Oh Goody!

2004-10-17T05:56:00.000-07:00

a short story

“Good evening, may I drop you somewhere?” asked the biker. It isn’t unusual to offer rides to Bangalore’s beautiful women waiting at bus stands. Also, it isn’t unusual for Bangalore’s beautiful women to accept these offers.

“Oh that’s really nice of you,” Sthuthi replied in a thankful yet guarded tone. “Would you be able to drop me near the Central Market. Some of my friends are waiting there for me.” Her ‘friends’ were always waiting for her whenever she accepted rides from strangers.

“I couldn’t care less even if the Army was waiting for you!” the biker thought to himself. For Raj Jaising, it was turning out to be a near perfect day. Although the sun was out, it was a pleasant, breezy day. “Only on a bike” he thought to himself, “can you truly enjoy such a lovely day.” Riding through town, Raj was beginning to grasp the meaning of the term ‘cruise control’ – life in the 50MPH lane. The wind cooled his face even as at each turn and corner the gravel almost kissed his soles. Raj had been involved in three accidents on his bike. The memory of those falls always kept Raj aware of the pain a fall could cause. And besides, it added to the thrill of the ride. But he had nothing to fear as long as long as he was in control; and Raj was always in control. “I am Raj Jaising, biker by choice!” he shouted to no one in particular.

Raj was on his way to meet his girl friend Neha when he saw this beautiful girl wilting under the sun. Ever the hero, Raj just had to help her out. “Oh that’s really nice of you. Would you be able to drop me near the Central Market. Some of my friends are waiting there for me,” he heard her say. As soon as he heard Central Market, alarm bells starting pounding his brains. Almost as if he was in a trance Raj let his ‘good’ side fight it out with his ‘bad’ side to decide his course of action.

Goody went first. “Central Market’s too far Raj, you won’t be able to make it back in time. Neha’d go ballistic. She’s already warned you remember – “Raj, the next time you take me for granted or keep me waiting like this, you can consider this relationship history” – don’t you remember? You’ll never...”

“Oh shut-up you sissy!” the bad side, Baddy hissed out. “There’s no problem. Look Raj, ride fast; enough of this ‘cruise control’ babble. Speed, that’s what you need. Take a couple of short cuts, jump a red light or two on the way back and voila! You’ll be back in no time. Just think about it, at the end of the ride this babe will be completely floored. You’ll need a pair of pliers to get her off you. As for Neha, she just loves throwing tantrums. You’ve got to show her who’s the boss. Big deal if you reach late. Just drop this sweetheart to wherever she wants to go and I guarantee good times will follow.”

“Yeah!” Raj nodded. “Central Market it is.”
“Thank you so much.” Sthuthi was already seating herself behind him.
“My name is Raj, and you are?”
“Sthuthi. Nice meeting you Raj. I hope you don’t mind if I hold onto your shoulders. I am a bit scared about sitting on bikes.”
“No problem Sthuthi, make yourself comfortable.” He realized he was grinning widely and was suddenly thankful for his helmet. “Yeah! Central Market it is!”

About five months from the day he’d offered Sthuthi the ride, Raj, then a marketing executive for global electronics giant Purne, had been summoned into his boss - Mr. Shroff’s office. Manick Shroff was the managing partner of Purne India and also Raj’s mentor.

Raj had shown an uncanny ability to dispose off the defective goods that had been showing with an alarming regularity at Purne’s new warehouse. Since defective goods were never good news, Shroff was grateful for Raj’s abilities and he never tired in praising Raj.

Raj expected these latest summons to be no more than another pat on the back.

“Raj, as of today, you are fired for unprofessional behavior and wrongful conduct,” Mr. Shroff said.

Sadly for Raj, the reasons for his blinding success had been discovered. In cohorts with a few dealers and two security guards, Raj had been siphoning goods from a couple of warehouses under the ruse of damaged goods. Not only had he sold off the normal goods, but he had also managed to sell all of the damaged goods at twice the market price for scrap. A few dealers who’d been left out of this dubious scheme got wind of this.

Obviously they weren’t amused. Within seventy-two hours, Raj went from being a blue-eyed boy to the corporate plague.

“Mr. Shroff this is joke right? Please tell me what’s going on.” Raj pleaded upon hearing he was being fired.
“Look Raj, as your boss, I’ve always supported you. We all thought you were a great asset to this team. Obviously we were wrong. We’ve found out about your scam with Dayal Enterprises and Jagjivan & Sons. They’ve been stripped of their dealerships with immediate effect. As for you, today is your last day with this organization. You are fired for unprofessional behavior and wrongful conduct. And it is all thanks to me that you aren’t being handed over to the police like a common thug.”

