The 3 Mistakes Of My Life (27 page)

passing out on the mattresses in the branch manager's room on the first floor.

We sat on couches in the cashier waiting area and played cards after dinner.

Ali slept soon. Ish brought a quilt from the manager's office and tucked him in on

a separate sofa.

Omi dropped three cards. 'Three aces,' Omi said with an extra-straight face. He

sucks at bluff.

I tapped the cards. I wondered whether to turn them. Loud chants disrupted

my thought.

'What's that?' I said. I saw the time - 10 p.m. 'Those are Hindu chants,' Omi

said. 'Angry-Hindu chants,' Ish said. Calls to Shiva and Rama combined with

drumbeats. We climbed the stairs two floors to reach the bank's roof. The city

glowed orange in the thick winter night. One, two, three -I saw three balls of

flame across the pols. The nearest flame came from a building fifty yards away. A

crowd of people stood outside. They threw stones on the burning building. I

couldn't see well, but could hear the screams of the people inside the pol. The

screams mixed with celebratory chants. You may have heard about riots several

times or even seen them on TV. But to witness them in front of your eyes stuns

your senses. My neighbourhood resembled a calamity movie film set. A burning

man ran across the road. The Hindu mob chased him. He stumbled on a stone

and fell, around twenty yards away from us. The mob crowded over him. Two

minutes later, the crowd moved away while the man lay still. I had witnessed

someone's death for the first time in my life. My hands, face, neck, legs -

everything turned cold. My heart beat in the same irregular way as it did on the

day of the earthquake. Nature caused that disaster, man made this one. I don't

know which is more dangerous.

'Come inside,' Ish tugged hard at my sleeve.

We went downstairs. My body shivered.

'It
'
s
fine. Let's go to sleep. The police will come soon
.
By morning
it will be ok,'

Ish said as he put his arm around me.

'Can we sleep together?' I said. Yes, I admit it, I felt super scared.

Ish nodded. He picked up Ali from the couch. We went to the branch manager's

room on the first floor and shut the door. I checked my phone before going to bed.

Vidya had given me a missed call. I was in no state of mind to call or SMS back.

Ish lay next to me anyway. I kept the phone in my pocket.

I took three quilts and slept in the middle next to Ali. Omi and Ish surrounded

us. We switched off the lights at 10.30 p.m.

At 11.30 p.m. I woke up again. We heard a shattering noise. Someone shook

the main gate of the bank.

'Who is it,' I said. Ish stood up and wore his shirt.

'Let's find out,' Ish said and shook Omi's leg, 'come Omi.'

We went downstairs. I switched on the main lobby lights. Ish looked through

the keyhole.

'It's the mob,' Ish said, one eye still on the keyhole, 'Mama is leading the pack.'

We looked at each other. Ish turned the door knob and opened the door.

Nineteen

‘My sons,’ Mama screamed.

We unlocked the bank's main gate and opened it slightly. Mama opened his

arms. He held a fire-torch in one hand and a trishul in the other. I expected him

to cry when he saw Omi, but he didn't. He came close to us for a hug. He took the

three of us in his arms. 'My son, the bastards killed my son,' Mama said as he

wouldn't let go of us.

I looked into his cold eyes. He didn't look like a father who had just lost his

son. Alcohol and marijuana smells reeked from his mouth. Mama appeared more

stoned than grieved.

‘My brother, Mama,' Omi said and held back his tears.

'Don't cry. Nobody will cry today,' Mama screamed and released us. He turned

to address the mob, 'we Hindus have only cried. While these mother fuckers come

and keep killing us over the centuries. In a Hindu country, in a Hindu state, the

fuckers can come and burn our kids in broad daylight. And we don't do anything.

We just cry. Come rape us, loot us and burn us. They think they can terrorise the

whole fucking world but we will have no guts to do anything.' 'Kill them,' the mob

replied. The shaky body movements of the mob showed their intoxication. By

blood or alcohol, I could not tell.

