Hu-Man and the Masters of the Universe
While the whole world was happily celebrating the 12th new year of Twenty Third century, the participants of this unique kind of conference could not get a reason to cheer. It was really sad that inspite of the conference completing its 9th consecutive day, there was no meaningful direction to move forward. The options tabled for consideration reached a whopping count of 1980, but all of them lacked in one aspect or the other. Though all of the participants were immensely knowledgeable and none other than powerful Gods worshipped by people of different religions, a logical decision point was not coming through. Apart from Gods of major religions viz. Christianly, Hinduism and Islam, it had representations from religions such as Judaism, Baha'i Faith etc, which made the conference very special and unique.
The last such conference was held more than quarter million years ago and it resulted in the evolution of modern humans from Homo sapiens (aka moneys) during the Middle Paleolithic era. All further transformations in mankind post that were just an offshoot, including the changes in the human mind-set during Upper Paleolithic period and the beginning of cultural variations. The current task before the participating Gods was to find ways and means to make the human race take on the threat facing the world. While quite a few human prophecies from various sects were certain of global destruction by 2012, there was no manuscript predicting the next big threat in the ongoing 23rd century. As per the divine bye-laws, a massive manmade destruction was to happen by the end of the current century solely contributed by supernatural factors and this conference was aimed at avoiding such a catastrophe.
In line with Mayan civilization and the prophecy of Kalki, mother Earth faced the wrath of an enormous Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) in 2012, caused by the star WR104 some 7,000 light years away from earth. Though GRBs are the most powerful explosions that could occur in the universe, the mighty Gods had then joined together and it became an easy decision for the consortium of Gods to reduce WR104’s impact and shield the earth. The situation is quite different between 2012 and now as the control they had over natural forces cannot be deployed to combat the manmade calamities waiting to occur. Given that most countries possessed nuclear bombs and the twin super-powers – China & India capable of detonating Hydrogen bomb, a war threat was very much in the cards. Hence, the Gods wanted to find some novel way to make the mankind self-sufficient so that they can adapt themselves against the potential turmoil.
Some of the wish lists presented by various Gods over the last 9 days were in fact promising and even chosen for third and fourth rounds of discussion. However, they were subjected to the compulsion that only one of the proposals could be implemented. Some prominent ones among them were…
“You are all aware that around 71.29% of earth’s surface area is made up of water, with around 25 Million sq.km coming under water just in the last couple of centuries due to Global warming and other factors. Firstly, thanks for the confidence bestowed upon me in increasing my scope of operations and I now wish to make these water bodies livable and breathable for humans, thereby assisting them in case of an exodus” – Lord Poseidon, Greek god, # 291
“My contribution in our combat against the killer GRB - WR104 in 2012 may be recalled at this moment and the immaculate performance rating and other incentives I got then. For the current crisis, I can provide a set of wings to all humans and also impart them with a crash course on flying.” – Garuda, Hindu god, # 1508
“Let us not think primitively like how we were taught in our childhood days. Humans have improved a lot and the time is not far when they will come and occupy our place also. The most critical pieces in that are Externet, micro-mobile, thumb-pad, Mindbook etc which have made telecommunication an integral part of their lives like food and water. If we were to make them go up few notches higher, we should design them with inbuilt communication facilities so that they can speak with anyone anywhere thro telepathy without the use of any device.” – Sarasvati, Hindu Goddess, # 244
“I’ve been successful in controlling epidemics and pandemics in most part of the world and my track record has successfully improved over the centuries. For the current threat, I can make people possess extraordinary health conditions, which could even withstand nuclear radiations.” – Hotei, Japanese Shinto god, # 1609
“I’m of the opinion that the threat before us could not be a war involving Weapons of Mass Destruction, but shortage of food and water for the 20 billion people population. We can make the people capable of eating things beyond the presently edible ones and thus, save them from hunger and starvation. I once fed 5,000 people with just five barley loaves and two fish, and still had 12 baskets of loaves and fish left. Even the mortals the same thing down under; local governments out there print fresh currency if they are not able to do anything meaningful to bridge the demand - supply gap.” – Jesus Christ, # 888.
“When we had to protect the people in 2012, we just had planet earth to shielf, but now the case is different. We have people living even in other planets such as Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn and in addition, the moons of Earth, Jupiter and Saturn as well, making our tasks further difficult. Given all these complexities, let us create livable planets outside Solar system so that people can move there. I suggest that the planets and comets in and around Kupier belt, which is under my direct control, can be used for this purpose, considering its proximity to earth.” JaMaMa, Modern Goddess, # 9
Thoughts like the above kept on flowing, but none of them could get the required majority for being concluded. When radiation proof health was proposed, few participants raised doubt on its practical possibility quoting the multiple epidemics that were witnessed in the world’s history. Some even sought apologies of the concerned health minister in whose regime 30 million plus deaths occurred due to HIV/AIDS, until a cure for this disease was invented in 2019 by an Indian scientist. When Lord Poseidon proposed Water bodies as a place to live, it was termed as an ineligible place to live citing the Tsunami risks they are prone to. For the proposal of moving people out of Solar system into a different terrestrial body, JaMaMa was vetoed out with an allegation that she was attempting to create market for her huge unsalable real estate holdings in Kupier Belt.
At this crucial juncture, came the voice of Allah, who cannot be seen in any meetings, but can only be heard and presence felt. Instead of the Gods deciding how to make the humans combat the unknown, impending danger, Allah wanted the final selection from within the tabled proposals to come from humans themselves quoting that they might know what they want better. This was well accepted by almost all the participants and the only question that remained was how to get a human for a discussion on this. Doctrine of Divinity charted soon after the resurrection of Jesus explicitly prohibits involvement of humans in any matters related to celestial issues. After a small debate, it was decided to call upon a knowledgeable soul currently serving in heaven so that they are within the boundaries of Doctrine of Divinity. It didn’t much time to select such a person and it turned out to be a multifaceted person, who was an aerospace engineer, professor, scientist, served as a senior government functionary, involved in developing warfare, author, poet and received various awards and honours. He had been granted direct entry into heaven, somewhere in the first half of 21st century after leading a long satisfying life in earth, where he was known as Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
Having heard the subject matter of the conference and the various proposals tabled, Dr. Kalam spent some time in understanding each one of them. When he started speaking, there was wide spread keenness among the participants as they were eager to know which one of their proposal will get selected. He thanked the Gods for their efforts in saving the human race and said he wanted to approach the issue differently.
