The Hate Machine – A Short Story

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She felt odd and flustered when he touched the bottom of her hand when she extended towards him the quarter plate containing, barfi, gulab jamun and Samosa. She shifted her hand away and moved towards the other invitees, who were the mother and the sister of the boy and offered them the plates containing the eatables.

“Thank you Uma,” said Sarswati, the boy’s mother.

Uma bent her head, nodded and sat on the chair across the table. 

“Please help yourself. You will like the barfi and gulab jamun, we got these from Bhanwari Lal Sweets,” Shanti, Uma’s mother said.

“Yes they are nice. Have a bite Rakesh,” Sarswati urged the boy who was her son.

“I like the gulab Jamun, they are very soft, ” Malti, Sarswati’s daughter said.

“So Rakesh, I heard that you are going to follow your father’s footsteps. I appreciate it, we need young politicians in our country,” Ramesh, Uma’s father said looking at him.

“Yes uncle. I am a member of the Party and will help my Dad,” Ramesh replied.

“Yes, he has already started holding meetings in my husband’s constituency, mixing with people and listening to their grieviances,” Sarswati, added.

“Good, very good. Keep it up. You have our best wishes,” Ramesh smiled and said. 

“Do you want to consult Swamiji, or should we keep Sunday 24th September for the engagement ceremony?” Shanti asked.

Sarsawati looked towards her children. Both Rakesh and Malti nodded, conveying their acceptence.

“Yes, the 24th of September will be fine. It is Sunday and my husband will be free,” Sarsawati replied. 

“Fine, we will decide on the venue and other details and let you know soon,” Shanti said.

They heard the front door bell ringing; Uma got up and opened the door. She found her friend with a broad smile on her face and  holding both her ears. She escorted her to the room where her friend greeted all of them with folded hands.

“Namaste. Sorry aunty and uncle, for being late. The traffic is horrible, even on my scooty I had to struggle to reach here,” she said humbly.

“No issues beti, you are on time,” Ramesh reassured her.

“Come sit here Razia, meet Rakesh’s mother and sister.” Shanti told her.

Razia nodded and sat next to Uma. Saraswati looked at her son, whose eyes were fixed towards Razia.

“They look like twins, don’t they? What do you think, Rakesh?” Ramesh asked.

Rakesh, caught unawares, shook his head, with a wry smile. 

“Since their school days I have had to deal with these two, both have had their share of scolding from me,” Shanti remarked. 

Razia looked at Uma and smiled, she got up and stood behind Shanti’s chair.

“Aunty, your scolding to me was worse than my mother’s, but Uma always had hell from you,” Razia said, bending and placing her chin affectionately on Shanti’s head.

“I felt agitated when both would come to me with long faces after the scolding. Kept sweets in my pocket for them,” Ramesh reminisced.

Both Saraswati and Rakesh listened to them with blank faces and shifted uncomfortably in their chairs.

“You always gave more sweets to Razia, she is your favorite,” Uma exclaimed quietly.

“We will meet on the 24th. Do give me a call soon,” Saraswati said, putting down her tea cup. 

She got up and moved towards the door, the others followed her. They moved towards the car and a well built person opened the car door for Saraswati to enter and occupy the rear seat. Rakesh sat in front and Malti sat next to her mother. The driver Mohan, looked towards the family members and Razia who were standing next to the car with folded hands. He said namaste to them and drove off. 

The next day while she was in her office, Uma received a call from Rakesh on her mobile. She told him she was busy and would return his call during her lunch period which was an hour later.

Rakesh urged her to call back as he had an urgent message for her. Uma agreed and hung up.

At the lunch hour she left her office, entered a vacant room, located at the end of the corridor and called Rakesh on her mobile.

“Yes, I am free and I can talk,” Uma said when she was connected.

“Both my parents are unhappy,” Rakesh said.

“Why? What’s wrong?” She asked anxiously.

“They want you not to meet Razia any more. They want you to sever your relationship with her immediately,” he told her.

