Chetan Nair had two daughters. His wife died soon after the birth of their second daughter. Elder one was called Shobana and the younger one was called Ashima. Shobana with her charm and talents was the toast of the town. Shobana had keen interest in martial combats. She wanted herself to be a Kickboxing champion. But her father disliked her passion completely. Chetan`s dad was a pioneer in his family to learn the Kerala`s traditional martial art named Kalaripayittu. But he was killed, one day when he had his usual drill. A dreadful accident. Chetan was afraid then by any martial combat. He feared he would lose his daughter too. Owing to Shobana`s repeated requests, Chetan allowed her to learn kickboxing during her school days. Shobana attended the course during the weekends with profound interest. Chetan thought that once Shobana completed her school, she would quit being a boxer, he would make her learn a science course in the nearby college.
Shobana was the dearest to her sister Ashima. She taught her lessons, played with her, sang with her and danced with her. Ashima wanted to be a dancer. It was easy for Ashima to convince Chetan with her ambition but not the same for Shobana.
" Ippozhu endae schooling kazhinju, I want to be a boxer. " , Shobana started.
" Who do you think you are ? You are a girl. "
" So what ?! " , Shobana looked flabbergasted. " Accha, believe me I won`t let you down "
" I don`t think so. Nee Thiruvalla vittu povan paadilla. Ninde kickboxing ivade muricho", Chetan shouted angrily.
" No achha, I don`t have interest in learning science. Ennae force cheiyallae "
" Well then, prepare yourself to get married. I have seen a match. Child therapist from Thiruvananthapuram ...... ", he continued.
Shobana tried to control her anger. But soon she lost her head. She could not make her dad to accept her wish. She felt that a leopard cannot change his spots. So she decided not to stay with the family in Thiruvalla.
" Shut up dad. I don`t want to be here anymore. I am quitting home. "
" Nee endha vatto ? Evade povum nee ? Money ? Living ? "
" Let me not die in this abyss having denied with my passion. Njaan Madras povuva. "
Chetan looked at her bewildered. He made no objection. The annoying silence prevailed in the room.
Shobana had saved penny by penny that would be offered to her as pocket money and so did Ashima. All together it made a seven thousand rupees. Shobana boarded the night bus and reached Chennai a day later. It was raining cats and dogs when Shobana arrived Tamil Nadu. It is not easy for a seventeen year old girl all alone to earn a living in a metropolitan city like Chennai. And the first few weeks of living alone in a place that had no scripts of one`s mother tongue is like sailing alone boat in ocean on a stormy night.
Shobana resided at a women`s dorm located at Tambaram. She first worked as a sales girl in a textile shop at T.Nagar. Then, in a restaurant and then in a jewellery shop. She worked as a receptionist, taxi driver, ticket checker, salesgirl and even kinder-garden teacher. Regularly, she paid for her hostel, signed up a course with the Women`s Boxing Association of Madras, and practised kickboxing every Sunday.
Almost every men around her, was attracted by her charm and beauty. Some even took advantage of her and she offered them wounds and injuries. Her dorm had girls that smoked and drunk all the time. Shobana was constantly disturbed by her roommates` boyfriends. She easily avoided them. She was the most determined and followed the path of righteousness. Every act that took place taught her a lesson, how to lead a life. At last, she started disliking her hostel. But what she earned was difficult for her to make both ends meet. She had to sacrifice every act until she got in for a great job.
During weekdays in the mornings, she felt very bored. After few months of hard work, she gathered enough money for her living. She did a B.Com. course in correspondence. Fortune favoured her side and she shined in her studies as well as kickboxing. In the college Shobana found a very close company for her. Shobana`s close acquaintance, Maya was hailing from Shenoy Nagar. All that Maya had were two brothers, elder one called Sathya and younger one Anbu. It was the karma that brought Anbu and Shobana close together. Shobana very well chatted with Anbu and Maya was happy for their friendship.
It was late in the night when Shobana decided to text to Anbu.
" Hey Anbu. "
" Hey Shobi, how are you ? "
" Good going. All is well. "
" Gr8. Well then, tomorrow coffee ? Shopping Mall ? "
" Sure. "
The next day they met over a coffee at the shopping mall in the evening.
" Shobana, you look very nice in this dress. "
" Thanks dude. "
" Well then, how are your studies going on ? "
" It is good. What work are you upto ? "
" A complicated job under an organisation. You will understand as the days go. ", Anbu replied.
" Cold coffee madam ", the waiter interrupted.
The couple chatted for the entire evening, signed in for a night show and spent the time successfully understanding each other. Anbu was one among the few men that Shobana found caring and loyal.
" Anbu, you are so good da. "
" Hostel poganum. Too late in the night, I will drop you. ", Anbu said as he made a sigh.
" Thanks. I dislike my hostel completely. Drinking and drugs is all those girls know. "
" Quit dorm tomorrow. I will make arrangement for your living. I will pay the rent too ", Anbu said.
" So kind of you. I feel blessed and I wanted to say you something. "
" Go ahead. "
" I want to have a family. A big one. I want to have children. I want you Anbu "
Anbu did not know how should he react. Few moments passed and he hugged her tight. That week, Shobana shifted to a rented house at Nungambakkam. Her neighbour was a typical Tamil Brahmin woman void of any children. She was called Pattu Maami by the locality.
" You are going to stay alone ? ", Maami started.
" Of course. "
" You are a girl. "
" So what ?! " , Shobana looked flabbergasted.
Days passed and Pattu Maami had her dearest daughter affection towards Shobana. She taught Shobana tamil except which it was in Brahmin slang. In the weekend, they tried out new recipes and had long hours of conversations. Without the knowledge of her dad, Ashima would call Shobana and they would exchange their life events. Ashima constanty forced Shobana to return home.
