Time's Up: Every Moment Counts

by Vasu Velamur

  “Does everyone agree with him?” asked Ranga for a consensus.

  Except for Banrilin’s mother, none of them agreed. “Look here, son, it was a much greater sacrifice for the son to do because of his father’s word. Don’t you know Ramayana and what Rama had to do for his father’s words? That is also a great sacrifice”

  “So now we cannot discount anyone based only on sacrifice. What should the next criteria be?,” asked Vashist.

  “What is there in sacrifice, everything is the same” said Vindhya in a confused state “to me everything is the same. So let us choose age as the criteria”

  “We have to give one name to the priest,” Vashist requested. Vashist wanted to check on the timer and Ranga signaled 2 fingers. This showed that they had less than 120 seconds. Some decisions needed to arrive immediately.

  Ranga so far only assimilated the facts and tried to solve the puzzle alone. Vindhya’s statement that they looked the same got him the clue that he required. He raised from his sitting posture and then threw his hands up and shouted “Eureka”

  All the people got stunned and looked at Ranga, who took the device out and got ready to punch the answer. Vashist got up and rushed towards him and he saw the timer still had around 70 seconds. So he said “Ranga, fine you have the answer, at least tell us how you got it within the time left and then you key it in please”

  Ranga looked at Vindhya who said it’s OK with her eyes. She had grief and confusion now that she had no interest in solving the puzzle. All she wanted was to get out of this place and move on to the next adventure. The heart for her was full of grief now. So she sprang both of her thumbs up to Ranga’s answer.

  Ranga explained the facts that he had collected. “Look here, first, we know that they all gave their lives not out of compulsion”

  “What about the boy?” Vashisht raised his voice.

  “We have already covered it, he gave up because of his respect for his father’s words.” Ranga was a little frustrated but still carried on “One fact emerges that all are equal in this sacrifice. Then I looked into their willingness and I found all equal again. Then next I went into the logical reasoning of their sacrifice - all had the same logic.”

  “Which was?”

  “Let me give up my life for the others to be safe. So I could not distinguish between them from a logical angle either. So we have ruled out hard facts, logic and then it occurred to me what was remaining” Ranga paused for a second.

  Vashist could not control his curiosity “What was the remaining item?” scratched his head, perplexed.

  “It was emotions - human feeling”

  “What was the feeling - they all had the same feeling. Giving up their lives for others”

  “Ahh, here is where I found the differentiator”

  “What was it?”

  “In sacrifice, feeling is the key element. Whoever’s feeling we regard as the strongest is the most valuable. So let go in the order. Kibor’s son felt satisfied that his life was being used for a valuable cause. His sister sacrificed for the love of his brother. The mother, because of her compassion for her kids. Kibor lost his family, felt lonely, and sacrificed. There is no answer to why Tiplang should sacrifice?”

  “Why not, They all died to save him right? If they don’t exist, he might have felt guilty”

  “It’s not guilt, Vashisht. You must look at it this way. Kibor was so loyal to his master that he felt he should save his master. But why did the master sacrifice his life?”

  “Yeah, why?” Vashisht was curious and also looked at the countdown timer. It was below 30 seconds.

  “A master sacrificing for his servant, that is not very common and is strange. It is for this reason that Tiplang’s sacrifice is the most valuable. Hence we need to recover him only”. Ranga looked at the priest and said, “Oh holy priest - our answer is Tiplang. Please let us know the result of our choice”

  After revealing this answer Ranga entered Tiplang as the answer into the device. Within a second, the entire screen turned black. The timer expired, but they needed to know if it was right. So they all looked into the container which had the blood of Tiplang in it. The moment the priest kept the blood in front of Kali it turned colours, the colour of the blood had changed to white.

  The moment blood turned white, the screen turned green, and a strange thing happened. First, Tiplang got up and shook his hands and heads to feel life again. No sooner did Tiplang by mistake step on Kibor. He also got up, and then the entire group got up.

