Life Through BeBo

It was a Sunday afternoon in the month of June all the flats in Melody apartment had shut doors because of the hot scorching sun no parent in the Melody apartments would let their kids wander around in the verandah floored with black marbles, The Apartment was named so because the owner of the plot where it was built was said to have a daughter who always liked Chocolates, And “Melody Chocolates" were her favorite. Melody apartments were the tallest in the vicinity, all kinds of people stayed in here from different sects, region and religion. Each of the community would celebrate their festivals in a grander manner so that they could affirm their presence in the apartment too. On that Sunday there was one window open from room #304, 3rd floor and one could see a fairly tanned girl aged 8 years rubbing her face gently against the hot iron bars on the window; she must have liked the feeling of the sun cooked bars on her cheeks. She was called “Bebo” short name for Babitha Ramalingam and had been sharing her apartment with her parents Mr.Ramalingam and Janaki Devi who was her step mother. They were a Tamil Iyengar family of four with younger brother “Ashu“, short name for Ashwinarayan Ramalingam born to Janaki whom Mr. Ramalingam married an year after Bebo's birth. Mr. Ramalingam‘s parents had expired during his matriculation and had then been all alone with a couple of relatives who would allow him in for a weekend break. Bebo's mom had died due to some maternal problem on the day of Bebo's birth, Understandingly Bebo never had been wished on her birthday, but she never seemed to have a problem with that. Janaki was a very caring Mom she loved Bebo as much as she did Ashu, Mr.Ramalingam thanked God for Janaki’s generosity Bebo was special to him more than Janaki and Ashu and that was because Mr.Ramalingam’s first marriage was a love marriage, he had eloped with his landlord’s daughter who too was from an Iyengar family but after dissent from Radha’s parents from marrying an orphan they had got married in the famous Meenakshi temple of Madurai, Radha had him promise to her that he must marry again and let Bebo never feel her absence and so did Mr.Ramalingam, Janaki Raman was from the parte caste registered under the OBC category as per the Tamil Nadu Government notice. Janaki Raman had been working with Mr.Ramalingam as a junior advocate and had proposed to him on the Christmas Eve exactly after 6 months from Bebo’s birth, Mr.Ramalingam being a senior advocate in the Central court of Chennai did hesitate initially but 6 months time was enough for him judge her character. This time it was a well arranged marriage as Janaki’s parents Mr. & Mrs. Raman were open minded and had faith in their daughters decision though initially they did hesitate, but after knowing a person like Ram they knew that he would be an ideal husband. Though initially Mr. & Mrs. Raman did try to fill Janaki’s ear with names of all the boarding schools available in Chennai, Janaki affirmatively said that she would never part with Bebo as for the year she had worked with Ramalingam she’d often take Bebo from Ramalingam’s arms and walk around till he’d complete his work and she loved taking care of Bebo. Bebo and Ashu enjoyed playing together. Bebo loved the way Ashu described all the toys that daddy would get for them though she herself never liked playing alone; she was always scared she’d loose them. Ashu always went to school by bus along with his other school mates, But Bebo was always accompanied by Mom Janaki to the school by walk she liked walking along with mom as Janaki would always tell stories about how god had created so many things in this world and how beautiful his creation was. Janaki would pick Bebo back to home by 1:30pm every weekday. Bebo would then wait for Ashu to come and play, but Ashu’s bus arrived only at 4:30pm. Ashu would always ask mom to put him to the same school as Bebo so that he too would come back home soon. Bebo would laugh aloud and tease Ashu that her school was for the intelligent students only as her mom would always tell her. Both the kids would sit on the mat laid by mom and shout and sing aloud till mom would come and serve them something to keep their mouth busy. Dad would normally be late not because he had much work as the court would anyways close by 5:00pm but because of the traffic in this moribund city life which always ate your share of time to relax. Bebo and Ashu would start screaming “DADDY vandutar”(means Daddy has come) at the pitch of their voice till dad would lift both of them in his arms. Mr. Ramalingam would then take them to their bed and make sure that no creature would invade his kids sleep. As any other day Janaki had left Bebo and Ashu to their school and came back home. Janaki had finished all house hold work and was down to take an afternoon nap, she’d always loved her afternoon sleep as that came after a hectic morning and needed to set her alarm to 1:00pm so that it would be just right to go pick Bebo from her School.Today it was already 1:15, Janaki was still sound sleep the Alarm clock did not ring and probably Janaki trusted her Alarm clock so much that she did not want to be disturbed by any other noise. Bebo was excitedly waiting for her mother in her School, she was the last one left with Marry, Kids at Bebo’s school dearly called her Marry Aya, she was a nice old woman In her late 50’s, Mary had been working in this school since she was 25 and hailed from a very poor converted Protestant family. Mary waited with Bebo till2:00pm there were no signs of Bebo’s mother coming. She had informed the head mistress Mrs.Dsouza about Bebo not having been picked; Mrs. Dsouza wanted Mary to wait for some more time as it had never happened in the past that Janaki had not turned up except for those days when Janaki had been admitted to the hospital for her maternity treatment when Mr.Ramalingam would fill in for her. Janaki got up realizing that her dream had lasted just too long, she was shocked to look at the Clock with its needles reading 2:30pm, she cried aloud “BEBO” she quickly went to pick her phone and found that there were 10 missed calls from Bebo’s school understandingly from the principle’s desk. She dialed the number and called up the school luckily the peon Krishna was still there Mrs Dsouza had informed the peon that Mary Aya would be dropping Bebo back to her house. Janaki spoke very fast , so fast that the Krishna couldn’t understand what she had asked.