Come On Inner Peace

by Sachin Garg

  He liked it.

  And Ronnie became a different person from that moment on. He dropped the tough contour and almost graciously welcomed us inside. He probably loved it.

  We entered and we were amazed with what we saw. On the ground floor, half the Indian television industry was present. No wonder this party was so hard to enter. I kept on forgetting that even Navya was a little famous now, which brought her to such parties. I spotted some faces from Bollywood too. It seemed a little unreal and hard to swallow to witness those celebs partying so casually like that.

  The place wasn’t extremely posh for the gathering. But the people and the atmosphere made the ordinary place look jazzy and vibrant from inside.

  On any other day, I would have wanted to soak in the ambience of that place. It smelt of smoke and there was alcohol and syringes and rolling paper wherever you looked. But we had to look around for Navya. All three of us knew how she looked. I told Vandana and Aradhya to look for her downstairs and I made my way upstairs.

  If the place looked unkempt on the ground floor, then the first floor was plain broken. A little worse than Edward Norton’s Fight Club house. The doors seemed rotten and the place was a mess, reeking a repulsive smell; of junkies, their body odour and that the rotting drugs. Once I was upstairs, I saw humans who seemed no better than animals. Guys and girls were lying around, semi-naked or with clothes which hadn’t been washed for years. These people had religiously dedicated their lives to drugs.

  There was no music here and I don’t think they cared about it. It was plain pathetic.

  It was hard to focus on the purpose in hand. My mind went back to the promise I had met to Swamiji. I would help everyone I could. And the only reason I managed to stop myself was because I didn’t know how to help all these doomed people. Some of them had blisters on their body the kind Meth addicts have. I saw a young guy smile and the horrific stains on his teeth would give sleepless nights to any onlooker. I had seen all this on YouTube in the west and I was indifferent to it. But I probably wasn’t prepared for such a scene in India. I was seeing it in people who were my age, who could do things to make themselves and their parents proud. It was appalling.

  But right under the undercurrent of this city, they call the ‘Capital’, are places like these where there is more Meth in the air than oxygen, where sex seems like the obvious step after two strangers get introduced and get high together. Not that I held anything against occasional indulgences but this kind of hedonism made my head spin.

  With my eyes, I was looking for Navya. But with my mind, I was hoping she is not there, not amongst these people.

  I opened a few creaky doors. I looked in the balcony. But it was in the last room that I spotted DJ Vyk, with a few of his friends. I was tempted to walk up to him, punch him and ask him where Navya was. But rationality was important that emotion. So I decided to go downstairs and bring along Vandana and Aradhya.

  With them, we came back to where I had spotted DJ Vyk, with his bunch of friends. Three of his friends seemed conscious, while other two would make zombies insecure. I went to the other side and looked closely, and realized that one of the dead looking persons was actually Navya. The sight of her numbed me for a complete good minute. She looked as if she had been lying there forever. It seemed that people around her had gotten used to seeing her lifeless body lying there. My heart began to sink. The guys around her were crazy enough to not notice if anything was to happen to her.

  Vandana called me to the other corner of the room. I told her what I had in mind: I wanted to punch those guys and pick Navya and just leave. Vandana didn’t like the idea.

  ‘See Samar, these are Meth heads. Can I give you a piece of advice which you would keep in your head for the rest of your life?’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Never punch a Meth head. You will be surprised with what you will see. They will go insane if you will hit them, especially if they are five of them together. If picking fights with sober people is dangerous, then getting involved with these people is like a death wish.’

  ‘You know what my next question is going to be. Do you have a better idea?’

  ‘Yes. See, it’s not a punch that a Meth head is scared of. Now ask me, what is a Meth head scared of?’

  ‘What?’ Aradhya and I asked in chorus.

  ‘He is scared of being caught by family. And you have no idea how submissive these Meth heads become in front of family.’

  ‘But what the hell is the plan?’ I asked, getting impatient. Navya was lying lifelessly in front of my eyes. And I had to bypass these idiots to reach her.

