The Boy Next Door

The Boy Next Door

5 mins
11K


It was the battle of life. It was the battle for dignity.

Vishal Sahani sat transfixed to his assigned place. The 2-hour long session had taken its toll on him, not to mention that he was not already drained out of all the court proceedings, round trips to the government buildings and frequent visits by and to the who’s who of the judicial organ. His face, reflecting a tired and pained emotion was fighting a tough battle with his mind to not show that he was losing hope. Thin whitish lines had formed on his face after beads of sweat had evaporated into the tense air surrounding him and the four other people–the famous five. Together, they had been tagged as the ‘conspirators’.

Just opposite the table, behind which the conspirators sat, sat a number of dignitaries, all eager to reach the conclusion. Several high-profile officers were included in the selected few who were assigned to interrogate the famous five. They were now sighting the victory, they had hoped. A little away from this cluster stood a good crowd of reporters, covering the entire session live to their channels. Inside the tiny cluster which was raising questions at an average of two per five minutes, was editor-in-chief of Max Newspaper, Ishan Patel. He had known Vishal ever since the day the latter was born. He remembered how Vishal hadn’t spoken for two complete years but once he was fluent in talking, he was an expert in the field. Ishan, ten years senior to Vishal had come close to him due to the proximity of their families. Vishal spent more time in the afternoon at Ishan’s place than at his own. He wasn’t a violent kid and didn’t have any brother or sister but was over-the-top nicely fed by his parents which was reflected in his physical and mental being. His often, out-of-the-box remarks brought everyone in attention to him. Ishan liked spending time with the kid but was often irritated by his attitude of blaming others over his own little mischievous things. There were many times when he broke some things and when asked would put the blame on ‘Ishu Bhaiya’. When he would litter around and spoil Ishan’s elder sister’s books and get away through milder punishments by diverting the talk so easily or simply blaming Ishan.

A startling question brought Ishan back to the present. An IAS officer has asked Vishal how could he expect to run the government as a chief minister if he could not instil trust and team-spirit in his fellow-mates. This was a different question, not similar to the ones being asked on the corruption case that he was charged off.

Vishal had had a meteorical rise in the political arena. His serious and affectionate face won him many admirers. Along with it came the friends and within them the enemies. He was a powerful minister and was vying for the chief ministerial elections when a tip from an informer in his department accused him of corruption in the real estate sector. Words like he was running a prodigal administration spread fast. Court proceedings were done and enough evidences were revealed. On a last word, the court had decided to give him and his team a final chance to prove their innocence in what one of the newspapers described as ‘the ultimate hour’.

Ishan realized that both of them were on TV. There was a time when they both watched the TV together.

There was commotion in the hall now. Ishan noticed that Vishal had failed to answer the question. He had lost his charm, that once he was so proud to posses off. The judges stirred in their seats uneasily. After sometime the spokesperson stood up to announce the decision. She must have spoken for nearly 5 minutes but all that Ishan gathered was: culprits, law, punishment and the names of the accused. The decision was now final: they were guilty. Everyone was getting up. Ishan could see Vishal. He was slowly walking towards the door, his face expressionless.

Ishan had noticed that the spokesperson of the session was in deep conversation with somebody from last few minutes. Suddenly she ordered the doors to be shut down again and everyone to return to their places. She stood from her place to give the update. What now?

The next five minutes brought in a wave of shocked faces. The informer to the government had been arrested on various charges including fraud and cheating. The next thing Ishan knew was Vishal giving a speech so calmly, so perfectly, often highlighting the phrase ‘personal enmity’. A unique expression was returning to Vishal’s face, the one Ishan was so well aware of. It was not an expression of a rekindling hope but of a person winning with deceit. Once, Ishan remembered that he had written a speech and recited it to Vishal. Vishal had rushed in to tell that to the people present in the house. How effectively he had passed it off as his own creation. Ishan didn’t seem to mind it at that time.

Several other past incidents were making a flashback in his mind when he noticed that Vishal had completed his performance. Some people who had just been criticizing him a few minutes ago were now nodding their approval. Vishal walked out of the hall, never for once looking in the eye to Ishan. A closed case had just re-opened….

 


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