|
|
| NEW DELHI June 10, last year. |
| If life is a game, I am now playing in an arena, which is
truly Olympic size. |
| I am
part of the movers and shakers of the city and rub shoulders with the high
and mighty; part of the select set who know how this country actually
functions and make it function. |
|
Together we feature on the cover stories of newsmagazines, expound wisdom on
television and make the laws that govern other people's lives. When we
partly, people follow our lifestyles on page three of newspapers. Yes! I am
almost there.... |
|
Ajay let the thoughts float through him as he stared at the sky from his
cabin on the eleventh floor of his office building. Through the blue glazing
of his room he ha a vantage view of the city and as he watched the world,
he got, as always, a sense of satisfaction. |
|
The sun had slid into the west, throwing the sky into a reddish hue. The
first monsoon clouds that had floated over the city had disappeared -
shattering hopes and expectations - and suddenly it had become a Delhi
summer again. |
|
Down below he could see the roads flowing out of Connaught Place, now packed
with traffic, and the pavements now thronging with people. |
|
A tall, dark, thirty-three-year old man with a flat boxer's nose and a flair
for wearing casuals, Ajay was feeling uncomfortable in the executive wear.
He loosened his tie and then took a deep breath. |
|
My focus in life is clear, A voice inside reminded him. That I have got to
make it big. Right now my bank balance does not have too many zeroes in it;
I drive a Honda... but that is company owned; I have a nice girl in my life
but I am not too sure about her. Yet now I am with a set of people who make
things happen in this country... |
He took a deep breath, and looked ahead. This was Connaught Place - the
Capital's business centre - where glass and concrete multi-storeyed
buildings jostled with each other. His own office building - the twenty-
storied, Dayal Chambers - dark grey in colour, stood out. These were the
headquarters of the
S Vee M group. And he was the CEO and the right hand of
the directors, the Narangs.
|
|
The twenty storey housed the offices of the different divisions of the
group - construction, electronics and international trading. Now at six in
the evening, two hundred employees of the company were pouring out. |
|
Further ahead he could sight the other landmarks of the city; the majestic
all too familiar buildings of the Rajpath complex and the Parliament
House. |
|
These days I have this new viewpoint, he thought, that each person, each
building is like a software program. Zoom in and there is so much detail.
Like aspirations. Life and laughter. |
|
Yet if I zoom out I am just one individual in Delhi, a landmass of ten
million in a country of a billion people. Do I figure anywhere in this,
except as a statistic? |
|
Then realizing that this possibly was not the best of times for getting
lost, he zoomed in to his world; of now working as the CEO of his friend's
company. |
| I
had played and hung around with the Narangs. Isn't it but logical that I now
work with them? |
|
A few minutes from now an important meeting was going to take place for
which the top management of S Vee M was staying behind. A review on the
adverse publicity the group was generating with its business dealings. A few
national dailies had hinted at kickbacks going to the central ministers. |
| What made
the meeting special was the fact that Vijay Narang, who was the driving
force of the group had flown in from New York to be briefed on the latest.
Along with him was his brother and the other major shareholder in the group
- Pradeep. And waiting for them here were their inner circle confidantes and
also their father, Prakash Narang. |
| Ajay was
watching all this with a mixture of amusement and anxiety. Amusement because
this was an evening meant to be spent by the poolside sipping beer and here
he was trapped in office. And anxiety because the meeting was about a
subject which was worrying him and could mean big trouble. |
|
YAHOO! Can any astrologer tell me what's going to happen
now? He wondered. And closed his eyes... The businessman-politician nexus. And I am at the centre of it... |
| I am
a cool guy otherwise. In fact, I would rate myself as a management whiz kid.
