Without a twist - Part II

Well, here’s the second and final part. Undoubtedly, this part lives up to the title of the story. Read on if you’re still interested.

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Nothing in the last 3 years of security experience had prepared him for this situation; Varun’s utterance of those fateful sentences left Vikram so dumbfounded that after walking for a few seconds, he stopped and stood there, agape, staring at Varun, and at the sea of faces staring back at him.
A rush of thoughts were going on at superhuman speed – this was his moment of truth, his chance at glory, his chance to show the entire staff and employers what he was capable of, this happy thought was simultaneously being marred by the unnerving realization that he really didn’t know what he was supposed to do, then a sudden thought also made its appearance; was his leaving his post for a few minutes in any way responsible for Varun’s situation? This possibility, he was quickly able to dispose off. In the midst of all these conflictions, another pretty mundane issue was popping its head – his open lunchbox; his food. The fact that in such a situation he could still think about food disgusted him, although, he then realised, he was actually very hungry.

He was brought back to attention, from all this meandering emotions by some one nudging him from the back; it was the tea/coffee guy. Very softly, he whispered to Vikram from behind, ‘you have to stop standing there like a statue and do something.’
In and undervoice, Vikram muttered, ‘easy for u to say - the suicidal guy has not called your name‘. All this had happened in the space of hardly a couple of minutes, but to him, it seemed to have been much longer – more like an era.

Slowly, without having a clue as to what he was going to do, Vikram walked towards railing where Varun was standing, looking at him with a strange look in his face - pleading, as if asking for help, and at the same time wishing he had the courage to just jump off. When he saw Vikram coming forward, he started speaking disjointed phrases all over again…’you all are trying to kill me… I might as well do it myself’, ‘what more do you want from me?’, ’am I harming any of you by standing here? Then why are you all staring at me? Go on…do your work…I’m sure you all have important work…’, ’you all can’t stop me from doing what I’m doing…he (pointing at Vikram) knows why I’m doing it, he understands me..’, ‘move back all of u… I don’t want to see your faces, bloated with all the self importance that you give yourself’. While saying these jumble of sentences, he started walking on the railing, his knees shaking constantly.

All the while Vikram was walking slowly towards Varun. In a corner of his mind, he was thankful that he had been in the totally opposite side of the cafeteria (from where Varun was standing), so that he had some time before he came face to face with him. At that moment, absolute chaos was reigning in his head - what was he to do, how was he to bring down a frenzied guy down from the railing on the 10?th floor, what about his food? In that short time, he had made a mental recall of all the countless movies he had seen in his life… was there a precedent he could follow?

Hindi movies: He couldn’t immediately recall any such scene. The one movie where someone was sitting on the railing of the 20th? Floor, she had been pushed down, so that was not the road to go forward in, another movie, the girl stood there, already injured, and then jumped, peacefully. She succeeded in her suicide effort, so that was again not the way to go. Then he wondered why only females fell from railings? He forced himself to not think of such trivialities and focus. In another movie (an old Hindi classic (yes! That was the exact same situation) - one guy had stood high up (on a water tanker was it?) and threatening to jump. But, why was he jumping? Oh yes! He had wanted to get this girl’s (who he liked) aunt to agree to marry her niece to him. Darn! Did that situation apply here? Don’t think so but how was the problem solved? The aunt had been forced into submission. Boy! That had been a good movie… sigh…the hero had been drunk in the scene and it had been hilarious...sigh. Vikram wished he could watch the movie again. Then he came back to the present, ‘hey stop! Focus! Focus! Is Varun drunk too? Well he could very well be….his eyes were bloodshot and he was speaking nonsense…we’ll find out’…

By now, Vikram had almost reached Varun; he paused, should he ask Varun whether he was drunk? And even if he was (drunk) how would that help? Marriage didn’t seem to be the reason Varun was screaming, standing on top of a narrow ledge, on top of the 10th floor. As a last hope, Vikram shifted mode to English movies - was there a way out there? There had been a movie where people had been stranded on the top of a building due to a fire, but then they had all been rescued by seemingly trained firemen, and a few who had jumped were saved by some kind of cushion landing… Naah that was not helpful…where would he be able to manage and coordinate all that? How would he get the cushion landing while stuck with the guy and the spectators on the terrace itself? (Maybe someone else had thought of that and were bringing some kind of arrangement) - Plan 1 temporarily discarded. As Vikram’s memory kept flowing, and he proceeded slowly, the rest of the people walked a little back; whether it was due to Varun’s entreaties or a general disinclination of witnessing a tragic end, was not clear. However, what it resulted in, was a clear semicircle area, considering Varun’s erratic position as the possible centre, and Vikram standing in the middle of the cleared area - still, relaxed (atleast that’s how he looked to the spectators, after all how were they to know that it was not coolness that was keeping him away from panic but tiredness coupled with hunger, and mindless thoughts), and most importantly, silent. There was an expectant pause in Varun’s speeches; he was also hoping for something…what that something was, he himself didn’t know….

