught his breath when he was grabbed by the collar and hauled up.

“Get your helmet off!” yelled one of the cops. Rajesh struggled to get the helmet off, mainly because the cops were holding onto his hands to ensure that he wouldn’t get away. “Crazy idiot! Do you have any idea what would have happened if the sparks had caused the diesel to catch fire?? And what would have happened if your accident was more severe?” Rajesh’s Kannada speaking abilities were not the best, but he didn’t need a translator to let him know just how angry the cops were. The policemen supported him, as one of them checked him for injuries. “He’s badly hurt. He’s got serious bruising near his left rib and on his elbows and knees. Lots of bleeding. His clothes are torn in a number of places. But I don’t think we need to call an ambulance.” The policemen tried to get him to sit down at the edge of the road, but Rajesh shook his head vigorously. “Sir, please sir, emergency. I have to go”, he pleaded in broken Kannada. The cops looked furious. “Where you’re going is to jail. I’ve seen people do crazy things to avoid being caught driving drunk, but this is too much. And you were crazy enough to drive so drunk – the smell of booze is coming from your bones!”  They dragged him unceremoniously to their jeep, as the other drivers who had been caught and the two policemen who had stayed behind looked on, some of them shaking their heads in disbelief.

Rajesh kept pleading with the policemen. “Sir, please let me go. I have to leave sir. It’s a big emergency sir.” One of the policemen slapped him on the back of the head. “Shut up! Or else I’ll make sure you are the one who is sent to emergency. Gowda, put him in the jeep.” The other policemen moved on to the others standing next to their vehicles, waiting to try and negotiate their case. As Rajesh and the policeman walked towards the jeep, the policeman asked him “Is there someone we can inform? Somebody that you need to call?” Just as Rajesh shook his head, the phone in his pocked started ringing.

“Answer the phone. Or wait, give me the phone. I will talk to the person and ask them to pick you up.” Rajesh didn’t know what to do. If the cop answered the phone, all hell would break loose. “No sir, leave it.” “Hey, give me the phone man.” The cop tried to reach into Rajesh’s pocket and take out the phone. A scuffle ensued between the two. Before Rajesh could realize what was happening, he pushed the policeman onto the floor and started kicking him. Rajesh then got on top of him and started punching him in the face, breaking his nose. After a few punches, the policeman stopped resisting as he was knocked out.

Rajesh got up, panicking. He had just assaulted a policeman. But more importantly, he still had to get to Doddaballapur railway station. He turned around, to see that none of the others had noticed what was happening. He ran towards the last bike standing – the policemen still hadn’t gotten to the driver. He caught the driver unawares and hurled him onto the floor. As he got onto the bike, the other drivers tried to stop him. He struggled to push them aside, shoving and kicking as he started the bike and revved the engine. He sped off, weaving his way dodging those who tried to stop him, barely escaping the many people trying to stop him. He dodged the roadblocks set and sped off, away from the cacophony that he had created.

He had barely ridden for a few minutes when he heard the incessant honking. He turned around to see the police jeep gaining on him. For some reason, the cop driving had not turned on the siren. Rajesh was already going as fast as he could – it wouldn’t take too long for the jeep to catch up with him. He realized that his only option was to take the service road, and he could see a break coming up ahead. He turned into the service road and took the first lane into one of the streets, hoping he would be able to lose the jeep.

He rode around, trying to zig-zag through as many lanes as possible in an attempt to avoid being found. He turned off the lights of the bike, hoping that it would help to confuse the policeman further. He rode around a little more, until he found a narrow path, strewn with garbage – he could ride through that path to make sure the jeep would not be able to follow him.

Rajesh now had to try and find the best possible way to get to the railway station, without attracting the attention of the police. He was in no doubt that they would be out looking for the bike, but he couldn’t think of abandoning it. Once he got to the railway station, it wouldn’t matter anyway. He took out the phone and tried to figure out an alternate route. As he did, a white sedan came along slowly and stopped right next to him. The driver’s window rolled down and the man inside looked at him calmly and said “Get in.”

Rajesh hesitated for a moment. He had no idea who this man was, or how he had managed to find him. But it didn’t matter – this man could get him to the railway station, hopefully without any further incidents. Rajesh got into the back seat and sat back, heaving a sigh of exhaustion, as the driver started the car and drove off. He wanted to ask the driver who he was, and more importantly why he hadn’t come to pick him up at the party itself, or even at his home, but thought better of it. He tried to relax and not think about what would happen once he got to the railway station.

The driver made good time, and it was forty five minutes before he had stopped. Rajesh had spent the whole journey praying that Smriti was alright. The driver turned around and said “The railway station is about a kilometre from here. Just go down this road, take a right at the dead end and keep going straight.” Rajesh nodded and got out of the car. As he walked off, the driver turned the car around and drove away.

Rajesh ran to the railway station as fast as he could. He reached to find the station empty. He ran around frantically, looking for anybody. Two minutes later, he saw the man. Rajesh ran over to him and the man held out his palm, ordering him to stop. He walked over to Rajesh and began checking his pockets. He took out the two phones and pocketed them. “Come with me.” Rajesh followed him without protest. They reached a small Maruti 800 and the man got in, and beckoned Rajesh to get into the seat next to him. He got in, and they drove off.

