The Blank "Face" (Part III - Last)

“The Bar is closed, Sir. You can come tomorrow.” As I saw, the bouncer was dealing with two thin men wearing absurd cloth.
“Move your ass, dude. You don’t mess with the junkies. Do we look like we are taking a permit?”
“Vanish, you bloody bastards.” The bouncer pushed them as they fell to the ground.
“What the…”
The messy guy took out a sharp tiny object and pricked it on the bouncer’s eye. The fat guy went down in a second. But the messy guy didn’t stop pricking his needle in the bouncer’s body. In a minute the bouncer was on the ground crying in pain. Both of Junkies paced away hurriedly.
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It has been seven days I am in this cell. It stinks like rotten egg. Light touching the walls from a small opening of the top of the right wall. Every day when the light shimmers on the walls, they enter, tie me like dogs and take me to the torcher cell. I don’t know for how long it continues, because after few minutes, I lose my conscious and the pain overtakes my body and mind. Why? I don’t know exactly.

“Accept. Accept that you are responsible for the murder.”
“I …… I told you officer….. that I didn’t do any such act. I am innocent”
“Listen guy, I know you did it. I have got enough evidences and witnesses to prove you guilty in court. Now it will be intelligent for you to accept it to save you from further torture.”
“What are your profits in this whole process?”
“Whaaaaatttt????”
“I asked…… What are your profits in this process? I am sure they have given you a hefty amount to prove my guilt?”
The police officer didn’t say anything for few moments. Then he took out a sharp needle from his pockets and jammed it in the open wound on my neck.
“Listen you smart kid, Aevinas Maelhottra. I have worked for twenty fucking years within these corridors. And I know some pretty nice ways to prove what I am supposed to. And I will make it sure you don’t leave these walls for the next coming years.” Saying this the officer walked away through the door. I was taken back to my enclosure.
For three days, I was beaten. Hanged naked from a roof, baseball bats and sticks were thumped on me for hours. Then they packed me naked in my enclosure with salt all over the floor. I don’t even remember the last days of my torture. I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t sleep properly in my cell. My body laid there like a lifeless zombie.

“Sign it here.”
“Don’t you know his fingers are broken you fool? Take a thumb impression of his right hand.”
I was already in my subconscious mind. My brain went through some series of shock treatments just before the signing.
“Here sir, please give a thumb impression.”
“You foolish chaps. Who gave you an entry in this Department?”
The officer straight came towards me and lifted my right hand. Then took a thumb impression on the paper. I couldn’t resist because my body already stopped responding to the nervous system many days before. They threw me back in my chamber, with my clothes on. Maybe their job was done. There was no court case afterwards. The case was closed. Next mornings, I was taken from my cell and cleaned with a hose pipe. Food was given twice a day. And there was no other sound in that big cell, no movement, just the high walls and light striking the roof for few hours. I used to think, what happened that day and why did it happen. What went wrong between me and my cousin. I remembered my mother, my sweet mother and my father. I missed the days I was free and talked with my friends. I missed the sunlight and the dark chocolates. I missed everything. But as time passed, the thinking was ceased too.
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Violent, that what came in my mind when I saw this act. I couldn’t watch the whole incident and started walking on the other side of the road. The people were screaming and crying out loud nearby. But I saw something which astonished me completely.
A guy was standing below the street lamp in a brown overcoat. He was wearing his hat but still a light was illuminating his face. He was not looking a native European but his complexion was too whit to deny that. What stunned me was his immovable face. He was completely lifeless, his expressions completely blank. He was witnessing this incident with absolutely no emotions.
The screams continued but this guy walked after few moments, as if the show of the night was over.
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I entered today with a tired look in my eyes but ready to rock and free my body from all the tiredness of the week. I went straight to the bartender and took my favourite drink as a starter. A mix of vodka and breezer with a tinge of lemon juice. Refreshing it was, when I saw the same figure of that night sitting beside me.
“Hi! Aren’t you the same guy outside this club last Friday?”
The guy gave me a stern look convincing me that he is not ready to talk with strangers. But still, I continued as my eagerness was increasing for this person.
“Hi, I am Sandeep. You can call me Sandy. I am here for a project assigned by my company.”
“You an Indian?”
“Yes. Of Course.”
I don’t know whether my origin helped him to demystify the distance between our communication. But that night, I actually saw his blank face opening up showing some expressions I suspected of. I don’t know how much time passed talking to this guy, but when we completed, it was six in the morning and the guy took a leave from me.

