It was rarest of the occasions. The three friends, Suresh, Mani and Dharma, were up before sunrise. They were heading towards the Sunrise point with great expectations. Lakshmi, the daughter of the owner of home-stay where they were staying, had strongly recommended it for its beauty, especially for the photographers. Mani, who had already extracted the expensive DSLR camera from its pouch, was shooting things left and right. Suresh also had his mobile phone out and shooting in the light of the torch. Although the photo quality was nowhere near the DSLR, Suresh was happy with his mobile camera because he could instantly upload the pictures to his Facebook for the world to see and comment. Mani had to wait till he could switch on his laptop back in the room. Suresh had thanked BSNL a million times already in this trip for providing 3G coverage in the nature's lap.
It was still very dark but navigation was easier as they had reached the motorable road. Suresh absent mindedly touched his head to adjust the cap, and realized that it had fallen down. Mani was already ten steps ahead while Dharma was lagging behind. Suresh turned around searching for the cap in the light of the torch. He had walked couple of minutes, turned around the bend on the road when he saw the cap lying on the road. Just as he bent to pick it up he heard the sound of a fast moving vehicle behind him. Suresh jumped from the road and narrowly missed the Maruti Omni which was hurtling on this hilly road. Ahead of him Suresh saw Dharma walking deep in thoughts. Suresh shouted loudly to warn Dharma of the approaching vehicle. The shout helped partially, for Dharma was alerted but his reaction was not quick enough. The car came to a screeching halt near him, just as Dharma tried to jump to miss the car, a couple of hands grabbed him and pulled him into the car. Suresh heard a stifled cry from the car. But before Suresh could do anything, the car had disappeared around the bend.
The shout had brought Mani in search of Suri. He had not seen any of the events and it took Suri complete 10 minutes to convince that Dharma was really abducted. For next hour they were sitting on a rock next to the road unable to think. Dharma was abducted. Why was he abducted? And who was behind the abduction?
*****************************************************************
Suresh Patel, Illyas Dharamshi and Manikandan Kameswaran also known as Suri, Dharma and Mani were classmates. If they had been classmates today, they would have been known as '3 Idiots'. But 10 years ago, they were known as 'The SIMs'. They were inseparable. Yet, ten years later, fate had thrown them in 3 different cities. And in the last five, they had never met. A group chat leading to couple of nostalgic jokes and a vague suggestion led to planning of this trip, a deja-vu trip. It also helped that year was ending and they had some leaves to spend. They wanted to re-live the numerous treks and trips taken together as students. Dharma had suggested a 4 day trip, first 3 days in nature's retreat in the western ghat and then a day's visit to their college nearby, by the beach.
Suri was not enthused. He had read about the communal violence which had flared up in the region recently and thought the trip to be too risky, especially to Dharma who was from a Muslim Family. Dharma was insistent. His nickname, Dharma, could easily hide his real name and hence his religion. He would be safe. Suri had agreed reluctantly. The prospect of visiting the college had played a large role in persuading him.
The vacation was excellent, until the fateful morning. Suri flew in from Mumbai, Mani from Delhi and soon all three of them were on the bus to 'Kadu Mane', the house in the forest. It was a home stay, where the owner of the place stayed in the main house, while a couple of small yet comfortable cottages were built for tourist. Visitors could eat with the owner's family if they chose so and could experience the 'village life'. This particular ‘mane’ lived up to its name; it was a kilometer from the motorable road and was surrounded by thick forest. When they reached, Colonel Gundu Rao, the owner, personally welcomed them. He was an ex-serviceman, and true to his name, completely bald. He had a handle bar of a mustache and
strict demeanor even in the house. He ran the house like a platoon and even the visitors were part of it. The three friends experienced it first hand when they reached 15 minutes late for the dinner and were greeted with a long lecture about importance of punctuality. But the food was excellent and made up for the strange behavior of the Colonel.
