Episode 16
"Hello! I am Chan. I am from Singapore. I was working in a massage parlour. One night, I was sleeping in my room, and when I woke up, I found myself here. I, too, have been in solitary confinement since my arrival here. What's your story?"
"Same! I, too, was kidnapped in my hometown. But, please tell me how can we escape from here? You guys have been here for some time, I guess. Have you thought of any way of escaping?"
Roger poured water from the jug to the glasses, and said, "First, you guzzle as much as water as possible, and gulp as many bananas as you can. A lot more work to do before lunch."
He followed up his words by guzzling 3 glasses of water in no time. Then he took off the peels of 6 bananas in a flash, and swallowed them quickly.
Rajan was disappointed, as he didn't get the answer he was seeking. But, he too, followed them by drinking and eating. It took about to 5 minutes for Roger to complete his breakfast. Then he opened his mouth,
"This is a very tough place man! Do you see me? I am 6' 6", 140 kg. I have the power of a lion but, I can run like a cheetah. One day, I saw no one guarding here. So, I ran fast, very fast, to flee. No one was following me. I reached the precincts of this place, which is roughly 1 km from here in less than 5 minutes. This place is surrounded by a 10 feet wall. But that height is no big deal for me. I had been a very good athelete. I could jump more than 6 feet with ease, and here all I had to do was to jump only 2 feet to reach the wall. But, as I jumped..."
He couldn't complete, as peals of a bell could be heard for 3 times, and his face turned pale.
"Go back quickly to your work place, else they will beat the crap out of you."
He and the Asian guy ran to their respective places of work. That was the first working day for Rajan. Besides, he was constantly thinking about what happened to Roger next! Why an athletic guy like Roger could not escape this place?"
Rajan was sure from the nature of the trees and the soil that this place was in India. The soil was alluvial in nature. That meant that it was somewhere near a river. Where it could be, and how come the police were completely unaware of the unlawful activities happening here. Rajan was sure that his relatives would report his kidnapping to the police. He wondered why police could not find him so far!
His brooding took him a lot of time and he reached the work place after 10 minutes of ringing of the bell. When he reached there, he was shocked to see a pair of handcuffs in the hand of the Bengali, from his accent it was evident, masked man. As soon as Rajan arrived, he kicked Rajan in the gut with force.
"Oh my God!" Rajan was gasping and writhing in pain on the ground. But, that heartless guy quickly handcuffed him, and started to beat him with his legs. He kicked Rajan at least 10 times before saying,
"This place belongs to the Joker, and he respects punctuality more than anything else in the universe. Before you perish, you have to obey the orders, and you have to be on time every occasion. Do you understand, you bonehead?"
"Yes, yes! I understand! Please stop beating me."
Rajan could not take anymore.
The guy released him, and said, " 15 minutes to recover. Start working again."
Rajan had to work for 2 more hours in the garden before lunch. After lunch, he was again assigned household works like sweeping and cleaning an entire 1500 square feet floor. He was then assigned to wash clothes and finally he had to clean a huge stack of utensils. At 6-30 PM, the masked man said,
"It's over for the day. Now you can rest. See you tomorrow at 6 AM."
When Rajan was selected for the IIT, his father broke the news to the family. Before today, that was the sweetest news that Rajan had ever got in his entire life. But, when the masked guy uttered those words, Rajan found them to be the real sweetest news he had ever heard. Every muscle in his body was sore and fatigued. Somehow, he managed to stay on his own feet. He thanked God for this miracle.
But, when he entered his secluded room, he simply fell on the carpet of the floor like a lifeless object. He would have stayed there for eons, had it been his wish. But, withing half an hour, another masked man entered his room with a glass of milk and few medicines. He was ordered to quickly consume them. One of the medicine, Rajan saw, was a painkiller. Generally, he avoided that medicine, as he read that it was not good for heart in the long run. But on that day Rajan was thankful to the Joker for sending it.
Today, Rajan noted that the masked guy didn't take the normal route. He was taken in the opposite direction of the garden. Rajan saw an agricultural field blooming with gorgeous yellow mustard flowers. The north-eastern wind was caressing the flowers, and it appeared from their sway that they were dancing in enjoyment. Rajan, being residing in the USA for many years, was not feeling any cold in this early February. All he was concerned about was his fate!
They walked on the narrow path inside the field. The field was quite large, and almost square in shape. At the end of the agricultural field, Rajan saw a football ground. From the well-trimmed lush green grasses, Rajan understood that it was well maintained. Apart from two goal posts and white lines associated with the game of football, Rajan espied that there were white lines along the side of the ground which indicated it was used as an athletics track.
"Welcome to the tracks! Are you a good athlete? Can you run fast?"
Rajan's throat constricted. Despite being born and brought up in a village area, Rajan had never been a good athlete. He was good at sudies, and since his early childhood, he understood that he had to carry the burden of his family. So, sports was the last thing in his mind.
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The next episode will be published on Saturday 9 PM IST
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