“Without any doubt, each one of these proposals can save humans from the impending danger and pave way for future generations. But, what is the surety that there won’t be yet another danger to be encountered after this? Humans have indeed enriched their knowledge and reached heights which were not possible during my times. However, at the end of the day, we have lost more than what we achieved. Our communication facilities are top class, but we are not able to sit and speak with our parents and family when it is really needed. The seven course meal we eat today may give better nutrition and taste than what we used to get earlier, but the happiness and peace we had while eating then is not available today. Present day computers possess high levels of Artificial Intelligence and are capable of doing most human functions of their own, but they come at the cost of depleting all the native powers of human brains. Average life of humans which was at 67 during my days has grown to 85+ now with the advent of modern powerful medicines. We didn’t have all these medical facilities earlier, but a healthy lifestyle with lesser pollution levels ensured a happy life without medicines.
While you’ve made all living creatures with just desire for their basic necessities such as hunger, thirst, shelter and love, why is that humans alone come with all possible needs? No other species will get happiness by killing fellow species for mortal benefits, except humans. If you, mighty Gods would allow me to offer my suggestion, kindly do not add anything more to humans, but just remove the greed part in them. They will be happier and safe in the planets you’ve created by leading a simple self-content life functioning cordially nature with nature and fellow human beings.”
There was complete silence in the hall when Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam finished his speech and stood with closed hands and bowed head. Though no word was uttered amongst them, everyone was aware that the lengthy conference had received a meaningful and logical answer for them to work upon.
Showing posts with label story. Show all posts
Showing posts with label story. Show all posts
Friday, June 7, 2013
Friday, January 20, 2012
My Valentine
Feb 14th - today’s date is a very important date for most people, undoubtedly in my life too. Whatever way I lived so far is different and this day is going to be an important turning point in my life. I don’t know how my parents & friends will react to this, but I think I’m very clear in what I did so far. Maybe I also don’t know how to handle it further, but let me see. Sail by the tide unless a shore or a bigger tide embraces you. Devayani IPS, the title behind my name and the strength it brought to my personality are of no use for the feelings that are now running in my mind and the turmoil I currently go through. After all I’m also a girl and the toughness I possess is just an adopted quality, not an inborn trait.
The ultimate cause for what I go through today is him – The great Manuraj Gupta, the smart chap hailing from Gujarat who got into the academy by securing a double digit rank. His talent and charisma was admired by all, maybe even the panel in UPSC which made them grant him the task of administering the wealthiest state in India. He could have got posting in his home state itself had be opted for IPS, but he was more keen in becoming an IAS & became one. Thanks to the honorable British souls who designed the initial days of training as a common one to all Civil Service pass out candidates. It made my soul realize that the controls I subjected to myself couldn’t withstand the naughty smile he carried and the striking weaponry of his eyes. All these are things of the past and the tension I carry with the letter in my hand will keep increasing till I could hand it over to him. No doubt, Love is so powerful making a person infected by it unbecoming oneself.
The aroma of the hot breakfast served by the orderly couldn’t do anything to reduce my mental trauma. I tried reaching him in his mobile, but his favorite Macarena caller tune never stopped. They say troubled minds can’t think logical. It is turning out very true in my case; I forgot that he doesn’t carry his cell phone when he goes for jogging. I know it’ll be a matter of minutes before he comes and relives me of the pain the letter in my hand is causing to me. The wait for his arrival to breakfast table ignited thoughts of our initial days when I used to intentionally delay my arrival to the breakfast hall so as to eat with him. I don’t want him to return with anyone accompanying him as we should be in private when he reads this letter.
I didn’t count how many times I would have read it myself, but am sure it might not be anything less than 20. A girl’s handwriting is definitely appealing to read, but for a letter in this circumstance, it is nowhere near consideration. Each time I finish reading it, I wish some miracle to happen to salvage me out of this situation and do something to make Manuraj feel the way I want. Whatever he had in his mind so far, I pray God to conquer his mind and make him take a favorable decision after reading it. I always used to wonder regarding how difficult it could become for a keralite mother and a north indian Brahmin father to get a spouse for their children. I felt as though the letter in was laughing at me with the rudimentary question “Don’t you think it is slightly immature to worry about it now?”
Going by all theories of love and romance, he should not be surprised seeing this letter, rather he would have anticipated it expecting for the same just as I do. He could have closed off things long back, but maybe his IAS ego didn’t permit to take the first step. I waited and waited for him to act all these days, but ultimately the time for the inevitable is today. I myself don’t know whether it was coincidence or purposeful that the day chosen is Valentine ’s Day. One more question I ask myself is why letter? Why could this stupid girl’s heart not have the courage to speak it out? Is it the fear of failure or the fear that things might take a wrong turn if it was not put properly? Anyway, there is no reversal of what has happened and I need to face it out straight. Building courage is difficult, but once built, there is no going back. In this instance, I somehow feel like practically experiencing the theoretical lessons my IPS course tried to seed in me.
The agonizing wait is about to come to an end, am able to see his charming figure in close vicinity. In any other circumstance, I would have been admiring his stellar figure and athletic body, but today is different and I was only thinking about how well to structure the unfolding of events. As soon as he saw me, he was swiftly filled with his trademark smile, the intangible culprit that rendered the IPS officer into life term imprisonment. Each and every advancing foot step of his had the impact of striking blows into my heart. The heart which was conquered by him long back is now beating fast unsure of his reaction and the outcome in the next few minutes.
Not wanting to give the letter straightway, I waited for him to settle down. Is he also in some tension like me or was it just the normal pant due to jogging? I originally wanted to give a buildup before handing over the letter, but alas, all my planning went haywire. I bluntly gave the letter to him and directed him to read, just by eye contact, not pronouncing any word from mouth. His face immediately bore astonishment with a sigh that purports to probe the contents of it. Would he know what it contains without even reading it? Or maybe he wants to know how the message is structured.