“Bebo yenge” was the quick cry to Krishna’s plead for her to repeat. Krishna was just in his late 20’s and calmed her down and told her that Mary Aya had waited for long and even tried calling her home but since nobody had picked up the call had picked up Bebo in an auto and was on her way to Bebo’s home, “Please do pay Mary also for the return journey “ Krishna told Janaki. Janaki prompltly said yes.with a sigh of relief Janaki kept the receiver down and drank a glass of water faster than even speed with which she filled the glass. Though Janaki had never given a chance to Mr.Ramalingam to ever complain about the way she treated Bebo she was still scared and was thinking of what to say if Mr.Ramalingam found out that Bebo had been escorted back home by a school worker, she said to herself that she’d say she had mistakenly got hit on the head by the wooden kitchen cupboard and had fell unconscious and only got up after there was a large honk of a lorry on the road . She thought this would be the right excuse. For now her only worry was to see Bebo back home, she did love Bebo a lot too, but was too scared to break her husbands trust after what happened when he had overheard her parents who had wanted Bebo to be admitted to a boring school. Ram had not eaten the whole day. Only after a day of crying and promises had Ram been convinced about her love to Bebo. She did not want that to happen again. Mary had asked the auoto driver to take her through the market and wait till she bought some vegetables to take back home now that she was going on a free ride as the principle had assured that the auto charge be paid by the wards parent itself also the principle had given 200 Rs just in case. The auto driver parked at the busy parking lot near the market. Mary asked Bebo to wait in the auto till she returned and had asked the driver to keep a watch on her, Mary was busy buying some vegetables later she shifted to the fruits section now that she had her principle’s money she was sure that Janaki would give her auto charge and dint mind spending away the principle’s cash which she promised to herself that she would return it once she gets the next months pay. Bebo had never been left al alone like this in a public place and in a stranger’s auto, Bebo wondered why her Mom did not turn up. She had always liked being walked back home with her mom as her mom would always tell her stories on her way back In the morning mom had told her a story about “Cinderella and the seven dwarfs”. And had promised to end it in the evening walk. She missed it now! It was already 3:20 Janaki started to get scared now. She had called up the peon again to know where Mary was. Krishna had consoled her that might be she was struck in a Traffic Jam. Janaki had no choice but wait at the doorstep. It was 4:00pm already Bebo dint know the time but knew she had waited too long sitting in the auto and the auto driver had been smoking outside the auto because Bebo had started to cough over the smoke accumulating in the auto, Bebo now started to get scared she started to slowly cry for “Ayyah” she did this repeatedly nobody answered neither the auto driver.. Bebo tried to walk out of the auto and slipped and fell nobody came to pick her as the Auto had been parked in a lane where people hardly walked she got up herself and cried for mummy, nobody heard her. Meanwhile Janaki was waiting at the doorstep waiting for the bell, she was sure of the address that was written on Bebo’s diary. All of sudden the Bell rang aloud , Janaki ran to the door only to be surprised by Ram standing with Bebo’s favorite a stuffed teddy in his hands big enough to hide Bebo’s face if she hugged it. Bebo had hurt her knee badly and cried aloud now due to pain, there wasn’t a soul around to even lift her. She stood all by herself and walked a little further with bleeding legs and .she could feel the blood streaming down her left knee and also a little pain on her forehead. Bebo kept walking till she heard a couple of vehicles honking, It was evening already time for all office goers and school vans with screaming kids to head back to home. In a place like that nobody has time to even stop and watch for the signal to turn green people would zoom away immediately as the opposite traffic stopped. Not sure if the License providers ever included this question in the Written test or the people were not bothered as nobody had ever followed such rules or could be even that the Cops never bothered as it was their right to catch such people and get their wallets to smell fresher notes often. Janaki told everything to Ram. Ram was shocked initially but calmed down soon as there was nothing that had happened intentionally and also that his trust over Janaki had increased over the years they had spent together. Ram suggested that he’d go towards the school and if he happened to spot Bebo’s auto somewhere he’d pick her up. Or o.w it would be fine if the Ayya dropped her home. Janaki was happy firstly because of Ram’s composedness and also because she need not go in search of Bebo now and she’d wait till the Ayya came home and dropped her sweetheart Bebo. Ram started his Baja Chetak and waved to Janaki and left the gate, Janaki wiped her tears with an end of her sari and watched Ram till he went out of sight. Ram went through the same way as Janaki would normally take Bebo to school to. Meanwhile the Mary ayya returned to the auto carrying a big bag full of vegetables a black plastic placed at the top of all the vegetables, she had bought some fishes to cook home. And in the other hand she carried her purse with a candy in one hand to