The Stranger

PRAKASHAM DISTRICT, 2018:

AT 7:45 PM:

Near the Honeywell Apartments of Ram Nagar in Prakasham district of Andhra Pradesh region, a stranger, wearing black suits and blue jeans pants enters in a house. Going inside the house, he notices a board, that's the house number as 40, holding the name: Akhil (Artificial Science). The stranger leaves a videotape in the front door and leaves from the place by absconding from the backside wall of the house.

8:30 PM-

A few hours later, Akhil comes out from his house to look for something in the backside wall, along with his wife Anjali, who is gorgeous in her well-woven sari. When outside, Anjali notices the videotape and calls Akhil.

He rushes and asked her, "What Anjali?"

"See this da. It looks like a videotape." Anjali said, showcasing the videotape to Akhil.

Akhil gets the videotape from her and plays the video. Upon seeing the video, he is extremely shocked. Seeing this, Anjali asked him: "What happened Akhil? What's there in the video?"

"We are under surveillance Anjali. Someone is watching us" said Akhil. He showcases the video to her, which explains their moments of private conversations, they shared in the room.

Puzzled about the video's origin, Akhil meets his close friend Gautham, a TV Anchor in a local channel, where he works as a literary hoster. His house is built by bricks and to the left side, there's plants and trees, been grown. To the corner side, slippers and shoes are kept in an order.

Wearing Black coat suits and blue pants, Gautham sees Akhil, standing outside his house and he goes to receive him warmly.

"Come inside the house da. Why you stood there itself?" Akhil enters into the house, after a while, along with the videotape, which had been sent by the stranger.

"Shall we investigate about this videotape to Gautham? Maybe, is this a practical joke, made by someone or it's a play by Gautham? Why to imagine! Let's ask this to him." Akhil's mind have been filled with these thoughts and he asked him with the video, "Gautham. Can you able to see this videotape?"

"Yes da. It showcases your private conversation" said Gautham, after watching the video and the latter asked him, "Who could have done this, except you?"

Gautham denies his involvement and tells him, "No Akhil. If I did this, I could have told it frankly. Someone have been stalking you either or it could be the work of youngster people, I think."

FEW DAYS LATER:

A few days later, around 7:45 PM, the same stranger places yet another videotape, in the same dresses in Akhil's house, when the latter was busy in creating an Artificial Intelligence software for the company Goldman Sachs, in which he had been working for.

However, when he stepped outside the house for switching off the lights, he notices the same videotape, sent by the stranger and plays the videotape in his DVD Player.

The videotape have a childlike drawing of a person with blood streaming out of his mouth. Akhil goes mad and shouts, "Who are you man? Why are you after me?"

He breaks some glasses in the house and loses his cool, almost until been intervened by Anjali.

Slowly going near to her, Anjali asked him, "Hey. What happened? Why are you sitting like this?"

He shows her the similar drawings that was sent by the stranger in her mail, during the time, where he was awaiting her's arrival from office around 8:45 PM and the second videotape. Disturbed deeply by this incident, Akhil goes to the nearby police station along with Anjali.

One of the police constable asked him, "Who are you man? Whom do you want to meet?"

"Inspector Ravindar Reddy sir" said Anjali, to which the Constable said, "Wait for a minute ma. I will go and inform him." He goes inside his table, where Ravindar is sitting in the chair, looking after some files.

"Sir. Someone named Anjali have came to meet you, along with Akhil" said the Constable, to which, Ravindar replied, "Ask them to come inside." They goes inside and showcases the two videotape telling him, "Sir. Like this the stranger is sending the videotape for the past few weeks sir."

"We suspect someone is stalking us sir" said Anjali to which Ravindar replied, "Madam. Today, the technology have grown up. Crimes have grown up, as the technology is growing." He showcases a few things, which describes about Cybercrimes and E-Commerce scams and tells to Akhil, "Sir. These things are too hard for us to consider as a criminal activity."

Anjali consoles Akhil and they leaves from the police station, back to the house. Inside the house, Anjali tells Akhil: "Akhil. Just forget about this thing and proceed with your work on creating the Artificial Software Intelligence." As Anjali tries to leave back for her room, he holds her gaze and asked her, "Anjali. Can you please stay with me for sometime? So that, I may feel relieved."

"Sure Akhil." They both have some conversations for a while and during the time, Akhil holds her cheeks and tells, "Anjali. You are beautiful. In and out." He looks into her eyes and almost tries to kiss her lips, but backs off, feeling shy.

However, Anjali kisses his lips. Starting with this, they ends up drinking juice, kissing each other in parts of body and finally, they both have sex inside the bedroom, the whole night.

