by Vasu Velamur
She continued with a laugh, “I was coming to it and you have jumped the gun. Having recently moved to Madras, he was a Maths student from Vivekananda College. It was his first stage appearance in his life. His performance was exactly after the vocal recital of Vaidehi. When she completed her performance, and came down the stairs, he ascended the stairs. He got ready for his performance and she looked down at him. With both his hands occupied with the tabla, he summed up all his energy and said, ‘That was a nice recital’. He also winked at her”
All the three of them got shocked, but it was Vindhya who cried out loud, “What winking at the first sight?”
“I was shocked too, but he wanted to convey some emotion and his hands were tied. As a shy person, his mouth would not work, so only his eyes could move and he did it. It was his explanation, which she found out later. She was dumbstruck and thought that this person was a pure pervert. He had long hair, a little tall and well built.”
“You mean like Hariharan” jumped in Vashist
“Who is that?”
Vashist knew he had to manage the show back on track and so came out with a quick response. “You do not listen to Hindi songs, right? He is a talented singer in Hindi movies and has been introduced only to Tamil in a small way. That patriotic song Thamizha Thamizha was his rendition only. He also has long hair, tall and well built. So I compared him.”
Still trying to think who he was and not convinced, she continued, “I will look it up in the Filmfare magazine and see it. Anyway, back to the program. Vaidehi planned to go home after her recital, but she stayed. She wanted to see how this person performed. He sat on the ground and set up his tabla and started his recital with the famous ghazal ‘Chupke Chupke’ by Ghulam Ali”
“Yeah, even my father loved it,” jumped Vindhya before Vashist created an issue with time travel.
“His voice was very lilting, it seemed, according to Vaidehi, who first was furious at him. Then, as the song progressed, she forgot her senses and sat for the whole song. Finally, after done, she gathered all her courage and went to him and said that it was an impressive performance. Before both of them knew they sat down and discussed music at length. Then they exchanged their phone numbers”
Kalpana asked Vashist to shut up and prompted him to listen. She took a deep breath and continued, “Weekly calls on the weekends changed into every other day. From there it went to visits in the park. The friendship based on music flowered between them but in a very matured and measured way.”
Unable to control his curiosity, Vashist had to open his mouth again “How did they not get caught at all?”
“She used the same old technique of naming Abhijit as Aparna as the decoy and continued, but it did not go for long”
“Why, someone else took the call?”
“No, it was Kolu time in their house and for cleaning, her mother dusted her books. While doing so, a black-and-white photo of a guy fell from her textbook and bang, the time bomb went off”
“Was that the same day that she ran out of the house?”
“No, only her mother found out and scolded her, but shielded her from her father. One fine evening, her father returned home early from the office because of a conference in Bombay. So he ran and picked up the call and the second bomb went off. Only after he came from Bombay did the actual round of fighting started. The fight went on for some weeks before she ran away”
“Then what happened, did they meet in person here” Vindhya jumped again to block Vashist.
“No, after three weeks of staying here one day without notice or warning, Abhijit came here to the hostel. That day we all had dinner outside and then he went off to Bangalore. He had an interview with this small software company called Infosys the next day, it seems. That was the day I met him. He looked handsome and a nice guy to talk to. And the problem started exactly for Vaidehi from that moment”
“What, what problem” Ranga cried out loud in anxiety
‘It’s getting late for me but I will shorten the story now and tell you in crisp. Abhijit had come to his friend’s house in Bangalore. His name was Vinod, and he had seen some girl on the Infosys campus and wanted to get her details. Abhijit said he would help, but then he came to Hampi to visit Vaidehi. So he asked if Vaidehi could come to Bangalore and stay with him until the interview process was over. She also agreed and left. The problem started there.”
“What problem was it” Ranga a little tense and confused “did Abhijit also like that girl or what happened”
“Guys, relax. I will explain it tomorrow morning the first thing and then you can decide how you can you help her”
“Why is the problem still there?”
“Yes, once Vaidehi comes back from the competition, the police will question her again.”
“Police, what went wrong?” Ranga in a worried voice. His eyes filled up with tears, his hands shook and he sweat.
“Nothing much, a simple interrogation, that’s all,” Kalpana asked Vindhya to console him. She conveyed with her eyes that it was not worth worrying. Vindhya followed the signal and then patted Ranga on his back. She nodded her head to signify that it’s nothing and all would be well.
Even Ranga contained himself, but what about this cat- Vashist? He had already started running the permutation and combination of situations possible. With 3 people at a crime scene - Abhijit, Vinod, and Vaidehi. Vindhya stared at him to stop running his artificial intelligent machine. She had to comfort Ranga at the present moment.
Kalpana got up and ran outside when she heard her mother shout from the ground floor. She said that her mother had called and that she must go now and asked them to sleep and not bother about the story. Vindhya then got up and gave a tumbler of water to Ranga and asked him to go to sleep immediately. Vashist also changed into his nightdress and got ready to sleep. As Vindhya switched off the lights, she called out, “Guy, we have an important morning tomorrow. We also have only 11 hours left on this adventure. Sure, we know that Ranga’s aunt is safe and pretty soon gets back to our real-time world. So sleep well”
The lights went out, but they were not in a shape to talk with each other but thought what would the problem be. Finally, tiredness caught up with them. Soon the room got filled with snoring sounds that were very familiar.