I like to believe that I am a philosopher caught in the cycle of making a
living; a sportsman tied down to a desk job; an amateur psychologist who
could teach Freud a trick or two. I am a pretty upbeat guy, too. |
| Yet, today
I am feeling tense. Maybe I am worrying needlessly or maybe I should consult
and confuse a shrink... |
| He gazed around
the big hall, which looked, like always, swank and aesthetic, and where
thirty people were working silently. |
| As he was
walking around, his mobile phone, in his pocket beeped. It was a SMS from
Smita. |
|
|
|
MUMBAI 20.00 hrs |
| While Ajay was
relaxing in Delhi, another meeting was taking place in the penthouse of the
Hotel Dumax on Juhu beach, in Mumbai. |
| Mumbai, as we
all know, is India's powerhouse of energy; for most Indians, the city of the
Gateway of India, Victorian architecture and multistoreys, the beaches and
film studios. Where the language, too, is a bhelpuri of all possible
dialects put in a melting pot. The place to be in. Inspite of the pigeon
hole using and sleazy underbelly of organised crime. |
| Organized crime. All
of us do know that Bombay and now Mumbai always did have it. Did you know
that last year the unquestioned underworld king of the western coast was
Sikander Malik? |
| And Hotel Dumax, as
you may have seen from its pictures, is a five star deluxe, with a glass
facade and sprawling lawns. The hotel that the rich and famous of the city
patronise. This hotel is owned by Sikander Malik. |
| At 8.15 p.m. on this
hot night of June, Malik moved around the penthouse of the Dumax Hotel,
speaking harshly in his surprisingly soft voice, while six of his associates
sat around a fifteen-foot table and listened to each word of his. And Malik
was right now radiating fury. |
| He looked at his associates
and suddenly his face contorted viciously and he burst out, 'The Prime
Minister and the CBI, by attacking us, have pushed a rod into the gaand of a
sleeping lion.' |
| His voice resounded in the
hall for a long long time. |
| 'The PM is getting easy
publicity through these raids,' Shrikimar, one of the seated men, spoke up.
'We should remind him that his party is partly financed by us.' |
| Malik retorted harshly. 'Yes,
should remind the world that nobody can mess around with us... koi humse
panga nahin le sakta... this country runs the way we want it to run.' |
| His words were heard in silence.
Then, still shaking with rage, he walked across the room. |
|
|
| The room was a large hall, almost
sixty feet long and garishly, furnished with very expensive furniture. One
corner of the room had floor to ceiling glass glazing that overlooked the Juhu beach and the Arabian Sea. |
| After the big names in organised crimes had settled abroad, the mantle of the don had fallen on
Malik. The reason - he operated openly as a financier and a businessman,
with front offices that did perfectly legal businesses. He financed
politics, had a hotel chain and had big investments in stocks. |
| Looking at Malik, you could never
believe that this was the man to whom the smaller crime gangs reported to
and whom politicians, rushed to for funds. He was short and stocky, in his
mid-thirties. The clothes no doubt reeked of money and the three diamond
rings said it all, yet it was his eyes that made him different. They were
light and expressionless. |
| Always. |
| Close associates who had accompanied Malik during the gangland war days early in his career, vouched that even
when he had personally eliminated his rivals - he loved to shoot people in
their head - the expression in his eyes had been blank. And today when he
controlled a gang with at least two hundred full- time members and another
thousand who worked as informers or were on the roll of companies, which he
owned, Malik's eyes still remained blank. |
| Standing next to him was his closest inner
circle man, advisor and right hand - Tony. Sitting around the table were
five of his closest confidantes. The most vocal among them was Shrikumar,
who was a builder and a film producer. At the other end of the table was a
thickset man with a quick smile. This was Sawant. Probably the most ruthless
killer in Mumbai. |
| In between sat two other henchmen
and the city's leading criminal lawyer. |
| Today's meeting had been called
for a very special reason - the sudden increase of pressure on their
operations by the CBI. |
| In the last few days, the
CBI had conducted raids on their hideouts in Ahmedabad as well as seized a
ship that was clandestinely docking south of Mumbai. The Ahmedabad raid had
lead to the seizure of cache of arms, while the capture of the ship had
lead to the seizure of a large quantity of fake Indian currency with a
monetary value of fifty crore rupees. In both cases, however, the gang
members had escaped. |
| But the message was clear:
There were tough days ahead. |
|
|
| Malik stared at the Arabian Sea. Deep
into the ocean, in the darkness he could see the lights of the fishing boats
and ships. Then something agitated him. |
| 'Yes... a sleeping lion is being
prodded,' he hissed. 'We have to send a message to the Prime Minister that
there should be no interference in our operations.' |
| They had powerful lobbyists whose
interaction with political parties ran deep. |
| Malik turned to Tony, 'Did you talk with
Prabhat Kumar and Prakash Narang about this?' He asked harshly. |
| Tony, looked at the boss apprehensively.
