Time's Up: Every Moment Counts

by Vasu Velamur

  “It should be easy. Looking at the front, it’s for sure not Calculus and electromagnetic questions”

  “Whatever happens, don’t let her answer”

  “Why not?” barged in Vindhya “then let me remove this dress and see if you guys can get in on your own”

  “Calm down folks,” said Ranga again in an irritated voice “let’s have this fight later. Try to be sane like the others”

  While this silly fight was on, the group had reached near the entrance. They saw groups approach the front door and then shouted something loud. The gates opened immediately. The process looked simple, but the heart rate of these friends pumped like hell. They looked like they were in the finals of the IPL, with CSK chasing down the target. The line moved pretty fast and now they could hear the answers of the groups ahead. The group leaders nominated their lead dancer as the choice. They heard the word TWELVE and immediately the chosen person replied SIX. The door opened.

  “Beta one more thing, only the females should answer so prepare her well,” said the group leader before them. He then sent his group representative to the center. She heard SIX, and the woman replied THREE and the doors opened. Now it was the moment of truth. Vindhya stepped forward and waited. She heard the words EIGHT and without a blink, she shouted back FOUR and moved forward. All looked good except that the door did not open.

  She had only 10 seconds to try again. She turned back and looked at Vashist. He tried to signal to her to say something fast. Ranga was a little shocked. These guys were the best in the business, and yet they seemed to have failed for what looked like a simple question. Vindhya remembered the story of David and the Goliath. The dream run they had so far had ended. She did not want it to finish like this, stumped by a kindergarten question. Time ticked on. The guards waited for the answer before they moved on to the next group.

  With no help from these guys, she shouted back, FIVE. The doors opened. Now she signaled both of them to come and they entered the palace. No sooner did they enter the palace than she looked at Vashist “I cracked it without your help, Vashy”

  “What crack it, you made the initial mistake”

  “A mistake or not, you also found it only after the mistake” Vindhya defended herself. “See it was 12 they answered 6, 6 it was 3, what was I to think. It looked like the half of the number so I immediately gave back an answer 4 for 8”

  “Then how did you crack it?”

  “Thanks to Vashy only. He told sometime back about coding and crypto, where they hide the codes based on the length of the message. So immediately I counted the length of the words and the eureka moment came.”

  “Let us decode if it was a Eureka moment or not later” rushed Ranga “we got a task in hand now and I am not sure what the task is yet. “

  “Let us refer to the device and see if we have some map to our task,” said Vindhya. “Might be there is an X mark in the fort that we need to find the hidden treasure and return it to the king”

  “I know you have watched a lot of Indiana Jones movies but I am sure this is different,” said Vashist

  “Then why not check the device again for some clues. Like the time I cracked it at the gates” Vindhya smiled victoriously at him.

  “Let us go to some secluded place and then check for the update,” said Ranga, pointing to the west end of the palace.

  They moved through a winding path that was a little steep and went up the hill. On the left side, they found a small room with big drums inside it. They choose to enter it for safety. Other groups ran to get their names registered for the audition. Since the audition was not in their minds, they slipped into the room to plan their next move. The room had a bright lamp and four low height stools. They sat down and took the device from the bag. Ranga swiped the screen and it unlocked. They found a portrait of a person beamed on the screen.

  “How is this person? How do we locate him in this enormous palace?” fumed Vindhya

  “Relax, Vin,” said a calm Ranga, “this is the picture of Raja Sawai Man Singh–II, the current ruler of this place.”

  “So we are going to meet the king”

  “Why are you getting excited” asked Vashist

  “We are going to meet the royal family and look at your dress. I looked, I thought, I laughed”

  “Cut it out please,” said Ranga “we have the clue but how do we reach him?”

  “Can we follow the dance groups to the center of the palace? Then get to know where the king’s rooms are and sneak in” said Vashist.

  “Most of the plan I can understand, but how do we sneak-in stealth?” Vindhya mimicked Vashist when he does his sarcastic remarks

  “For once you tell us” fumed Vashist

  “In that case, give me 15 minutes and I will get the data for you”

  “Fine, try your plan but be careful not to get lost,” said Ranga “we will wait here only. If you’re lost, get back to this place. We will not search for you. Got the protocol”

  “YES SIR” Vindhya shouted like an army soldier with a combat salute.

  As time went by, the boys did not know what to do. They looked out for the entrance to see if they could spot her. Both of them had a curiosity about what was the use of these big drums? They looked at multiple combinations of its use. Exactly 10 minutes lapsed in Vashist’s watch when they heard a fast-paced footstep. It was a lot different from that made of Nike sneakers. Ranga realized she had her kolhapuri footwear on. The footsteps made a lot of difference from what they were used to. She ran fast and her face was full of her teeth. That gave a lot of confidence to the guys.

  “I am successful in my data collection mission”.

  “In that case let us know what you collected so far,” asked an eager Ranga.

  “Look here, the fort has only one entrance, and it’s blocked” she pointed to the direction they entered. She continued, “the palace has 3 entrances which are also blocked with heavy security. The third entrance on the west end of the fort is where the festival audition is taking place. While the eastern end is the royal residential place.”

