11 Hours

by Daniel Paul Singh

  “Oh, I forgot, thought I will ask you to take me for the movie. Never mind”

  Coming from an orthodox family, I had never been to theatre to watch movies. It was banned at home and I had never had the inclination to do so as well, but when it’s your crush asking, you don’t deny.

  “No no, I can make an exception, for you” I said.

  “Really? You are fine with it?”

  “Of course, anything for you. Tell me the date and time”

  “We will go even this Saturday, book in Sona theatre. Book two tickets, one for me”

  “And one for me, I know” I responded.

  “No, one for my grandpa. Two from my side. So, in total book three tickets” she texted.

  “Wait a minute, your grand pa will also be coming? Will he be fine with you watching a movie with me?”

  “Correction, I am watching a movie with my grand pa, you are accompanying us” she sent a smiley along with the text.

  I wasn’t sure how to react, but I knew for sure that it was going to be awkward. I didn’t know her grand pa. It was my first movie in theatre with my crush and I was to have an old man for company. I still decided to give it a try.

  Online booking was not available for that single screen theatre and I had to book tickets in person right before the show. I went well ahead of time for the 4.30 Pm show and got three tickets, and waited for those two people. They arrived sharp on the clock and we took our seats. Crushing my expectations, her grandpa sat between the two of us. I longingly looked at Brindha who was already engrossed in the happenings on screen. I tried to get her attention, but in vain. I couldn’t bring myself to watch the movie. I wanted to hold her hand, if possible sneak a kiss, but her grand pa had other ideas. He even let out a fart in between, I was sure. It was the most painstakingly gruesome one hour, I had spent sitting at the same place without doing anything. She was so close, yet so far.

  During the interval of the movie, her grandpa didn’t seem to leave for a loo break, and she decided to give him company, so I had to go buy them popcorn, coke and puffs. I came back, offered it all to them and sat dejected in my seat. The second half of the movie was even more thrilling, had quite a few moments of scare. Brindha was genuinely frightened and every time she was afraid, she caught hold of her grand pa’s shirt tightly and buried her face in his chest. If only he hadn’t been there, it would have been my lucky day. I kept looking at her when her grandpa turned towards me and offered the popcorn. I denied it. He then offered the coke. I denied it too. He then offered me his seat, oh no he didn’t, no he didn’t! I gave a sheepish smile and looked at the screen. I wanted to beat the pulp out of him.

  The movie got over and we took leave off each other. As I reached home, I texted her,

  “That was my first movie in theater and I loved it, thanks to you” I said with a heart full of contempt.

  “You are welcome, and you must thank Anushka for that” she texted back.

  Well, you are my Anushka, I wanted to respond.

  “Your grandpa liked the movie? He was fine with me accompanying you?”

  “Yeah, he is fine with all that, he is chilled out” she responded. Why wouldn’t he be? Just see what I do when you bring him next time around (no I didn’t say this, instead blurted out some politically correct message.)

  Within few months, we completed college and got ready to join our respective IT companies. Her joining date was a few months after mine. I joined in KTS and moved to Chennai and settled there.

  Wipro had asked Brindha to join in January 2010. She was all excited as her placement was in Bangalore, where her dad also worked.

  She called me a week before her joining date. “I can hardly wait now to get started!”

  “Awesome, dear. Happy for you! Who is accompanying you? Mom or dad?”

  “My dad is already in Bangalore, you forgot?” she reminded me.

  “Oh yeah, I forgot. So, who is going to escort you then? Would you want me to come?” I asked

  “Can you?” she said.

  “I wish, but I won’t be able to. Few last-minute work commitments this weekend. I am sorry, dear.”

  “Go die. I know I can’t trust you. That’s why I have asked my other boyfriend to accompany me.”

  “Other boyfriend? Great! My best wishes. Safe journey.”

  I was confused with what she was saying. If she were playing a prank, I wasn’t going to fall prey.

  “So, you won’t ask who it is?”