  ‘The plan is simple, Samar. I will be Navya’s mother and Aradhya will be her sister. We will go together and shout at them. They will have absolutely no idea how to react. And then, you can come in and pick her up, and we will walk straight out of the party. Nobody will stop us. There cannot be a smoother plan to get her out of here.’

  Vandana plunged in straightaway, with jaws clenched and fists curled. Her stride was brought to an abrupt end as she halted midway and gave a nasty stare across the room, as if surveying everyone. Her eyes red and bulging in anger; it was such a stellar performance!

  She walked in and only one sound was audible on the whole floor. She rained abuses in Punjabi to nobody in particular. When she saw Navya, she broke into a fountain of fake tears. She cursed all the guys around her for doing this to her. Everyone, visibly shaken by now, was looking at each other, asking each other through eye contacts, ‘Dude, do you have the least bit of the fucking idea of what this lady is going on about?!’

  Meanwhile, she continued to sob and wail and curse God for making her see that moment. And when Aradhya joined Vandana in her tears and wailing, the Meth heads gave in. With all those drugs having replaced their neurons, it was way beyond their comprehension now. Dj Vyk was too stunned to come up with a meaningful explanation. He was trying to rack his brain which was functioning at thirty percent efficiency at that time. He had no prior knowledge about Navya’s family and he wasn’t able to understand an iota of the punjabi abuses were being hurled at him. He just stood there, blinking eyes like a pigeon, contemplating if this was the worst Bad Trip he’s been on.

  ‘We are taking her with us,’ Vandana announced, like a headmistress with an invisible spanking rod in her hand. This was my cue to step in.

  That was the most nervous walk of my life. On one side, I was scared that this Meth heads will figure out our lie and beat us to death. On the other side, the sight of Navya was making me jittery; I was approaching her lifeless unconscious body. I feared walking up to her and realizing she had no pulse. What if an overdose of Meth had taken her us from us? I was sweating, I was shivering. And if I were speaking I would have stammered too.

  I walked up to Navya and turned her over. I flinched on seeing the terrible condition her face was in and extended a hand to check her pulse. It seemed alright. I left a sigh of relief.

  ‘What’s wrong with her?’ I asked a junkie rolled next to her.

  ‘She is in a long sleep,’ he said, casually.

  ‘I can see that. But why?’

  ‘Well, she has scored too much this week.’

  ‘But I thought Meth makes you sleepless, doesn’t it?’

  ‘Yes, it does. It makes you go days without sleep. But when that period ends, you go in a long sleep, like she has.’

  ‘So when will she wake up?’

  ‘My guess is day after tomorrow, but you can never tell.’

  I picked Navya without thinking anything now. She had always been slim but had grown increasingly lighter now. Her pungent smell hit my nostrils. She needed a bath, her mouth needed washing and her hair needed detangling.

  Vandana and Aradhya led the way like an enraged mother and a furious sister, as I climbed the stairs behind them, with Navya in my arms. We walked through the crowd and the contour on our faces didn’t let anyone stop us. Thankfully, Ronnie was not at the gate any more. And just like that, we walked out of the p
arty, and walked up to our car and I kept Navya in the back seat. She collapsed there like a bag of rice.

  We quickly sat in our seats and within the next few minutes, we were out of Civil Lines. We dropped Aradhya to her house and thanked her profusely.

  Once Vandana and I were on the main road, the mood of the car changed. Navya was in a terrible condition and Vandana’s cancer was growing as fast as ever but still, we had achieved something. Navya was with us and we could at least take care of her. I looked at Vandana and wondered what is going to do in celebration.

  I thought she might turn on the music really loud or maybe sing herself. Or maybe she would high five and flash a broad smile. But what I saw surprised me.

  Vandana let out a loud cry. And I saw a drop of tear leave her left eye. She didn’t stall her emotions. She let it flow. And she cried some more.