He took a full 3 minutes to read the letter, quite high for his standards which made me think whether he read it more than once. I don’t care the number of times he reads it or in what speed he reads it, but only want to know his reaction after reading it. When he lifted his head after reading, the reaction I saw was nowhere near to what I expected. Based on the investigating techniques & face reading methods I was familiar with, he showed anger mixed with disappointment. As though the damage was not enough, he squeezed the letter throwing it off and walked away without speaking any word. With full of tears in my eyes and totally devastated with the turnout of this Valentine ’s Day, I picked up the squeezed letter to read it one more time.
“To my dearest parents,
After putting in all possible efforts to convince Papa, I finally realized it is never going to happen. By the time you read this letter, I would be very far from both of your jurisdictional limits. Being the only daughter of a happy successful couple, my marriage is also going to be a love marriage like yours. I’ve decided to commence a new life with Manish who in all respects is the best match for me. I should only consider myself unlucky for all the conflicts Papa has with Manish’s dad, but what can we do for it? When we got into love, neither did we know about these problems nor had the thought of running away like this. This decision is taken only to protect Papa’s reputation and professional career and not to cause any damage with my marriage. Though I’ll be married to Manish this Sunday, I’m always the proud daughter of Manuraj Gupta IAS & Devayani IPS and would like to be so ever.
Seeking both of your blessings and looking forward for an early joyous reunion. Bye.
With kisses & loads of love,
Anitha Gupta.”
The ultimate cause for what I go through today is him – The great Manuraj Gupta, the smart chap hailing from Gujarat who got into the academy by securing a double digit rank. His talent and charisma was admired by all, maybe even the panel in UPSC which made them grant him the task of administering the wealthiest state in India. He could have got posting in his home state itself had be opted for IPS, but he was more keen in becoming an IAS & became one. Thanks to the honorable British souls who designed the initial days of training as a common one to all Civil Service pass out candidates. It made my soul realize that the controls I subjected to myself couldn’t withstand the naughty smile he carried and the striking weaponry of his eyes. All these are things of the past and the tension I carry with the letter in my hand will keep increasing till I could hand it over to him. No doubt, Love is so powerful making a person infected by it unbecoming oneself.
The aroma of the hot breakfast served by the orderly couldn’t do anything to reduce my mental trauma. I tried reaching him in his mobile, but his favorite Macarena caller tune never stopped. They say troubled minds can’t think logical. It is turning out very true in my case; I forgot that he doesn’t carry his cell phone when he goes for jogging. I know it’ll be a matter of minutes before he comes and relives me of the pain the letter in my hand is causing to me. The wait for his arrival to breakfast table ignited thoughts of our initial days when I used to intentionally delay my arrival to the breakfast hall so as to eat with him. I don’t want him to return with anyone accompanying him as we should be in private when he reads this letter.
I didn’t count how many times I would have read it myself, but am sure it might not be anything less than 20. A girl’s handwriting is definitely appealing to read, but for a letter in this circumstance, it is nowhere near consideration. Each time I finish reading it, I wish some miracle to happen to salvage me out of this situation and do something to make Manuraj feel the way I want. Whatever he had in his mind so far, I pray God to conquer his mind and make him take a favorable decision after reading it. I always used to wonder regarding how difficult it could become for a keralite mother and a north indian Brahmin father to get a spouse for their children. I felt as though the letter in was laughing at me with the rudimentary question “Don’t you think it is slightly immature to worry about it now?”
Going by all theories of love and romance, he should not be surprised seeing this letter, rather he would have anticipated it expecting for the same just as I do. He could have closed off things long back, but maybe his IAS ego didn’t permit to take the first step. I waited and waited for him to act all these days, but ultimately the time for the inevitable is today. I myself don’t know whether it was coincidence or purposeful that the day chosen is Valentine ’s Day. One more question I ask myself is why letter? Why could this stupid girl’s heart not have the courage to speak it out? Is it the fear of failure or the fear that things might take a wrong turn if it was not put properly? Anyway, there is no reversal of what has happened and I need to face it out straight. Building courage is difficult, but once built, there is no going back. In this instance, I somehow feel like practically experiencing the theoretical lessons my IPS course tried to seed in me.
The agonizing wait is about to come to an end, am able to see his charming figure in close vicinity. In any other circumstance, I would have been admiring his stellar figure and athletic body, but today is different and I was only thinking about how well to structure the unfolding of events. As soon as he saw me, he was swiftly filled with his trademark smile, the intangible culprit that rendered the IPS officer into life term imprisonment. Each and every advancing foot step of his had the impact of striking blows into my heart. The heart which was conquered by him long back is now beating fast unsure of his reaction and the outcome in the next few minutes.
Not wanting to give the letter straightway, I waited for him to settle down. Is he also in some tension like me or was it just the normal pant due to jogging? I originally wanted to give a buildup before handing over the letter, but alas, all my planning went haywire. I bluntly gave the letter to him and directed him to read, just by eye contact, not pronouncing any word from mouth. His face immediately bore astonishment with a sigh that purports to probe the contents of it. Would he know what it contains without even reading it? Or maybe he wants to know how the message is structured.
He took a full 3 minutes to read the letter, quite high for his standards which made me think whether he read it more than once. I don’t care the number of times he reads it or in what speed he reads it, but only want to know his reaction after reading it. When he lifted his head after reading, the reaction I saw was nowhere near to what I expected. Based on the investigating techniques & face reading methods I was familiar with, he showed anger mixed with disappointment. As though the damage was not enough, he squeezed the letter throwing it off and walked away without speaking any word. With full of tears in my eyes and totally devastated with the turnout of this Valentine ’s Day, I picked up the squeezed letter to read it one more time.
“To my dearest parents,
After putting in all possible efforts to convince Papa, I finally realized it is never going to happen. By the time you read this letter, I would be very far from both of your jurisdictional limits. Being the only daughter of a happy successful couple, my marriage is also going to be a love marriage like yours. I’ve decided to commence a new life with Manish who in all respects is the best match for me. I should only consider myself unlucky for all the conflicts Papa has with Manish’s dad, but what can we do for it? When we got into love, neither did we know about these problems nor had the thought of running away like this. This decision is taken only to protect Papa’s reputation and professional career and not to cause any damage with my marriage. Though I’ll be married to Manish this Sunday, I’m always the proud daughter of Manuraj Gupta IAS & Devayani IPS and would like to be so ever.
Seeking both of your blessings and looking forward for an early joyous reunion. Bye.
With kisses & loads of love,
Anitha Gupta.”
