Cry of Shadows - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

________________________________________________________________

Jean opened the box. It was a Blackberry. It had a small note in it.

“Your mail services are configured in this Phone and always use this phone to interact with your colleagues in France. All the messages are encrypted and your number is secured from any kind of anonymous interceptions”- Azad.

That was pretty interesting stuff for the gadget freak. He wanted to try Blackberry OS7, as he had heard about the cool features it supports.

"I need to give some rest to my iPhone". He checked the time, it was half past five. He got himself fresh and walked down to the reception. He took his phone and dialed Maria's number.

"Hello Honey, I am here in India"

She was excited to hear his voice. "How was your trip Jean, How is the hotel, how is the place"

As usual thousand question. She’d never let me answer any of her questions one after the other..

"Till now things are pretty good. I will keep you updated, but now I need to keep the phone"

"Hey, Jean Wait let.."

Jean did not allow her to conclude her conversation. He took his blackberry and called Azad. “Azad it’s time for us to meet.”

“Sure Jean, We will come there and we need to go to RAW regional office in Kerala”. The Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW or RAW) is India's external intelligence agency.

Azad and Dhanu reached the hotel. As soon as they entered, both of them saw Jean dressed up and waiting in the reception. They again got back to the vehicle and drove to RAW. Jean took his Tab and tweeted

“In Gods own country..”

Little later the vehicle stopped in front of a plush duplex villa. Azad and Dhanu got down from the car, but Jean still feel surprised. They said they were going to RAW’s office and here in this villa? Azad answered the question as if he read his mind.

“Jean, I told you there won’t be any formalities or routine stuff happening in your investigation. Everything is revamped for your safety and security. We will meet the RAW chief right here. You are welcome to stay here if you feel that the stay at the hotel is boring.”

“Coffee?” Dhanu came with a coffee mug in his hand. They both joined him for the coffee. After 15 minutes Azad got a call

“Hello Azad, RAW chief will be joining you shortly”

Cry of Shadows - Novel : Chapter 5

                                                                                                                   Chapter 5

_________________________________________________________________

Idukki  is the second largest District of Kerala(the largest being Palakkad). Rugged mountains and forests cover about 97 percent of the total area of the District.

Deep inside the forest, a long dark man was running with a piece of dried leaf in his hand. He reached near a cave and stopped. He was struggling to catch up the breath. He carefully moved inside the cave and walked down the narrow path. On the side of the path there was a shallow stream flowing. He continued running through the path and reached near a pond full of blue lotus. He shouted

“Akaleya”

The sound echoed in the forest “Akaleya.. Akaleya”

After a minute of silence, a thunderous sound of a human being evolved out from the cave near the pond.

“Who is there?”

“This is Nariyan, the Moopan¹ send me to give this ola² to you”

Akaleyan came out of the cave. His body was tattooed with a Snake and a strange animal. He had a strange tattoo on his face tool, a fire spitting dragon. His eyes were painted black and were appearing red as blood, he had a well-built physique. He was six feet three inches tall and had broad shoulders.

“Ok. Give that to me”, He ordered Nariyan. “But you are repeating the same mistake again and again; in this forest you have only one king, it’s me “Akaleyan”. Don’t repeat calling Ananthan as the chief”. He laughed loud; even with low light his long teeth’s were visible as if it is sharpened using a diamond saw.

Nariyan was visibly scared in front of him. He realized his heart seems beating normal than usual. He was waiting for Akaleyan’s response.

“What? How dare he is to disobey my orders?” Akaleyan screamed.

“I won’t kill you but tomorrow Amavasi³ cannot be completed without one among you. I warn you to be here else your kids will meet their ends. I repeat I warn you”, His eyes protruded and became more red and he was shivering with anger.

“Nariyan, tell your chief. His days are counted. He will sacrifice all your lives. Tell him to obey my orders else meet the mighty soon, The Death. Go….!!!”