The first 2 days went off well. The nature was at its best as well as the weather. But on the second evening, Dharma suddenly got ill with acidity, his companion from the college days. He slept off without having dinner and others were forced to face the Colonel who would surely take exception to their friend's absence. But none of the things happened. Colonel's daughter had arrived from Bangalore that very evening and she was quite friendly. The colonel still presided over the dinner, bored them with outspoken support of military action in Kashmir, and tried to convince them that killing all Muslims in India was the panacea to all the maladies India was facing. The daughter, Lakshmi, sensing the discomfort caused by her father’s comments, changed the topic. Soon they were discussing the places to be visited in neighborhood. It was then that she had suggested going to the sunrise point. Mani agreed, and the next day being the last, they decided to go very next morning. Dharma had fast recuperated and inspite of many objections, he accompanied his friends on the way to Sunrise point well before sunrise, early next day.
And then Dharma was abducted.
*****************************************************************
As they thought over the past 2 days, Suri had got convinced that Dharma's religion had got known somehow. Suri knew now that it was Colonel who had abducted Dharma. He had made his views on the issue quite clear yesterday. It was his daughter who had lead them to go to the sunrise point, early in the morning. She was an accomplice. This meant that Dharma was in mortal danger. Or was he already dead?
They made up the mind to report it to nearest police station. It was already dawn, but reaching the town was not easy, especially if the Colonel was in the enemy camp. Suri decided to call somebody to find out the phone number of the nearest police station. He thanked BSNL again for the coverage in remote areas. He unlocked the phone and froze. His phone was showing the latest updates from Face book and the last update was from Madhu, Dharma's roommate, 'SIM’s job is done. Pack your bags and leave. DO NOT inform anybody. Payment is already done.'
They were now puzzled. What could this mean? Suri felt that Madhu was involved in the plot. Suri soon built up an elaborate conspiracy theory, involving Madhu and Lakshmi as lovers, Colonel as the instigator and Dharma as the poor victim. But Mani did not agree and called up Madhu.
The conversation convinced Mani that Madhu was as innocent and he was also as clueless as the two friends. He had acted on the instructions of Dharma given earlier in the week. He did not know why, as Dharma had refused to clarify. Madhu was almost sure that it had something to do with Sudha, the colleague Dharma was involved with for past 2 years. Things were not going well between the two, something related to her father's opposition. But he did not have the details. Madhu provided Mani with the phone number of a common friend, Komal, who would know more on this topic.
Suri and Mani were in deep thoughts. Mani finally decided that they should move fast, in order to safely vacate the guest house. It was nearly 7 when they quickly packed; they were surprised that Dharma's luggage was missing. They crossed the window of the main hall carefully afraid to attract attention, and once near the gate ran as fast as they could. Once at safe distance, they walked couple of bus stops before waiting for the bus to arrive. In the town, while eating breakfast Suri got anxious and could not hold his curiosity any more. He wanted to call Komal. Mani finally relented. It was 9 AM, a decent time to call even during the weekend. Thankfully Komal answered the phone and she was very anxious herself. She had been trying to reach Sudha since the last night and her cell phone was not reachable. Sudha's last twitter attempt was troublesome, 'Tomorrow I will be with Him, and I will be free.' Komal knew that she was planning something since 2 weeks, but did not know what. Now she was worried.
Mani soon learnt the background. Sudha had fallen in love with Illyas and both wanted to get married. Illyas' family had no issues with the religion of their daughter in law. But Sudha's father was a different case. He reacted extremely to the news, flew in rage, and locked up Sudha. She was held incommunicado for a fortnight and was finally allowed to return to Bangalore only when she promised never to meet Illyas again. In addition, she had given up all her privacy; her father could monitor all her emails, account statements. He had even hired a security agency to trail her and tap her phone. Any suspicious movement from Sudha, and she would loose her freedom. And so for last 6 months, she lived in virtual jail, always questioned about every thing by her father.
Her last twitter message indicated she was planning something to get rid of the imprisonment and marry Illyas. Komal was worried that writing this on twitter for the world to see was a dangerous move. If her father had got even a whiff of the plan, she would be locked up, and her life would be ruined.
Mani asked her about the alternatives? Komal had one, but she had not dared to do it. She had the land line number of Sudha's father's house. But she was too afraid to call. What if her worst fears were true? Mani noted down the number. Now both of them started discussing the plans. They had too many options, and making decision on this scant knowledge was not possible. Should they go back to Bangalore? What if Dharma was in trouble? What if Sudha's father came to know of their plans and abducted Dharma? The more they discussed, it seemed very likely. Suri could clearly remember the fear in Dharma's eyes when being pulled into the van. They had two options, complain to local police, but then they did not know anything about Sudha or about her father. Go back to Bangalore and complain. But the actual abduction had happened in another district altogether. Also it would be too risky for Dharma. Both Mani and Suri had strong opinions supporting opposite options. They were deep in this argument when Suri's phone beeped. It was a face book update, from Dharma. It resolved the immediate debate, but muddled the confusion more.
