The Diary of Harihara

Chapter 4

16th January, 2017 Monday

Karan was sitting alone in the parking lot outside his department. He had a dead look in his eyes, a look of a lost soul. He was smoking. It was his fourth cigarette so early in the morning. His eyes were red from not having slept well from the past few days. He was wearing a brown khadi kurta and a white pant. Karan was a handsome man. The kind of man with brute raw masculinity. He sported a thick moustache and out-of-the-bed hairstyle. He was fair and was really well built with muscular toned body. He took active interest in the political conundrum of the town, participating in rallies and symposiums organized by the right-wing activists of the town. As a well-known personality in the area, he did not portray of himself being friendly. But he was a very caring personality for whom family preceded over everything else. He was also a passionate photographer. He was, in fact, the official photographer of all the rallies organized by the right wing activists. He absolutely loved photography, but if there was one thing that he loved more was his younger brother, Keertan.

Keertan was the polar opposite of Karan in everything. He was not as good looking as his elder brother. He had broken the septum of his nose when he was young, and the surgery that followed to correct it did not go well for him. It had made him crooked to look at. But he was gem of a person. He was soft spoken, and tried hard to stay away from any kind of conflicting physical altercation. He was shorter than his brother, thinner and wore frameless glasses. His ideologies differed completely from that of his brother. He was a liberal thinker, and placed his political support to the same dogma. But in spite of political differences between the brothers, they did not let that spoil their personal relationship. They made sure that once they came back home, they were brothers, and nothing more. They were very famous in Noipal and more so in the neighboring city of AihikaNagar.

AihikaNagar is the neighboring city of Noipal. It is completely different from how Noipal is, mostly conservative and resorting to traditional customs. It is very famous and widely known to have two great religious institutions. In the western part of the city, near the sea, is a majestic Hindu temple, a 13th century Ram Mandir which is being looked after by 13 indigenous Hindu families of AihikaNagar. It is a majestic structure, built in "Kailash Mahameru style" with the skills of "Aihika Jhakanacharis", one of south India's master masons. Atop the Mandir's shikhara is an 8 meter flagpole, which has an orange colored flag with the inscription 'Jai Shri Ram'. In the opposite eastern end of AihikaNagar, more closer to Noipal is the Tipu Masjid, an 18th century architectural marvel standing like a lone fortress. It is a symbolic monument of the reigns of Tipu Sultan and his father, Haider Ali. The muslims of the city had made it their religious shrine. They had called it the 'Haj of South India' as it marked a symbolic assurance of their Islamic religious history. The presence of these two religious monuments meant communal peace was always a hard earned nut. Although the place looked calm at all times, the cold unsettling aura always fogged the city. The harmony of AihikaNagar was always on the brink of bursting open, spilling like molten lava coming from a volcano from a relatively serene mountain top. And so, religious fringe groups had arisen cashing in on this situation, provoking and constantly trying to prove their dominance over AihikaNagar. Karan was a youth leader of one such religious extremist group, AHAM, short for Aihika Hindu Ajeya Mahasamaja. It was the largest religious group in AihikaNagar, backed mainly by politicians and prominent right wing activists. It constantly held rallies and symposiums across various parts of the state. The headquarters of AHAM was right next to Ram Mandir in AihikaNagar. The youth wing operated from this headquarters.

Karan was puffing his cigarettes like a chimney this morning. Just as he finished his fifth one, a girl walked by sat next to Karan. It was Chanchala, Karan's girlfriend.

"Quit it Karan, it's enough for today" sighed Chanchala looking at Karan's cigarette.

Karan looked away and took out another cigarette from his pocket.