The Maruti 800 entered into the compound of what appeared to be some kind of factory. Rajesh could see there were people standing guard near the entrance, as his escort stopped the car and got out. As Rajesh got out of the car, the fear that he had been trying to block out gripped him. What was going to happen now? He followed the man without a word, while his mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. They got into the building, where three men stood waiting for him.

Rajesh now stood facing the three men. The man in the center was like a giant, and fixed him with an angry glare. “So, at last you’re here. So, do you know who I am?” asked the owner of the voice that had set off the whole chain of events. The giant’s face screwed up in anger. Without warning, he attacked Rajesh and pushed him to the floor. He started kicking him, venting out his frustration. “Tell me, why did you do it? Who asked you to do it?” he shouted as he kept kicking Rajesh in his ribs. Rajesh doubled up in pain as the man hit him where we had been hurt from the accident. “I don’t know what you are talking about!!” That was greeted with an even more aggressive assault on him.

Rajesh was unable to resist the onslaught, and almost passed out. Then, in an instant, everything changed. There was a loud bang, and his assailant fell on top of him, lifeless. All of a sudden there was the sound of gunfire everywhere. After a few moments, Rajesh, using all the strength he could muster, pushed the giant away. One of the men who had been with the giant ran over to him and dragged him away to a vantage point behind some machinery. Rajesh felt he was in a dream, and he was constantly going in and out of consciousness. After what seemed like an eternity, the gunfire stopped. His saviour came over to him and helped him up. Leaning on his shoulder, Rajesh limped out of his hiding spot.

As they got out of the factory, Rajesh saw Smriti sitting on one side with a policeman. Relieved, he said a silent prayer of thanks. When she saw him, Smriti ran over to him and gave him a hug. Ignoring the pain he was in, he hugged her back. As he did, Rajesh saw the man who had saved his life giving instructions to another policeman. The cop saluted him and rushed away. In the distance, Rajesh could see the white sedan that had dropped him off to the railway station.

Rajesh’s hero came over to him. “Hi, Mr. Rajesh. I am Inspector Rudra. Sorry you had to go through all this trouble. But you have just helped us take down one of the biggest players of the underworld. We tried not to get you involved in all of this, but unfortunately things didn’t really go as planned. Even tonight, it took us a while to come to your aid – by the way really smart of you to keep the GPS on. We were able to track you once the owner of the phone called and we were made aware of the entire incident. Add to that all the confusion with the traffic police. It’s not very easy to coordinate everyone at such short notice.” He gave an almost nervous laugh. “But I made sure your wife was never in any kind of danger. We would have wanted to avoid the whole thing altogether, but Murugappa was getting impatient. We just had to put you through all this till we could get the force coordinated to carry out this operation.”

“I really don’t understand what you are talking about. I’m not even sure what I did. And what did this Murugappa have against me?” Rajesh was completely confused, unable to understand what was going on. “Of course you didn’t do anything – not willingly atleast. But inadvertently you got caught up in our operation. Let’s just leave it at that. The less you know, the better it is for you and for us.” Rajesh shook his head vehemently as all the frustration he had came out now. “What do you mean? I want to know why my wife and I were put at risk and subject to this kind of torture! I need an explanation for what has just happened here!”

Inspector Rudra’s face turned grave. “Listen Mr. Rajesh. Murthy, the officer who got you here, will take you and your wife home. There will be police protection for you till the time you leave for the U.S. tomorrow, and even there we will have a word with the Consulate to keep an eye on you. Murugappa does not have too many connections abroad as far as we know, but just to be safe. Tomorrow morning, you will be taken to the station to debrief on whatever has happened – we cannot give you many details. If you ask me, let it go. There are some things that it’s better you don’t know about – for your own good.” His tone was one that would not accept refusal.

Rajesh nodded slowly. There was probably no use pursuing this further. He trusted the inspector on keeping them safe. “I assaulted a policeman”, he said quietly. Inspector Rudra smiled slightly. “Yes, the traffic constable. Gowda is his name I think. It’s ok – we’re taking care of it. Of course there will be no case against you. I suggest you buy your friend a new bike though. Anyway, go home and take rest. I wish we could have met in better circumstances, but I’m still glad to have met you.” With that, Inspector Rudra extended his hand. After a moment, Rajesh shook it.

Rajesh and Smriti walked over to the sedan. Smriti helped him into the backseat and then got in herself and rested her head against his chest. As the sedan drove away, the first rays of the sun pierced the night sky.

****

Author’s note: ‘Deus ex machina’, literally meaning “god from the machine”, is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly resolved by the unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability or object (The phrase was coined as this technique was used in a lot of Greek tragedies performed in theatres, where actors playing gods would be brought on stage using machines). Though it is often criticized for being too convenient and simplistic, I find the idea fascinating and wanted to try it. I tried to put the protagonist in a variety of seemingly unsolvable situations and used this technique only towards the end, trying to highlight the impact this technique has on the plot. And of course it was a lot easier. J

As for the ending, I wanted to try and make an ending that is not a ‘resolution’, despite all character arcs being complete and no future events being warranted. The easiest way to do that was to leave a past event unexplained, hence ‘unresolved’. Not giving a full closure is something that has been adopted a lot especially in films, and it’s fun to mess with the audience. And of course it was a lot easier. J

The idea of this story came from the French movie ‘Sleepless night’ (Original title ‘Nuit blanche’) and draws a lot of inspiration from it. I highly recommend the movie.


As always, let me know your feedback.

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