Saturday, November 12, 2011
my QUEST for your CHEST
Everything is going on well as per plan till now. The beard I’ve been growing for over half a year is staying well with my otherwise south-indianised face. I could remember growing this big beard only once in my entire life time and that was during my 2nd year BE. That beard was propelled by Sheena’s rejection of my proposal and I still remember her not having patience to even cross the first page of my well-drafted 3 page love letter. More than 18 years have passed since then; many more sheenas crossed my life in different names, races & sizes before I ended up with this permanent one popularly known as Madhumitha (popularity not by fame, but by volume of words). But now, it is for a totally different purpose for which I’m growing now. My general knowledge said all Sikhs will definitely have beard and the Sikh identity I currently camouflaged into was decided after months of research. The tummy benevolently bestowed upon due to my 4 decade existence, the turban (Dastar) and the beard aptly made me a real Singh. It was by mere coincidence that the readymade turban I bought suited the task I was involved. It resembled Chand Tora Dhamala, a warrior style turban generally worn by Nihang Sikhs and meant for those going into battle. The only issue with my costume was the iron bracelet (Kara) which was little loose for my wrist and it was purposely kept so for ease of removal.
It is about 2 years from the time I got this thought and at that point of time. It started as a joke and I was asking myself why shouldn’t I do something different and memorable in life and have the thrill of seeing it through completion. After securing a seat in the Engineering course, I will only term it as my fore-fore-father’s virtue that I somehow managed to clear all papers at least with a second class. If someone had told that I’ll become a banker when I cleared my Electrical Engineering degree that would have been the best ever joke of my life. But after three and half years of job search, I saw the Grade II clerk job in National Bank as a yummy bone in the eyes of a stray dog starving for days together. It was only when my bank arranged a high tea party and gave that Apple IPod for completing 10 years, I realized my life has been wasted without any useful stuff. It is not the Apple IPod that demotivated me, but only that it was not able to satisfy me much. In the dinner I had with my wife Madhumitha & my 9 year old son Mukesh that evening, I decided that my life shouldn’t end with whatever accomplishments possible in the normal course of life. Later in the night, I couldn’t sleep until about 3 am worrying about what I decided, why can’t I do something which will make me feel triumphant & prove my worth to this world? Then came this novel thought, which I myself didn’t approve in the initial days. I wished to do a cold blooded murder with my own hands and come out of it crystal clean. Correction in my statement – not a cold blooded murder, why use the usual phrase – just a simple murder to prove I too can do something which a normal person cannot do in life. My intention was to loot money or take revenge on someone whom I dislike (as a matter of fact, there is none whom I dislike), but it is just a sort of thrill & more importantly, what I wanted in life – Accomplishment!!!
Though my plan had the possibility of feeling triumphant & accomplishment once it is executed, I had lot of reservations and aberrations in my own mind. Having been a vegetarian all these years, I wouldn’t even approve of killing of animals for food, but this thought had strangely occurred in my mind. So, the point is, am not a villain of the regular order you see in films, but it was just a game in life, in which the opponent is the society at large. I had made my own rules for the game – (a) no financial gain from my action should accrue to me, (b) the victim should not feel any pain or suffering, (c) the victim should be a person unrelated to me and there shouldn’t be any reason for me to kill him & (d) more importantly, I shouldn’t get caught at the end of my game.
It took more than a month to commence the selection process of identifying the victim. This is not like selecting people to invite for a family function, come on, the person will die if I succeed. So, I needed to be very careful and my treaded approach yielded the best possible result in just 2 months of search. Like any other office goer, much part of my productive time is spent in office & it was quite obvious that I had to select from my bank. The one who came bright in all my selection criteria making my search bit easier was Aneesh. Hailing from Kerala, he was working in the currency chest department doing some computer based security stuff. Though we work out of the same office, my work was in no way related to him, still I had to know basic things about his job and it was really boring. He was one of the specialized staff managing the security of the currency chest in our bank’s local head office located in the city center. All branches in our jurisdiction will need to park excess funds above their designed thresholds into the chest & withdraw as required. Nearing 30s, his family consisted of mother, two younger sisters waiting for marriage all based out of Kerala. This guy had lost his father few years back and was staying alone in a 1BHK house somewhere in a suburban residential area. He didn’t have many friends and was always literally locked inside the access protected chest cabin. I learnt that he was the sole breadwinner of the family, leaving aside the petty salary drawn by his first younger sister from her teacher job. It was also understandable that the task of getting his sisters married was this person’s responsibility with very little family savings.
After firming upon the target, my next few months were spent in knowing him better. I spent more time thinking about him than what I used to spend on my wife or son or even myself. I suddenly got a sense of meaningful involvement in life and as though there is a mighty task ahead for me to complete. Point (c) of my rules was fulfilled with this guy – not related to me & his life or death wouldn’t make any difference to me. Being in the bank for so many years and well acquainted with its compensation benefits, I was also aware that he will get a sizable amount due to his death which could help his family & his sisters’ marriage. He didn’t seem to be involved in any affair as his marriage can happen only after his sisters’ and thereby, no problem of his lover getting into a state of despair after his death. I should be proud of myself that I indirectly induced a life insurance agent to make him subscribe for a hefty life insurance policy.
Next stages of my planning process involved deciding the modus-operandi. To ensure item (d) of my golden rules, I had to find a way in which there is no trail or evidence left behind. Amid the bunch of people who frequented cyber café to do voice chats & to see porno sites in privacy, I used to be busy in learning ways to kill a person. I avoided browsing such sites neither in office nor home. There were lot of good techniques (I know, good is an oxymoron in this context) but they had the intensity of causing pain to our poor Aneesh thereby contravening with rule (b). Only then I realized that my father’s hard earned money in making me study Electrical Engineering is not being put to use. It couldn’t help me get a decent job, but it suggested that the method has to be high voltage electrical shock in his chest. This seemed to be an adorable option which might give the impression of heart attack to the external world and me, the perpetrator can walk scot-free. I selected Defibrillation as the method for execution which is nothing but the shock treatment shown in films to resurrect the dead hero and make him re-appear with a new getup. The voltage has to be in excess of 360 joules of energy to hinder the heart rhythm and causing fatal end. With some electrical appliances that were available in my home and by selectively purchasing distinct items from multiple distributors, I assembled my own unit for triggering the shock. Thanks to Larry Page, the internet became my free tutor and I found how true the film “A Wednesday” was in telling one can even make bomb with internet articles. The unit came out as a masterpiece for my game capable of causing quick & strong vasovagal shock to the vagus nerves. It was well-designed to result in the target’s death without any sort of pain whatsoever, the highlight being cause of death will still appear to be a normal heart attach for the external world.