Vikram had no clue as to what he should do. Unable to think of any solution, and seeing the expectant looks on everybody’s faces, he just blurted, ’Sir, are you drunk by any chance?’. What followed was a torrent of exclamations - ’what! You’re saying this? You!! I thought you understood!’, ‘you think I’m drunk?! Drunk? I’ve never touched alcohol in all my life and you think I’m drunk?!’ and much more to that effect…. Vikram thought ‘he certainly sounds drunk, but guess he’s not.’ After some more of similarly phrased sentences, Varun stopped, a look of exhaustion mixed with despair on his face; his knees seemed to bend in submission. With an effort, he stood there, unwilling to get off and yet lacking the courage to jump.

Whispers started going on among the people; more people came into the cafeteria, while some left reluctantly (last minute pending deadlines), some recalled the tea/coffee guy back to his duty and were sipping tea/coffee at the back, wondering what was actually going on. The Admin people had been informed and they had reached; but they were also similarly clueless as to what to do, they had informed the fire department people, and asked for help.

Vikram, by this time, had recalled one particular English movie, where the exact same scene had happened; one guy standing on top of the roof of a multi-storeyed building, threatening to jump, when the whole thing had been resolved by the hero of the movie who had climbed up to the same place where the guy was standing, and then explained something (because of the English, Vikram had no clue what that something had been), but whatever it had been, the suicidal guy had become very docile, and had climbed down. And then everyone around had clapped; the hero had become an even bigger hero.

Ah! So this is what he needed to do, but there was a small technical problem; he was scared of heights. Not scared in the literal sense of the word, somewhat not fond of them lets say. Of course, it wasn’t like his knees would shake the moment he looked down from a ladder or something, but to stand on the railing of an open terrace on the 10th floor of a building, with no support, that too in the vicinity of a suicidal person… wasn’t that a little risky? But then again, it was Varun, the nice quiet guy who always talked softly (except now); he might be a little out of sorts, but he wasn’t murderous was he..?

To get more time to contemplate this plan of action, Vikram started to try to calm Varun down, he asked,’ Ok you are not drunk Sir, but then why are you trying to jump off from here’?
This brought forth another torrent of expletives, ‘what have I been saying for the past hour?! (It had not been more than 10 minutes) I am tired, my boss doesn’t let me eat, I hate my boss, my computer is slow, I haven’t gone home in 2 days, my boss doesn’t let me eat, I’m feeling sleepy, and yet my boss doesn’t let me sleep’.
He kept on saying the last sentence on and on as if in a trance; at this juncture, this ‘boss’ of his, attempted to step forward and explain (he was standing at the front of the semicircle of spectators,). ‘Varun, I had just asked you about the pending report. That’s all I’d done. Now come down and stop creating a scene’.
If Varun was frustrated before, now he was maniacally so; had his boss been within reach, he would surely have been throttled. Varun regained his speech after a few moments of disbelief – ‘you had JUST asked me about that pending report??!! You knew the rest of the people are on leave, you didn’t give me leave, I’m the only one working - 2 days continuously, day AND night and you JUST ask me about the pending report while I’m eating LUNCH??’.
There was a collective gasp amongst the crowd ‘Boss’ tried a last time to pacify Varun and convince the audience that he had not been unfair (a lost cause), ‘OK I was wrong in asking, I apologize. Please come down’. This speech had the opposite effect of what it was supposed to have - ’you apologize?! I don’t want your apology. Get lost! You didn’t let me eat’. Varun kept on repeating the same thing over and over again; he seemed on the verge of a breakdown.

