03:02 (17 page)

The ability to drive and be driven from one place to another.

Mahadev, either to demonstrate that he could indeed earn his keep, and perhaps out of fear at seeing me constantly shadow him, armed with my pistol, had attacked his new job with gusto. We had found five auto-rickshaws, the drivers of which were around, either having lived nearby or, in the case of three of them, having slept in them after a late-night ride. Mahadev had managed to jury-rig the vehicles and now he was leading them in a procession down Central Avenue to the delight of the cheering crowds lining the street.

He stopped just in front of where I was standing. ‘I did it, didn’t I?’

‘That you did. The question, my friend, is where you have been and what you have seen. Let the circus get over and then we’ll have a little chat.’

His grin disappeared as he slunk back inside the auto-rickshaw and continued his parade.

Ten minutes later, Mahadev and I were sitting near our checkpoint overlooking Powai Lake. I had asked the guards there to give us some space, but certainly having four men nearby, one of them armed with a sten gun, made Mahadev even more uncomfortable than he already was.

‘So, Mahadev, tell me your story. We have no idea what’s going on out there in the city and you’re coming from there. Tell me what you’ve seen and done.’

He shuffled a bit uncomfortably as he replied. ‘I woke up that morning and everything was black. My auto-rickshaw wouldn’t start either. Like so many people, I waited for things to get back to normal, but nothing happened. When people started panicking, I tried fixing my auto-rickshaw and it worked.’

I leaned in closer to him.

‘I’ve heard that story, and I’ve said nothing so far because I wanted you to help fix a few more auto-rickshaws. Which part of Mumbai were you in?’

‘I was in Juhu.’

‘Really? And was it peaceful there? With the only running auto-rickshaw around, didn’t you attract any attention from looters?’

He looked down as if thinking through his answer. ‘Yes, it was fine. I mean, there were some looters around, but with my auto-rickshaw, nobody caught up with me. I saw the lights on here in the night and drove over to seek refuge.’

I grabbed him by his collar and pulled him towards me.

‘If you lie, I won’t shoot you but I will smash every single one of your teeth out with my bare hands. Think very carefully before you answer.’

His eyes were wide as he looked at me now.

‘Explain the two bullet holes in the side of your auto.’

He froze, looking left to right as if that would somehow save him from having to answer. I repeated the question, this time pulling him towards me so his face was inches from mine.

‘When I was in Juhu, I saw a group of masked men carrying guns. They took a shot at me and I tried to drive out of there but they stopped me. Some of them were speaking in a strange language, but others were locals. They asked me to drive them around and I did. I was shit scared, what else could I do?’

‘How did you get out alive?’

‘One night when they were sleeping, I made a break for it. They got a couple of bullets in the auto but I made it out.’

‘Why didn’t you say anything about this before?’

His eyes were now even wider, and it was clear that the fear of being shot or beaten by me was far overshadowed by the fear those men had put in him.

‘I felt guilty and ashamed for helping them. These guys were not ordinary looters. They carried big guns and spoke of missions and tactics. And one day…they attacked this police party and massacred them, and I helped drive them to their position.’

I could see he was shaking. His story made sense given what the pilot had told us, and I wondered if this was the same group that had attacked the pilot and the cops with him. I let go of his collar. The pilot had told us this was an enemy attack, and of terrorists in the city. Hearing about them from Mahadev and having seen the flames in the city skyline at night now made that threat much more imminent and real. Faced with circumstances like that, I couldn’t bring myself to be angry with Mahadev. He had done what he needed to in order to survive, and if he had indirectly helped the enemy, he could certainly make amends now.

‘Mahadev, I need you to help us here. Take the other drivers and use them as your crew to drive the auto-rickshaws and ferry supplies, and I need you to convert a couple of the auto-rickshaws to patrol vehicles. Strip out the covering so that people inside can take a shot in any direction. Also, if older vehicles can work, can you look for any trucks or buses that you can start? I’ve seen many abandoned ones that look quite old. That would be a huge help to us in getting water supplies.’

