Chapter 1 – Today we play
“How far is the village, Driver? it’s been more than 2 hours ride. My back is aching traveling on this shitty road ” yelled Ameesh Mahajan. His yelling had an authoritative tone, it had the arrogance that a select few from the society have. The arrogance was not of a royal nature which would have concluded that the person is of royal blood. But no.. it was not. It had a more raw & dirty feel to it. The yell had the scent that is usually associated with dark places. Places that are usually thronged by goons, Drug dealers, Child traffickers.
So unsurprisingly, Ameesh Mahajan a politician who 10 years back was a notorious goon who had his hand in each and every illegal thing that you can imagine. But child trafficking was an area where he excelled in.
“Kids are definitely god. For me they are Lakshmi ” he used to crack this sick joke to his colleagues priding himself of the profession he was into.
Looking at him the concept of God and Karma seems very illogical. Because if there was really a God and if everyone paid the price of their bad Karma, then how did this criminal whose entire karma was dripping in horror become a politician and Mayor of Saharangbad which was situated 100 km from Aurangabad.
“We are almost there Sir,” Said the Driver with a visible timidness in his voice. The road they were traveling was a wide stretch of the road broken and fractured at many places. The road was accompanied by barren lands on both sides which had a mix of rusty orange and dry yellow color. You could hardly see any green vegetation around. Even the road was lonely with no person or animal except the 3 ambassadors of this politician struggling their way through.
“Who kept the school program in such scorching heat. I swear if it was not for the upcoming elections, I would have not come out of my home,” mumbled Ameesh while drilling his finger inside his right ear.
I was there too .. sitting beside the politician, judging myself, and my career choices.
My name is Brajesh and I was the reporter who was covering the inauguration ceremony of the school. I had a great ambition when I started as a reporter. I thought I would be covering the latest events & happenings. I thought I would be doing sting operation on politicians like the one sitting beside me and expose him to the public and get him prosecuted. But real life doesn’t work that way.
The latest events are covered by the reporters who are close to the editor and licked his boots. Sting operations are nothing but a staged event that is done with the permission of the concerned authorities. It is mostly done to eliminate unwanted politicians by the orders of the high ranked politicians. Its nothing but an encounter by a camera .. a paid encounter.
So when I joined this newspaper, I was full of vigor and enthusiasm. I wanted to do true journalism and in fact, I did it for the first two weeks. I did a sting operation on a businessman who was selling adulterated liquor. I had all the proofs and details required to shut his business and send him behind the bar. I was excited and I thought I have entered the world of journalism with a bang. It was a bang but in the opposite way. I was called in my editor’s office the next day and all the documents and videos were shredded right in front of me and the businessman. I was made to apologize to him; the most humiliating day of my life. I wanted to leave this journalism profession forever, but how could I? It was my dream to be a journalist, to bring out the truth in front of the public. So I hanged on… later I found out that this businessman was one of the key advertisers on our newspaper and that’s why my editor destroyed everything about the sting operation. Things didn’t stop there … I was removed from the team of frontline journalists and was put into covering public events happening outside Pune. And that’s precisely why I was sent from Pune to Saharangbad to cover a pointless event like this.
But little did I knew that what was going to unfold in the next couple of hours is going to be something that will shake not just me but the entire nation.
As our cars entered the school, we saw kids in solid blue trousers and a chequered shirt. If it was not for the students the school would have passed by as a deserted place with almost colorless walls that had cracked so wide you could place books inside, broken tables and chairs, rusted doors that closed with a lot of efforts. It almost looked like there was a huge earthquake that only happened just around the school premises.
As we opened the doors of the car to get out, a huge heatwave put us immediately out of the comfort zone of car AC that we were in for the past 2 hours. Mahajan’s round plum face was immediately covered in sweat, his bulging eyes were almost out of the eye socket. His white kurta immediately outlined the vest he was wearing due to sweat and the remaining portion glued to his bare body. With great discomfort, he got out. “Park it in shade,” said Mahajan.
The drivers looked around the barren land with no sign of a single tree for miles in a tizzy to confirm the utter absurdity of their boss’s order.
“Is he out of his mind ?” was the synchronous whisper of all the 3 drivers as they stormed off .
“Brajesh .. I need a good article tomorrow, make sure you get a good photo from an angle where I would look slim and smart ?” grinned Mahajan as if I was his personal photographer, but since I am a pussy I nodded in approval, although I have no idea of the angle in which this hippo looking politician will look slim. My canon D700 was dangling around my neck. It had accumulated the dust of the village creating a blanket around. I immediately blew the dust and wiped it clean … after all it was my favorite camera and my sole companion for all these years.
