Vikram Chandra - Sacred Games

I had him. I beckoned to him over the desk, and whispered, 'Advani Saab, have you ever eaten an apple like that?' He laughed, shook his head, threw up his hands, dismissed the notion. 'No, really, I mean it, there are plenty of these stars who can be arranged.'

'No,' he said. 'No, I don't believe that. Everyone says these things.'

'Are you saying I'm lying?'

'No, no. But.'

'Don't worry, Advani Saab. You wait and see. I'll bring you an apple.'

He hemmed and hawed and protested, like a guest making ritual refusals, but I was sure. I left him, went back to the barrack. I called Bunty, and told him we needed a film star for the jailer. 'But, bhai,' he said. 'Where am I going to get a film star?'

'Bastard,' I said, 'you're the king of Bombay, and you can't get a film star? Chutiya. Call that woman.'

'What woman?'

'Chotta Badriya used to get girls from her. Look in his diary, you'll find her number. If not there, he must have noted it down somewhere. Track her down. Some Jojo or Juju or something like that.'

'Yes, bhai. Anything else, bhai?'

I was quiet. There was something else, something that was sticky, that was bumping like a pebble between the gears of my brain. I had learnt to pay attention to these half-felt botherations. And Bunty had learnt to wait. I let it swim to the surface. 'Okay, Bunty. There is something else. This Sharma-ji, when he makes his payments, takes delivery, does he come with anyone else?'

'Drivers for the vans or trucks, loaders, a couple of guards. UP plates on the vehicles.'

'Do we know anything else about him, his backers?'

'No, bhai.'

'We need to know more. I don't like this, doing such business with people we know nothing about. Find out.'

'I will, bhai.'

'Be careful. Don't tip them off. Take your time, I don't care. Go very slowly but find out.'

'Understood, bhai.'

I took my afternoon nap. Shortly after I woke up, my boys brought in my temple, and the television set. It took eight of them to carry the temple. It was made of marble, and had a special granite base, to take the weight. There was a graceful statue of Krishna, playing his flute, his gold dhoti flaring behind him. He was poised on the balls of his feet, one foot behind and crossed over the other. He was dancing. The boys put up his temple, and installed him in it as the prisoners buzzed happily. Then we all sat down for our first puja. Meetu and Dipu sang a bhajan. Date put a big tika on my forehead, and Kataruka had a garland ready for me. I took the garland and put it at Krishna's feet.

Then we switched on the television. I had the seat of honour, directly in front of its high perch, in the exact middle of the room. The entire barrack arranged itself in a huge half-moon behind me, with the boys in the first row. We switched it on, and with perfect timing, Deewar was just starting on Zee. There were no arguments, we watched it. Every man in the barrack had seen it before, but there wasn't a whisper when the film was running, except when the lines were called out before the characters said them, and when great bursts of applause rang out. We were all with Amitabh, we were with him through his climb to the top, but when the inspector brother said, 'I have Ma with me,' the whole barrack said it with him. The film ran through dinner-time, but a quick consultation with my new friend Advani fixed that problem, and dinner was delayed, only for that day. On that day we were all together, all one.

That was how my days went, improving the condition of the inmates, managing the affairs of the company. The gaandu special court kept refusing my bail applications, and my lawyers kept making them. And so I languished in the raj of TADA, and my suffering continued. Every day, I spoke with Bunty. You cannot imagine how much work it is to run a company, all the things one has to think about: finance, accounts, law cases, pensions, distribution, publicity, benefits, equipment and transportation, inflows, outflows, discipline problems. But I had work, and my hands back on my company, so I slept well at nights. In the mornings, the television was going the minute we got back into the barrack after the count. The boys always switched it to a bhajan programme, and I would sit and listen for a while. Then we switched it to news. One morning, Date came to me, looking sour.

'These bastard landyas,' he said.

'What?'

'I hear they're complaining about the temple and television.'

'Complaining? Complaining how?'

'They're saying you're a Hindu don after all. Setting up big-big temples, and giving televisions to play bhajans.'

'I didn't hear them complaining when they were watching Dewaar again last night.' The channel had been playing it over again.

'Actually some of them did. They like the film and Amitabh. But they also say the story is really about Haji Mastan, but he had to be made into a Vijay because a movie about a Muslim don can't be made in this industry.'

'So it's the producer's fault that he has to worry about all the money he invests in the stars? These bastards will pay out of their pockets when the film doesn't recover?'

'Their jaat is like that, bhai. Ungrateful bastards. And if you do something for the Hindus, they always think it's against them.'

I was angry, but I was thinking. You can't change how people think by beating them up, and this was a problem of belief. And even after the bomb blasts and the riots, I had Muslim boys working for me. I was, after all, publicly a secular don. Date was muttering curses. 'Find out what they need,' I said. 'See if they need copies of the Koran or something. Let's do something for them.'

'I tell you they won't change, bhai. Always complaining, complaining.'

'Just do it.'

He went off, his shoulders tight and head down, like a bull. The irritation stayed with me, under my skin. At nine-thirty, Bunty called with more irritation. He was upset about Jojo.

'Bhai,' he said, 'this Jojo bitch needs to be taught a lesson.'

'What did she do?'

'For weeks now she's been giving me trouble. She won't send any girl to the jail for Advani, she says. And she won't negotiate on price. But it's her whole attitude, bhai. Like she's some sort of big boss, not afraid of anyone. "If you don't want to do business, then don't," she told me. I asked her if she knew who she was talking to, and she said, "Yes, you're Gaitonde's little Bunty." It was the way she said it, bhai. I cursed her and she started laughing. She's mad. I wanted to go out and put two golis up her gaand, bhai.'

'But you called me instead. That's good, Bunty. Self-control always.'

'Only because you said we needed to deal with her, bhai. I don't know how Badriya put up with her. I told her to treat your name with respect, and she says, "Or what? He'll kill me?"'

'She said that? Then you said?'

'I told her that she was a screw-loose randi. And then I called you. Let me teach her. Let me beat her up, bhai.'

'What's her number?'

'You're going to talk to her yourself?'

'No, I'm going to have the barrack sing to her. Give me the number.'

So I called Jojo. She picked up on the second ring. 'Haan? Tell me,' she said, half in Hindi and half in English.

I came back in Hindi: 'That's how you say hello?'

'Who is this?'

'Your baap.'

'He died years ago, that weak bastard.'

'You don't have any respect for anything?'

'Men are worse than dogs. Especially men who waste my time. Like you.'

'You better listen to me.'

'Why?'

'People who make me angry suffer a lot.'

She burst out laughing, and she wasn't pretending: her laugh was wild and full, and hearing it I started to smile a bit.

'I don't believe this,' she said. 'Such big-big dialogues. I know who this is. The big Gaitonde himself, calling me.'