'I talked to the Minister Prabhat Kumar... woh raazi hai.' |
| This was good news. |
| Then Tony gave the bad news. 'But Praksh
Narang gave no positive response. His son vijay is steering clear of us.' |
| Malik's face clouded for what seemed a
long, long minute and then he let out a loud laugh. 'woh gaddar ban gaya hai
kya... a traitor?' His face revealed shades of a dimple. |
| All six men around knew that this
laughter was a prelude to the fire, which would follow. |
| Narang had been a vital link
between them and the Central Government. This had happened ten years ago,
when Malik had floated a political outfit. The Central Government had
retaliated by unleashing a series of raids on his properties. Truce had only
come after five crores had changed hands. |
| Prakash Narang had been the
arbitrator of this truce and had taken fifty lakhs as commission for doing
so. |
| Yet today his son was forgetting
the association they once had!! As the thought raced through him, Malik felt
the nerves at the side of his head tighten. |
| 'Is this Vijay Narang a saint?'
Malik barked. |
| 'No.' Tony replied without
emotions. 'though he is trying hard to straighten up things, the Narangs are
still collecting kickbacks for Ministers. They are about to do a currency
laundry of around five or ten million US dollars through Raja in Hong Kong.
All this will go to the high-up and Ministers in this Democratic Forum
Government.' |
| If Tony said this much, then
it had to be true. |
| Malik spoke slowly, controlling
the anger inside, 'We have to use their influence to send a message to the
government. If they do not agree we can scare them.' |
|
|
| Slowly the nucleus of a plan was
becoming apparent. |
| 'Okay...' Sikander Malik paused for a
moment.' As for this Vijay Narang, I think we may need to twist his arm a
bit. Who else is important in their company?' |
| 'There is one Ajay Seth. He
is their right hand.' Tony answered. |
| Malik's face clouded. 'We
should scare this Ajay too.' |
| For the first time since the
meeting had begun, there seemed to be a ray of hope. |
| 'We may need to send our boys in
Delhi to do this,' Malik continued,' or if required send Sawant to help the
local boys.' |
| Sawant, who had been quiet up till
now, smiled. This was the sort of job which he loved to handle... |
| And then suddenly Malik's face contorted
in anger.' My orders are very clear,' he spat out harshly,' whatever means
you use, the results have to be achieved... fast.' |
|
|
| When Smita Gupta reached her
apartment it was past 1 in the night. These days she lived alone in this
apartment as her parents were in Canada on a vacation. |
| She had taken a long
extended bath and then reviewed the happenings of the day. Work wise it had
been fine. She had been assigned to cover a music festival and that was like
combining work with pleasure. It was her personal front that was in a flux.
And she was inclined to dwell on it lazily. |
| Her first problem was
Ajay Seth. |
| Ajay Seth. She had
known him for so long. Yet always felt that she still did not know him. What
was he? An enigma? A crackpot? Or just another Delhi guy who dates one girl
and then marries one his mom chooses on caste and class consideration? |
| Her first meeting with
him was when he had come to her house to meet her brother. But that was a
zillion years ago. Yet destiny has made us bump into each other again last
month... |
| She had realized immediately
then that the attraction was mutual. |
| What is our affair - if I can
really call it that - all about? We really do get along well. Maybe it is
our shared interests or maybe an undefined, mysterious chemistry. We can
chat for hours and laugh for hours and be silent for hours and yet not be
bored. |
| Is this love? Of course this
is... Or maybe he just takes me to be an interesting time pass. Or perhaps
his interest is merely sexual... |
| She still had to get all those
answers. But two days back, life had taken an interesting turn. She had
received an offer of doing a course in filmmaking at University in USA and
an immediate decision had to be taken on that front. |
| This is a great opportunity. A
real break! She thought as she got up from her computer and walked around
the room. |
| What happens now ?
she wondered.
