the button - hari

It is with great grief that we have to announce that Hari Shankar, passed away a week back. He always said and we all expected that the liver would give up before the lungs, but he died a hero in the attack on our city last week. It truly is a sad day in the history of troubleshooting.
He was a good son, brother, husband, father, friend, and a terrible cook.

“…So basically, i had maintained a file with all his pictures. Like a really really thick file you know.” Medha said, as she desperately tried to explain how big the book was, motioning her hands in the air. The light evening breeze found its way through her wavy black hair, but it never seemed to annoy her. It was always dreamy around her. The café seemed like a photograph daubed in sepia, soft around the edges, as she sat there chatting ever so animatedly to Kanika


”Really?? How thick? How thick?? Show again!”


”... yeah, so i still have it you know. Its like one of my most precious things.” She always ignored my sarcasm. At times she wouldn’t realize it, and she’d continue. But when she’d sense it, she’d rather ignore it.


”That is So awesome. Almost unbelievable! A whole big, thick file? With his pictures.. Wow!” Its surprinsing how good I had gotten at imitating her tone. And that always pinched her.


”Listen stop it haan...” She poked me on my side. I almost jumped. Yeah, I’m ticklish. She obviously knows.

“So i still have it..” She continued, as she glanced at me, then shifted her gaze back to Kanika. Slow motion.

Born on the 5th of December 1986, he was a puny kid who liked to draw and read. But his first computer killed both with a vengeance. He was an average student and an above average geek, but a pleasant one he was.

“But where? How come you've never shown it to me?”

”Back home Kanoo. It must be somewhere. I maintained it for the longest time.”

”Awwww.. how sweet..” I don’t think I ever got tired of poking her, even if I’d get poked back for an entire lifetime. Conversations can get kinda inane, specially when you’re not in it. And then came the poke, like a sniper makes a hit.

“i wanna see! i wanna see!” Kanika’s always the shrill one. Wonder why bollywood gossip makes women toggle into hyper modes.

”You'l love it! I had every possible news cutout about his forthcoming films. Almost every picture of him ever printed! Yaadein and all I had 3-4 pages about it before it was gonna get released!”

”Accha, but why didnt he get his finger removed? i was so concerned.. so many sleepless nights you know..” I slipped that in, figuring how drawn into the conversation she was.

”Yaaaa.. because, you know, it was like.... Shutup yaa. Not funny..” And He Scores! She didn’t see that coming. But well, that didn’t even invite the ritualistic poke. She just went on.

”You know, i even had a big piece on how he learned how to drive also. !”

”Aaaaawww.. So cute!” Kanika chimed in. I felt ever shrinking, non-present. Bah humbug!

After all these years of cigarette and alcohol abuse, and much contemplation about which one would hit first, he has left the building. Finally.

“Did he get some quota for that extra finger of his?” I desperately pulled that outta my seemingly dwindling and ineffective wit. And I reckon it hit them both. My boredom was duly acknowledged.

”Shutup smartass. Go get our coffees no? Pleaaase!” And I was sent off on a mission.

”Yeaaahh.. Pity I'd miss out on this incredibly interesting conversation. Save some for me.. “ Nothing like the last word.

I walked up to the counter, where our coffees were waiting. As I picked up the tray, there was a loud electric screech, and the next instant, the sound of a huge explosion that shook the entire building. The coffee cups spilled out on the tray. I dropped it and ran towards Medha. She stood there, visibly shaken by the tremors.

I was in Gujarat when the massive quakes left the places in shambles, back in 2001. Seeing and surviving that, I think, had made me a little too used to nasty surprises. This wasn’t half as powerful as that. I held her close.

“Its okay love, everything’s gonna be okay. It was’nt a major quake”

An earthquake seemed like the logical explanation, till that instant. But then I remembered, how the tremor had followed the explosion and not vice versa. Was it a bomb? Of such intensity? Something didn’t really feel right.

She seemed better now. Kanika seemed alright too. I didn’t feel too right about the sequence of events. These gut feelings amplify the urgency. I guess adrenaline kicks in as the catalyst, making you think of the worst case scenario. So, what the hell, lets make an adventure out of it, it’d be a shame to let all that adrenaline go to waste. But I didn’t really want the girls to panic. So I told them we should leave, leave the business district and get to a place with smaller buildings. As we stepped into the car, another tremor hit. But this time, it seemed like an impact of sorts. No explosion, really. And then, another. By now, I could see the fear and confusion creeping into the girls faces.

