“I WANT TO MOTHER YOU!”—A SHORT STORY!-------PART ONE

“I want to mother you”, Shanta was straight and to the point.

“Mother me? Have you gone nuts? Do you know my age?” Rajneesh was heckled.

“I know I am younger to you by many years but I have that urge to call you a son”, Shanta came out matter of factly.

“Excuse me, madam! It is a strange proposition. I am not agitated but I feel it is a bit stupid for a young girl, I suppose in ‘mid-30s’, to think like this” Rajneesh tried to reason it out.

“There are no specific reasons. Give it a thought. I will see you again.” Shanta was curt and crisp and walked away with equal haste, leaving Rajneesh dumbfounded.

Rajneesh was flabbergasted with the strange wish of this young and a beautiful lady. He had never encountered such a situation in life. Rajneesh was a sixty years old, a retired government employee. Post retirement, he did some private jobs as a CEO of a hospitality company. But he had left the job because of his mother’s serious ailment, who expired in June 2007. He had a well settled family---both children married and well settled abroad. His rich old father of 82 years was still alive. After his mother died, he did not feel like picking up another job. Instead, he had taken up to blog writing on the NET in a big way. It was here he came across this young lady, who, too, wrote blogs. She used to occasionally make comments on his write-ups, never finding any worthwhile substance in it. Rajneesh too used to reply in the same tone and tenor. Initially, it caused some disturbance but later it became fun time. Rajneesh always looked forward to Shanta’s comments on his write-ups. When ever she commented, Rajneesh replied her in equal vitriolic intensity. The verbal tug- of- war carried on for some days. Then, suddenly, one day Rajneesh got a note from Shanta. It shook him. The note read:

{“Hi, son!

I liked to read ur fire at MIKHAL GAUTAM’s post.
Good. Keep it up.
‘Maan na maan mein thera mehmaan’ (You were uninvited guest!),
Altho' u don't like it, I have adopted u as my son and so I am ur mom ,
My blessings, altho I am many urs younger to u..”}

Rajneesh thought it was a taunt and a new offensive by Shanta. He was though not amused yet he kept his cool. He did not know the reason for such a ridiculous line of action by a young lady who could be publicly ridiculed by the recipient of this type of a note. He realized what a faux-pax she had created for herself. But Rajneesh had decency running in his blood and he opted to calm her down. He replied:

[“Dear Lady,

I am not agitated. Your choice for adoption is good. I assure you won’t regret.]

As brought out earlier, Rajneesh deliberately had not indulged in cheap thrills to say that his father urgently needed a company as he was alone after the death of his mother. In all fairness, he was a man of dignity and honor and could control his emotive reactions. All the same, he wanted to know about the mental health of the lady and learn as to why was she behaving like this? He sent her another note:

“Dear lady,

I have been seriously thinking about your mental health. I do not know but I have an uncanny feeling that you have developed some kink in your cerebral tissues. You better have it straightened. I suggest you better visit a psychiatrist. Thanks.”

Shanta was no less cool—in fact she was aggressively sarcastic. Pat came the reply:

“Thanks Son.

I have accepted your suggestion. I would go to a psychiatrist after I have met you. Would you not like to do this small thing for your mom? Come on son, come over to Chennai—ur mom”

Rajneesh had not expected this. He realized that she was really under an impression of causing him discomfort and was enjoying it, too. He had known she had belonged to Chennai. It was there in her profile besides a beautiful snap in all whites. She looked exaggeratedly smart and beautiful. But Rajneesh had known that such snaps were not the real ones; later encounter with her proved him right, though her stunning beauty had impressed him. It had proved his impression that the photos on the blogs were generally fake—particularly in case of young girls and boys. Only OLDIES had the audacity to post real snaps of theirs. Rajneesh concluded that her photo in all whites might not be the true definition of this lady called SHANTA.

In her profile page she had given no other details about self. There was a jamboree of meaningless words and phrases padded there to describe herself. It was usual confusion from a restless mind. There was no denying the fact that she was very passionate about her writings. She wrote really from her heart. She had a solid reasoning power but she was too stubborn in her thoughts to accommodate other’s point of view. She lacked flexibility. Anyone who commented adversely on her blog was recipient of verbal lashings—unheard and unexpected. No one dare point out faults in her write-up and frankly speaking, none ever did.

This is where Rajneesh had faulted. He happened to comment on her blog saying,” It is too simplistic a solution to be implemented in your dreams only.” This was the beginning of her anger. Like a wounded tigress, she pounced on him with all guns blazing. And, thus, began the spat which had brought Rajneesh to this meeting with her in Chennai.