  “If he were your new boyfriend, you would have told yourself, Bru.”

  “Okay, don’t get jealous. My grandpa is coming with me.” She laughed as if it was the best joke. I gave a sigh of relief and pretended to laugh along with her. Her grandpa again.

  “So be it movie or new job, it’s always grandpa for company, right?”

  “Yes, he is the sweetest boyfriend I could ever have” she responded with pride.

  Her day of journey to Bangalore arrived. She got ready, packed all things, boarded her train and texted me throughout her journey. We then decided to sleep around 1 AM as she had to wake up early in the morning. I wished her luck for her new job, new role, and hoped she had a satisfying start in the IT world. We slept off with a lot of dreams thinking of the exciting life ahead.

  It was around 6 AM when I heard the phone ringing. I was too sleepy to pick the call. I had asked Brindha to text me when she reached Bangalore. I wondered why she was calling.

  I ignored the ring and continued sleeping.

  The phone rang for the second time. I wanted to scream at her and picked the phone, but was startled to hear Brindha crying at the other end.

  “Bru, calm down first. What happened, tell me?”

  What she told took me by shock. I wouldn’t want such a thing to happen even for my enemy.

  “My grandpa has passed away” Brindha mumbled amidst her sobbing.

  “What?” It took a while for me to get a grasp of things. I felt deeply depressed. It was her first job, she was all happy in getting ready to join the company but even before she could step into it, she was facing such a turmoil; at times reality is more cruel than fiction. It needn’t have happened then; it needn’t have been her grandfather.

  “How? When?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. I tried to wake him up in the morning and he didn’t move. He has died in his sleep. I don’t know how; I am not sure. I don’t know what I am going to do” she burst out crying.

  I didn’t have words to console her. Indeed, it was a great loss. Her grandpa was her world. She used to tell me that her grandpa accompanied her wherever she went, be it the temple, or a weekend getaway or even a walk in the park. I felt sorry for her. He shouldn’t have left her at that point of time. He was a nice man after all. I was equally dejected.

  “Do you have anyone there? Should I come?” I asked her.

  “We will be taking him to our relatives’ house here. You needn’t come. We will cremate him in the evening here at Bangalore. We won’t be able to take him back to Trichy. We won’t be able to take him to Trichy!” she stressed on it and cried again.

  “I know it’s difficult dear. Take care, I am there. I am not there physically with you right now. I so badly wish I was, but I am there for any emotional support. You can fall back on me” I tried my best to console her, but I knew it wasn’t enough.

  I so badly wanted to be by her side, to give her my shoulders. It was a long day for me. I was dejected. Her whimpers and her thoughts kept filling my mind. Her grandpa was taken to her aunt’s house. Her dad arrived and took care of her. They had the cremation at around 4 pm. We didn’t text much that night. I couldn’t sleep, neither could she, both for very different reasons.

  Brindha had postponed her joining by two weeks and joined the company by February. She slowly started to move on and enjoy her new-found freedom, freedom from parents’ constant monitoring, freedom from neighborhood aunt’s watchful eyes, freedom from societal stereotypes. It was largely visible in the w
ay she was making new friends and her subsequent texts. She managed to get quite a few testimonials in Orkut from her new friends and every single one of it increased my jealous quotient tremendously. However, I liked the new, changed, matured version of hers, ever more than her naïve earlier self.

  Our texting reached its pinnacle. From early in the morning to late in the night it was a flurry of texts, when we couldn’t text, we took the help of office e-mails. I don’t remember working much during that period, but was pretty sure that I kept sending umpteen mails to her every minute and she would reply to each and every one of it within seconds, so much so that, I even once asked.

  “Don’t you have any work?”

  “How about you then?” came the instant reply.

  “I am new to the team, just getting KT and yes, not much work”

  “Same case sir.”

  Even in long distance relationships, it was necessary for people to meet each other once in a while. On a weekend in the August of 2010, she had decided to visit Trichy. Incidentally, I was also in Trichy that weekend and we decided to meet up over a cup of coffee and to do some shopping. The time was fixed as 7 pm.

