THE KILLERS

"Kill him if he doesn't tell us ! "

The sharp voice of the fat , bearded man struck me like the whetted blade of a knife .

Even when I had heard the loud 7 o' clock siren of the nearby factory , I kept on lying in the bed , lingering on the border of sleep and wakefulness . I had gone to attend a late evening party at Nehru place , yesterday . I just lost track of time in that lively get-together . In the morning , I kept dozing off for quite some time even after the nearby factory's loud siren had gone off.

' Get up , Sharma . Today is Monday ' -- it flashed in a corner of my mind . I opened my eyes , stretched myself and recited the holy Gayatri mantra . As I was splashing water on my face , there was a loud knocking at the door . Who the hell has dropped in so early ! Wiping my face with a towel , I moved towards the door . As soon as I opened it , a tall, well-built , bald man with a mustache rudely pushed me in . He had a pistol in his hand . He was followed by a fat , bearded man . And he shut the door behind him .

" Wh ... what is this ? Who are you ? What do you want ? " I stammered in a shocked voice . All this had happened in the twinkling of an eye . I stood in the middle of my room , a bit dazed .

" Just shut up ! And answer our questions . Where is K.P. ? " Catching hold of my shirt's collar , the bald man growled .

" I don't know anyone named K. P. " I tried to wriggle out of his smothering hold . His height seemed to mock my dwarfness .

" Don't you know K.P. , you b****** . ? Are you not K.P.'s bosom-friend ? " A stinging back-handed slap rang behind my left ear . My head felt giddy . Lots of flies and mosquitoes started buzzing in the by-lanes of my mind .

" Kill the b****** if he doesn't tell us about K.P. ! " The sharp voice of the fat , bearded man struck me like the whetted blade of a knife ...

" Did you hear that ? Now , quickly tell us about K.P. , " ordered the bald man in a booming voice . The grip of his left hand was tightening around my neck . He held a pistol in his right hand .

" I ... I really don't know anyone named K. P. . " I stammered out in a trembling voice . I was having difficulty in breathing . Streams of sweat were running down my face . The tips of my ears seemed aflame . My heart was pounding violently against my rib-cage , like a horse gone wild . The wall-clock in the room had stopped at five past seven .

" This mother f***** won't speak ! I say , kill him ! " The fat , bearded man barked out again .

" What do you think ? Have we come here to crack jokes ? Tell us where K.P. is or else ... " The bald man with the moustache tightened his grip on my neck . Serpents of pain coiled around my neck . I kept mum . Silence was my only ally .

" I say , kill the b****** ! "

The bearded man was rummaging through my book-shelf . Did he think , I had hidden his K. P. in the pages of some book ?

" No , no . He is a nice man . He does not want to die . Isn't it , nice man ? Do you know who we are ? Professional KILLERS . Come on , nice man . Tell us where K.P. is and we won't harm you , " said the bald man in an assuring tone as if he would reward me with a lollipop if I told him K. P. 's whereabouts .

" You are mistaken . I don't know anyone named K.P. . You are wasting your time at a wrong place . "

" Kill the b****** if he doesn't tell us about K.P. . I will make his corpse speak . " The bearded man's sharp voice stabbed me again . He was now peeping into all the almirahs . Had I kept his K.P. locked up in one of the almirahs ?

" No , no . He is a nice man . He will tell us . Now , nice man , tell us where K.P. is , " said the bald man and pointed the muzzle of his pistol at my forehead with his finger on the trigger .

My head felt hot . My breath became irregular ... Will I cease to be ? Is this the end of my life ? Now ? Here ? At this point ? Will I become just a framed photograph hanging on the wall with a garland around it ? Am I to die like this ? At the hands of unknown killers ? Without any reason ? Is this my fate ? I have not done anything to deserve such an untimely death . I believe in the existence of God . Years ago , during the time of the ' miracle ' , I had even offered milk to the idol of Lord Ganesha in the nearby temple . I have no personal enmity with anyone . I have never harmed anyone . I am just a simple , ordinary man with a handful of beliefs . Will these killers murder me today ? Will they murder my beliefs too ?