Relieved that he was off the hook, he thanked me profusely and got to work. I stood there, looking at the lake in the distance, its calm waters belying the storm that had engulfed our world. Inside our little community, we were trying to maintain security and give ourselves a sense of normalcy, but the city outside was anything but secure. I wondered when that danger would come knocking on our doors and whether we’d be ready to face it.

It was six in the evening and I had done my rounds of our checkpoints, taken around by Mahadev who had somehow become my designated driver. He had corralled a group of seven drivers, including the five whose autos we had jury-rigged. As with the domestic help, most drivers had left after the first day or two, hoping to reach their families in Mumbai. The men who stayed back had no immediate families in the city and, in return for their stay in the neighbourhood, they now essentially formed a common pool of drivers for our use. Fuel was still something we could not take for granted, though we had voted on siphoning it from all stranded vehicles. The purist might have considered it theft, and it was one more small way in which we were leaving the standards and definitions of the old world behind.

The priority task for the auto-rickshaws was to help with the water supply, and I could see big grins from Kundu and his teams. It had been a critical task, but an arduous one, to carry water from the lake in buckets tied behind bicycles. With one stroke our water supply system had been immensely improved. The second important task for the auto-rickshaws was to help us with security. Now, we had the capability of getting our guns to any checkpoint within minutes. We had two designated security auto-rickshaws, which Mahadev had stripped of all covering. Pandey, Akif, Ismail and I were to rotate roving duties to ensure at least one person with a gun was awake in an auto-rickshaw during the night.

That night, Pandey had given me a knowing glance and suggested I take the duty that ended before midnight so I could get a good night’s sleep. Megha’s moving in with me was hardly a secret and I was glad that Pandey had cut me that much slack.

‘Sir, why don’t you use a sten gun instead of that little pistol?’ Mahadev asked as we ended our round.

‘In the NCC, we trained with pistols and rifles but I’ve never shot at anyone with a rifle before. I would probably just spray rounds here and there. Akif and Ismail have used assault rifles before in the military and will use them much more effectively,’ I replied. What I left unsaid was that I had persisted with the little .22, instead of taking one of much more powerful 9mm pistols we had recovered from Sinha’s guards, because it was the weapon that I had been blooded with in the confrontation with the gang. And having lived through my first terrifying firefight, I looked at it as a good luck charm of sorts.

‘Should I drop you at the club?’

‘Yes, and pick Pandeyji up for his rounds. We’ll need both auto-rickshaws up and running early morning, so try and get some sleep at night. I suspect refugees won’t try and get through in the middle of night, but I do expect more to come when the sun rises.’

We had turned back more than four groups of refugees that day, and in all cases, nothing more than some raised voices and pointing of guns had been needed. However, as the crisis dragged on, and people got more desperate, I wondered how ugly things might get. Could any of our people shoot innocent refugees? Could I?

Earlier, we had gone out in three of the auto-rickshaws to explore nearby areas. One of our first destinations had been the Renaissance Hotel across the lake. We had seen some lights flickering there at night, seemingly candles that someone had lit, and we wanted to both see if anyone there needed help as well as check if there might be food and supplies. When we reached the hotel, we immediately turned back. The approach road was littered with corpses, several of security guards, and we saw three men standing near the gate, carrying knives and swords. They did not look like the men that had attacked us, but clearly another gang was operating in the vicinity. On the way back, we passed word to our checkpoints, especially the ones near the lake, that they were to stay alert.

As I entered the club, I saw Megha sitting at the reception desk, her eyes blazing with anger.

‘What happened?’ I asked as I sat down next to her.

She looked at me and I saw that there were tears welling up in her eyes. I put my arm around her, and I could tell that she was trembling.

‘Megha, what happened?’

She buried her face in my shoulder. Dr Guenther and his wife, Marie, who had been helping out as a nurse, came out of one of the rooms inside.

‘Doctor, what’s going on?’

‘Maybe you should come in and see for yourself.’