compensate for Bebo’s wait in the auto. She called for Bebo in a laughing mood “Bebo I’ve got something for you dear”. Alas! Bebo was not in the auto she dropped her bag down with the chocolates, one fish from the cover peeped out to taste some mud as the plastic tore. Mary cried for the auto driver “screaming ran around the auto two three times then ran to find the next lane. She did manage to find a lane, her face started to turn pale. She was scared where Bebo had been kidnapped. She found a bar at the extreme end in the lane. The auto driver slowly came out of it yes he was drunk indeed Mary caught hold of his collar and asked him for Bebo, “WHAT BEBO” was his reply in a drunkard tone and he pushed her aside. Mary managed from falling on the road. The people in the bar thought that this was one another husband wife problem, nobody cared to even come out and enquire. Over repeated questioning the auto driver said he asked her to sit in the auto till he returned.Mary immediately ran towards the main road to find a Phone booth she had remembered Janaki’s residential number Ram drove all the way to the school looking around on the roads everywhere to find his daughter but in vain. He reached school and enquired at the gate if Mary had taken an auto or had gone by walk. The Watchman had told he did not know as the auto’s would have to be taken from the main road and auto’s were not allowed in the Lane to the school as it would be dangerous for the kids who walk in the small lane leading to the school. Ram started to get nervous he immediately took out his cell phone which Bebo’s natural mother had gifted to her he dialed the house number quickly only to be angered even more by the answer he’d got from Janaki, Mary had called Janaki and told her what had happened. Ram angrily shouted and asked her where exactly Mary had lost Bebo. Janaki quickly kept the receiver down and informed her neighbors to take care of Ashu if as he was about to arrive in some time. She wasn’t very bothered about him as the there were many students in this apartment fro the same school and also that the kids were not allowed outside the gate without being accompanied by their parents. Janaki’s eyes had swollen due to intense crying she almost tumbled on the stairs she dint want to take the stairs scared if she’d get stuck.She ran towards the gate and managed to find an auto and asked him to go to the market as quickly as possible. Meanwhile Ram reached the market parked his Scooter not bothering to see that he had parked it right under the No parking board. Ram started to run in all directions he had not seen Mary before but he had managed to ask the watchman about the attire she had worn . She had worn a blue gown with yellow flowers printed all over was the watchman’s reply. Ram ran around the entire place in the market. He was in despair his daughter was missing but he had to find Mary first his agony was growing immensely. Finally at the end of the market road he managed to hear a lady cry and shout at somebody it was Mary who had been surrounded by the crowd in the market who was throwing mud over the auto driver and crying aloud. Ram intervened quickly pulled out Mary of the crowd and together they ran in the direction of the auto. Janaki was weeping all the while in the auto, She had not listened to what the auto driver was asking her, finally the auto driver stopped asking her understanding that she was in deep pain. Coincidently he stopped exactly where the auto that carried Bebo was parked , Janaki spotted Ram and Mary running towards her, Janaki immediately got out and handed over whatever she had in hand the auto driver shouted at her to give her the change but Janaki wouldn’t wait for that there was something important than the change she was worried about. Mary burst out pleading for forgiveness, Ram then decided that all three would split and search in three directions. The auto driver who had accompanied Janaki was listening to all this and offered to help, All four split in three directions, Ram had asked the auto driver to accompany Janaki along as he could understand how guilty she’d be feeling though it was not her fault. Ram went to the end which ran into the market also to find the police station where he wanted to complain of his lost beloved child. Janaki and the driver went in the direction towards the main road asking all the way if somebody had seen a girl walk by that way, to their dismay nobody seemed to have noticed. They ran to the end of the lane where again the driver asked for Bebo to the shops at the start of the road one shopkeeper did answer. Ram had now reached the police station he had been to police stations before as he was a lawyer and often did. The inspector in charge recognized Ram and enquired to know had happened. Ram was panting badly he couldn’t speak Inspector noticed and made him sit and ordered for a glass of water which Ram drank as if he had never tasted it before. “My daughter Bebo has gone missing” he couldn’t control crying like a small kid Inspector consoled him quickly started to write the FIR. The shopkeeper took Janaki and the driver aside and put his arms around the driver and whispered in his years, the driver couldn’t control his shock he watched the shopkeeper stop his speech, Janaki cried out aloud to the driver suspecting something. The driver cried and said to her that Bebo had met with an accident the shopkeeper rushed to the place where the accident had happened along with the driver. Janaki had fainted while she heard this; the neighboring shop owner quickly appeared and was sprinkling some water on her face. The driver watched the crowd right in front of the road all traffic policemen’s around it the driver pushed through the crowd to find a small girl being carried from a pool of blood which had dried up because nobody cared to admit her to the hospital everybody had gathered around it just to watch her struggle, finally the girl succumbed to her injuries. Inspector had completed his FIR when Ram spoke out to say to him “Bebo is blind”.

