Day 4, 11 a.m., Desai Residence,
It was a sleepless night, but Tara was used to that. She quietly sat in the living room sketching. She loved sketching pretty butterflies and cheerful cartoons. They soothed her soul. Desert scenes, warriors and desert women disturbed her now. She avoided doing that unless she had to. The household had slowly become normal. Her cellphone rang and she absently picked it up.
Hello.
Is this Tara Desai.
Yes, may I know who’s calling?
Mrs. Desai, this is Vipin Sehgal, calling on behalf of Minister Amrit Chibber from Chandigarh. I would like to talk to you.
I think you need to talk with my husband’s agent, I’ll give you his number
Madam, I have already talked to your brother. If you look outside your house, some policemen are stationed outside your house. Your brother has threatened us last night and the minister does not like threats.
Oh my God! What has Ashwin done? What do you want.
I want to talk to you and Mr. Desai, Madam
My husband is not well.
Madam, can I meet you
I live in Delhi, said Tara stalliing
Madam, Mr. Desai’s publisher has given us all relevant information. That is where I got your number. I know where you live and can be there within an hour if necessary
No, don’t come here. Please don’t.
She was panicking. Ashwin had threatened this Minister, police was watching the house. This was unthinkable.
Collecting herself, she said, “Today is Tuesday and I go to the Hanuman Mandir at 4 in the evening for pooja. Meet me at the mandir.
No madam, I will meet you at 5 p.m. at Starbeans Café at Connaught Place. Do you know where it is?
Yes I do
The phone went dead
Feeling restless, Tara went to the guest room where Shirish was sleeping, drugged, feverish and restless. A male nurse was sitting there watching TV with headphones. She paced around the room aimlessly and then went up to her bedroom. The broken furniture had been removed and Ashwin was sitting studying the story Shirish was working on. He looked up at her and smiled.
Hi, Tara. I just read the story Shirish is writing right now. I swear, this is going to be the biggest grosser when its done.
The doctor told us that Shirish should be given treatment. He should not write any more. You know he said that Ashwin.
Uff Tara, stop being fussy. He has many more stories inside him
What about Shirish, Ashwin?
Ashwin shut the laptop and carefully put down the lid
He got up and hugged his sister gently, and said.
I know you are worried. You think I am being selfish. The thing is, Tara, Shirish is a genius. He will be remembered through history as one of the finest historical writer of all times. We have to help him write. If we stop him from writing, he will go mad You tried that once, remember
Tara did remember She had taken away the laptop and locked it up, she had thrown away all writing material. Shirish had started hitting his head against the wall, going more uncontrollable by the minute until he got his laptop
Much later, she had tried to ask him what had happened. The answer was “They want me to tell their stories and get mad if I don’t”
Who are they?
I don’t know
She asked Ashwin who had gone to the window and was looking out
Ashwin I saw some policemen around the house, what is the matter
Ashwin looked out, then turned with a strained smile “Arrey didn’t I tell you? Yesterday there was a theft in the neighbourhood. You don’t worry about it. Just concentrate on getting Shirish well. It does not concern us
Tara was going to tell him about the phone call, but something made her shut up She just smiled weakly and said “You better have your lunch I have my Tuesday fast today”and drifted out
Day 4 , 5 p.m.Starbeans Café at Connaught Place
Tara Desai walked into Starbeans Cafe on foot. The driver had been instructed to park in front of a saree shop. She did not like this stealth and deception she was indulging in, but her instinct told her to hide this meeting from her brother who would not like it. She looked around feeling like a fool. She did not even know the appearance of the man she had come to meet. An extremely attractive young man, in his early twenties came up to her and said softly
“Mrs. Desai? she nodded and he introduced himself as he led her to a table at the corner.While the coffee and sandwiches came, they sized each other. Tara saw a determined good looking youth, apparently from a good family. He in turn saw a skinny middle aged lady, whose anxiety was clear on her face. Tara fidgeted, took a nervous sip of her coffee and asked
What is this all about?
Vipin told her about the Noida murders, the strange attack on his sister. He added,
Madam, I have been on the internet all night, and have collected a lot of stories about reactions of fans of your husband’s books. I can tell you strange stories. My sister is the wife of a minister, Madam and we are raising a call to ban your husband’s books. We would like to give you advance warning before we take this step.
He handed her case studies of a girl who tried to jump off a bridge – and had no recollection of it. Another shy bookish schoolboy who nearly killed a bully. She was trembling while she heard him out. She was almost in tears as she blurted out
He is not well, he has not been well for about ten years. He only gets up to write.
Tell me more Madam, said Vipin softly
She got up, shook her head, trying to control her tears, picked up the file and rushed out. A couple of men in khakhi stopped her mid flight, and Vipin joined her, saying gently
Madam, I must insist that we meet your husband., and he ushered her into a waiting jeep.
Meenal was in the jeep and she looked very angry at this daylight kidnapping. Tara broke down into tears