  Once we were home, I carried Navya to Vandana’s room and dropped her there. I wanted to hug her good night but I decided against it. I wanted to hug her when she would hug me back.

  Vandana and I stood in her room, and looked at her in deep sleep.

  ‘She’s like a building in the need of resurrection Samar. And you are a single labourer. It might seem like an impossible task, but more impossible things have been done before.’

  I didn’t respond. And instead kept looking at Navya. The first thing you noticed about her face was her dark circles. Then puffy eyes. And her lips, which had gone dry as if she hadn’t moisturized them since years.

  From a gorgeous enigmatic girl that I had known her to be, she was a now like a disfigured painting, with all the colour sapped out of it.

  Vandana slept on my bed and I slept on the floor. As I stared in darkness of the night, there was only one question going through my head.

  What if she wakes up and slaps me and leaves?

  Showing Very High Confidence

  Even though I felt I had already done a lot of work, the next morning I knew that having come so far, the real work began from here. It was the ninth of July.

  Vandana and I were standing in the balcony, where we did most of our chit chatting.

  ‘So this is what it settles down to. We have her body. But would we be able to have Navya, the person?’ I asked.

  ‘It depends on you, Samar. If you take good care of yourself, I believe you can bring her back to life.’

  ‘Hmmm.’

  ‘Tell me more about her. Where does she come from? What are her roots? How is her family? Have you met them?’

  ‘I had seen a glimpse of her dad when he had come to Woodstock Village in Goa to take Navya back home. And I thought he must be an extremely strict dad. In fact, that might be the reason why Navya felt so desperate to break away.’

  ‘You have his phone number?’ Vandana asked me. I didn’t like the question. Definitely, Vandana didn’t expect me to call Navya’s dad.

  ‘I don’t,’ I said, not wanting to know what Vandana had in mind.

  ‘But Joseph, your guy at Woodstock would have it no?’

  So she forced me into calling Joseph, make the small talk and give him a convincing reason for needing Mr Sharma’s number. Joseph was a sweet guy and I didn’t think he would say no to me for anything.

  ‘Now call Mr Sharma and tell him to come to Delhi,’ Vandana said, firmly.

  ‘Are you out of your mind?!’ I reacted.

  ‘I am in complete control of my mind. Call Mr Sharma to Delhi right now. You kids think you know everything. We need an adult man’s brain to handle this situation. Call him right now, Samar,’ Vandana said.

  ‘Listen Vandana, you have not seen Mr Sharma but I have. I have heard stories of him from Navya. He is not someone who would see his daughter in this condition and try to sympathize. He is someone who would disown his daughter, probably slap her and storm out on seeing her in this condition.’

  Vandana didn’t like my argument.

  ‘How many daughters have you fathered?’

  ‘It’s not about that. I know how he thinks. Take my word for it!’

  ‘You don’t know a parent’s heart, Samar. Navya is just . . . ill. All she needs is some love, some care and some medicine. And she will be okay. Give me his number, I will call him,’ Vandana said.

  I listened as Vandana narrated the situation to Mr Sharma. He didn’t react too much on the phone. Instead, he told Vandana that he will take the first flight to Delhi. It was twelve in the afternoon right now. I knew he would be here before dark.

  And in the meantime, I engrossed myself on YouTube, into videos on how to bring a Meth addict back to life. I read articles and articles on what to do and what not to do. I kept a notebook by my side and made notes. It was as if it was becoming the most ambitious task of my life.

  But I was determined. If hard work was what it required, I was more than willing to give it.

  When the doorbell rang at six o’clock, I knew it would be Mr Sharma, Navya’s dad. Navya was still out of her senses and looked pretty unwell. Vandana went and opened the door.

  Mr Sharma walked in and when Vandana asked him for tea or water, he plainly said, ‘Where is she?’

  I could see a father’s restlessness written all over his stern face. He hadn’t seen her in months and how disconcerted he was with the way she had turned out. Maybe there was hope. Maybe he would be on our side.

