Time's Up: Every Moment Counts

by Vasu Velamur

  “All this was planned from the Hampi hostel room. Wow, Kalpana. Please carry on, I want to know how this ends?”

  “So does everyone,” Vindhya snubbed Vashist and hinted at the timer once again.

  “Calm down guys, we are almost there” Kalpana calms the group before it breaks into chaos. ”The police closed the case as it was not theft and was a family issue. They do not attach any actions to Vinod and Vaidehi. The father got the jewels back in order.”

  “If this was the ending, why are the police after Vaidehi now?”

  “Patience once again, Vashist” irritated Kalpana this time. “Not so fast, dear. Priyadharshini’s father was furious and immediately ordered her to get out of his house. He also called off the marriage in disgust. Very low in self-confidence, Priyadharshini also comes out and stays with her friends. She was very unhappy since she was not told that they executed the plan like this. Then Vaidehi explained to her that there was no other way to halt this marriage. Now that it’s stopped, she can try to convince her father and then have the wedding with Vinod. That’s the best plan and she will also not get caught with the Police and everyone ends up being happy”

  “Yes, I thought the same Kalpana” a relaxed and smiling Vindhya “Now why are the police after her now?”

  “Yes, it took over three months for Vinod and Priya to convince their families and got to nod. In the reception which happened 2 days ago, the Inspector was also present. He overheard Vaidehi, Vinod, and Priya talk about their plan. How it worked flawlessly, and they enjoyed it. So he went back to the case files and now questioned if there was any foul play in this case. If so, who is actually at fault? To do that, they want to question Vaidehi again and that’s what happened till now”

  “Who are the suspects now?”

  “Vaidehi, Priya followed by her father, then Vinod, and finally the Police inspector. What do you think, Vashist?”

  “Let us test the data in front of us first and we will help you, Kalpana”.

  Ranga looked at the device and the timer displayed around 10 minutes, 9 minutes, 54 seconds, to be exact. So they assembled now in a group and discussed when Kalpana reached out to them, “Why can’t you discuss it aloud. Am I not in your group?”

  “It’s not like that, yes we will all discuss it openly for sure. Sorry Kalpana” said Vindhya.

  They opened up the huddle and formed a bigger circle. Ranga, as usual, started off by restating the facts in the case. “As of now, we know Vaidehi was the main conspirator in this case and was the mastermind, as well. But her intentions were not to make any foul play, which is also clear. Vinod is the pawn in this case and so gets ruled out with no deliberations. Priya’s father had no direct involvement while the Police officer needed to be a bit more vigilant. Now the question before us is to find who is at fault?”

  “Yes, I agree with you, Ranga,” said Kalpana, “but the question is about fault and not right or wrong. Do you get that?”

  “Yeah, fault means taking responsibility for you, while the wrong means it’s not correct. So we are looking for who is the one responsible for this issue.”

  “Good, then let us discuss all the suspects and each one tell us what you think”

  “I will go first” jumped Vindhya with lots of enthusiasm. “Vaidehi was acting on behalf of a friend. She was also well aware of the situations and the actions that result from her plan. So she was self-aware a lot and so she was ready to accept the fault too”

  “So you are saying she is the one?” angered Vashist

  “No, I only say that she knew the consequences. For helping the friends in love, there is not too much of a mistake or fault that she did. That is what I felt”

  “So it must be the father or the police officer. Is that what you say?”

  “Yes”.

  Ranga, who watched it very close shook his head in agreement “I too think the same”

  “If the key person who hatched the plan is not at fault, then who is?” asked Kalpana with an innocent face. “Don’t you think you are a little biased?”.

  “No Kalpana, it’s not biased. What she did was only help when asked for. She was not having any involvement or gain out of this plan. So we are saying it is not her fault”

  “Going by that logic, then all the fault lies with the girl only, but she is not there in the picture at all”

  “That is true, which is why I want to look at it from a different angle”

  “What angle?”

  “Why did Priyadharshini look for help? That is the actual root cause, right”.

  Vashist jumped in since he was not used to being outside a conversation for this length. “She looked for help because she did not like the decision made by her father. No one will like it in this situation”

  “Like or dislike is not a reason for you to do a thing like this. She had to face the music and not run away from it” explained Ranga.

  “So you mean to say that the father is also not at the wrong end?”

  “Can’t be sure, but it is the girl or her father only”

  “Why not the police officer? If not for him, this case got closed and everything settled. Might he be at fault” said a logical Vindhya for once.

  “What has the police officer got to do? He only will review the pieces of evidence and arrive at a decision. Why should he be at fault?” explained Vashist.

  “What happens if he has not looked at the evidence thoroughly? Isn't that his mistake?”

  “Why look at evidence when the people who planned the task have accepted their fault. Also, as you said, it’s only a mistake”

  “You mean to say that if someone comes forward and surrenders to you. Then you will decide without looking into the circumstances and evidence presented. That is also a fault” said Vashist in the heat of the debate.

  “Calm down, dudes. We will nail it down. Let’s go back to the data first” said Ranga in a calming voice as usual.

  “OK, before we proceed, can I ask if we can all have our breakfast and then continue?” Kalpana intervened.

  “No, we need to finish this and then have breakfast,” replied Vindhya

  “Why, what is the time pressure?”

  “Yeah, we have to do it before this timer runs out”

  “What timer?”

  “Oh, nothing. We have an internal timer to solve all problems within 5 minutes. So we always go with that” adjusted Vindhya.

