03:02

by Mainak Dhar

  The mention of four flights coming in just one morning got my attention. While we were here debating food and supplies, god alone knew what weapons and numbers they were building against us.

  ‘Get those people in and put them to work. Now, where is this prisoner? I want to know what he has to tell us.’

  I passed Ronald on my way to our ‘jail’, which in better times used to be the neighbourhood Vodafone store. He had his guard up after seeing the flights and was on his way to go through our defences at all the checkpoints.

  ‘Aadi, good to see that you’re up and about. We passed on news of the battle and our Captain sends his regards. I thought they’d be pissed off at us for deviating from the mission, but word that we now have a little army of our own cheered him up, as did the news that civvies are fighting back.’

  Then he looked a bit contrite at his last remark and started to apologize. ‘I didn’t mean anything…’

  ‘No, it’s okay. I’m from a military family and unfortunately people here have always looked to the Army or the police to solve their problems. About time we all did our bit. Where’s this prisoner?’

  He pointed inside and I knocked on the door, which was opened by a short but solidly built man in black who smiled and offered his hand.

  ‘I’m Shaikh, Ron’s partner in crime. Man, you were something out there in that battle.’

  ‘Thank you for helping out. I gather you took out the man who was about to kill me.’

  He gestured to a long sniper rifle in a corner of the room. ‘For that you can thank my girlfriend, the sexy Miss Dragunov.’

  Ronald’s voice cut in. ‘I tell you this man is a pervert. He sleeps with his rifle.’

  As Ronald left, Shaikh took me deeper inside the store and I saw a figure huddled in a corner. When Shaikh lit a lantern to provide more light, I was shocked by who I saw sitting there. The man was white and had blond hair. Shaikh walked up to him and slapped him across the face.

  ‘All the fucker will say is that we will die and his friends will behead us and enslave our women.’

  I saw that the man’s face was puffed and swollen, his hands were tied behind his back and his leg was bandaged where he had been shot. However, his eyes still burned with defiance. When he saw me, he spat at me.

  ‘You’re the kafir who killed our brothers. They will hunt you down.’

  He spoke with a British accent, and while I had read about foreigners joining the terrorist forces in Iraq and Syria, seeing one of them in our neighbourhood was jarring. What made men so fanatical that they would destroy their own homeland?

  I knelt in front of him.

  ‘What are your friends planning? What are they flying in?’

  He spat at me and, as I wiped the spittle off my face, I looked at the fanatical hatred in his eyes and wondered how you could break such a man. I was many things but I was not a torturer, and clearly Shaikh had also not made much headway.

  I walked outside and talked to Shaikh.

  ‘What do you reckon? Will we able to get him to talk? He still hasn’t broken.’

  Shaikh looked at me, a grim expression on his face. ‘Everyone talks, Aadi. So far, we’ve only done some gentle persuasion. We’ll see what he does when he is actually presented with a choice between living and dying—but I wanted your permission before I went that far.’

  I was taken aback.

  ‘My permission?’

  ‘You’re in charge here and I wanted to be sure you’re comfortable with what we do.’

  ‘Shaikh, do what you must to keep us safe—and, for that, I know we need to understand what the enemy is up to.’

  As I walked away, I thought it over. I might have condemned the man to death, but it was something I found myself comfortable with. I knew what they were capable of, and if this was what it took to keep our people safe, I would do it.

  I was planning to visit Megha at the clinic when Pandey came up to me, riding in an auto-rickshaw being driven by one of Mahadev’s friends. ‘Aadi, we have a problem. Come on!’

  I jumped into the auto-rickshaw and we headed towards the Norita grounds, which had at one time served as a cricket field and also doubled up to host fairs and functions. On the way, Pandey filled me in.

  ‘Nasir decided to move his bomb-making activities there. He said he would make bombs in the open and then move the finished bombs into the Delphi building. Made sense—if there was an accident, damage would be minimized.’

  ‘So what’s the problem?’