  Vandana took him inside, where Navya had been sleeping. Mr Sharma walked in and saw his daughter in that broken condition. He was devastated with what he saw. His initial reaction was of anger. This was what I had feared. I wasn’t very excited about what was to follow. He was capable of anything. He could hold us responsible for what had happened. He could insist on taking her back to Indore and locking her in a room for months. He could disown her completely.

  But then I saw the anger giving way to the love of a father. He didn’t say anything but his eyes revealed every thought going through his head, as his expression transformed from one to another.

  And then he walked out of the room, without saying anything. He sat on the couch, gathering his thoughts, still in deep concentration. ‘Tell me from the beginning, precisely everything,’ he said.

  Vandana took a step forward and she began to tell the story like a mother tells the story of her daughter. There was so much empathy in her voice when she spoke that one could feel her love for Navya even though she was yet to properly meet her.

  The story ended. There was a tear or two in the eyes of more than one person in that room. It was clear by now that my initial judgment of him being a ruthless and tyrannous man had been utterly wrong. He was, as Vandana had assured, a loving father who wanted to see his daughter coming back to life from being burned and broken.

  ‘I want to start with saying thank you to the both of you. You have taken very good care of Navya and she is lucky that she has friends like you. And secondly, I want to help you in taking care of her.’

  But then, he said after pondering for a while, ‘I know for a fact that I will be more destructive than constructive. She might turn hostile towards me and try escaping again. I am leaving this job to you. You have my phone number. Call me whenever you want. I will not tell anything about this to her mother. And when we have our old Navya back, call me. I will come with her mother and we will meet her,’ he said in a voice so sombre that it could pierce through stone.

  With these words, he picked the single bag that he had brought and began to from the same door from which he had entered just an hour ago. He was a man of conviction and it didn’t take him very long to understand situations and make a decision.

  Just as he was leaving, he looked at both of us and said, ‘I’m showing very high confidence in the two of you. Don’t make me regret it.’

  He had shown immense confidence in us. I didn’t know whether we were worthy of this confidence or not. But it definitely gave me the heart to take on this challenge.

  Vandana could only be my advisor but I was the one who was to actually do it. After the evening tea, I w
ent back to the internet and made some more notes. And once I was satisfied with the research, at around twelve in the night, with a notebook full of notes, I went up to Vandana. I showed her what I had planned. As I was explaining, I wondered whether she was listening or not. And if she was listening, whether she was understanding anything or not.

  ‘You know what are your two biggest gifts, Samar?’ she said once I was done with my rant.

  ‘What?’ I said, getting all excited in anticipation of hearing good things about me.

  ‘Your biggest gift is that you are a great learner. I give you something to learn and tell you the reason why you have to learn and you will find a way to do it. I’ve known a lot of young men. But you are different. Some guys say I can’t do it. Some says I will try, which actually means I will not try hard enough. But you . . . you are just so much more accurate with whatever you do!’

  ‘Wow! And the second?’

  ‘The second of course is your ability to love whole heartedly, unconditionally and selflessly. When you love someone, there’s nothing that you hold back. In today’s world, it’s a very rare virtue to have.’

  I smiled. And tried not to blush. And then wondered how was this related to what I had been blabbering for like half an hour. And I think it showed on my face.

  ‘Navya doesn’t need these notes, Samar,’ Vandana continued. ‘This is what I would need if I was in Navya’s place. But Navya is not me. She has you.’

  ‘But I have no idea what she needs. I have never known anyone who has dealt with a problem like hers.’

  ‘Be patient. We don’t even know as to how she will react when she wakes up.’

  ‘How do you think it would be?’

  ‘I can’t say yet. But I do know that her reaction will play an important role in how you should go about curing her.’

  ‘See,’ she continued, ‘normally, Meth addicts show extreme withdrawal symptoms. They lose interest in everything. All they think of is Meth. And I am afraid, Navya could have gone that way.’