Batch of 1999 Read online

  Two people were talking in that restaurant seemed scared. Because they knew the two people who committed suicide recently.

  ‘One more death and police would grab me right from my office’, Raviraj took a gulp of the whiskey to stay calm.

  ‘Just because you are the principal of the school where they were studying once?’ Jagdeesh shrugged and mixed salt in his whiskey glass. He could have eaten bread with watermelon. Food was meant for stomach according to him.

 

  ‘So, what else does it mean? All the students of arts section of my school are dying one by one. Think this is normal? They would come to ask me for sure’, Principal said.

  ‘But you can avoid them easily. Say that it has nothing to do with you and it is just a coincident and you are busy in organizing functions. Just like that and you are out.’

  ‘And what if there would be fourth death?’ Principal looked at him with plane face.

  ‘Then you would be looking for bugs in your telephone and some people might be following you. haha. This is India. Who cares about suiciding people that once went to same arts class? Police wouldn't notice this fact. They even miss the obvious details these days,’ Jagdeesh tried to comfort him with an idea that it wouldn’t work on principal. Comforting is an act of formality sometimes.

  ‘When you told me that day to close the school and open a hotel there I thought that you were joking.’

 

  ‘I wasn't joking. And you know that.’

 

  ‘I wish you were.’

 

  ‘I was serious. I am serious right now too. Just not showing it.’

 

  ‘Thanks for saying this. I should have opened a hotel or something right after the graduation. By the way, What was in that tube which you gave me that unlucky day when I trusted you?’ Dheeraj asked.

 

  ‘You don't want to know. It would just increase your heart beat so leave it. In short it was a sample of chemical weapon. I don't even know about the exact effects because it was under development but it has something to do with the mind. Something to do with the perception. In another words basic thinking and imagination.’

 

  ‘You mean it changes the way one look at the world’

 

  ‘You got it. We have tried it on animals. Rats and monkeys mostly. They stopped eating. They tried to chew the bars and glass. And I don't know how but a monkey popped-out his left eye one day,’ Jagdeesh tried but a smile came out of his lips showing few white teeth. ‘I am telling you. These fools cannot be out ansestors. From my experience, even a frog behaves more cleverly.’

  ‘That is so cruel.’

  ‘Yeah, monkey was eating it when we came back into the lab.’

 

  ‘I can’t think of anything now accept how far one can go if the outlook has been manipulated.’

 

  ‘Yes, me too because in a way everything is connected to the way we understand the circumstances and different angles of same thing. A pencil can be taken as a murder weapon in wrong hands. What would a serial-killer do with a bouquet of flowers except decorating of body of victim's corpse. Newton saw the laws of gravitation in falling apple. Everything is just perception and if it is distorted and destroyed then God helps the person’.

  Principal looked at his hands. Destiny. There was still nothing much to do. There were just the questions and no answers except waiting for that chemical to perform another disaster. Strange how such a small thing could change lives. But his student or anyone else was important for him and it was not about saving himself from the law but to save others too who unfortunately were present at such an unfortunate event.

 

  ‘So, should we worry about what would happen next?’ Principal asked because there was nothing else to ask anyway and he was feeling like talking.

 

  ‘No, that wouldn't be a good solution. I mean, it was a weapon but it was under development and it was a government project at its initial stage. I didn't put it in our lab because senior officials had advised me against it. But it is not an evil thing by nature. No, I am not saying that. Water and fire is life but can kill if behave in other ways. I was in the development team so I have seen each and every step. We didn’t use poisons. We used radioactivity. And radioactivity means surprise. Remember Hiroshima? It is neutral but highly potent. It is like human being. It may come out to be the worst or the best case scenario. I mean we didn't tested or defined the behavior of the chemical,’ Jagdeesh sighed and the look on his face was of a confused man. Just like when he was in fifth standard, principal thought. Damn, why did he keep such a demon thing in his own lab between soft kids (yeah soft).

  ‘Are you trying to comfort me? Because this is not working.’

  ‘I am not trying to comfort you but I am doing exactly opposite thing. You want to say that I am not a trustworthy person. You know better than that. I think we shouldn't talk about that because there is not much left to talk about. We are just puppets in this huge playground of activities,’ Jagdeesh added some more salt in the whiskey.

  ‘You are quoting Shakespeare to justify. There were twenty-five students present there when this happened. And two of those are no more. 23 more students and I can’t even track them down to help,’ principal slapped on the table and irritated because Jagdeesh was treating the whiskey like chicken soup.

  ‘You aren't of much help anyway. Just calm down and keep breathing. And I have good news.’

 

  ‘Really? What? A time-machine now?’ Dheeraj asked in a sarcastic way.

  ‘Aha,’ He shook his head and produced a piece of newspaper and showed it to the principal, ‘This is your student, see.’

  Principal saw the crumpled copy of the newspaper. The guy who was smiling on the top of the front page was actually his student from the batch of 1999.

  Radioactive smile. Principal thought.

 

  Sudhir

  Name – Sudhir Mehta

  Education: M.B.A

  Employment: self-employed (founder of Kalash Industries), Chairmen of Kalash NGOs.

  Other achievements: Limca book record holder as the youngest billionare of india, businessmen of the year by Today.

  Hobbies: playing carom (alone).