Ego Bendito Gott

Yaj called his friend Benjamin Ralph in the wee hours of a cold Sunday.

"Good morning Ben! Have you planned anything for today?"

"Anything that keeps me away from home" Ben replied in a drowsy tone.

How about a movie? Yaj asked.

“Okie Dokie boss I’ll be there by 11:00 am, well go for the11:30am show” Ben replied.

“I’ll be waiting”Yaj replied.

Yaj cut the call and threw himself on his bed.

Ben had been Yaj's friend for around 16 years; they had studied in the same school and spent their childhood with the same circle of friends, but had never been as close as they were now. They would usually meet up during weekends just to take time off their moribund corporate life.

Yaj had another friend named Gott Freeman; Gott was a very famous magician in the town. Gott often performed shows that would benefit the poor people. Everyone rich or poor were invited for his shows whoever wanted could donate as much as they wanted. All the money he made out his shows was donated to the orphanages in and around the town. People in the town treated him as someone supernatural who could perform any kind of miracle.

It was already 15 minutes past eleven; Ben had still not showed up.

“Beep Beep!” Somebody had been honking at Yaj’s gate,

As expected it was Ben and Yaj’s Dog “Goggy” started to bark furiously. Goggy loved eating flesh, and Goggy hated Ben because he’d never get him an ounce of flesh or at least bare minimum a bone to lick, though Ben so often visited Yaj’s home.

Yaj came out wearing his flowered pajamas much to the anger of Ben.

“U still aren’t ready bro! What’s the matter with you? Don’t you know show is to start in another 15 minutes...?” Ben shouted at Yaj.

Yaj was used to all this as Ben would always turn up late and so late that Yaj would have dropped the plan itself.

“Which movie is it?” Yaj inquired in a casual manner as though he had a special plane booked which would land him right at the ticket counter.

“Not sure today its Sunday alright...They must have released a new movie this week” Ben replied.