“Excuse me. I actually didn’t ask your name.”
“Avinash Malhotra.”

The Blank "Face" (Part II)

It never remained closed. But that day, there was some maintenance work going on, and we were informed in advance. I was thinking of some other plans for the night. After much discussions in my mind, it decided to go to an Indian restaurant nearby and have the dinner. I was out of my home on my usual time and walking down the street, when I saw a crowd encircling the front of the Aqua Club. Street Fights are not common in London, so I rushed to see what was happening.
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I was having my evening nap when some loud noises broke my sleep. It was coming from another room and from the voices it was evident that my father and my uncle were fighting for some reason. It is not the first time this was happening. But something struck my mind and I tried to listen to the voices.

“This is the third time you are committing the same errors, Abhi. We have not seen the profit from your side for two years now. Already closed down two firms because of your mistakes. If you don’t do know how to correct them, don’t take the responsibilities.”
My father was silent during this. He rarely spoke when his brother was frenzied.
“This was the third time I gave you the chance to improve yourself but you failed miserably. My son understands business again than you.”
“I just tried to show some profits by negotiating with the distributors. They were asking for huge sum of money for continued alliance. I asked them to reconsider the figure, but they quit.
“What happened to the new companies I arranged……..” I couldn’t hear much after that. My hearing muscles were strained by the continuously concentrating to the low frequency sounds. So, I refrained myself from further and went back to my studies.

It was two hours now that I was in my room. And the water bottle was also empty. I stood up to take a healthy break from my studies and refresh myself. But as I passed through the hallway, I heard my father screaming with fear behind the closed doors. I went near the door to listen what was happening.

“I worked hard, day and night to help this company reach this feat. When your Father left it for us, it was hovering with loan of millions. I gave this company my twenty years. This company belongs to me. You were a piece of shit when you came to me begging for money. Everyone expected me to handover my businesses to my son but I believed you and gave you another chance. But….”
“There is no need to enumerate him all this, Dad. This person doesn’t deserve a place in this world. I think I know a better place for these rotten suckers.
“Pleeeease…. Don’t do this. I can…… explain. I admit. I admit. Please don’t pull the trigger. Brother, give me a chance to explain.”
“The time for admitting is gone my brother. There is little you can do now. Just pray for a good life in your next encounter to this world.”
“This……. was…. a …… mistake…. I admit. Please forgive me. I don’t want to die. I will leave everything, just now. Please stop your son, brother. Please stop him. My son, please don’t do it. You are a very good talented boy. Please don’t commit this crime.”
“What do you think? I will commit this crime. Think again old snake.”

I was gasping air in my body. My body grew cold. I had to hurry in with all my efforts.
“Dad…. Dad… open the door.. Dad….”
“Let him in, father. He should atleast witness his crime.”

The door opened. My father was lying on the floor, pale. My cousin was holding a gun pointing straight on his forehead. As I moved forward trying to stop the incident, the bullet was shot. It was too late.

The Blank "Face" (Part I)

It takes me few steps to reach the Club Aqua, it is just two blocks away from my building. And remaining busy for the five days of the week, Aqua is the perfect place to wash away my tiredness. I have many friends here and we make it a point to meet every Friday evening to share life. And today, it is even more important because it is a fortnight I visited the bar. It was closed last Friday.
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“Drunkard”, that’s the first thought that comes in my mind when my friends ask about my Father, A.Malhotra. Not because of his drinking but the incidents which followed after he was not in his senses that made me abhor him. Many of the times he used to take his whip and blast on his wife, my mother. Many a time, I was on the receiving end. And the scars still burn on my chest and my back. “Businessman, my father has his own business.” I tell them after giving second thoughts.
This is the third time I am changing my school in this session. I am used to it as this has been a routine in my life. Earlier I used to hate this because I had to make new friends whenever I changed my school but now it has become a routine in my life. I never understand what kind of business my father does. And nor I asked him ever as he is a short tempered bloody being who treats the others like shit. I sometimes tried to ask my mother, when she was alive, but she was rather rhetoric than candid. What I was able to learn was that my grandfather used to own a big business spread over various countries. After his death, it was divided equally among his three sons. My father was the youngest and a spoilt brat of his parents. No doubt how he grew out of a human being. But what surprised me was that we change our dwelling faster than normal. Nowadays we are in Manchester.
“How did your first day go?” a hoarse voice enquired as I entered the room.
“Who cares?”
“What kind of answer is that? And who taught you to speak to your father like that.”
I pretended not to listen and slipped into my room and shut the door behind me. I heard my father clamoring but I inserted the earplugs of my Ipod to listen the soothing music of Beethoven.

