Yantrixa-5: John

There are very few of John's kind that I can get along with - I tend to give them a wide berth - their obsession with paperwork drives me insane. John is one of a few notable exceptions. I met him at his house in Hyderabad estate. Pawle thought it would be nice to get a shot of us talking with the sea in the background, so we sat outside in the park.

Here is what he said -

J(ohn): Why do you want do this now? the matter is under investigation as we speak - so it may be premature.

Me: By the time the editing and everything is done, the documetary will be timely.

J: Okay - but then atleast remember that these are tentative comments and frankly my memory of some events isn't at its best.


Me: That is okay - you have a lot of work on your hands now - so I will show it to you before it goes to the editor. So tell me what you recall.


J: Well... we never seem to have enough people in the office. The official phone book has been growing with each year I have been in service here - and every year we sense a shortfall. Information flow between so many people is quite a problem. Ultimately it all has to go through my desk and so I get the worst of it.


Me: So all of this went past you?


J: Ofcourse - I was there from A to Z. I am still there.


Me: Then you are the best one to tell me what happened.


J: I don't about that - but it is clear - unprepared as we are for the next thing - we were knocked out by the VT station bombing. The corporation building houses an enormous amount of information on the city and most of it is in the minds of the people working there. We lost - exactly - *ALL* of them that day. So from that point on - my office became the de-facto corporation. I think I slept in my office for months afterwards. There was so much going on for a while Thambi (Gen. Ghosh's 2iC) had a desk in my office - we used to sleep on the floor together. My assistant's family was killed in the blast, I did not even have time to go for the Uthmana a month later - the poor man was with me al the time despite this horrible situation. I tell you - whatever media writes about us - is is unfair and utter lies.


Me: It was that overwhelming..


J: Yes yes... I simply gave what people were still around me a letter of authority and I told them to solve whatever problems they saw but to do everything in their power to stay alive. When the CP's motorcade was challenged, two of my colleagues were riding in the car behind. The IED killed both of them and their driver. There was no time to do a proper funeral, so we just drove the bodies to Chandanwadi and burnt them there - young boys both of them - fresh from Mussorie. I sent my son with to their families with the ashes. It was terrible.


Me: Good Lord.


J: I can't tell you the sense of despair we felt. There was clearly a refugee crisis, people were simply spilling out of the city - Vashi, Vasai, Thane, everywhere there were impromptu camps appearing due to displaced people. No one felt safe in the city. We had to organise the distribution of food and water. Criminal groups tried to seize control of the water and food supply. Twice in one week, entire food convoys were looted and pretty much on a daily basis criminal gangs were found to be hijacking water tankers and putting locks on municipal taps. There was a thriving black market in all sorts of goods and at the same time people were starving in the city because these people were hoarding. A walk through the refugee camps was completely stunning - there were manourished children everywhere you looked. Dead bodies lined the street - providing medical services was next to impossible even with the Army lending a hand. Electric supply in more than half the city was gone. And the rioting would not stop. It seemed like we had fallen into a bottomless pit.

Me: And all that led up to the proposal?

J: Yes - it did. Rakesh was facing a simlar situation. At my end it was the task of managing the ongoing civilian disaster and the relief supplies, and at his end the concern was law and order restoration. The first signal to us was when Gen. Ghosh told us that he was done with this - it was demoralising his men. Our ... and everyones human limits were stretched beyond belief. Rakesh's solution made sense even though neither of us believed it would go through. We really expected to be relieved the next day.

Me: What happened in Delhi?


J: Well, we went there and we were pretty much dragged off the flight to the Rajiv Gandhi Center. The whole CCS and most of the NSC people were there. We gave our report but the audience was non committal. It was referred to a special meeting of the NSCS. As we waited outside the meeting room, we tried to strategise on how to sell the idea to the NSCS, but actually we were pretty dejected. After that there was a marathon 36 hour session with the NSCS - we talked and went over everything that had happened and there was a major discussion on things that we proposed.

Me: How did the NSCS recieve it?


J: Strangely they didn't think it was a bad idea. There was support but then as the meeting progressed the people from Metcalfe House said it was not safe to deploy a foreign platform in the country like this. Slowly they turned the people to their point of view. We though it was gone - there was no system like this India. Tetravaal had invested a decade of focussed research and drawn people from all over the world to build this system. There was no way in which Metcalfe wallahs could come up with something close.

Me: And then somehow it was approved?

J: Yes - it was approved less than a week after we gave the presentation, I think the decision came from the very top - only that could have cleared all the hurdles.

Me: But the reservations at Metcalfe house?

J: They must have been addressed, I guess - I don't know you should ask them.

Me: Once the decision was taken - things went smoothly?

J: Quite smoothly compared to what we were facing earlier. Normalcy was restored quickly and there was a positive upsurge among the population. Also we were in a better place to keep things running now that we were in the picture for so long.

Me: What happened in the Varun Mishra case?

J: Very sad case - kidnapping had become a booming business during the riots. This particular child was abducted from the hospital where he was recuperating from burns he had in the riots. When he was kidnapped, the old fears returned and the incident took on a communal colour. There was a rumour that he had been kidnapped by his attacker to prevent their identification. That is how the tensions rose again and the second round of rioting followed.

Me: So what happened - Qayamat ke Din kya hua?

J: Qayamat ke Din? - is that what they are calling it now? Judgement Day?

Me: That is the popular term for it - yes.

J: I can't talk about the matter - it is sub judice.

Me: And the Tetravaal are safe? even now?

J: I don't see why not. The question is would we be safer without them.

J: Ah.. I see Balram has brought the tea. You know - the one thing I have come to appreciate after all this is a good cup of tea next to the sea.

So - there you have it. No one wants to talk about it.

Pawle had never seen the estate before, he was taken a little aback. He muttered something nasty about the opulence of the babus, and Cyrus agreed. Figures, both Cyrus and Pawle had spent their lives in counter insurgency and counter terrorism - they had never seen a soft bed much less a cup of tea by the sea in their entire service. No wonder they quit early.

All roads point to Delhi, the city of mysteries. I may have to go there. I feel about as prepared for that as Shivaji on the day he accepted an invitation from the Mughal Saltanat.