Rajneesh had been staying with his friend PS James—an HR Head in a MNC. He had known him from his earlier profession. James was his junior. But ,somehow, he did his MBA from Punjab University in 2005 AD, after he had left the Govt job, in May 2003. Both had remained in touch. James lived in Pallavan Nagar of central Chennai. As Shanta had informed Rajneesh that she lived in the Nungambakkam Area, James was requested by Rajneesh to organize the meeting in a close- by decent restaurant. Accordingly, James fixed the meeting in the ‘Apoorva Sangeetha Fast Food’ joint on the Nungambakkam High Road. The table was booked in the left rear corner of the main hall. James had booked another table for himself some distance away. He had also hired TOP DETECTIVE agency to do a background check on Shanta. Mr. Rosy Cherian of the detective agency was keeping company with James. The other sleuths were in contact with Cherian on the mobile. They had been all watching the ‘Rajneesh-Shanta’ duo in conversation for the last half an hour or so.

As soon the meeting broke and Shanta left, James asked the sleuths to follow her and find out all the details. Rajneesh told James as to what all had happened and she had asked him to come over to the same place the following day. Both the friends were confused on the strange desire of this lady. It was James who concluded:

“Rajneesh, I think either she suffers from mental disorder or what you call schizophrenia or she is really up to some very big game. Both ways you better watch out and disconnect at the earliest”

“I agree James. I sincerely feel she is a psychic case---she couldn’t be ‘Matahiri’, could she be?” Rajneesh was expressing his honest impression.

“Come now, do not run amuck with your imagination? I do not think but there is something fishy about her. Did you notice her shifty eyes—staring left and right from the corner of her eyes, like a person scared of something” James replied.

“Anyway! What ever? We will wait for the report by the sleuths of Top Detective Agency before I decide to meet her again” Rajneesh had made a decision.

James too agreed. Both of them came back home. They had dinner at home and settled down to retire for the day. Next day, at about 0900hours, when Rajneesh opened his Lap Top, he found a note from Shanta. It read,”Do not act smart, son. I am your mom. No smart acts with me. You better behave lest I-------“ At about 1000 hours, same day, Rosy Cherian rang up James on the mobile:

“We are in deep trouble”, Cherian was sounding disturbed.

“Why, what happened?” James enquired.

“Our two detectives, who were trailing Shanta, have been arrested by the police and charged for murder” Rosy Cherian disclosed.

“What? Who has been murdered? Shanta? How? What were your men doing there?” James was firing a volley of questions rapidly.

“You see, they trailed Shanta to her Nungambakkam residence or so called residence. The lady went inside and came out after some 15 minutes. This was a god sent opportunity for them to search the residence. They entered the house by breaking the lock. Some body saw them and rang up the police. While they were still searching the house, police came and found a mutilated body of an old lady, known as Sheela Devi of around 56 years, in the bath room. Our boys were arrested for the murder for the further investigations” Rosy Cherian clarified.

“So, now what?” James sought clarification.

“We have informed the police about the employment of the agency by you to check the antecedents of Shanta. Police checked in the neighborhood and to our surprise no such women lived there. Neighbors informed the police that Old lady had only one son who lived in Dubai. He was doing some business. The old lady had come to live in the locality some five years back. She was very friendly and very amicable in her disposition towards the neighbors. She seemed to be pretty well- off financially. Perhaps, she was getting a good help from her businessman son in Dubai” Rosy gave the further information.

“Ok, what do we do now? Do you want me to come?” James posed a query.

“You will have to, sir. You see, we would have handled it but for another twist”, Rosy Cherian.

“Another twist? What is that, Cherian? Kindly do not talk in riddles?” James was irritated.

“Sir, what has happened is the problem regarding the passport found of this murdered lady. According to her passport issued in Pakistan, she is Sabeena Bano from Lahore, Pakistan. She had come to India in 1998 to meet her younger sister, Sakeena, married to an Indian Hashim Ali of Madurai. “Rosy Cherian began to give the backgrounder on SABEENA and SAKEENA. He stated thus;