  I could see anger in Pandey’s eyes. ‘A couple of the newcomers made some comments about Nasir being a Muslim terrorist and a fight broke out. I have Subin and Prashant there with guns to keep the peace, but we need to take a call.’

  When we reached, I jogged to the field and saw Nasir sitting in a corner, his lip swollen. Three young men were sitting in a corner, with Subin and Prashant watching over them, pistols in their hands.

  ‘Nasir, what happened?’

  He looked up at me and I saw a mixture of anger and shame pass over his face.

  ‘I was teaching folks how to put the bombs together and one of those guys made a comment about me knowing how to make bombs because I was a Muslim terrorist. I objected and they hit me.’

  I didn’t need to hear anything more. I strode over to the three men. Two of them were looking down but one looked defiantly back at me. ‘Those terrorists out there are also Muslim, or haven’t you checked?’

  Subin started to say something but I motioned for him to wait.

  ‘Get out,’ I said. ‘Leave this society and don’t try coming back, otherwise I’ll shoot you myself.’

  The boy still had defiance writ large on his face. ‘What did I do that was so wrong? Who the hell are you? You can’t just—’

  He never got a chance to complete his sentence. Ignoring the pain in my left side, I hit him, a single punch across the face that laid him down on the ground. As he struggled to get up, I knelt beside him and grabbed his neck in a chokehold.

  ‘If I apply a little bit more pressure here, you will stop breathing. In a few seconds you will die. So please think through carefully what you say or do next. We offered you shelter so we could join forces in fighting our enemy. Is this how you repay it?’

  I got up and addressed the dozens of people gathered there, most of them the newcomers who had arrived that morning.

  ‘We are alive today because of the bombs made by Nasir and because of the people who gave up their lives for us yesterday. Mira was a Muslim, Yash was a Hindu and the General was a Sikh. I would have thought that after all we’ve been through, we’d have the sense to stop creating divisions between ourselves and start focusing on the common enemy we all have. If you don’t get it, you are free to leave, as these three young men will do.’

  ‘How will we survive out there?’ the boy on the ground was now pleading.

  ‘Subin, get him out of my sight and pass the word along. If any of them show up again at our checkpoints, they are to be treated like the enemy.’

  I went up to Nasir as he started on his work again.

  ‘Nasir, what are you working on?’

  His smile was back. ‘Bombs with longer detonator cords so that they can be exploded from further away, and also some hand-held bombs. The Molotovs didn’t work out so well. They seemed like a good idea but, in a battle, it was hard to handle them. I’m taking tennis balls, hollowing them out, filling them with explosives, and putting a fuse on them. We should be able to throw them much further, and we don’t have to worry about the fuel sloshing inside or glass breaking.’

  ‘Good man! I also noticed that we need to get some dedicated bomb throwers. Anagha was brilliant; she has quite an arm, and now she’s seen battle. Hey, Anagha, come here.’

  She had been beaming at my compliment and jogged over. ‘Select a dozen of the younger folk with the very best throwing arms and train with them. We need people to not just throw far, but also with accuracy. You are now the leader of our grenadiers. G
et to work!’

  She smiled and ran off to get people organized, and I turned to Pandey. ‘Zero tolerance for shit like this. If anyone starts any crap to do with religion, arrest them immediately and let me know. Some people will never learn. Half our problems as a country have been because we haven’t united behind one cause but divided ourselves based on religion, caste and region. This is our chance to start over.’

  When I finally got to the clinic it was nearly three in the afternoon and I found Megha immersed in her work. Several of our people had suffered injuries caused by flying debris in the battle, and at least two had suffered wounds from ricocheting bullets that had grazed them. When I passed by, seeing most of them for the first time since the battle, I could see they were in pain, but the pride in their eyes was unmistakable. They had faced an enemy whom many had taken to be invincible, and they had come out on top.

  I smiled at them as they greeted me. ‘You guys are now the combat veterans,’ I said. ‘Pass on to the others what you learned.’

  Megha smiled at me as I approached her.

