CHAPTER 15
"I will hurt you for this. I don't know how yet, but give me time. A day will come when you think yourself safe and happy, and suddenly your joy will turn to ashes in your mouth, and you'll know the debt is paid."? George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings
I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I watered it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine.
And he knew that it was mine,
And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
A Poison Tree by William Blake
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.Hurt,pain when caused knowingly or unknowingly is still felt by the person who experiences it.Even if they are fully aware that they have themselves to blame for their situation their mind shuts down and plots revenge on others and looks for a target to pin the blame on.This could be a survival mechanism developed although wrong for the self to escape from the overpowering effects of pain.The guilt,the anger,pain culminate in new dimension and they are well on the way to destroying and assured self destruction.There comes many an opportunity to sit and weigh matters for the concerned individual but he does not take that path which is conscience advises him to but the darker and evil side takes complete control over matters.Some plots of vengeance fizzle out for lack of ways but for those who plot and wait patiently it bears fruit.Even if the fruit is sweet and juicy it still is poisonous and it still destroys innocent lives.
Timothy James "Tim" McVeigh (April 23, 1968 - June 11, 2001) was an American who detonated a truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. Commonly referred to as the Oklahoma City bombing, the attack killed 168 people and injured over 600. According to the United States Government, it was the deadliest act of terrorism within the United States prior to the 9/11 attacks, and remains the most significant act of domestic terrorism in United States history.McVeigh, a militia movement sympathizer and Gulf War veteran, sought revenge against the federal government for their handling of the Waco Siege, which ended in the deaths of 76 people exactly two years before the bombing, as well as for the Ruby Ridge incident in 1992. McVeigh hoped to inspire a revolt against what he considered to be a tyrannical federal government. He was convicted of eleven federal offenses and sentenced to death. His execution took place on June 11, 2001, at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana.
The most important fact is that of the 168 people who died in the bombing,19 were infants and children.
Collateral damage
The train slowly rolled to a screeching halt and Balaji woke up tho chennai.The leather jacket he had worn to ward the cold in coorg had also warded of the freezing temperature of the 2nd class ac compartment.He roused himself and stared out of the window to see a million red shirts on the platform,scurrying about like red army ants of africa.Porters or coolies as they are called were going about arguing,demanding and demeaning his city and balaji shook his head thinking nothing had changed.The minute he stepped out he realised that nothing had changed in all the years he had left his native city and the familiar yet disgusting stench of sewage and garbage assaulted his nostrils.Feeling a tap on his shoulder accompanied by a gentle voice which whispered "sir' he turned around to see a man in a grey safari suit who stiffly saluted him once he caught balaji's eye.He again whispered "sir,vehicle is waiting" and grabbed the small suitcase of balaji's and started marching away.Not having travelled from a different time zone or suffering from the resulting jetlag,balaji still felt like a stranger and felt even more strange when he saw posters of dhana smiling at him in various poses.One with folded hands made him feel like dhana was actually welcoming him back home and only then it struck balaji that he was coming back home which now had his best friend as the chief minister.Reaching the entrance he could see that there was a quiet buzz among the security and a way was cleared to his car which was parked right there for him to just get in.Balaji took it all in with patience and quietly sank into the leathery comfort.The car had no redlights announcing its VIP status or any signboards informing that it belonged to the government and yet balaji saw that whenever it halted at traffic lights,the cops stood erect,watchful and with great respect.Balaji understood it was for the vehicle,regardless of the passengers it carried and gently shook his head.
The city he had left and the city he had now entered was so different and yet the same.Vehicles,lots of vehicles from cars,autos and two-wheelers flooded the roads and they halted for nearly five minutes at every traffic junction.But the road from the railway station until the lighthouse remained the same except that the roads were better maintained and much broader than before.They crossed the lighthouse and into santhome and thats when the landscape started
changing and he saw many high rise buildings which housed residences and commercial establishments.Buses which were named after famous tamil dynasties were now named Metropolitan Transport Corporation and there were many air-conditioned buses plying along with them.
