It was mid morning when the telephone in the Office Room of the Oni Boys Middle School, in the village of Oni, Odisha, rang. The superintendent of the office room ran to class number 4 where the Headmistress was taking up Mathematics Class for the class 8th students.
"Madam you'll be getting a call from the Educational Department in another five minutes time," she announced as she entered the class.
As Mrs. Leela Sahu, the Headmistress started towards the office, in no time did a paper rocket zoom across the class room and hit a student. The murmuring of the students sounded like the room was infested with bees. They were all excited on receiving the unexpected short break. Mrs. Sahu trotted towards her chamber and as she entered, the phone on her table rang. The Block Educational Officer's visit was scheduled for the next day.
Mrs. Sahu, a short plump dark skinned woman was a very efficient Social Worker in her younger days. She had worked tirelessly for the upliftment of the living standards of some of the villages in the state of Odisha. Her efforts had lead to the construction of primary schools; had seen to the development of cottage industries; promoted women employment and education; and now that she was in her late 50s was running a Middle School for boys in the thriving village of Oni. Her intentions and work were good and noble; but her only draw back was her bad temper. So much so the school staff would wonder how her family members got along with an ill tempered lady like her. But people did not realise that it was her hot temper and fierce nature that got most of her work done. It was her nature that kept her and the boys school alive in the village of Oni.
The Oni Boys Middle School had been successfully working since the past 8 years. There was a time when the school had housed 300 students. But after 6 years of functioning the number dwindled down to 225. The reasons for the decline in the number are extremely grave and will be revealed to the readers eventually. Now with only 225 students in it the school took great care to expose these children from poor background to various academic areas in its limited capacity. Children who could afford to pay the fees and were interested in pursuing their studies took the trouble of reaching the school every morning. The school also had scholarship facilities. Children coming from other villages mainly traveled by foot or by ferry. Many of them had to travel through the forest as that was the shortest route to the school. Fortunately for many years there had been no sightings of man-eaters prowling around in the day time, except for foxes and deer running, monkeys swinging on trees and snakes slithering by. There were times when a few young dare devils had managed to enter the forest at night, but after a while they would run back to the village in a super sonic speed out of fright claiming that they had encountered ghosts and other wild beasts. So walking through the forest at night was forbidden.
Off late the only demons that had inhabited the forest were the militants. The militants had spread terror in Oni and some of the other villages close by. Two years ago two of the boys who had headed towards school from their village never reached the school nor their home. The forest was well searched, the villages as well; and their photos were put up practically everywhere. No dead bodies were discovered anywhere that resembled the boys. It looked like they had vanished into the thin air. Theories invented by the villagers on the missing boys were going around the village and far. Some assumed that they must have been eaten by a maneater; and some others thought it must be the ghosts dwelling in the forest that must have taken them away. It had remained a mystery for quite a long time and the mystery was unveiled 6 months ago.
Now that the militants had terrorised the villagers, there were army personals posted in every village and around the forest. Soldiers walking along with the children were a common sight. The parents had much faith in the armed soldiers and hence let their children go to school everyday. Any government officials how ever small their cadre, would be accompanied by the army personals once they entered their territory and at times starting from the city. The other visitors to the villages were watched vigilantly. Apart from the absconding children, there had been no terror scaring the villagers ever since the army took guard. For which the villagers were much grateful to them.
Mrs. Sahu got the documents and other records ready to be scrutinised by the Block Educational Officer. The day of their arrival, the office staff were getting everything ready in a haste while the Headmistress had gone to receive Mrs. Jaya Singh and Mr. Dilip Mohanty. They were accompanied by the very able, efficient and experienced Police Officer Ruchi Roa. The Educational Officers not being very keen on staying in the village for long hours started their work as soon as they got off the car. They were aware of the traumas of the past that the village had faced and hence wanted to see themselves alive and back in the city before sunset. Mrs. Sahu welcomed the trio very heartily and they reciprocated the same. They started their work by visiting the class rooms where the classes were on. As soon as they entered a class room the students who were seated stood up in respect.
When the Officers, Headmistress and the class teacher were busy conversing, the Police Officer moved around the class room visually scanning students randomly and looking outside the windows every now and then. She was aware of the boys glaring at her and their cross talk. She ignored them. Moreover she wasn't permitted to accompany the Educational Officers when they were at work. Her only priority was the safety of the school and the villagers. So she gently excused herself from the Officers and the Headmistress, giving the reason that she would be out in the village and will be back by the time they were done with their work. The students gaze followed her, which was immediately drawn by the Headmistress's greeting the students. The very stern Police Officer Ruchi Roa had served for 8 years in the Police Department. She had an athletic built. Her short hair, neatly ironed uniform and her every stride gave her the look of an army personal. There had been times when she was a part of the civilian rescue operation, of which her arms bore the scars that she wore proudly like the badges awarded to her.
Once the Officers were done with the class inspection, they moved towards the Headmistress's chamber to examine the records and documents. They came across the clippings of the encounter with the militants that were from the news papers and magazines.
"It was horrendous what your students and staff went through," Mrs. Singh told apologetically to the Headmistress.
"It was a sheer stroke of bad luck!" she responded.
"You are a brave woman Mrs. Sahu, so are your students and staff. It is impressive that the school has been functioning so well inspite of the traumas that all of you have under gone", Mr. Mohanty put in a word of appreciation.
"Its all God's grace," said Mrs. Sahu.
"We have read about the atrocious events the village folk have faced. Mrs. Sahu I am sure you have a lot more to let us know apart from what we have heard and read. Would you be comfortable revealing them to us? Probably the Educational Department would be able to help not just your school but the schools in the other villages and at the same time would learn from the events", courteously requested Mrs. Singh.
Mrs. Sahu willingly narrated the occurrences that revealed the treachery and insubordination of the militants; and the valor and sacrifice of the army personals.
"It all started three years ago when Moti the office assistant brought along with him Billu to the school; as there was an opening for the post of the Office Assistant. You know how the villagers are, they don't stick to a job for a long time. Hence almost every year or once in two years, new staff was recruited."
Not all could tolerate Mrs. Sahu's temper. Some of the staff left the job out of fright. Some of them stormed out of the office in anger. Moreover in a male dominated society, no man would like to be chided by a woman, leave alone work under her. Who would want to be trapped in a cage with a fierce lioness in it?! The villagers being uncivilized would take the liberty to commit mistakes very often in spite of correcting them again and again. Mrs. Sahu would thunder with rage at their frequent follies. For her hotheadedness she had managed to earn the nick names such as the Lioness, the Ogress, the Monster and the Devil. She herself was quite aware of this, but chose to keep mum. It was Moti alone through his sheer wit and tact stuck to his job all these years. He believed that 'a known devil was better than the unknown angel'. Moreover Mrs. Sahu's motherly instincts approached Moti with a lot of love and concern as he was the youngest staff member.
"It's only Moti who has been working for the school ever since its inception." Continued Mrs. Sahu, "He has studied up till 10th class. He had wished to go to the city and work, but the presence of his mentally challenged younger sister held him back. Four years ago his parents passed away as they had fallen victims to a rare kind of illness. So now he is the only bread winner..." As the Headmistress ended her sentence, Moti emerged at the door carrying a food tray which contained tea and savouries for the three of them. He was introduced to the officers by the Headmistress; to which Moti wished them, "Namaste!(Meaning: I bow down to you)", and quitely left the room.