  ‘I can see how tough life would have been with you had our old jobs existed. I’d have to keep calling you to leave office, since you never seem to take a break.’

  I smiled back and hugged her. ‘I’m all yours now. What do you want to do?’

  I could see Marie waving Megha on, and we left the clinic hand in hand, and sat in one of the small parks in front of it.

  ‘How are you doing?’

  I stretched my left hand and it was already less painful than it had been the previous night.

  ‘Much better, actually. I think I just needed some rest. Thanks for taking care of me.’

  ‘That’s part of my job description. I did nothing I wouldn’t for any patient.’

  She smiled as she said that and I pulled her closer.

  ‘So, you wouldn’t do anything for me that you wouldn’t do for your other patients?’

  We kissed and then we sat in comfortable silence, watching people go by. It was tempting to think that things were normal, but we both knew that it was just a matter of time before our enemy attacked again.

  ‘Megha, I’ve been thinking of something. I mean, you don’t have to reply now and I’m sorry if this comes out of nowhere, but…’

  ‘What’s on your mind? Just say it.’

  ‘The reality is that we cannot plan as long term as we used to. To be honest, none of us really knows what lies ahead tomorrow and how long we have. I could have died yesterday and that would have been the end of the road for me.’

  She started to shush me but I continued.

  ‘No, I’m serious. When I lay there thinking I was one bullet away from it all ending, I realized I would regret not doing all the things that perhaps we hope we’ll get around to. Things that may have made sense to wait for in the old world, but don’t seem right to postpone today.’

  ‘Aadi, what are you talking about?’

  ‘Megha, will you marry me?’

  I could see she was genuinely stunned and just stared at me as I continued.

  ‘It’s okay if you say no or if you’re not sure or if you think this is moving too fast, but I love you and want nothing more than to be with you. In the way the world used to be, we’d date for a while, and then perhaps think of this. In a world where I don’t know if I’ll live to see the next day, I don’t know if we have the luxury of leaving things unsaid or undone. That’s why—’

  She shut me up by kissing me.

  ‘Aadi, to be honest, when I thought you were dead, the same thing went through my mind. I know it sounds crazy since we’ve known each other less than two weeks, but I don’t want to plan for a future when we should be living in the here and now. So, yes. What next?’

  That had me a bit flummoxed. Normally, there were parents and relatives to think of the logistics.

  ‘Let me talk it over with Mrs Khatri and the others. The bottom line is not the ceremony, but the fact that we’re together and will know that our being a family does not need to wait for some unseen future.’

  How I wish we could have just sat there, thinking of life together, pretend as if there wasn’t a black and dangerous world outside, a world that once more intruded into our lives when we heard the sounds of sustained gunfire somewhere nearby. I ran towards Mahadev, who was parked down the street, and we rushed towards the sounds, which seemed to be coming from near the lake.

  When we passed Nasir and his team, I saw them hunkered down in the nearby shops, four kids with automatic weapons standing guard. Next came the checkpoint, which to my dismay was unmanned. That could only mean something serious had happened nearer the lake which had led them to abandon their posts and join in the fighting. The gunfire had died down by the time we reached and I saw four of our boys behind cover, armed with AK-47s, and Ronald standing up telling people it was all clear now.

  ‘What happened?’ I asked, running up to Ronald.

  He responded, but his gaze was still fixed on the approach road, as if watching for any signs of danger.

  ‘They sent a small patrol. Looks like they’re probing our defences. Two jeeps came with three men in each. Your boys did well. The moment the bastards showed up they opened up with AK-47s and I was nearby so I helped. The only downside was the timing.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  He motioned to the side of the road where I saw several people lying on the ground.

  ‘They caught us in the middle of a supply run. Many people were hit. I don’t think anyone’s dead, but lots of people will need help and a couple are bleeding very badly.’

  Our two auto-rickshaws that served as ambulances came by soon and carried away the injured. Mahadev also ferried a few back in his jeep. All told, we had suffered ten injuries, three of which were serious, and Dr Guenther told us that it was likely they might not survive to see the next day. Kundu had been there at the scene of the fighting and was visibly shaken.