Around 12:00 AM, Akhil gets a reminder about something in his phone. Upon checking the reminder, he finds it out as Anjali's birthday. Since, Anjali is sleeping with him by hugging tight, he wakes her up by touching her cheeks smoothly.

"What Akhil?"

"Many more happy returns of the day, Anjali" said Akhil, which makes her happier and she asked him, "How come you know today as my birthday, Akhil?"

"I always have the reminder about the birthday of our friends." Akhil decides to celebrate her birthday in a grand manner and books Anand Das hotel for the party. He invites his college friends: Siddha, Shasanank, Aravinth and Janani for the party. While, Anjali also invites some of her friends like: Anushya, Krithi, Keerthi and Suresh.

12:30 PM, FEW HOURS LATER:

"Welcome guys. After some long days, we are all meeting together" said Akhil, by extending his hands wider and his friend Aravinth replied, "Yes. That too, in a birthday party, we are meeting together."

"Let this day be an unforgettable one for all of us" said Dinesh, to which all laughs. They dance, sings and drinks, celebrating the birthday party, with full swing of mood. Everything was going fine until Akhil's clock ticks to 7:45 PM again. That time, he is interrupted by a waiter in the hotel, who takes him to the outside.

"Why did you take me here man? What do you want?" As he stared at the waiter with his surprising looks, the waiter gives him a shock by giving the videotape which consists his name and Anjali.

"Who gave this da?" asked a frustrated Akhil. The waiter replied him stating, "I don't know sir. Someone came in KTM Duke 390 bike. Also, he was wearing a red helmet to cover his face sir. Hence I didn't see him clearly."

"Did you see his looks and dresses atleast?"

"Yes sir. He was wearing black suits and blue jeans pants. And in further, his eyes were blue, yet I didn't notice his facial looks and expressions" said the Waiter.

Anjali learns about the videotape and sits dejected nearby the chair. One of her friend Suresh asked her, "Why are you dejected Anjali?"

"I had been stalked by some unknown stranger Suresh. Even Akhil's mental state is affected due to the videotapes sent by that guy" said Anjali. The same time, Akhil puts the video cassette recorder in his laptop and plays the videos in VLC Media player, watched by Anjali, back to the house.

Upon instigating the videos, Akhil comes across the estate, where he grew up. While sleeping in his room, Akhil begins to have vivid dreams about a guy called Adhithya, a boy whom he knew in childhood and suddenly wakes up shouting.

Hearing his noise, Anjali(who preferred to stay with Akhil, the whole night) rushes and asked him, "Oh! What happened Akhil?"

"Nothing Anjali. I recalled about my childhood close friend Adhithya. That's why!" said Akhil. When she asked about the guy, he shares his childhood life in Tsundur with Anjali.

FEW YEARS BACK:

TSUNDUR, GUNTUR DISTRICT:

1982:

Few years back, in the periods of 1982, a twelve-year old Akhil grew up in the Tsundur estate, where he, his father Raghav Reddy and mother Sailaja Reddy were residing in. Raghav Reddy's father and the ancestor were gifted with huge lands and agricultural fields. However, during the British periods, Raghav's ancestor Dharmendra Reddy sold away his lands to prove himself innocent to the court of law, when he killed a Muslim man(came by the horse) to save a women, from his clutches.

But, he wrote in a letter of proof, "I was killed by Dharmendra Reddy" before dying. In spite of losing the property, they manages to become richer again, by doing hard work day and night. Akhil's family were leaving happily. Adhithya's father Krishnaswamy was the family advocate and advisor for the family.

His greedy mother Selvarani left the duo back to her hometown Nellore, citing some conflicts and differences. Since, the latter was already affected with Autism and ADHD, this incident deeply hurt Adhithya. Though recovered from Autism, he have not recovered from ADHD disorder, which marked him as a bully to the other students, even in the class, except Akhil, who became close to him.

YEARS LATER, 1985:

Adhithya grew up close with the family members of Akhil, during their group study times, years later when the duo were studying for SSLC in a nearby school. Because, Adhithya felt relieved by interacting with the family and he feels some sort of peacefulness.

Despite being close to the family, Adhithya felt happier with the animals, which was kept to the other side of the estates. Things take a worse turn however, when Akhil felt jealous about these things. Insisted by some of his friends in the school, Akhil develops vengeance against Adhithya, secretly.

Because, his family is over caring for an outsider. While, he was left lonely. Some constant clashes and misunderstandings happen between the two, due to their fight for love and affection. Despite following the advice from his father, Akhil stands firm. While, Adhithya obeys his father's words and decides to change Akhil through a friendly approach.

When the guys were in the holidays after the 10th examination, Adhithya's father goes to Karamchedu, his hometown. Because, he have to finish some of the pending works of the estates.