The driver looked at him from his rear view mirror "Sir,lots of changes.sometimes even i find it difficult to recognise a place if i have not been there in a couple of years.By the way my name is ALAGESAN and i will be driving you around and looking after your needs for as long as you need me."Balaji smiled "thank you.my name is balaji and dont worry i wont trouble you much for i can take care of myself.and please dont salute me for i am just a civilian and not in the police force or a government employee." Alagesan protested " sir,you are our boss's guest and that means you are in a higher status than even the police commissioner or the chief secretary."
Balaji sank back smiling and thought of the days they sat on the beach having bajjis and vadais.He recollected the time when they stood in queues to catch the first day,first show of superstar's film and seeing BAASHA a dozen times.many emotions flooded his soul when he remembered DHANA tying to imitate superstar's punch line " NA ORU THADAVA SONNA,NOORU THADAVA SONNA MATHIRI. " But lavanya came back and balaji's eyes filled with tears for how much ever he tried he just could not erase her from his soul.The city of chennai crawled past him in the morning traffic and balaji watched it through the tinted glasses of the car windows.The darkness of his vision reflected the darkness that seemed to fill his soul.
Gnyabagam Varudhae Gnyabagam Varudhae
Gnyabagam Varudhae Gnyabagam Varudhae
Pokkishamaaghe Nenjil Pudhainthe Ninaivukal Ellaam
Aedhoa Ondrai Tholaithathu Poale
Aedhoa Meendum Pirandhathu Poale
Thaaye Ennai Valarthathu Poale
Kangalin Oaram, Kanneer Varudhae
Gnyabagam Varudhae Gnyabagam Varudhae
Gnyabagam Varudhae
Chandrashekar looked at dhandapani,priya,gokul,selvam and at malaiswamy " But for me and priya hearing what i am going to say might come as a shock for the rest of you and you might even think we are crazy to entertain such rumors.But following rumors and unearthing secrets and bringing it light and to the people is our job.If it is a rumor then it will stay a rumor and within this group.Until then none of you can or will speak about this to anyone else but me.We will meet every saturday evening after most of the staff have left the premises and if you colleagues get curious,just tell them that is it a case of corruption or scandal that involves the old government.For there have been so many cases to count and they will lose interest." All of them sniggered hearing this and looked at their boss with bated breath,for he along with them were going on the hunt for a breaking story.
"News is what someone wants suppressed. Everything else is advertising. The power is to set the agenda. What we print and what we don't print matter a lot."
- Katharine Graham
Chandru took a deep breath "all right,as of now we have information which we got from mysterious caller that our chief minister Dhanashekar pandiyan might be involved in the death of a woman." Loud gasps,chairs moved back and "what,no way,unbelievable" were some of the reactions that filled the air in chandru's cabin.Malaiswamy " sir,we get lost of call from lots of mysterious people who have their own agendas and axe to grind.But we know that all of them have some ulterior motive against whom they are alleging bad stuff.But this is different,this is in a different league for it involves the chief minister and one who is in power and one who came to power with a landslide win.so this could be just a prank from the erstwhile ruling party to cast a shadow on the chief minster."
Chandru nodded "Mr.malaiswamy,that is why we are all gathered here to decide on how to go ahead with this investigation and no we are not or have jumped to any conclusion about anybody.Like all of you i believe a person is innocent until proven guilty.So we will proceed carefully and thoroughly and will not publish anything without irrefutable proof.Priya has already done a bit of groundwork and since she is the one who got the call,i will let her take the lead for this story and all of you can report to her with your investigation,but i will have the final say and that too after we all come to an unanimous conclusion."
