From & To Sathish #5 - Page 8

Avan, Aval, Adhu-22

The Earth is large. Large enough that you think you can hide from anything. From Fate. From God. If only you found a place far enough away. So you run. To the edge of the Earth. Where all is safe again. Quiet, and warm. The solace of salt air. The peace of danger left behind. The luxury of grief. And maybe, for a moment, you believe you have escaped. You can run far, you can take your small precautions. But have you really gotten away? Can you ever escape? Or is it the truth that you did not have the strength or cunning to hide from destiny? That the world is not small. you are. And, fate can find you anywhere.

Ravi nodded but it was his mother Rasaathi Ammal who spoke for him, ' He just returned for breakfast and already you have come calling. What is the hurry? Inform the new DSP that he will come and see him later in the day. After breakfast and after having rested for a while.'

The head constable wearily nodded his head but stood staring pitifully at Ravi who smiled and winked at him and turning to his mother, ' Mum, the poor man is on his last legs from a sleepless night shift. No point in you getting irritated with him for he is just doing his duty and doing what he is been told to do.'

Rasaathi Ammal looked at the head constable who only had the energy to slowly turn away and pretend he was not even there and that he had suddenly become invisible.

Gayatri watched with curiosity as Rasaathi Ammal got up and taking a clean plate, piled it with four idlis and then pouring some of the fish curry, slowly walked to the waiting Head constable whose whole demeanor had changed and he eagerly put out his hands and grabbed the plate from Ravi's mum and then proceeded to demolish the idlis in the same fashion as Gayatri had done a few minutes ago.

She laughed to herself and then watched as Ravi hurriedly ate three idlis with chutney and then getting up went to the basin and quickly washing his hands went to join the waiting constable who gingerly placed the plate he had been eating from on the ground near him and did his best to smile and look sad at the same time when his tummy was actually singing and dancing merrily from the tasty idli and fish combo.

Rasaathi Ammal complained in a protective vein as a mother would do when she sees her cub going hungry.

She glared at the Head Constable, ' I don't get it Palani and I tell you I will never get to understand why you people burden my son so much. He was there with you last night and that should have been the end of it and yet here you are here, bright and early.'

Ravi looked at his mother, ' Liar' and Rasaathi looked at him with eyes filling with shock, ' liar. who me? why?'

' Amma, you said Palani sir is here bright and early. Early yes but bright, no amma. Look at the poor man and tell me honestly, does he look anywhere near bright?'

Head constable Palani joined Ravi in saving his own skin and mumbled, ' Saar is right. I no bright only dull.'

Rasaathi Ammal looked at Palani and looked ready to either explode in anger or in laughter but Ravi's deep and reassuring voice soothed her and calmed her down.

' Amma, the man has come in the official police jeep and not in his own two-wheeler, so....'

Rasaathi Ammal sighed and nodded in acceptance.

Ravi turned to Gayatri and apologized for his sudden departure. ' Please excuse me Gayatri but some things take priority over other things. I will see you later.'

He looked at Ganesan, ' Mr.Brahma, look after our guest and importantly look after your most vulnerable sense that only spews Nonsense when in full flow.'

Ravi whispered, ' Yes Master' and much to Gayatri's amazement stopped with those brief words when in fact she was expecting a quick repartee.

Ravi left with Palani and to Gayatri his departure felt like the sun had suddenly left the sky, dipping under, drowning the earth in darkness.

She tried to cheer up the mood and tried to cheer herself up and offered to help Rasaathi Ammal with cleaning up who accepted her offer and another moment and another chapter just whizzed by in our new story.

Avan, Aval, Adhu-23

Making sure, Ravi's mother was inside the kitchen, Gayatri deciding that it was a good time to needle and taunt Ganesan, slowly cleared her throat and looked at him and mimicked, ' Yes Master, No master' and waited for his reaction and all she got for her mimicry skills was a smile from her subject and then to her astonishment, Ganesan replied perfectly, mimicking her own voice, ' Sorry ma'am but you are not very good at mimicry.'