As the Officers sipped on the tea and relished the eatables, Mrs. Sahu continued, "So one day Moti brought Billu to my office. As I spoke to Billu, let me know that he had come to the village in search of a job. He didn't intend to work in the city as it was very far away from his village where his aged parents lived and earned their living through farming. He being ambitious decided to earn his living through a different means. He had earlier worked as a truck driver to a rich farmer in his village. But the work was seasonal and moreover his kind Master died. Billu didn't like to work under anyone else after the passing away of the farmer and hence had come to the village of Oni. I decided to observe him for a week and then take a decision to hire him permanently or not. A weeks probationary period you see. He proved to be very promising. He was a hard working young man who was in his early 30's, was extremely jovial, friendly, intelligent and smart. He dressed in simple pant and shirt; had a bright smiling face but his hair was unkept most of the time. The students liked him to an extent that they considered him as one among them. That young man had won our hearts in no time." As the last words trailed away there was a feeling of sadness that passed over Mrs. Sahu's face, and her eyes had welled with tears. Noticing this change in her the officers exchanged looks.
"Madam, it is okay if you don't want to continue, we can understand you have gone through very bad times and have lost trusted people," immediately came Mrs. Sing's consoling words.
"I have never revealed the nightmares that we have faced to anybody in such detail. I don't mind sharing it with both of you as we know each other since a long time. Please ignore my tears," said the headmistress blowing her nose.
"Billu lived in our village as a paying guest...," proceeded Mrs. Sahu, "...it seems there were three other boys living with him in his room and they were all from different villages perusing different professions. The land owner did not seem to have any problem with them either. Billu would normally go to his village on Saturday evenings or on holidays. He and his room mates would sometimes walk along with the students through the forest and take a route leading to their villages. They would return to school on Monday mornings by the same route. The students were thrilled by their company."
"One day Moti came to me excited and was all smiles. In hush tones he let me know that Billu was in love. I was happy for Billu. He was anyways of a marriageable age you see. When I further enquired about it and who the girl was, he let me know that one evening when he was walking back home with Billu, he saw a young lady who was dressed in long skirts with a shawl around her head walk in the opposite direction at a distance. Her face wasn't visible entirely. But she entered the cross road to her right. Moti and Billu walked straight past the cross road. They came across the forked street that each lead to their home. Both bid good night to each other and entered their respective street. It so happened that Moti had forgotten to ask Billu something. So when he returned to the spot where they had parted, Moti saw Billu running into the cross road where the young lady had entered. Since it was late in the evening and the sky was nearly dark the streets of the village were deserted. Moti silently followed him as he was curious what Billu was up to. It seems Billu entered the premises of a wheat mill which was closed for the day to meet the young lady whom they had passed by a few minutes ago. As Moti couldn't see them he went closer and could hear them talking hurriedly in whispers. As he didn't want to get caught spying on them he moved away from there. Moti didn't speak about this event with Billu as he was not sure as to what was going on. But during two different occasions Moti acccidently spotted Billu and the girl together at night once at the mechanics garage, where the girl handed over a tiffin box and then near the forest where she handed over a huge bouquet of forest flowers. As Moti considered me like his mother, he pleaded with me not to mention his name if I ever discussed this matter with anyone. We were very happy for Billu."
"The mother in me one day summoned Billu to my office, to which he immediately and happily came.
"How are you Billu? How have you been finding the job?" I asked him.
"I am fine Madam and I like my job. Why did you call me?"
"It looks like you have been doing good in every way." I complemented him.
"It is all god's grace Madam and yours as well." He responded happily.
"But there has been some news going around the village about you off late." I teased him. At which his face tensed immediately. "It seems you have been seeing a girl every now and then." At this comment I glimpsed fear on his face for a moment which was in no time replaced by rage that I had not seen in him before.
"Madam what do you mean the news is all over the village and who is that bastard who let you know of this?" he roared.
I was taken aback on seeing him filled with anger. It looked like he would cut me into pieces that very instant.
"Hey relax. Why do you get angry? We are actually happy for you. I think this is the right age for you to get married. I hope your parents know about the affair. Who is this girl and where is she from? I brought this up as I am concerned about you."
It looked like his anger had reduced, but he was still disturbed and was by then intensely pondering about what I had said.
He then calmly replied. "I will let you know all about her when the time is right."
"Okey, you take care of yourself, In case you need any help regarding this you can always approach me." I put in a word of assurance to him. He left the room immediatly without a word. After that day Moti never saw Billu with the girl ever again. Surprisingly nor did Billu take the trouble of inquiring about it with Moti."
"It was during this time that Raju and Shyam the boys from the 8th class went missing as they were coming to school through the forest. I got the shocking news the next day of their disappearance. It was Billu who came running into my room out of breath and spilled the news to me. He was in a lot of emotional pain as he liked the boys a lot and they treated him like their friend. The police from the village where the boys lived and from Oni started investigating the next day of their disappearance. They took the trouble of visiting the other villages that were close by as well. As the boys were from our school I was there at the police station at the police officers beck and call. Either Billu or Moti would drive me to the police station. The Police even managed to question Raju and Shyam's close friends and classmates as well".
"Our school was in need of teachers. Not many people were ready to aquire a job in a school located in a far away village like Oni. Those who applied for the teachers job were not all good. So I was looking for a suitable candidate for the Teacher's post for the 8th and the 7th class. It's not like we didn't have teachers, we did, but I thought an extra hand would ease matters considerably for the rest of the Teachers. It seemed like God's grace that Venu walked into my office one fine morning."
As Mrs. Sahu narrated this episode, she had a loving smile on her face. "Venu was in his mid 30's. I learnt that he had come to the village about four months ago along with his younger sister. He was a tall dark man with an athletic built; had a deadly gash across his face, which made his already stern face look fierce; had extremely short hair like there was hardly any on his head; well shaven chin and always appeared in smart plain clothes. He proved to be a very hard working man, worked dutifully and was extremely reserved, but was very observant. It looked like Billu didn't have a liking for Venu and they seemed to be at logger heads. But our Moti got along well with practically everybody. The students were scared of Venu by his very looks and so maintained a distance from him when they were outside the class. Venu was a conduct police to the students. He had caught children smoking beedies and cigarettes and had chided them. Fights between the students in the campus would come to an abrupt halt at the very sight of Venu. He proved to be a good Mathematics Teacher. The senior staff members always appreciated his good work as a teacher."
Now the Headmistress continued with a sigh, "Two months passed and there was no news of the missing boys. One morning Moti rushed into my office with yet another unfavorable news. He hurriedly let me know that two boys who were farmers at Oni had gone missing. They were absconding since two nights. It seems two days ago the boys had set out to the village of Kali which is located on the other side of the forest, and never returned. They were not the students of our school. The police were on high alert and wanted to leave no stone unturned; so they visited the school once again, spoke to me and they even enquired with the students about the missing farmers. It was then that I learnt that boys from Oni and the other villages have been going missing ever since the boys from the Oni Boys Middle School were reported absconding. It was believed that this must be the work of the militants."
"It was during this time that Venu came to my office bringing forth the concerns of his sister, Tulsi," told Mrs. Sahu with a kind smile on her face. "He said that she was married and her husband was very abusive. She being a poor woman tolerated the physical pain meted out on her every single day. As Venu couldn't bear seeing this he brought her away to Oni along with him. She used to keep herself occupied by helping the women in the Cottage Industry in his absence. He asked me if she could be helped by giving her a job in the school as the English Teacher's post was still vacant.
I considered it for a moment but was sceptical about hiring a lady considering the attitude of the teachers as they were no women among them.
I said, "no Venu, I don't think we would want a woman at present. Perhaps we could have considered if it were a man."
"Madam, her work is as good as a man's... more over she is a well educated lady."
"No Venu..."
Venu interrupted at once, "A good change will help her recover from her traumatic past. Please meet her Madam and then take a decision," told Venu beseechingly.
My heart always melts for women in trouble and I finally agreed to meet her."