As I peeked through my camera while calibrating the focus I took one of the school kids as the subject. When I zoomed in, things started to clear out, the kid’s face sharpened and I could see him clearly. The kid was average in build and height with combed hair and dusky skin, dry chapped lips. The school uniform he was wearing too was not very clean or ironed, the shoes were torn in some places. But there was something uncomfortable about the boy.. his eyes. His eyes were blank and devoid of life which was very unusual as you normally see kids with eyes that are full of life, mischief, and fun. But not this one… it looked lifeless and brittle. AS my camera moved from his face to his hand, I saw his fist was clenched very hard . I removed my focus from that kid to another girl standing in front of him. She was tall and fair but again had the same shabby looking school uniform. But her eyes .. again similar to the earlier kid blank and lifeless. All the kids welcomed the Politician with a smile but dead, hostile eyes.
Mahajan was welcomed on stage with an almost dry garland which he immediately removed and handed it over to his bodyguard. I tried squeezing a picture in between but was unsuccessful. The hot wind had made everyone sweaty as everyone made a fan out of whatever they had in their hand. I didn’t have anything with me hence I resorted to flapping my hands to ease the sweatiness on my face. There were 3 chairs on the stage. The stage itself was around 1 foot higher from the ground. The middle seat was kept vacant for the politician and he was accompanied by the school principal and a teacher.
After the awkward greeting, the politician settled down on his seat. The teacher meanwhile got up and came forward to start the program. He adjusted his thick black-framed spectacles as he ran his eyes through a piece of paper he was holding.
“Students, today we have among us our Honorable Mayor Mr. Mahajan. He is here for the 25th anniversary of our Vidyavihar School. He has contributed a lot to our school since he became the mayor ”
“Cough, cough ”
The teacher’s speech was interrupted by a coughing sound of some students which turned the politician’s face into guilt and uneasiness. The teacher and the politician’s gaze was trying to locate the one who coughed and interrupted but were unable to do so.
The teacher immediately wrapped his speech “He is striving for our village as well as for our school’s well being. And now without further ado, I would request Mr. Mahajan to say a few words ”
Mahajan, visibly irritated by travel, heat, and discomfort came forward and pasted a smiling mask on his face and started his speech
“Dear Students, This School which has been a founding stone of this village, has created a long list of successful citizens. We know the importance of this institution and will continue supporting it.”
Mahajan was almost yelling as he had the habit of speaking in rallies.
“This school and you children ….” Mahajan spoke as he glanced at school walls that had cracks, dust rolling over, and students in a destitute condition. The students with a blank face were staring at the politician. His voice suddenly dried and choked as he was unable to look at the students. He then decided to cut short his speech and concluded
“Once again I wish you a very happy 25th anniversary. ”
He smiled expecting applause but all he could hear was the hot wind blowing through the creeks of the school. He immediately went back and stepped down from the stage.
“What a waste of time. such pathetic crowd ” Mahajan mumbled as I was clicking pictures of his awkward speech.
“Let’s leave ..” whispered Mahajan to his bodyguard. Mahajan spoke in the principal’s ear “Do teach some manners to your kids sir. Or else don’t bother calling me and wasting my time”. The principal folded his hands with an apologetic expression towards the Mahajan as they started leaving. The principal and teacher got up as the politician, his guards and I started walking. Just then we heard a huge round of applause from the students, still blank face but the huge roar of applause .. all staring at him. Some kids were clapping so hard that I could see their hands looking red as a hot iron.
I clicked that weird moment with my camera, while my mind was flooding with various questions
Why are these students behaving so weird?
Why are they so serious?
What do they have against the politician?
With all these questions weighing on my head, I tagged behind the rushing politician towards his car. Before we left an old man bumped into him.
“Have a great stay tonight ” whispered the old man whose skin resembled the surrounding… Cracked, dry, and no sign of life. He left the premise while the politician and I had the same question ” Stay? What the hell is this old man talking about ?”
Our footsteps were even faster as everything started to look uncomfortable and creepy.
The moment we reached the car we couldn’t find any driver around and the car was locked.
Mahajan who was sweating profusely and had one of the weirdest inaugurations of his life lost his cool.
“Where is the driver Madarchod ” Swore Mahajan with his eyes bloodshot due to heat and was visibly trembling.
Everyone started looking for the driver but all we could see was acres and acres of barren land everywhere with no signs of anyone.
“Sir, All the tires are flat ” whispered one of the bodyguards. The politician’s anger was transcending into a panic now.
As I headed towards the back of the car, I saw something written on the windshield
IT’S PAYBACK TIME 🙂
The smile at the end made me very uncomfortable. I knew something’s not right. I took a picture of it out of sheer terror mixed with curiosity.