She clapped her hands loudly and said, ' Thank God that our Ganesan is back. For a moment there, I thought I had lost you there.'

' I am here ma'am and I hear you loud and clear' Ganesan said and this prompted Gayatri to declare, ' I don't know what happened there with you and your Master but I sense a subtle message was exchanged between both of you.'

' You are wasting your time, Gayatri for that is a line that he will not cross, not ever' Rasaathi Ammal spoke and Gayatri hurriedly turned towards and said, ' Sorry, I was just needling him and trying to make him say something. I meant no offense, ma'am.'

' None taken and I repeat that it is a waste of time trying to get Ganesan say something and as a matter of fact, this will be the same with everyone in this village.'

' Wow! That is some kind of respect and that is really rare indeed.'

Rasaathi Ammal sank into the dining table chair and leaned towards Gayatri, ' Respect, yes but it is out of love, not fear.'

Ganesan finally opened his mouth and spoke from his soul. ' Ma'am, I and the others are bound to Master sir through love and trust and not out of fear. The fear is there but that fear is about one of us hurting him with our actions or words.'

He looked at her with his clear black eyes and said, ' If ever I come to know or find out that Master sir was hurt and dejected by something that I might have done or said...'

Gayatri watched as Ganesan slowly got up, carrying the leaf that he had eaten from, and placed it in a large aluminum bowl that was obviously meant to serve as the waste bin.

She waited, waited and unable to wait anymore, she asked Ganesan, ' Are you going to finish that statement or is that it?'

' Yes ma'am, there is' and looking directly into her eyes, ' I would be dead or prefer death than hurting Master sir or even disobeying his requests. Knowingly or unknowingly.'

Gayatri was left reeling in awe and shock hearing these words and all she could do was remain silent.

Ganesan looked at her, ' Ma'am, if you don't mind waiting here for an hour or so, I will just go and finish a small personal work of mine and will rush back as soon as possible.'

' No problem, Ganesan. Take your time and come back only when it is possible. Meanwhile, I will chat up Amma and try to collect more details about this Utopia called Kumarapalayam.

Vaanathai Pola 321

Wears a blue dress. Wears his red underwear for everyone to see and flies with his red cape fluttering behind. We know him as Superman. But, he is an American. In our very own Indian soil, we have heroes from tales and epics although most of them are Gods or God's best friends or in the very least blessed by God.

The moment the word Superhero flashes in our brain, we immediately think of Actors like Superstar Rajini smashing his way through dozens of villains and saying, "Panninga thaan kootama varum. Singam, Singela thaan varum."

Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Ironman and so many hundreds of comic book heroes litter our lives, enriching them and also by inspiring us to do better.

Where does it come from, this superpowers? From the brain, of course. For, in the end our CPU, our very own supercomputer brain is where it all goes on and also goes off.

Thought always come first. Questions always come first. Actions come next along with answers.

Mahatma Gandhi decided he would fight for India's Independence. He made up his mind. Correct. Mind and mind matters. Always.

Simply put, control your brain. You control yourself and by that control your life and all that which is around you.

You can control yourself but not others and what they say and do. Even in the best of circumstances, a wrong word is spoken in the heat of the moment or casually let out and without any intentions.

What is going to happen here is purely unintentional for it is fate that is going to make things happen.

Raman changed tracks and shifted gears and stepped forward towards the stunningly beautiful lady with Green eyes and said, ' Hello, I am, Raman. Pleased to meet you.'

Raman saw the lady look away and slowly step back with a shy expression on her face and then all of them heard Kavita's voice speak loud and clear and announce to Raman, ' Ram, her name is Shinogai and she is Radhu's friend.'

Many things happened. Some visible and audible. Some visible but without audio. But a lot more happened and all of them were invisible to Kavita, Girija, and the three children.