'But the bastards made a big mistake. They tried to rape Gujarat today. Mother

fuckers thought these vegetarian people, what will they do? Come let's show them

what we can do?'

Mama paused to take a sip from his hip flask. We stepped back towards the

bank.

'I hope they won't expect us to join. I won't,' I whispered in Ish's ear.

'Nor am I, and let's take Omi inside too,' Ish said. We told Omi to hide behind

us. In a delicate movement, Ish shut the bank gate again and locked it.

'What are you whispering?' Mama said and almost lost his balance. His fire

torch fell on the floor. The mob cleared around it. He lifted the torch back.

'Where is my other son? Open this gate,' Mama said as he couldn't see Omi.

'What do you want Mama? Can we talk tomorrow?' I said.

'No tomorrow, I want something today.'

'Mama, you know Omi needs to get home...,' I said. Mama brushed me away.

I don't want Omi. I don't want any of you. I have many people to help me kill

the bastards.'

Ish came next to me. He held my hand tight.

'So leave us Mama,' Ish said.

'I want the boy. I want that Muslim boy,' Mama said. 'What?' Ish said.

'Eye for an eye. I'll slaughter him right here. Then I will cry for my son. Get the

fucking boy,' Mama said and thumped Ish's chest. Ish struggled to stand straight.

The blow torches lit up the dried grass on the entrance of the bank. A thick

lock kept the gate shut and the mob outside.

'Mama, you are drunk. There is nobody here,' Omi said.

'You lose a son first. Then I will tell you about being drunk,' Mama said, 'and I

know he is here because he is not at his home.'

'Mama, your dispute is with his father,' I said.

'I've taken care of his father,' Mama said, 'and his whore stepmother. I killed

them with this.' Mama lifted his trishul to show us. The tips had blood on them.

I looked at Ish and Omi. We made an instant decision. We ran inside the bank.

I shut the main entrance door and bolted it.

I sucked in long, deep breaths.

'Relax, relax ... we have to think,' Ish said.

'I will join them and take them away,' Omi said.

'No, it won't work,' Ish said.

'They killed his parents?' I said and continued to breathe

fast.

The mob banged against the gate. They didn't like our vanishing manoeuvre. I

wondered how long the lock would hold.

I sat down on the couch. I had to think despite the deafening gate noise.

'What are our options,' I said.

'We can try to negotiate with them,' I said.

Nobody responded.

'They have madness in their eyes, they won't talk,' Omi said.

'We could try and escape. Or fight them,' Ish said.

'You want to fight forty people who are under a spell to murder?' I said.

'Then what?' Ish said.

I looked at Ish. For the first time in my life, I had seen him scared. I kept

looking at him hoping he would consider all options. Even the worst one.

'Don't even think about giving up Ali,' Ish said to me as his pointed finger

poked my chest.

'What else can we offer them?' I said.

'Money?' Ish said as his body shivered, 'you say people always talk if there is

money involved.'

'We don't have that much money,' I said.

'But we will make it and give it to them,' Ish said.

'For Mama it is not about the money,' Omi said.

'That is true,' Ish said, 'but if we buy the rest of them, Mama won't be able to

do it alone. We need to scatter the crowd.'

I paced around the room. We didn't have money. Yes, the rioters would be poor

people in the neighbourhood with nothing to lose. But still, how and who would

do the talking?

'You are the best at money talk,' Ish said.

'It could backfire. How do I separate Mama from them?' I said.

'I'll do that,' Omi said.

We opened the main door again. The crowd stopped banging their trishuls at

the front gate lock.

'C'mon son, open the gate. You boys can leave, we will do the rest,' Mama said.

'Mama, I want to talk to you. Just you,' Omi said in a sympathetic voice.

'Sure, open the gate son,' Mama said.

I went forward and opened the gate. I raised my hand to calm the crowd. I had

to appear confident.

'Move back. Mama wants to talk to his other son,' I said.