Maya called Shobana one fine Friday. She said that her brother wanted to meet her in person.
" What da ? ", Shobana texted to Anbu.
" Dear, tomorrow to Pondicherry. Long drive in the night, okay ?! "
" Anything for you ... sure. "
It was a Saturday evening. Shobana was getting ready for the drive with her boyfriend. Anbu arrived past 7 p.m. with a travel bag and wallet full of money. Shobana sat behind Anbu in the bike. Two hours of hectic driving through Chennai traffic, they reached ECR. The cool breeze made a pleasant atmosphere. Shobana hugged Anbu tight.
Within few moments, they reached the Toll gate. Anbu paused driving when a security rushed up to meet Anbu.
" You can go through this way sir, no checking. ", the Security said.
" Very well. Everything ready ? ", Anbu asked.
" Yes sir. Be you succeed. ", the Security greeted.
Shobana neither understood the conversation nor did she intervene. A fourty five minutes of journey and Anbu reached Kalpakkam. He took a way that was too dark. Sooner a street light appeared below which a man dressed up like an official was standing. As soon as he saw Anbu, he waved his head and so did Anbu in return. He offered a parcel to Anbu.
" What`s this ? Where are we going ? ", Shobana asked curiously.
" Nothing dear. We have a job to be completed. ", Anbu replied.
" What job ? ", Shobana asked.
Anbu asked Shobana to walk a few distance. They arrived at quite a strange place. Shobana did not understand what Anbu was doing. Anbu asked Shobana to wear the lead masks and jacket which he took out of the parcel and so did himself. He had the backdoor keys and went inside.
" Where are we ? What are we doing up here ? ", Shobana asked.
" Nuclear power station. "
" What the hell are we doing her ? We are on date not on a science trip, right ? "
" Yes, we need a task to be accomplished. We will go to Pondicherry then and leave the country. "
" I don`t understand anything that you speak. Who the hell are you ? "
" I am a worker for Desh Tabah. "
" Desh Tabah, you are a terrorist ?! ", Shobana experienced a shock.
" It is how the people outside call us, but we have other precious names. "
" Bull Shit ! What are you going to do here ? "
" Around 10.50p.m. everyone in this stations takes a break. We have those golden ten minutes to cut the heavy water supply to the reactor. Time is now 10.30p.m. A twenty more minutes and we will face the challenge. "
" Fool. You kidding me ? Do you think these systems work so easily. And you are going to get caught. ", Shobana said.
" Ha ha. Here you go with the pen drive. The security outside the control room would let me in. I feed up these programs into their systems. Once it gets installed, it stops the heavy water supply ceases for next 24 hours with no intimation. A nuclear reactor without coolant would burst in minutes. A computer code can now destroy a country. The curse of automation. You won`t understand the technical details.", explained Anbu.
" And do you think I will allow to do this ? ", asked Shobana.
" What can you do ? Thwart me ?! Ha ! Oh well then. Don`t make me guffaw at you. Be quiet and wait here. Let me do this. You don`t understand the values of our organisation. "
" Holy crap. You are senseless idiots. "
" One more word you utter, I am gonna kill you. "
" I thought you loved me. It is utterly visible that you lost something called humanity "
" Humanity ?! It is what you people don`t have. It is what Desh Tabah taught me. It saved my life when no one gave me hands. "
" It saved you ?! What the hell you were doing previously ? "
" Well yeah. You need to know my story ? Maya and I were at school. We do not have parents. All that we had was our brother, Sathya. It was seven years before when Sathya was affected with serious brain problems. Sathya, great lover of Mathematics, was very affectionate towards us. He had keen interest in understanding any system he came across. One day he faced an accident. No one helped us to cure our brother. When I begged for money, they asked my sister for a night. That was the time when Desh Tabah came to our rescue. "
" And that was the time you lost your confidence. Well yeah, aren't you ashamed of working for a terrorist organisation ? ", asked Shobana.
" Shut up. Five more minutes and I am going to sow the seeds that would jeopardize these people. "
" I suddenly remember a song from " Devaram " that my neighbour once said. I liked it so much that it got memorized. ", she continued.
Aviyaai Aviyumaagi Arukkamaaip perukkamaagi
Paaviyar paavam theerkum paramanoi Brahmanaagi !
" I assume now the position of Brahman, a God sent saviour, with no gender bias, to redeem a sinner like you. Thou judgement cometh soon. "
" What can you do ? After all, you are a girl. " Anbu said.
" So what ?! " , Shobana looked flabbergasted. " You don`t know what girls are capable of. "
Shobana realised that her martial skills were the need of the hour. She gave Anbu a jab, a straight punch on his face with her fist. Then she offered him a back kick. Soon Anbu feel down in the floor. He raised with all difficulties trying to retaliate Shobana. No sooner could Anbu think of anything, Shobana gave him a drop. Then a straight kick on his abdomen. Anbu fell down defeated. He could not even breathe. Shobana gave her the final smack. Like Stonecold, she performed a final stunner. Anbu`s neck bones broke, hands fractured and knees joints came out. Anbu was lying down on the ground, bleeding and unable to move.
Before anyone could make a notice, Shobana escaped from the spot. She reached her home the next morning. She had a bath and her usual coffee. That day was Onam. The evening newspaper had headlines such as " A local goon with a pocket gun and injured was found at Kalpakkam: Rare event "
And suddenly Shobana received a call from Ashima.
" Onam aashamshagal anujathi "
" Chechi, I hate this home. Father scolded me for not making Avial tasty ", Ashima said.
" Do not worry Ashima. After all Mahabali wanted to see us happy this day right ?! Keep smiling. Everything is going to be all right ", explained the boxing connoisseur.
