THE BLOODY PREDICAMENT

DAY 1:

Robert Bhai kept staring at the 6 foot tall safe locker in front of him. Behind him, stood 4 of his gang members, his most trusted men, who also kept staring at the same safe in the same melancholic tone as Robert did. Just beside the huge metallic safe stood Jagdish Iyer, Chief Manager of Mumbai Bandra Regional Office - State Bank of India.

Jagdish, the old man, was in a very bad shape with his hands cuffed behind and his left cheek swollen out red hot. Robert suddenly raised his revolver and pointed it on Jagdish’s head. This is the point at which this story begins!

“Ayyyooooo…Don’t do this to me! Please…let me explain” Cried out Jagdish.

“I do not want your bloody explanation. Press the secret PIN and open the safe NOW, or otherwise I will blow open your brain.” – replied Robert in his subtle hushed voice, largely inspired from bollywood movies.

“What a Cliché” – He thought, as he cocked the pistol to make that effect!

“Wait…Wait…Give me one minute. I can explain this to you!” shouted or yelled or cried out or whatever – but Mr.Iyer did that.

“You have got exactly one minute, and your time starts now” said Robert as he checked his watch, but pistol still in that position.

“Oh God… This is not an ordinary metallic safe with PIN code. This safe is custom made for State Bank of India and is called – Advanced Voluntary Access Safe. It means that typing just a correct PIN won’t open up the safe. It has some additional check points too…”

“Like..?” asked the surprised Robert.

“I can explain, but please lower that pistol” replied Iyer.

Robert lowered the pistol in a strange swing. Iyer took a deep sigh in the same rhythm.

“Do you see those wires and console cables on the side of the safe?”- Iyer tried to make things clear for the gangsters. All stared back in the same style as they were before, which Iyer assumed to be a nod.

“Whenever I have to open the safe…”, Iyer continued swallowing a big lump of saliva which had accumulated in his mouth, “…I have to first connect that cables to my body. The first cable around my wrist, and the second cable I have to wrap around my chest. I have to wear those eyeglasses, which are nothing but a device to do my retina scan. I have to insert that needle inside my vain on the right wrist, which is a bit painful.”

“Ok. Enough of preparation. Tell me why this is for?” interrupted Robert.

“All these sophisticated devices are to make sure that, I am the only authenticated person to open this safe and additionally, I am ‘voluntarily’ opening this safe at my will, and I am not forced to do it. These devices check different body parameters like – heart beat, pressure, my retina scan, finger print, body temperature, my blood group and obviously the PIN I am typing. Most complicated thing is the adrenaline and other similar hormones and chemical level in my blood at the point I log IN the PIN. All these factors have to be in a tolerable range, as when I am in ‘Normal un-tensed living condition’…Does it makes sense?”

“You don’t ask me question, you explain me how it will detect if I force you to open it now?” barked back Robert.

“yes yes…for example, my heart is beating now at a much faster rate than normal. It may be around 140 to 200 beats per minute. But my normal heart, under normal conditions which were measured and calibrated earlier will beat only around 75 beats per minute. So, that console cable which I have to strap around my wrist and chest will easily detect that I am not under a normal condition, and I might be forced to open the safe. So, In short even If my physical body is trying to open the safe, my mind also should be voluntarily allowing me to do so. Then only this safe will open up”

“I will easily cut this safe with a welding machine” replied Robert with a smile.

“You can, but the censors will easily detect it and trigger a small bomb inside the safe. The burnt currency will not be of any use other than as manure for coconut trees.” Replied Iyer.

There was a very awkward silence in air for that comedy from Iyer.

“So, that is why they told me to pick you also along with this safe, is it ?”

“yes” replied Iyer in a proud tone.

“So, only you can open up this safe?”

“yes”

“..and you have to do it at your will, no one can force you to do it?”

“yes”

“..and how much cash is inside it?”

“somewhere around 50 crores Indian Rupees”

DAY2:

It has been a day since Iyer was kidnapped along with this huge metallic safe from Bandra, State bank office. The job was done neatly by Robert and men, but they never expected such an anti-climax!

“This bloody this is testing my patience” finally declared Robert Bhai.

Robert stood up and walked towards Iyer, who was sleeping on the floor, curled down like a half dead millipede.  Robert opened his handcuff and asked – “I want you to try it once now.”

Iyer didn’t even resist. He got up and walked towards the safe. All eyes were on him.

He switched on the monitor, attached in front of the safe and started to wear different console cables. The screen came to life with a female voice announcing from it – “ Please wear the chest wrap and wrist warp and click next”

Iyer clicked next on the touch screen.

“Please wear the retina scan goggles”

Iyer followed the instruction.

“If you are ready, please insert the needle to your wrist vein and wait for 1 minute and click next”

The needle had to be changed every time before use, but Iyer did not have any option at that moment. Struggling against that pricking pain, Iyer inserted the needle and clicked next.

When the clock on the monitor ticked down to zero from 60 seconds, Iyer clicked next.

“You have 5 chances remaining. Please enter the PIN” declared the female voice.