Kavita seeing Raman and Shinoga still staring at each other, came to his side and subtly nudged him with her left foot and said, ' No handshakes Raman. She is a Muslim and you know........' and fell silent for she knew Raman understood her perfectly.

Raman was good but not God and even that subtle shift in his eyes on hearing her name was noted by Shinogai and her own eyes reacted by widening a bit in the realization that the man before her had heard her name before.

Raman saw that glimmer, slight shimmer in her eyes and then saw her body language change, ever so slightly and in a very subtle manner and his instincts and Judo training kicked in.

When two good opponents face off in a fight, they take their time before exchanging blows. They read each other's body language for all good fighters know that all actions happen first in the mind and to know a person's mind is to look, really look and read their eyes.

Raman dropped his hand slowly and then used his hand to touch his forehead and greeted the lady with green eyes, ' Assalamu alaikum Shinogai.'

The next moment, the machine that was monitoring Brigadier Rajashekar's brain activity began to beep loudly and incessantly and Raman saw the woman named Shinogai look worriedly towards him and that was enough. More than enough for a man like Raman for all the pieces came together.

Girija Padmanabhan reduced the audio of the monitor and looked at Raman and said with tears in her eyes, ' He is showing improvement although it is painfully slow. But it is a step in the right direction and I have full hope that he will one day recover completely.

Then in the silence that was filled with their own silent and secret thoughts, a whisper was heard.

' Shinogai. Shinogai. Shinogai.'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O68rLeSe6ko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QTUCvcY15c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE0RIXta_3s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4z4DvJkKAw

Vaanathai Pola 322

All over the world, in its four corners and farthest corners, there are certain terms, words that define deadly situations and that are known all over the world, man-made and those that are the handiwork of Mother Nature herself. But, here I will touch on just two terms that are used to define the power of Mother Nature and planet Earth that have been made famous not only by news channels but also by Hollywood, and the third word, term, is to describe a man-made situation. A crisis that arises from that first sin. Ego

The Two terms, definitions to broach the power of Nature are the Richter scale and Saffir–Simpson scale.

The Richter scale also called the Richter magnitude scale or Richter's magnitude scale – is a measure of the strength of earthquakes. The scale ranges from 1.0 to 9.0 and above. wherein, 1.0 stands for Microearthquakes, not felt, or felt rarely and are recorded by seismographs and on the other end is 9.0 and greater and earthquakes of these magnitudes mean near destruction.

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that registered a magnitude of 9.1–9.3 and was caused by a rupture along the fault between the Burma Plate and the Indian Plate. The earthquake was the third-largest ever recorded and had the longest duration of faulting ever observed, between eight and ten minutes. It caused the planet to vibrate as much as 10 mm (0.4in), and also remotely triggered earthquakes as far away as Alaska.

The Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale (SSHWS), formerly the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale (SSHS), classifies hurricanes – Western Hemisphere tropical cyclones – that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical storms – into five categories distinguished by the intensities of their sustained winds. The scale starts with Category 1 and ends with category 5 which sadly means large-scale destruction of property and life.

Now coming to a man-made crisis which usually means war and the extreme of that three-letter word. Global nuclear war.

The cold war that started between the USA and the USSR after the second world war soon got hot and pushed the whole world to the brink of another world war. Thus came into being the word DEFCON.

The defense readiness condition (DEFCON) is an alert state used by the United States Armed Forces. The DEFCON system was developed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and unified and specified combatant commands. It prescribes five graduated levels of readiness (or states of alert) for the U.S. military. It increases in severity from DEFCON 5 (least severe) to DEFCON 1 (most severe) to match varying military situations.

The moment Raman heard Kavita say her name and introduce her to him as Shinogai, his mind went to DEFCON 1. The next moment, his mind vibrated and quaked and if measured would have registered 9.0 and above on the Richter scale when she added that Shinogai was Radhu's mother. The hurricane that signaled Category 5 was launched next by the one person who should not have and could not have spoken but chose this moment to say the name of his heartbeat.

