Revolution 2020 (23 page)

I took out my phone.
Before I could call him, however, Shukla-ji called me.

‘I don’t
know how this happened,’ I said.

‘Behenchods
these
Dainik
people are,’ Shukla-ji said,

‘This reporter
has to stop ...’ I said.

‘It’s
not the reporter. The opposition must be doing this.’

‘I don’t
know, sir.’

‘Or maybe
someone in my own party? Jealous bastards wanting to spoil my name.’

‘I don’t
think so, sir’

‘What?’

‘It is the
reporter. I know him from before. He’s the crusader-activist
types. Plus, he had to apologise to me. He is taking revenge.’

‘Who?’

‘Raghav
Kashyap, the name is there in the article.’

‘I’ll
fuck his happiness,’ Shukla-ji said.

‘Should I call
him?’ I said.

‘Don’t.
I’ll speak to his seniors’

I said, ‘What
about the article. Does it affect us?’

‘If VNN calls,
direct them to me,’ Shukla-ji said.

                                                         ♦

No VNN officials
called. Instead, they came straight to my college. The officials
didn’t come alone, they came with two bulldozers.

Students peeped from
classroom windows as the sounds of the earthmover disrupted classes.
I came running to the gate.

‘Open the
gates, we have come for demolition,’ said a man wearing cheap
sunglasses and a yellow plastic helmet.

‘What?’
I said.

‘We have
orders,’ said the VNN official. He took out a folded piece of
paper from his pocket.

My heart beat fast.
‘What will you demolish?’

'The main building.
There’s illegal construction here,’ he said, his tone
defiant.

The harsh morning
sun hit our faces. ‘Can we talk?’ I said.

He shook his head.

I took out my phone.
I called Shukla-ji. He didn’t answer.

‘This is MLA
Shukla’s college. What is your name, sir?’ I said.

‘Rao. I am
Amrit Rao. I don’t care whether you say MLA or PM.’

I coaxed him to be
patient for ten minutes. He turned the ignition off on the
bulldozers. I asked the peon to get soft drinks with ice for
everyone. I continued to try Shukla-ji’s number. He answered at
the eighth attempt.

‘What is it,
Gopal? I had to call the CM. These stupid articles are the biggest
headaches’

‘Sir, we have
bulldozers here.’

‘What?’
Shukla-ji said.

I handed the phone
to Rao, who repeated his mission to the MLA. However, he became
silent as the MLA spoke at the other end. Rao stepped aside to have a
lengthy animated conversation with Shukla-ji for ten minutes.

Rao returned my
phone. ‘Here, Shukla-ji wants to speak to you.’

‘Sir?’ I
said, still dazed.

‘How much cash
do you have in the office?’ Shukla-ji wanted to know.

‘Not sure,
sir. Around two lakhs in the safe.’

‘Give it to
him. Put the notes in an empty cement bag, topped up with sand.’

‘Yes, sir,’
I said.

‘His
colleagues should not see it. He has a solid reputation.’

‘Okay, sir.’

‘And he has to
break something. He can t go back without demolition pictures’

‘What?’

‘Is there
anything partially constructed you don’t need immediately?’

‘Sir, the
students are going to see the demolition,’ I said.

‘No choice.
This reporter friend of yours has kicked us right in the ...’

‘He’s no
longer a friend, sir,’ I said.

‘He’s
fucked. Anyway, tell me what can be broken easily and will cost the
least to fix?’

‘The machining
lab. We can put the machines somewhere else,’ I

said.

‘Do that. Then
draw a cross sign with chalk outside the lab. Let them do the rest.
Don’t forget the cement bag.’ Shukla-ji hung up.

I signalled the
security guard to open the gates. Rao gave me an oily smile.

I can’t do a
movie today. I have to leave in ten minutes’ Aarti frowned as
she stepped into my Innova.

I had come to pick
her up at the hotel with tickets for the 7.30 p.m. show of
Rock
On.

‘Can you get a
refund?’

I tore up the
tickets.

‘Gopal!’
she said. ‘What are you doing? You shouldn’t have bought
tickets without asking me.’

‘Why are you
distraught?’

‘It’s
about Raghav. I have to be with him.’

‘What?’
I said.

‘Don’t
talk about Raghav. Whose rule is that, Mr Mishra?’

‘Mine. But I
want to know why you are cancelling the plan.’