" Believe me . I really don't know anyone named K.P. "

The demonic muzzle of the pistol was pointed at my forehead . My lips were parched. My ears were burning . My throat felt thirsty . My arm-pits were soaked in sweat.

" I will count up to three . If he still does not tell us about K.P. , shoot him . " The sharp voice of the fat , bearded man struck me again like the whetted blade of a knife . The palms of my hands started sweating . My vision dimmed . I could hear the loud pounding of my heartbeats against my rib-cage . I waited for death to come . Who can alter what is fated ?

... Once in my childhood , our naughty servant caught hold of a

pigeon and cut off one of its legs with a sharp blade . I had cried

much at that time , snatched the bleeding pigeon from him and

set it free . But as soon as the pigeon flew , about a dozen crows

started tailing it . The wounded pigeon tried its best to dodge the

horde of murderous crows for two-three minutes . Then , bleeding

from the wound and utterly exhausted , it went down . And the

ravaging crows tore it apart ...

" No , no . He is a nice man . He'll tell us everything in a moment . Isn't it , nice man ? Who do you think we are ? Jokers ? No , we are KILLERS . K. P. is bound to die . But , if you don't tell us about his whereabouts , you will die first . Do you get me ? "

I listened quietly to the noise made by my heavy breathing . What could I say ? They were not going to believe my denials . My words had lost their meanings for them .

" Kill the b****** ! "

With a vengeance , the bald man struck my forehead with the butt of the pistol . Darkness of a tunnel filled my eyes . An earthquake seemed to engulf me . Things were going round me in circles . Scores of grasshoppers started chirping in unison in the pitch darkness . A white streak of pain flashed like lightning . Then the unfathomable chasm of darkness almost swallowed me up . Catching hold of my dizzying head , I went down on my knees in acute pain .

" He knows where K.P. is . He is deliberately not telling us about K.P.'s whereabouts . I say , shoot him " Bats of ominous sounds were fluttering wildly in the dark tunnel . I could hear the tick-tick , tick-tick sound of a time-bomb in my mind .

Everyone has to die one day . Why be afraid of death . But , if I could get some more time .... Many important tasks will remain incomplete now .

The bald man caught hold of my shirt's collar and rudely pulled me up from the floor . The top buttons of my shirt got plucked out and fell down on the floor .

" Come on , nice man ! Do you want to die so early ? Tell us K.P.'s whereabouts and we will spare you . "

" I say , kill the b****** ! "

My forehead was in the grip of a burning sensation . A hurtful boil had come up at the point where the pistol-butt had struck the forehead . The stretched blue vein of my neck was crying out in pain . It seemed as if my head would explode into a thousand pieces . Did the mythical Vikram feel the same agony when the phantom Vetaal lying on his shoulders narrated him a story and asked him a difficult question ?

Dhimaan told me in the party last evening : " I have gone through your horoscope . The unhelpful phase of Saturn has begun . Your troubles may increase . Recite the holy Gayatri Mantra daily , and reduce your salt intake . "

" No more bulls*** ! Tell me K.P.'s whereabouts right now or else I will pull the trigger . " Death was going to put its signature on my forehead in bold letters.

" When I don't know anyone named K.P. , how can I tell you his address ? " My voice flickered like the dying flame of a candle .

" You really don't know anyone named K.P. ? Eh ! " The bearded man coolly walked up to me .

" No . "

" Are you not Sharma ? " Asked the bald man .

" I am . "

" And you say , you don't know K.P. , you b****** ! " Growled the bearded man .

" Believe me , I don't know anyone named K.P. "

" He is lying . I say , shoot him right now . "

The bearded man twisted my left hand behind my back . Pythons of pain tightened their grip around the joint of my left arm and shoulder . I gave out an agonised cry . ' Kill me , you goons . At least my agony will end soon that way ' -- I thought .

" Tell us the truth . Are you not Rajat Sharma ? K.P.'s partner ? "

' So these killers have mistaken me for Rajat Sharma ' -- I thought .