As priya mouthed a thank you to chandru and faced them,all of them clapped loudly for she had just been promoted by their boss and all of them knew how big a moment it was.But they all were very happy for priya sincde she was liked by everyone and acknowledged as a real hardworking person.And that romance was brewing between her and the boss had not gone unnoticed.Priya smiled shyly and then the shy demeanour vanished and steel glinted in her eyes and she forged ahead "okay, i will start from the beginning and end with what i have gathered and then we will discuss what to do with the information we have." Priya told them about the phone call from a blocked number,the meeting with the chief minister and talking to him about the rumor.Then she told them about going to the college and meeting with the alumni president and samuel the retired watchman.
Everyone took notes and all their faces were filled with questions and were eager to know more,but their boss chandru stood up and thanking priya he turned to them and raised his hands "right,i know all of you have lots of questions and solutions but it will have to wait.i want all of you to take in what you have heard and think about it for the next few days and then we will meet and talk and decide how to move forward.But before that MR.Malaiswamy i want you to try and trace the number from which priya has been recieving these mysterious calls.Then i want you to try to get the case files of the dead girl and dig up as much information as possible.Since you were a former inspector who served in crime and intelligence departments,i am sure you have lot of contacts and will get the work done.But if money is needed to grease palms and to get information,then please go ahead and draw as much as needed.I will inform the cashier about it.Right,so we will meet again in a couple of days and maybe we will move forward if we have more concrete info by then.Good luck to all of you."
Slowly everyone shuffled out of the room and only chandru and priya remained looking at each other.Priya looked at him and mouthed thanks.Chandru shrugged his shoulders and said " i should thank you and you deserve all the praise for going about it in the right way." He gently hugged her and looking into her eyes " please promise me that you will look after yourself,for i am a bit worried that you might let the moment rush to your head and get into trouble.My heart would break if you were to get hurt." Priya smiled okay and they kissed,a long lingering kiss and i wonder when they will kiss again.
"Stories come alive in the telling. Without a human voice to read them aloud, or a pair of wide eyes following them by flashlight beneath a blanket, they had no existence in our world. They were like seeds in the beak of a bird, waiting to fall to earth. Or the notes of a song laid out on a sheet, yearning for an instrument to bring their music into being. They lay dormant, hoping for the chance to emerge. Once someone started to read them, they could begin to change. They could take root in the imagination and transform the reader. Stories wanted to be read. They needed it. It was the reason they forced themselves from their world into ours. They wanted us to give them life." John Connolly
So,LAVANYA who has been dead and buried for a very long time is going to come back to life in a story.Lavanya who wanted love but who was killed by one who loved her very much is going to come back into everyones lives and those that mattered to her.She destroyed one mans soul and nearly destroyed many while she was alive.She haunts many dreams even in death and is still not in peace.
"People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply; by the lives they lead." James Baldwin
Nooru murai pirandhaalum, nooru murai irandhaalum,
Unai pirindhu veguthooram naan oru naalum povadillai...
Ulagathin kangalile uruvangal maraindhalum
Ondraana ullangal orunaalum maraivadillai...
Oraayiram parvayile, un paaravayai naan ariven;
Un kaaladi osayile, un kaadhalai naan ariven.
Oraayiram parvayile, un paaravayai naan ariven...
Indha maanidar kaadhal elaam,
Oru maranathil maarividum;
Andha malargalin vaasamellam,
oru maalaikul vaadividum.
Nam kaadhalin deepam matum, endha naalilum kooda varum...
Oraayiram parvayile, un paaravayai naan ariven;
Un kaaladi osayile, un kaadhalai naan ariven.
Indha kaatrinil naan kalanden,
Un kangalai thazhuvugindren;
Indha aatrinil oduginren,
Un aadayil aaduginren.
Naan pogindra paadhai elaam un poomugam kaanugindren...
Oraayiram parvayile un paaravayai naan ariven;
Un kaaladi osayile, un kadhalai naan ariven.
Orayiram parvayile un paaravayai naan ariven...
Orayiram Parvayile - Vallavanukku vallavan
To be continued
Edited by s.satishkumar - 11 years ago
Shiv Shakti