‘I’ll
tell you. Can you drop me home?’

‘DM’s
bungalow,’ I told the driver.

‘Keep it to
yourself, okay?’ Aarti said. ‘He told me not to tell
anyone. I can trust you, right?’

‘Do I have to
answer that?’ I said.

‘Fine. Raghav
lost his job,’ she said.

‘What?’
I said. A surge of warm joy ran through me.

‘I’m
shocked.
Dainik
considered him a star reporter,’ Aarti
said.

‘Did they give
a reason?’ I said. The reason was sitting next to her.

‘I don’t
know. He didn’t say. He just said the management asked him to
leave.’

‘Recession?’
I said in a mock-concerned voice. ‘They cut staff in tough
times to save costs’

‘How much can
you save by firing a trainee reporter? And
Dainik
is doing
well.’

The car reached
Aarti s home.

‘Is he at your
place?’ I said as she stepped out.

She shook her head.
‘I’ll go meet him. I wanted to come home and change.’

‘How did he
sound? Upset?’ I said.

‘Very, very
angry,’ Aarti said and rushed off.

                                                          ♦

I shouldn’t
have called him. However, I couldn’t resist calling Raghav at
midnight. I wanted to see if he would remain defiant in his
unemployed state. I held a tall whisky glass in my right hand and the
phone in my left.

I thought he
wouldn’t take my call. However, he picked it up soon enough.

‘Do you need
another apology?’ were his first words.

‘Hi, Raghav,’
I said, my voice calm. ‘How are things?’

‘Quite good.
What is bothering you that you called?’

‘Don’t
be upset with me,’ I said.

‘You only get
upset with people you care about,’ Raghav said.

‘You cared
about your job’.

‘Bye, Gopal,’
he said.

‘I told you
not to write shit about us,’ I said.

‘I don’t
need to ask you how to do my job.’

I took a big gulp of
whisky. ‘Oh yeah, how can you? BHU pass-out, taking advice from
an uneducated man like me.’

He remained silent
as I filled my glass again. The whisky made me feel more confident
than ever before.

‘It’s
not about education, Gopal. It’s the person you have become. I
can’t believe it!’

‘Rich.
Successful. Hard to believe, huh? The person who cleared JEE is
unemployed’

‘I’ll
find a job, Gopal. And tell that MLA of yours - just because he could
get a trainee fired from
Dainik
doesn’t mean he can
silence the truth.’

‘I could give
you a job, Raghav. Want to work for me?’

I only heard a click
in response.

                                                        ♦

‘Revolution
2020,’ Aarti said, chin in hands and both her elbows on the
table.

We had come to the
Ramada Hotel coffee shop. It was an off-day for her. She could visit
the restaurants as a customer in regular civilian clothes. Waiters
smiled at her in recognition, and she greeted them back. Ever since
Raghav lost his job, she hadn’t met me too often as she wanted
to be with him. Finally, on her weekly holiday I coaxed her to meet
up.

‘What’s
that?’ I said.

‘Don’t
ask questions. Revolution 2020 - when I say this to you, what comes
to your mind? What could it be?’

She blinked a couple
of times as she waited for me to reply. I noticed how appealing she
looked even in a simple orange T-shirt and black jeans.

‘A new
restaurant? Is Ramada opening one?’

She laughed.

‘What’s
so funny?’ I said. ‘What is this Revolution 2020?’

‘It’s a
new newspaper. Raghav’s.’

‘His own
newspaper?’ I said, startled.

‘Yeah. He
decided not to take up another job.’

Even if he wanted
Raghav could not get a media job in Varanasi, at least in the top
papers. Shukla-ji had informed all the major editors. Aarti, of
course, didn’t know this. She didn’t even know why Raghav
had lost his job.

‘Raghav said
Dainik
didn’t give him a reason. Is that fair?’
she said.

‘There’s
politics in organisations. He will learn to fit in’ I said.

‘He doesn’t
want to fit in. He wants to change journalism. Give it some teeth,’
Aarti said.

We ordered our
coffee. Alongside, the waiters also gave us freshly baked cookies and
muffins.

‘Did we order
all this?’ I said.

‘Contacts,’
she said and winked at me.

‘How can he
start a newspaper?’ I said. ‘You need money.’

