Non-erotic The Scarface I Hated by Trambak

[Ramesh_Rocky]

"How could people be so insensitive?" I said so aloud, shocked and aghast.

Imran nodded sagely and said, "Now, listen to the second one. It is marked Morbi-25000 min. The word 'min' stands for 'minimum'. There was a four-kilometre-long dam on the Machhu river in Gujarat. On 11 Aug 1979, after 10 days of incessant rain the dam collapsed. The water burst out in great volume and swiftly engulfed the Morbi village. Approximately 25000 people were washed away. The government claimed that it was an 'act of God' and supposed negligence by the dam workers. Later on, it was revealed that there were major design defects. Almost no alerts were given to the inhabitants of Morbi before the disaster. This was one of the worst dam disaster ever in history."

Imran paused. I was stunned. I was completely unaware of these two incidents. Such human sufferings were unheard of. I only knew about the Bhopal gas tragedy. I felt ashamed.

Imran finally took out two papers that appeared to be torn from a copy. There were pencil scribblings on it. The first one was a chart with double lettered initials like IT, AA, BI, KA, AR etc. Below on the right, it was SM with a round around it. It made no sense to me.

The second paper was more detailed. It showed dates and time. With each entry was affixed with those initials. Both looked very cryptic and the only thing I could decipher was that efforts had been made to keep the reader guessing.

I looked at Imran. He shook his head and said, "To me, this looks like an organization chart of a secret agency or persons unwilling to allow anyone know about them. But why?"

I was clueless.

Imran added, "And this second chart is obviously a meeting schedule. This too is a secret document."

Again, I had no answers.

Finally, Imran said conclusively, "I have two important questions. First, why is SM circled? And second, why are these documents in your parent's box?"

I felt sick with anxiety. What kind of new twist was this?

Chapter-16

Who were Amaya and Ardeshir? Why were they erased from my life? Why no one ever spoke about them? What was this mystery all about? I had no answer and that made me angry. Imran, meanwhile, like a detective was patiently elaborating on the various possibilities that these papers highlighted. After some time, he realised that while he was talking I wasn't paying attention and suddenly jerked to a halt. He looked at me and sensed something amiss. He at once returned to his normal genial self and said in a mild tone, "I know, this is bothering you. But we need to know, don't we!" I nodded but I was unsure whether I really wanted to know or not.

We sat for a while. Imran collected back all the items and put it back in the box carefully. He said, "Meher. Maybe all these mean nothing. If there is something we will find out. There is no point in getting worried unnecessarily. You must be tired. Let's sleep." And I agreed. This time, I held him tight.

In the morning, I found Imran up and about but in no mood for work. He sent Suresh (who usually presented himself first thing in the morning, without fail) to the workshop with instructions. Imran absenting himself from work was such a rare event that I was pleasantly surprised. Kiana had already been up a long time back and had established a perfect rapport with Sumitra as if they were similar age friends. They were in the middle of some discussion which they suspiciously stopped as I entered the kitchen. I looked at them inquisitively but they refused to divulge anything.

Meanwhile, Imran joined us and started chatting. I noticed that Kiana and Imran were communicating much better and to an extent that it appeared as if they were separated only for a week or so. The breach of 5 years seemed to have melted away. I was really happy at this reunion but was worried that after seven days Kiana would leave. Still, it was a start. Even Sumitra appeared to have impressed Kiana. Only I was feeling a little out of place but I could not put a reason to it. Maybe I was the one who was a newcomer in the family while the rest were sufficiently close! Soon Imran declared that there would be a sumptuous lunch and he was going out shopping.