  “So we need to go east, is it what you are saying”

  “Yes, but the eastern gate has 2 blockades, it seems. So we need to sneak into the middle path between the 2nd and 3rd entrance. There is a small garden which is common to both and not so well guarded”

  “We enter the garden and then get into the main palace. I hope Vashist can work out the blind spot for us?”

  “Sure, it should be a cakewalk for me”

  “Then, without wasting a minute, let us go to the garden. Pick our spot and then decide how and when to enter”

  “Sure, Ranga,” said Vashist, “but why has the smile all vanished from your face, Vin?”

  “It’s a pity that I cannot get myself pictured in this dress. I want to get out of it and also want to wear it. Don’t know how to decide?”

  “Then let us toss the coin and decide. Heads you wear it, tails you remove it”

  “OK, someone toss the coin please”,

  The first toss came as tails and immediately Vindhya said let us go for the best of three. The negotiation itself gave them the clue. Before she could react, Vashist called heads for the next two throws in succession and declared that result. She has to come in the same dress. All were happy till they went into the garden.

  The garden enveloped itself with beauty since it had in the center a water fountain. Along with cement walls, lovely swans were swimming around the fountain. The grass had cut to the precise length that it looked like a green carpet. There were lovely rose plants and in October they were in full bloom. For the initial few minutes, they got mesmerized by the beauty of the place. They had forgotten the reason for which they entered this place. No wonder did they feel that the royals all had a gift of experiencing this lovely environment. This place made everyone forget their worries and float in the beauty of nature.

  Sunday 07:17 PM

  Vashist surveyed the four ends of the garden and the path betwe
en the buildings. He wanted to find the best blind spot for them to camp and the easiest way to enter the palace. The other two enjoyed the beautiful moon and the swans. They hoped Vashist took longer to do his calculations. It did not happen as they wished. These guys knew his enthusiasm to solve a puzzle. He was back soon and explained the spot between a balcony and the side entrance to the palace. It was safest for them to hide.

  So they crawled like a tortoise with the same speed towards the calculated location. They heard a cry from inside the palace, and the whole side of the palace was lit with candlelight. These guys were right in the middle of the garden. Their only hope was darkness as their cover. Something now blew it over. Not only were the lights bright enough, but a bunch of people rushed out of the side entrance. There was some kind of commotion going on. Vindhya reacted in an instant and rushed behind one of the security guards. Then she waved at the others to join behind the guards. So in a flash, the three friends got sandwiched between the security guards. This provided them with the perfect protection and made it easy for them to enter the palace.

  The commotion looked like it had slowed down and then Ranga emerged from behind and enquired a guard. He asked him why they all ran around in circles that too in the night. The security guard told them that the royal parrot had flown out of the palace. They had last seen it flying through the garden and so they are inspecting the place. In a flash, Ranga’s eyes lit up. He signaled to form a huddle to discuss. They formed the circle and waited for Ranga to spell the idea. He did, and Vindhya stepped out and approached the officer.

  “Security officer sir” called out Vindhya and signaled to him to let them into the palace

  “What” shouted back to the office and signaled her to come closer so he could hear.

  She walked closer to the door alone and said, “dear sir, we know your problem and could solve it soon and fast but on one condition. We need to work unsupervised.”

  “Who are you people and where are you from?”

  “We are from the south of India from a place called Chennai”

  “Chennai?” He gave an expression of never having heard that kind of name all his life.

  “Oh sorry, it is Madras”

  “Hm” he thought for a second “So what is your plan and how long will it take?”

  “We have a device which can talk with your bird and bring it back to you”

  “What device”

  “You cannot understand it but trust me”

  “OK, I will give you 15 minutes for you else we continue our way”

  “OK” Vindhya exposed her joy. Then turned to her friends and said, “Go ahead, Vashist, your show is on”

  She reached the team, and they discussed for a few seconds. Then Vashist opened the bag and got a small electronic device out. He then moved closer to the chief security officer and asked him what was the name of the parrot. The officer replied Aashika. Then Vashist lashed at his keyboard and pressed a few buttons on the device.

  He then turned towards the officer “Sir, what do you call it and who will call it more often”

  “Our royal highness will only call it and he will call it as Aashi sa”

  “OK, got it and your king’s age?”

  “42”

  “OK thanks, I got all that I need” and he continued to punch more keys and buttons.

  Then Vashist climbed a few steps to the top of the balcony, and from there he waved the electronic device. He repeated the wave motion of the device for some time. Then got back to his chest and punched a few keys and then repeated the wave motion. All the surrounding people wondered how waving something here could bring the bird back. To their surprise, they heard a faint squeak call. They all clapped.

  He did something to his device and yet again oscillated it. Now they heard the sound louder than before. Within 2 minutes, they saw the bird diving towards the balcony at breakneck speed. They all lept in joy and wonder. How did this boy perform this trick was on everybody's mind? Vashist got stumped because he never thought that the bird would return so soon. It was only a try since they did not test it before for this kind of experiment. The chief security office secured the bird to safety and then came back to congratulate them.