“It should be the latest flick of your favorite actor Simpu,” Ben giggled

Yaj had always hated that one actor’s movie; he preferred climbing mountains more than watching Simpu’s movies now that Ben mentioned it.

“Do you really want to watch the movie? I mean for three hours sit choked inside that big hall with those AC’s making more noise than the movie” Yaj asked in an indifferent tone

Ben had understood, He wasn’t surprised neither was he angry as it was very routine kind of Yaj to make a plan and then cancel it.

“What about going to Gott Freeman’s Shows” Yaj said with a lustrous look, strong enough for Ben to nod his head and say

“Aye we can, if you really want to”

Yaj was delighted as he’d not miss a chance to watch any of Gott’s shows; Yaj quickly went to his room changed his attire and tied Goggy to the gate.

Goggy started to bark at Yaj loud enough that Yaj had to plug his ears with his fingers.

“Good bye Ma, See you later in the evening” Yaj called on his Mother who was visible through the Kitchen window cooking..

Yaj’s mom waved him goodbye dejectedly. Yaj’s mom too was a fan of Gott’s Shows and had actually wanted to ask her son to accompany him, but she had started to get used to Yaj’s absence in the weekends as that was the only pastime that Yaj had after a long stretch of work throughout the week. Also Yaj was growing old and always liked doing things independently. She did not want to bother him much.

“See you Aunty” Ben waved to Yaj’s mother.

Ben sped through the city traffic to reach in time as he knew Yaj hated to miss a single stunt that Gott would perform. All the while on the bike Yaj had been reminding Ben about all the stunts that Gott had performed in his previous shows. Yaj’s eyes glittered at the very mention of Gott’s name.

“Do you remember Gott’s performance back in “Tipathy” when we had to buy tickets in black” Yaj asked Ben

“Oh! That was tiring wasn’t it we had to wait all day long the previous day only to end up buying a ticket in black” Ben chuckled.

“But I felt it was worth it. Remember that stunt for which Gott asked me to get on to the stage to help him with the stunt” Yaj said this with obsession.

“Yeah Gott could not have performed the stunt if it were not you”. Ben said mockingly.

“Shut up Ben” Yaj replied smiling.

Ben reached the Venue and parked his bike at the parking lot.

“Here we are finally”. Ben exclaimed

“Ah! Hope we get the tickets at the front stand, Actually the view is better off when we sit at the front row else you don’t understand what Gott is up to” Yaj said with a lustrous look in his eyes.

“Alright Gott freak lets hunt for the ticket counter first” Ben said this running towards the stand. There was a long queue at the backside of the hall. Ben ran towards the queue so fast that he slipped and fell at the feet of a man standing in the queue. Ben wore a sorry smile having kicked him and for having dirtied his pants. Yaj would never run in that manner because he considered it savagely to push people in a Queue just for a ticket.

Watching Ben fall Yaj came running towards Ben.

“I told you dint I not to run like that” Yaj scolded Ben.

“Well freako! I aint the one who wants to feel Gott at the first row” Ben answered rubbing off the dust from his shoes.

After a long wait in the queue Ben got the tickets but for the third row.

“I’m sorry about that Yaj” Ben confessed.

“Hey that’s fine Benny, I’ve got my binoculars”

“Ah! You should have told me about it before I wouldn’t have had to bruise my knees for your sake” Ben said.

Yaj was already feeling excited about the show which was to start an hour from now.

It was time for Lunch so the decided that they have enough time to fill their stomachs. Ben and Yaj together had their lunch at a restaurant nearby. All the while during lunch the only thing Yaj talked about was Gott’s feats. Ben tried to divert the topic but in vain he should have known that it wouldn’t have worked on this die hard fan of Gott. Well he had no choice but wait till he’d be back on his bike but this time riding back .

Finally the show time was nearing Yaj and Ben had been walking around the place to kill time as there was still time left for the show.

People slowly started moving towards the entrance, Ben held Yaj’s hands tight like a child would to his father and walked along. Yaj was physically stronger than him but mentally he was an arrogant kid who would not digest anyone advising him.

It was time for the show to start. People started moving towards the entrance as the authorities had started to allow people in. Slowly the crowd was piling up and was scattered in all directions and pushing past each other to their way to entrance door. Even the security guards couldn’t do much to get them move in an orderly fashion and had preferred to stay out just to avoid getting stamped themselves. Also it was known that a VIP was expected to arrive and the security wanted people to seat themselves before the VIP had arrived.