It is Sunday Morning and my mind is filled with some peace. My uncle, Aadesh Malhotra was visiting us. He is a good human being unlike my father. Nicely built, six feet tall, he had all the nicest manners possible in a human being. He always visited with a gift in his hand for me, and it didn’t even stop later till now as he more often comes to our place. His son also comes to our place but he is no less than my father. He used to bully me when we were kids since he was always healthier than me. As we grew older, he stopped doing pranks with me as he grew mature, I think. But his detest for me is still alive in his mind since we rarely talk.
That day, Uncle came to me to give me a packet of chocolates, as I still loved them even if growing of age. His son also came but moved away in other room without greeting me. My uncle asked about my studies and my life and then went away wishing me luck for my exams. He never liked to disturb students busy in studies. I asked him about his plans for today and he confirmed that he will be here the whole day. I smiled because that gave me a relief. My father never showed his berserk nature in front of his elder brother. But his brother was totally aware of his scorning nature. Many times, he saw the scars of my face but never said anything.

The Rider of the Knight

“Team meeting in 10 minutes.”
The skipper gave us a call to the meeting room after an hour chat with the coach. We have already lost 6 out of 7 matches with only 1 win in the first match. The batting has been poor with the skipper loosing his form from the last year’s IPL. Bowling has been worst. No magic from Sharma or Dinda this year. Dropping catches in South Africa has become a fashion and we are no different from them. Only Dada has shown a new promise diving at almost impossible catches and winning a few.
Me, well, due to many stars of the team, I had to sit all throughout these 7 matches. Just like many other players who are waiting for a match to play, I also see too little chance for a luck reversal. Even if I don’t get a chance, it is always gold when you can share the dressing room with big geniuses of cricket and bollywood. I mean, only few people of our country can imagine a big actor like SRK giving you much needed cheering for the next matches. Well anyway, after some minutes, we were all in the meeting for strategy-making for the next game.

Skipper, “ Guys, we have lost almost half the battle in this IPL. And we have only 7 matches left in our hands. And we have to win almost all the remaining matches to stand a chance in the semi-final. In all we were pathetic on the field, but we have to be back with a bang.”

SRK: Ofcourse guys. We are fighters and we have the biggest fighter in our team. We need to fire as a team and we will definitely. We won the previous game with Punjab and we will do it again.

Meanwhile,
Kaartik: Stop drooling young ass. It is a team meeting. And the coach gets really angry by such negligence.
Me: I am bored with all these inspirational talks. Its almost half past nine and I cant stop my eyes. Team Announcement is no surprise.
Kaartik : Don’t know all that, but please concentrate. We have a big game tomorrow.

What Kaartik said wasn’t a news for me. Every match is crucial for us now. But, it has been almost a routine by our skipper and owner to cheer us up from a bad loss. Our team needed some real energy boost by winning some matches. So, I was sitting in a corner trying to stop my tired eyes to stop closing and concentrate on the proceedings.