Since, Adhithya enjoys being with the family of Akhil, he sends his father and everything seems to go fine, until an incident breaks out in Karamchedu on 17 July 1985.

16 JULY 1985-17 JULY 1985:

On 16 July 1985, a Kamma boy was washing his buffalo near a water tank where Dalits drew their drinking water, letting out the soiled water into the tank. A Madiga boy objected to this, angering the Kamma boy who reacted violently by beating the former with his cattle whip. A Madiga girl who came to fetch water was also whipped and kicked for protesting against the beating. She then retaliated with her vessel, and an elderly Dalit intervened and tried to calm the situation. The Kamma boy left the scene after issuing a warning.

This episode provoked the Kammas to plan an organised attack against the Madigas of the village to 'teach them a lesson'. To catch the Madigas by surprise, they sent a team for compromise which was accepted by a section of Madigas. And on the morning of 17 July, hundreds of Kammas armed with axes, spears and clubs launched an unanticipated attack on the residents of Madiga wada (settlement), damaging the entire colony, not even sparing pregnant women and mothers with small children. They tortured and chased the Dalits, and burnt their houses. Srinivasulu notes.

'What followed was an attack, well planned and executed, that went on for hours in which the Madigas regardless of age and sex were chased from their hovels, the Kammas used all likely forms of transport, scooters, tractors, etc., and the Madigas ran helter-skelter for their lives in all directions. The more likely place to hide was the gaddi vamulu (fodder heaps) in the fields. Even there they were not spared. The gory details of this are amply recorded by the various fact-finding committees and in the sympathetic accounts reported in the press. But what is important to note is the fact that finally this left six dalits murdered, three dalit women raped and many more wounded, some of them very seriously and the huts burnt, whatever little was with them looted.' (Fact Finding Team, 1985)

The police in Karamchedu did not protect the victims, and Dalits fled the village in large numbers and arrived in the neighboring town of Chirala which was about 8 kilometres away, where many of them were hospitalized, following which some of them died of injuries. The local police of Chirala initially hit and arrested some Dalits who reached the town in panic, instead of helping them. Later the local Dalit activists and leaders accompanied the victims who sought shelter in a church in the town, and organised a refugee camp to help them. The camp consisted of about 500 Dalits, who never returned to Karamchedu, preferring to settle in Chirala. In these riots, Adhithya's father fell victim and died. This once again, had affected Adhithya deeply.

PRESENT:

At present, Akhil suspects Adhithya to be solely responsible for the videotapes in order to stop him from gaining popularity through the Artificial Software, which he have been working for. Henceforth, he visits his ailing father around 80 years of age in Tsundur, he surprisingly gets to learn that, "The 80 year old man is unable to remember about Adhithya well."

When Akhil receive another tape, revealing an HLM apartment, he tells Anjali, "I have a suspect in mind, but will not say who until I can confirm my suspicion."

Anjali responds with shock at what she sees as his lack of trust. Following the last tape's clues, Akhil locates the apartment off avenue in Prakasham and finds Adhithya there. Adhithya is now working as a renowned Software Technologist in Infosys company and owns a KTM Duke 390 bike, which he got by earning money.

Akhil confronts Adhithya regarding the videotapes, strongly suspecting him due to the bike. However, he denies the knowledge of the tapes or drawing. But, he threatens him. A hidden camera recorded the conversation with Adhithya, who breaks down after Akhil leaves and tapes of the encounter are sent to Anjali and Akhil's employer GM Prakasham Naidu.

In the office, Prakasham Naidu confronts both Akhil and Anjali regarding the conversation and asked both of them to bring a relevant reason for their acts and he suspends Akhil from the Artificial Intelligence software project.

Back in the house, an angry Anjali confronts Akhil asking him, "Who is that stranger Akhil? What is the link between you and him? Tell me. I wanted to now, right now!" Akhil reveals the past.

FEW YEARS BACK, 1991:

Following the death of Adhithya's father, Akhil's family intended to adopt him legally, when he was 17 years old. Fearing that, he could steal the love and affection from his parents, Akhil plans to not let this happen and told lies about him. As a result of this, Akhil's father sent him for boarding school in Hyderabad, despite following his firm protests.

Adhithya again was affected mentally and he started to hate friendship, due to Akhil's ruthless and merciless attitude towards him.

PRESENT:

"I was surprised to learn from Adhithya that, he remains single as a bachelor, even after attaining the age of 35 years. Because, he hated marriage, as a result of my dastardly acts" said Akhil, feeling remorseful for his cruel acts, during the childhood days.