“Hey hold me tight Ben I’ve got the tickets in my hand” Yaj told Ben.

All of a sudden there was a sudden hurry in the crowd to get into the hall. Ben sensed it and asked Yaj to come out of the queue as he feared a stampede.

Yaj sensed this too and in the scuffle with the crowd lost hold of Ben’s hands,

“Ben where are you? Are you alright?” Yaj shouted out of curiosity

“I’m here “Ben appeared from nowhere.

“Yaj its better we leave” Ben said to Yaj though he knew Yaj would never agree to that one request.

“The crowd will calm down; I can see the security making some arrangements for another way in “Yaj convincingly said to Ben.

”Fine I am sure the security will make some arrangements as the VIP is soon to arrive”.

The crowd at the front door receded as the back entrance was opened up and half of the crowd took to the other way.

It was a big hall with an excellent lightning facility, Gott was popular throughout the state and a full house was always expected as it was for Gott’s creativity over his performance that gave the other magicians a run for their money.

Slowly people started moving into their seats and while they did there were couple of heated arguments over people sitting on wrong seat numbers just to sit closer to the stage. Ben and Yaj were not spared either a couple of big guys had taken their seat and refused to budge out instead they handed their tickets which was marked to the fifth row and told them to leave as if they were being kind by giving them their ticket.

Yaj got angry at this and argued back, but Ben consoled him and pulled him by his shirt to avoid any bashing as he knew they would have easily got ruffled up by those guys.

Ben pulled Yaj and was now headed towards the fifth row.

“We shouldn’t have let them sit there” Yaj said angrily.

“That’s fine it shouldn’t be a problem to you as you have your Binocular along with you” Ben chuckled.

It was already half an hour past the show time and Yaj started to feel scratchy due to the delay.

“What is Gott upto isn’t he going to start off?” Yaj said quizzically.

“You aren’t a VIP Yaj, you’ve got to wait just like others“

“Fine” Yaj grinned.

Now the VIP arrived from the special door. He was a very popular Senator namely Ritchie Kish who was accompanied with his brother along with five bodyguards with guns and were dressed in black uniform. The show authorities rushed towards him and guided him to the first row which to everyone’s dismay was left empty just for the VIP and his mates. The Senator waved his hands to the crowd and settled down at his seat

Ben found Yaj frowning and murmuring. He had understood the cause.

All of a sudden there was a loud bang, and a string of lightning’s flashed, here he was the celebrity of the town

“Famous magician Gott Freeman is here” the host screamed over the mike.

Ben jumped in excitement, and screamed Gott’s name. But to his surprise he found Yaj quietly sitting without moving a muscle on his face. This was not usual of Yaj; Ben had never seen Yaj sit quiet when Gott made his entry. Ben remembered how Yaj had been scuffled by the security for shouting Gott’s name continuously while the show was on.

Gott waved his hands towards the crowd and walked down the stairs to greet the Senator.

Ben immediately dropped to his seat and questioned Yaj his silence.
“What’s the matter with you? Ben asked.

“Nothing” was the answer from Yaj.

Ben thought that Yaj must have been frustrated because of the seat that he was sitting was way too far away.

“Why don’t you use your Binoculars” Ben asked Yaj

“Ben! Will you stop bothering me” Yaj yelled at Ben.

Ben had understood Yaj well and he wasn’t surprised at such a reply from Yaj so he chose to keep quiet.

Gott took over the mike from the host.

“Welcome everyone to Gott’s Show. I have a some special stunts for your entertainment and I promise all of you will be at the edge of your seats”

The whole hall screamed to applaud Gott’s remarks.

“Well I shall start with my show then”

“Change yourself to a tiger is my new surprise stunt today. Anybody interested to feel like a tiger?

The crowd loved listening to him on mike and many got up their seats to volunteer. One guy out of all was handpicked by Gott’s volunteers to the stage.

“Come one bravo” Gott called upon him to the stage. Gott then drew a circle on the stage.

“Step into this circle and don’t fear because after this stunt the whole town will fear you”

Crowd burst into laughter at this statement by Gott.

The guy then walked into the circle drawn by Gott.

“Get me the Magic shawl” Gott ordered his volunteer. A long Shawl painted with tiger stripes was brought to him, Gott asked the guy to sit while in the circle and then covered him with the Shawl.