During this not-very-friendly tête-à-tête, Vikram had somehow convinced himself that he needed to climb up; he just had to do it. Slowly he motioned to ‘Boss’ to stop talking, and slowly, very slowly, started to climb onto the railing; unfortunately it’s was a little too high to just climb – he needed a support. While he looked around for something he could use, Varun started screaming, ‘why are you coming here, I’m not coming down! Don’t come nearer… or I’ll jump’.
Vikram paused, he said ‘OK sir, I’m not coming up (somewhat relieved that his dangerous task was slightly delayed), but could you tell me what exactly is the problem. I couldn’t understand what you were telling your boss, I know how frustrating your job is - staying late, working alone etc., but why are you jumping off this building? Shouldn’t you be making someone else do that instead?’, quietly pointing with a nod of his head, and looking very meaningfully towards ‘Boss’, who was glowering helplessly at a distance.

Infinitesimally mollified, Varun slightly cooled down. Atleast he stopped repeating ‘he didn’t let me eat’, and now stated recalling all the supposed wrongs done to him by his boss. He stood still and kept looking down at the railing which he had been pacing for last few minutes, when every other person’s heart had been in their hands, looking at him pacing the narrow strip of the railing, knees shaking intermittently.
How, and by what stroke of luck, he hadn’t faltered, was a cosmic mystery; maybe he hadn’t even realised how much danger he had voluntarily signed up for himself.

Then, in front of the Boss’s horrified face, Varun blurted out all the frustration that had been festering in his conscience for quite some time. Of course, the basic reason why he was standing on top of the railing was his Boss’s unsympathetic question about the report while Varun was lunching. However, seemingly, there was more to the whole situation. The gist of the continuous gibberish that was flowing out of Varun was that he had never been a workaholic; he had been forced to become one. He had joined a year before, fresh from college, all plans for an ambitious future, and things were going pretty ok too, training and fun; after 2 months or so he joined the team where he was currently working, where of course ‘Boss’ was the manager.
Initially it had been an easy job, learning, basic reviews etc. However, with time, the senior members kept on unloading their work on him, and he, being the junior-most (besides being somewhat timid and eager to please), couldn’t refuse. Later, he didn’t know how to; he had never been one who liked to say no. Result: long days, extending into nights, sleep deprivation. ’Boss’ apparently knew about the real division of work and yet didn’t do anything to change it, and the worst part was that he was never given the credit for the work. ‘Boss’ supposedly had a favourite in the team, who always got all the opportunities, even though he knew squat and hardly did anything productive. At any point of the day, if one looked at the monitor if this favourite, he would be reading some online gossip, reading some forward. Because of the boss’s favouritism, many had left the team; the 8 member team had dwindled to 5, Boss wasn’t even taking in new joinees; according to him , the work could as well be handled by 5 people, when actually it was almost being handled by a single person (our victim Varun) who had involuntarily transformed into a one-man army.
For the last 2 days, the other 3 were on leave (it was Diwali this week and all had gone home), and the 4th one (boss’s favourite) was preparing to go onsite as he had been selected to go to France to attend a very prestigious training; one that Varun had been sure he’d be selected to go. So Varun had been stranded in office, handling the work of 5 people, without even going home, without sleeping, without proper food, continuously thinking of the opportunity that he hadn’t been given and that had been the last straw (actually the last straw had been the inquiry for the report). That pent up frustration had all erupted when, while he had been eating a proper meal after almost a day, his boss had had the nerve to ask him about the report.

Varun let out a deep breath and stopped; that had been all about it. So, Varun’s sleep-deprived brain had revolted, the nervous system had started doing acrobatics, and had forced him to take a stand (rather, forced him TO stand- that too on the railing of a 10 floor terrace).
Vikram took that golden opportunity to indicate to the tea/coffee guy to push a big flower pot (next to him) a little further so that Vikram would be able to use it as support to climb up. When he looked at the other side, he was momentarily distracted by the Emergency Response Team (ERT) guys, who had finally come and were preparing to move towards Varun, hoping that Varun wouldn’t start pacing again. Unfortunately, (more for Varun, rather than them), seeing Vikram, his only sympathetic listener distracted, Varun did turn around, and the moment he saw them, he returned to his frenzied state - shouting that nobody let him have a moment’s peace. He told the ER guys to stop moving towards him, and threatened to jump if they neared. They tried reasoning with him; to cool him, but Varun was in no state to listen to reason. Although they knew, he most probably wouldn’t jump, but they couldn’t risk it, their only fear being that he would fall by accident. Anyone who was present in the cafeteria would vouch that it was indeed a miracle that he had yet not fallen, given the earthquake that his knees were going through.