On Facebook Dharma said: 'Don’t worry. Meet me in front of hostel gate, 7 pm today.'
********************************************************************
It was 7:15 pm. Suri and Mani were pacing along the road, bored of watching the traffic. Every van raised the heart beats, but each one was false alarm. Why do so many Maruti Van's ply on this highway, Suri was cursing the choice of the car made by the abductor. His tension was rising and finally reached the threshold, he could not hold his mind together any longer. He told Mani that they were fed a false lead forcing them away from the crime scene and they should not delay reporting to the police. He argued with Mani, cursed him for not listening, told him that he was to be blamed if Dharma got hurt due to the delay and as a last resort snatched Mani's mobile phone where Sudha's home phone was stored and dialed it.
After N number of rings, with Suri's tension rising with each ring, the phone was finally answered: 'Colonel Gundu Rao Speaking!' Suri froze. The certificate in the dining hall flashed in front of Suri's eyes. It was an award in inter school competition given to one Sudhalakshmi G.
A Maruti van had slowed down. Neither of the two friends sensed it till it stopped right in front of them. They were busy analyzing the newly found data, trying to fit in the details, when somebody getting down from the van cried "April Foooool!'.
It was Dharma, holding his just married wife, Lakshmi alias Sudha alias Sudhalakshmi.
***************************************************************
When emotions had tempered down, Suri was the most difficult to handle. Things got clarified. Sudha had arranged this marriage with help of her cousin. However if they had tried to get married in Bangalore, the instructions to the security agency was quite clear, abduct the girl at all costs. Hence, this stunt was planned of getting married under the very nose of her father.
Illyas had not informed his friends because he was not sure they could keep composure upon meeting the Colonel. And yet he needed friends to hide himself. He could not have possibly come on vacation alone.
But why update the facebook? Dharma had a simple explanation. Dharma knew, given the addiction of Suri, he can forget to eat sometime but will not miss checking Face book updates on his mobile.
It was still very dark but navigation was easier as they had reached the motorable road. Suresh absent mindedly touched his head to adjust the cap, and realized that it had fallen down. Mani was already ten steps ahead while Dharma was lagging behind. Suresh turned around searching for the cap in the light of the torch. He had walked couple of minutes, turned around the bend on the road when he saw the cap lying on the road. Just as he bent to pick it up he heard the sound of a fast moving vehicle behind him. Suresh jumped from the road and narrowly missed the Maruti Omni which was hurtling on this hilly road. Ahead of him Suresh saw Dharma walking deep in thoughts. Suresh shouted loudly to warn Dharma of the approaching vehicle. The shout helped partially, for Dharma was alerted but his reaction was not quick enough. The car came to a screeching halt near him, just as Dharma tried to jump to miss the car, a couple of hands grabbed him and pulled him into the car. Suresh heard a stifled cry from the car. But before Suresh could do anything, the car had disappeared around the bend.
The shout had brought Mani in search of Suri. He had not seen any of the events and it took Suri complete 10 minutes to convince that Dharma was really abducted. For next hour they were sitting on a rock next to the road unable to think. Dharma was abducted. Why was he abducted? And who was behind the abduction?
*****************************************************************
Suresh Patel, Illyas Dharamshi and Manikandan Kameswaran also known as Suri, Dharma and Mani were classmates. If they had been classmates today, they would have been known as '3 Idiots'. But 10 years ago, they were known as 'The SIMs'. They were inseparable. Yet, ten years later, fate had thrown them in 3 different cities. And in the last five, they had never met. A group chat leading to couple of nostalgic jokes and a vague suggestion led to planning of this trip, a deja-vu trip. It also helped that year was ending and they had some leaves to spend. They wanted to re-live the numerous treks and trips taken together as students. Dharma had suggested a 4 day trip, first 3 days in nature's retreat in the western ghat and then a day's visit to their college nearby, by the beach.