  The security officer came to Vashist and asked, “Beta, what is this instrument and how did you get the bird back”

  Vashist thought for a few seconds and then replied, “Sir, let me explain so you can understand. Birds rarely have external ears. But their feathers cover the entire internal ones that they have. The feathers are there to prevent air into the inner ear when they are in flight. This makes us believe they are not good at hearing”

  “Hm. Never thought of this concept so far, birds not having external ears”

  “Yet the humans can hear from 20Hz to 20KHz while these parrots hear only less range. Say from 7KHz to 10KHz. This is almost half the range of what humans can hear” continued Vashist. Seeing that the officer did not understand a single word of what he said, he stopped. Then rephrased it to him “I set a tone in this device for 8.5KHz. It is the approximate average sound for the birds. Then set the voice to a middle-aged human male and broadcasted the words ‘Aashi sa Aashi sa’ in repeat mode.”

  ‘You mean the bird heard this?”

  “Yes, birds can hear these high-frequency sounds and it followed the signal back to here”

  “So what is this instrument?”

  “This is like a radio station. It can send voice information through the air over long distances. I guess you won’t be able to understand this since Thomas Alva Edison is still in the experiment with it in 1875”

  “Yes beta, I don’t understand a word, but I want to thank you for the help. As a mark of thanks, I welcome you and your group to the royal dinner. It is about to begin within a few minutes. Are you in?”

  “Are we in?” shouted Vindhya “tell us where and we will follow you, Sir”

  So with the help of the bird, the entry into the palace became rather easy. A special thanks to the Raspberry Pi and the radio transmitter which helped them. They never thought that the batteries would withstand the time travel, but they did. Now that they were inside the palace, all they had to do was check what the device instructed them. Look at how to finish the task, but before that, they were all hungry to the core and dreamt of a true royal dinner.

  ∞∞∞

  Chapter-10

  A Sumptuous Banquet Served

  Sunday 08:36 PM

  Fascinated by the royal dinner was Vindhya. More than that, it fascinated Ranga to look at Vindhya. He has never seen her in this type of mood and the dress combined. Vindhya blushed a little, but pushed that aside and looked forward to the menu. She jumped around the guest room like a monkey who bit a ginger root. The royals hosted them in this room until they refurbished the tables for dinner.

  Vindhya, unable to control herself, screamed, “Dude, what do you think they are going to serve us tonight?”

  Vashist packed his Raspberry Pi inside and shot back at her, “Chicken Tikka with Lamb fry”

  Vindhya’s mood fell from the Himalayas to the Deccan plateau “Stop this, Vashy, you know how it makes me feel right? Forgot what happened in Burger King so soon?”

  “Why? What happened, it was all your fault only”

  “Oh, mine it was” reacted Vindhya with her eyebrows raised towards her temple “So you had no part in that?”

  “Of course not” said Vashist and then moved towards her with a chagrined face “Hey Vin, sorry, pal. It came out by mistake, not intended”

  Ranga and Vindhya were both shocked. She said, “Hey Vashist, something happened to you? Are you asking sorry?”

  It’s an unwritten rule that Vashist always kept quiet when he was at fault. He never uttered that word and so the two friends did not know what happened there and got astounded.

  “Hey it’s me only while the comments came out unintended, the sorry also came via the same route”

  “Cannot believe my eyes”

&
nbsp; Vashist then looked deep inside Vindhya’s eyes for a few seconds. The stare continued and then he said “C’mon guys, let’s see what the device has in store for us before we meet the king”

  “Why were you looking at me like that for a long time?”

  “I do not know, but you look sweet today. Feel adored towards you. So before it vanishes wanted to enjoy the moment”

  “Quite true. Don’t expect me to wear these to the Phoenix mall when we’re back in our to our times”

  Ranga reached out to the knapsack and pulled the device out, firing the display on. Nothing was there except the king’s image with a question mark over his head. Vashist then prompted to give him two cents of wisdom. “Well, the king has some doubts, and we may need to clarify it. Must be an easy one”

  “True” said Ranga, “but how do we get access to the king to talk to him in private and get to understand the problem”

  “Why” rushed in Vindhya “we have got the invitation to the dinner right, use this chance”

  “We only have got the invite for the dinner, not for his problems”

  “No worry, leave it to me” said Vindhya as confident as a raging bull “I will use my charm and get that too”

  “How”

  “Like I did it now on Vashist”

  “Hey Vin, I did not see you like that” explained Vashist raising both his hands to show he wants to give up.

  “No reason to worry pal, the next 4 hours belong to me” went on Vindhya. “I can get you to the problem, but then it’s up to you guys to solve. Don’t look at me for solutions”

  Done said all the three, assembled their palms, stacked one on the other, and enjoyed the dinner. Also to get to the root of the problem. While this was on, something struck Vindhya and she asked Ranga for the device. He gave it to her but was a little surprised. Never had they seen Vindhya in this type of bubbly mood, especially when she is starving. It looked like she was in a new environment under some influence.