With an air of finality Shroff dismissed Raj from his presence. Raj was shaken but he knew all along that this could have happened.

He also knew too well why there would be no police action. A few months ago, while surfing Purne’s corporate website, Raj had seen the financial reports of the parent. A particular comment in the CEO’s speech had intrigued him. “We continue to lose money in our Indian operations. However our partners in the Indian venture lead by the managing partner Mr. Manick Shroff are optimistic of an improved performance over the next few years.”

As soon as he’d read it, Raj knew this wasn’t true. As far as he knew, Purne India had been doing extremely well for itself. Its top executives had all helped themselves to fatter salaries and better perks every quarter. Sales were going strong – despite the little scam he was running. So why would the CEO of a multi-million dollar company mislead everyone about their strong operations in India?

Raj decided against any foul play by the CEO. Continued losses would only add to his worries with the prospects of a lower stock value apart from the difficult questions raised by investors. There was only one conclusion to be drawn -the Indian partners lead by Manick Shroff were misleading Purne’s CEO about the true performance of Purne India. Raj recognized he had gained an unbeatable insurance cover for his scam.

For the next few months while his little scam kept making him richer, Raj concentrated on collecting as much evidence as he could about Purne India’s performance. Meticulously he saved all emails, copied sales targets and actuals always making multiple copies.

By the time Shroff fired him, Raj had enough evidence to nail Purne India.

He filed an appeal against his dismissal in the local court. The perennial backlog burdening the Indian judiciary gave Raj four months before his case would be heard. Over these four months, he prepared his offensive against Purne India.

He would plead that he was being made a scapegoat for trying to bring to light the deceitful practices at the multinational giant. Of course there would be media coverage. Corporate whistle blowers always attracted a media circus. The big evil corporate empire brought to its knees. The hero - a humble yet honest employee who refused to be cowed by the giant’s intimidating tactics. A real life David versus Goliath. The media would have a field day over this. And he, Raj, would the hero, the center of all attention - the man with a conscience.

“I wanted to help them set things right. I warned the management about the wrong doings. I thought they would eliminate the problem. Instead they eliminated me,” he tried to stifle his voice and moisten his eyes. There would be no tears – he had to maintain his dignity. Satisfied by his rehearsals Raj sighed contentedly. “Its pay day Mr. Shroff,” he thought to himself, “and you are gonna pay big time.”

But there was no media circus. Purne India’s lawyers – appointed by their Indian partners, had come prepared. They saw through Raj’s plans when they read his filings. Unwilling to take any chances, they decided to settle out of court. “The trial would be beginning in half an hour Mr. Raj. We are convinced of your ability to damage our reputation in the courtroom and outside – with the media.” Sujoy Pratap, Purne India’s lead lawyer was an imposing man in his mid forties and certainly didn’t like beating around the bush. He had warned his clients that although he could justify expelling Raj, it would come at a heavy cost to the company. “Get this straight – he knows he’s guilty, so when he goes on the stand to make his statement it won’t be describe his little scam. It’ll be to describe yours.”

That had been enough to convince the partners. Sujoy had been given a mandate to offer him as high as five million rupees to settle out of court.

After five hours of dogged negotiations, Raj finally settled for seven million rupees.

His mind was spinning with joy, Raj thought “Seven million rupees! That’s more than what I could ever make by being honest!” Only with the greatest self-control did Raj stop himself from jumping on the table and dancing. Even then, he couldn’t stop a wide grin betraying his composed demeanor as his thoughts kept racing in his elation. “Why should I ever be honest, when being dishonest is giving me so much more? Uhmm, dishonest, but legal. Best way to get rich!”

Shroff had joined mid-way through the negotiations – not as a negotiator but as an observer. “That’s your money Manick Shroff, that’s your money that’s being given away. You’ll pay for this Raj. You’re a disgusting low life scum and one day I’ll get you. By hook or by crook, I swear I’ll get you.” Although Raj couldn’t hear these thoughts, the expression on his face made Shroff’s rage clear enough. As they signed the agreement, Shroff’s hand was shaking in his helpless fury. Funny, Raj thought, if I pricked him with a pin right now, there’d be enough hot air to set-up a sauna in here. Neither did he laugh at his own joke, nor did he share it with anyone in the room.

For Raj it was turning out to be a near perfect day as he set-off to meet his girlfriend Neha.

“So, friends waiting for you huh, Sthuthi? What are you guys planning? Movie or a shopping binge?” The ride was going well. She now had her arms wrapped around him. Twisting and turning through the bye-lanes of Bangalore, Raj could see that she was impressed by his riding abilities. “Well it’s my friend’s birthday so she’s treating us all to a movie. By the way, you ride very well Raj. Do you always ride on the wrong side of the road?”

