Parts -1,2,3,4,5,6&7 combined to understand the story.
Part 1
Prologue-2019
News update: The revolution of earth slows down due to the change in the climatic conditions. In every part of the world, the change is noticed. There are no rains in Spain for the consecutive 4 years. The lakes in the hill station of Ooty, India gets dried. Many rivers in the United States of America are without water. Occurrence of snowfall in Miami, USA. The depth of the borewell for water goes deep down every year. The effect reflects in the ocean too. The sea level is rising, and few cities are now “Ghost Cities” submerged in water. Surprisingly in a few parts of the ocean, land is rising.
The scientific community and the public are worried about the future, but one Physics student in Germany is keenly seeing the developments and it kindled lot of interest in him. As usual, everyone was back to the routine day-to-day activities. Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg is challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change, but all leaders are busy worrying only about the next elections.
Present day-Istanbul-Turkey.
Osman the police inspector is getting ready to go home from the Police station on a Friday evening as he wants to spend his time with the family, the weekend. A woman named Banu in her 50’s enters the police station. She approaches Osman and registers a complaint that his son Abdullah did not return home from the college. Osman asks Banu, “There must be many reasons for your son not to reach home on time, and why do you want to register the complaint on the same evening”. Banu says, “I know it is only the evening of the day, but my son Abdullah never misses swimming session on any Fridays. After returning from College every Friday, he has never missed any swimming class for the last 4 years. That is what is worrying me. I tried to reach him multiple times, but his mobile phone is not getting connected. Osman was curious and got more details about him. His father was serving in the Turkish armed forces and died in a war. Since then, Banu brought up Abdullah in his life. She says Abdullah was fine till this morning. The only regret in his life is, he misses his father dearly so much that he always argues “Why does a country fight with another country for place? When soldiers are killed in the battle, they give awards, does these awards bring back the lost life for the family? these medals decorate the walls and add no value to the life of the person, who has lost the dear one”. Many times, in anger, he has thrown the medal that was received for his father’s service to the nation. Banu said, “Beneath the anger, I could see the love of a son who misses his father so much.”
Osman informs his wife that an important case has come up, so he will come home late. He gets Abdullah’s mobile number and informs the service provider Turkcell to trace the current location for Abdullah. Osman gets the social media details of Abdullah from Banu. To his dismay, for the last 4 years Abdullah had not used it.
In the meantime, Osman gets a call from the mobile service provider Turkcell that they could trace the last location near Bosphorus Strait. Osman rushes to the spot with a sniffer dog.
The sniffer dog finds the damaged SIM card and Abdullah’s bag containing the college books near the bank of Bosphorus Strait. For Osman, Abdullah is not kidnapped by anyone since any kidnapper will not leave the bag and the SIM card at the bank of Bosphorus Strait. It looks like a voluntary act and not a kidnap or just to confuse. Osman’s worry is where has Abdullah gone into the sea? because the Bosphorus strait leads into the ocean!
Banu had lost her husband and now her only son Abdullah. Many sunrises and sunsets happened after that incident but there was no information about Abdullah. Was he kidnapped or if it was a voluntary act, why and where should he leave to? No answers.
Banu throws away her husband’s medal into Bosphorus Strait and keeps the home door always open with a belief that one day her son Abdullah will return.
Was Abdullah kidnapped or killed or had left home?
The story continues….
Naked Island-Part 2
Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu-India.
In the coastal city of Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu state, the southernmost tip of India lived Akilan, a Tamil teacher. He was the headmaster of the Government high school in Kanyakumari. A schoolteacher earnings are not that much, but he was happy in teaching Tamil language to the students. He was inspired by the Great Tamil Poet, Subramania Bharati. He has a girl child and Akilan named “Bharati” after his inspirational figure. He stopped with one child since he could not afford to bring up other children due to his low income. His room was filled with the poet Bharati’s books and his photographs. Little did Akilan know that someday her daughter will become a Girl, the great Poet imagined.
During her school final exam holidays, she stepped into her father’s room since she felt boredom being the single child in the family. She started reading the modern Tamil poems and books of the Poet Bharathi. Once she started reading the works of the poet, she was pulled into the world of the poet Bharathi, who was a great nationalist, outstanding freedom fighter and a social visionary.
Whenever Akilan was at home, Bharathi would ask about the life of the poet. One day she asked her father, “Why the great Indian Poet Bharathi considered as a national poet, pioneer of modern Tamil literature, people’s poet, great freedom fighter, had great vision for the independent India, a man who knows 30+ languages had only 10+ people to attend his funeral?”. Akilan jokingly said, “Unfortunately his era did not have Twitter or Facebook to mobilize people. The great thing about him is, no student passes this world without studying or reading about him in his or her school. Even today every school in our state has a picture of him”.