  ‘They now know our supply route and I’m sure they’ll hit us again,’ he said.

  I conferred with Ronald and Shaikh on what we should do next and we decided to increase our presence at all our checkpoints. There was going to be no time off and no shifts. We needed all hands on deck if another attack came. The reality was that we had more weapons than we had people trained in using them, but Pandey and Shaikh were teaming up to teach at least the basics of aiming and pulling the trigger from behind cover. If we did find ourselves under attack, just being able to pour more firepower at the enemy would count for something.

  Ronald was talking about how the Humvee was now up and running and we’d have more firepower and mobility, when Mohit came up with a few of his friends. They were holding the radio sets we had captured.

  ‘Aadi, Manoj here was in Electrical and he’s worked his magic. All the sets except two are now patched together along with the radio in the Humvee. Now we can talk to each other and move people as needed without relying on whistles. The two remaining sets will be with Akif and Ismail so they can continue to snoop on the enemy.’

  I laughed and thanked them. It was amazing what brains could do when brawn was not enough. We truly were lucky to have people like Mohit, Manoj, Nasir and Nitish with us. But as I thought of the enemy we faced and how we were preparing, something still bothered me. Ronald must have caught the expression on my face.

  ‘Something on your mind?’

  ‘Something the General said. Look, we’re much better off than we were. We have more weapons, we have you and Shaikh to help out, we have better communications, but the bottom line is that if it comes to a straight fight, they will win. They have more people who know how to use weapons, they are better trained and they will have heavier firepower. We don’t even know how many more Humvees and rocket launchers they have.’

  ‘So, what do you propose?’

  ‘The General asked us to think like insurgents. That’s what made us do so well in the last battle. We surprised them, we used tactics they would not expect of
civilians. We need to keep doing that.’

  He nodded and smiled, liking the idea. Nasir was standing with Mohit and I addressed him. ‘Nasir, I want IEDs on all our approaches, with wires leading to our checkpoints so our people can detonate them from behind cover. A minimum of four bombs per approach road. We learned last time that not every one of them will work as planned. Also, let’s get those tennis ball bombs ready. How many do we have?’

  ‘Six, but the team’s working double time now. We should get at least ten out every hour.’

  ‘Get more people on the job if necessary. It’ll be easier to teach people to light a fuse and throw a ball than shoot an AK-47 accurately. Get at least five balls per checkpoint before nightfall with at least one person who knows how to use them.’

  There was a flurry of activity as everyone got to work but Ronald continued to stand by my side.

  ‘Something is still bothering you.’

  ‘Yes. I don’t like sitting here waiting to be attacked.’

  ‘Well, Shaikh and I were heading out for a recce. The Captain wants us to get a better look at their defences at the airport, especially if we can get a feel for their anti-aircraft systems. We’re heading out in the next half hour.’

  ‘What if we do more than just have a look? What if we hit them for a change?’

  He grinned now.

  ‘I like how you think.’

  By seven in the evening, our society looked like a town that was at war. There were armed people everywhere and Nasir had indeed worked wonders with his bombs. Every approach road was set up with IEDs, and—in addition to the five ball bombs at each checkpoint—we had a roving band of bicycle-borne grenadiers who would go where the trouble was. Other than the three men we had evicted, the newcomers had blended in perfectly; perhaps facing a common threat made people forget differences and worries they might have had otherwise.

  We were all gathered for dinner at Central Avenue, and I noticed a subtle but clear change versus even a couple of days ago. Before, many people skipped the communal meals, either complaining about the constant diet of buns or rotis with a mashed up bhaji, or just saying that they preferred to eat in their own homes. Today, the street was packed. It seemed like every single person had come down to share a meal together. Ismail was in a corner, still training some kids on the finer points of using a Kalashnikov. His injury meant that he wasn’t going to be taking part in fighting anytime soon, but he was fast becoming our resident trainer in small arms and rifles.