Coach: We have some changes in the team for tomorrow. So, I will announce the playing 11 for tomorrow. Saurav Ganguly will open with Brendon McCullum. Then, we have Brad Hodge, Yashpal Singh, David Hussey, Morne Van Wyke will keep the wickets. For bowling, we have Ishant, Agarkar and Kaartik. And we have a replacement for Dinda. Mashrafe Mortaza will be bowling tomorrow. And will probably open the bowling with Ishant. And another inclusion is of Abhishek Mukherjee. He shows promise and can be a good help in spin department. Good night boys. Have a nice sleep because we have a big day ahead.
(Claps went loud in the room)

“Ohhh…. What happened, did the meeting end?”
Before I could react, Dada came and congratulate me. Then Skipper followed.
Skipper: Have a blast tomorrow. Good night.
When they all went out, I asked Kaartik of what happened.
Kaartik: You went off when the team was announced? Damn, you are fool Abhi. You are going to play tomorrow. Now go and sleep on your bed now.

Whaaat…. Is it true? That’s the reason Dada congratulated me? I asked Murali again while we were passing down the hallway. He laughed out loud and told Ishant of my irresponsible act in the room. Both of them laughed and kicked me on my back. Getting kicked by two persons when you have a match tomorrow is not good. I almost moved two or three steps faster when Dada scolded from behind, “Mmmm…. Go to sleep now. Don’t injure the baby before he gets a ball to play.”
Another cheer roared in the hallway and everyone went to bed smiling.

But my day started only then. All my sleep was gone. I went to bed as told but got up within few minutes. It was tough for me to stick my back on the bed. I was feeling to go on the practice area and bowl the wickets out. My hands were going out of control to hold the bat and hit some imaginary sixes. So, I decided to take my bat and do exactly the same in the little empty space of my room. I went straight to my kit and took out my bat. I went to an end of the room and started hitting the bat on the floor.
Off the bowl goes and left. The ball was just outside the Off stump and I left it giving it much respect.
Again hitting on the floor, the next ball bowled.
Huge one, getting out of the crease, straight up for a huge six.
Happily, I started hitting the bat on the floor much harder.
Next ball on the offside and beautiful cover dri... oops.
The bat went straight up in the air touching the roof. Then , it came like a steel rod hitting the glass table right in the middle. The table glass, being very strong didn’t break into pieces but a huge crack followed to the corners. The flower vase, which was also glass, couldn’t bear the vibration of the table and started rolling on the table. And before I could react to it, it went straight down on the carpet and pieces.I moved slowly to the table to pick up my bat, put it back in the kit and went straight on the bed. My day was finally over.

I slipped out early in the morning to escape the chaos in my room. Today, I pulled in extra efforts in the practice. Bowling spin to various batsman with changing pace. Then, had a chat with Coach and skipper. The coach gave me some important tip to hold the nerves when bowling and the skipper just told me what he expects of me. Dada patted me when I had a successful fielding drill. Finally, it was 3.30 pm and it was time for us to be ready for the match.
The skipper came in and told us that it is a nice batting pitch so we gonna pile up 170-180 runs in 20 overs. And ours was batting as the day started with the Toss win. Now, every player started to get ready. Dada and skipper started padding up. I have a habit to bath before I go out, so even after much denials and anger from my teammates, I went for a shower. It really helps me to be cool. Till I came out with my golden jersey and my kit to the field, the game was about to begin. Umpires were on the field and the fielding side was getting set. Yuvraj was making some last minute changes and the ball is given to Pathan.
And here goes the first ball of the innings.


Its 75-5. 14 overs gone. Van-Wyke comes back and settles on the dug-out. He had a brief partnership with Dada at the other end, but the runs seem hardly nearer to what skipper told us. Agarkar just went to play with Dada, and the bowler, Piyush Chawla is looking very confident after taking 3 wickets already.

That’s high, very high. There is a fielder under it. And he takes the catch. Yuvraj has a safe pair of hands and he takes it easily. That’s the sixth wicket of the innings and Knights are in big trouble.

“Abhishek, go.” I was already padded up but I was least expecting to get batting. I walked in the field and have to face the ball. It was a maiden over by VRV Singh, the last ball of which went high in the air for a catch. It was 75-6 in 15 overs. As I went in, Dada came to me, “Just give me the strike, u don’t have to worry.” Pathan came in as Yuvraj wanted to finish off things early. He has started his run-up and…..

1: Slower delivery. Little outside off-stump. Full swing of the bat. And off the ball goes to the Leg side for a huge six. Got the meat of the Bat finely and went away in the crowd. KKR 81-6.