  “Was it a coincidence or well planned?” Vindhya looked at the priest.

  The priest smiled and said, “I did not want to put too much pressure on you kids. The actual condition was that if you gave the right answer, all would wake up and if not all will remain dead forever”

  Banrilin ran and hugged Tiplang and then ran towards Vindhya, and she burst into tears of joy. She then kissed Vindhya and then hugged Ranga and Vashist. As the enjoyment continued, the device worked on its duty. The friends lost their sense of their lower body. Before they could move, they started losing control of everything below their neck. They could only see and hear. They saw total happiness around them.

  In a flash, they all vanished. It was back to the same white background and a huge gushing sound, and off they were to the next location. They did not know the location or the time, but for sure they knew they were going back to the future and not behind. So it was not 1909 but anywhere between 1911 to 2020. Where was it?

  Don’t go anywhere, we will be right back after this short commercial break.

  ∞∞∞

  Chapter-15

  In The Land Of Sona Masoori

  Thursday 11:27 AM

  The sun shone, and it was directly over the sky. They felt the heat and there was something new about the heat. Some changes were observed and felt too. It approached noon time and the sun should be at the vertical most point, but the rays revealed otherwise. It seemed slanted and did not harm them so much. The body or the muscles could not move and their white background had not vanished. So Vashist felt he was awake, but to put his foot down looked like another mission.

  He hoped to land somewhere near 2010 since he missed all his gadgets and technology in the past ventures. He had learned a lot but was wary of the non-usability of technology in many of the problems. That was his only wish currently. He tried hard to move but he couldn’t even move his eyelids, leave alone his legs or hands. He wanted to wake up fast and get on with the adventure. As he got his foot to the ground, he felt the chill and looked down at lightning speed. The floor made of red oxide brought memories of his summer vacations in Mangalore. His initial thought process was that he was somewhere in Karnataka.

  His guess was half true. He then mustered some strength and got up and onto his feet. With gentle steps, he moved towards the window, which looked unlatched. The sun's rays were higher in angle and the shadows elongated. He reached his hands out and pushed the window open to have a view of the landscape. The plain sight of the scenery sent such a jolly feeling to him. He saw lots of wires criss crossed through the road, a big billboard, and vehicle noises of a busy road. He felt they had reached a period where they could blend and relate with ease. So he peeped outside to look at the road closer and he tumbled over the plastic jug full of water. It splashed all over Ranga. It woke him up, but surprised Vashist about Ranga’s reaction. He was so enthusiastic to find where they were. So he joined him to see the spectacular scenery.

  The billboard was huge and had 3 personalities sketched out. A big question mark loomed over it. The male personality was Amir Khan and the 2 feminine matinee idols were Mahima Chaudhry and Aishwarya Rai. Somewhere in his mind, this ad struck a chord with Vashist. He often remembered his father, who narrated about how the Cola giants came into India and what it was like then. While he recollected about that, Ranga pulled Vashist down and asked “Where the hell are we?”

  “That’s what I am trying to find out. Let me please”

&nbs
p; “What’s your current guess?”

  “We are far better this time - someplace in Mangalore and”

  Ranga interrupted him, “When is it?”

  “I was about to come to that part” continued Vashist “it’s more recent to our times”

  “How can you be sure of that fact?”

  “Look at this poster” Vashist pointed out of the window at the billboard “There is Amir, Aish & someone else. They all look very young”

  “Then it must be the early 2000s is my assumption”

  “No, much earlier than that boss” claimed Vashist “it’s the early 90s”

  “How can you say that?”

  “Look at Azarudeen and the world cup in Australia Ad” pointed Vashist at the smaller billboard. It read “Come on cheer for India in Australia”. Vashist claimed, “I know the world cup was in 1992”

  “So we are in the 90s at least we have some technology to work with. Let’s try our cell phones”

  “What, cellular was introduced only in 1995 boss, I guess we have to wait a little longer. At least people will understand what we say now”

  “Great, let me wake up our baby and then decide upon how to go from here. What will the device throw up this time”

  As the boys chatted, Vindhya got up and gazed at them without a blink of her eyes. “So where are we and when are we? Have you guys figured that out?”

