Prabhu and Veera had never been away from each other for more than a day. Since the day Veera was born, Prabhu was his caretaker. He stood with him through thick and thin. Veera always had Prabhu as his consigliere. But the recent events brought about a distance in their relationship. Prabhu did not like Veera running after another man’s wife. He felt it was ok to kidnap and kill another man’s wife, but not steal her away from her husband. So he decided, for the first time in his life, to part ways with Veera. He was happy that Veera was up and running again but refused to be a part of his next move. He went back to the village to live with Ranjitha. (She’s back..!)
The sun rose over the Mettukudi Police Head Quarters. It was a typical day for Commissioner Dev, until his private cell phone rang. It was Sanjeev, the trusted forest officer. He had some news about Veera’s whereabouts and wanted to know if the Commissioner was going to go after him again. Dev hung up. He closed his office door and walked up to the blinds. He did the math, and it was very obvious to him that Veera had leaked the information about his location to Sanjeev. He did this so that Dev would come to that exact spot and be sitting ducks for him to kill. Despite the fact that he guessed the obvious, Dev decided to go for it. He knew that if he surprised Veera, he would get him for good this time.
Veera splashed water from a rivulet on his face and flashed his characteristic smile. He drew happiness on seeing his reflection in the water. He knew Dev would come after him. And he knew that Dev would spring a surprise on him at the last moment. But Veera was well prepared. Come dusk, he knew what he had to do to complete a bloodless revolution.
As the sun faded away behind the mountains, it was show time. Dev moved into the forest with a heavily armed group of cops in mufti. Sanjeev was by his side and guiding him through the rough terrain. Veera, meanwhile, slowly slipped into the rivulet. He tenderly waded his way through the water. He knew he had to swim for quiet some distance and wanted to conserve his energy. It was nearing seven o’clock now and the forest was very dark. The only light came from the torches of the cops. Dev stopped a kilometer before the spot of the encounter. He briefed his men about the plan. There was almost complete silence as he spoke. The only noise came from Sanjeev as he helped himself to a fruit from a tree top.
Veera, occasionally looked on the sides to see if he was attracting any attention. It was quiet but not completely silent. He knew that the dice had started rolling. With renewed adrenalin, Veera continued swimming. He was only a few minutes away from the spot he had in mind. Dev and his men took their positions. Their first step was to wait for some kind of noise or movement. Sanjeev did the aerial surveillance. They stood with their guard ready. Once Veera was spotted, Dev would take the first shot.
Veera slowly slipped out of the water. He made as little noise as possible. He couldn’t risk being heard or seen, especially with the number of policemen surrounding the area he was in. He worked the lock on the back door and moved in stealthily. He opened the door to what he guessed might be the correct room. And there she was, resting on the ground. Her legs were closely tucked to her body and her hands were supporting her face. Aishwarya was lying tenderly and sleeping off the warmth of her self. Seeing her was worth every bit of the pain that Veera had endured. Things had come a full circle since the last time he had last seen her. He had to wake her up before Dev came back.
It had been almost thirty minutes since Dev and his men took positions. There was no sign of Veera anywhere. Even a cow herd had passed once. It was becoming increasingly clear to Dev that this whole thing was a fake. But why, he kept wondering. Only then it struck him, that Aishwarya was alone at home. He quickly called off the plan and rushed towards to Forest Officer’s building. He wanted to call the policemen at his house as quickly as possible. But Veera was ahead of Dev on that count. He had worked the telephone wires before slipping into the rivulet. Dev was stuck in the middle of nowhere with no telephone and no signal to call from his mobile. It would take him at least an hour to reach a place with mobile connectivity. By that time Veera would have been long gone, with Aishwarya.
As he moved towards her, Veera was brimming with happiness. What he felt for her was not love, was not lust. It was special bond that transcended the realms of a conventional relationship. He had never felt anything like that before, and that was why he risked everything to be there. It was a one shot chance and he had done very well so far. As he neared her, Aishwarya woke up. She looked at him with mixed emotions of surprise, happiness and fear. She had spent months coming out of those gloomy fourteen days she spent with him. But now, on seeing him again she was back at the same place. Mixed feelings of anger, joy and desolation swept across her face. Veera hadn’t said a word, but already she was a changed person. Aishwarya’s fragile notion of normalcy once again collapsed. But, despite what she felt, Aishwarya turned away and refused to look at Veera directly. She walked away from him and he followed her. He moved to her front and looked at her in the eye. She refused to look at him. Her coldness caused Veera to lose his composure. The voices in his head started screaming once again. For months he had lived without them. She stepped back a few steps and with this Veera lost all the strength he had magically gained. The realization that Aishwarya wasn’t going to come with him struck him hard. All the effort that he had put in was going to waste. He had disconnected himself from his family, people thought he was dead; he managed to keep Dev on the run, and yet he was about to fail. He moved towards the door once again. He turned to look at her one last time. But she didn’t even look at him. Veera didn’t want to stay there a second longer and walked out. He slipped into the rivulet and headed towards the forest.
Dev drove as fast as he could. He still hadn’t reached a place with mobile connectivity. If only he could magically jump like Sanjeev.
Aishwarya leaned against the wall of her room. There were times when she wished she was dead. Her strong notions of good and bad were torn apart. Just as she was she was forgetting everything that she was uncomfortable with, Veera had arrived; and with him all those feelings. She knew she had done the right thing by not going with Veera. But the burden of the decision had taken a big toll on her. She had to live with the choice she had made. And she wasn’t comfortable with it. Of the many times that she wished that her life had ended, now was when she really felt it. As she lay against the wall in her darkly lit room, an earthquake struck the picturesque town of Meetukudi. Though not massive, it was strong enough bring down city’s tenderly built houses. Aishwarya’s body was recovered from the rubble the next day morning. Fate, it seems had heard her prayers.
Veera reached a secret location inside the forest. He sat there all by himself, not knowing what to do next. It was not often that a man like him didn’t know the directions of life. He laid himself on a long bed of rock and looked into the sky. Out of nowhere a gun popped into his vision. He looked up and noticed that a man was holding a revolver with one hand. Priyan had tracked down Veera and knew where he stayed. He was tired of Veera ruining his life. It was his marriage first and now his hand. He wanted revenge for being impaired for life. Veera looked at him and just as he was about to make a move with his leg, a bullet pierced his flesh. He had known the pain of a bullet before. But last time, he had a reason to live. The hope of a new journey kept him alive. Now, he was a resigned man. He looked at his nemesis one last time before closing his eyes forever.