Hashim Ali was a petroleum engineer in Dubai, wherein September 1990, he had met SAKEENA and her elder sister Sabeena, both living there with their Pakistani Parents. Sabeena was elder to Sakeena by 10 years. Sabeena was married to a Pakistani in 1980. Sakeena married Hashim Ali in 1991, despite parental objections. She came to India with her husband after she started getting threats from her parents. Sakeena’s parents, it seemed, shifted to Pakistan in 1992. After some times, Sakeena’s parents reconciled and they allowed both the sisters to communicate. Accordingly, Sabeena came to India with her 17 years old son to meet her younger sister. Hashim Ali had gone over to Dubai, the same year. He had taken with him Sabeena’s son, too. Then after six months, Sakeena went away to Dubai to join her husband and her elder sister seemingly returned to Pakistan. However, strange things happened in the year 2003. Hashim Ali and Sakeena were found murdered, along with their two children, in their flat in Dubai. Their nephew, Mohammed Hafiz, who lived with them, was missing. ‘Dubai Times’ had reported on 23 July 2003,the murders with a rider that it could be the handiwork of some Intelligence agencies as allegedly Hashim Ali had worked with Indian intelligence agency, RAW. Hashim’s Indian parents approached the Indian Govt for a thorough probe by Dubai Police. But no one paid heed to their requests and the matter was seemingly left to procrastinate. And it soon went out of public scrutiny. All this information police had obtained from Hashim Ali’s aged parents in Madurai, who only identified Sabeena from the passport. But the face was so badly mutilated that they could not say with certainty. They were cut off with Sabeena and suspected her son’s hand in the murder of their son and daughter-in-law along with their grandchildren.

“Sabeena had supposedly left India in March 1999. But it seems, she did not and stayed on in India. She shifted to Chennai under the assumed name of Sheela Devi. Her son, Mohammed Hafiz, who would be around 27 years old, had gone to Dubai with his uncle and never came back to India. Sheela Devi alias Sabeena was a very active lady. She had all the modern gadgets in her apartment. There was a desk top computer along with a lap top, lying in the house. It seems she used to write blogs under the pen name of Shanta.” Rosy Cherian gave further information.

“Ok, I am coming to the police station.” James cut him short.

All this while, Rajneesh was listening to their conversation with a visible tension on his face. He spoke,”Are we in trouble?”

“Yes, big trouble, I suppose. I do not know who was that lady you met in Apporva Sangeetha Fast food joint but the Shanta who wrote blogs has been found murdered” James replied.

“Then, who is this lady who sent me a note this morning if Shanta is dead.” Rajneesh queried.

“Yes, there is a point—a sensible one. If Shanta is dead—then who is this other Shanta who sent you a note? She should be the real shanta who we are trying to find out.” James said thoughtfully.

“What is our course of action?” enquired Rajneesh.

“I suppose, I engaged the detective agency to spy on your SO CALLED SHANTA. So, needle of suspicion will fall on me. You be out of it for the time being. I will have to seek anticipatory bail immediately. The question I have to answer is as to why did I hire the TOP DETECTIVE agency to do a background check on Shanta? Why did I? Should I tell them the truth now or wait for some fog to lift? Who was that stunningly beautiful lady around 30’s who met you in the restaurant? Is she the real Shanta?” James did some brain storming.

“I think she was. And I think she had some ulterior motive. “Rajneesh put two and two together.

“Yes, she did have. She had all the information on you. She had some score to settle with you. Do you remember our stint in -----? Oh my god it is the same old story, Sir,---remember the GAME OF THE FOXES” James was talking as if he had found an answer.

“Yea, So what dammit? What the hell? How does it connect here?’Rajneesh was worried.

“Right, let me handle it here, sir. You stay out of it. You fly out to Chandigarh, today itself. I will try and handle it here. I f need be, I will contact you there. Go way, Sir” James announced the decision.

Within minutes of this decision James and Rajneesh were heading towards the Chennai airport —the third largest airport in India after Mumbai and New Delhi. James was keen to ensure that Rajneesh was out of Chennai, when he met police with Rosy Cherian. He had no specific plans but only to discuss the latest note to Rajneesh from Shanta—who was not dead. He had got all these Shanta NOTES to RAJNEESH forwarded to him to tell the police that Shanta—the fake name on the blogs is not dead. It might have been someone else who had been staying with that old lady and using her computer and laptop to establish acquaintances. But why did she kill Sabeena aka Sheela Devi? What score she wanted to settle with Rajneesh? These were probably the questions, readers might think, occupying James mind when they arrived at Chennai airport. There was no flight to Delhi. Luckily, an immediate jet airways flight to Mumbai was there. James cajoled Rajneesh to board the flight to Mumbai and then go to Chandigarh.

Having bid farewell to his friend, James was racing away to Nungambakkam in his Honda Civic. There were tons of thoughts criss-crossing his mind. He, allegedly, had a challenge before him. He was required to unravel the mystery of Shanta and that other lady whom Rajneesh had met the previous day.

--------------------------------------------------TO BE CONTINUED IN PART ‘TWO’