What next? This is what my mind was thinking during the next few weeks. I thought since I had come to this level, a fool-proof blue-print was required to explain the probable sequence of events for the ultimate execution. Yes, it is going to be a real execution. As usual, I took my own time to think well and to come up with a game plan. I need to undertake a personal trip to place at least 400 – 500 kms away and return by a late evening train. After having boarded the train, I should detrain and catch a flight and reach in the shortest possible time. Since I will be carrying the electrical unit, I should have it checked in and not get caught during hand baggage security check. I should get into the Sikh costume on my way from airport to Aneesh’s house so that there is no eye-witness left behind. However, when Aneesh sees me, he should see me in my normal attire. I need to then tell him that I came to visit some friend in the nearby area and my car broke down while returning. Since I remembered the existing of your house in the vicinity, I parked the car there and thought of spending the night here, provided it doesn’t trouble you. In the morning, I shall get some mechanic to repair the car and drive back home. Once he gets to sleep, my unit will do the trick and I should safely get away from his house after ensuring the game is over. While returning, I should against disguise myself back into the Sikh costume so that it will put the suspect as some unknown Singh. I’ve to then shift 2 / 3 vehicles and reach the major railway station just before the one I was originally supposed to get down.
During this sequence, I should have relinquished the Sikh identity prior to boarding the penultimate vehicle and in a place where no one can see me. By doing all these, I’ll get down in the railway station where I was originally supposed to detrain and make my presence felt in the CCTV of the destination station. There were few things I need to do to ensure my presence will be felt in the station where I’ll get down – (a) as per railway rules, all tickets issues need to be collected at destination and an entry of such collected tickets should be maintained. By surrendering my ticket to the Ticket Collector at gate, a record of me passing the gate is established. (b) Since all major railway stations have Closed Circuit TVs, I should walk casually in front of that to show my face (I only wonder the CCTVs work & are not victims of yet another scam) (c) I should book a prepaid taxi giving my name and mobile number and also my address of residence to have a record that I actually travelled in the train and taxi. This plan was gone over umpteen numbers of times and all the loop holes propped were amicably fixed to my satisfaction. A key element for success was the month and date of this operation as it should be appropriate enough to ensure there will be less traffic & Aneesh will be in home for sure, and more especially, alone.
When I thought I had almost crossed the well in my planning, came this major blow. Aneesh got transfer orders to his home-state near his native as the bank was setting up a currency chest in that city. If Aneesh leaves, what will I do with my unit, should I use the unit on myself? But it was not required to ask that question for more than 10 days as I was rewarded with the good news that Aneesh requested for cancellation of his transfer order. Since I worked on the principle of “not believing myself” in the whole episode, I was eager to know as to why he took this decision to reject the transfer. It made complete sense for him to take this transfer as his native was just couple of hours’ journey from the place of posting. They say the whole world will appear blue if you were blue glasses (I tried once while watching a film in my college days!!). So, I wondered whether he was making some plot to kill someone else like me. But everyone in the world will not be as crazy like me, will they? Little bit of CBI work into the reasoning behind his decision revealed that the whole purpose of his action was to complete the CISA course he had enrolled for. Infact, he hadn’t completely refused to go on transfer, but had only requested for its postponement by a 6 months period. If I had funds I would have built a temple for this CISA, which I later learnt was the abbreviation for Certified Information Systems Auditor. The whole episode of transfer order issuance & Aneesh deferring only gave additional strength to my plan and reiterated my resolve to see it to completion.
But for this brief hiccup, planning process resumed from where I had left. Since my plan contained the element of me visiting his house, it became imperative for me to get acquainted with his house. I spruced up a situation to visit his house and the whole plan went on well. I was able to visit his house, inspect the area, neighborhood and what’s more, had a good glance inside his house also. This visit would definitely help me on the day of execution as the playfield will be already known.
Eighteen months from the time I got the original thought, I was in a reasonably comfortable situation with a confidence that I’ve adequately planned it with perfection. Only the date and time was to be decided and the last minute logistics. With the various factors that were to be considered, I chose the night before Diwali as the most preferable option. On the day of Naraka Chaturdashi, I planned my killing, in which ironically neither Aneesh was Narakasura, nor I Lord Krishna or his wife Satyabhama. I booked train tickets for myself with my credit card to leave out of station two days prior to Diwali and return journey on the night prior to Diwali. An air ticket was also booked for returning, it was by cash through a travel agent so as to fly down few hours after the train departure. As decided earlier, my plan was to show my ticket to the TTE (stands for Travelling Ticket Examiner, not TTR as widely referred to) and make an entry of my travel in his chart. The return Air ticket was booked from a place few stations after departure and in place where the airport was close to railway station.
The “D” day finally came. After the planned events of train journey, and boarding flight in between, I landed in the airport with a 25 minutes delay from the scheduled time. My planned itinerary was able to accommodate even a 90 minutes delay and 25 minutes didn’t cause any dent. My luggage was so light and it just contained the Sikh costume which I changed in the airport rest room and the apparatus I devised for Defibrillation. This ends the 2 year long story of how a vegetarian, married guy with a son, Engineer turned banker appearing in a Sikh costume is sitting in a prepaid taxi with a single hand baggage and proceeding towards a house in the outskirts of the city.
When I got down from the taxi, the time was 35 minutes past 12. The day of Diwali had already started, but people around the city were yet to wake up. In some dark place close to his house, I easily removed my Sikh costume and put in the bag I was carrying. The bag contained one other item – the apparatus I had designed for put together for generation the high intensity shock. When I was turning from a north-Indian to south-Indian, I ran through what I should tell Aneesh when I meet him. Somehow the car breaking down story didn’t seem to go well with the situation. Bingo, I got a totally different plan which seemed quite splendid for the situation. Slowly I moved toward Aneesh’s house and pressed the calling bell. Did I see the light glowing inside his house, not sure, it could be a reflection of moon’s light through the windows also. Each second passed like hell and he took hell a lot of time to open the door. As expected there was shock in his face when he saw me, not knowing he is going to get greater shocks little further. I unleashed the revised plan to explain the reason for my presence there at this point of time. I told him that I was supposed to reach well before 8 pm, but that my train got delayed due to Telengana related strikes. I further added stating that I had plans to go to native which was around 200 kms away along with family for Diwali, but due to the delay, my family was forced to leave alone. The story continued - only after detraining, that I realized I didn’t have the house key and since I remembered Aneesh’s house being in the vicinity, thought of spending the night with him.
