Story#38 : Chain Reaction
“Muthu, I can’t find my chain. I am sure that, I had kept it in the drawer when we went to my sisters’ house day before. But, when I came back, it is not there. I don’t know what to tell Appa. It is a ten sovereign chain” said Meenakshi. I could sense the fear in her voice.
I was on my year end vacation to Chennai. This is my second last semester of engineering. I am studying in Hasan College Bangalore. Meenakshi is my paternal aunt and her husband, Kathir is a
Politician in kandanchavadi area Chennai. Right now, he is a corporation council member and he is the designated candidate for the next TamilNadu assembly elections from his constituency.
Like my father, I hate politics. But, I always enjoyed the extra attention I received wherever I went to Chennai, as my uncle is a politician. Politicians are servants to the people on paper. But, in reality, people are servants to the politicians.
“But Aunty, if you wear ten sovereign chain on your neck, won’t you get neck pain? Why are you keeping a pain on neck?” I couldn’t resist asking.
“I never wanted to wear that. I usually keep it in the drawer most of the time. But, when your uncle’s higher circuit people comes, anything less than 10 sovereign is considered to be a disgrace for the political party” said Meenakshi.
Hmmm.. Interesting.. So, it is a ‘Political Chain’, I thought.
“Yeah, after all, if anybody steals it, the thief also must get the benefit for the risk he is taking” I said sarcastically.
“You mean to say, some thief might have stolen it?” asked Meenakshi.
“Look at this ‘Kandanchavadi times’ local news paper. The main news is that. I looked.. “Thieves are roaming in the streets of Kandanchavadi” is the headline.
“Oh My God! But who will dare to steal from a politician’s house? It is like cheating your own kind” Meenakshi was also not bad in sarcasm.
“What should we do now?” I asked.
“Well, first we have to inform uncle. But, he is on the field now. There are lots of compliant from the residents because of the December rain. Rain water has accumulated in the low lying areas and people are stranded. He has gone there in the morning itself. Yesterday, I saw him turning to green after the call with the minister. Obviously, Minister has asked him to do something. So, he has gone to do something” said Meenakshi.
“Give me his number. I will call” I said.
“No point in calling. He will not pick up the call if he is in field. His close friends have gone to their natives. So, I don’t have a number through which I can reach him. You have to go to the rain affected area and meet him directly. If we lose time, the thief may get farther away. Then, your uncle will do ‘Shivathaandavam’ when he gets back” said Meenakshi.
I decided to go. When I reached the spot, I could see almost fourteen to fifteen JCBs were at work. Uncle is standing in the middle of JCBs with a group of white dressed people. There are few small groups of local people standing here and there and talking. My uncle was screaming at the JCB drivers. Most of the road was under water and there are few flats (those were constructed in the middle of the lakes) which has become islands because of water clogging.
At first I didn’t understand anything. All fifteen JCBS were at work. They were digging and making canals here and there. There was no connection between the canals. Some of the canals were getting dug right across the road. There was absolutely no direction on what they are doing. But they kept digging. There was a photographer clicking photos and a local news channel and a videographer was recording the video of the procedure.
I understood the scenario. It is just a political gimmick. My uncle is desperate to show the minister and the people that, he is in the ‘thick’ of the things and doing whatever possible for the people. But the reality is, he is making things worse. Because of uncontrolled digging, the road became useless and now, even trucks cannot pass through the road. With rain, people were isolated for two to three days. Now, because of this digging, people will be isolated for next one month. Politics at its best!!
There is no pointing in airing my opinion. Better to leave politics of “digging” to the politicians. I went near to my uncle and told him the situation at home.
“I told her thousand times to lock the drawer. She never does it. Now, in between serving the people at the time of this calamity, I have to handle problems at my home also” He was shouting at me.
“If a thief can reach to the drawer, what is the use of lock in front of him?” My Engineering logical mind was trying to reason with myself. But, I didn’t raise it as question.
My uncle thought for a minute and then asked me.
“Do you have a photo of the chain on your mobile?”
“I don’t have. But I can ask aunty to WhatsApp that to me” I said.
“Do It now… “ He instructed.
I called Aunt and she sent me the picture of the chain from one of her photos. I showed the picture to my uncle. He took my phone and forwarded that photo to somebody else. Then he dialed a number from my phone and said.
“I sent you the photo of a chain. It is stolen from my house. I don’t know what will you do or how will you do. I need the chain back by today evening”.
My Engineering logical mind understood that, it must be the police inspector. Then he gave back my phone and said. “Go back home. Tell aunty that, she will get her chain by evening”.
Then he started shouting at the JCB operators again…
When I reached back, I saw at least half dozen policemen at my Uncle’s house. They were showing the photos of local thieves to the servants at home and were asking whether they saw any of them near the premises of the house in the last few days. One of the servants identified a thief and said that, he saw him 3 days back. Then the policemen drove off.
At 4:00 PM, the thief in question came to my uncle’s house in disguise. He was wearing Purdah. He straight away went to my aunt and apologized. He has handed over the chain to her and said that, he will go hiding for few days. Else, if the police catch him, they will break all his bones. He requested aunty not to tell anybody that, he came there at least until 6:00 PM so that, he can cover a safe distance and escape.
At 5:00 PM the police inspector came and gave aunty another chain of the same type and same weight. He claimed that, they caught the thief and got the chain from him. He apologized for inconvenience and left. My aunt didn’t tell the policeman that, the thief has already come. She wanted to keep her word to the thief that, she will not reveal it until 6:00 PM.
At 5:45 PM, My Niece came back from college after the X’mas celebrations and she brought back the chain and said “Everybody liked the ethnic gold jewelry”
“But, Aarathy, why didn’t you tell me that, you were wearing it?” asked my aunty.
“It is only for a day. Anyway, I am bringing it back in the evening. When I left, I searched for you. But you were in the garden. So, I left. Why? What happened?” asked Aarathy.
Meenakshi took out the chains which the thief and the police gave her. She kept all three chains together and asked.
“Now, whom do the other two chains belong to?”
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Biju Vargheese (Pazhayedathu Paramban)
