Bank Heist Ready

Alicia was visiting Delhi from the UK, for a work-related project. Aniket was her peer in Delhi, India. Together, both were scheduled to conduct a few trainings at a few locations in India, as determined by their organization – A1 Consultants. Some trainings were in the metros and some were in Tier 1 or 2 cities, a little remotely located that required a journey by train and/ or car.

During the weekends of her month-long stay, Alicia had expressed interest to visit some places of tourist interest to explore the local culture and cuisine. Aniket happily agreed to be her guide while she would be in Delhi. Both shared a good equation. They could also utilize this time to discuss how they can do their training sessions better and more effectively, apart from making conversations about the places they would be travelling to.

Aniket and a few other colleagues chalked out a plan for her. While in Chennai, Shiva volunteered to take Alicia to Pondicherry and Mahabalipuram. While in Mumbai, Ajit would accompany her for a trip to the Vineyards, which was about a three to four-hour journey by road. And while in Delhi, Aniket offered to take her to see the Taj Mahal in Agra.

Finer details were also worked out by the HR Team. Travel, accommodation, the company vehicle with a trusted driver – who knew the routes and was a good driver. Everything was in order.

After a tough week of training in all NCR locations, Greater Noida, Delhi and Gurgaon, Alicia was really looking forward to the weekend. Aniket was equally excited. It was going to be a good opportunity to connect with Alicia and show her around. When he was in the UK last year, Alicia had done the same for him and it was only natural that Aniket returns the gracious gesture when Alicia was visiting India.

It was recommended that they go to Agra by train and not by road. It was winters and the roads were likely to be foggy and therefore could be risky, especially the Yamuna Expressway. Aniket also agreed that’s a good suggestion. HR arranged for the tickets on the Shatabdi. On the designated day of their travel, the company vehicle first picked up Aniket from his residence in Gurgaon and then Alicia from her hotel in Central Delhi and dropped them both at the New Delhi Railway station, well in time for their train.

They both boarded the train and settled down and soon the train started chugging. While trying their skills at making coffee with three sachets - coffee, sugar and milk powder, none of which opened easily, and an archaic flask – that contained hot water, they started to enjoy their journey. Eager to initiate the conversation, Aniket started to give her some details about the Taj. Alicia, a keen traveller and an avid reader, already knew fairly well about Taj and also about the Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri. Aniket was very impressed. Time to time they made some conversation, listened to some music, and read a few news articles on their phones and spent the next few hours on the train, sitting next to each other.

Aniket made a few calls to Raman - the driver who was booked to pick them up, and agreed upon a place for pick up at the Agra station. When Aniket and Alicia de-boarded the train at Agra, Aniket was unable to get through to the driver. No calls were going through. That it was foggy, and visibility was very poor, added to the grief. But then Alicia spotted a placard that read: ‘Welcome! Guests from A1 Consultants’. Relieved, both walked up to Raman. He was stout and conspicuously dressed, in a not so clean khaki shirt, and black trousers. His face was barely visible as he had donned a black and grey monkey cap and covered the rest of his face with a brown shawl, to protect himself from the cold.

Alicia seemed nervous and apprehensive. Aniket assured Alicia: “It’s okay. People in this part of the country do dress up like this at this time of the year. It’s just to protect themselves from the bitter cold. We have nothing to worry.”

Cautiously, Alicia and Aniket sat in the rear seat of the vehicle that they reached by closely following Raman. It was an extremely foggy morning and they weren’t able to see a thing. Aniket checked with Raman if he will be able to find his way to their hotel. Raman seemed confident and said that he drives in these conditions regularly and that they should just trust him. They should sit back and listen to some music, as it will take about 45 minutes to reach their hotel.

Aniket had been told a maximum of 15 minutes is what will be required to reach their hotel, but he didn’t worry when he heard ‘45 minutes’ because he assumed the extra time was due to the bad weather. Alicia and Aniket kept discussing the weather and how they plan to visit the key places before they head back tomorrow. They wanted to maximize the two days.

They were on the road for more than an hour in zero visibility conditions. Whenever Aniket asked how much more to go, Raman said, another 15 minutes. Now, more than Alicia, Aniket was worried. He wanted to call his local contact in Agra but his phone showed no network. He became very restless and at the same time worried too. But he smiled when Raman said they have reached.

Aniket did not find any semblance of the five-star property that they had been booked in to. Raman honked thrice, and a 30’ opaque gate creakingly but slowly opened. The vehicle they had come in, came to a gradual halt. Aniket and Alicia alighted and tried to gather their bearings. A few helpers came rushing and took care of their suitcases. Another hurly-burly man ushered in Alicia and Aniket to a nondescript room, which had a musty smell, was poorly lit, had a broken table and a few plastic chairs. It was not a five-star hotel. It wasn’t even a hotel is what quickly dawned on Aniket and Alicia, together.