My story seemed to be well received by him and was greeted by his trademark smile. But I somehow felt he was not very much comfortable with my appearance at this point of time. He offered me to sit in the sofa placed in the hall. I said I’ll just rest myself in the sofa itself as it was just matter of hours before I could leave. He assented to it and took leave and went inside to bring some dhoti for me to get changed. I once again replayed the plan I had in mind. After couple of hours, say by around 3 AM, I should connect my apparatus to power and barge into his bedroom. Its protruding ends should be kept in his chest for 2 minutes continuously till the pulse level drops and becomes nil. I should ensure I don’t touch anywhere or leave any trail signifying my arrival, here. Sitting in the sofa, I had to turn back for a cursory scan of his bedroom, the same bedroom in which he was trying to fish out a dhoti for me. There was couple of plug points placed conveniently near the bed room door, which are going to assist me in finishing the game. He took bit more time than I expected to bring the dhoti and that delay was disgustingly increasing my heart beat as I was in a hurry to stop his.
Suddenly came a loud noise from behind and I felt something entering my head from back. I started feeling some sort of pain in my head, by when one more loud noise came. My neck became wet with some red fluid flowing down my chest and I fell in the sofa. Aneesh was standing behind me with a gun in his hand, two shots from it already fired into my head. I found it hard to keep my eyes open and the nauseating pain had now spread to my entire head. With half eyes open which were also slowly closing, I could see Aneesh inject one more bullet and this time, in my chest. I felt as though I lost entire control of my body but the pain was dying down, in fact I didn’t even feel that I had a body. I couldn’t see anything, but was able to hear what was going on around and I heard Aneesh telling “Hello” and speaking with someone in his mobile.
Aneesh: It’s all over. I shot three times with the gun you gave for my safety. And before shooting, I ensured no one came with him. Even the gun sound won’t make any difference as it would have sounded like a Diwali cracker.
It is about 2 years from the time I got this thought and at that point of time. It started as a joke and I was asking myself why shouldn’t I do something different and memorable in life and have the thrill of seeing it through completion. After securing a seat in the Engineering course, I will only term it as my fore-fore-father’s virtue that I somehow managed to clear all papers at least with a second class. If someone had told that I’ll become a banker when I cleared my Electrical Engineering degree that would have been the best ever joke of my life. But after three and half years of job search, I saw the Grade II clerk job in National Bank as a yummy bone in the eyes of a stray dog starving for days together. It was only when my bank arranged a high tea party and gave that Apple IPod for completing 10 years, I realized my life has been wasted without any useful stuff. It is not the Apple IPod that demotivated me, but only that it was not able to satisfy me much. In the dinner I had with my wife Madhumitha & my 9 year old son Mukesh that evening, I decided that my life shouldn’t end with whatever accomplishments possible in the normal course of life. Later in the night, I couldn’t sleep until about 3 am worrying about what I decided, why can’t I do something which will make me feel triumphant & prove my worth to this world? Then came this novel thought, which I myself didn’t approve in the initial days. I wished to do a cold blooded murder with my own hands and come out of it crystal clean. Correction in my statement – not a cold blooded murder, why use the usual phrase – just a simple murder to prove I too can do something which a normal person cannot do in life. My intention was to loot money or take revenge on someone whom I dislike (as a matter of fact, there is none whom I dislike), but it is just a sort of thrill & more importantly, what I wanted in life – Accomplishment!!!
Though my plan had the possibility of feeling triumphant & accomplishment once it is executed, I had lot of reservations and aberrations in my own mind. Having been a vegetarian all these years, I wouldn’t even approve of killing of animals for food, but this thought had strangely occurred in my mind. So, the point is, am not a villain of the regular order you see in films, but it was just a game in life, in which the opponent is the society at large. I had made my own rules for the game – (a) no financial gain from my action should accrue to me, (b) the victim should not feel any pain or suffering, (c) the victim should be a person unrelated to me and there shouldn’t be any reason for me to kill him & (d) more importantly, I shouldn’t get caught at the end of my game.
It took more than a month to commence the selection process of identifying the victim. This is not like selecting people to invite for a family function, come on, the person will die if I succeed. So, I needed to be very careful and my treaded approach yielded the best possible result in just 2 months of search. Like any other office goer, much part of my productive time is spent in office & it was quite obvious that I had to select from my bank. The one who came bright in all my selection criteria making my search bit easier was Aneesh. Hailing from Kerala, he was working in the currency chest department doing some computer based security stuff. Though we work out of the same office, my work was in no way related to him, still I had to know basic things about his job and it was really boring. He was one of the specialized staff managing the security of the currency chest in our bank’s local head office located in the city center. All branches in our jurisdiction will need to park excess funds above their designed thresholds into the chest & withdraw as required. Nearing 30s, his family consisted of mother, two younger sisters waiting for marriage all based out of Kerala. This guy had lost his father few years back and was staying alone in a 1BHK house somewhere in a suburban residential area. He didn’t have many friends and was always literally locked inside the access protected chest cabin. I learnt that he was the sole breadwinner of the family, leaving aside the petty salary drawn by his first younger sister from her teacher job. It was also understandable that the task of getting his sisters married was this person’s responsibility with very little family savings.
After firming upon the target, my next few months were spent in knowing him better. I spent more time thinking about him than what I used to spend on my wife or son or even myself. I suddenly got a sense of meaningful involvement in life and as though there is a mighty task ahead for me to complete. Point (c) of my rules was fulfilled with this guy – not related to me & his life or death wouldn’t make any difference to me. Being in the bank for so many years and well acquainted with its compensation benefits, I was also aware that he will get a sizable amount due to his death which could help his family & his sisters’ marriage. He didn’t seem to be involved in any affair as his marriage can happen only after his sisters’ and thereby, no problem of his lover getting into a state of despair after his death. I should be proud of myself that I indirectly induced a life insurance agent to make him subscribe for a hefty life insurance policy.