Physical distance from him could well mean the end of it... |
| Today he was honest enough to confess
his infatuation for Sanjna. Yet he has not really made it clear whether he is
seriously interested in me. Then why should I dump a career chance for a
fantasy? |
| As she thought about all this she fell
back onto the bed. |
| I came into journalism out of sheer
conviction... so I have to do this course! Her mind went back to the time
when she had decided to become a journalist. It had happened in school when
a teacher |
|
|
| had taken special interest in her essays. Words and ideas
came naturally to her even then. Later, when she had finally stepped into
journalism, another obsession had taken over - of making feature films one
day. |
| She had also been trying to write
fiction for some time now, in the form of a book, or for a possible
television serial. Her head remained full of ideas, yet somehow they still
did not fully flow out of her pen. |
| I spent my adolescence dreaming of doing
a filmmaking course. She took a deep breath. Yes, with the Indian film world
breaking away from formulas, with films like Monsoon Wedding, there is scope
for my kind of films, somewhere there. And now when the opportunity has
come, I see myself at the crossroads... |
|
|
| It's evening now and no point in
worrying further. I must make this outing special for Smita. She went out of
the way to help me and passed no moral judgment either. She's that sort of
girl. Truly dependable, Ajay thought as he moved around. |
| He had dropped the idea of going back to
office and instead stopped to drink coffee at Janpath. He walked into a
boutique, where he noticed a flashy red shirt. Now who can wear this piece
of modern art? He wondered. But the devil inside him took over and he fished
out a thousand rupees to pick it up. Finally, he hung around the New
Bookland kiosk on Janpath to browse through the latest releases. |
| He reached the parking lot
of New India Times at sharp 6.30. He whistled and jumped out of the car. And
immediately noted that Smita was looking ravishing. |
| 'Look, I have proved that I can reach on
time,' he laughed. |
| 'Ajay, I still had to wait half an
hour.' |
| 'The best things in life deserve a
wait.' He maneuvered the Honda out of the parking lot. 'anyway what's the
agenda?' |
| 'I have passes for a Costa Gavras film
retrospective.' |
| 'YAHOO!' Ajay let out a loud protest,' I
thought this evening was about you, me and candlelight's... now why get
mister gavras along as the kabab mein haddi?' |
| 'I thought I might complete your
education a bit,' she gave him a sly glance. 'Besides it will help you take
your mind off the wheeling dealing which your company teaches you.' |
| 'SMITA,' he growled. ' We will not talk about my work.' |
|
|
| 'Sorry... was worried, that's why
I mentioned.' She put an arm around his shoulder. |
| 'Sorry for whining like a
Pomeranian,' he said softening up. 'But I know my company well, yaar...
things aren't as bad as the press is making them out to be.' |
| He adjusted the car a/c to the
highest point and shoved in a Rehman cassette. The heat, the smog and the
no89ise of Delhi's traffic were totally shielded off. They had now crossed
into an area, which was amusingly, and rather unromantically, known as ITO,
short for Income Tax Office. |
| 'There are mosquitoes even
inside your car,' Smita drawled, swatting at one, which had dared to sit on
his cheek. |
| Ajay gave a bitter smile. 'If
there is only one mosquito in this world and that too on the North Pole, and
I am sleeping on Mount Everest, I'm sure it'll hunt me out.' |
| They were now at the ITO traffic light,
stationed among a hundred cars and buses. Right in front of them was an
elephant, loaded with grass and branches. But nobody seemed to mind.