The ER team backed off. Actually the problem was, never in their wildest imaginations had they envisaged such a situation, and so they were in no way equipped or prepared to handle it. Another problem was the time factor; when someone was threatening to jump of the 10th floor, one really couldn’t ask that person, ‘excuse me, could you please delay it a while so that we can arrange a cushion landing?’ or maybe ‘when are you going to jump? Is it worthwhile to get the cushion landing brought here?’. The ERT guys had called here and there and a cushion landing was on the way, but when that would reach was an unanswered question.

So whatever hope Vikram had had for a moment, of returning to his lunch, and of being spared the Varun saving session, died. Everyone, including the ERT and the ‘Boss’, were looking expectantly; he was even momentarily annoyed; what were they expecting? A miracle? As he looked down below, he swallowed, the prospect of standing at such a height for long, was not tempting at all. And then, in a flash of genius, a scene from the English movie with Hindi dialogues, Titanic, struck him.

Maybe he didn’t have to climb the railing after all; what had the hero done in the movie, merely tell the girl (again!) how cold the water was and how difficult it would be for him to come after her. OK small technical problem – he couldn’t very well tell Varun that he’d come after him if he jumped, but what he could do was, scare him with the results of his fall.
So Vikram, our hero, proceeded to act like Leonardo Di Caprio aka Jack Dawson, and said to Varun,’ Ok fine Sir, nobody is coming to force you down and I understand what you have gone through… but Sir, did you think about what will happen once you jump? Varun, unfazed, ‘I’ll die what else?’.
Now that wasn’t very encouraging, but Vikram continued, ’well, its going to be very painful, and it might so happen, that you won’t die, and instead be permanently damaged - broken all over but not dead, with brain damage, so much so that you would not be able to speak again, or try to die again; then you’d be taken to a mental institution where you would live for the rest of your life, you would not released for fear that you’d try this (pointing at the railing) again.’ (Vikram had no idea, if anyone could come out alive from a 10 storey leap, but what the heck? he could give it a shot).
Varun didn’t seem very affected by the vision; he said,’ I don’t understand why you, of all people, are trying to bring me down. Your life is as screwed as mine; pathetic, boring, tedious, unappreciated. You and I share misery, and yet you think I should come down?’

The truth of the statement left Vikram a little stunned; his job was pathetic. Yet, somehow, he shook his head, as if to remove the unsavoury thoughts and concentrated on trying to find some way to convince Varun. He repeated, ‘why are you doing this Sir? What will you gain? Etcetera etcetera’.
Varun was in no mood to come down. His eyes now had a gleam, bordering on madness. He said, ‘I think you should also come up; together we’ll prove a point to this world that we need a life too, c’mon - don’t you want the world to remember you as the hero who sacrificed himself for his creed’ (of course, Varun meant the profession of security…most probably, although what was the point of the while exercise was still beyond comprehension.. but nevertheless).. Varun kept speaking in this manner, looking all around, as if he was an army general, and he was delivering a speech before a battalion of reluctant soldiers.

What happened next left the entire cafeteria stunned; Vikram said to Varun, ‘Yes Sir, you’re right, I deserve better!’, and climbed onto the railing. There was yet another collective gasp in the crowd. Some people shook their head, some started talking urgently among themselves, while some looked thoughtfully at Vikram, guessing they knew what he was trying to do, and yet unsure.

What was going on in Vikram’s mind was another convoluted story; what was he thinking? Well, at that moment, Vikram himself was shocked into inaction. Several questions ran in his head: how had he been crazy enough to climb onto the railing, that too all of a sudden? Had he really been inspired by Varun? Was he going to jump? Or had he come here to save Varun? What was he doing? What if Varun pushed him? What if Varun jumped? Would he have to jump too? What the heck was he doing? He looked around, hoping for help of some kind but he was disappointed. Everyone was instead standing down there expecting him to do something.

What was he to do? To play for time (yet again), he decided to follow Varun’s suit.
Varun, on the other hand, was ecstatic; he looked totally maniacal now, a somewhat triumphant look coming into his face. The frustration lost, a childish joy of victory had crept into his face; what that victory was, he himself didn’t know.

Vikram now said, almost as loudly as Varun had been saying for the past 10-15 minutes, ‘I hate my job – you people make me sick, never acknowledging our presence or service, always looking busy - I have nothing to do all day, I hate my job and I don’t even get paid for it. I hate my job’. As he said all this, he realised, in dismay, that he wasn’t pretending, not at all. All the words were simply flowing out – he actually hated his job. In some mental confusion, he looked around, just as Varun had done, and met the eye of the Admin head who was staring very intently at him (maybe realised that Vikram was not, like everybody thought, putting on an act).