∞∞∞
Chapter-18
Caution: The Problem Is Muddier
Thursday 11:12 PM
The tiredness that caught up to them did not last long since the mind still worked at full speed and agility. Ranga tossed and turned around every 30 seconds. This was not how he usually slept, and this disturbed Vashist a lot and could not sleep properly. Both the boys hatched their own set of permutations of what may have happened. They did not want the other to know that they were awake.
On the bed, the princess looked like a log sleeping, but she was also wide awake. She looked at how to get hold of the device to see if there was anything that could give her a hint on how to proceed. She tossed herself to the right side and saw that the boys mimic deep sleep. Their aggressive eyeball movements revealed their entire drama. So she wanted to surprise them and waited for the opportune moment and yelled, “Ranga, where is the device?”
The muted room recoiled back into action. It threw back both boys and Vashist sprang on his feet and reached out to the light switch. The bulb glowed, and so did Vindhya’s face. She was up, bright. And ready for another round of discussion. “Ranga, please pass on the device. Let me check what it is saying and how much time we have got?”
“Yeah, in the heat of the moment, I forgot. Do we have time until tomorrow morning? Let’s check”
Ranga passed the device to Vindhya, and she operated it and to her surprise, it displayed Kalpana’s face. The timer ran at 08:18 hours. After a few seconds, there was a flash of a hand-cuff icon and Kalpana’s image was back on the screen. This routine went on in a loop and now they got concerned.
“Do you think that Kalpana and your aunt have got caught in some situati
on and one of them is in total trouble? Why is there a handcuff icon, which appears every few minutes?”
“I also don’t know, but I am sure that Kalpana is the one who has to tell us the story. The ending decision would either mean freedom or jail sentence for them”
“Them? only only one or both of them”
“It matches my father's narration. It looked like they came to Mangalore to identify a dead body. It didn't match my aunt’s features, but they found her purse and handkerchief on the dead body. So my aunt escaped and someone else had been there. It could now be Kalpana.”
“You mean based on our decision their lives hang?”
“Yes, it looks like that. More pressure and I cannot handle it”
“Don’t worry Ranga, we will help you out” she looked at Vashist “can’t we crack this problem?”
“Sure, it should be easy” Vashist comforted Ranga, whose worries ran to the core. They have not seen him so dull and worried. This broke the group and leader of the pack, too. It needed immediate motivation.
“I still think that your aunt is out of danger. It is Kalpana who is actually in danger. Why then will the device show her photo” reasoned Vashist.
“The device shows the person who has the problem, but my theory is, why can’t my aunt be the problem? What mistake can this girl make? She looks very nice and happy”
“OK, there are lots of uncertain facts now. Let us wait till 6 AM tomorrow and get the hang of it,” said Vindhya. She did not want to get confused and worried anymore. “We all get some good sleep to keep our brains sharp for tomorrow’s session. It is going to be one heck of an adventure”
She signaled to get the lights out and make Ranga sleep. Also hinted to Vashist that Ranga needs to have some water before sleep. They all had a couple of glasses of water and bid good night once again. This time around, tiredness had finally got over them. Within a few minutes, the room was full of snores from the boys and she was far away in her dreamland having meals.
Friday 06:19 AM
The sun’s rays were desperate to get inside the room and the friends were desperate to avoid the light. The battle continued. They wanted an undisturbed sleep for some more time. At the end of the battle, the sun's rays won as they bent themselves and entered through a small opening in the window. The rays first hit Vindhya since she was at a higher altitude than the others - on the comfortable bed. So, with distress, she woke up and then looked around and stamped Vashist’s hands. This woke him up, and they both did the remaining formality. Ranga was wide awake.
Their stomach was empty and on the verge of letting out big sounds, and Vindhya was the first to admit it. She went to the bathroom and tidied herself up and volunteered to go down. Also promised to serve them the coffee while they freshened up. The moment she opened the door, she saw something. Next to the foot mat, there was joy. A tray with 3 glasses, a bowl of boiled milk, a small cup of sugar, and coffee decoction, fresh filtered and hot. Their entire morning ritual was ready at their feet, literally. She bent down and picked it up and then got down with her work. Prepared 3 cups of coffee according to each of their demands and then went to catch up with the device.
“Hmm, this is how we need to enjoy our vacation mornings. That coffee in Munnar resort was no good. Am I right, Vashist?”
“That was not homemade, this is”
“Whatever it is, get ready, guys. The timer is down to 1:20 minutes only. We need to get to her, get the story and its details, and then get to our solution. Quick, finish the coffee and come down” She went outside the room. “I am going down to get Kalpana ready for the story”
“Sure dude, we will be ready in a jiffy”
Banging the door shut, she rushed outside “I know your jiffy well.”
Bubbled by the energy from the caffeine drink, she entered the hall. There she saw Kalpana’s mother on the sofa glued to the TV. The mother called out, “Kalpana, your friend is here. Come fast”. She pointed to the sofa and requested that she sit down. She watched the Suprabhadham on TV live at Tirupati. Vindhya always pondered who watched these programs, but now understood the target audience.