Suri was not enthused. He had read about the communal violence which had flared up in the region recently and thought the trip to be too risky, especially to Dharma who was from a Muslim Family. Dharma was insistent. His nickname, Dharma, could easily hide his real name and hence his religion. He would be safe. Suri had agreed reluctantly. The prospect of visiting the college had played a large role in persuading him.
The vacation was excellent, until the fateful morning. Suri flew in from Mumbai, Mani from Delhi and soon all three of them were on the bus to 'Kadu Mane', the house in the forest. It was a home stay, where the owner of the place stayed in the main house, while a couple of small yet comfortable cottages were built for tourist. Visitors could eat with the owner's family if they chose so and could experience the 'village life'. This particular ‘mane’ lived up to its name; it was a kilometer from the motorable road and was surrounded by thick forest. When they reached, Colonel Gundu Rao, the owner, personally welcomed them. He was an ex-serviceman, and true to his name, completely bald. He had a handle bar of a mustache and
strict demeanor even in the house. He ran the house like a platoon and even the visitors were part of it. The three friends experienced it first hand when they reached 15 minutes late for the dinner and were greeted with a long lecture about importance of punctuality. But the food was excellent and made up for the strange behavior of the Colonel.
The first 2 days went off well. The nature was at its best as well as the weather. But on the second evening, Dharma suddenly got ill with acidity, his companion from the college days. He slept off without having dinner and others were forced to face the Colonel who would surely take exception to their friend's absence. But none of the things happened. Colonel's daughter had arrived from Bangalore that very evening and she was quite friendly. The colonel still presided over the dinner, bored them with outspoken support of military action in Kashmir, and tried to convince them that killing all Muslims in India was the panacea to all the maladies India was facing. The daughter, Lakshmi, sensing the discomfort caused by her father’s comments, changed the topic. Soon they were discussing the places to be visited in neighborhood. It was then that she had suggested going to the sunrise point. Mani agreed, and the next day being the last, they decided to go very next morning. Dharma had fast recuperated and inspite of many objections, he accompanied his friends on the way to Sunrise point well before sunrise, early next day.
And then Dharma was abducted.
*****************************************************************
As they thought over the past 2 days, Suri had got convinced that Dharma's religion had got known somehow. Suri knew now that it was Colonel who had abducted Dharma. He had made his views on the issue quite clear yesterday. It was his daughter who had lead them to go to the sunrise point, early in the morning. She was an accomplice. This meant that Dharma was in mortal danger. Or was he already dead?
They made up the mind to report it to nearest police station. It was already dawn, but reaching the town was not easy, especially if the Colonel was in the enemy camp. Suri decided to call somebody to find out the phone number of the nearest police station. He thanked BSNL again for the coverage in remote areas. He unlocked the phone and froze. His phone was showing the latest updates from Face book and the last update was from Madhu, Dharma's roommate, 'SIM’s job is done. Pack your bags and leave. DO NOT inform anybody. Payment is already done.'
They were now puzzled. What could this mean? Suri felt that Madhu was involved in the plot. Suri soon built up an elaborate conspiracy theory, involving Madhu and Lakshmi as lovers, Colonel as the instigator and Dharma as the poor victim. But Mani did not agree and called up Madhu.
The conversation convinced Mani that Madhu was as innocent and he was also as clueless as the two friends. He had acted on the instructions of Dharma given earlier in the week. He did not know why, as Dharma had refused to clarify. Madhu was almost sure that it had something to do with Sudha, the colleague Dharma was involved with for past 2 years. Things were not going well between the two, something related to her father's opposition. But he did not have the details. Madhu provided Mani with the phone number of a common friend, Komal, who would know more on this topic.
Suri and Mani were in deep thoughts. Mani finally decided that they should move fast, in order to safely vacate the guest house. It was nearly 7 when they quickly packed; they were surprised that Dharma's luggage was missing. They crossed the window of the main hall carefully afraid to attract attention, and once near the gate ran as fast as they could. Once at safe distance, they walked couple of bus stops before waiting for the bus to arrive. In the town, while eating breakfast Suri got anxious and could not hold his curiosity any more. He wanted to call Komal. Mani finally relented. It was 9 AM, a decent time to call even during the weekend. Thankfully Komal answered the phone and she was very anxious herself. She had been trying to reach Sudha since the last night and her cell phone was not reachable. Sudha's last twitter attempt was troublesome, 'Tomorrow I will be with Him, and I will be free.' Komal knew that she was planning something since 2 weeks, but did not know what. Now she was worried.