"The jingle from the anklets were loud and clear and that was enough to harp her arrival. Tulsi walked into my office along with her brother with her head bowed and was covered with a floral printed shawl. She was dressed in a salwar kameez. The scars of the wounds on her arms were quite visible. "Madam this is my sister, Tulsi," said Venu introducing me to his sister who was a tall, fair, athletic built and a handsome lady who had no resemblance to her fierce looking brother in any manner.
"Namaste Madam!" she greeted me.
"Do you think you will be able to work in a boys school?" I asked her.
"As long as I am not tortured and my life is spared I can work any where," she replied meekly.
Seeing her plight and her innocence, my heart went out for her. After a few minutes of talk, I decided to hire her for the post of English Teacher."
With a sigh the Headmistress continued, "In the initial days I found her to be lethargic as she used to come to work at her free will and return home early as soon as she was done with her class. I found this attitude annoying. More over the other Teachers had started complaining of her irregularity.
'Why can't she follow a system of conduct like the rest of the staff? Did I make a mistake by hiring her?!' I wondered.
None the less, she was a good teacher.
Billu had tried convincing me to let go of Tulsi, saying that he had seen her talking to the army men in the village a couple of times. That was something which none of the others witnessed and nor did I. Anyways, it was a known fact that Billu and Venu were at logger heads and now with Venu's sister around, Billu was obviously irritated. But still I decided to warn the young lady.
"Tulsi, I have every intention of transferring you to the Cottage Industry. You can help the women there at your convenience. You coming to the school at your own sweet time will not help. You have been teaching well, no doubt, but your casual behavior sets a bad example to the staff working with you. Let me know if you can come to work and leave on time. We already have enough of people working for our school. I took pity on you and hired you. Is this the way you repay back? How outrageous!" I growled at her one morning.
She stood in front of me with her head bent and her eyes down cast.
She finally blurted out with a meek voice "I'll be on time for work Madam. It's just that I have been having some pending work to complete at the Cottage Industry.
After this episode she arrived and left on time. But once in a while would leave home early. She seemed to be a nice lady who would work hard, but was very fierce if the students tried to behave naughty. Like brother was sister."
"After the boys of Oni went missing, in a week's time the village witnessed army personals riding in their vehicles into the village. There was news that the militants were spotted in the near by villages. They had been terrorizing the villagers with their demands and recruiting young boys into their group. We were informed that they had already waded into the village of Oni and there was also a possibility for them to have inhabited the forest. We were told that any kind of suspicious activities should be brought to the notice of the army personals or the village police. It was made clear that the objective of the militant group was to root out all illegal immigrants living in the villages of Odisha. Fortunately there was no sign of chaos and peace pervaded in our village until then."
"The army personals often walked the students through the forest till their village and the other areas while they had a hawks eye on the area that they traded. There didn't seem to be any missing cases reported ever since the army personals arrival. But sadly the missing boys were never found. That was quite intriguing. For about four months everything in the village went well. It was the yearly picnic day at the school. It was a part of the academics to take the children to the city market; the city museum; the places of worship and the amusement park. The picnic was arranged for the 8th class students to the city museum and the city market. The following week it was the turn of the 7th class students to places of worship and the amusement park. On the day of the picnic the 8th class students were excited and jostled into the picnic bus. They were accompanied by Mr. Tyagraj Mishra the Senior Teacher, Venu and Billu. In addition two soldiers volunteered to tag along for security reasons. It was that day that a whole lot of atrocious events took place. Mr Mishra was a part of that fateful day and probably he will be able to recount the events well."
The Headmistress summoned Mr. Mishra who was taking up a Science class and who was almost done with it. Dismissing the class for lunch he hurriedly ran towards the Headmistress's room to address the concern. When the Headmistress let him know why he was called, he thought, "Not Again!". Reluctantly he started recounting the heinous events that he had encountered to the Officers.
Mr. Mishra said, "there was a lot of singing, fun and frolic as we were travelling. Master Venu and Billu also joined in the fun. But the soldiers kept a vigilant watch, one standing at the door and the other at the wind screen. Our first stop was at the museum."
The Mahanadi Museum was surrounded by lush greenery with every kind of flora and fauna grown around it. Small sized placards with words DO NOT PLUCK THE FLOWERS were placed near every flowering plant. The museum was a big building with only the ground floor and the first floor in it. The ground floor had the historic artifacts; the zoology section which had housed a stuffed animal area and the prehistoric section; the chemistry and the physics section was on the top floor.
"Master Venu's presence kept the boys well behaved at the museum." continued Mr. Mishra, "It was afternoon around 12 by the time we were coming down the staircase to move out of the museum. We heard the gun shots outside the building and soon there was a commotion in the street. Billu deemed it fit for all of us to move into the zoology department in particular into the stuffed animals section. Master Venu who was in the process of evaluating the situation mentally, played along with Billu. We caught a glimpse of the masked men running around the building holding sophisticated big guns and other ammunition. Being a week day there were no other visitors to the museum except for the students of Oni, the school staff and the two soldiers who stood outside the building. We could hear men running into the museum. A masked man with a gun in his hand came running to the stuffed animal section and pointing the gun towards us in a fierce voice asked everyone to sit down on the floor and not move or speak, if not everyone would meet our end soon. As this was happening three more masked men appeared at the door. We were all aware of the fact that we were at the mercy of the dreadful militants. All of a sudden there was the sound of bullets being fired and of a bomb explosion. The explosion shook the building. The children were scared and so was I; so much so some of the children started crying. We saw the militants running back from where they had come. While this was in play, Billu our children's hero ran towards the door. Immediately Master Venu ran after him.
"You are not going anywhere," growled Master Venu.
Some of the students asked them to return in hushed tones fearing for their life. We could see Master Venu had caught hold of Billu and Billu was fighting hard to free himself. All of a sudden we saw Master Venu pointing a pistol at Billu. We were all shocked as to what was happening. I didn't expect this and nor did the children. I asked the children to keep quite. I didn't have the courage to interfere as I had no idea what the consequences would be and was also scared for the children's lives. Billu stood in front of Master Venu not in fright but mentally planning how to trick him as to escape. It seemed like the one whom we thought was our friend turned out to be a foe. Pointing the gun at Billu, Master Venu bellowed at us, "Stay low and away from the window."
At that very moment Billu had seized the opportunity and pulled out his revolver pointing at Master Venu.
"Kill him Billu," shouted a student.
By then we could hear the sounds of running boots towards our room. We were stunned as we saw bullets being sprayed at Master Venu and he did not let go of the chance to shoot a few bullets into Billu before collapsing on the floor. Billu made attempts to run and fell on the ground meeting his end. We were all petrified on witnessing the horrific events. Everything seemed to happen all of a sudden. The children had huddled together on the ground out of fright and were crying uncontrollably. I was so stunned on seeing how life could end in no time, that my mind had stopped working. Two of the masked men came at the door and scanned the room, "this will happen to you as well if you try to escape," said one of them and locked the room from outside blocking the view of the dead friend and a foe. We were all filled with dread as we were held hostages. A lot of our questions remained unanswered. There was no room to escape as the militants were practically everywhere."
