Chapter 1: The secret talks
Somewhere outside of Bharat, a suit-clad man, probably in his forties, stood beside the window of his cabin in a tall building. He was hearing someone worryingly speaking to him in a gruff voice over phone, ‘India is going to become self-sufficient in copper production if the plant takes off.’
The man replied, ‘We are too big to fall. What’s the problem in this to be that worried?’
The worrying voice spoke to him over phone, ‘You don’t know their potential. There was a time when India alone gave more than 30% of the world‘s GDP. If we don’t stop them now, they will return to that place. We will have to beg after that. You don’t let a competitor rise at all because if you let him rise, he will eventually take your place.’
The face of the suit-clad man, beaming with confidence until then, showed a bit of worry. He asked, ‘Okay what should be done to stop the plant?’
The voice said, ‘It is true that India has a lot of potential but India also has a lot of vulnerabilities. Let’s exploit them. Find a NGO, fund them and get protests organized around the plant. Make them violent if necessary. The plant shouldn’t take off.’
The suit-clad man attentively hearing until then, said, ‘Okay. I will find a NGO.’
Chapter 2: The plan
Two night-wear-clad men, in their thirties, sat across a table in a curtained room with lights on and fan spinning and occasionally squeaking in the quiet room. One of the men with wheatish complexion asked the other, ‘What made you come here in the midnight?’ ‘You rarely meet me.’
The other man, who is white complexioned, answered, ‘You remember who I work for, right? He has a task for Kakkuba. You know that a copper plant is being commissioned nearby. Do whatever you can, but the plant shouldn’t commence producing copper. Make protests happen.’
‘This isn’t a cheap affair. I need money.’
‘Whom are you going to get to protest?’
‘I will convince the factory workers. They haven’t been tutored about the plant yet. All we need is someone with a compulsion, an ailing relative or a weakness. Kakkuba as a NGO has always succeeded in its activities but for this one, I need media and social media support as well. I wouldn’t have asked for this normally but the old man sitting in Delhi has his eyes all over the country. He wouldn’t let anyone step on his toe. He has personally visited few times to check the status of construction of the plant. We can’t risk getting caught.’
‘I will take care of media and social media support.’
‘Do not transfer me money via bank accounts. Enforcement Directorate is monitoring transactions closely. If this transaction is seen by them, they will hunt for us after the protests start.’
‘Okay.’
‘When will you get the money?’
‘Tomorrow, after I print the notes.’
‘What!’
Chapter 3: The protests at the copper plant
The copper plant is located on the southern bank of Mahadayi River. The workers were settled in accommodation built nearby the plant. There was a classroom within the accommodation compound for the tutoring to start before the workers could be taken to the plant. The tutor entered the compound, expecting the workers to be sitting in the classroom. As he approached the classroom, he saw the workers sitting beneath the trees surrounding the classroom. He went to the workers and said, ‘Why are you all sitting here? Let’s go the classroom.’
One of the workers, in his forties, shouted, ‘we know that copper fumes are hazardous to health. We also came to know that protective equipment you would be giving us won’t work. Don’t play games with our lives. We won’t work in the plant.’ A chorus followed in the crowd of workers, ‘We won’t work; we won’t work.’
The tutor tried to pacify the crowd, ‘Who told you that the equipment won’t work? I will show you by wearing the equipment myself once the plant commences. Please don’t create issues for us. We are here to help you.’
The crowd said in a chorus, ‘Tutor, cheater, tutor, cheater.’ Another chorus followed, ‘We won’t work; we won’t work.’
Chapter 4: Hashtag and surveillance
It was afternoon of the day the protests started. In one of the officer cabins of Goa police headquarters, an officer in his forties in uniform sitting at his table heard a knock. His subordinate in his thirties in uniform entered and said, ‘Sir we have a problem.’
The officer asked, ‘What is it, Vinay?’
Vinay said, ‘Sir, there’s a hashtag trending on twitter, ‘#Nocopper. This seems to be related to the issue of copper plant I mentioned in the morning. The hashtag has a significant outreach.’
The officer asked, ‘Where did the hashtag originate?’
Vinay answered, ‘Sir, it originated in an internet centre in Mumbai.’
‘Did you inform the Mumbai police?’
‘Sir, I have already communicated about it to the Mumbai police and they are on it.’
‘Did the workers of the copper plant show any signs of interest in attending classes?’
Vinay shook his head.
A cell phone rang in the chief minister’s office. The elderly chief minister in Kurta pyjama picked up and said, ‘What is the progress?’
The chief minister spoke over the phone for several minutes. As soon as he cut the call, his cell phone rang. He saw the screen and picked up the call in a jiffy. He said, ‘PM Sir.’
The voice on the phone said, ‘CM Sir is everything under control? My staffs have been observing the hashtag trending on twitter since today morning. What’s going on?’
The chief minister replied, ‘Sir, it is complicated. Let me explain.’
Chapter 5: The twist
The next day morning, an apron clad doctor approached the accommodation in his white sedan car. The accommodation consisted of multiple buildings with flats spread amidst greenery. He parked his car entered into one of the workers’ flat in ground floor. After half an hour, the doctor came out of the house amidst wailing coming out from the house. He made a call via cell phone and said, ‘Get a van, I am sending you the location.’ He made another call and said, ‘I think you need to come here.’
15 minutes later, Vinay in his civil dress parked his bike beside the doctor’s car. He heard the wailing coming from the house. He asked the doctor, ‘Doc, what is it?’
The doctor said, ‘The worker told me that he was given money by someone for his father’s treatment. Unfortunately, now this happened’. I thought it was better to inform you considering what happened yesterday.’
Vinay went inside the flat along with the doctor. The beige worker and his beige wife, both in nightwear, were crying. The body of an elderly male was lying on the bed. The worker cried as he said, ‘Sir, I made a huge mistake out of the greed for money and made everyone protest. I shouldn’t have taken the money.’
Vinay said, ‘I don’t get it. What money?’
The worker went inside a bedroom, brought an iron box and gave it to Vinay. Vinay opened the box and saw the money. He took the note and examined it. He said, 'These are fake notes.’
The worker and his wife cried even more. The worker shouted in agony, ‘I should be thrown in jail.’
The doctor got a call and spoke for a few seconds. He told Vinay, ‘Hearse van is here.’
Vinay told the worker, ‘Did the man who gave you money give you any visiting card or a number?’
The worker went to the same room and came back with a card which had a number written on it.’
Vinay said, ‘Go and complete the rites of your father. We will talk after that.’
Chapter 6: The arrest and commencement
The wheatish complexioned man was in his room at the NGO- Kakkuba. His forehead is moist with sweat. The door swung open and Vinay entered. Vinay said, ‘Sir, you need to come with us to the station. If you co-operate with us, it will be easy for you.
Few days later, the speech of a very old man of white complexion was being telecasted. The old man spoke as read from a bunch of papers, ‘India is a democratic country but its Prime minister isn’t. The Prime minister is hand in glove with a popular businessman in looting the country. Like the protest that happened at a copper plant in Goa, there will be many more. After the Prime minister gets defeated, there will be democratic revival in India.’
A middle aged white man interrupted from behind and whispered, ‘Sir, the stocks of our research company have plummeted to an all-time low.’
The old man’s eyes widened as he held hand to his chest.
A day later, the Prime minister, amidst the crowd of workers, executives and the Chairman, cut the ribbon at the copper plant as the crowd clapped.
THE END.