That person was Brigadier Rajashekar and the name that he was whispering, again, and again was Shinogai.

Raman sighed heavily and shook his head and Kavita seeing this, mistook it and said, ' I know what you are thinking and feeling. Such a great man and here he lies in a coma after having been brutally attacked and left to die. So sad.'

Raman nodded and then both watched as the woman whose name was being whispered, hurried to be near Brigadier Rajashekar and all of them watched as she took his hand in hers and gently kissed it.

Raman looked at Shinogai and Rajashekar Varman and then nodding respectfully to Girija Padmanabhan, quietly exited the room and went down to meet Inspector Rajarajan who was waiting for him in the cabin of Dr.Subash Rao's room.

Girija managed a sad smile and said, ' Shinogai, I am so jealous of you. Here lies my kid brother in a deep coma and yet he somehow manages to whisper your name now and then and if that is not enough, he is somehow trying to send a message to us by repeating, "Traitor, Traitor, Danger, Mother." I don't know what is going on in his head but I am thankful to god and grateful that at least there is some activity going on in his brain which means that it is slowly healing itself.'

Appu, Pappu and Meena went closer to the comatose Brigadier and gently stroked his hand and said, ' Hello, Big master sir. Please, come back to us soon. We miss you terribly.'

The waves that were flowing along on the screen began to peak and drop and peak again and again and all of them saw a smile bloom on Brigadier Rajashekar's lips and the same smile now flowered fully in their souls.

Reaching the ground floor, Raman exited the elevator and pushing away all thoughts concerning Shinogai, entered the room of the MD of Global hospitals.

His phone rang and Raman answered with one question, ' Did you get it?' and the voice replied, ' Yes sir. It is all in your Inbox.'

Raman ended the call and opened the door and entered and acknowledging the secretary of Dr.Subash who informed him that they were all in there, headed straight to the inner room for his rendezvous with Pig Rajan.

Meanwhile, above him and on the 6th floor, Shinogai exited the room, telling Girija and Kavita that she needed to make some important calls that she had been delaying for some time.

Stepping out of the room, she flashed a beautiful smile at a passing nurse and politely enquired where Dr.Subash Rao's office was and after having been told it was on the ground floor, made a call to the one, the only one who she could trust in these situations.

Not her own son but The Old man. Her friend, guardian, and bodyguard for many decades now.

He answered her call and she spoke, ' We have a problem that could turn out to be dangerous for all of us.'

Vaanathai Pola 323

Raman heard the threats of Inspector Rajarajan as he was delivering them to Dr.Subash Rao, MD of Global Hospitals and pausing outside the door, took a deep breath and went over all that he had seen and heard his instincts warn him to be on guard and fully alert for anything could happen at any time.

' First things first' he told himself and opened the door and looked at the Inspector whose eyes opened wide the moment they caught sight of Raman and his voice died down along with the threats.

Then, he addressed Raman, ' Mister, I don't know who you are but let me introduce myself. I am Inspector Rajarajan, Crime branch.'

Turning to Jayaprakash, a former senior police officer who was currently the security head of Global Hospitals, he said, ' Sir, this man' and pointing to Raman, ' this man was also there in the room' and he swaggered towards him and stared hard with anger, ' I don't know who you are but you are now a witness in this case of assault of a Police Inspector.'

Raman said nothing and instead walked towards the door and this sudden movement provoked Inspector Rajarajan to yell filthily, ' A..h..e, Are you f..k..g deaf or dumb? I just told you that you are a witness in this case that I am going to file against this minister and yet you are trying to leave without paying any heed to my words.'

Raman opened the door and flashed a brilliant and charming smile at the secretary who could do nothing but melt and he told her, ' Hi, we are going to be here for a little time. So, please can you arrange for some coffee and some cookies. I am really hungry.'