"Bullets were being fired outside the museum and some of the bullets managed to whiz into the room and hit a few stuffed animals. Meanwhile the students prayed fervently for their dear life and for the commotion to stop. There were two more explosions heard, bullets being sprayed and men running up and down the staircase of the museum. We didn't dare to move from our place. It was getting dark and we once again heard the heavy booted footsteps. I asked the students to maintain pin drop silence as we didn't know what was in our fate this time. Once again men walked into the large room with guns in hand, but they were not masked. We realised they were the army personals. Very courteously they escorted all of us out of the building and into the army vehicle. As we moved out, we saw the bullets still stuck in the walls of the building; blood on the ground and walls; plants in the garden trampled, trees on fire being extinguished; dead bodies of the militants being carried away; wounded soldiers being nursed; and the picnic bus that was torched by the militants being extinguished by the fire fighters. After witnessing the dreadful events of the day we were finally relieved to be returning home alive and were in tears of joy. We conveyed our heartfelt gratitude to the soldiers. The two soldiers who had accompanied us in the morning were no where to be seen. Probably they were dead. It was night when all the sixty five students were brought back to the village. Their parents were waiting frantically and were overwhelmed on seeing their young ones safe and alive." As Mr. Mishra finished narrating, he wiped away his tears.
The Educational Officers and the Headmistress conveyed their thanks to the brave and kind teacher. The Headmistress asked Mr. Mishra to stay back for lunch, which he kindly declined and moved out of the room. At the same time the Heaadmistress recived a call from the Police Officer Ruchi Roa saying that she will see them after an hour and that she will not be dining with them in the afternoon. The same was informed to the Educational Officers by the Headmistress after which lunch was ordered for the trio.
Mrs. Sahu resumed her narration, "While there was chaos and mayhem in the museum, some of the militants kept the villagers praying for their dear lives as they had infiltrated into the Cottage Industry at Oni. Unfortunately most of the soldiers had gone to the museum to fight the militants. I realised that during troubled times like these, God sends his savior. Our Tulsi who had gone to the Cottage Industry saw a masked militant and that too a lady hold a gun at an industry worker's head. The militant had back up from the other members of her group as well. It seems about ten men were in and around the building. The women workers were terrified and in tears. The few soldiers who were left behind in the village took action and attacked the militants. I was told that with sheer wit and courage our Tulsi pulled out a gun hidden in her garment and shot at the militant's wrist that held the gun. The lady militant did not expect this. The hostage villager fainted and fell down. Tulsi captured the lady militant who was whining in pain and took control of the situation. Unfortunately the lady militant was quick in swallowing a cyanide capsule that was tied around her neck. She died on the spot. The women in the Industry were literally shaken."
"Our Tulsi turned out to be a Police Officer herself who was in disguise all the time, watching over the village. It was much later that I learnt that her late arrival to work and her early departure from school was all because she was tracking the militants. I feel guilty that I yelled at a friend and a savior for her leniency with her work at school, not realising she was no ordinary villager. But she being aware of what she had got into told me very kindly, "If I were in your place, I would have done the same. So please don't worry." She might look tough from the outside but has the best of human qualities within." By the time Mrs. Sahu finished her narration there was food brought by Moti.
After a hearty meal, Mrs. Singh asked, "Tulsi turned out to be a Police Officer, that's very good, but I don't understand her relationship with the assassin Venu. What was that all about?"
Mrs. Sahu promptly replied, "I am still not done with my narration Mrs. Singh. After the horrendous events, we were asked to keep the school closed till the condition was brought under control and safe for the school to resume. It was closed for three months. When the school commenced, 73 students had dropped out of school as they lived in villages far away and were scared for their dear life. We decided not to have any picnics for the students for a long time. Two days after the attack, news about it in detail went up on the news paper. Our Head Teacher Mr. Mishra was helpful in revealing a lot about Billu and Venu's activities in school and the day of the attack. When I opened the newspaper to read about the tragic events and the deceit, I was shell shocked to see the photos of Billu and Venu in it. Under Billu's photo was the caption, 'Tiku Som aka Billu, Militant Master Mind of the Oni Village Operation'. Under Venu's photo was the caption 'Police Officer Altaf Nayak'. It was a sad revelation that we despised a friend and befriended an enemy. I still wonder what a strange world we live in! How do we trust anybody? The militants had planned to hold the children hostage. They were not Al Queda or the All Tripura Tiger Force, but the militants seemed to be a budding group and they were going around recruting young boys into their clan. It seems Venu had doubts about Billu from the beginning, said Tulsi. But Billu out smarted the Police and hence was not caught by them. Police Officers both Venu and Tulsi being brave hearts managed their work very efficiently. We are all very grateful to them."
"Moti was the one who was shaken the most as he was the one who had introduced Billu to the school. He felt very guilty for putting the entire school in danger. The Police squad put him through hours of interrogation. He was scared to death. The school staff knew he was innocent. He had gone into depression. Counselling for two months revived him to a great extent. He still has to get over his fears and anxieties. We were all worried for him and his sister. Moti is the only Office Assistant at present in our school as we did not muster the courage to hire anyone else. Even if we do, we shall consider those men who have been born and brought up in Oni for the job."
The Headmistress further said, " It was revealed to us that Raju, Shyam and two other boys who had gone missing from the village had joined the militant group. During the encounter at the museum it seems Raju lost his life. The other children are still absconding. The lady whom Moti had spotted a couple of times with Billu turned out to be the militant who was shot by Tulsi at the Cottage Industry. It seems she used to smuggle arms and ammunitions to Billu. And we mistook it for a love affair. Billu's room mates were also militants who had managed to brain wash a mechanic, a carpenter and the lorry driver in their place of employment. All of them have evaded the village. Billu's land owner out of fright has stopped renting out the room to outsiders." Heaving a long sad sigh, she resumed, "It is so sad that Billu kept every one in good humor and secretly recruited the children into his god foebidden gang. He turned out to be a traitor. But not many were fond of Venu. The man brought in discipline among the students by his very presence and imbibed good values in them. He sacrificed his life for us. He was a true friend." As Mrs. Sahu ended her sentence she pointed towards a garlanded framed photo that hung on the adjacent wall in her room. It bore the photograph of a serious face of a man with a gash across it, who was dressed in the prestigious police uniform. Looking at it she said with tears in her eyes, "My deep respect to our Venu, Police Officer Altaf Nayak."
As Mrs. Sahu wiped her tears Mr. Mohanty asked, "But Madam, why did Venu and Tulsi have to be in disguise?"
"It's just that they didn't want the militants to know that they were spying on them. They didn't want to scare the villagers or anyone by disclosing their real identity. More over the militants had made their presence felt in some of the other villages by their ruthless behavior. The Police Officers had doubts that there was something vicious brewing within the village of Oni and as it had first surfaced by the school boys going missing, all doubts were cleared. Sadly the Police Department had a tough time capturing the Militant Master Mind inspite of him walking in front of them freely day in and day out. It was then that Venu and Tulsi were handed over the responsibility to look into the matter."
As the Headmistress finished her narration, Mrs. Singh asked, "Now when Venu is no more, where is Officer Tulsi?"
"Oh! She was deported to the city to handle less dangerous job. She was even awarded for her bravery. We are all proud of her! She has been..."
At this moment there was a knock on the door and Police Officer Ruchi Rao entered the room. "Ready to leave officers?" she asked the Educational Officers. At this all the three stood up as the duo were ready to leave.
"Mrs. Sahu..." started the Police Officer, "...I was caught up with my work and hence couldn't be around. It looks like the village is safe at present. There have been no missing cases either in Oni or the surrounding villages. But please keep the army personnels informed in case you are to hire any new staff." With a sweet smile on her handsome face she continued, "I had my food at the Cottage Industry. Laxmi Didi went home and prepared my favourite sweet dish just for me; Dali and Hema prepared wheat bread and vegetable dish. The women complained that I should have let them know of my arrival in a day's advance. I feel blessed that I am loved so much and they still remember me."
To which Mrs. Sahu very lovingly put a hand on the Police Officer's shoulder and said, "How can our village forget our brave and much loved Tulsi? You have saved the life of those innocent women, for which we are all much grateful to you." Looking at Mrs. Singh she further says, "Here stands in front of you the answer to your question."