“But why should I do that?” She queried

“She is a Muslim and we hate them. I do not want my wife to mix around with Muslims,” he replied. 

Uma kept silent and felt alarmed at the conversation which appeared to her to be ridiculous and silly.

“Did you hate Muslims when you were in school and college?” She asked him.

“No, I had good friends who were Muslims,” he said.

“Then why now?” She asked.

For a while he waited before he replied.

“I…it is something you will not understand. They have plundered our country, killed our men and women, raped our women and destroyed our country. They have their own country now and should go there or convert to our religion,” he spoke emphatically.

“ Oh my God! You learned all this now?” She exclaimed.

“Yes, my Party has given me these lessons. They want our country to be great and for that we have to get rid of those who are harming us. Muslims are our foremost enemies, whom we have to fight,” he said.

“I am astounded! I really do not know what to say,” she said.

“Please break up with Razia and any other Muslims whom you know. Do not bring Razia to our engagement function,” he instructed her.

She sighed and remained silent, her mind was still reeling under the words she had heard so far.

“I will do what my conscience says and that my parents want me to do,” she said and hung up.

The engagement party was held at the Shangri La restaurant and Razia attended and participated in all the ceremonies. Mahesh sat at a distance and watched his son with a satisfied and benign look. The girl’s father had promised him a very substantial dowery when he had met him a month earlier with his son’s proposal for marriage to the girl. The money would be useful to help the advancement of his son’s political  career. However, the issue regarding the girl’s family with Muslim’s worried him. He had to resolve this.

For the past two days Uma was expecting a call from Rakesh. On returning from the office, she decided to spend the evening with Razia.  After a quick freshen up she picked up her scooter and headed for Razia’s house which was 5 kms away. The traffic had thinned out and it took her around 20 minutes to reach the house. She parked the scooter and was surprised to notice a truck standing not very far from her. She knocked at the door and entered it when it opened.

“Where is Razia?” She asked.

“She has not returned from her office. She said she will be late and told me to tell you to meet her there,” Razia’s mother said.

“Oh! She could have given me a call on the mobile. I would have not bothered you and met her by going directly to her office,” Uma said. 

They heard loud knocks on the door and Uma proceeded to open it. She saw two masked men with revolvers in their hands standing in front of her. She ducked and turned to run when she felt a piercing pain at the back of her head. She blacked out and remained unconscious.

“Is it the girl” A man asked

“Yes she is the one?” The other man replied confidently, although in the dim light the visibility was poor.

They picked her and threw her in the truck. One man remained with her while the other took the steering wheel and drove off.

Mahesh was in a good mood as he watched the debate which centered around the mosque where a Shiv Ling was purportedly found. Another masala for his workers, another media coverage for him for  which he was always ready. 

Suddenly the ‘Breaking News’ flashed on the screen and a report about multiple rape and murder appeared. He remained transfixed on the screen not wanting to believe the image in front of his eyes. In rage he shouted out loudly calling out to his driver Mohan. On hearing him, Saraswati and Rakesh rushed into the room.  They were aghast when they saw the images on the TV screen.

“Om Shanti! Om Sadagati!” Saraswati murmured.

Rakesh remained dumbfounded for a while and thereafter started crying out loudly.

When Mohan, the driver appeared, Mahesh took him to the next room and slapped him on his cheeks.

“Sahab, both the girls had their heads covered when I saw them. They looked so much the same,” Mohan wept and said.

“Not a word to any one if you want to live,” Mahesh told him in a threatening voice.

He took out his mobile phone and punched a number.

“Kailash Ji. Namaskar,” He said when he was connected.

“Namaste Sir,” the SHO replied.

“I have seen the TV just now. The Muslims have spread terror again? What are you doing about it?” Mahesh asked.

“Sir we will capture the culprits soon and put them in jail,” Kailash replied.

The next day a smile returned to Mahesh’s face when he heard the morning news.

“Aftab Gul and Sheikh Amin have been arrested in a very swift operation by the police. An FIR has been filed and they are being charged for the rape and murder of Uma Ramesh.”