  I was there in Hotel Raghunath near the Rock Fort Temple on time and was waiting for her. She arrived after ten minutes, clad in a white shirt and grey formal pants. I found it difficult to keep my eyes on hers as a couple of minions in her shirt were making their voluptuous presence felt. Just as I was trying hard to adjust my vision and firm it up on her temple, one of my lens came off.

  It fell down and before it could hit the ground, I got hold of it and was looking for ways to place it back, when I saw her running frantically around, calling people to help, to get some water, to give me some air, a mirror or anything I would have asked for. Never before have I seen a woman showing so much care for me, other than my mom. Her worry was pretty evident, her concern was eminent, her eyes were full of care and her actions reflected her genuine affection and all this for my lens coming off. She then helped in placing it again in my cornea. She didn’t hesitate to touch my face and eyes and place them back in position with so many people watching us, even though I suggested to do it myself, she insisted on doing it. After all the drama, she asked if I was alright. I nodded.

  We had a coffee and then stepped out to commence our shopping, rather her shopping. I was just giving her company. She bought a few household items [I thought she might also buy some jockey products, but she disappointed] and after half an hour started to leave for home. As we were walking towards the bus stop, we had to cross a busy road. I crossed the road in five long strides and turned around to see her still standing at the other end. I looked at her eyes.

  “Why didn’t you wait for me? Why didn’t you hold my hand and help me cross? Why did you just leave me here? Don’t you have basic courtesy? Don’t you care about me?” so many questions in that one look of hers.

  I didn’t have answers for any of them, other than a feel of guilt. She crossed after the traffic had reduced and came to my end. She didn’t talk about it and I didn’t ask what was in her mind. We didn’t converse until we reached the bus stop, we just knew.

  As she was about to get into the bus, I couldn’t resist but give a gentle tap on her shoulders, thanking her for her help and asking her to go home safe and drop me a message on reaching. She nodded, and asked me to follow suit. I departed then, I knew that her care filled eyes would occupy my memory for a long time.

  ₪ ₪ ₪

  Chapter 13 Rob Thoughts After a long time and many rings to Girija’s mobile, the call was finally answered. My heart skipped a beat as I heard the sleepy voice of a lady at the other end.

  “Hello.” she uttered.

  “Hello Girija, this is Rob. You might not know me, but I...” “Do you have any sense? Who are you by the way? Why are you

  calling at this odd hour? There is no Girija here. Wrong number!” An angry voice spat venom along with a few expletives at the other end. Prabhu looked at me and let out a gentle chuckle despite the trauma that we were going through. I couldn’t enjoy it though.

  “What is there to laugh? You should be in my position now to realize why it is not so funny!” I told him wryly.

  “I am not mean Rob, but couldn’t help. Is there someone else we could reach out to or search for?”

  “Brindha knew Ganpath since the last few years, but I am not sure if they were Orkut friends. There is no testimonial from any Ganpath either. Girija is my best bet. I think I should drop an email to her.”

  I dropped a note to Girija’s mail ID, which was mentioned in her resume, asking her whether she knew the whereabouts of Brindha. I also requested her to inform ‘Bru’ to contact me immediately.

  “How long will it take for the Nokia phone to charge?” I wrote my question on a paper and showed it to Prabhu. We then continued to converse over pen and paper.

  “About half an hour and the charge will stay intact for a day.” he wrote and showed his reply to me.

  As I was thinking about my next move, I got a WhatsApp message from the LOSER.

  “I told you not to ask for a phone.”

  I felt frustrated and helpless about being continuously monitored. I wanted to get rid of that first. I asked Prabhu in writing, “Know of any friends, who have an electronics lab, or any doctors? I need this bug to be removed from my phone. And by the looks of it with him knowing everything we speak, I doubt if… doubt if, I am also bugged”

  Prabhu gave a sharp look of astonishment and continued.