The secretary looked at him and blushing nodded shyly, ' Yes sir, immediately sir' and then looked at him and unable to look into his eyes, whispered, ' Sir, anything you want, anything at all, just say it over the intercom.'

Raman looked at her and smiled again and said, ' You are such a kind and sweet woman. Thank you.'

Closing the door, he turned and found his breathing space and personal bubble full of Pigrajan.

' Please, can you step aside so that I can go sit down and I request you to do the same.'

Inspector Pigrajan stepped aside and angrily watched Raman walk towards Dr.Subash and Jayaprakash and sat down in a chair near them and looked calmly at him and said, ' Inspector, I am Raman and I am here as the legal counsel for this hospital.'

Pointing to a chair opposite to him, ' Now please, come sit down, and let's try to work out this situation amicably.'

Inspector Pigrajan glowered and growled, ' Don't try to pacify me or handle me. You don't know who I am or what I am capable of. You are just a kid out of law college and have no idea who you are dealing with. So, just shut the f..k up and listen while I do all the talking.'

The door opened and Dr.Subash Rao's Secretary entered and held the door while a staff member came in carrying a tray with flasks of coffee and empty cups and left quietly.

The door closed and opened again and all of them watched as the secretary came in with a tray full of cookies placed in small but beautiful glass jars and placed them on the table before Raman and looked at him and flashing a shy smile, left them closing the door behind her.

Jayaprakash looked at Raman and winked, ' Raman effecta, sensei?'

Dr.Subash Rao too relaxed for a second and looked at Raman in awe, ' How did you manage to get her to smile? In all the 15 years that she has been with me, I have never seen her smile or, or flutter her eyelashes like the way she did? '

He looked at Raman, ' Mr.Raman, you have to confide in me about what your Raman effect is for it will make my working atmosphere better for, frankly speaking, my secretary scares the devil out of me.'

Raman started chuckling and Jayaprakash joined him and unable to stay calm anymore, Pigrajan raised his left hand and swatted the tray that held the flasks of coffee and expensive bone china cups.

Vaanathai Pola 324

There are times, moments when almost all of us are left stunned and reeling in shock when we witness something that is a miracle, an act that is beyond our own capabilities. It could be a show of strength or a display of mental prowess by way of an answer to a very profound question that is near impossible to answer.

That is why great thinkers, scientists, and philosophers are celebrated long after they are gone. Thousands of years have passed and yet great minds like Plato, Aristotle are still whispered with reverence. People like Darwin, Newton, Einstein are still celebrated and venerated.

We do that because they were great minds, rare minds that occur rarely in nature and are like the queen bee in a bee-hive full of workers, singular in making and singular in their existence.

Raving and ranting in rage at being assaulted and having been unable to do anything about it since the person behind the slap had been none other than Cabinet minister, Inspector Rajarajan swatted the flasks with his left hand as if he meant to dismiss them from his presence and thus dismiss the shame that now seemed to permeate every cell of his body.

But, it did not happen for another hand intervened and it did so before he and the others could see it for it happened faster than the blink of an eye.

Raman blocked the Inspector's left hand with his own left hand and said in a voice that conveyed his irritation and something else that was leashed and could only be felt in his voice.

' Please, don't behave like a child and vent your anger on perfectly good coffee for that will surely vex me and make me moody.'

He looked at Rajarajan, ' Calm down and try to salvage what is left of your career and life before it is too late to do so.'

He had never seen anyone move that fast and if it had not happened right in front of his own eyes, he would have never believed it and would have laughed at the person who had said it.

But he had seen it and he now looked at Raman with new eyes and those that were filled with fear and respect. The wily fox that he was, he immediately began to bluster, trying to make good his escape from a predicament that he had not planned on finding himself in. At least not until 10 minutes ago.

