December, 2002,
Mϋnchen, Bavaria, Germany.

“Shekar…,” there was a knock on the door while he was gazing at his portable computer. “Oh… Katie,” his eyes were like saucers, “I was just looking into your message. Have you got something?”

“Yes I do. I felt the matter at hand is critical and I made up my mind to talk it in private,” Katie talked hesitatingly clenching her fingers.

“Well please… tell me what is it,” Shekar asked.

“The past week when you left for USA on the death of dayanand,” She paused. “Yep! What’s the matter?” he asked firmly.

“Stakeholders arrived at the company with no prior notice. There were third degree issues and bone of contentions on a few parameters,”

Shekar got up from his leap chair with a terrified look on his face, beads of sweat was appearing on the forehead, “but why?” he asked.

Katie spill the beans on her intentions and how the board had been answerable to the stakeholders. “But we have lured them,” he talked straight, “and we have been doing it for eight odd years,”

“Shekar, I be of the same mind but the stock price has been the same for quite a long while, our competitors, they all are excelling with steady increase in the stock price. By the projections of analysts at the Wall Street, investors are skeptical on the growth of the company”

“We have made acquisitions that should have brought the stock price to its expected price,” he said gritting his teeth.

“Aren’t we talking about reality? Those acquisitions, you know. Acquisitions cannot guarantee an increase in the stock especially when they are related-party ones,” She tugged it out into the open and continued, “economic pressure to keep up with the targets; Show steady growth; Perform better and better all the time in order to keep the investors happy for an increase in the market value; the trumped up efforts has reached finally to its brim,” she was dissuaded by him.

“Alright! We have got work to do. Call Stephen, ask him to see me in my office in an hour,” he said

“Shekar, I would like to mention another aspect as well,” she said

“What is it Katie?” he enquired. “The bank loan is piling up and it’s gonna catapult us into bankruptcy. That’s just the premonition based on the facts of analysts’ projections,”

“Call Stephen, now” his voice was firm this time.

Winston & Glanford (W&G) had been the auditor for the SS chemical industry since a long time. It was secretly known for its indulgence in the fraudulent financial statement makings. It did manipulation of the financial records, altercation of the accounting documents and falsifying business transactions. It was not hard for them to materialize whatever a company contrived in the process of committing frauds. Be it a misrepresentation of transactional accounts or omitting significant information in operational costs on which financial statements were prepared. The audit company under the intimidation of losing the giant clients, propelled the auditors to comply with the earnest requests, pertaining to devising criminal deceptions, made by the clients.

Couple of years ago, an executive from W&G was arrested for a deliberate misapplication of accounting principles, policies and procedures but he was under the rescue of Shekar. The auditor, Stephen has now got a new contract lately that involved presentation of inadequate disclosure regarding accounting procedures and related financial amounts.

---

“Hello Stephen,” both men shook hands, “thank you for coming on a short notice,” he said.

“Always at your service mate,” he threw his hands up with his eyebrows raised, “looks like we gonna have a slump”

“You think so?” Shekar kneaded his forehead, “Never have I ever conceived that I would be peddling on my own business. I never will be hawking,” he motioned to Stephen towards the gesture chair, “We had been in contending with this business practice for eight years now and that took us for a new leap in the dark” he said handing Stephen over a bunch of dockets.

“I’ve them. I have the copy with me and I have them at beck and call,” Stephen replied, “I was hesitant at first to enlighten you on the subject. However, early this week I had decided to bring it onto the table for an exchange of views but I had to back off from my disposal after learning that you were following up on your routines”

“What do you mean,” Shekar displayed his fierceness in his stance.