"Madam you'll be getting a call from the Educational Department in another five minutes time," she announced as she entered the class.
As Mrs. Leela Sahu, the Headmistress started towards the office, in no time did a paper rocket zoom across the class room and hit a student. The murmuring of the students sounded like the room was infested with bees. They were all excited on receiving the unexpected short break. Mrs. Sahu trotted towards her chamber and as she entered, the phone on her table rang. The Block Educational Officer's visit was scheduled for the next day.
Mrs. Sahu, a short plump dark skinned woman was a very efficient Social Worker in her younger days. She had worked tirelessly for the upliftment of the living standards of some of the villages in the state of Odisha. Her efforts had lead to the construction of primary schools; had seen to the development of cottage industries; promoted women employment and education; and now that she was in her late 50s was running a Middle School for boys in the thriving village of Oni. Her intentions and work were good and noble; but her only draw back was her bad temper. So much so the school staff would wonder how her family members got along with an ill tempered lady like her. But people did not realise that it was her hot temper and fierce nature that got most of her work done. It was her nature that kept her and the boys school alive in the village of Oni.
The Oni Boys Middle School had been successfully working since the past 8 years. There was a time when the school had housed 300 students. But after 6 years of functioning the number dwindled down to 225. The reasons for the decline in the number are extremely grave and will be revealed to the readers eventually. Now with only 225 students in it the school took great care to expose these children from poor background to various academic areas in its limited capacity. Children who could afford to pay the fees and were interested in pursuing their studies took the trouble of reaching the school every morning. The school also had scholarship facilities. Children coming from other villages mainly traveled by foot or by ferry. Many of them had to travel through the forest as that was the shortest route to the school. Fortunately for many years there had been no sightings of man-eaters prowling around in the day time, except for foxes and deer running, monkeys swinging on trees and snakes slithering by. There were times when a few young dare devils had managed to enter the forest at night, but after a while they would run back to the village in a super sonic speed out of fright claiming that they had encountered ghosts and other wild beasts. So walking through the forest at night was forbidden.
Off late the only demons that had inhabited the forest were the militants. The militants had spread terror in Oni and some of the other villages close by. Two years ago two of the boys who had headed towards school from their village never reached the school nor their home. The forest was well searched, the villages as well; and their photos were put up practically everywhere. No dead bodies were discovered anywhere that resembled the boys. It looked like they had vanished into the thin air. Theories invented by the villagers on the missing boys were going around the village and far. Some assumed that they must have been eaten by a maneater; and some others thought it must be the ghosts dwelling in the forest that must have taken them away. It had remained a mystery for quite a long time and the mystery was unveiled 6 months ago.
Now that the militants had terrorised the villagers, there were army personals posted in every village and around the forest. Soldiers walking along with the children were a common sight. The parents had much faith in the armed soldiers and hence let their children go to school everyday. Any government officials how ever small their cadre, would be accompanied by the army personals once they entered their territory and at times starting from the city. The other visitors to the villages were watched vigilantly. Apart from the absconding children, there had been no terror scaring the villagers ever since the army took guard. For which the villagers were much grateful to them.
Mrs. Sahu got the documents and other records ready to be scrutinised by the Block Educational Officer. The day of their arrival, the office staff were getting everything ready in a haste while the Headmistress had gone to receive Mrs. Jaya Singh and Mr. Dilip Mohanty. They were accompanied by the very able, efficient and experienced Police Officer Ruchi Roa. The Educational Officers not being very keen on staying in the village for long hours started their work as soon as they got off the car. They were aware of the traumas of the past that the village had faced and hence wanted to see themselves alive and back in the city before sunset. Mrs. Sahu welcomed the trio very heartily and they reciprocated the same. They started their work by visiting the class rooms where the classes were on. As soon as they entered a class room the students who were seated stood up in respect.
When the Officers, Headmistress and the class teacher were busy conversing, the Police Officer moved around the class room visually scanning students randomly and looking outside the windows every now and then. She was aware of the boys glaring at her and their cross talk. She ignored them. Moreover she wasn't permitted to accompany the Educational Officers when they were at work. Her only priority was the safety of the school and the villagers. So she gently excused herself from the Officers and the Headmistress, giving the reason that she would be out in the village and will be back by the time they were done with their work. The students gaze followed her, which was immediately drawn by the Headmistress's greeting the students. The very stern Police Officer Ruchi Roa had served for 8 years in the Police Department. She had an athletic built. Her short hair, neatly ironed uniform and her every stride gave her the look of an army personal. There had been times when she was a part of the civilian rescue operation, of which her arms bore the scars that she wore proudly like the badges awarded to her.
Once the Officers were done with the class inspection, they moved towards the Headmistress's chamber to examine the records and documents. They came across the clippings of the encounter with the militants that were from the news papers and magazines.
"It was horrendous what your students and staff went through," Mrs. Singh told apologetically to the Headmistress.
"It was a sheer stroke of bad luck!" she responded.
"You are a brave woman Mrs. Sahu, so are your students and staff. It is impressive that the school has been functioning so well inspite of the traumas that all of you have under gone", Mr. Mohanty put in a word of appreciation.
"Its all God's grace," said Mrs. Sahu.
"We have read about the atrocious events the village folk have faced. Mrs. Sahu I am sure you have a lot more to let us know apart from what we have heard and read. Would you be comfortable revealing them to us? Probably the Educational Department would be able to help not just your school but the schools in the other villages and at the same time would learn from the events", courteously requested Mrs. Singh.
Mrs. Sahu willingly narrated the occurrences that revealed the treachery and insubordination of the militants; and the valor and sacrifice of the army personals.
"It all started three years ago when Moti the office assistant brought along with him Billu to the school; as there was an opening for the post of the Office Assistant. You know how the villagers are, they don't stick to a job for a long time. Hence almost every year or once in two years, new staff was recruited."
Not all could tolerate Mrs. Sahu's temper. Some of the staff left the job out of fright. Some of them stormed out of the office in anger. Moreover in a male dominated society, no man would like to be chided by a woman, leave alone work under her. Who would want to be trapped in a cage with a fierce lioness in it?! The villagers being uncivilized would take the liberty to commit mistakes very often in spite of correcting them again and again. Mrs. Sahu would thunder with rage at their frequent follies. For her hotheadedness she had managed to earn the nick names such as the Lioness, the Ogress, the Monster and the Devil. She herself was quite aware of this, but chose to keep mum. It was Moti alone through his sheer wit and tact stuck to his job all these years. He believed that 'a known devil was better than the unknown angel'. Moreover Mrs. Sahu's motherly instincts approached Moti with a lot of love and concern as he was the youngest staff member.
"It's only Moti who has been working for the school ever since its inception." Continued Mrs. Sahu, "He has studied up till 10th class. He had wished to go to the city and work, but the presence of his mentally challenged younger sister held him back. Four years ago his parents passed away as they had fallen victims to a rare kind of illness. So now he is the only bread winner..." As the Headmistress ended her sentence, Moti emerged at the door carrying a food tray which contained tea and savouries for the three of them. He was introduced to the officers by the Headmistress; to which Moti wished them, "Namaste!(Meaning: I bow down to you)", and quitely left the room.