‘It’s
not money. It’s the content that matters,’ Aarti said and
took a sip. A sliver of foam was left behind on her lip.

Aarti, you really
believe this? You are a practical girl.’

‘It’s
fine, Gopal. You opened a college. Why can’t he do this?’

‘I had a
backer - MLA Shukla, who had cash and connections.’

‘He hates him.
Raghav says Shukla is the most corrupt leader Varanasi has ever had,’
Aarti said.

‘That’s
speculation,’ I said. ‘Is there any successful person who
hasn’t been criticised? Shukla is high-profile and rising.
People are trying to bring him down.’

‘Okay, can we
please not discuss politics?’ Aarti said. ‘The political
gene ended in my family with my grandfather.’

‘You could
join,’ I said. ‘People still remember your grandfather.’

She raised her hand
and pumped her fist to make a mock-slogan gesture. ‘Vote for
me, I will give you free cookies with coffee.’ She smiled. ‘No,
thanks. I am happy in Ramada.’

I smiled back.
Anyway, so how exactly is he going to start his ... revolving what?’

‘
Revolution
2020.
That’s his goal. That India must have a
full-blown revolution by 2020. Power will be with the youth. We will
dismantle the old corrupt system and put a new one in place.’

‘And he’s
going to do that from Varanasi?’ I sounded as skeptical as I
felt.

‘Yes, of
course. Kids from big cities are cushioned against the system. They
have decent colleges, get good breaks. The revolution has to start
from a small city.’

‘He’s
definitely got you on board,’ I said.

‘What better
place to start than the city that cleanses?’ she said.

She spoke in an
enthusiastic voice. Maybe this was what she liked about Raghav. His
passionate approach to life, even if it was outlandish and fantastic.
Girls don’t like reality that much. Or practical questions.

‘How does this
newspaper work? Who pays for the printing, paper and promotion while
the revolution comes?’

She sobered quickly.
‘So it isn’t exactly a newspaper to start with. It is
like a newsletter. Just one big sheet.’

‘Okay?’
I egged her on.

‘On one side
of the paper will be matrimonials. People from Varanasi love fixing
marriages. So he will put ads for local brides and grooms on that
side. Free at first, and charge later. Maybe some job ads too.’

‘Why wouldn’t
people advertise in established newspapers?’ ‘
Revolution
2020
ads will cost much lower and will be extremely local.
You can find brides and grooms down your own street.’

I nodded.

‘On the other
side, Raghav will do local news stories. And since it is not a proper
newspaper, he can be edgier and do more sting operations’ ‘He
loves doing that,’ I agreed.

‘So that’s
it. Printing costs are low, as there is only one big sheet to begin
with. He will contact temples for the initial ads, so let’s
see. Do you like the name?’

I shrugged my
shoulders. She bit into a muffin.

‘Everyone has
their thing, Gopal,’ Aarti said, her mouth full. ‘You
have your college. This is his.’

‘It will never
make money,’ I said.

‘So?’
She waved her muffin at me. ‘Money isn’t everything.’

‘Easy to say
that when you are eating cakes in a five-star hotel,’ I

said.

She grinned and kept
her muffin down.

‘I like
money,’ I said.

‘Nothing wrong
with that. My deal is simple. Money or revolution, everyone should
follow their heart.’

‘Sometimes
your heart can lead you to a dead end,’ I said.

She paused and
looked at me as she digested my statement. ‘Ahh,’ she
pretended to marvel, ‘nice. Striking below the belt again, are
we?’

‘Of course
not,’ I said. I asked for the bill, which came with a twenty
per cent staff discount.

We came to the
lobby. ‘Do you have to leave soon?’ I said.

‘Not
super-soon, why?’

‘I haven’t
rowed for a year,’ I said.

Phoolchand, my
favourite Assi Ghat boatman, recognised me from a distance. He looked
amused to see me in a formal suit. He untied the boat for us. I
helped Aarti on board and tipped him an extra hundred bucks. He slid
a small paper packet in my hand.

‘What’s
this?’

‘Good stuff. I
have sourced it from the Aghori sadhus. You have a matchbox?’

I understood what he
had given me. Aarti did too, and gave me a sly smile. I bought a few
cigarettes and matchbox from the paan shop.

I dipped the oars
into the water, and together Aarti and I floated away.

‘Its been
ages. I have missed this, Raghav,’ she said.