“False and questionable claims, expense overstatements, expense reclassification, giving away questionable of contracts to companies owner by your brother, duplication of payments, outright theft of assets; writing off of the assets to advantage of your family, false returns to regulatory authorities” he heaved, “enough Shekar, do you see the plight? Concede. The only way” he paused, “these fraudulence in financial statement is not gonna sustain for years. They have their threshold. I was trying my best to tackle the situation till today because I reckoned that you would summon the debt real soon but it is too late that it blew up very early for us. Once again I remind you, concede and file for bankruptcy”

“Shut up!” Shekar voiced out, “What do you mean by give up? I have fortressed this issue between you, me and Katie. Not even my blood brother who is lying in there with a woman is in knowledge of what we had been doing. What do you want me do now? Whack it up? All these years of my go about in confiding the offence between us, where’s the respect? Neither the board nor the stakeholders had no idea. I stand by the industry and I have no intentions to raze the brand of SS to the ground. You think, I will be thrown into jail along with my family and I will face the debacle like a coward? Don’t you?” he paused and plodded in the chair. There was absolute silence prevailed in the chamber of the CEO. Stephen gathered courage and walked towards him; he patted his back, “you subtly look worried to the hilt. I haven’t seen this side of you till today. If you don’t wanna concede there is other choice, make an acquisition, I am talking on a literal note, make an acquisition, big one to shoot up the stock price and something that helps you pay off your debts sooner” he paused, “which I believe is impossible”

In an instant Shekar rose to his feet, “Thank you for the piece of advice. That’s your point of view but why don’t you understand or see the other side of me, as you say, but with your glasses on? Mr. Stephen. I am not worried because I am having to lose the company, that’s out of question. My concern is for that I have a little time to execute plan B” Shekar smiled for the first time in the entire conversation. “When I hide a few state of affairs from my kinsfolks why didn’t you discern that I might have had something hided from both of you as well?”

“Sorry! Shekar,” Stephen asked, “but I don’t understand”

“Well it’s pretty plain,” he got up slapping the armrest, “have you ever played with a toddler?”

“Not in my thirty five years of life,” Stephen answered him, “I am looking forward though”

“Then get dressed up Mr. Stanley Bloomberg,” he patted his back, “Stanley Bloomberg, who is the guy?” he checked.

“It’s you. You should know what I mean,” he talked in a puzzle, “You gonna be a piece in the montage. Let you meet the toddler and we will have a short play with him,” he dispersed from his office, “Mrs. Katie Joanna, get couple of tickets on the morning flight to USA. We gonna go for vacation”

Bemused Stephen walked towards Katie with a disconcerted look on his face. “Who is the toddler?” He solicited for an answer.

“The acting CFO,” she replied.

November’ 2002,
Midtown, Manhattan Borough, NY.

He arrived at his hometown airport and hired a taxi to drive home. Fifteen minutes and I should reach the destination Aryan said to himself updating every minute on his target distance. As the clock ticked down, the shadow of fear grew in him like that of one on a mid-day summer. It was at time very early in the morning that even a single organism didn’t throb their cells and nerves. He could hear the rhythm of the footsteps of a person jogging on the footpath. The car slowly took a turn into the long narrowed street. Aryan found his house gates wide opened, the porch shred with people, appeared to come and go. As he was driven close, he caught glimpse of huge crowd. He broke down into tears instantly, he was propelled to contend with the culmination of the real pain in his heart. He couldn’t withstand himself looking down the street as he neared the porch. He asked the driver to slow down. While the car was decelerating he heard three women talk something sober.

One of them said, “Wasn’t he any good till yesterday? It took me by quite a surprise. I believed he was recovering under his medication.” Aryan climbed down the car and pinned his ears to the natter of the women.

“Yes! I was on same minds with you. It is evident that good people who does good deeds are taken away early by the god. My deepest condolences and more power to the family. May his soul rest in peace,” the other women added.

After Aryan heard the women talk, he lost his consciousness. The taxi driver caught hold and took him inside the car. He grabbed the bottle of water from the knapsack bottle pocket and spattered on his face.

“Sir, are you fine? I understand your pain but it is the truth you have to accept and digest. I don’t say you should not feel sad for the loss of a member in your family but I am only suggesting you to be strong enough to take care of your dearest ones who love you as much you love them,” the driver helped Aryan with his hankie, “Everyone in this world will have to go through this, one day or the other. I was in your shoes a few years ago when I lost everyone in my life. Yes, everyone at once but then I learned to live with the pain and tears except burying them in my heart. Not letting them fly away but assuming my family is always with me, watching me whatever I do, wherever they are. That is just life, it is inevitable. I suppose you need some medicine for your dehydration.” He handed him over oral rehydration solution powder. “Please have it before leaving. You might feel nauseous anytime from now if you don’t have it. That might really worry your family while you are just arriving to your home” He advised.