As the Officers sipped on the tea and relished the eatables, Mrs. Sahu continued, "So one day Moti brought Billu to my office. As I spoke to Billu, let me know that he had come to the village in search of a job. He didn't intend to work in the city as it was very far away from his village where his aged parents lived and earned their living through farming. He being ambitious decided to earn his living through a different means. He had earlier worked as a truck driver to a rich farmer in his village. But the work was seasonal and moreover his kind Master died. Billu didn't like to work under anyone else after the passing away of the farmer and hence had come to the village of Oni. I decided to observe him for a week and then take a decision to hire him permanently or not. A weeks probationary period you see. He proved to be very promising. He was a hard working young man who was in his early 30's, was extremely jovial, friendly, intelligent and smart. He dressed in simple pant and shirt; had a bright smiling face but his hair was unkept most of the time. The students liked him to an extent that they considered him as one among them. That young man had won our hearts in no time." As the last words trailed away there was a feeling of sadness that passed over Mrs. Sahu's face, and her eyes had welled with tears. Noticing this change in her the officers exchanged looks.
"Madam, it is okay if you don't want to continue, we can understand you have gone through very bad times and have lost trusted people," immediately came Mrs. Sing's consoling words.
"I have never revealed the nightmares that we have faced to anybody in such detail. I don't mind sharing it with both of you as we know each other since a long time. Please ignore my tears," said the headmistress blowing her nose.
"Billu lived in our village as a paying guest...," proceeded Mrs. Sahu, "...it seems there were three other boys living with him in his room and they were all from different villages perusing different professions. The land owner did not seem to have any problem with them either. Billu would normally go to his village on Saturday evenings or on holidays. He and his room mates would sometimes walk along with the students through the forest and take a route leading to their villages. They would return to school on Monday mornings by the same route. The students were thrilled by their company."
"One day Moti came to me excited and was all smiles. In hush tones he let me know that Billu was in love. I was happy for Billu. He was anyways of a marriageable age you see. When I further enquired about it and who the girl was, he let me know that one evening when he was walking back home with Billu, he saw a young lady who was dressed in long skirts with a shawl around her head walk in the opposite direction at a distance. Her face wasn't visible entirely. But she entered the cross road to her right. Moti and Billu walked straight past the cross road. They came across the forked street that each lead to their home. Both bid good night to each other and entered their respective street. It so happened that Moti had forgotten to ask Billu something. So when he returned to the spot where they had parted, Moti saw Billu running into the cross road where the young lady had entered. Since it was late in the evening and the sky was nearly dark the streets of the village were deserted. Moti silently followed him as he was curious what Billu was up to. It seems Billu entered the premises of a wheat mill which was closed for the day to meet the young lady whom they had passed by a few minutes ago. As Moti couldn't see them he went closer and could hear them talking hurriedly in whispers. As he didn't want to get caught spying on them he moved away from there. Moti didn't speak about this event with Billu as he was not sure as to what was going on. But during two different occasions Moti acccidently spotted Billu and the girl together at night once at the mechanics garage, where the girl handed over a tiffin box and then near the forest where she handed over a huge bouquet of forest flowers. As Moti considered me like his mother, he pleaded with me not to mention his name if I ever discussed this matter with anyone. We were very happy for Billu."
"The mother in me one day summoned Billu to my office, to which he immediately and happily came.
"How are you Billu? How have you been finding the job?" I asked him.
"I am fine Madam and I like my job. Why did you call me?"
"It looks like you have been doing good in every way." I complemented him.
"It is all god's grace Madam and yours as well." He responded happily.
"But there has been some news going around the village about you off late." I teased him. At which his face tensed immediately. "It seems you have been seeing a girl every now and then." At this comment I glimpsed fear on his face for a moment which was in no time replaced by rage that I had not seen in him before.
"Madam what do you mean the news is all over the village and who is that bastard who let you know of this?" he roared.
I was taken aback on seeing him filled with anger. It looked like he would cut me into pieces that very instant.
"Hey relax. Why do you get angry? We are actually happy for you. I think this is the right age for you to get married. I hope your parents know about the affair. Who is this girl and where is she from? I brought this up as I am concerned about you."
It looked like his anger had reduced, but he was still disturbed and was by then intensely pondering about what I had said.
He then calmly replied. "I will let you know all about her when the time is right."
"Okey, you take care of yourself, In case you need any help regarding this you can always approach me." I put in a word of assurance to him. He left the room immediatly without a word. After that day Moti never saw Billu with the girl ever again. Surprisingly nor did Billu take the trouble of inquiring about it with Moti."
"It was during this time that Raju and Shyam the boys from the 8th class went missing as they were coming to school through the forest. I got the shocking news the next day of their disappearance. It was Billu who came running into my room out of breath and spilled the news to me. He was in a lot of emotional pain as he liked the boys a lot and they treated him like their friend. The police from the village where the boys lived and from Oni started investigating the next day of their disappearance. They took the trouble of visiting the other villages that were close by as well. As the boys were from our school I was there at the police station at the police officers beck and call. Either Billu or Moti would drive me to the police station. The Police even managed to question Raju and Shyam's close friends and classmates as well".
"Our school was in need of teachers. Not many people were ready to aquire a job in a school located in a far away village like Oni. Those who applied for the teachers job were not all good. So I was looking for a suitable candidate for the Teacher's post for the 8th and the 7th class. It's not like we didn't have teachers, we did, but I thought an extra hand would ease matters considerably for the rest of the Teachers. It seemed like God's grace that Venu walked into my office one fine morning."
As Mrs. Sahu narrated this episode, she had a loving smile on her face. "Venu was in his mid 30's. I learnt that he had come to the village about four months ago along with his younger sister. He was a tall dark man with an athletic built; had a deadly gash across his face, which made his already stern face look fierce; had extremely short hair like there was hardly any on his head; well shaven chin and always appeared in smart plain clothes. He proved to be a very hard working man, worked dutifully and was extremely reserved, but was very observant. It looked like Billu didn't have a liking for Venu and they seemed to be at logger heads. But our Moti got along well with practically everybody. The students were scared of Venu by his very looks and so maintained a distance from him when they were outside the class. Venu was a conduct police to the students. He had caught children smoking beedies and cigarettes and had chided them. Fights between the students in the campus would come to an abrupt halt at the very sight of Venu. He proved to be a good Mathematics Teacher. The senior staff members always appreciated his good work as a teacher."
Now the Headmistress continued with a sigh, "Two months passed and there was no news of the missing boys. One morning Moti rushed into my office with yet another unfavorable news. He hurriedly let me know that two boys who were farmers at Oni had gone missing. They were absconding since two nights. It seems two days ago the boys had set out to the village of Kali which is located on the other side of the forest, and never returned. They were not the students of our school. The police were on high alert and wanted to leave no stone unturned; so they visited the school once again, spoke to me and they even enquired with the students about the missing farmers. It was then that I learnt that boys from Oni and the other villages have been going missing ever since the boys from the Oni Boys Middle School were reported absconding. It was believed that this must be the work of the militants."
"It was during this time that Venu came to my office bringing forth the concerns of his sister, Tulsi," told Mrs. Sahu with a kind smile on her face. "He said that she was married and her husband was very abusive. She being a poor woman tolerated the physical pain meted out on her every single day. As Venu couldn't bear seeing this he brought her away to Oni along with him. She used to keep herself occupied by helping the women in the Cottage Industry in his absence. He asked me if she could be helped by giving her a job in the school as the English Teacher's post was still vacant.
I considered it for a moment but was sceptical about hiring a lady considering the attitude of the teachers as they were no women among them.
I said, "no Venu, I don't think we would want a woman at present. Perhaps we could have considered if it were a man."
"Madam, her work is as good as a man's... more over she is a well educated lady."
"No Venu..."
Venu interrupted at once, "A good change will help her recover from her traumatic past. Please meet her Madam and then take a decision," told Venu beseechingly.
My heart always melts for women in trouble and I finally agreed to meet her."