Alicia and Aniket were asked to sit down on the two plastic chairs on the western side of the room, which only had a high ventilator with grills and no windows. The two coffee drinkers were served a strong milky tea and a few samosas. They were not keen to eat or drink anything. Now losing patience, Aniket in a very annoyed but composed tone asked: “Will someone explain, what’s happening?” The hurly-burly man, who was about 6’2” tall, dark, had an unkempt beard, a gruff voice and a bad cough, sat on a similar chair, now looking at them in their eyes, directly. He said: “We are sorry for bringing you both here. But we need your help.” Aniket was stopped from interjecting to ask any question that came, by a stern show of the hand by that man. He then continued in broken English but was clearly understood by Aniket, if not Alicia. He said: “I don’t have a name, but you can call me J. Just the alphabet J. I run this place. And I won’t give you any more details. Over the next two days, my only request is for you both to train my boys to speak in English. A few basic sentences. I will give you those exact sentences. And you Madamji, will teach two boys to speak in your tone, different from the other boys.” Aniket understood everything and also that two boys have to be trained to speak in a UK accent.

Few extremely tough minutes and J was done, and he left the room. As he closed the door behind him, Alicia and Aniket looked at each other, several questions being asked of each other and no answers came.

There were three men left behind after J left. They could only speak Hindi and told Aniket, what in a summary was: ‘You both have been brought here to teach some basic English to a few of our boys. Your designated driver Raman’s brother told his family that you two would be visiting Agra and he has to pick you up. Raman’s cousin Suresh, who works here, got to know and informed J Saab. J Saab has been wanting to train a few boys who can speak in English so that they can answer phone calls in English. We run a factory here, what we manufacture we can’t tell you, but we get customer queries from India and abroad. Our boys who can only speak Hindi or broken English need to be trained so that they can answer at least 10-15 questions in English for which there are standard responses. You both will do that over the next two days. J Saab knows picking you up from the station like that is not appropriate, but he is in a bit of hurry and he knows you both can do this effortlessly. You have two days. You will be very well looked after here. Your stay, arrangements, your meals, everything will be as best as we can. But you will have no access to your phones, we have them in our possession. You can make one phone call, to your family telling them you are fine and may not be able to contact them due to poor network. We don’t want you to make any phone calls or seek help from anyone. Tomorrow night, you will be duly dropped at the Agra railway station and from there you will take the train back to Delhi. And if you refuse to cooperate, there will be consequences.”

After a while, Aniket and Alicia stepped out of the musty room. The fog had dissipated by then and Sun had now started to shine, and all their eyes could see were lush greens, tall trees and what did seem like a factory, with a chimney in the distance blowing grey smoke. They also saw several tin sheds, which were perhaps temporary accommodations. There were several herb plants as well. They were ushered to their respective rooms to freshen up. After about half an hour they both emerged from their rooms and met the folks who were waiting to escort them to another room. They were handed over their phones to make just one call to let whoever they wished to let them know they have reached safely and will be out of touch till tomorrow late evening. Aniket made one call to his wife and told her: ‘I’ve reached safely. Don’t worry if you can’t get through or I don’t call, because we are in a very low network zone.’

Resigned to what lay in store for their next 48 hours, Aniket and Alicia agreed to comply with J’s orders. They knew they were safe and will be treated with respect if they do as is being asked of them. This place, wherever and whatever it was, was their Taj Mahal, their Agra Fort, and their Fatehpur Sikri, all in one.

Aniket and Alicia were led to a room that was on the first floor. They held the iron railings and went up a staircase, that had very high risers and very small treads. The staircase opened into a makeshift classroom. There were 12 boys, who were in the age group of 20-25. None of the faces was visible as they were all covered with a shawl or muffler. It did not seem so strange to Aniket, but Alicia was petrified, to say the least. To her, the room appeared to be full of folks battle-ready for a bank heist. She tried to be calm and composed and from time to time Aniket reassured her that as long as they did what they had been brought here for, it should all be okay, just count the hours.

J walked into the room, soon. In a very rustic manner, he addressed the boys and communicated: “These two people will teach you to speak in correct English. After that, they will take a test. Just learn properly.”

An A4 sheet print out containing 10-15 sentences was handed over to both Aniket and Alicia. Clearly, these were the sentences that had to be taught, more like memorized in the correct pronunciation, to become ready to answer calls. Aniket and Alicia read out the sentences to themselves and decided to go ahead without losing any time.

A waitperson made them comfortable, by placing a blower where they sat, to manage the cold winds that were sweeping in through the doors and windows. Two sealed bottles of mineral water, two disinfected glasses, and two steaming cups of milky tea were served, along with a pile of glucose biscuits on a plate. Not being able to sip any more of the milky tea, Alicia very softly requested: “Is it possible to get some coffee?” The waitperson looked confused. Though the question was from Alicia, the server responded to Aniket, by turning and now facing him to explain: ‘We don’t have any coffee powder in the premises. But we can ask someone coming from the city to bring it. By afternoon, we can make coffee for Madamji.’ Aniket, with a hint of a smile, assured him that should be okay and conveyed the same to Alicia.

Alicia and Aniket took a few minutes to discuss the strategy on how they will get the task at hand done. A few suggestions between both of them and they were ready. Aniket decided to lead, as he had a command over the local language as well as English. He explained to the audience, or students that they were now, what they will be doing over the next two days. Aniket wrote down the 15 sentences on the board behind him. He had translated them to English as the sentences handed over were in Hindi.