Aryan agreed with taxi driver as he felt his words were sensible. He mixed the powder in the bottle of water and said, “I don’t know who you are and… ”

The driver stepped in, “You can call me by my name, Akbar Farrukhsiyar” he said.

“Akbar, I would really wanted to have an extended conversation with you but I am not in a position to spare time. Have this fifteen-thousand bucks and here is my card,” Aryan slipped out a visiting card and handed it to the driver, “Reach out to me anytime for any help, if you wish to” he said and hotfooted into the porch.

---

The love of my life. He taught me everything that all life is about, left me alone. Aryan seemed to take control over his mind but he failed at every attempt and made a spell of shedding tears. He tried and the pain only grew much than before as he approached the coffin inside the house. As he continued to walk down, every moment that he spent with Dayanand had started to reel in his mind. He was more than a father, more than a mother, more than a friend, more than my very own life.

The loss of him had thrown Aryan in to an utter desolation. He spent his whole of childhood growing younger under him. He stayed and spent all the time, in excess amount of time he had spent with Rekha. Vivek was in no picture to him for various reasons he couldn’t be sensible about. He exited the vestibule and stepped inside the hallway, the ambiance convulsed him to the hilt mentally. Rekha and others wailed all through their heart for the lamented Dayanand. No sooner Aryan came into being at the spot than his mother noticed his arrival and hurtled towards him. “Aryan…” She sniveled, “He left us alone”

He drew the snot rag to wipe his tears and dabbed on Rekha’s eyes, “…but I am only suggesting you to be strong enough to take care of your dearest ones who love you as much you love them…” He harked back to the locution from Akbar.

He plodded with her to the cadaver of Dayanand. In a husky voice, he heard a man talking to his senses “So you finally have come to see me, my king” Aryan looked vacantly on Dayanand’s countenance, “I feared that I’d be consigned to the pyre in your absence” and the voice dampened out.

“My king. You are the king Nemo, you are the true king” Erelong he heard the voice a second time. “I bequeathed everything I could to the family and you will bequest the same. Time has come for me to depart, I believe you will do the justice to the legacy of JAPMI”

Aryan broke down yet again, “You are not dead Nemo, come on wake up. These people are senseless idiots. They put you here in the casket and started weeping. They don’t care to ask you if you are here,” he bawled and buried his head in his palms, “Nemo I am talking to you. We both know, you are talking to me and I heard you. Please Nemo for the love of god, wake up. Nemo come back, please come back,” he descended on to his knees under the force of his own weight.

Aryan was blind and deaf in the dark, he showed a reckless lack of cognizance to the surroundings. He was devastated to an extent that he reckoned he was in a séance.

Dayanand was tantamount to a king in the city. He lived a life which won all the hearts in the locality and at the JAPMI in particular. A most disturbed and broken heart could make a better living after sharing the empathy with him. He was a compassionate human and was available as a helping hand for the need. He believed in equality for all and a blue collar worker at JAPMI would have his highest respect, hard work and smart work were rewarded affluently. They loved him for being that public figure. Aryan knew this only from his mother. He had never seen in person but it was evident to him with the huge crowd pouring in, and made it obvious on how special he was to each of them who were attending the funeral to offer their due respect to the legend and their condolences to the family.

The rich and the poor strive to render the cremation or inhumation a lavishness. One steadfast rationale was the unswerving credence in afterlife and the need for honoring the perished. The weather was windy with dark clouds. Night fell early on a summer evening due to an expected rainfall in the later night. The obsequies had started around 18:00 hours and it definitely was the greatest ever done to any person in the city. There were no authoritative figures on the attendance but it was extensively believed that the humongous congregation of mourners in recent years was seen in the streets of Midtown Manhattan. The eulogy and funeral hymns from such a huge crowd would have caught Dayanand’s attention, if he were alive, to make him perceive the fruitful innings he had lived. It nearly took more than couple of hours for the mob and family to reach the private crematorium though it was a few miles away from the house.

It was around 22:00 Hrs. by the time the family and the companions offered their last rites. The head of the family thanked the significant others who made it to the funeral. All of them attendees except the kinsfolk left the place for the day.