"The jingle from the anklets were loud and clear and that was enough to harp her arrival. Tulsi walked into my office along with her brother with her head bowed and was covered with a floral printed shawl. She was dressed in a salwar kameez. The scars of the wounds on her arms were quite visible. "Madam this is my sister, Tulsi," said Venu introducing me to his sister who was a tall, fair, athletic built and a handsome lady who had no resemblance to her fierce looking brother in any manner.
"Namaste Madam!" she greeted me.
"Do you think you will be able to work in a boys school?" I asked her.
"As long as I am not tortured and my life is spared I can work any where," she replied meekly.
Seeing her plight and her innocence, my heart went out for her. After a few minutes of talk, I decided to hire her for the post of English Teacher."
With a sigh the Headmistress continued, "In the initial days I found her to be lethargic as she used to come to work at her free will and return home early as soon as she was done with her class. I found this attitude annoying. More over the other Teachers had started complaining of her irregularity.
'Why can't she follow a system of conduct like the rest of the staff? Did I make a mistake by hiring her?!' I wondered.
None the less, she was a good teacher.
Billu had tried convincing me to let go of Tulsi, saying that he had seen her talking to the army men in the village a couple of times. That was something which none of the others witnessed and nor did I. Anyways, it was a known fact that Billu and Venu were at logger heads and now with Venu's sister around, Billu was obviously irritated. But still I decided to warn the young lady.
"Tulsi, I have every intention of transferring you to the Cottage Industry. You can help the women there at your convenience. You coming to the school at your own sweet time will not help. You have been teaching well, no doubt, but your casual behavior sets a bad example to the staff working with you. Let me know if you can come to work and leave on time. We already have enough of people working for our school. I took pity on you and hired you. Is this the way you repay back? How outrageous!" I growled at her one morning.
She stood in front of me with her head bent and her eyes down cast.
She finally blurted out with a meek voice "I'll be on time for work Madam. It's just that I have been having some pending work to complete at the Cottage Industry.
After this episode she arrived and left on time. But once in a while would leave home early. She seemed to be a nice lady who would work hard, but was very fierce if the students tried to behave naughty. Like brother was sister."
"After the boys of Oni went missing, in a week's time the village witnessed army personals riding in their vehicles into the village. There was news that the militants were spotted in the near by villages. They had been terrorizing the villagers with their demands and recruiting young boys into their group. We were informed that they had already waded into the village of Oni and there was also a possibility for them to have inhabited the forest. We were told that any kind of suspicious activities should be brought to the notice of the army personals or the village police. It was made clear that the objective of the militant group was to root out all illegal immigrants living in the villages of Odisha. Fortunately there was no sign of chaos and peace pervaded in our village until then."
"The army personals often walked the students through the forest till their village and the other areas while they had a hawks eye on the area that they traded. There didn't seem to be any missing cases reported ever since the army personals arrival. But sadly the missing boys were never found. That was quite intriguing. For about four months everything in the village went well. It was the yearly picnic day at the school. It was a part of the academics to take the children to the city market; the city museum; the places of worship and the amusement park. The picnic was arranged for the 8th class students to the city museum and the city market. The following week it was the turn of the 7th class students to places of worship and the amusement park. On the day of the picnic the 8th class students were excited and jostled into the picnic bus. They were accompanied by Mr. Tyagraj Mishra the Senior Teacher, Venu and Billu. In addition two soldiers volunteered to tag along for security reasons. It was that day that a whole lot of atrocious events took place. Mr Mishra was a part of that fateful day and probably he will be able to recount the events well."
The Headmistress summoned Mr. Mishra who was taking up a Science class and who was almost done with it. Dismissing the class for lunch he hurriedly ran towards the Headmistress's room to address the concern. When the Headmistress let him know why he was called, he thought, "Not Again!". Reluctantly he started recounting the heinous events that he had encountered to the Officers.
Mr. Mishra said, "there was a lot of singing, fun and frolic as we were travelling. Master Venu and Billu also joined in the fun. But the soldiers kept a vigilant watch, one standing at the door and the other at the wind screen. Our first stop was at the museum."
The Mahanadi Museum was surrounded by lush greenery with every kind of flora and fauna grown around it. Small sized placards with words DO NOT PLUCK THE FLOWERS were placed near every flowering plant. The museum was a big building with only the ground floor and the first floor in it. The ground floor had the historic artifacts; the zoology section which had housed a stuffed animal area and the prehistoric section; the chemistry and the physics section was on the top floor.
"Master Venu's presence kept the boys well behaved at the museum." continued Mr. Mishra, "It was afternoon around 12 by the time we were coming down the staircase to move out of the museum. We heard the gun shots outside the building and soon there was a commotion in the street. Billu deemed it fit for all of us to move into the zoology department in particular into the stuffed animals section. Master Venu who was in the process of evaluating the situation mentally, played along with Billu. We caught a glimpse of the masked men running around the building holding sophisticated big guns and other ammunition. Being a week day there were no other visitors to the museum except for the students of Oni, the school staff and the two soldiers who stood outside the building. We could hear men running into the museum. A masked man with a gun in his hand came running to the stuffed animal section and pointing the gun towards us in a fierce voice asked everyone to sit down on the floor and not move or speak, if not everyone would meet our end soon. As this was happening three more masked men appeared at the door. We were all aware of the fact that we were at the mercy of the dreadful militants. All of a sudden there was the sound of bullets being fired and of a bomb explosion. The explosion shook the building. The children were scared and so was I; so much so some of the children started crying. We saw the militants running back from where they had come. While this was in play, Billu our children's hero ran towards the door. Immediately Master Venu ran after him.
"You are not going anywhere," growled Master Venu.
Some of the students asked them to return in hushed tones fearing for their life. We could see Master Venu had caught hold of Billu and Billu was fighting hard to free himself. All of a sudden we saw Master Venu pointing a pistol at Billu. We were all shocked as to what was happening. I didn't expect this and nor did the children. I asked the children to keep quite. I didn't have the courage to interfere as I had no idea what the consequences would be and was also scared for the children's lives. Billu stood in front of Master Venu not in fright but mentally planning how to trick him as to escape. It seemed like the one whom we thought was our friend turned out to be a foe. Pointing the gun at Billu, Master Venu bellowed at us, "Stay low and away from the window."
At that very moment Billu had seized the opportunity and pulled out his revolver pointing at Master Venu.
"Kill him Billu," shouted a student.
By then we could hear the sounds of running boots towards our room. We were stunned as we saw bullets being sprayed at Master Venu and he did not let go of the chance to shoot a few bullets into Billu before collapsing on the floor. Billu made attempts to run and fell on the ground meeting his end. We were all petrified on witnessing the horrific events. Everything seemed to happen all of a sudden. The children had huddled together on the ground out of fright and were crying uncontrollably. I was so stunned on seeing how life could end in no time, that my mind had stopped working. Two of the masked men came at the door and scanned the room, "this will happen to you as well if you try to escape," said one of them and locked the room from outside blocking the view of the dead friend and a foe. We were all filled with dread as we were held hostages. A lot of our questions remained unanswered. There was no room to escape as the militants were practically everywhere."