To avoid the slow moving traffic, Raj had switched over to the other side. The twisting and turning was really testing his balance as he tried to keep himself out of the oncoming traffic. This is the last lane, he thought reassuringly. After this lane was the main road where traffic would be light and he could ride a bit more freely.

“No, I don’t usually ride on the wrong side, but today’s special. Listen why don’t you give me your phone number, maybe we could go for some more of these rides. I know lots of places.... what the hell!”

Out of an alley a large van made a sudden dash for the road – unaware of his bike approaching from the wrong side. Raj tried to evade the van and veered left. This threw the oncoming traffic in a tizzy and chaos followed. Behind him, Sthuthi panicked and held him even tighter restricting his movements.

They missed two cars that just about managed to hoick their bulk out of the way. He tried slowing and moving near the edge of the street. However an oncoming driver panicked and started honking viciously. This got Sthuthi really hysterical and she pulled Raj ferociously in her attempts to get the bike out of the way. This only managed to unbalance the bike. Raj’s attempts to swerve around ended in disaster as he was forced to take one sharp turn too many and lost his balance.

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!” her long and painful scream followed the terrifying fall. Sthuthi had been holding on as tightly as she could while Raj tried to get them out of the situation. As they slipped Raj had let go of the bike and they were now sliding towards the oncoming car. Using all his strength Raj tried to break the fall and tried to roll away from the car. He just managed to get out of the way even as the car dashed into a stationary handcart.

Immediately he got up and checked himself for injuries. Amazed at his luck he almost smiled but suddenly recalled his passenger. “Sthuthi, are you OK? Sthuthi?” No reply.

With an uneasy feeling he looked down at her. She was lying still, eyes looking nowhere. As a crowd gathered, Raj bent down and tried to revive her. “Wake up, please wake up,” he pleaded. “Somebody please get her some water.” He attempted several more times to revive her. Eventually, an ambulance arrived accompanied by the police.

“She fell with him and the impact of the fall killed her. She was dragged on her face for about ten maybe fifteen meters. It was entirely his fault. He was riding like a madman. Not only was he on the wrong side, but also he was going so fast. He should have died in the fall and not that poor girl.” There were fourteen eyewitnesses. Every one of them was as damning. All blamed the bike rider – identified as Raj Jaising, for the poor girl’s death.

“I am no prophet Mr. Raj, but I think you will spend at least four years behind bars for this. Although the law will consider this a case as one of negligent driving, I personally think it was a murder. I will ask our lawyers to push for the maximum punishment.” Raj certainly didn’t have a friend in the police inspector.

“Raj.”
“Neha, what are you doing here? I am so glad you found out. Please help me get out of here. I have never been happier to see you. These people want to put me in jail forever Neha! Please Neha, my love, help me get out of here. Please Neha...”

“Raj, I came to tell you that I never want to see you again. You’re a murderer Raj. I hate you. You’ve always taken me for granted Raj. And I’ve always forgiven you. But what you did today, it’s beyond forgiveness. I hope they give you life imprisonment for this Raj. Don’t ever show me your face again, Raj, never ever.”

“But I love you sweetheart. Please don’t leave me to die here. I promise I’ll improve, I... I... I swear I’ll never ride on the wrong side again”

Her eyes glistened as she valiantly tried to hold back her tears. And yet there was a deep rage of betrayal in her eyes as she replied softly “Tell that to that girl’s parents Raj. Good bye.”

Raj slumped onto the floor as she walked out of the police station and his life.

Wait a minute, he thought to himself. I’ve still got the money. I had almost forgotten about my money. How stupid of me. I was almost convinced that I was going to be locked up in here for good. I’ll hire a good lawyer to get me out of here. Damn am I glad this horrid day is finally going to end! I’ll go and meet…

His reverie was smashed by the sarcastic voice of Mr. Shroff.

“Oh goodness me. Look at you. Don’t these stupid policemen know how to treat millionaires? Oh – but I forgot, you are not a millionaire anymore. Stinking thieving murderers like you can’t be millionaires – not with my money anyway!”

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost Raj. Come come; let me explain it to you. Thanks to your stunts, my lawyers no longer feel you are threat. You see, you don’t have any credibility left. Thanks to your stupidity, I Manick Shroff am off the hook. And it’s you who’s in the dock. I am almost sorry for your stupidity.”

“But who am I to judge you? Please forgive me your highness. I’ll let the press do it for you. Seeing how keen you were to talk to them today morning, I thought I’d help you out. So I took the liberty to invite them to meet Bangalore’s latest murderer. I assumed you’d have time in your schedule tomorrow morning for a friendly chat with a few crime reporters.”

