Mainak Dhar - Heroes R Us

In the midst of all this, a large crowd emerged from the mall, talking excitedly about the movie they had just seen in the multiplex upstairs. As they jostled for space in the narrow exit, Arnab lost sight of the men for a few seconds. When he tried looking for them again, he realized to his dismay that he couldn't see the men anywhere. He rushed to where they had been standing, and frantically searched for them, but in a few seconds he realized that his indecision had completely botched his plans.

The next day, Arnab was in a foul mood, and even Jayantada took notice of this sudden change in his otherwise reliably good-humoured assistant. At lunch, he asked Arnab if anything was wrong, and Arnab told him that he was worried about his preparations for the upcoming exams. It was only a partial lie, since Arnab knew only too well how badly his preparations had been hit by his misadventures of the last few days. That thought only served to make his mood even worse. He debated whether he should go again that night, and finally, realizing that he would drive himself crazy thinking about whether the men had come again that night, he decided to give it one more shot. If they didn't show up that night, then he would just give it up.

It was mid November, and the Delhi winter was beginning to make its presence felt. Now knowing how late he would probably be out, Arnab decided to wear something a bit warmer. He took out an old sweatshirt that had been gifted to him on his birthday several years ago by his friends in college. It had been a favourite of his, and one thing he liked about Delhi was that the winters gave him an opportunity to wear it more often. Years of wear and tear had taken its toll, and of the original 'GAP' brand logo displayed prominently on the front, only the 'GA' remained. He took the sweatshirt in his hand and set out once again, praying that the men would be there that night, and resolving that if they were there, he would not throw away the opportunity like he had done the previous night.

By about half past nine, Arnab was beginning to lose patience, and put on his sweatshirt, ready to start on the journey back to his home. As he stepped on the curb, he saw a black Sumo parked a few feet away to his right. He kept walking a few paces, and then stopped to turn around. There was no reason that this had to be the black Sumo Mishti had described being chased by, but he figured that there was nothing to be lost by waiting a few more minutes. So he sat down near the car and waited, pulling the hood of his sweatshirt up around his head to keep out the cold wind that was now blowing at a brisk pace.

He couldn't believe his luck when a few minutes later, three men walked over to the car. They were the same men he had seen the previous night, and if he had any remaining doubts about their identities, their conversation was a sure giveaway.

'Which bitch did you guys fancy?' asked the big man with the bandana around his head.

'I liked the one in the jeans and the white top. The one with the long legs' responded one of his friends, a smaller man, who was holding a can of beer in his hand.

They all laughed and passed a few vulgar comments about the women they had seen in the mall that night, when the big man pointed to a woman walking towards them.

'While you've been lusting after everyone you see, I've been making a plan.'

When his friends asked, he said that the woman was alone, and her car, a Honda, was parked just a few feet away. He outlined a plan to follow her till the highway and then force her car off the road in a dark spot. Arnab was sitting just a few feet away from the men, and their conversation had made his blood run cold. It was one thing to think about these criminals in an abstract sense, but quite another thing to see them as flesh and blood people, calmly planning a rape as if they were planning a family picnic. He felt anger build up within him, and stood up to confront the men. Just as he stood, the woman the men had been discussing got in her car and drove away. The men rushed into the Sumo to follow her.

For a second or two, Arnab stayed rooted to the spot, not knowing what to do. Then, distraught that he would lose them again, and even worse, that his inaction would enable them to attack another victim, Arnab started running after the Sumo.

Arnab didn't think much of it at first, but after a few seconds, he realized what was happening. He was chasing a car on foot and keeping up! He had no idea what speed the Sumo was driving at, but by any stretch of the imagination, he was running faster than any man should. As he tried running faster, he realized that at full tilt he was actually travelling a bit faster than the Sumo and was steadily gaining on the car, which was now perhaps no more than a dozen feet ahead of him. Feeling the wind blow into his face at high speed was hardly comfortable, but the hood helped a bit, and the sheer adrenaline boost of the chase made him forget everything but catching these men. He stumbled on a rock and fell by the roadside, wincing in pain as his elbow hit the ground. His glasses were knocked off his face, and he cursed himself as he tried to find them, knowing that without his glasses, he would not be able to do much, no matter how fast he ran. That was when he noticed something that blew his mind. He could see clearly without his glasses! No, more than that, despite the near pitch darkness of the stretch of road leading to the highway, he could see everything as clear as daylight. All the objects he saw had a bit of a green tinge to them, of the sort he had once seen displayed on a Night Vision scope on some Discovery documentary, but he could see them crystal clear without needing his glasses. What sort of magic was this? The sound of the Sumo making a tight turn into the highway brought him back to his senses, and he put his glasses into his pocket, as he resumed his pursuit, determined not to let the men get away.

As he pushed himself, Arnab saw that he could run even faster and now things seemed to be passing by in a blur as he closed on the cars. By now, both vehicles had reached the highway, and the Sumo suddenly accelerated past the Honda and veered into its path. The woman panicked and swerved to the left and off the road, her car coming to a halt in a mound of dirt left over from the omnipresent construction work on the Delhi Metro around the area. Arnab watched the men clamber out of the Sumo and the big man with the bandana yanked open the door of the Honda. The woman, disoriented by the crash, must have thought that some passer by was trying to help her, and held out her hand, only to recoil in horror as the man grabbed her roughly and pulled her out, throwing her hard against the ground. His friends shouted in delight as they grabbed her and tried pulling her into the Sumo.

The woman screamed-a high pitched sound that seemed more like an animal in pain than a human being.

And then Arnab arrived on the scene.

***

Arnab had begun slowing down when he saw what was happening on the side of the road, but given the speed at which he was travelling, slowing down was not as easy as he had thought. As a result, he was still travelling at a fair clip when he rushed into the scene. That actually worked in his favour, as he really had not thought through much by way of a plan of attack. He bumped into the nearest man with the impact of a car travelling at a dozen kilometres per hour, sending him flying several feet. The man landed in a heap with several cracked ribs, and was going to take no further part in the night's proceedings, other than to be a mute spectator to the fate that was to befall his friends.

In the darkness, the two other men shouted, trying to see what had just hit their friend. As the scrambled to get their bearings, Arnab told them to let the women go. As he did, he regretted not having used his advantage of surprise to take out the two remaining men. They now knew that they faced a solitary man, and he had given them a chance to prepare themselves.