While talking with Anjali, Adhithya calls him and asked him to come back to the apartment, where they had conversed. When Akhil arrives there, Adhithya questioned him: "We both were close friends da. We shared everything. Remained as loving and inseparable people. But, when I intended to live with you joint, why you wanted me to suffer da? Even after you harmed me like this, I still more was loving to you. Didn't even intend to harm you, respecting my father's words. Do you know, how much I suffered and got hurt, due to your cruel acts? The tapes was not sent by me da. Before dying, I wanted your presence. That's why I asked you to come here."

As Adhithya takes his knife, Akhil said, "No Adhithya. No." He runs towards him to stop. As he is ready to die, Akhil tells: "Adhi. In childhood, I didn't understand the value of friendship and love, as I was conquered by a family. Understanding your point of view, I realized how selfish I am. I need you da. Please don't leave me."

Feeling emotional, the two friends hug each other and Akhil tells, "Don't leave me da. Let's be together forever." Adhithya then meets Akhil's father and introduced himself as the guy, who have been sent to the boarding school.

"What happened Akhil? How did he got to bed like this?" asked Adhithya. Akhil replied to him saying, "Many thought that, he have been in the death bed, due to aging. But, there is an untold mystery behind that da."

7 JULY 1991:

On 7 July 1991, The village of Tsundur was dominated by the Reddy's. On 7 July 1991, Ravi, a Dalit boy, had accidentally touched a Reddy boy sitting in front of him in a cinema hall with his foot. Ravi apologized immediately, but some Reddy youth roughed him up. Later, Ravi was tracked down, beat up, and forced to drink brandy by some Reddy youth, and the Reddy youth brought Ravi to a police station and demanded that he be arrested for allegedly misbehaving with women while drunk. A parallel incident occurred with another Dalit boy named Rajababu, who was knifed in Tsundur by a certain Krishna Reddy for allegedly grazing his body against two Reddy girls outside a cinema hall, a claim which the Dalit side contests. Following these two incidents, there were a social boycott of Dalits that lasted a month, which forced them to travel to Tenali to buy basic provisions or Ongole for work. The attacks on the Dalits of Tsundur were carried out to 'teach them a lesson', primarily to try to make them submissive to the Reddy's, and comply with their position as 'untouchables'. This position was challenged by the Dalit families in the village.

On 6 August 1991 at around 11 AM, police forces suddenly entered the homes of Mala Dalit families, causing the Mala men to flee into the fields at the request of their women who were worried about their safety. In those fields, armed Reddy men were waiting and hacked the Dalit men into pieces. Some of the Dalit men were thrown into nearby fields while others were thrown in the river. The police did nothing to stop this massacre, and it was kept hidden for over 24 hours until a Dalit women escaped the village and walked around 40 miles to report it to the district collector in Guntur. After this massacre, the surviving Dalits fled to Tenali, where they were offered refuge by the Salvation Army Church. Seeing all these events, Dalit men attacked Reddy people and in this attacks, Akhil's family also fell victim. His whole family died in the massacre, including his mother. While he, his father and younger sister escaped the attacks. During the attacks, his father was paralyzed.

PRESENT:

At present, when Adhithya goes for an important work, Akhil tells to Anjali: "I did one more mistake Anjali."

"What mistake Akhil?" asked Anjali.

"I prompted Adhithya to kill our family's rooster, claiming that he was coughing up blood due to the rooster and additionally tells her, "I told, my father wanted to do so. But, still more I repent my sinful acts." Anjali consoles him by saying, "We have to conquer all through love. Not by power and greed, Akhil."

After a while, Akhil gets a call from Inspector Ravindar.

"Yes sir. How are you?" asked Akhil.

"I am fine sir. I called you to inform that, we caught the stranger who have sent you the videotapes" said Ravindar. Feeling elated and happier, Akhil asked him, "Sir. Who was that stranger sir?" He waits for his reply.

"He is none other than your co-worker Vishnu sir." Ravindar said to him. Knowing that, he couldn't believe this, he tells him: "Sir. He have been feeling jealous over your development. In order to stop you from finishing off the Artificial Intelligence software, he did all these things sir. What to do sir?"

"Lust for power is a route cause for all types of evil sir. Spare him. Doesn't want to harm him." Akhil said, after which he hangs the call.

Then, his manager Prakasham Naidu sends a mail for Akhil and Anjali to finish off the pending works in Artificial Intelligence and they agrees to his request.

EPILOGUE:

Note: This story is an neo-noir(usual representation of dark Crime-dramas) psychological-thriller, inspired from several true life incidents like Tsundur Massacre and Karamchedu Massacre respectively. Due to my busy schedules with CA Foundation exams and academics, I wrote this story and didn't write The Red Revolution Chapter 2 and Kolar Gold Fields respectively, due to the intensity and complex structure of the story. The characters are grey and this story neither have protagonists nor antagonists respectively. The said two stories would continue, after my CA Foundation exams. Until then, I am focusing on my other genre stories.