The family along with retainers were sitting in the lobby busy talking about Dayanand while Aryan went to his grandpa’s room where he was lying all those months in his absence. He felt guilty for he hadn’t come to see him during his last days. He called to his mind the talk he did with him a week ago on the phone.

I had seen from my mind’s eye the tears rolling down from his eyes when he expressed his love while he was talking to me. He couldn’t still believe that Dayanand was no more in his life. In a jiffy he noticed a portrait of Dayanand piggybacking him in his childhood hanging on the wall. He moved in the direction to reach out for it. Abruptly the sky was lit by lightening’s, the thunderstorm rumbled in the tranquil atmosphere. The wild blue yonder turned into vivid black, the angry wind smacked on the windows and the haul up splintered the clear float glass. The portrait was knocked out of the place and thrown in to disarray by the gust. Aryan walked towards the window and caught the glimpse of oozing weather. His hair was tousled by the heavy winds and then he heard the gravelly tone once again, “My king you know I won’t be able to come back again to see each other, talk and play like we did before. My life has come to an end, I came back to make a final revelation. I am not dead because of my dreaded lurgy but I died with an affliction. I was murdered, I was enforced to meet the death”

Aryan was trembled in trepidation when he heard the divulgence of the unexpected fact of Dayanand’s murder. He had reservations with his psyche and didn’t licensed himself plummeting in a phantasm. Is it a dream or Is Nemo really talking to me? Aryan questioned himself. He was entangled in delusions, he pressed his hands to the sides of skull, and he was wobbling. He tend to lose his balance off the feet. He tumbled on to the ground dribbling, “Mama…” he yelped and lay unconscious.

“My king,” the voice set forth, “Justice to the JAPMI,” the voice reverberated on the word, “Justice” followed by “JAPMI”. Aryan by then was insentient.

November’ 2002,
Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

The Juveniles were unprepared for a long day due to series of assignments in tandem. It was on their eighth day and they had already started to return to their denizen after early dusk. They fell flat in keeping track of time and the daylight as it persisted till twenty-one or twenty-two hours made it more fractious. The young men were too tired to carry themselves to the dinner and both of them had decided to flake out. Aryan heard a phone ringing, ascending in sound. He muted the phone and turned a deaf ear to the next calls.

She is her. I could talk to her at the Frühstück and I know she would understand me. I will make the odds work for her and she will endorse me. Good night dear.

The first call went unanswered and the phone began to ring for the second time but this time it was Rekha. He took no notice of the contact as he shut his eyes and ignored all calls thereafter from Rekha as well. In no time, he was lost in his subconscious, sleeping tight with the suit on him unremoved.

Early in the morning when he woke up, he was terrified to see several calls from Rekha and Vivek. They wouldn’t usually call him no more than twice unless there had to be a dire communication. It took him in a blue funk when he found out many calls were missed after mid night. He was in an intact apprehension when he tapped the call toggle on the contact. He couldn’t digress looking for answers on what might had happened while the call was being connected, he counted back from twenty till Rekha answered him. “Hello… Mama” He said in a haste. “Honey, come home, the sooner you can. Keep me posted on your layovers, will talk again” and the line went dead.

He was left in aghast and it ceased his thinking. His only train was to make it to home as fast as he can. He booked the next available flight to his hometown. He reached the airport before the scheduled time and was waiting for his flight sitting in the lounge. There were kinds of different obstreperous perceptions reeling in his mind which he couldn’t digest while he was compelled delving in them.

He had always found deficient in deciphering the drift of the uncanny that has an influence on his notions that are entangled with the events already happening with the close relations. It seemed supernatural but at the same time, he believed that it was his mind drawing conclusions by augmenting them with compelling reasons.

A couple of months ago Rekha informed Aryan about his grandpa’s health condition. Dayanand’s indisposition had gradually left him in his infirmity yet he carried himself as fit as a fiddle. He had been under medication for more than fifteen years. Aryan’s mind enforced him to dwell on the hunch that his grandpa was going to die or maybe dead by then. He pulled out all the stops to get off the tangent and kept trying to be in peace till he found out the truth.