I immediately recalled the Old man’s comment who had bumped into Mahajan.
Have a great stay tonight… My heart started pumping so hard that I could hear it like a bass of loud music.
A helpless reporter, a deserted village, an arrogant politician, weird school & people, missing drivers, and flat tires.
SEEMS LIKE A DEADLY COCKTAIL I AM NOT AT ALL READY TO GULP
BUT AS YOU CAN SEE .. I HAVE NO OPTION. I HAVE TO PLAY …
Chapter 2 – Life for a life
“What the hell is happening here Principal ?” yelled Mahajan who was almost drenched in his own sweat and saw Principal & teacher come out of the school. The Principal who was in his 60’s, lean with frameless spectacles, salt pepper beard was astonished and petrified by the swearing of the Politician.
“Where are my drivers? Why are the tires flat ?” yelled the politician again while pointing his fat fingers at the tires.
“It is happening in your school premises. This is how you treat your guest. This is going to go very tough with you… principal… very tough” warned Mahajan widening his already protruding red eyes and shaking his index finger.
The already frail-looking principal looked shaken by the politician’s warning. But still, he composed himself and spoke as he folded his hands.
“I honestly have no idea Sir. We came running outside when we heard your voice. Sir… why don’t you come inside and rest while I check what’s happening ” said the principal in a soft tone.
“Get someone to fix my tires. And send someone to look for my drivers ” Ordered Mahajan who was tired standing in the heat and was drained of his energies. He liked the principal’s idea of resting in shade.
“Sir, I can send someone to look for the drivers, but tires cant be fixed. We don’t have anyone in our village who does that. ”
“What ? what do you mean ?”
“Our village doesn’t even have proper basic amenities. Who is going to own a car here sir”
“So you must be having bicycles, bikes, something ?” groaned the irritated politician
“No sir. This is the only thing we use to travel” said the principal pointing his wrinkled hand covered in grey hair towards his leg.
I was surprised by hearing the conversation.
A village where even cycles are not available?
“We have a bus that goes to Aurangabad tomorrow at 6 am. ”
“What? What are you trying to say ?”
“Its already 6 pm sir. The only bus that goes from this village to Aurangabad is at 6 am and 2 pm. ”
“Are you telling me that until and unless I find my drivers, I will be staying here till tomorrow ?”
“I am afraid so… Sir ” said the principal looking down at the ground.
HAVE A GREAT STAY TONIGHT
These words and the blank face of the old man started dancing in front of my eyes when I heard the conversation. Something is not right here. How come the tires are flat, the drivers missing, the old man prophesying our stay and then the only way out of this place is tomorrow.
After 2 hours
“Sir .. I had sent people to search.. and they looked around for more than 10 kilometers.. but .. ” the principal hesitated to conclude his sentence. His eyes were fixed at the ground for obvious reasons.
“God Damn it! What on earth happened to my drivers? Did the earth swallow it ” Mahajan roared in anger while smashing both his fists on the table he was sitting which was followed by a cracking sound. The sun was setting and the room we were sitting had gone dark with an exception of few rays piercing the walls from the windows.
“Should I arrange for food, Sir ?”
“ You must… Principal … and arrange good food with chicken and mutton. My guards are hungry as well. Can you get beer as well? ”
The principal didn’t like the shamelessness of Mahajan. His frail face looked irritated as we could see him grinding his teeth. He didn’t reply and the silence gave Mahajan the answer.
“ So food .. do arrange. Also, how are we going to sleep? that too on … ”
Mahajan was at a loss of words as he couldn’t connect the fragility of the classroom and its ugly looking old furniture with a word that could portray its pitifulness
“I will see what I can do … ”
“These 2 peons will be here to take care ” spoke the principal looking at me and stormed out of the room.
I drank water from the bottle immediately regretting it. The water had become lukewarm and had developed a weird taste.
“I swear, when I find those drivers, I am going make each one of them stand naked tied to a tree for 2 days without food or water” Mahajan’s eyes twinkled imagining his vengeance on them.
“Then I will make them walk from here to Pune.”
I knew this plum minister was a bad guy, but when I heard these words I realized the ugliness inside him. He would go to any extent to please his inflated ego.
His 2 bodyguards were sitting on another table with their heads down. Both were in black Safari with their biceps almost trying to break free from the trap of their half sleeve. And surprisingly, the same was the case with their bulging stomach. Anyone could easily guess the kind of diet they must be munching every day. A full chicken, a dozen eggs, beer, rice, and whatnot. So today when they were sitting idle for the last couple of hours without munching anything, they looked like drug addicts confined in a rehab. Their face had the pitiful expression of a dog whose owner forgot to feed them. They were rolling their hands frequently on their tummy almost consoling it to be patient.