Many evenings on the Kanyakumari beach, she would loudly sing the poet’s song “Achamillai achamillai, acham enpathu illaye”- Fear I have not, even if all the world opposes me. Even if the entire sky breaks and falls on my head, fear I have not. She was moved by the incident of the poet Bharathi, when he offered grains to birds when he had very little rice grains in his own house due to poverty.
Slowly the timid and shy Bharathi got transformed into a brave girl. She participates regularly in the school elocution competitions and her fierce speech attracted many. She spoke against the caste system in the Hindu society and asks why every student is admitted asking for his or her caste? Wherever she spoke, she made popular the poet’s theme of “If one single man suffers from starvation, we will destroy the entire world”. Poet Bharathi wore a turban due to his admiration of Sikhs. She started wearing a turban like the poet and her mother Malar Vizhi will scold her, “If you wear like this, then no man will marry you!”. She was not worried as she was on a mission in her life.
She became popular day by day. She got the prestigious national award and came into limelight. Two eyes started watching from outside the country and tracking her. Akilan was surprised when one day Bharathi wanted to learn swimming. Since first time, her daughter asked an interest outside the poet’s world, he agreed and he was so surprised that there was no day, she skipped the swimming classes.
She was in the final year in college, one evening Malar Vizhi was ready to prepare the crispy and delicious vada for Bharathi. From the kitchen she was looking at the wall clock and that evening, the two arms of the wall clock were moving so fast for Malar Vizhi since Bharathi did not return home on her usual evening time. Malar Vizhi informs Akilan and slowly tension grips them. They went to the college which is very near to their home as Bharathi never carries mobile phone to college. The staff informed them that she attended college and left for the day. They search around the city and ask her friends, and no one has any clue about her. The evening became so dark that they had to approach the local police station. Police swung into action and the entire city police were on their knees all through the night but no trace of Bharathi.
Next day morning, all the news channel started screaming and started giving their own theories that she might have been kidnapped or murdered due to her fierce speeches, or someone wanted to suppress her voice which was appealing day by day. Akilan and Malar Vizhi did not expect a turn in their life as she was the only child and they had lost her.
Akilan with a sense of grief enters his room. He started looking at the picture of the poet Bharathi and talking to him, “I made my daughter strong as you, still lost her in my life”. Suddenly his eyes noticed a piece of paper protruding at the back of the picture. Akilan pulled the paper and opened it. It was a piece of paper, handwritten. He wiped his tears to read what was written on the piece of paper.
“Forgive me, I have chosen the path of Revolution”-Bharathi.
Akilan showed the handwritten paper to Malar Vizhi, and both decided to tear the paper, so the outside world do not know this revolutionary path taken by their daughter Bharathi.
Where has Bharathi gone? What is the revolution she is about to carry on? What is the world going to witness?
The story continues….
Naked Island-Part 3
Karachi, Pakistan
1947, August 14th, Pakistan got independence from the British rule and next day August 15th, India got independence. The transfer of power took place in the dark hour and many of the darkest incidents happened in the history of these two nations, since the transition was not smooth. There are many untold stories which are important to this date of history. It was one of the greatest tragic migrations in human history.
Millions of Muslims made their way to East and west Pakistan and millions of Hindus moved in the opposite direction since the partition was based on religion. The British left the country abruptly. All were happy for the independence of the nation, but the atmosphere was tense following the massacre that happened in the subsequent days. 200,000 lost their lives.
Rashina Begum story begins here.
Ayesha was born in a big family of 12. Her father decided to move to Pakistan from India on hearing the radio news. They decide to board a train from Punjab leaving their large cultivation lands and home. The trains were fully occupied, and many travelled on the top of the train. When they were halfway, they were attacked by a mob. Ayesha and her father were only left alive and remaining family members were killed. They cannot go back and the only option for them was to go to Pakistan. They had to escape and reach the modern-day city named Karachi.
Ayesha was just 10 years old when she reached Karachi. She got married and has a child, and she is Rashina Begum.
Rashina Begum, a young schoolgirl did not go to school on Wednesday, 25th March 1992, that was the memorable day for all Pakistanis. Pakistan was the underdogs of the world cup tournament and reached the finals by the great captainship of Imran Khan. In the final against England in Australia’s Melbourne ground, Pakistan struggled in the first session of their batting but remarkably came back in the bowling in the second session and lifted the trophy. Imran Khan’s leadership was admired by all and that paved the way for Rashina Begum to pick the cricket bat and play cricket in the school.