  “I know of someone, but not sure whether he could help now.” Prabhu wrote.

  “Call that person and ask for help. I have to find my wife and Brindha and I can’t do it with every move of mine being monitored.” I wrote in detail.

  Prabhu took his phone and went to the next room. After a few minutes, he signaled me to get ready. I took Diana’s bag with me as we both rushed to his car parking area. I got into the car as he followed me but he stopped, went back again to his room and returned after a few minutes. I could see a bulge in his right pocket then, I didn’t bother to ask him what it was though. He started his car and in a few moments, we zoomed and vanished into the darkness.

  Prabhu stopped the car in front of an old house in Adyar. He knocked the door softly. A grumpy, elderly man with white beard, uncombed hair, confused looks and pretty lost face, opened the door. I wondered how he managed to hear that faint knock of Prabhu. He wore spectacles that didn’t fit him and by looks, was the last person on earth I would have reached out for help.

  “Hope no one saw you.” he whispered to Prabhu.

  “No, Professor. No one saw us.” Prabhu assured.

  “Rob, this is Prof. Vimal Kumar. He was my physics lecturer

  during my UG days.” Prabhu introduced him to me. “And Professor, this is Rob, my friend. I was asking your help for his sake.”

  We exchanged handshakes. It was a warm, strong hold for his age.

  Prabhu began to brief the professor about my situation. “He is in big trouble, Sir. Someone has kidnapped his wife, and he needs to find her before daybreak.”

  “Oh, my bad. That’s sad! How can I help this lad?” the professor asked concerned.

  “His phone is bugged sir. His online presence is being monitored. We also fear that there is a bug in him as well. We need to remove it all, because every time he talks, his kidnapper knows his next move. We have to do something about it”.

  “His wife is kidnapped and his every move is being monitored? That’s some worry. I feel very sorry.” He uttered.

  I wondered why he was talking with a particular rhyme in everything he said. I didn’t know how to react and felt stranded. The professor then asked us to follow him through a small door, which led to a large sophisticated laboratory. I was surprised on how such a small house could host such a huge space for a lab.

  “This is built underground, so that it’s never found” the professor told me as if he read my mind. It had all the equipment, much more
than what I had seen in my Physics lab in college. I could hardly identify any of them though. It felt like I was walking through a science exhibition at school, guided by the professor and Prabhu.

  In one corner, I saw a coffin and was shocked to find it there. I wondered what significance it could play in a science lab!

  “That one you find there, is the regeneration chamber.” the professor said pointing at the coffin.

  “What is that?” I asked.

  “Star fish, which is technically not a fish and is called a sea star, regenerates its parts when it’s wounded or cut. We humans could never do that yet. However, this chamber aims to help one with that” he said.

  “Do you mean to say that if you cut a human being into pieces and then throw him into this chamber, he can grow back inside this chamber into a full human again?” I would have almost fainted.

  “Not yet. We have not reached that stage yet. We have just started on an experiment where we are figuring out if we cut a finger small, whether it will grow back again tall.” the professor showed me his left hand where his little finger was missing indicating that he hadn’t succeeded yet. I had my heart in my mouth wondering where I had landed. I didn’t want to be in a situation where I escaped from the frying pan and settled comfortably on the burning fire.

  “You do all these experiments on yourself?” I asked him.

  “It’s on me most of the times, but at times a few of my students too, though I know it’s a crime” he replied.

  “And they volunteer?” I asked shocked.

  “There is no significant achievement in science without a little sacrifice, that all of us endure, from humans to mice” he told. I looked at Prabhu and he nodded indicating that he was also one of the volunteers.

  “Remember, I had a stroke six months ago?” Prabhu asked me.

  “Don’t tell me it is because of this regeneration experiment!” I shouted.

  “No, not because of this, but in another experiment, where we tried to...” before Prabhu could finish his sentence, the professor signaled to him to keep quiet. That was my first closest encounter to real-life science experiments. I had always thought that they only happened in fantasy stories and movies.