  “For this problem, let us change the plan”

  “We cannot, Kalpana, please don’t pressure us”

  Kalpana looked at Vindhya and then at Ranga. Something was not proper, and they were under a lot of stress, it looked like. So she went near Vindhya and asked her “Why can’t we do it after breakfast”

  “Ok we cannot, we are under time pressure,” burst Vindhya and pulled out the device, and showed her the timer. No sooner had Kalpana seen the timer than the device went blank. There was nothing in it. This created a panic among the friends.

  “What’s happening, what is this?”

  “It’s a long story, Kalpana, but first we need to make this device work. Else we are all in a soup” said a panicked Vindhya.

  There was a sudden chime that they heard in the room. They all looked up to the ceiling from where the sound came. They heard the following words in a computerized voice. “The adventure will continue only if the new person agrees to join the remaining puzzles. If not, the adventure ends here. You have 120 seconds to decide”

  A new timer ran. Vindhya took Kalpana’s hands and pressed the agreement button, consulting no one. They were back on the adventure. The picture of Vaidehi now reappeared.

  The computerized voice spoke again. “Thanks for the confirmation. We will restart at a different time. Wait till then”

  White smoke filled the room and they all could not see the other. This time, sound could not travel inside the room. They went into a deep trance, and all they could see was a white background.

  Where did they go and how much t
ime remained for them?

  For now it’s TIMES UP.

  [Continued soon]

  Epilogue

  For a change, it was Vindhya who woke up first. She looked around and found no difference in the location. There was Ranga, Vashist and Kalpana too, besides her. All sleeping in their sitting poses where they were before the transportation started.

  Her weight was too much, she felt it when trying to get up. No movement was possible. Her muscles did not allow her to move. She tried to talk, no voice came. Panic had set in. This was the first time the sleeping giant had woken up before others. So she did not know what to do.

  She could hear sounds of crackers bursting, and it was early morning time. Then, making enormous efforts, she lifted her head find the calendar. It displayed the month as October. Part of the panic reduced, but which year? She wanted to find which year, but the calendar swayed too much because of the fan. Finally, she caught it - it was still 1992.

  So what happened?

  I wanted to finish the book with an ending which I felt was the perfect. Then I realized why not finish it the way readers want. They have paid for the book, why not please them?

  To ease that, I have left the story as is and would like to finish it in my second book with what the crowd wants. So I request all you readers to share your ending - who is at fault with your justifications.

  Based on those inputs, I would finish the story. Will also get started with the next set of 4 stories with different location and period.

  Happy reading and support me in this venture.

  About The Author

  Velamur Vasu

  Vasudevan is a multi-faceted personality who is an engineer and is part of the strategy team at an MNC. He is a manager by the day and an author by the night. Also dons another role of certified Executive Coach (ICF ACC). As a coach, he mentors leaders and first time managers in his free time.

  He has varied interests which range from cooking to blogging like in Julie and Julia. Added to it, he loves photography with nature photography as his strength. Main reason is there is no one in the frame to spoil. On the sports side, he plays tennis and shuttle at regular cadence (once in 4 months). An avid travel person, who wants to accomplish travelling the entire length and breadth of India. His love for music has made him stay away from his violin and keyboard, which he learnt during this school days.

  His leadership blog “The daily Zen” supports entrepreneurs, managers to reach their dreams. His humour blog named “Randomix Crapious” in blogspot shows his other side.

  An automotive engineer by day, avid reader in the night and blogger in his free time. This has made his family & friends to push him and try to make him an author. This book is an attempt to please their needs.

  He is already launched a book on leadership skills. Currently working on another book on soft skills in pipeline. He aspires to transform himself into a full-time writer to escape a life of a corporate worker. He lives in the IT corridor of Chennai in Adyar and does not own a BMW.

  You can reach the author at thevasudevans@gmail.com or though his website http://thedailyzen.weebly.com

  Books By This Author

  Expose Your Leadership DNA

  This book on leadership is interspersed with anecdotes and apt references to scriptures with graceful pictorial creativity contributed by his equally talented children – Vikrant and Vismitha. There are many anecdotes from Vasu's own managerial life and a good amount of references to the Bhagwat Gita, Thirupavai & the Thirukural which are very apt to the chapter. There are also numerous references to good selections of the book for each essential skill required for a good leader.

  “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, shows the way,” said John C Maxwell and Vasu has put that to play in this simple and erudite compilation. Much to follow in the same suite, this book has set itself on a path of being amongst the “unputdownable” must-reads.

  Acknowledgement

  Thank you all for the wishes

  Every task that we complete would look like a miracle once completed. The journey from the start till the end is not smooth. There were many a time when I thought to myself, am I doing something crazy here? I had self doubts on the completion of this book.

  Writing a book is not possible without the help of the family and some of the extended family, too. Adding to this, a fantasy novel aimed at kids took its toll on my time & effort. The storyline, the narration, the characters, the puzzles everything required enormous effort. Through all this, my family supported me. I am grateful for that.

  I have to start by thanking my awesome wife, Ramya. From reading the early drafts to giving me advice on the cover, she was there. In keeping the Bhelpuri out of my hair so I could edit, she was as important to this book getting done as I was. Thank you so much.

  Next to my kids, the genie pigs in this experiment. They had to sit through hours of my narration of the chapters. I had to watch their faces and gauge the feedback. I would pass only when there are no grudges or wrinkles in their face. Till then, I had to retell the story. So have to thank them both (Vikranth & Vismitha). They had nowhere to run thanks to COVID.

  Finally, I thank the almighty GOD for blessing me with such a wonderful and helping family. Lots of our personal time got eroded to bring this book into reality. Also, I thank my writing idols, Crazy Mohan & Dave Barry. Though I have not interacted with them personally but they have guided me as a Guru.

  Answers