Vindhya was shocked again. Kalpana came out in her nightdress with messy hair and a toothbrush in her mouth. She was shell-shocked to see Vindhya almost ready at such an early morning. She pointed to the clock and said, “Why so early, I thought you were going to get some more rest”
“No, we could not sleep well. Was thinking about the problem which you mentioned”
“Oh OK. Go upstairs and I will be there in 5 minutes”
Vindhya got up and bent herself to meet Kalpana’s mother at eye level and said that she would come back later. She climbed the stairs and went to the room where, for the third time, she was in for a shock. The guys were half asleep and not dressed for the discussion. Covered in their blankets, Vindhya then kicked them both and yelled, “Guys, enough. Get up and Kalpana has promised to come here in 5 minutes”
“Then give us 2 more minutes please” pleaded Vashist
“No way, get up you donkeys” pulled out the blanket and splashed water on their faces. “Up and get ready in 3 minutes or I will go wild”
“OK, calm down,” said Ranga, picking up his dress and heading towards the bathroom. “You please go outside and guard us while we get ready. The room is not tidy at all”
“At least you are aware of it” sulked Vindhya, closed the door, and winked at Vashist.
In a jiffy, the boys were up and ready. No sooner had Vashist zipped his shorts. The door flung open. What a timing, he thought. Kalpana, very excited, entered the room “A happy morning to you guys. Hope you had a pleasant sleep”
“Yes, Kalpana, but there was one problem with the surroundings” claimed Vashist. The other two got surprised about what he alluded to.
“What was it, the noise from the left side of the house?”
“No, no, not all, but we were all missing the mosquitoes from Madras. Without that, I cannot sleep well”
“Ooh, don’t worry, you have them here too, but the season is a bit early for it in this region”
“OK, let’s get down to the story please so that you are not late for work,” interjected Ranga. He tried to save the conversation and bring them to note that the timer was now at 01:20 hour only.
“So where was I last night?”
“You started about her trip to Bangalore and an investigation” recapped Vindhya. She mimicked the SUN TV mega-serial announcer.
“Ooh, so I hope you are all OK to hear the story now and then have breakfast or the other way?”
All the three of them replied at the same moment, “Yes” in unison.
“What does that yes mean?”
“We like to hear the story first and then have breakfast” Ranga gave a decisive option. “The coffee has filled us”
“Then, let me recollect and start the story from there. So Abhijit had surprised us and then even surprised Vaidehi for a stay in Bangalore. She told me she was leaving the same day with him but something told me it was not all good inside of me”
“So you got some negative vibes” Vashist was back in his usual story listening mode.
“Yes, I have never heard of this company called Infosys and also seen that person only for a few hours. No negative feelings, but was a little scared from the girl’s point of view, but she was very strong. She packed her clothes, and they went in the same taxi in which he had come. I told her to keep me informed at every place where she can make a phone call to me”
“Why couldn’t you call her on her mobile?”
“What mobile, what do you mean? She is traveling in the car and so she is mobile only, right?”
“No Kalpana, leave this guy out please and continue. He is out of his mind today. Too much coffee” said Ranga and closed Vashist’s mouth before he replied.
“Lack of mosquito and brain cells” Vindhya laughed sarcastically at him
“In the morning I got the call at 7:05 AM exactly from her. S
he informed them that they had reached safely and were staying in a hotel room near Indira Nagar defense colony. I have never been to Bangalore so do not know about it. She told me that the hotel was grand and he had his interview at 4 PM and then they would go shopping on Brigade road”
“Wow, a great way to spend your time. I wish I could do that” envied Vindhya and winked at Ranga.
“So she told me they will go to the Infosys office and follow this girl till lunch. Then he will prepare for the interview and she will return to the room.”
“Meticulous planning, but how do they enter the campus?” Vashist was scratching his head again.
“What campus, it’s a tiny office and nothing should be difficult”
“What, Infosys and process I know more about it”
“How do you know about it? No one knows about this small company”
Ranga pulled Vashist and signaled the year on the calendar. He asked him to stop “Kalpana, please carry on otherwise we will only finish for lunch at this rate”
“OK Vashist, please only ask one question every two minutes. Let’s agree to this formula, otherwise I am also losing track of the storyline” she reminded him. “So they reach the office and within half an hour, the girl enters the office. Vinod signaled to Vaidehi that this was the girl whom he wanted the details. Vaidehi followed her inside the office with no sign of fear. Both the guys are shell-shocked and watch her disappear into the office. It looks like she followed her into the bathroom and tried to make a conversation but she could not. The girl went in and then ran outside to her cubicle.”
“So Vaidehi follows her to the cubicle and gets caught?” Vindhya was a little curious.
“No, she stayed at a distance and then clapped three times. The girl turns back and Vaidehi signals her to come outside and she walks out. The girl is a little hesitant, but Vaidehi, taking a few steps, stares back at her and signals with her head to follow her.”
“Wow, looks like she was a real Vijayashanti of her times” claimed Vashist