"Bullets were being fired outside the museum and some of the bullets managed to whiz into the room and hit a few stuffed animals. Meanwhile the students prayed fervently for their dear life and for the commotion to stop. There were two more explosions heard, bullets being sprayed and men running up and down the staircase of the museum. We didn't dare to move from our place. It was getting dark and we once again heard the heavy booted footsteps. I asked the students to maintain pin drop silence as we didn't know what was in our fate this time. Once again men walked into the large room with guns in hand, but they were not masked. We realised they were the army personals. Very courteously they escorted all of us out of the building and into the army vehicle. As we moved out, we saw the bullets still stuck in the walls of the building; blood on the ground and walls; plants in the garden trampled, trees on fire being extinguished; dead bodies of the militants being carried away; wounded soldiers being nursed; and the picnic bus that was torched by the militants being extinguished by the fire fighters. After witnessing the dreadful events of the day we were finally relieved to be returning home alive and were in tears of joy. We conveyed our heartfelt gratitude to the soldiers. The two soldiers who had accompanied us in the morning were no where to be seen. Probably they were dead. It was night when all the sixty five students were brought back to the village. Their parents were waiting frantically and were overwhelmed on seeing their young ones safe and alive." As Mr. Mishra finished narrating, he wiped away his tears.
The Educational Officers and the Headmistress conveyed their thanks to the brave and kind teacher. The Headmistress asked Mr. Mishra to stay back for lunch, which he kindly declined and moved out of the room. At the same time the Heaadmistress recived a call from the Police Officer Ruchi Roa saying that she will see them after an hour and that she will not be dining with them in the afternoon. The same was informed to the Educational Officers by the Headmistress after which lunch was ordered for the trio.
Mrs. Sahu resumed her narration, "While there was chaos and mayhem in the museum, some of the militants kept the villagers praying for their dear lives as they had infiltrated into the Cottage Industry at Oni. Unfortunately most of the soldiers had gone to the museum to fight the militants. I realised that during troubled times like these, God sends his savior. Our Tulsi who had gone to the Cottage Industry saw a masked militant and that too a lady hold a gun at an industry worker's head. The militant had back up from the other members of her group as well. It seems about ten men were in and around the building. The women workers were terrified and in tears. The few soldiers who were left behind in the village took action and attacked the militants. I was told that with sheer wit and courage our Tulsi pulled out a gun hidden in her garment and shot at the militant's wrist that held the gun. The lady militant did not expect this. The hostage villager fainted and fell down. Tulsi captured the lady militant who was whining in pain and took control of the situation. Unfortunately the lady militant was quick in swallowing a cyanide capsule that was tied around her neck. She died on the spot. The women in the Industry were literally shaken."
"Our Tulsi turned out to be a Police Officer herself who was in disguise all the time, watching over the village. It was much later that I learnt that her late arrival to work and her early departure from school was all because she was tracking the militants. I feel guilty that I yelled at a friend and a savior for her leniency with her work at school, not realising she was no ordinary villager. But she being aware of what she had got into told me very kindly, "If I were in your place, I would have done the same. So please don't worry." She might look tough from the outside but has the best of human qualities within." By the time Mrs. Sahu finished her narration there was food brought by Moti.
After a hearty meal, Mrs. Singh asked, "Tulsi turned out to be a Police Officer, that's very good, but I don't understand her relationship with the assassin Venu. What was that all about?"
Mrs. Sahu promptly replied, "I am still not done with my narration Mrs. Singh. After the horrendous events, we were asked to keep the school closed till the condition was brought under control and safe for the school to resume. It was closed for three months. When the school commenced, 73 students had dropped out of school as they lived in villages far away and were scared for their dear life. We decided not to have any picnics for the students for a long time. Two days after the attack, news about it in detail went up on the news paper. Our Head Teacher Mr. Mishra was helpful in revealing a lot about Billu and Venu's activities in school and the day of the attack. When I opened the newspaper to read about the tragic events and the deceit, I was shell shocked to see the photos of Billu and Venu in it. Under Billu's photo was the caption, 'Tiku Som aka Billu, Militant Master Mind of the Oni Village Operation'. Under Venu's photo was the caption 'Police Officer Altaf Nayak'. It was a sad revelation that we despised a friend and befriended an enemy. I still wonder what a strange world we live in! How do we trust anybody? The militants had planned to hold the children hostage. They were not Al Queda or the All Tripura Tiger Force, but the militants seemed to be a budding group and they were going around recruting young boys into their clan. It seems Venu had doubts about Billu from the beginning, said Tulsi. But Billu out smarted the Police and hence was not caught by them. Police Officers both Venu and Tulsi being brave hearts managed their work very efficiently. We are all very grateful to them."
"Moti was the one who was shaken the most as he was the one who had introduced Billu to the school. He felt very guilty for putting the entire school in danger. The Police squad put him through hours of interrogation. He was scared to death. The school staff knew he was innocent. He had gone into depression. Counselling for two months revived him to a great extent. He still has to get over his fears and anxieties. We were all worried for him and his sister. Moti is the only Office Assistant at present in our school as we did not muster the courage to hire anyone else. Even if we do, we shall consider those men who have been born and brought up in Oni for the job."
The Headmistress further said, " It was revealed to us that Raju, Shyam and two other boys who had gone missing from the village had joined the militant group. During the encounter at the museum it seems Raju lost his life. The other children are still absconding. The lady whom Moti had spotted a couple of times with Billu turned out to be the militant who was shot by Tulsi at the Cottage Industry. It seems she used to smuggle arms and ammunitions to Billu. And we mistook it for a love affair. Billu's room mates were also militants who had managed to brain wash a mechanic, a carpenter and the lorry driver in their place of employment. All of them have evaded the village. Billu's land owner out of fright has stopped renting out the room to outsiders." Heaving a long sad sigh, she resumed, "It is so sad that Billu kept every one in good humor and secretly recruited the children into his god foebidden gang. He turned out to be a traitor. But not many were fond of Venu. The man brought in discipline among the students by his very presence and imbibed good values in them. He sacrificed his life for us. He was a true friend." As Mrs. Sahu ended her sentence she pointed towards a garlanded framed photo that hung on the adjacent wall in her room. It bore the photograph of a serious face of a man with a gash across it, who was dressed in the prestigious police uniform. Looking at it she said with tears in her eyes, "My deep respect to our Venu, Police Officer Altaf Nayak."
As Mrs. Sahu wiped her tears Mr. Mohanty asked, "But Madam, why did Venu and Tulsi have to be in disguise?"
"It's just that they didn't want the militants to know that they were spying on them. They didn't want to scare the villagers or anyone by disclosing their real identity. More over the militants had made their presence felt in some of the other villages by their ruthless behavior. The Police Officers had doubts that there was something vicious brewing within the village of Oni and as it had first surfaced by the school boys going missing, all doubts were cleared. Sadly the Police Department had a tough time capturing the Militant Master Mind inspite of him walking in front of them freely day in and day out. It was then that Venu and Tulsi were handed over the responsibility to look into the matter."
As the Headmistress finished her narration, Mrs. Singh asked, "Now when Venu is no more, where is Officer Tulsi?"
"Oh! She was deported to the city to handle less dangerous job. She was even awarded for her bravery. We are all proud of her! She has been..."
At this moment there was a knock on the door and Police Officer Ruchi Rao entered the room. "Ready to leave officers?" she asked the Educational Officers. At this all the three stood up as the duo were ready to leave.
"Mrs. Sahu..." started the Police Officer, "...I was caught up with my work and hence couldn't be around. It looks like the village is safe at present. There have been no missing cases either in Oni or the surrounding villages. But please keep the army personnels informed in case you are to hire any new staff." With a sweet smile on her handsome face she continued, "I had my food at the Cottage Industry. Laxmi Didi went home and prepared my favourite sweet dish just for me; Dali and Hema prepared wheat bread and vegetable dish. The women complained that I should have let them know of my arrival in a day's advance. I feel blessed that I am loved so much and they still remember me."
To which Mrs. Sahu very lovingly put a hand on the Police Officer's shoulder and said, "How can our village forget our brave and much loved Tulsi? You have saved the life of those innocent women, for which we are all much grateful to you." Looking at Mrs. Singh she further says, "Here stands in front of you the answer to your question."
***THE END***
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