2: Straight one. And down the ground, straight shot. No one there. Full strength transferred to the bat for a six. KKR with back to back 6’s on 87.

3: Bouncer, but Abhishek gets down and moves the bat with the ball, touches it in the end for huge six over the third man. This man is really ticking the scoreboard fast. KKR 93-6.

4: What is this going to be? Slower ball again, hits the ball towards the mid-cover and it agggggaaaain goes to the crowd. Oh my god, another DLF maximum. KKR 99-6.

5: Huge one. This time on the off-side. And it travelled the whole stadium. Out of the ground. This boy is really on a roll here. 100 comes up for Kolkata Knight Riders and its 105-6.

I was living a dream. Another six and I would be sharing my name with Yuvraj Singh. The ball was lost outside the stadium so the umpires are yet to come up with the new ball. Dada came up to me to keep my cool and not rush up things.
The new ball is here. Yuvraj is getting the field set with Pathan. And here he comes.

6: Abhishek walks down the pitch. Pathan senses it. Bowls a slower bouncer. But it didn’t stop Abhihek to pull it over leg. The ball goes high in the air and……….


The mobile vibrates twice and my sleep gets a stop signal. I get up on my bed in my home. My head has grew heavy and it is morning and time to start a new day in college. It is 7 am and the kids are already out with their ball and bat. I looked towards the window recounting the moments of the dream. Really, the ninth straight loss has really got on my head yesterday.

No Turning Back

Ramsingh, where is my coffee?
Coming Sir. In a minute.
I don’t have a minute. Oh, I have to rush.. Ramsingh, leave the coffee. I will have something in the office. Oh, I don’t like these last minute rushes. Have to follow some strict rules from tomorrow.

Well, that’s my life. Fast, busy, Deadlines, meetings and almost every word that is used in the life of a Manager. Tough life, that’s what my friends say when they see me. But I love to be where I am. I get irritated with the same monotonous life my friends survive. A 9 to 7 job, coming to home, eating, sleeping, and then waking up the other day with…. ohhh the same schedule. And when the kids join in, the schedule gets even better. “Better” because, my friends, in unison, think that raising a child adds much more enthusiasm missing from your life. Even some of my friends have started taking the parenting classes to increase the enthusiasm. I don’t know how much has that thing added in their life, but of course, the crap chattering has multiplied of which I am least interested. I am single and am having a great time with myself. Some of my female friends keep giving me advices to get married and how it helps increasing your life’s scope but I try to escape such discussions saying, “I am busy. I hardly get any time off from my work.”

When I was a teenager, I used to think like this only. A good home, a beautiful wife, a simmering coffee, a nice chair and a computer. My projects will come through mail and I would work online to complete them. Why need to go to office when you can work from home. Simple living, high thinking. But once, I was sitting in home for almost 3 months or so. All day, I used to sit in front of computer, play some game, chat with friends, eat, play game, chat with friends, eat and sleep. Next day, same itinerary with only the timings changing. I continued the two months like this but then I started getting bored. It continued for some days till I realized that I should do something and take some measures to mend my art of living. I sat in the corner with a paper and a pencil and jotted down some points. I don’t remember what the points were, but within an hour, I discovered something buried deep inside me. In the next few days, I tried to do some things I decided in the paper and found I was much more happier than before. What were the things? Well, nothing great but many things in a day. I did almost every new things I surfaced and kept myself busy. At the end of the day, I got damn tired but my mind remained satisfied because every day, I had some new challenges to meet, some new works to do, and hence started my taste for this busy life.

I am the MD of a multinational brand with a high package. And even if I didn’t fancy the money much in my whole life, what kept me stick to this profession was the diversity of works I did for the company. In a day of work, I attend meetings, seminars, lunches and sometimes parties. I go for recruitment trips and sometimes to fix the deal, not in our country but foreign locations. I meet a hell lot of people with hell lot of ethics. And not that I am just profession minded. I am also a lead guitarist for my band, Spectrum for three years. WE meet every week, we perform at local concerts and we make music. Now all this happened so fast in my life because….. well, I don’t know because I couldn’t ever give it a thought.