Raman poured coffee from the flask into two cups and offered one to Inspector Rajarajan who refused it. Raman shrugged his shoulders and said, ' Better drink it before it gets cold.'

Leaning back into the chair he was sitting in and settling in comfortably, Raman sipped the coffee and then asked Inspector Rajarajan, ' why did Minister Kavita Arumugam slap you? What did you do to provoke that kind of response from her? Have you crossed paths with her before?'.

For, Dr.Subash Rao, the day had not started well. Even before the arrival of Inspector Rajarajan, he and the hospital had faced a medical emergency when their chief cardio surgeon who was slated to perform two major surgeries that day met with a minor accident on his way to the hospital. The patient had been prepped for surgery and had been wheeled into the operating theater and the accident had happened. The patient's family, rich and powerful ones at that very nearly tore his head off but had calmed down after much cajoling from him. But, in his mind, he knew that they had calmed down because he had told them that he would waive their hospital bills and all they had to pay was for the surgery.

Then, Inspector Rajarajan had arrived with his subtle threats and tough posturing and now this assault on him had happened and that too by a Minister who also happened to be the only child of one of the most powerful men in the state of Tamil Nadu.

He slowly leant forward and spoke in a hushed but respectful tone, ' Mr Raman, sir, please can we get this thing done and over with. I am just about to burst an artery for today has been the most aggravating day in my life.'

Then realising that the reason for his current aggravation was seated right in front of him, he spoke to Inspector Pigrajan in a beseeching tone, ' Inspector sir, Neither I nor the Hospital have anything to do in this matter. It is between you and the Minister Lady. We were not even there when it happened. So, please, don't be angry with me or this hospital.'

Inspector Rajrajan was waiting for just this moment, a small break, a change in fortune and he immediately pounced on the words uttered by Dr Subash, ' You forget that I was attacked inside this hospital and while I was on duty investigating a crime. A serious crime. Let's not forget that very important fact.'

Former ASP and currently Global Hospital's security head, Jayaprakash had elected to remain silent for he knew Raman would handle the situation well gently requested his boss to remain calm and quiet while their lawyer took care of things.

Raman seemingly oblivious to them continued to sip his coffee and nodded approvingly and then took a bite of the

expensive-looking cookies that had been laid for them and said, ' Cookie man cookies.'

Taking another bite of the cookie, he told them that he had stopped buying cookie man cookies for they had become terribly expensive and then turned his attention back to Inspector Rajarajan, ' you still haven't told me the reason for you being slapped by the minister' and wondered loudly to himself but was also heard clearly by the other three.

' I wonder how a petite woman like her could deliver such a slap that would fell a man like Inspector Rajarajan. One, she should be exceptionally strong or the Inspector should have been exceptionally weak, which he is not and it is obvious. So, that leaves us with just one cause that led to this effect.'

Raman's eyes changed in their tone and for the very first time, his voice changed its tone too and Inspector Rajarajan realised that the superhuman act that the lawyer had performed so casually when he had blocked his hand from swatting the flask of coffee was just the tip of the iceberg and that the entire iceberg, a mountain of it lay hidden from view.

Inspector Rajarajan heard Raman's words very clearly.

' Inspector sir, forget that the woman who slapped you is a minister. Forget the fact that her father is also a minister and then please forget that the chief minister is very close to both of them' and Raman stopped for the Inspector had raised his hand and now he spoke, rather sneered, ' What, are you f..k..g threatening me? Do you think I have no connections with politicians and thugs? '

Raman looked at him calmly but sadly and replied, ' No, I am not threatening you but just cautioning you ' and his thoughts ran to one man and one man only and whose name was Radha Krishnan.

' I did not say anything or do anything to her. I did not even notice her coming in. I saw her for a second or so and then she moved without any provocation from my side and slapped me' Inspector Rajarajan yelled angrily but his eyes spoke differently and Raman's eyes did not miss them. He never missed such important clues and cues for they were the ones on which cases could be either won or lost.