Vikram was shocked that he had no difficulty in acting that way, was he really that frustrated? He had had no clue. Yes he knew he didn’t like his job, but until now he hadn’t known that he hated it. Or did he? Maybe he was unintentionally acting very well, he tried to reassure himself. Then, as if to assure the Admin guy, Vikram smiled at him. (What Vikram hadn’t known was that that smile had actually been a wicked grin, and had done much to scare the daylights out of the Admin head).

On one side, he saw the ERT guys trying again to approach him and Varun (they were not sure whether Vikram was pretending or serious), but he warned them, loudly , not to come…or else…

In the meanwhile, the few moments of respite from shouting, (for Varun) had rather subdued him. The joy had left his face and he just looked like a tired, rather stubborn kid. He stood there silently when Vikram turned to him and said, ‘Lets jump Sir, right now.’ Vikram had played his last card.
Being encouraged for the first time to jump, Varun was now hesitant for a second.
Softly, barely above a whisper, he asked ‘Vikram, are you sure you want to do this?’
Vikram, recognising the touch of reluctance, said loudly,’ Yes sir, what’s there in this world for us, bad job, bad pay, lets jump.’
Varun, somewhat unsure, the gleam from his eyes faded, said softly ‘but what will your jumping achieve? Don’t you have a family who cares for you? I’m an orphan, so I can die, but you… you can’t just give up‘.
Vikram realised that his last card had worked. Varun had relatively calmed down, and no longer wanted to jump or anything. However, he also knew that Varun couldn’t just get down and walk back to his work station; he had an ego after all. So here he was, silently, asking for a way out, such that he could come down and not become the person who didn’t have the guts to do it. Vikram understood that all Varun now wanted was to get off safely without losing face, or facing the wrath of his ‘Boss’.
So Vikram played along and said ‘Yes I can! So what if I have a family? If you are proving a point Sir, I also want to do so; you can’t do this alone.’, and looked intently at Varun, as if trying to indicate to him that he understood, and he would play along..
Varun, as if working on cue, immediately started shouting in a somewhat theatrical way, ‘somebody take him down! He shouldn’t jump! I can’t be the person responsible for inspiring another’s death’.
Now, Vikram said the final words which would be all to get Varun back to safe ground without him feeling that he had lost face, ’Sir, I can’t let you take all the glory with you. I won’t allow you to jump alone!’
A look a relief flooded over Varun’s face, and he said, ‘calm down Vikram. Ok fine, maybe I won’t jump please go down.’
Vikram, in a moment of suspicion that Varun, was after all going to jump, refused and said ’No Sir, first you go down, and then I will’.

During this very interesting exchange of words, the rest of the people were extremely confused; some thought that Vikram had also lost his mind, while some were all praise for his presence of mind and reverse methodology, while some didn’t know what to think; they were just wishing that the scene would conclude, so that they could return to their computers/chat/work/email. Now, most of them realised that Varun wouldn’t jump but also that he wasn’t going to come down on his own as he wouldn’t want to look like a coward. They were all willing to entertain his stance; if only he would come down and end the episode. They knew they would have no choice in believing him when later, he would say that he would have jumped had it not been for the sake of the guard. It was a façade, Varun, knew it, Vikram knew it, everyone else also knew it, but they would all have to let it remain so.

When Vikram agreed to come down only after Varun, Varun didn’t look like he minded, but then again, he appeared to demur, as if still thinking that he’d jump after Vikram got down. Everyone knew the reality, and yet everyone had to pretend; someone spoke out from the spectators, ‘c’mon Varun, don’t do this, save the guard, come down’…
Others also voiced out similar words, and finally Varun agreed to come down TOGETHER with Vikram. Having progressed this far, Vikram wasted no time in agreeing and said ‘OK sir, lets go down‘, and proceeded to get off.

Vikram jumped, but whether it was some water on the railing or something else, he didn’t know, but he tumbled, momentarily on one foot on top of the railing, and then he could see that he was falling. After that moment, all was hazy until the end.