The muzzle of the bald man's pistol was now caressing the blue vein of my neck . I was reminded of that cared for goat that ends up later on at the slaughter-house .

" No , " I said , " I am not Rajat Sharma . "

I knew Rajat Sharma . He was an active member of a charitable organization that helped the Kashmiri migrants settled in the city . He was also a small-time businessman . He had met me a few times seeking donation for his charitable organization. He lived in Jawahar Nagar .

" He's lying . I say , shoot him . "

" Why should we believe what you say ? " The bald man asked coldly as if he were a policeman and I , a criminal .

" Check my I-card lying in the pocket of my coat . " My voice was looking for the white mule-track of hope .

The bald man took out the the I-card lying in the pocket of my coat pegged on the wall . He took a long , hard look at it , as if the words written on the I-card would alter themselves due to his gaze . Time seemed to stop . I felt as if my I-card would go up in flames in the inferno of his gaze . The poster of actress Madhubala pasted on the wall seemed to cringe in fear . The eyes of the classical dancer Sonal Man Singh peeping out of the calendar hanging on the wall seemed to shrink back timidly . A house-lizard half-hidden by the ceiling-fan was quietly watching the unfolding of the entire drama .

After a long pause , the bald man said , " So , you are Rakesh Sharma , not Rajat Sharma . "

Time started ticking again . A cuckoo sang out loudly somewhere outside. The house-lizard scurried away from the ceiling-fan and came out into the open .

" Yes , I am Rakesh Sharma , " I replied .

" Do you know Rajat Sharma ? "

" No . " ' Why should I tell these killers the whereabouts of Rajat Sharma ' -- I thought .

" He's a liar . I say , kill him . " The sharp voice of the fat , bearded man struck me again like the whetted blade of a knife .

" Leave him , pal . He is not the one we are looking for . "

" But ... "

" We have got the wrong man, pal . "

" F*** off , you bastard ! " The bearded man rudely pushed me away . I banged against the wall. Some worn out plaster fell off the wall on to the floor .

" Listen , you are lucky that you are Rakesh Sharma , not Rajat Sharma , " said the bald man .

" But now , he knows everything. How can we leave him alive ? I say , shoot him . " The bearded man seemed to be my sworn enemy .

" Leave him , pal . Listen , nice man . You must have known by now , how dangerous we are . We can come again , tomorrow. You are a marked man , now . Don't even dream of informing the police about us . You will do yourself a favour -- you'll keep your mouth shut . Only Gandhi's philosophy of ' Speak no evil , Hear no evil , See no evil ' can save your life , " growled the bald man .

I nodded . ' What a perverted application of Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy , O killers ' -- I thought.

" And after we are gone , don't move out of your house for another half an hour , " ordered the bald man . I nodded again . Pythons of pain were taking their toll on each and every part of my body.

The bald man put his pistol in the pocket of his trousers and opened the outer door . An inquisitive piece of sunlight entered the room like a private detective and was startled by the tension that filled the room .

" If you try to act smart , I'll come back myself to finish you off , you b****** ! " Stabbing me with his threat , the bearded man walked out of the room along with the bald man . I kept on standing quietly beside the wall. I could still here the pounding of my heart-beats against my chest .

I heard the starting-kick of their motor-cycle outside . My neighbor Miss Sally's Alsatian dog started barking . The sound of the motor-bike receded slowly and the dog too, fell silent .

I felt as if a sharp knife placed on my neck had been removed. Taking a deep breath , I came up to the outer door . They were gone . The April-morning road was littered with emptiness. Tiny new buds had started sprouting on the leafless trees standing by the roadside . The sound of temple-bells filled the morning air . Suddenly a late-rising cock started crowing impulsively .

I wiped the sweat off my face . The pain waves in my veins had ebbed a bit . Instinctively, my fingers touched the swelling on my forehead . There was no blood . I had had a close brush with death . Today was not my turn to die . Somewhere, there was an all-powerful someone who wanted me to remain alive . I thanked Him silently and picked up the morning newspaper lying outside the door . As I turned back , the loud siren of the nearby factory went off again . I wish , there were a factory where noble men , good human beings could be produced .