I got bored sitting idle and drinking the hot water, so I decided to go out for a stroll.
It was dark outside with only outlines of mountain and road visible. I saw the peons sitting in the corner smoking beedi. So I went towards them.
They immediately got up but I signaled them to sit by waving my hand
“Can I have a beedi ?” I asked them to which their face lit up in happiness. They immediately offered one and lighted it up with their matchbox. The burning beedi was the most relaxing thing I had seen the entire day.
“You take photos… Sir ?” asked a curious peon staring at my camera.
“I am a reporter and I take photos of the events I cover,” I said while the beedi smoke was making a linear line from my hand to my face.
“Weird day today. Where do you think the drivers went ?” I asked while taking a puff from the beedi.
“Must have run away from the atrocity of that Minister sir ” laughed the other peon.
“Hey, the school children, they looked very angry at the Minister. Why ?”
“They have all the right to be sir. Most of the school children’s parents are farmers. It has been 3 years the rainfall has been less and no one could produce a decent yield even for their families let alone to sell. After a lot of agitation and request, the government had sanctioned a drought relief fund of around 1 crore. This would have eased the pain of the farmers. Although the Minister got the sanction from the government he just did not pass it on to the farmers. The farmers begged for it for a long time but this guy didn’t budge. He just kept promising the next dates which never came. Out of frustration and lack of food to provide for their families, 23 farmers committed suicide. Most of their kids are students in this school. So in a way, he killed their parents ”
“So didn’t the police investigate the suicide and the reason ?,” I asked with my eyes wide open and my mouth touching the floor out of the shock of what I was hearing
“The investigation happened Sir, but everything gets managed here. The police, the hawaldars , the reporters .. ” the peon immediately realized I was also a reporter
“Sorry Sir .. but even reporters were managed ”
“ So finally nothing happened ?”
Both the peons nodded in affirmation.
I was sad but hardly surprised. This Mahajan, a murderer of 23 innocent farmers and orphaned so many children. No wonder those kids looked furious. He just made their life, even more, harder ( As if it wasn’t harder in the first place here). This is what happens when you give power to a monster. Their appetite just keeps increasing and they won’t mind swallowing anyone and everyone in their way. They become the human black hole.
“Sir !” came a tiny voice from behind. When we turned back there stood a school kid. The darkness made it difficult to see and all I saw was the kid’s big eyes and his blue school uniform.
“I saw the drivers there on the farm.” the kid pointed his finger towards his right side.
Both peons flicked their beedis and rushed inside to inform the Politician.
“Good job kid. Let’s go, before they run away. I have a lot of things planned for them.” laughed the politician with excitement while getting himself up from the table with multiple efforts. His weight was so much that he couldn’t get up at once. He first turned on to his right putting his weight on his right hand then on his right leg and finally on his left leg.
The 2 bodyguards too got up in the same manner and were relieved that they will finally be going home.
“Show us the place kid ”
So the kid was walking in front and we were following him. It was pitch black in the night and we were not able to see anything. We were all flashing our mobile lights and were treading cautiously.
Although the politician and his bodyguards were happily following the kid, I was a little bit skeptical.
How did the kid find the drivers? How is he sure they would stay at the same place? why didn’t the drivers come with him?
“Hey, where are you running kid! Stop! .. wait … ”
Mahajan barked when he saw the kid run. My thoughts broke when I heard the roar and before I could locate my focus on the kid, he had disappeared.
The darkness started feeling dangerous. Every crack we heard of the grass made us scan everything around us.
My skepticism became stronger by the minute and before I could realize anything thing I felt a white cloth pressed against my mouth and nose, I tried struggling but the grip was very strong. The already dark vision in front of me started fading and all I saw in the last moments before losing my consciousness was a lot of flickering lights gathering closer to the politician and the bodyguard and the cacophony of everyone screaming.
When I came back to consciousness I was tied to a tree and 2 kids were standing beside me with a wooden torch in their hand. Flames erupted ferociously from them and I could feel it warmness on my face. As I started gathering my vision I saw a lot of kids standing in front of the tree.
“We don’t want to hurt you. Stay calm and just watch. We will untie you. Take your camera and shoot what we tell you to shoot. Okay ?” said the kid standing on my right. This kid looked older and taller and even at a young age he had muscular arms and I could see a cloth peeking out of his trousers. That could be the cloth that was used to drug me.