Vaanathai Pola 325

Raman heard Inspector Rajarajan's angry and loud confession of sorts and ruminated for many a second over the man's declaration and then slowly looked into his eyes.

He looked straight and square into the Inspector's eyes and stared at him without a single blink and then looked away and said, ' You are lying. I know Minister Kavita very well and am perfectly aware that she has a very short fuse and needs very little provocation before it is lit and she explodes.'

Returning his sight back to the Inspector, ' Anyway, that is something that you will have to face and deal with eventually.'

Placing his coffee cup back on the table, Raman looked at Inspector Rajarajan and with a soft smile asked very casually, ' what do you want from this hospital? Come now, place your cards on the table, and let's get this done and over with.'

Inspector Rajarajan was not expecting this sudden shift in the subject and he mumbled, ' what do you mean when you say place your cards on the table?'

' I mean let's end this game of charade and reveal our cards to each other ' and saying this Raman looked at Dr.Subash Rao and asked, ' Is that okay with you if we can get this negotiated and done with for I have other important work to attend to.'

Dr.Subash nearly jumped out of his chair in joy hearing this and said, ' yes Mr.Raman, please do whatever you have to do and get this over and done with for I have had enough stress to last me a lifetime.'

Raman nodded and looked at Inspector Rajarajan who immediately went on the offensive and asked Raman, ' Advocate, what do you think you are trying to do here, Bribe me?'

Raman looked at him innocently, ' what do you mean, bribe you? Who said anything in that context? I merely said that it is time for you to say what is on your mind?'

Leaning back and making himself comfortable on his sofa, ' Not unless that is what we are talking about here, a shakedown. Is that why you are here, Inspector sir?'

Inspector Rajarajan was a bully, a corrupt and evil man, and maybe a whole lot worse but not an idiot and he knew he had been played and was still being played and so did what came best to him, which was threatening and so he went ahead with his threats.

' Advocate, you think you are smart and very intelligent but you are just a kid when it comes to handling these kinds of situations.'

He turned and looked at Dr.Subash and said furiously, ' I am just an Inspector but there is an Assistant Commissioner above me to whom I am answerable and I am going to call him and inform him as to what has taken place here and I will let him decide what to do next.'

His words seemed to have the desired effect on Dr.Subash and Raman and seeing their worried eyes he smiled wolfishly and proceeded to pour a cup of coffee for himself and began to sip it.

Raman spoke to him in a seemingly worried voice, ' Inspector sir, your superior officer is Assistant Commissioner Paul Prabhakaran, right?'

Rajarajan looked at him and nodded and Raman sighed and after spending a few seconds pondering took out his mobile and was about to make a call when the Inspector asked him, ' what, you are going to call him and try talking to him? Stupid F..k.r. I am the one who deals the cards in this area and he will tell you the same. Go on, Go on and call him and see what happens next. Hear for yourself what he has to say about me and how I deal with cases like this and people like you.'

Raman again smiled innocently, ' I am sorry but you have got it all wrong' and pointing to his mobile, ' I was not going to call AC Paul Prabhakaran but a friend of mine who I think can help us both in this rather sticky and confusing matter.'

Inspector Rajarajan waved his hand and said sarcastically, ' Call. go ahead and call whoever you want but in the end, you will come crawling to me and on your knees.'

Raman looked at his watch and saw that the time was nearly 1.30 pm and knew where his friend would be at that time and made the call.

It was not just an audio call but a whatsApp video call and just after a few rings his call was answered and the familiar voice and face of Commissioner of Police, Greater Chennai, Dr. A. K. Viswanathan, IPS filled the screen of Raman's mobile phone.

' Ram, Hi. What a pleasant surprise? When did you get into Chennai from Delhi? How is everything in the Prime Minister's office for I heard that you and your boss General V.k. Singh are now part of the team who the Prime minister and defence minister consult with.'