She was a gifted stroke player and a destructive opening batter. Steadily she climbed to the Pakistan national cricket team due to her immense talent. She became the captain and single handedly won many games for Pakistan in a way such that if she fails, the team fails. She became a national icon in Pakistan. It was one such big game against the archrivals India, she played and won the game. When she reached home, she asked her mother Ayesha “Did you watch the match today?” Ayesha was silent. When Rashina Begum again asked “Did you watch?”. Ayesha said, “I don’t watch matches between Pakistan and India. That not only brings back the old memories of partition but also the pressure created by the media. After all it is a game played between two countries and not a war. One team must win, and another must lose and on a single day, both cannot win. The best team on the day will win but media adds lot of pressure.”
Ayesha tells Rashina Begum the old tragic story about the partition of the two countries. Rashina Begum also learns about the history of their family. First time in her life, she regrets for choosing this game as her profession since she could not see her mother in despair. Rashina Begum asked her mother Ayesha, “Why there is no leader on both sides to heal the scar and put an end to the prevailing enmity?”. Ayesha answered “It is because they want to fuel and allow it to deepen further so their positions are safe. No one has the foresight to look into humanity and I don’t believe anyone would do so until and unless there is a revolution”. That night conversation became a turning point in her life. One day Rashina Begum asked Ayesha, “When will both the countries truly handshake?”. Ayesha said “The day when both countries realize that all religions are equal, there will be no enmity between them. The day when a temple, mosque, church are built in the same place, there will be peace between both the countries, but I don’t think, it will happen in the near future.”
Added to her misery, she is approached for the 20:20 overs league cricket matches. She straightway refuses to play in 20:20 league cricket matches since the game is lost in playing 20:20 overs game and it has become purely commercial. The real game of 5-day test cricket is slowly dying, after this the 50 overs one day match will also die, and soon the game may be reduced to 10:10 overs, a mockery of the game itself. This angered many 20:20 overs league cricket match sponsors. She decided to call it a day, but fate decided another way. Her classmate and best friend is in Germany. She goes to Germany to meet her and attends a symposium. After this visit to Germany, Rashina Begum had changed a lot. On her return to Pakistan, she joins swimming classes.
4 years later, it was the 50 overs one day women’s international world cup tournament. Pakistan was winning all the league matches and reached the finals, same way India too was winning all the league matches and reached the finals, making it a big clash of the century. The finals are in the hometown of Rashina Begum, the National stadium Karachi. Fear started running in her mind that if she wins, it will be the first world cup title for her country, but if she fails, she could not imagine the state of her house in Karachi, it would be ransacked. Additionally, the memories of the partition shared by her mother keeps haunting her.
Due to the immense pressure which she could not take, she informs the cricket board that she will not play the final match against India. The board gets shocked and insists to play and win the game for Pakistan and there is no other alternative now. The news leaks into the nation and the entire country’s focus switches to Rashina Begum.
She goes back to the hotel where all team members are staying. All team members are ready for the big game, the next day. Next day morning, the bus arrives to pick the Pakistani team to the National stadium Karachi, all the team members arrive except Rashina Begum. They try to contact her, but her mobile is not reachable. Rashina Begum goes missing from the hotel and could not be found anywhere in Pakistan. The game was played without Rashina Begum, and they lost the game. As expected, her house was ransacked.
Where has Rashina Begum gone?
US Navy Head Quarters-Washington DC-Far distance away, there was an urgent meeting to discuss about some unusual objects moving under the sea which cannot be tracked through the radar system but could get few signals. They pass on the message to the US President for an imminent, suspected terrorist attack in the future through the Sea.
The story continues….
Naked Island-Part 4
Edinburgh Scotland.
It was a Sunday and Alexander was getting ready to go to St. Giles Cathedral. He was a wealthy businessman in the city. When he reached the Cathedral, there was a lot of commotion. A young boy named Brodie had stolen money from the wallet and was caught red handed. The bishop decided to hand over him to the local police. Alexander saw the young boy and his look showed him that he was a malnourished child. He asks the reason for stealing money. Brodie says, “I haven’t had food for the last 3 days and Iam hungry”. Alexander asks Brodie, “Where do you come from?”. The answer of “I have no home” by Brodie melted Alexander. He decides to take him since it was the same day 3 years back, he lost his wife and son in a car accident.
Brodie was lucky to grow up in the home of Alexander. Though the home had a big, decorated bed, he always slept on the carpet not to forget his origin. He grew up as a very disciplined boy. Keeping up the words of Alexander, Brodie joined Scotland Police, the world-famous Police force, to serve society. He joined as a detective and rose in the ranks solving mysterious and unsolved cases due to his hard work and dedication. Every night, Brodie goes to Alexander’s room and talks about the case he handles and informs him how the day went. Both developed a great bond and were like a real father and son.