Now, the only problem I face in my life is that I don’t have a routine in my life. I get up in the morning when my training instructor buzzes me. I run with him to the park, do my daily drills of exercises, come back home, have a nice shower and have go to office. I manage to get some breakfast Fast in the car because that’s something my trainer warned me to do. I reach office, I do some homework before going for meetings. I have lunch with my colleagues and sometimes my bosses. Then I attend some more meetings till the day ends up on my cozy bed for the night’s sleep. Routine? Forget it, my life is a routine changing every day.

That day, I had a meeting early in the morning. I had a bad headache last night and the night’s sleep didn’t vanish the enthralling effect. I asked my trainer to give me a day off and slept on my bed when I was supposed to workout. And the next moment, I got up it was quarter past 8. I was supposed to be on a restaurant at 9 sharp with one of my clients in a morning breakfast. So, I was hurrying up. I went to the shower straightaway and dressed up in a rocket speed. Then I rushed to my car and asked the driver to rush to Coffee Place in half an hour. Till then I would sit in the back and look quickly to the daily headlines. It is really interesting to see the previous days happenings consolidated on a piece of paper sitting behind in a AC luxury car. Truly speaking, we are in the age of nanotechnology with broadband and highest speed all around but this newspaper has never lost its charm one bit. It is the same as it was a century ago.

“Screeeeeeeeeeech….. Whammmmm…..”
“What happened? What the fish? What did you do Ramesh? Have you gone out of your senses?”
“It was coming from the wrong side of the road.”
“You should have looked it. If this is what I had to face, I would have never hired you as the driver.”
“Should I look what happene?”
“Are you mad? I have a meeting in 10 minutes. Quick, reverse and flee from the spot right now. Come on, fast”.

The Car reversed and moved forward at a much high speed jumping the next two or three red signals. The spot got invisible in seconds but I got worried of what happened back there. I reached the meeting in time and the day’s work compelled me to forget the incident much easily. Next day, I specially gave instructions to my driver to drive cautiously. I searched the whole newspaper for any headlines of yesterday’s incident but nothing. Clearly, the incident got unnoticed by the newspapers. Later in the office, I learnt that a local hindi newspaper had a small column of a Mercedes Benz- Tata Indica Collision, but nothing specific. I was sure enough that i am out of any controversies. Days passed and the incident got hazy and out of my mind. My life continued the same as it did.

I was in the mall today at noon. It was a rainy Sunday and I like to spend Sundays lazying around the city checking out the new stuff around. So, the rain didn’t spoil any of my plans. I rushed to Malad to the new Inorbit Mall inaugurated the same week. It was said to be Asia’s biggest Mall so I planned to check out this Mall. I was sitting in the Cafeteria eating my pizza and chicken wings from the famous Smokin Joe’s when i thought that my eyes searched someone familiar. I couldn’t remember but I have seen this guy somewhere. Yes, atleast the face has some similarities with my memory. Couldn’t recognize the lady sitting besides him.

“Yashad, isn’t it?”

“Yeah”

“Goodness god, man. I am Saraansh. Remember me?”

“ Mmmmm…. Oh yeah. Saale, itne din baad mil rha hai. Kahaa hai ajkal aur kya kar rha hai?”

“Abe main to yehi rehta hun, what about you? You were in Hyderabad, right?”

“It was long back Sir. I lived in Hyderabad 10 years ago. Now I live here with my family, meet my wife Sandhya. Sandhya, this hero is my school time friend, Saraansh.”
“Hello bhaisaab. Yashad has told a lot about you.”
“Well no surprise, we were best friends back then. Aur kamine, shaadi kar li aur bulaya bhi nahi. Aur ye kya haal bana rakha hai yar. Lost weight, lost your spectacles and what happened to your leg?”

“Nothing man. Tough luck. Met an accident long back. My car crashed with a Mercedes Benz. Next I remember, I was on a hospital bed with my feet plastered. Left leg bones broken. But now I am fine. Doctor replaced it with steel rods. Just have little pain while walking. Else I am fit as a fly. What about you?”

…………………………………….

I don’t remember what I talked after that. Maybe nothing, because I was almost choked. What I remember that I rushed out in ten minutes, drove back home and slept out till the next morning buzz of my trainer.