  “Your Majesty, we are not sure, but it’s around the 1990s,” said Vashist. His mimicry of Ranga was way off his potential.

  “So my help here is necessary. I will in a second,” said Vindhya and rushed out of her bed and moved towards the window. She looked for a couple of seconds, then leaned forward to see deeper and then claps her hands “I know when is it”

  “Tell me, your highness”

  “It’s 1992 August and I am guessing 20th” said Vindhya, 100% confident this time.

  “How are you so sure, mademoiselle?”

  “If you can arrange an excellent breakfast for me, I will reveal the facts” claimed victory over them “it’s all out there”

  “OK, done. your breakfast is mine, but out with your deductions, please” Vashist could not accept being beaten by her. He always thought that he was the best at deducing between the three of them.

  “Do as I say”

  “OK - what?”

  “Look at that Pepsi Ad”

  “Yes, I am looking at it”

  “Move towards the right to a corner tea shop”

  “Yes, see it”

  “In front of that shop, there is a banner. Do you see it?”

  “Yes, see a banner for the movie ROJA”

  “I rest my case”

  “What’s that got to do with it?”

  “You see - it says Successful release and 1 week of the film Roja. Roja was released on 14th August 1992. So it must be the 20th today.”

  “Great Vin” high-fied Ranga, “breakfast is on Vashist today. This is fine but where are we”

  “I deserve a dessert with breakfast - OK Ranga?”

  “Fine with me” nodded Ranga

  “Vashist - read the theater name in that poster for me”

  Vashist reached outside the window and then shouts back “Basaveshwara Talkies”

  “Then we are in Mangalore”

  “All these deductions are fine, first try to deduce what the device has got for us else we cannot get out of this place.” Vashist reached for Ranga’s bag to dig the device out. “As usual, I checked and the door’s locked and we need to solve a puzzle”

  “At least this time there is oxygen and hence we do not have to panic,” said Vindhya, adjusting her hairstyle. It was in a mess, so she snatched the device from him and used it as a plain mirror. “Wait, let me get my hair straight first, the puzzle can wait”

  “Does that have any improvement on her Ranga?” Vashist with sarcasm, mimics her hairstyle.

  “Guys, relax. Let us get out and fight. The room is too stuffy” said Ranga diplomatically to reduce the tension as always.

  So Vashist pulls the device from her hands and goes over the familiar routine. As soon as the device wakes up, it starts blinking on its screen the puzzle: 2 words and it was P.AsSn Os.RhCf

  The device set the timer for 15 minutes with a full oxygen supply. So the adventure began and Vashist who saw the puzzle shouts out “This time it’s your turn Vin”

  “Why is it mine, I thought you guys were the main solution providers?”

  “Yes, but this is an English puzzle, so it falls into your domain. Math is only ours” Vashisht lent the device for her to look at.

  “What does it say, Vashist?” asked Ranga to work on it with fewer fights.

  “It says something like P.ASSN OS.RHCF” read Vindhya while she scratched her head. She had no clue of what it was. “One thing is for sure, we need to add more vowels and find the words”

  “Passion” cries Vashisht “The first word is passion it fits”

  “But then, what is the second? It does not look like an English word for a start”

  “Let me look at it” Ranga requested for the device and then scanned the puzzle a few more times. “We have 3 chances to get it right” he points to the top of the screen. “See the symbol III and 15 minutes timer” he studied it for some time. Then he informed them both, “Look, let’s divide the puzzle into 2 sides. Vindhya you try to solve it like English words while Vashist and I take the crypto side to decipher if it’s a code”

  “Done Ranga” said Vindhya and goes into a corner and sat down “Let me know the words again”

  Vashist scribbled them on a piece of paper and threw it at her. The guys scanned all known crypto algorithms. Ranga counted “the following crypto algorithms I know: MD5, Blowfish, Twofish. Which one do you know?”