Iyer entered the PIN – 3-4-7-1, and clicked next.

The System made a loud alarming sound for 5 seconds and came to halt.

Then the female voice declared –“Your blood group, retina scan, finger print and PIN are matching. Your heart beat rate and level of Adrenaline in the blood are not matching. Please try once more in normal conditions. You have 4 chances remaining”

Iyer turned back to check the situation.

Robert was standing with his jaw dropped. The four men were eagerly waiting for a signal from their master.

“Kill the son of a bitch…Why the hell is he getting tensed?” screamed Robert.

4 Men pounced on Iyer and started to remove the pulp out of him.

“STOP” Robert commanded and his men did so.

“The more we hit him, the more he will be tensed next time. We need to think about this. This is a bloody situation”

DAY3:

Robert: “Did that fellow eat something?”

Man1: “We gave him the remaining chicken fry and chapatti. But, then he told he won’t eat chicken. So I ate it”

Man 2: “We will have to get him curd rice”

Robert looked at Man 1 and Man 2 sharply and let out a deep sigh, speechless!

Robert: “The only way out is to get his trust and make him feel comfortable”

Man 2:  “Yes. That is exactly what I was saying”

Robert: “Wait. Let me speak. This fucking safe will open only if, all his bloody things are normal, including his level of constipation! So we have to take care of him, until he opens that bloody safe”

Man 3 gave a confused look to Robert. Robert shook his head.

Robert: “Do whatever you guys can, but he has to be happy when he opens the safe next time. If you want money, you ask me, but get him whatever things he wants. In next 5 days, I want him to open the safe happily. Do you understand it?

Man4: “Yes sir!”

DAY 7:

Iyer was eating the special south Indian meals ordered from Saravana Bhavan, when Robert entered the room. Iyer was licking his sambar and rasam smeared middle finger and Robert felt it as a gesture of communication to him.

“Iyer, hope everything is fine, and you look so happy” said Robert.

Iyer nodded and ate the small banana that Man 4 had peeled for him.

“In that case, we will try to open the safe now” said Robert.

Iyer took the eyes from banana and looked at Robert, with a tensed attitude in it.

“Oh no. take it very easy. Everything is very normal” replied Robert with his hands inside the pant pocket. Robert was very sure that, if he takes that hand outside, he would strangle Iyer to death. He imagined doing so, screaming out to Iyer – “I told you, don’t get tensed you fucking bitch”, venting out all his frustration which he was now hiding behind his smile. Instead, inside his pocket he held tightly a piece of paper in which he maintained all the expenses for this operation. The most unexpected entry to that list was the amount of food consumed by Iyer in the last one week, that too pure south Indian vegetarian food. The only hope left back was that, these expenses were negligible when compared with the amount of fortune he would be stuck with, once that safe of treasure is open.

“Are you sure about this?” asked Iyer.

“Yes…lets so this” replied Robert.

Iyer did so.

A few minutes later when everyone was eagerly waiting for that female voice to declare the result, the loud beeping voice of alarm filled the air again.

DAY 20:

Almost the same scene happened.

Iyer entered the PIN and clicked next.

The System made a loud alarming sound for 5 seconds and came to halt.

Then the female voice declared –“Your blood group, retina scan, finger print and PIN are matching. Your heart beat rate and level of Adrenaline in the blood are not matching. Please try once more in normal conditions. You have 2 chances remaining”

“You are in deep shit you ass hole” screamed Robert and fired a shot to ceiling from his pistol.

There was a small mark on the concrete above, but apart from that nothing much happened.

Iyer stood still frozen by the gun shot, but with a face of desperation.

“I want to go home…Ammmaaaa…” cried Iyer.

Robert charged towards Iyer and suddenly stopped a foot away from him and changed his facial expression to smile.

Multiple personality disorder!

“What is the problem Iyer, why were you tensed this time?” asked Robert with a pleasant smile.

Iyer wept but managed to speak –“I don’t know…”

“No. Don’t say you don’t know. Its been bloody 20 days since you came to this room. I have learned chess for you and I am playing that stupid boring game with you for the last one week. I have lost in all the 23 games we played but still I continue to make you happy. I still don’t  know whether it is a horse or a camel on a chess board and I find it hard to understand why that animal should move in the shape of an –L.”

“It’s a horse, and is called knight. I have told you many times” replied Iyer.

“Big deal. I don’t even care. But, what I want is you to open this safe. Please tell me why you were tensed today” roared Robert.

“I don’t know… may be my mind feels that you would kill me once the safe is open” replied Iyer.

Eternal truth! It was out from his mouth.

That was the most embarrassing moment Robert had faced in his entire career of kidnap and burglary – “to convince his prey that, he is not going to kill him, even though both knew it very well that, this is the eternal truth!”

DAY 33:

“There are only two chances remaining” – said Iyer.

“Yes, and what will happen after that?” asked Robert curiously, even though he was damn sure that it was something very bad.