He realised he was falling down, he could see the floors rushing above him, and yet he was not hitting ground. He was helpless and yet in that state, he was thinking, maybe it will be painless and instantaneous death; he prayed…and yet… the floors continued to rush above. Then suddenly he realised, he was not alone; someone else was also falling - it was Varun, who looked happy. Varun said ‘Boss didn’t let me eat, but why did you jump?’ Vikram screamed, ’I didn’t want to jump, atleast I don’t think I wanted to jump, except at that one point in the beginning. You pushed me!’. Varun nudged him and then suddenly it was raining….
‘Everything is all right Vikram, be calm and open your eyes.’ The voice sounded vaguely familiar. He opened his eyes; the voice belonged to the Admin Head. That meant he was not dead. Thank God! But where was he? What had happened?

In typical movie style, Vikram looked around in confusion (even he wasn’t sure if it was an act) and asked, ‘where am I?’ It was an effort, his head was throbbing; he closed his eyes. The voice said, ‘you had to trip didn’t u.? After all the saving Varun, you had to get hurt eh? Anyway, nothing much happened, you tripped, heaven knows how and fell face forwards. And that’s not all, you hit your head on the flower pot and lost consciousness,’ in such a casual way, as if he was reading the news. ‘Anyway, as for where you are, you are in the company dormitory, and a doctor is on the way’, he further continued.
Vikram heaved a sigh of relief; he was hungry. What had happened to his lunch box, he wondered. He asked, ‘can I eat something?’. Something like a grin came over the Admin head’s grim face, ‘well after what happened with Varun today, do you think anyone will be refused food today? I’ll send in some food.’ As he started leaving, he turned back, and as a forethought asked Vikram, ‘ so tell me something honestly, were you really acting when you got up there and said all those things about your job?’

Vikram hesitated for a second but then decided not to lie, ’Sir, I wasn’t acting when I was complaining about the job, but I think I was acting about the jump.’
The Admin Head sighed, ‘you still THINK you were acting about the jump? You’re not sure? Well better be sure you know. One wouldn’t like to be facing the same situation another day. And yes don’t publicise this all right?’
‘Yes Sir, I know. I’m sure’, replied Vikram.

Vikram still wasn’t sure but he wanted to be so and he said that; but in his heart he knew that for a few seconds he had actually drifted into Varun’s world of madness, glory, martyrdom. Luckily he had drifted back soon enough. He couldn’t tell anybody else this; it was just between him and the Admin Head. Some people in the spectators had understood his moment of dilemma, most hadn’t. Anyway, now he could pretend that it had all been part of the plan.

While he was eating, the doctor came and prescribed some medicines, after putting some bandage on Vikram’s bruised head (besides the concussion, there was a cut which had bled slightly). The Admin Head came back and further updated him; Varun had been kept under medical supervision, and he was currently sleeping in the next room. His emergency contact number had been used and his roommate was on the way to take him home. Boss had apparently granted him a leave for as long as it needed to become all right.

As for Vikram, did he want to go home? Yes he did but only after sleeping for a while. He was tired and his head was playing football with the rest of his body, rather like that girl in that Hindi movie, something to do with a ‘Beckam’? Wait; was it a Hindi movie or English? The rest of the people in the movie were English, but the girl was Indian….maybe it was like Titanic; English movie with Hindi dialogues…..

Epilogue:
As Vikram stepped into the lift, with his bandaged head, he felt somewhat different. Not that now he was looking forward to the day at work, or that he now loved his job or anything, but the feeling of helping out someone had made it seem not so bad, after all. Then he realised that everyone else in the lift was staring at him. Finally someone said, ’your Vikram right? Hey great work yesterday, how’s your head?’ Others also chimed in with their words of praise. Someone else said ‘great presence of mind by the way. When and how did it strike you to behave like you also wanted to jump? And how did you have the courage to climb? You were really convincing, you know. For a moment we thought you were actually going to jump.’ Vikram smiled; a faraway look came into his eyes for a second and disappeared. He said ‘well the idea came to my mind the moment I saw him climb the railing. You know how it is – we security people have to think on our feet and react.’ with an air of authority.

Vikram sat at his desk, almost feeling useful. He knew nothing had changed in his job and in a few days the hue and cry would die and he would yet again start hating the job.
Until then… he’d enjoy his 15 minutes (literally) of fame.

By the way, if anyone is interested, ‘Boss’ quit his job and joined another organization; he couldn’t tolerate the stares he got from everyone around him.

Varun got promoted to Module leader after a few months of undergoing stress therapy. Since that incident, he never spent nights at office, and made sure that the people working under didn’t do so either.

Varun and Vikram became friends; Vikram no longer called him ‘Sir’ and sometimes, they even shared lunch; turns out Aloo Gobhi was Varun’s favourite dish too…