I followed them in and saw a young girl, perhaps no more than fifteen years old, sitting on one of the beds. Her face was swollen and red and it was clear someone had beaten her badly. She was draped in a sheet and I could see torn clothes piled into a corner. She was sobbing and when she looked up at me, I recognized her as one of the girls who had been helping Rani in the garden.

‘Bhaiya. He beat me. He…’

Her voice trailed off as she looked down and cried. In my heart, I knew what had happened. The bruises, the torn clothes, the shame in her eyes. I walked out and I could feel my blood boiling. I closed my eyes, forcing myself to be calm. There would be time for fury, but now I needed to know what had happened.

‘Who did it?’

Megha answered that question.

‘Rakesh Khaitan.’

The young scion who had come to the meeting at the Glen society.

‘It’s not the first time, either. Seems he’d have parties with his buddies and rape household help. His connections and money made sure he got away. Often he just paid off the girls’ families and the cops. This time, the lack of police and the worthlessness of money and, of course, that poor little girl’s bravery made sure we got to know about it.’

I held Megha’s shoulders, and she flinched when she saw the look in my eyes.

‘He will pay for this.’

As I strode away to call the others, the look in Megha’s eyes stayed with me. Had I become someone who was to be feared even by those closest to me? Is that what the last few days had done to me?

After everyone had heard the account, Mrs Khatri and Anu went to meet the girl to comfort her. Before they left, we’d tried to figure out what should be done. Dealing with law and order within our community was new territory for all of us. We had no courts and no jurisdiction, but unless we laid down some rules, we would have anarchy.

Nitish and Kundu were the most vocal.

‘Get that bastard out of his apartment and throw him out.’

‘What if he resists?’

Mrs Khatri had asked that question softly, but it made both Nitish and Kundu pause. It was one thing to use violence on looters whom we did not know and had never seen before; but would we use violence on one of our own neighbours who had lived amidst us for years? I looked at the General, and he looked back silently, his features drawn by rage, eclipsing the weariness I had seen on it over the last couple of days. Mr Sinha was next to him and when I caught his gaze, I saw that his reaction was very similar to Megha’s. Was my fury so apparent? Nobody else said anything. I looked again at Mr Sinha and this time he nodded slightly. I stood up.

‘It doesn’t matter if there is a police or a court anymore. If we’ve learned anything from the last few days it is the fact that the labels of the old world do not matter anymore, but the values and spirit should. If we do not have some laws governing us, we will fall apart from within. We will not have to worry about looters or terrorists.’

‘What laws, Aadi? Who lays down that law?’

‘You are the leaders of this community, Mrs Khatri. You need to lay down the law and the punishments for breaking those laws.’

She looked at me, and I saw her for who she was—a slight, old lady, who was being burdened with a terrible responsibility. It was one thing to write down laws and rules on a piece of paper, quite another to enforce them. I remembered what Sinha had said about the carrot and stick, the motivation and the muscle. In the society we lived in, someone had to play that role, and perhaps I had to play it. Someone had to, otherwise things would break down. Moreover, my conscience would not allow a little girl to be beaten and raped and her attacker to get away scot-free. I took a piece of paper and a pen and handed it to Mrs Khatri.

‘There must be enough lawyers in these societies. We need to find one who will volunteer to be our legal advisor. He can write down the big criminal offenses and what the legal penalty for them will be. Then let’s talk about what those penalties mean for us.’

I turned to Pandey and said briskly, ‘Get the lawyers here.’

It took thirty minutes to gather three lawyers, all of whom were happy enough to help, but only one, Nilesh Lele, was willing to take up the responsibility of being part of the committee. He was a middle-aged man who looked more like a professor than a lawyer, with his unruly hair and thick, old-fashioned glasses.

‘I used to work at the High Court,’ he told us, ‘and while the situation we’re in is very unusual, the specific offences that should concern any civil society are not hard to list.’

To his credit, in the short time he had, he listed out offences ranging from murder to theft, along with their usual penalties under the Indian Penal Code. Anu took a look at the list.