  “Blowfish - it sounds fishy here for me, is that even English in the first place” shouts Vindhya, frustrated

  “I know of AES, RSA TripleDES but they all are very secure Ranga” said a confused Vashist. “All these are not breakable in 15 minutes. We need to rethink our strategy”

  “Yes, it is not crypto coding. We need to represent each alphabet by some numbers and get the clue”

  “They may have used ASCII code for it. Let’s try that”

  “OK - start here it goes P=80 .=46 A=65=”

  “114” shouts Vashisht “Sorry 115”

  “S=83 n=110 O=79 s=115 .=46 R equals”

  “R is…, “ thought Vashist for some time and then responded, “82”

  “h=”

  Vashist counts with his fingers “104”

  “C=67 and f=102”

  “What is the full string?”

  “80466511583110 79115468210467102” repeated Ranga. He called for help “What do you make of it, Vashisht”

  “It’s not matching the series in PI value, it’s already done. We join both and see if it is the biggest prime number found in 15 minutes?”

  “No, it ends in a 02 cannot be prime”

  Vindhya, at her end, tried out different combinations of anagrams to solve the puzzle. It wasn’t going well for her. It did not have many vowels to play with. So she got herself blocked on that end. She also tried to add vowels, but the second string produced no known English word. So she got stuck with the problem and was also desperate since her tummy made noises.

  “It is another word like that in the movie 3 idiots, try like that Vin” said Vashist. He tried to up her motivation and also tried to take a crack at her.

  “Shut up and look at the numbers, I try at my speed and process” came back a quick and angry response from her. “Ranga, what’s the remaining time we have?”

  “Still another 10 minutes left for doom”

  “Good - so what is the approach now?”

  “Same, try to crack till last 4 minutes when we regroup for another strategy”

  The clock ticked and neither the numbers nor the words fell into this puzzle. It seemed to be easy yet hard to crack, and they became fatigued due t
o low fuel supply. The room had only one pink jug and two plastic tumblers, and they did not know when it was cleaned last. So it was an empty room with a time bomb ticking.

  “My thinking is that there is no series attached to these. It is a coded clue” said Ranga, throwing the device over his bag in frustration.

  “Why do you say that” enquired the frustrated Vashist

  “The dots between the alphabets have to have some meaning, so it’s not a series”

  “Yes, I am thinking if we try to reverse the alphabets we can try to decode it”

  “I don’t seem to understand”

  “Simple Ranga, Z=A, Y = B like that, and then let’s substitute it back into the string and see what we get”

  “Good Idea, let us try here take it and write”

  They figured the values, and this is what they got: K.ZhHm Lh.IsXu. This also did not fit into any pattern and also did not lead them to any English word or a phrase. Time ticked, and they were in no shape to crack the code, and panic mode crept in. Vindhya was the first to break down when she threw the papers out of the window. She then slammed her fists against the wall in frustration. The boys panicked but did not show their emotions outside. Vashist perspired from his neck down while Ranga bit his nails.

  Finally, Vindhya gave out a cry like a werewolf or looked more like Vadivel crying. She looked nervous and turned towards Ranga. “Hey Ranga, please tell us if we can get out of this mess soon.”

  “I’m trying, hang on Vin.”

  “What’s there to hang on to? We hardly have 5 minutes left to unlock the device. The answer is not in the vicinity” she threw her usual tantrums.

  “Not now. Relax and we can crack it. Please allow me to think”

  “10 minutes was not enough and now you want more. Ahh” Vindhya was in breakdown mode “Well finally the teacher is wrong.”

  “What do you mean” jumped in Vashist to save Ranga’s time. He also distracts Vindhya from the process of complete breakdown.

  “Ranga is the teacher in this group. The man who always assigns the tasks, what to do, how to do. This time the period is over, the bell will ring and there are no tables to jump here” an even more frustrated Vindhya.