Omi took Mama to the side and hugged him. Mama consoled him. I looked

through the crowd to see any influential person. A man with a turban had six

men behind him. He wore a gold chain.

'Can I talk to you?' I said.

The man came to me. He held a fire torch in his hand. My cheek felt the heat.

'Sir, I want to offer you a proposal.' 'What?'

'How many of these men are yours?' 'Ten,' he said, after some hesitation. 'If I

promise you ten thousand, can you slowly step back and walk away?' I said.

'Why?' he said.

'Please, don't ask. Consider it an offering. And keep it quiet as I don't have

enough for all.'

'Why do you want to save the boy?' he asked.

'Fifteen thousand last. My shop is at the temple. You can ruin it if I don't pay.'

The man in the gold chain went back to his group. He spoke to them as they

stepped backwards. He turned to me and nodded. Twenty-five per cent of my

problem was over.

Mama left Omi and came to me.

'What's going on here?' Mama said. He did not notice forty people turning to

thirty in his drunk state.

'Mama think again. You have a future in the party. Parekh-ji will not approve of

this,' I said.

Mama laughed. He took out his mobile phone and dialled a number.

'Parekh-ji won't approve?' Mama said and waited for the phone to be picked up.

'Yes, Parekh-ji, I am well. Don't worry, I will grieve later. Right now it is war

time. Oh and someone thinks you are not happy with me ... here talk ... yes

talk...'

Mama passed his phone. The crowd waited behind us.

'Hello? Who is this,' Parekh-ji's voice came at the other end.

'Govind, Parekh-ji. One of Omi's friends. We came to Vishala with you...,' I said.

'Oh yes. Son, trying day for us Hindus. So are you supporting us?'

"This is wrong, sir,' I said, not sure why I called him sir, 'this is wrong.'

'What? The train burning, isn't it?' 'Not that Parekh-ji, they want to kill a boy'

'So what can I do?' he said. 'Stop them.'

'Our job is to listen to people and do what they tell us. Not the other way

round.'

'People don't want this,' I said.

'They do. Trust me. Today, the cooker needs a whistle to release the pressure."

'But kids? Women?' I said.

'Doesn't matter. Whatever it takes to quench the hurt feelings. People in pain

want to feel better. Unfortunately, today I can't think of a better way.'

'This is a horrible way,' I said.

'This will last a day or two, but if we stifle it, it could explode into a huge civil

war.'

'Your party will be blamed for it,' I said, trying to appeal to their self-interest.

'By who? A few pseudos? Not the people of Gujarat. We are making people feel

better. They will elect us again and again. You wait and see.'

'Sir, this boy. He could be in the national team someday.' Mama snatched the

phone from me.

'Don't worry Parekh-ji, I'll take care of all this. You will be proud of me

tomorrow,' Mama said and hung up.

I looked around for another mini-leader in the pack. I walked up to him and

took him aside.

'Fifteen thousand, you take your people and walk away,' I said.

This time my lure did not entice.

'Mama, he is trying to buy me,' the mini-leader screamed at the top of his voice.

'No, no you heard me wrong, what are you mad or something?' I said and

moved back towards the bank.

'What's going on Omi? Get the boy here,' Mama screamed.

Omi nodded to Mama. He went to the main door. The crowd remained at the

gate and only the porch separated us. However, the gate did not have a lock

anymore.

Omi knocked on the main entrance. Ish opened it after confirming the person.

Both of them disappeared inside.

I stood alone with the rioters. They suspected me of offering bribes. I wanted to

run inside too. However, someone had to keep the crowd out.

'Are they getting him?' Mama asked me.

'I think so,' I said.

I offered to check inside as Mama asked twice. I went to the door and knocked.

Ish opened it for a nanosecond and I slipped inside.

I let out the loudest sigh ever. Ish bolted the door and blocked it with the sofa

from the waiting lounge.

'They are waiting. If one of us doesn't show up in two minutes, they will attack,'