Next stages of my planning process involved deciding the modus-operandi. To ensure item (d) of my golden rules, I had to find a way in which there is no trail or evidence left behind. Amid the bunch of people who frequented cyber café to do voice chats & to see porno sites in privacy, I used to be busy in learning ways to kill a person. I avoided browsing such sites neither in office nor home. There were lot of good techniques (I know, good is an oxymoron in this context) but they had the intensity of causing pain to our poor Aneesh thereby contravening with rule (b). Only then I realized that my father’s hard earned money in making me study Electrical Engineering is not being put to use. It couldn’t help me get a decent job, but it suggested that the method has to be high voltage electrical shock in his chest. This seemed to be an adorable option which might give the impression of heart attack to the external world and me, the perpetrator can walk scot-free. I selected Defibrillation as the method for execution which is nothing but the shock treatment shown in films to resurrect the dead hero and make him re-appear with a new getup. The voltage has to be in excess of 360 joules of energy to hinder the heart rhythm and causing fatal end. With some electrical appliances that were available in my home and by selectively purchasing distinct items from multiple distributors, I assembled my own unit for triggering the shock. Thanks to Larry Page, the internet became my free tutor and I found how true the film “A Wednesday” was in telling one can even make bomb with internet articles. The unit came out as a masterpiece for my game capable of causing quick & strong vasovagal shock to the vagus nerves. It was well-designed to result in the target’s death without any sort of pain whatsoever, the highlight being cause of death will still appear to be a normal heart attach for the external world.
What next? This is what my mind was thinking during the next few weeks. I thought since I had come to this level, a fool-proof blue-print was required to explain the probable sequence of events for the ultimate execution. Yes, it is going to be a real execution. As usual, I took my own time to think well and to come up with a game plan. I need to undertake a personal trip to place at least 400 – 500 kms away and return by a late evening train. After having boarded the train, I should detrain and catch a flight and reach in the shortest possible time. Since I will be carrying the electrical unit, I should have it checked in and not get caught during hand baggage security check. I should get into the Sikh costume on my way from airport to Aneesh’s house so that there is no eye-witness left behind. However, when Aneesh sees me, he should see me in my normal attire. I need to then tell him that I came to visit some friend in the nearby area and my car broke down while returning. Since I remembered the existing of your house in the vicinity, I parked the car there and thought of spending the night here, provided it doesn’t trouble you. In the morning, I shall get some mechanic to repair the car and drive back home. Once he gets to sleep, my unit will do the trick and I should safely get away from his house after ensuring the game is over. While returning, I should against disguise myself back into the Sikh costume so that it will put the suspect as some unknown Singh. I’ve to then shift 2 / 3 vehicles and reach the major railway station just before the one I was originally supposed to get down.
During this sequence, I should have relinquished the Sikh identity prior to boarding the penultimate vehicle and in a place where no one can see me. By doing all these, I’ll get down in the railway station where I was originally supposed to detrain and make my presence felt in the CCTV of the destination station. There were few things I need to do to ensure my presence will be felt in the station where I’ll get down – (a) as per railway rules, all tickets issues need to be collected at destination and an entry of such collected tickets should be maintained. By surrendering my ticket to the Ticket Collector at gate, a record of me passing the gate is established. (b) Since all major railway stations have Closed Circuit TVs, I should walk casually in front of that to show my face (I only wonder the CCTVs work & are not victims of yet another scam) (c) I should book a prepaid taxi giving my name and mobile number and also my address of residence to have a record that I actually travelled in the train and taxi. This plan was gone over umpteen numbers of times and all the loop holes propped were amicably fixed to my satisfaction. A key element for success was the month and date of this operation as it should be appropriate enough to ensure there will be less traffic & Aneesh will be in home for sure, and more especially, alone.
When I thought I had almost crossed the well in my planning, came this major blow. Aneesh got transfer orders to his home-state near his native as the bank was setting up a currency chest in that city. If Aneesh leaves, what will I do with my unit, should I use the unit on myself? But it was not required to ask that question for more than 10 days as I was rewarded with the good news that Aneesh requested for cancellation of his transfer order. Since I worked on the principle of “not believing myself” in the whole episode, I was eager to know as to why he took this decision to reject the transfer. It made complete sense for him to take this transfer as his native was just couple of hours’ journey from the place of posting. They say the whole world will appear blue if you were blue glasses (I tried once while watching a film in my college days!!). So, I wondered whether he was making some plot to kill someone else like me. But everyone in the world will not be as crazy like me, will they? Little bit of CBI work into the reasoning behind his decision revealed that the whole purpose of his action was to complete the CISA course he had enrolled for. Infact, he hadn’t completely refused to go on transfer, but had only requested for its postponement by a 6 months period. If I had funds I would have built a temple for this CISA, which I later learnt was the abbreviation for Certified Information Systems Auditor. The whole episode of transfer order issuance & Aneesh deferring only gave additional strength to my plan and reiterated my resolve to see it to completion.
But for this brief hiccup, planning process resumed from where I had left. Since my plan contained the element of me visiting his house, it became imperative for me to get acquainted with his house. I spruced up a situation to visit his house and the whole plan went on well. I was able to visit his house, inspect the area, neighborhood and what’s more, had a good glance inside his house also. This visit would definitely help me on the day of execution as the playfield will be already known.
Eighteen months from the time I got the original thought, I was in a reasonably comfortable situation with a confidence that I’ve adequately planned it with perfection. Only the date and time was to be decided and the last minute logistics. With the various factors that were to be considered, I chose the night before Diwali as the most preferable option. On the day of Naraka Chaturdashi, I planned my killing, in which ironically neither Aneesh was Narakasura, nor I Lord Krishna or his wife Satyabhama. I booked train tickets for myself with my credit card to leave out of station two days prior to Diwali and return journey on the night prior to Diwali. An air ticket was also booked for returning, it was by cash through a travel agent so as to fly down few hours after the train departure. As decided earlier, my plan was to show my ticket to the TTE (stands for Travelling Ticket Examiner, not TTR as widely referred to) and make an entry of my travel in his chart. The return Air ticket was booked from a place few stations after departure and in place where the airport was close to railway station.