Probably all part of the fun of living in a madhouse. |
| 'Remind me to tell you my
favorite story of being stationed behind an elephant,' he declared lazily. |
| 'Ajay I don't have to. You are
just itching to shout it out.' |
| And he was. It had happened around six
months ago. Same crossing, hopefully a different elephant. Because of a red
light, a Maruti suzuki owner had found himself parked right behind an
elephant. And then, without warning the elephant had let go. Big quantities
of dung, all from a height of eight feet or so. Right on to the Maruti's
bonnet, making it cave in, much to the mirth of the other people stationed
at the red light. |
| When Ajay had finally driven off,
the last sight he had seen was that of the mahaut explaining to the mad car
owner that the elephant, and not he, was responsible, and that the car owner
had been blessed by the gods to receive such an offering. |
| 'Tell me how much of this is
true,' Smita chortled with laughter. |
| 'All true. In fact, I wonder whether the
car owner made an insurance claim and whether he actually managed to get it
cleared form the clerks of the insurance company.' |
| He turned the car towards the Rajpath complex.
And then slowly brought it to a halt on the red grit path, alongside the
lawns of India Gate. |
| 'What happened Ajay?' |
|
|
| 'Thought, might as well plan out
what is to be done now.' |
| He adjusted the car seat
making it recline and then pulled her head onto his shoulder. Her hair was
touching his face now and he could feel her breath on his face. It felt
good. |
| He put his arm around her
and rolled her on top of himself. Now his forehead was touching hers, his
eyes looking into hers and her moist lips were next to his. He could feel
the softness of her body on him. It felt good, too. |
| Outside, through the dark
glasses of the car, he could see the evening traffic plying on the road. |
| 'Nice way to plan the
evening,' she said with a soft laugh. |
| 'Yeah... my grey cells always work
better this way.' |
| He was now warming up to the
evening. It had been such a hectic tight fortnight that he had almost lost
track of his love life. And again he was realizing that he did find her
company agreeable and enchanting. |
| 'And what else has your dumb
brain planned for the evening?' she ran her hand through his hair. |
| Ajay rubbed his forehead on
hers, his nose with hers and then kissed her on the lips, feeling her,
feeling a current run through him. And then after a full minute, as they
detached, said softly, 'Plan number two executed....' |
| Again he felt her soft laugh
chime in his ears. And then she asked in a husky voice, ' And what is plan
number three?' |
| His mouth going a bit
dry, he looked into her eyes. 'I have an idea... we can go to my
apartment...' |
| His words seemed to
hang in the car for some time, almost merging with the low volume music. And
he could see excitement and anxiety jump into her eyes. |
| 'Why, Ajay?' she
asked feigning innocence. |
| 'Why ?' Suddenly
he felt at a loss for words. Then he started laughing. 'I can give you
hundreds of reasons. We can discuss films, books.... Polanski's films,
Spielberg's films... I've got a new cutlery set... I can show you that.' |
| 'Really,'
Smita also started laughing. And then ran her hand through his hair again.
'No don't get me wrong Ajay... let me first mentally define this
relationship for myself. Okay ?' |
| Ajay sensed what she
meant, but feigned innocence. 'Now where did I hear that line before? Was it
in a Bergman film?' |
| 'No, Ajay...
what I meant was I am serious about this, but I'm not sure what's on your
mind.' |
|
|
| 'YAHOO!' he
protested. 'What do you think I am doing ? Acting? Playing around?' |
| And then he
quietened down. He knew she was not the sort of girl who he could play
around with. But getting roped in now would also mean losing out on so many
opportunities dangling before him. Especially Sanjna, who had time and
again made it amply clear she was available. Even though he did not want to
get entangled there, he still did not want to make any false commitments to
Smita. He just wanted this relationship to build up slowly, as it was
happening now. |
| He put his arm
around her and kissed her again, this time slowly, feeling her tongue clash
with his. |
| He said
tunefully, 'Give me time... lemme think... give me time... lemme think...' |
| Sensing her
disappointment, he changed the topic. 'Hey, we are parked is the very spot
where the Indian PM takes the Republic day salute... the next time you watch
