A Sew Through Time [Banbudh And Budbak]

7: The sun goes down and the bad guys rise

The huge white vehicles gathered outside the marvellous villa which stood like a fragment of some sophist architecture, illuminated by soft yellow lights around the corners and gardens. A bunch of people of wealth and snobbish rank exchanged namastes and went inside the building. A few journalists had already received the news, waiting patiently with their cylindrical mics, the cameras raised in the sky to catch the view of any prestigious person inside the  building, readying to pounce on them and challenge certain ideologies.

The netas climbed up the stairs and noticed Vijaywada standing at the door and greeting them. Going further inside, he took his seat in the leather couch in the middle of the big hall. The others sat across him, bickering and exchanging looks. The old man waved his hand to order tea and snacks to be offered to the guests, the servants ran up and down the stairscases till he signalled them to leave the room.

After a final greeting, they settled down with imperturbable faces. The IAS officer stood near the door and studied their faces.

"Whats the occasion this time?" One of them spoke, his teeth were red due to pigment from paan.

Vijaywada massaged his wrinkled temples and declared, "I have received a call from the Plati today. They wish to deactivate the machine"

The room grew quite, making the officer discreetly uncomfortable. He peeped into his watch covered by his sleeves. It was fifteen minutes to eight.

"Deactivate as in completely?" A man in a white kurta inquired.

Vijaywada spoke, "What are the possibilities? They had never tested the machine before activating it, did they?" His voice eroded, "They are threatening me, that if I don't do so, they might use the military and perform a raid"

"And that machine?"

"Switch it off, without my permission."

The officer looked at him in disgust. Vijaywada was desperate to have the machine under his control. He had overheard him talking on the phone the other day on how he had tried offering mighty ranks and crores of rupees to the scientists who created the peculiar machine, ending the contract with luxurious apartments, personal vehicles and even strong security for lifetime. None of them had accepted it. Though he himself had an ounce of knowledge about the India Plati, he had often heard from the politician that the it was an organisation consisting of the most intelligent scientists of the country, their supreme purpose was to shape the world's future with their marvellous discoveries and inventions.

Vijaywada began talking on the phone. Anger flushed in his cheeks during the call and he ended it.

One of the guests lit a cigar, a King of Denmark. Puffing, he spoke sententiosuly, "You were much careful about the media on your days as counsellor, and now the court is after you"

Vijaywada pulled out a brown briefcase from the rear end of the sofa and opened it. It was stocked with money upto the brim in bundles of five hundred. He handed two of them to his lawyer who was seated next to his sofa who accepted it with a smile.

"Those days are gone, Mr. Sircar, what we have now is to have someone to close the case and sweep them under the rug" Vijaywada scoffed at the man who tilted his cigar with pretentiousness.

"Do not worry at all" the old lawyer adjusted his thick framed glasses. He kept the suitcases near his sofa and started reading a file of papers, "Rest assured that those who had accused you shall meet the consequences. The India Plati can wait for a few more days, besides we have the-"

"Few more days is not enough" he interrupted the old man, keeping his tea on the glass table in front of him, "Handle the court. But I could never trust the Plati"

"Point to be noted" The lawyer agreed.

Vijaywada stood up to turn towards the television to turn it on. As it came to life, the flash news of the missing child appeared on screen. The officer by the door glanced at the child, the eyes covered with a black bold rectangle. Reporters had surrounded the premises, waiting for him to come outside and speak of the numerous unfathomable raids and the missing child. He tightened his grip onto his arms, wishing that the contemptible greedy politician met his end.

But that was although a distant reality.

"And what about the officers? The police and the administratives?" The man in the white kurta spoke again, resting his arm on the armchair.

Vijaywada darted his eyes towards the IAS officer standing next to the door.

"Mr. Tripathi, speak"

The offiicer gulped. He took out his hands from his pockets and presented himself in the room and began,

"The media is pressuring us to speak to their respective journalists" He spoke, trying not to stutter, "The child case has not yet reached the national channels"

Vijaywada quickly drank the last portion of his black tea. He turned towards him and smiled slyly,

"Tell them that the child has been missing. Frame the story that she was kidnapped"

"Kidnapped?" The cigar man spoke.

"By people from the opposition. Tell the media that they are framing us to make the common people lose their trust on us, that they are disfuguring the constitutional electioneering methods of the country to met their selfish needs" He got up and turned towards the officer,"Cover it upsoon"

"Yes"

"Also tell someone to take those rodents out of premises"

"Sure, sir..."

"Very well" Vijaywada spoke, "That's it for today. Do not leave the room right now" He turned towards the man in the kurta, "Call the commissioner and tell him that the police has already taken charge of it"

The other grunted at his intructions. He got up, reaching for the deeper ends of his pockets and pulled out his phone. Vijaywada observed him going towards the other room while dialling the screen.

Tripathi tried to face away from the blinding lights of the cameras and the mics. The reporters bantered and started throwing hundreds of questions at him. He managed to block one of the lights from his eyes with the back of his hand. Men dressed in black uniforms guided him out of the premises, keeping away  the reporters and camera men. An ambassador waited in front of the big railings. He seated inside and asked the driver to leave the place immediately. The white car reflected the lights, as the media turned towards it and continued to ask questions. The white vehicle raced away. till the grand villa was out of his sight.

After Mr. Tripathi left, Vijaywada ordered the guards to politely take the media away from the premises. His phone began to buzz, it was his sister.

"Hello?"

"Busy?" A voice cooed.

"No, meeting is over"

"Ah, See I had called you several times"

"Sorry sorry" He tried to sound cheery, "Are the boys home?"

"Yes, they are eating dinner" A concoction of voices was heard from the other side, teenage boys yelling and laughing at each other.

"Good good" He tried to smile.

"Call me when home okay?"

"Sure"

The call ended. He stared at the glowing screen for a minute, feeling low of himself.

The live stopped abruptly and changed into other news reports one by one. A woman sat quietly on the faded pink sofa, grey and black strands of hair were loosely tied to one end and falling over her shoulders. The LED TV screen made her eyes water. She had been watching since the morning. The picture of the child vanished on screen. Switching off the TV, she looked at the tiny Ganesh idol seated near the rack, smiling towards back at her. Clasping her hands, her head bent low as she muttered a prayer, repeating the name and hoping she would return home soon.