The “D” day finally came. After the planned events of train journey, and boarding flight in between, I landed in the airport with a 25 minutes delay from the scheduled time. My planned itinerary was able to accommodate even a 90 minutes delay and 25 minutes didn’t cause any dent. My luggage was so light and it just contained the Sikh costume which I changed in the airport rest room and the apparatus I devised for Defibrillation. This ends the 2 year long story of how a vegetarian, married guy with a son, Engineer turned banker appearing in a Sikh costume is sitting in a prepaid taxi with a single hand baggage and proceeding towards a house in the outskirts of the city.
When I got down from the taxi, the time was 35 minutes past 12. The day of Diwali had already started, but people around the city were yet to wake up. In some dark place close to his house, I easily removed my Sikh costume and put in the bag I was carrying. The bag contained one other item – the apparatus I had designed for put together for generation the high intensity shock. When I was turning from a north-Indian to south-Indian, I ran through what I should tell Aneesh when I meet him. Somehow the car breaking down story didn’t seem to go well with the situation. Bingo, I got a totally different plan which seemed quite splendid for the situation. Slowly I moved toward Aneesh’s house and pressed the calling bell. Did I see the light glowing inside his house, not sure, it could be a reflection of moon’s light through the windows also. Each second passed like hell and he took hell a lot of time to open the door. As expected there was shock in his face when he saw me, not knowing he is going to get greater shocks little further. I unleashed the revised plan to explain the reason for my presence there at this point of time. I told him that I was supposed to reach well before 8 pm, but that my train got delayed due to Telengana related strikes. I further added stating that I had plans to go to native which was around 200 kms away along with family for Diwali, but due to the delay, my family was forced to leave alone. The story continued - only after detraining, that I realized I didn’t have the house key and since I remembered Aneesh’s house being in the vicinity, thought of spending the night with him.
My story seemed to be well received by him and was greeted by his trademark smile. But I somehow felt he was not very much comfortable with my appearance at this point of time. He offered me to sit in the sofa placed in the hall. I said I’ll just rest myself in the sofa itself as it was just matter of hours before I could leave. He assented to it and took leave and went inside to bring some dhoti for me to get changed. I once again replayed the plan I had in mind. After couple of hours, say by around 3 AM, I should connect my apparatus to power and barge into his bedroom. Its protruding ends should be kept in his chest for 2 minutes continuously till the pulse level drops and becomes nil. I should ensure I don’t touch anywhere or leave any trail signifying my arrival, here. Sitting in the sofa, I had to turn back for a cursory scan of his bedroom, the same bedroom in which he was trying to fish out a dhoti for me. There was couple of plug points placed conveniently near the bed room door, which are going to assist me in finishing the game. He took bit more time than I expected to bring the dhoti and that delay was disgustingly increasing my heart beat as I was in a hurry to stop his.
Suddenly came a loud noise from behind and I felt something entering my head from back. I started feeling some sort of pain in my head, by when one more loud noise came. My neck became wet with some red fluid flowing down my chest and I fell in the sofa. Aneesh was standing behind me with a gun in his hand, two shots from it already fired into my head. I found it hard to keep my eyes open and the nauseating pain had now spread to my entire head. With half eyes open which were also slowly closing, I could see Aneesh inject one more bullet and this time, in my chest. I felt as though I lost entire control of my body but the pain was dying down, in fact I didn’t even feel that I had a body. I couldn’t see anything, but was able to hear what was going on around and I heard Aneesh telling “Hello” and speaking with someone in his mobile.
Aneesh: It’s all over. I shot three times with the gun you gave for my safety. And before shooting, I ensured no one came with him. Even the gun sound won’t make any difference as it would have sounded like a Diwali cracker.
PAUSE
Aneesh: Ya, after having planned all these months to loot the currency chest, I was shocked to see him in my house. That’s when I called you immediately in the pretext of going to the room to take dhoti. We selected this day for breaking the chest considering the Diwali sales collections that will get deposited in bank and the bonus payout of companies. He said all sorts of things – train strike, no key etc. and my mind was only thinking about the 416 crores we all secured in my bed room few minutes back. I thought the transfer order I got was the major unexpected hurdle in our plan which I was somehow able to defer, but this turned out to be an even bigger one.
PAUSE
Aneesh: Ok, I’ll wash the blood and pack his body. You bring the vehicle as soon as possible and we can carry him along with the money. xxxxx
I gathered that Aneesh had stolen money from our bank’s currency chest, but I was losing all senses, including the voice of Aneesh and slowly, everything turned total blank.
******* ******* ******* ******* ******* ******* *******
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New paper article few days later….
416 cr. Bank Robbery – Involvement of Insiders - Body of Bank staff identified
An interesting twist has happened in the recent Rs. 416 crores bank robbery. The body of a bank staff who was working in the same office where the currency chest was broken open and stolen was identified. With this, involvement of insiders along with external parties has been established in the multi-crore theft. Police feel quarrel between the parties in sharing the money which could have led to firing of the bank staff who helped them. A bag accompanying the body was also recovered by the Police which contained a Sikh costume, possibly used to disguise him and a sophisticated electrical apparatus, alleged to have been used in the robbery. The theory of police version was supported his absence in the bank on the day of the incident. Madhumitha, the deceased person’s wife has been arrested on suspicion and is currently being interrogated by police officials. Eight special teams have been formed to investigate the robbery that shook the whole banking system in India.
416 cr. Bank Robbery – Involvement of Insiders - Body of Bank staff identified
An interesting twist has happened in the recent Rs. 416 crores bank robbery. The body of a bank staff who was working in the same office where the currency chest was broken open and stolen was identified. With this, involvement of insiders along with external parties has been established in the multi-crore theft. Police feel quarrel between the parties in sharing the money which could have led to firing of the bank staff who helped them. A bag accompanying the body was also recovered by the Police which contained a Sikh costume, possibly used to disguise him and a sophisticated electrical apparatus, alleged to have been used in the robbery. The theory of police version was supported his absence in the bank on the day of the incident. Madhumitha, the deceased person’s wife has been arrested on suspicion and is currently being interrogated by police officials. Eight special teams have been formed to investigate the robbery that shook the whole banking system in India.
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