Aniket and Alicia took turns in helping the boys say aloud the sentences as they spoke. The boys repeated the sentences as was being spoken by Aniket and Alicia. It was an exhausting, insufferable, and immensely wearisome exercise for the visitors but they had no choice. They exchanged glances quite often.

A welcome break came around 4 PM. Pleasantly surprised, now they had been served coffee. The waitperson, only looking at Aniket as if Alicia was not there, gleefully said: ‘Someone from the city got us a coffee bottle. I make good coffee. Here it is for you.’ Aniket and Alicia both thanked him. Though it was not even basic coffee, it was at least coffee. They couldn’t have been happier. That they were alive, safe, and would be (hopefully) set free by tomorrow evening is all that they were praying for now.

Evening came, and it was time for an early dinner. Everybody queued into a functional canteen. Thalis, with several sections, were picked up from the entry point to the canteen hall - that could seat about 100-125 people in one go. Aniket and Alicia were spared the queuing. They were asked to sit in the most comfortable and most clean area of the hall. A table that had a plastic transparent sheet, and a tiny and thin vase that had two red plastic flowers as well, welcomed them. That sure was an indication that this sole table was indeed a table for the VIPs. Within minutes, a couple of servers brought them their meals. They were indicated that they should just let them know what they want as second helpings, it will be served to them on their table. They needn’t get up. They will be looked after as their esteemed guests. The dinner was nice and comforting. Once done, they both were escorted to their rooms. Aniket and Alicia said good night to each other. What they also said to each other, but not aloud was: ‘Just another day. We will be on our way out tomorrow evening.’

Morning dawned. Without access to their phones, it was a restless night and Aniket and Alicia were dying to know all was okay in the world outside and with their families. They had spent just about 24 hours in the confines but to them, it seemed like months. They had a small breakfast, and yes coffee, and they were back to the classroom. Yet again, today the room was full of (bank-heist ready) students. Alicia was the only woman on the premises. Neither she nor Aniket had come across another woman.

Another day full of English communication. A test was also conducted in the latter half of the day. None could learn the UK accent, and Alicia did try her best. But J was happy at the end of the second day. His boys were able to speak way better than before. He was visibly pleased, though he said very little. He profusely thanked both Aniket and Alicia. He also apologized for the way Aniket and Alicia were almost kidnapped and brought here.

Aniket gently confirmed if J was satisfied and if they could now leave. J said: ‘Yes. Right away.’ Alicia and Aniket went back to their rooms and packed their belongings. They wanted to just leave. They did not have to carry anything. There were a few folks who carried everything and tucked their bags neatly into the SUV that was to drop them to the Agra station, for the train that’ll take them back to Delhi. Their phones were duly returned. A small but glorious hamper of goodies and a bunch of flowers was presented to Aniket and Alicia. A note that read ‘Thank you’ gently floated from the bunch, neatly tied with a golden ribbon.

A dozen of their (bank-heist-ready) students stood about 20’ feet away from them. Just as Alicia and Aniket were getting on to the vehicle, the students, still with their faces covered, waved and said: ‘Bye Bye, Thank You’. Alicia and Aniket both waved back, with a big smile and also thanked them for being such sincere students.

When the car slowly but surely left the 30’ gate, Alicia and Aniket firmly shook hands, almost to celebrate a victory. They turned around, once, to look where they had spent their last two days. Nothing was identifiable, only an imposing and unremarkable gate could be seen. Now on the road, what could have been a state highway, they found green fields on both sides. As it was dark, they were not able to see much, but now armed with their smartphones, with full network strength, and GPS on, Aniket was feeling safe that they were headed in the right direction, which was to the Agra Railway Station. He quickly called his wife, and among other things, said: “I’m on my way and should be home late night.”

The vehicle dropped them and bid adieu. Aniket and Alicia, now on their own, and most importantly safe, gave each other a warm hug. It perhaps said: ‘We survived, whatever that was.’ They quickly boarded the train and made sure they were on the right seats. They started to browse the newspaper - it seemed to be a local edition, tucked away in the net case at the back of their front seats. They were eager to catch the news and get updated on what has happened in the last two days. The headlines of the newspaper read: ‘Search on for Kidnapped Executives’. Aghast, Aniket and Alicia, even before reading any further knew the news item was about them.

Not wanting to alert anyone among their co-passengers, they quickly slipped into a, by now well-observed, bank-heist-ready mode. They covered their heads with their jacket hoodies and drew the string to tighten it around their faces. Additionally, Aniket wrapped his face with a muffler, pretending to feel very cold. Alicia covered her pale white face with her silk crimson stole, that she had purchased from the boutique outlet of the five-star hotel she was staying in, in Delhi. Aniket and Alicia whispered: ‘Let’s quietly first reach Delhi. We’ll let the police know only once we are back home.’ There onwards, they made their journey to Delhi in absolute silence. After dropping Alicia to her hotel, and on reaching his home in Gurgaon, Aniket informed the police that he and Alicia are safe and back home.