His tone changed from sarcasm to hate as he ended his diatribe “Goodbye Raj, rot in hell.”

Head hanging, shoulders drooped and an expression of despondency was all that Raj could manage throughout Shroff’s tirade. No words would come out of his mouth.

The money was his last hope, his only hope. And now it was gone. His head exploded with thoughts of the day’s events. He looked around forlornly, thinking of what might have been.

“Perfect,” he told himself. “Everything had worked out just perfect. You had the money to lead a comfortable existence. You had a wonderful girlfriend who could have been your wife someday. You had everything you could ever want.”

“Oh no, but you weren’t satisfied. You wanted something more than everything. You wanted to be a Casanova,” he said mocking himself in his anger.

“No problem Sthuthi, I’ll drop you to the Central Market – its only three times the distance I actually have to go, but doing that might get me a date with you. Wouldn’t that be fun? Yeah that’ll be great, hop on please – make yourself comfortable coz we are going for the ride of a lifetime!”

“I tried to get something more than everything – and what did I end up with? Nothing. Absolutely nothing! Damn. Damn, what have I done?” He tried to cry but there were no tears. In his desperation he rubbed his eyes violently. But he couldn’t feel his eyes.

Instead there was his fingers came up against a cool plastic grill. He was still wearing his helmet! “Why would they make me wear my helmet n a prison cell?” he thought to himself. Astonished, he raised the grill to rub his eyes.

When he took his hands off he was startled by what he saw. Hurriedly walking away from him was none other than Sthuthi. He jumped up and tried to catch her. “Sthuthi! Sthuthi wait!! Please don’t run away from me. I won’t hurt you. Please stop. Mr. Shroff where are you? She’s alive! You still have to pay me. I’m not a murderer.”

She had broken into a run by now and was mumbling something in a scared nervous tone as she jumped into a waiting bus that sped away. He couldn’t understand what she said as she sped away from him but he did manage to catch a few phrases like “crazy self-talker” and “possessed by a ghost”.

Suddenly he became aware of his surroundings. It was a bright, breezy evening. He recognized the bus stop where he had first seen Sthuthi. And Sthuthi was alive!

“Sorry Raj!” He wheeled around only to find that there was no one around him.

“Sorry Raj. I didn’t want to do this but I had no choice. I am only allowed to do such things when I sense extreme danger to you. I am glad she’s gone. I tried to warn you about what could’ve happened to you but Baddy never gives me chance to talk...”

Everyman’s Security... a true story

2004-10-17T05:37:00.000-07:00

Not for the first time, our bus was halted for a “security check”. The passengers in the packed bus were getting restless as the checks increased- this one being the third within a distance of a hundred kilometers. Metal detectors had looked for absent bombs, tickets checked for truant travelers. The only threat the passengers faced was that of reckless driving and the abysmal condition of the bus!

Armed with a solitary lathi and chewing his cud-like tobacco ambled in a pot-bellied cop to impose the security check upon us. But it wasn’t his unprofessional and callous appearance that stamped this check in our collective memory. Living in India, we are used all sorts of security checks almost throughout our country. So for a routine security check to have cast such an indelible imprint on our mind was indeed an eye-opener.

He scanned around for anything suspicious as he walked the length of the bus. Having finished his stroll, he turned around to make his way back to the exit. Suddenly his eyes lit up. Those of us following his check were alarmed by his sudden discovery. His stroll now had an acquired purposefulness about it.

Walking up to a scruffy looking man he said, “Let’s see your ticket.” Even before he had finished this short sentence, the man not only produced his ticket but also got up for the mandatory body frisking. The most remarkable thing was that this man seemed to have expected this to happen and the only surprise for him could have been that the policeman took as long as he did to pick him out from the crowd!

The body-check revealed nothing suspicious and the ticket too was in order. In a pathetic attempt at sounding officious the cop inquired about the man’s destination, purpose and duration of his visit. He was answered precisely and promptly. Having completed his investigations, the cop triumphantly marched out of the bus allowing us to get on with our journey.

Something though, didn’t make sense about his check and the satisfied look he had upon completing his interrogation of that man. The cop hadn’t unearthed any terrorist; neither had he thwarted any conspiracy to bomb or loot the bus. It was a wonder he hadn’t checked any of the other passengers - there were several in the bus who were as suspicious if not more.

But then, I guess he didn’t need to. There was something about the man that had given the cop his cue.

That man was the only one in the entire bus who wore a white netted Muslim cap.

purplepatch

Oh Goody!

Everyman’s Security... a true story