Redemption | A Sacred Games Fan-Fiction

Redemption

Sartaj did what he could. He tried his best. He drew the pattern from the constellation on the Kaalgranth's page. He waited, with a strong rush of adrenaline, as the computer started loading the result.

Sartaj slowly and reluctantly opened his eyes. He squinted at the screen. There was a message. 'Enter your confirmation password'. He had never thought that there would be a password. His head was storming with various possibilities. He wanted to try them all, one by one. But his want faded away, when he saw the small footnote of the message. 'One try left'. His body started trembling, not because of fear, but because of the paranoia. He hadn't took any Gochi capsules for a day. His body craved for one. His hand went to his pocket in reflex and he got out a small transparent box from it. There was nothing. The box was empty. Sartaj had to think of a password. He needed himself out of this paranoia.

Walking out from the van, he noticed that the time of explosion mentioned in the former countdown was already over. Without climbing onto the van, he leaned to see the computer's screen. As he suspected, there was a new cowntdown. Ten minutes, from which thirty-six seconds had departed. Sartaj was tensed. He slowly walked up to Majid's corpse. They left him. They weren't expecting to find his family alive, so they didn't take him. The corpse waited there, inside an Omni E van. Even in the midst of that chaos in his mind, Sartaj remembered Majid's joke.

"Yeh bollywood ne Omni ko kidnappers ka national gaadi bana diya hain," Majid laughed loud inside Sartaj's head. The corner of his lips lifted a little, but with that came tears, falling from his eyes to the concrete floor. Sartaj cried audibly. He started to think about Megha. She watched him, inside the black of his eyelids, with a hand on her swollen womb and another on a railing. He had to save her and the father, whom Megha chose over him, of the child in her womb.

Sartaj lifted his body up and straight. He neared Shahid Khan. The grotesque blemishes of blood reminded him of Katekar. He had been loyal to him, but he let him die. He made Katekar leave behind his family while he went to the afterlife. He realized that he was about to do the same with Mumbai. His wits, though temporarily, came back to him. He used his police instinct to think of a acceptable hypothesis for the password.

'The password was set by Shahid,' his instinct said to him, 'It must be something related to Muslimism or Pakistan or, more acceptably, the division, which started this hatred.'

He thought of every possible terms related to these three categories. But he was only able to get out a few. Qayamat, Batwara, Dushman, Radcliffe, Bangladesh, Azadi and so went the list. He was not happy with himself. He felt his anger rising. He looked at Shahid with eyes filled with fire. But suddenly, all of it was gone. His heart skipped a beat. He ran towards the van where the bomb was. He ascended it. Inside he found the Kaalgranth, lying on the seat. He threw it aside and forced himself to sit. Then, turning towards the computer, he saw that there was only thirteen seconds left. He typed the password that he hoped to be the right one. He had typed in, 'Radcliffe'. Placing his index finger on the return key, he waited. He felt its geometry. It was the most unique of all the buttons, with its mirrored 'L' like shape. His heart beated faster. The adrenaline was back again. His breathes became short and quick. T-minus five seconds. Sartaj closed his eyes, with his index finger still on the key. T-minus four. He saw Gaitonde, sitting on his armchair, taking dead-aim at himself with a Beretta. T-minus three. He saw Batya, crawling through the darkness. He saw his parents and Megha. T-minus two. He tried to convince himself that he had typed the right password. While beholding the corpse of Shahid Khan, he had noticed his bracelet and rings. They were similar to that of his aunt's, who was taken away by Muslims during the division. A normal person won't notice this, but Sartaj, living in nostalgia as an effect of the paranoia, did notice. His instincts told that the birthmark, on Shahid's left arm, matched with Sartaj's mother. Even Sartaj had a faint mark on that place of his hand. Then he remembered his mother saying about her family. How she and her twin sister were difficult to diffentiate. Somewhere inside his mind his instinct and conscience, both hit the word 'Radcliffe' as it was the place where his aunt had been taken. T-minus one. He finally made up his mind and pressed the key. T-minus zero.

Nothing happened. No sound, no light, no explosion. Sartaj opened his eyes. Everything was the same, as they were when he closed his eyes. He took a glance of the screen. 'Command Deactivated'. He observed how quickly his mind followed all those incidents within seconds. A human mind is faster than light. He was grateful for it. His brain swirled. Dark clouds appeared before him and he became unconscious.

He died. He had a heart stroke. He was awarded with the 'Vir Chakra'. On the hospital bed, moments before dying, he remembered the sloka from Bhagavad Gita, "Yada yada hi dharmasya glanirbhavati bharata
Abhythanamadharmasya tadatmanam srijamyaham. Paritranaya sadhunang vinashay cha dushkritam Dharmasangsthapanarthay sambhabami yuge yuge."

And then he realized, "Aham Brahmasmi" (I am God)...