The ‘thuds’ were more consistent now. Driving out of the basement lot, I saw a big cloud of smoke rising from the north. It made sense to go towards the highway through the south side. But what was this? What was happening? Turning on the radio didn’t help much; it was a lotta noise with a few grainy words thrown in. If this was some attack, it’d been thought through well. Even the cellphone networks seemed jammed. Communication breakdown only adds to mass panic, and hence, noise prevails. Then Kanika’s phone rang. It was Sushant.

“Are you okay? Where are you? Your phone…..”

She hung up a minute later, asking us to stop the car and drop her off there. The building next to Sushant’s office had collapsed and he was stuck in his office building. She and Sushant had been together for some time now. Obviously she wanted to go and get him outta there. Obiviously we couldn’t let her do that on her own. Obviously, we were bound to go back into the heart of the city that seemed to be under some strange, inexplicable attack. Obviously.

So we turned back, and I drove towards the city. The plume of smoke rose high now. Thick, black, it rose into the sky. So was the chaos. The route we’d just taken towards the highway was clogged now. The road to the city was all empty. And then a roadblock. Cops had set a no-entry into the city. This had to be serious. We took a alternative route, but we coulnt get too far into the city. Abandoned cars blocked the roads, people were out on the streets, escaping on foot. A few said it was a terrorist strike. Some said it was a giant robot or monster. Some said that Pakistan had airdropped tanks and artillery. Some said it was a series of earthquakes. We felt occasional tremors and thuds, and sounds of buildings collapsing. More explosions. We got to Sushant’s office building. Atleast two buildings had collapsed. It was right out of some disaster movie. I couldn’t really get myself to panic. I needed to know what was going on. For me, it was a strange, invisible force that was going around, wrecking this city. I wanted to get Medha out of this mess, that’s all. The poor thing clasped my hand, and I could feel her shiver every now and then. Kanika scurried around, trying to call Sushant on his phone, asking people about his building’s evacuation. Networks were all down. And well, I figured, wires might just be the answer. We found a payphone, and the wires delivered. Wqe got through his office line, and half an hour later, we got to speak to him. The exits were blocked with debris, so I decided I’d try find a way in and try get him out. Heroic as it seemed, 5 years in the construction business added to the confidence. So I left for the building, leaving the girls in a corner shop, which seemed like a safe place. I went to the rear of the building, climbed over the debris. I cleared the emergency exit, and the door swung free. Wonder why no-one did that all this while. A whole bunch of panic-stricken people waiting behind it, rushed out, their sense of freedom and relief evident from their weary faces. Sushant was up on the second floor. I made my way up the fire escape. The tremors started again. They seemed to grow in intensity now. I made haste, thinking about Medha who was waiting in that shop, and ran up to the 3^rd floor. Sushant was waiting by the elevators like I’d told him to. The tremors were closer now. Sounds of a building crashing down echoed across the stairway we were running down through. We ran out the emergency exit, and almost as a perfect moment, we saw it. It was huge, atleast a 100 storeys high, as wide as four lanes of a highway. Godzilla seemed easier right now.

We made our way around the block, but I’d hit the panic button. It was moving towards the block I’d left Medha in. I sprint across the road, as it swung a colossal hand across the building she was in. It caved in, almost instantaneously. I kept wishing Medha had made her way out. But I ran to the shop anyway. It stood about 40 feet from me. But I had to find her first. Then I saw her running down the block, away from the thing. It was picking up people off the street now, flinging them across the city. I screamed out her name, but she didn’t hear me. I ran after her. I saw it come down towards the people running with her. I ran as fast as my legs could. Almost like breathing took a second priority. I reach her, as I saw the shadow of its claws drawing closer, like a massive thundercloud on a tree. I push her out of the way, but that compromised me I guess. I saw her look at me, I saw someone pull her to her feet and drag her away. It grew darker. The cloud descended, I felt a millisecond’s worth of thunder.