“I cannot open it. My superior officer, who sits in Delhi, will be able to open, but with additional procedure which is not possible from this room”

“That is very bad…Do you know where we are?” asked Robert

 “I don’t know…but this place doest have network coverage. Otherwise police would have easily reached here by now. This safe transmits its location to the mobile network”

“Ok…enough of small talk. Do you have any plan?” asked Robert.

“I don’t know. The only way out is to convince me that you are not going to kill me once it is opened; and that is not very easy I can say”

 “Trust me Iyer…trust me” said Robert in the sweetest possible way he could.

“Trust just won’t come like that. I have to feel it from my heart. Especially seeing the antics by you and your men…” stopped Iyer in mid way with a sigh.

“See Iyer…Once you open the safe, half the cash will belong to you. I can assure you that! I can easily make arrangements to look it neat from outside and not even a single person other than we two will know about your benefits in this”

“Nice one, but how can I be sure that you will not kill me once I open the safe”

“Trust. No other way out” – said Robert and shed a drop of tear for that.

DAY 51:

The 50-50 deal of cash was on. Iyer entered the PIN and clicked next.

All waited for the happy climax.

The System made a loud alarming sound for 5 seconds and came to halt.

Then the female voice declared –“Your blood group, retina scan, finger print, PIN and heart beat are matching. Your level of Adrenaline in the blood is not matching. Please try once more in normal conditions. You have only 1 chance remaining”.

Adrenaline!

“But why?”  exclaimed Robert.

“May be , I was a bit excited about that much of cash coming to my hand. Excitement also causes the adrenaline level to rise” replied Iyer.

All looked down on floor.

Without speaking a single word, Robert walked out of the room.

Evening, Robert came back to the room and said – “9 more days left. On day 60 we will see the Climax”

That night, Iyer cried thinking about his bad situation. He has got only one more chance remaining. If he opens it, he has got some chances of living further with his family. But If he fails, he is dead. These gangsters will have no further use keeping him and he only had told these facts to them. He had 9 more days to concentrate and regain all his courage and strength to open up that cryptic door. He badly wanted to, but his mind was pulling it back.

The bloody predicament!

DAY 60 : CLIMAX

Iyer had a gun with him.

Robert and his 4 men were sitting on chairs with their hands cuffed behind. All 5 of them were locked up using a chain and the chain was locked on to a pillar. The key for that lock was with Iyer.

In short, Iyer was the Don and Robert and his men seemed to be the abducted ones.

This was the last chance. Robert was ready for any compromise to get this done, and so he decided to make sure that Iyer had full control of the situation. Things were enormously out of his control that, Iyer could now easily run out of the room without even thinking about opening the safe. He could even kill those gangsters by just 5 shots of gun.

But, Iyer did not think about such an anti-climax.

He walked towards the cryptic safe. He connected all the devices and wore all the cables and retina scan goggles. He inserted the needle inside his left wrist. When everything was done, he started to follow the instructions.

Finally, that female in her most possible sweet voice urged - “You have 1 chance remaining. Please enter the PIN”.

Iyer took a pause. A series of thoughts flickered in his brain’s giant screen.

“Am I feeling tensed? Is my adrenaline level normal. I should not be thinking about it now. Oh Shit, I am already thinking about it. Stop thinking. Stop…Oh no. This is going out of my hand. But wait, why have to get tensed after all. I have a gun, all these bloody fools are now under my custody. I am the don here. Oh wait, don’t get excited, it may cause the adrenaline to pump. What adrenaline… I don’t care about anything…Press the PIN and go home.”

Iyer entered the PIN – 3-4-7-1, and clicked next.

There was no Alarm sound.

Female sound declared – “Congratulations, you are successfully authenticated as Mr. Jagdish Iyer”

The safe opened, and 50 crores of Indian currency was neatly stacked inside it.

All eyes went inside the safe. Robert and his men felt like jumping out of their seat.

“Yes you did it, Iyer…you did it!” screamed Robert.

Iyer was not animated at all. He slowly walked towards the men in chain, checked Robert’s pocket and took a slip outside from it. That was the piece of paper in which he was maintaining all his expenses.

“A total of 2 Lakhs sixty eight thousand three hundred and forty rupees” read out Jagdish Iyer.

He went back towards the safe and took out three bundles of 1 Lakh rupees each.

He closed the safe! Done!

The cryptic safe was closed again. He went back to the men and placed the money in front of them. Then he spoke –“The knight on a chess board is not the horse alone. Knight comprises of two things - the man riding the horse and the horse itself. It is similar to our body and mind, even though it appears that everything is our body alone. To get things done, both have to be in sync. The L shape of the knight on chess board is because - horse leaps forward two squares and then the knight uses his sword to attack the enemy next to him. Bye guys”

He gestured a bye with his hand and walked outside the room.

The men sat there, motionless, frozen by what they had just witnessed.

Robert did not speak a word for the next few minutes.

Finally he said – “The last sixty days taught us how to live and how not to live. He opened it for us, because he trusted us and we trusted him. Good-bye my friend!”

At that wonderful moment, for the first time in last sixty days, Robert’s heart beat, blood pressure , adrenaline level – everything was very much normal !