“Azimo kurimo Tigero” Gott shouted.

And a thick smoke burst in front of the guy making him out of sight, everyone watched with eyes glued on to the stage.

Soon the smoke disappeared.

“GROAR GROAR!” Roared the tiger, it was a big tiger now standing in place of the guy.

The crowd stood up and clasped while the tiger roared.

“Great Gott” The crowd chanted.

“Fear him now! He is now a maneater...Ha...Ha..! …

Do you want me to turn him back to normal” Gott screamed over the mike.

“Yes” was the unanimous answer from the crowd.

Gott covered the same shawl back on the tiger.

“Azimo kurimo Humano” Gott shouted.

There was a thick smoke but now in red color now covering the tiger.

As the smoke faded away there appeared the man whom Gott had turned to a tiger.

The crowd stood up and clasped while the guy waved in the air. Yaj was still quiet. All eyes in the hall were stuck to the stage.

One by one Gott finished four stunts.

“A Short break for10 minutes and Gott will be back for his next stunt” the host said over the mike.

As the break was announced people walked up towards the canteen for some snacks.
Yaj had been quiet all the while. Ben could not figure out the exact reason but chose to keep quiet. Everyone was back to the hall after the break. Crowd settled down quickly as Gott was already on the stage.

“Is anybody ready to volunteer for my next stunt” Gott shouted over the mike.

“Me! Me!” People shouted from all ends of the hall. Expectedly Ben looked at Yaj; he was quiet though not frowning anymore. Ben understood that there is something that is bugging Yaj from the start.

A 10 year old girl shabbily dressed ran towards Gott to be accepted as a volunteer. But Gott’s authorities caught her on her way and while trying to stop her pushed her down to the ground, the girl had suffered bruises on her knees. Surprisingly Gott though watching all this chose to ignore this scene and moved to the other side of the stage to get peoples attention back, which he did manage very well, the loud chanting of the crowd had suppressed the cry of that tiny girl who was weeping all the way being accompanied by the authorities.

Gott got down the stage and asked the Senator if he’d want to volunteer for his next stunt.
The Senator agreed without any hesitation and wearing a Sheepish smile walked along with Gott on to the stage. The audience started to scream Gott’s name along with the Senator’s loudly. The whole hall was filled with people chanting their names.

This very sight angered Yaj even more because it was a known fact to everyone that the Senator had been involved in a murder of a minor girl “Rikita” who had charged the Senator of Rape against her. Yaj couldn’t control his anger and now started commenting harshly on Gott and the Senator.

“Shut up Yaj! Are you insane/ what happened to you all of a sudden? You’re the one who was crazy about getting in here. And now what made you change your attitude? Do you think that people around you are going to keep quiet while you comment on their hero or even the Senator” Ben shouted at Yaj.

“Yes I am” Yaj shouted back at Ben

“Look a person like Gott who is so popular among the people must not have invited a rape convict for his show! Don’t you think he is supporting this guy who has caused such misery to a minor girl and also murdered her”! Oh Gott! Hell with the people around, I don’t want to sit here anymore. You decide weather you want to join me out of here”

“Fine at least wait for this stunt to get over we’ll leave together is that okay” Ben said in a whispering tone.

The Senator was now on the stage, it was the same Senator whose photos had been published on the FrontPages of all newspapers and the T.V channels 5years back due to his involvements in the murder of a minor girl named Rikita but he was proven innocent after a series of investigation and the local judge had dismissed the case as suicidal and said that she must have wanted to spoil the senators name.

Rikita’s family had tried their best to prove him guilty but the might of power and money had cremated the evidence’s against him along with Rikita’s body. Soon after her family left the town, rumors spread that Rikita’s family had fled the town not able to withstand the insult that their daughter had got to their family.

Senator Ritchie was now on the stage the whole hall was silently watching Gott’s every move.

“Get me the Pandora box Nick” Gott screamed on the mike to one of his assistants.

A big box carried by four was brought and kept near Gott’s feet.

Gott then blew through the mike just to check if he was audible.

“Your highness may I ask you to please step into the box” Gott bent on his knees and asked Senator Ritchie.

Ritchie smiled and accepted with a nod. The Lid of the box was opened by the assistants and one could see a hole on the lid just enough to allow a head to pass through.