Mani soon learnt the background. Sudha had fallen in love with Illyas and both wanted to get married. Illyas' family had no issues with the religion of their daughter in law. But Sudha's father was a different case. He reacted extremely to the news, flew in rage, and locked up Sudha. She was held incommunicado for a fortnight and was finally allowed to return to Bangalore only when she promised never to meet Illyas again. In addition, she had given up all her privacy; her father could monitor all her emails, account statements. He had even hired a security agency to trail her and tap her phone. Any suspicious movement from Sudha, and she would loose her freedom. And so for last 6 months, she lived in virtual jail, always questioned about every thing by her father.
Her last twitter message indicated she was planning something to get rid of the imprisonment and marry Illyas. Komal was worried that writing this on twitter for the world to see was a dangerous move. If her father had got even a whiff of the plan, she would be locked up, and her life would be ruined.
Mani asked her about the alternatives? Komal had one, but she had not dared to do it. She had the land line number of Sudha's father's house. But she was too afraid to call. What if her worst fears were true? Mani noted down the number. Now both of them started discussing the plans. They had too many options, and making decision on this scant knowledge was not possible. Should they go back to Bangalore? What if Dharma was in trouble? What if Sudha's father came to know of their plans and abducted Dharma? The more they discussed, it seemed very likely. Suri could clearly remember the fear in Dharma's eyes when being pulled into the van. They had two options, complain to local police, but then they did not know anything about Sudha or about her father. Go back to Bangalore and complain. But the actual abduction had happened in another district altogether. Also it would be too risky for Dharma. Both Mani and Suri had strong opinions supporting opposite options. They were deep in this argument when Suri's phone beeped. It was a face book update, from Dharma. It resolved the immediate debate, but muddled the confusion more.
On Facebook Dharma said: 'Don’t worry. Meet me in front of hostel gate, 7 pm today.'
********************************************************************
It was 7:15 pm. Suri and Mani were pacing along the road, bored of watching the traffic. Every van raised the heart beats, but each one was false alarm. Why do so many Maruti Van's ply on this highway, Suri was cursing the choice of the car made by the abductor. His tension was rising and finally reached the threshold, he could not hold his mind together any longer. He told Mani that they were fed a false lead forcing them away from the crime scene and they should not delay reporting to the police. He argued with Mani, cursed him for not listening, told him that he was to be blamed if Dharma got hurt due to the delay and as a last resort snatched Mani's mobile phone where Sudha's home phone was stored and dialed it.
After N number of rings, with Suri's tension rising with each ring, the phone was finally answered: 'Colonel Gundu Rao Speaking!' Suri froze. The certificate in the dining hall flashed in front of Suri's eyes. It was an award in inter school competition given to one Sudhalakshmi G.
A Maruti van had slowed down. Neither of the two friends sensed it till it stopped right in front of them. They were busy analyzing the newly found data, trying to fit in the details, when somebody getting down from the van cried "April Foooool!'.
It was Dharma, holding his just married wife, Lakshmi alias Sudha alias Sudhalakshmi.
***************************************************************
When emotions had tempered down, Suri was the most difficult to handle. Things got clarified. Sudha had arranged this marriage with help of her cousin. However if they had tried to get married in Bangalore, the instructions to the security agency was quite clear, abduct the girl at all costs. Hence, this stunt was planned of getting married under the very nose of her father.
Illyas had not informed his friends because he was not sure they could keep composure upon meeting the Colonel. And yet he needed friends to hide himself. He could not have possibly come on vacation alone.
But why update the facebook? Dharma had a simple explanation. Dharma knew, given the addiction of Suri, he can forget to eat sometime but will not miss checking Face book updates on his mobile.
2 comments:
Man....!!!! I almost chocked.... I didnt breath till I was through reading.... ufff..... Wish you happy Married Life... Dharma and Sudha....!!!!!! :)))))))
that is good.. please continue writing..
This is one thing which todays society has acute shortage of.. good litrature...
Keep going...
Post a Comment