I nodded in approval ( As if I had any other option )
Are these kids? They looked more mature than me in those yellow flames emitting out of those torches. Their faces were hardened and had a blank determined expression. I immediately gather my camera and was told to focus on another Tree where Mahajan and his bodyguards were tied. Mahajan was very furious and his eyes looked like tomatoes with a black dot in the middle. He revolted and struggled to break free from the rope tying him but the kids had tied him pretty well.
“You all are going to die, I will kill all of you. you don’t know what you have done. You all are going to regret it. You still have a chance…Release me! and I will think of having some mercy”
“You still think you are in charge. ” laughed a kid who was standing right in front of the Politician. He was taller and older than other kids gathered.
“We are in charge here. We are the ones who did everything that happened from the morning. Actually, we are the ones who planned to invite you. ”
I couldn’t believe that it was a kid who was speaking. His eyes shined with confidence.
“You killed my father, his father, her father, and all the other kids that you see here. You destroyed our life so irrevocably that we don’t even know if we could ever rise again. You did all this just to fill your bank account.”
“Release me you little fuckers or I will snap your neck ” groaned Mahajan who was drained of his energies standing for such a long time. His huge belly was divided into 4 parts due to the ropes circling him and it squeezed and expanded rapidly.
“23 deaths because of you. You will die of 230 stabs today.”
The boy signaled 3 kids. They came forward with a knife in their hands and without a moment of hesitation, they pushed all 3 knives inside the politician and removed it and did it again and again and again.
“Ahhhh….. ” his painful voice pierced the silence of the night. Even I was horrified by the sight.
“Do you still feel in control … Mahajan. Don’t exhaust all screams immediately. This will continue for a long time. We want to see all the blood flow out of your body… ” said the kid coming closer to the politician whose blood had started filling his white shirt and descended downwards. There was no response.
The kid signaled again. 3 other kids came forward with the knife and pushed their knives inside in places other than the previous spots.
There was a moan again. I could clearly sense the fear of Mahajan in those unbearable moans.
The politician’s entire portion below the chest area was full of blood and the blood was conquering new areas with every passing moment.
“And you … the bodyguards. You too will die the same death as your boss. ” said the kid with a firmer tone in his voice.
The guards started pleading and even crying but nothing changed. 6 kids came with their knife and started puncturing the guards.
“Stop!I will pay you the money…All of it … I will give you more. Leave me .. please ”
All children started laughing when they heard his promise. My camera was fixed on the politician as instructed.
“Do you think we still trust a monster like you. Just 10 min back you were warning and threatening to kill us. We are done with you Saheb ” Said the Kid as all of them came forward and started stabbing Mahajan and his bodyguards. Even in the dark, I could see the blood slowly flowing on the ground reflecting the flames.
“Hope you enjoyed your stay, Mr. Mahajan,” said an old voice. It was the same old man who had bumped into the politician in the morning. He lit the homemade petrol bomb he was carrying hand threw it at the politician. The fire started from the politician’s shoulder where it had landed and quickly covered the entire circumference of the politician. The old man flung two more petrol bomb bottles on the bodyguards and slowly the entire bark of the tree was on fire. The sound of burning flame got mixed with terrifying screams and moans of all the three burning men. All kids and the old man watched the burning patiently as if they were watching a Diwali fire show.
I was standing there trembling as I held my camera which witnessed something that has never been witnessed by anyone in the world. A politician stabbed and burned alive by children.
The burning continued for a couple of hours and I passed out somewhere in the middle tired and terrified by watching and hearing the horror.
I woke up to a foul smell of burnt flesh and saw it was dawn and the tree had survived the fire but the men were charred. There were no ropes as they had burned in the fire. All you could see was three charred bodies sitting peacefully under the tree.
After the fire mellowed down, all kids and the old man came to me. The Older kid started talking…
“We are sorry to put you through all this. You can go to Aurangabad. Please show the world what you saw, so that these politicians can understand that their crimes will not go unpunished. ”
The Kid smiled. I could see relief and satisfaction on his as well as other kids’ faces. Their blank eyes had a little bit of life return in them.
A week back I published this article which became huge news. It was not just national news but international news. The video had gone viral and every news channel and paper was covering it. I have been giving interviews since then.
Soon after my news report, the police went to the village to capture the kids. But all they got was corpses of all 23 kids and the old man around the same tree where they had killed the ministers. They had consumed rat poison.
That again became global news.
The Investigation Committee was established and the land acquired by Mahajan was auctioned along with all his properties. The funds were given to the remaining farmers. This time it was given through cheque to all concerned families.
I am sure most of the politicians must have taken notice and hopefully, some might change their attitude and be a lit less greedy.
Because I don’t think anyone else would like to play the SCHOOL GAME again.