Ritchie waved his hands towards the crowd and sat in the box.

Gott waved towards the crowd and asked the crowd,

“I am going to chop off the Senator’s head right in front of your eyes and bring him back to life”

The whole crowd BOOED! at this very statement.

Gott closed the lid on the Senator just allowing his head to be visible.

“Is there anything you want to say to the crowd” Gott asked the Senator and brought the mike closer to the Senator’s mouth.

“I would want to be re-elected next year” he said with his grumpy tone.

“The crowd laughed aloud at this and so did Gott.

“Please close your eyes, your highness” Gott asked the Senator.

“Get my sword” Gott ordered his assistants.

So they did, it was a long shining sword with its shine anybody would believe how sharp it would have been.

“The sword looks fake, He better finish the stunt soon, and I don’t want to waste my time anymore” Yaj said in an uninterested tone to Ben.

“Okie boss” Ben Chuckled.

“Switch off the lights” Gott said to his assistants.

The lights went off now only a flash light was lit pointing towards the centre stage where the box was placed.

The whole crowd dropped dead silent.

“Are you ready”Gott screamed to the crowd.

“In the name of Gott, I release you from all the worldly annoyance” Gott screamed

His voice had been loud enough even without the mike. Gott then lifted the sword above his head, and brought it down in full swing targeting the Senator’s neck

”Ahh!” Was the cry heard by everyone as the blood stained knife stood motionless in Gott’s hands.

“Great timing of the tape recorder dude and even the color looks real” Ben said to Yaj.

Yaj gave a lazy smile.

“He is dead finally” roared Gott.

The whole crowd clasped their hands loud enough that they would have brought the roof down had it not been cemented.

Gott stood in front of the whole crowd held his blood stained sword upwards and cried
“Yes he is dead believe me, Rikita your soul may rest in peace my dear sister, the evil is no more”.

“What!” Yaj screamed in chorus along with the crowd. Nobody could believe their eyes Gott was Rikita’s brother who had fled the town along with his parents years ago.

Immediately listening to this the Senators brother ran to the stage along with the bodyguards and slapped Gott so hard that he fell off to the ground.

“You bastard you’ve killed my brother” Yelled the Senator’s brother.

Yaj was watching all this confused as he could not believe the scene; the whole crowd stood up their seat and were watching the whole scene as though this was a climax of a thriller.

Quickly the Senator’s brother grabbed the hand gun from the bodyguard and pointed it towards Gott.

“Dodge this you killer” he yelled at Gott who was still on the ground and quickly fired all six bullets at Gott.

Listening to the gun shots the whole crowd started to scatter wildly.

“Come on Yaj lets leave from here” Ben said to Yaj pulling him by his shirt.

“No!” said Yaj shrugging off Ben’s hands and quickly started to run towards the stage.

“Where are you going? “ Ben shouted.

Yaj ran as if he was running towards the dash point of a 100 meters race.

He was near Gott’s body; Yaj saw the senator’s head at the other end of the box and the Senators brother who dropped down wailing with the Bodyguards around him.

Gott was lying dead. The six rounds fired had done their job. Yaj lifted Gott’s head on to his arms and started to cry like a baby, Ben had reached the stage too. Ben looked at Yaj cry.

“Ben! Ben Gott is dead in my arms” Yaj said to Ben with tears trickling down his eyes.

Ben tried to console Yaj but in vain Yaj continued weeping.

Finally the cops had arrived with the ambulance to carry both the dead bodies away. Ben put his hands around Yaj and pulled him out of the hall. Yaj looked back at Gott’s body being carried by the ambulance as though Gott would stand up and smile at him.

As they neared the gate a whole swarm of press reporters barged in and one of them pushed Yaj so hard that he fell off to the ground. “Sorry Sir” said the reporter to Yaj

“Watch where you go brother” Ben caught the reporter by his collar and pointed his fist to the reporters face.

“Leave him Ben” Yaj pleaded

Ben left the reporters collar and lifted Yaj. They started to walk towards the parking lot where Ben’s bike was parked.

“Wait here Yaj I’ll get my bike out”. Ben left to get his bike.

“Ego Bendito Gott Ben! Ego Bendito Gott” Yaj cried loudly.

“What ?” Ben asked confusedly.