THE HARBINGER OF NOR'WESTER

All who are Welcomed

The woman wrapped her black garment around her face. She was not a mystery. She opened her palms to see the sparks still travelling across the lines of her fate. Her fate, that began in no particular day or may be that day at the Mayatalav.

The man waved his hand violently in the air, "my wife doesn't let me in the house when I drink, and that is the reason I drink! So the lord is my saviour, now."

The woman raised her brow. She looked back at her friend, the temple priest too seemed to enjoy her conundrum. She patted down her kurti and tied her scarf tighter around the waist.

"It is not customary....," she looked behind the man, two more men were coming this way.

She helped the man down on the rotunda, making him sit on the entrance to the ardha-mandap. Then she fiercely advanced to the two men, she has felt bad enough for the drunkard, she must turn these two men away, the temple was closed for the day.

As she came closer she saw it more clearly. The two men were running towards the temple. The woman stopped trying to comprehend what was happening, then she saw the shining objects in the men's hands.

Before she could turn back, one of the men fired his machine gun. The drunkard who managed to stand fell immediately. She wanted to turn towards the two men again when one of them grabbed her. He spun her around and locked her as a shield. She was not afraid as disgusted by his sweaty grasp. The serene fragrance that surrounded her vanished all of a sudden.

The man took a moment to aim. His upbeat made her look up, a horde of police officers was coming this way. Then a flash of light blinded her and the sky fell. The man kept shooting his machine gun at the police over her shoulder. They return fired at his partner. The man turned to see his comrade fall on a pool of blood. He grunted as he began to step back. The police were close now, the person leading them carefully aiming his gun at the man holding the girl.

The woman then noticed that her face was deformed with fear. Death was not the illusion, being close to it was. The man smiled from the corner of his lip and kept stepping back. They reached the first set of stairs leading to the temple rotunda.

"Don't try anything!" the man hissed as the woman immediately struggled to free herself from his grasp. They slowly back walked up the steps.

The woman looked right at the drunkard, now bent oddly and lying in heap by the wall. The man entered the temple and then released the woman. He pushed her forward to the gates.

"Close them, please," the man said aiming his gun at her.

The woman suddenly froze, digesting the confusion of the situation. The man pursed his lips and fired his gun in the air. The collective gasps of people brought her back to senses. She hunched her shoulders and advanced to close the gates. She moved the sliding wooden doors one by one to bring them close. Then she stood in the middle to grab them both, helplessly looking out into the night. A police officer came up to the rotunda looking at the girl through the doors. She looked at him, she did not want to close the doors. The police officer nodded his head assuring her, she breathed deeply and pulled the doors shut.

"Can they enter through the open spaces of the Mandap?" the man pointed his gun around the pillars of the outer sanctum.

"I don't know, I don't work here!" the woman looked at the scared devotees past the man.

"But you're a regular here!" The man followed the gaze of the girl and then turned to face the crowd now huddled close to the inner sanctum. The man smiled softly and aimed his gun again, "I'll say this once!" he boomed, "to all the peaceful people who did nothing wrong to be here, the civilised people whose clothes can get dirty by blood, the educated people who think firing a gun doesn't require knowledge and ultimately some people who had about enough of me!" he pointed at three people standing straight in front of the crowd, turning his voice a little assuring, "please remain calm! I promise I'll tell you when it's time to panic!"

The woman searched for her friend among the crowd, they were nowhere to be found. Hopefully, they were out when all this went down. The man walked closer to the people and psychotically looked at everyone. Eventually coming back to the girl, she was still afraid to move without his permission. "The Mandap opens out to cliffs on both sides, there is heavy tree cover in the front..." she croaked.

"My name is Kalicharan Maitra!", the man slung his gun along the shoulder looking back at the statue of Goddess Durga standing tall, still raising one of her hands to bless her devotees.

"All are welcomed here," the woman said coldly.

"We have surrounded the temple!" came the shrill voice of the police microphone from outside, "we need to talk if we're gonna make this work!"

"I've a job for you!" Kalicharan kept clicking his teeth together as he spoke to the woman, "you are going to be negotiating for me tonight!"