Nariyan took a huge rock and hit akaleyan on his face. His nose was broken and he started bleeding profusely.

“Ahhhh…”. Akaleyan cried. “You…!”

Nariyan banged the stone on his head again and again till he was sure that it crushed his skull. Tears rolled out of his cheek.

“What are you dreaming? I told you to run”. Nariyan was shocked and returned to senses. He saw Akaleyan fuming in front of him.

“Huh it was a dream”, Nariyan turned back ran towards the entrance of the cave. The whole community was waiting for him to return with good news. But they didn’t know that one among them would meet a worst fate of their life time.

 

1. Moopan: The tribal head in Kerala is called Moopan
2. Ola: Thaliyola is a dried leaf in which people write before the invention of paper being used widely.
3. Amavasi: New moon day

Top five Hindi songs of October

This is my personal choice of 5 songs i liked:

1) Chamak Challo - Ra-One
2) Criminal            - Ra-One
3) Ooh La La Tu Hai Meri - Dirty Picture
4) Tum ho Pass Mere         - Rock Star
5) Mere Ishq Sufiyana       - Dirty Picture

Cry of Shadows - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 _____________________________________________________________________

Azad was walking restlessly in front hotel Taj. He saw a silver Pajero entering the gate of Taj.

 "Yes, Jean has reached. I hope Mathew is with him", he thought.

Jean got out of the car along with a lean dark man with a broad smile.

"Bonjour Jean"

"That’s Amazing Azad, you learned a word in French to greet me"

 "Haha, hope Mathew didn’t trouble you. Was he in the right place when you went searching for him?"

"Yes, indeed. Mathew was there and that’s how  I could reach safely.

Dhanu came walking towards them.

Azad, "Meet Dhanu, Dhanu this is Jean"

"Hello Jean, hope you had a nice flight. I’ve heard your voice several times. Rather I thought to have a video chat with you, but then there are security issues. But I like this surprise"

"Hello Dhanu, Nice to meet you,  I’ve heard a lot about your software related work, especially your work on deciphering animal conversation is well known to the technical publications of France as well"

"I am honoured, Jean. Hope to meet you soon for further discussion on this issue"

Mathew was standing in a corner watching the three gentlemen talk. Probably he is the fourth man who knows about the visit of Jean outside the Ministry. Mathew is known for his quick wits and also his carelessness. After Jean walked to his suite, Azad, Dhanu and Mathew got into the Scorpio and they left the premises of Taj.

Jean walked into the restroom of his suite and washed his face. He heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?"

"Luggage Sir"

"Hold on, I am coming". Jean opened the door and got his luggage. He paid some tips to the person who was carrying the luggage.

"Sir Please call 9 for reception and 1055 for room service. Have a pleasant stay sir", Hotel assistant was courteous in his facial expression.

"Thank you", Jean locked the door when he left.

He checked the suite, it was quite spacious and comfortable. He had a view of sea and rocky hills. He wanted to know about the place where he was staying. He called the reception,

"Hello, I am calling from Suite 107"

"Yes Sir"

"What is the place called? I know it is in the capital of Kerala but do you have a specific name for this place”.

"Yes Sir, this place is called Kovalam"

"Kovalam?"

"Yes Sir, Kovalam. You will see lot of tourists from your country visiting this place during this season."

"Ah, that’s nice to know"

"Do let us know if you would like to go out in our cab" The receptionist seemed to be engaged in selling her hotel products to Jean.

"No, Thankyou. But I would really inform you in advance if I need one"

"Have a good evening Sir"

"You too, bye", Jean hanged the phone.

He lay down on the bed. He was quiet tired and soon he slipped into deep sleep. Jean woke up hearing the knock. He opened the door.

"Yes"

"Sorry to disturb you Sir. Officer Azad asked me to handover this packet to you".

"Oh, thank you."

What's there in it? Jean was surprised and was quiet eager to check it out.