television on the twenty-sixth of Jan, you can think of us here today. How
we made this place sacred enough to be saluted.' |
| 'And Ajay,
when in year twenty-twenty you are watching TV with a fat slave of a laali
pressing your feet, you'll also remember what a opportunity you wriggled out
of today.' |
| He
laughed. And then put the car into gear. 'We now head for Hauz Khas village
for the beer, the candle light and the dinner,' he announced. |
| As
he drove his mind was still focused on her. Her head was still on his
shoulder. And he was feeling relaxed and elated, as he hadn't done for a
long time. |
| The
Hauz Khas area was jam-packed. This was supposed to be the slick marketing
of old India in a new bottle. Which basically translated into old havelis
converted to modern restaurants with appropriate kitsch. Still, despite the
tight by-lanes, it was a good place to dine in. |
| They chose
a roof top restaurant with a good view of a fort and a park. It had cooled
down too, making the surroundings very pleasant. |
| As Ajay
ordered wine, he looked into her eyes. 'So what is new at your end.'. |
| 'You tell
me... last time you were into Desmond Morris, tell me what earthshaking
discovery have you made.' |
| He lifted
the glass of beer and then said, 'Oh! Want to hear something which is going
to shake the Cosmos one day?' |
|
|
| As her
face turned into curiosity he announced, 'Listen then. God is dead, Marx is
dead, Freud is dead... only Darwin lives here.' |
|
'Sounds good,' she laughed, 'but is it original...?' |
|
'Original till somebody claims it before I do.' Ajay said wryly. 'You tell
me how your writing is going on?' |
| She
gave rueful smile. 'I still don't know if the plot I have in mind would
interest others... and today television is totally commerce driven. No time
for anything that is not big or sensational. So either I remain true to my
story and its characters... or keep thinking of television ratings.' |
|
As they chatted, the conversation flowed smooth and fast. And again, like
always he realized that this was the girl he found easy to relate to. |
|
Almost as if they were melting into each other. |
|
Minutes flowed into hours. Yet he liked it. Then suddenly out of the blue,
he held her hand. And felt a tingle. |
|
'Ajay,' she whispered, her eyes gleaming, 'do you need to get drunk to get
romantic?' |
|
He looked into the shine of her eyes. He wished he could say so many things,
which he wanted to. |
|
'Well,' he bantered lightly, 'just you and me have to chart out our path
together.' |
|
'Ajay you did not feel bad that I refused your offer to go to your
apartment?' She held his hand tight. |
| 'No... not
at all.' |
| 'Look
Ajay, I have to be sure of your commitment. For me to get involved
physically cannot just be a sexual thing. For me your emotions are
important.' She steadily kept scanning his face searching for an answer. |
| Her lips
were so close to him that he just had to kiss her. And he did. Again feeling
the thrill and the satisfaction of it. |
| 'For
me love is holding you tight and looking into your eyes,' he said softly.
Then broke off. |
| I
know that I love her! Oh! I surely do. His heart told him that. Yet
something is still holding me back... |
| It
was only when the waiter came for the last order of the night, that they
realized it was 12.30. That gave him a jolt. Tomorrow, in fact, it was today
evening now, that he had to leave for Hong Kong. On an entirely different
sort of mission. |
| Quickly he
paid the bill and dragged Smita out. |
|
|
|
'Sorry yaar,' he
said apologetically,' wish I could extend this night... but Hong Kong awaits
the genius... I maybe leaving for Hong Kong. .. tomorrow... so give me a
nice shopping list.' |
| 'Hong Kong...
what happened?' She asked curiously. |
| Umm...
this was time to change topics again. |
| 'Company
work,' he said casually. Then put his arm around her and walked out. |
|
|
| While Ajay
was dining out, Sikandar Malik, in Mumbai, was pacing the penthouse of the
Hotel Dumax. Seated in the hall were his close associates. |
| There had been
more bad news. One of their men arrested in Ahmedabad had cracked under
police investigation. Though he had no direct evidence, which could lead the
police to them, the message to the syndicate was clear: the going could get
tougher. |
| They had spent
the past two hours working out contingency plans. |
| The first part
was to remove all incriminating proof from their premises and god owns; this
meant all quantities of drugs, arms, records of protection money and cash.
The second was to influence the police, as well as the state and central
governments to stop all further investigations. The third was to go
underground or out of the country, if the need arose. |
| The
first had already been put into action. It was the second part, which had
still not been worked to perfection. Police contacts and some top
bureaucrats and politicians had been activated, but no satisfactory result
was in sight. And now, as Malik conferred with his aides, his mind was
still-hunting for a solution. |
|
'This Mahendra Narain government has to go,' Malik repeated what he had
already said a number of times before. |
|
But just how? The whole idea, even to them, looked over ambitions. In fact
ridiculous, considering that the government and the Prime Minister himself
still commanded a majority and had tremendous popularity among the masses. |
|
Malik walked to the edge of the room from where he could see the Arabian Sea
with lights of the ships shimmering deep in the ocean. And then after a long
time he turned around. |
| 'I
am willing to spend up to hundred crores,' his round face screwed up in rage
as he spoke, though the eyes like always remained expressionless. 'But this
government has to go...' |
| His words
were heard in complete silence. Even for them hundred crores was a large
amount, yet not an impossible figure to muster. |
|
|
|
Logically, they had to activate the rival power centers in the Democratic
Forum for staking a claim to the Prime Minister's Chair. A difficult, but
not, impossible, task. |
| 'Prabhat
Kumar,' Malik said softly, 'will be working to form an alternative
government.' |
| All
of them knew that their man in Delhi, Prabhat Kumar was ambitious and well
connected in the Democratic Forum. Yet, it was difficut to imagine that
Kumar was powerful enough to dislodge the central government. However he
could play some part at least. |
|
'We'll be dispatching ten crores to him,' Malik said loudly. |
|
Shrikumar put in a query,' What happened to our effort to get Prakash Narang
to use his influence?' |
|
His words seemed to crackle in the room. Malik knew that this mission had
not been successful. His anger zoomed instantly. Not only because the
Narangs were refusing help, but also because this amounted to an act of
betrayal. |
| And
betrayal was something that he could never tolerate. |
| He turned
towards Tony. 'Make another telephone call to that madarchod. Now.' He
hissed. |
| 'Achha,
bhai.' Tony quietly picked up the mobile phone and dialed the Narangs'
number in Delhi. |
| The
call was deliberately being made from the mobile cash card telephone to the
Narangs mobile phone, as the Syndicate had become aware of the CBI's
intention of tapping their lines. The Panasonic mobile had a speaker, which
enabled the others in the room to hear the conversation. |
| Four
rings later a man came on the line. 'Hullo, Vijay here.' |
|
'Vijayji,'
Tony said politely, 'I am speaking from Mumbai on behalf of Malik bhai...' |
|
The reply came back, polite, yet ruffled. 'Look bhai... we are not in this
business anymore...' |
| 'I
am speaking on behalf of Sikandarbhai,' Tony repeated, his voice becoming
harsh, 'we want to talk to your father.' |
|
'Look, my father is ill,' Vijay Narang's voice came back still polite,
guarded and ruffled. 'I have full regard for Malikbhai... but there is
nothing I can do to help him." |
|
Then he disconnected the call. |
|
The seven men in Dumax Hotel heard the conversation in rapt attention and
anger. Then all turned towards Malik. |
|
'We'll get these dogs to lick our feet,' Malik hissed, his hands clenching
into fists. |
|
|
|
They knew that the Narangs were about to do a currency laundry of five
million US dollars through Raja. Money, that was to be distributed as
Kickbacks to high-up in the government. Now, the plan was to use this
information to arm-twist the Narangs. |
|
Malik turned towards Tony. |
|
'Is this Vijay also going to Hong Kong?' Malik hissed, 'Maybe we can teach
him a lesson in Hong Kong itself.' |
|
Tony looked back at Malik. 'No. The younger son Pradeep, as well as their
manager, Ajay Seth are going.' |
|
Malik heard Tony impatiently. 'We have already activated Sagar in Hong
Kong,' he said loudly. |
|
Sagar, every one knew, was an ex-syndicate boy who had begun his career with
Malik doing odd jobs, before becoming a hitman. He had broken off, gone to
Hong Kong to work with Raja, yet now wanted to patch up with them |
|
As the others in the room watched Malik, he finished off in a vicious hiss.
'This Pradeep Narang and Ajay SEth will soon discover that life is not an
easy game.' |
|
And for the first time in many years, Sikandar Malik's expressionless eyes
became blood red... |
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