Brodie always follows Apple founder Steve Jobs quote of “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards”. Many unsolved cases were given to him, and he was able to decipher by his acumen. Brodie was good at connecting all the dots and cracking any hard nuts. That made him popular and helped him to reach the top level of the Scotland Police force. He never budges against any political pressure for the cases taken up by him and he brings all cases to the judiciary. The first condition before he takes up a case is that he will not listen to any political leaders, whoever it may be. On the other hand, in any case if he feels the accused is made a victim due to others mistake or fault, he lets off the victim out of his books.
Brodie usually spends his Sunday evening at Silver Sand beach with his family. He gets a call from the Prime Minister of the country to meet him immediately. Brodie reaches the Prime Minister’s home and quickly understands the reason for his call when he notices the picture of Rashina Begum on the dining table. The Prime Minister says Brodie that the President of Pakistan had called him and asked the help of Scotland Police to find Rashina Begum as they could not trace her in Pakistan, and they are clueless.
Brodie asks the Prime Minister whether he knew the rules of his way of work. The Prime Minister smiled and said, “You are the only hope to find her out and here are the tickets to Karachi-Pakistan”.
Brodie lands in Karachi. Will Brodie be able to crack this high-profile case, or will it be the first case, he will have to face failure?
The story continues…
Naked Island-Part 5
Karachi, Pakistan.
Brodie lands in Karachi. He is greeted by the Intelligence chief of Pakistan. Brodie collects all her tour schedules and visits the hotel where she was missing last. When he goes through the countries she had travelled, Germany was one of the countries that she had travelled was not an official trip. The CCTV footage showed Rashina Begum had changed her attire leaving the hotel and not carrying anything in hand. Brodie then checks Rashina Begum’s social media and to his surprise, the account was not logged for the last 5 years. Brodie then asks the social media headquarters for the list of personnel who had the account but have not used social media for the last 5 years. Brodie concludes that Rashina Begum is neither kidnapped nor killed but has voluntarily disappeared. Where has she gone? She is the popular figure in Pakistan and even globally, so it is not easy to escape and that makes Brodie think about the plan Rashina has executed. Some things bigger is in the offing.
Brodie then plans to visit Rashina Begum’s home. Rashina Begum’s home is on the outskirts of Karachi city. It is a big and beautiful home, and a big garden leads to the home. The car stops at the entrance of the gate and Brodie walks into the garden. While passing by, he notices a small bird dead under a tree. He looks up and notices none of the trees in the huge garden had any nest. It goes into the back of his mind. He also notices a big swimming pool which was empty without water. Brodie is welcomed by Ayesha. Ayesha is dull and says, “Many come here and ask me lot of questions about Rashina Begum but none of them can find her. Iam tired and living alone now, since Rashina Begum’s father passed away due to ill health long back. I used to be alone whenever Rashina traveled for her cricket tournaments”.
Brodie asks Ayesha, the trip of Germany which Rashina Begum had been few years back. Ayesha tells Brodie that “Her close friend and classmate lives in Germany. After many years, she went to Germany to meet her”.
After a lengthy conversion, Brodie takes a leave from Ayesha. He informs her that “I strongly believe that Rashina is somewhere alive but not in Pakistan and she has left for a bigger purpose, which I will find it out soon.”
Brodie goes near to the swimming pool and asks, “For whom was this big swimming pool built?”. Ayesha informs Brodie “It was used by Rashina Begum for the last 5 years”. Brodie now notices the swimming pool equipped with an “Evaporative pool cooler”. Brodie asks Ayesha, the reason for fixing the “Evaporative pool cooler”. Ayesha says Brodie that “Rashina Begum always likes to take a cold swimming”. Brodie asks himself “Why did she always took a cold swimming, when cold swimming is not comfortable for the body’s health and even in Olympics the water temperature that is set is 21 degrees minimum. There is a specific reason behind this”. It was running through his mind while he was beginning to leave the home and walk towards the car passing through the garden.
While returning to the car, he again noticed the same small dead bird fresh under a tree. He went near the tree and saw the bird’s feathers were fresh and lying dead. He walked a few meters away and suddenly something struck in his mind. He was asking himself “The bird is dead, no nests nearby in the trees and why no insects are not attacking it to decompose?”. He walks back to the bird and picks it up in his hands. He notices the feathers are artificially made, it was so light and when he opens the feathers, he is shocked to see it is an artificial bird created by someone. He dismantles and finds a small chip and a dead battery. Brodie knew this was the first layer that got peeled off in this investigation and he believes there is a much bigger plan executed very well and anticipating a bigger outcome in the very near future.
He goes to the hotel, tries to read the small chip and as he expected, the chip was down, and nothing could be decoded. He believes that it was one of the messages which failed to reach Rashina Begum. Whose was sending these messages and why was it sent to Rashina Begum? She was a clean slate in the game, no other money was found in her account except the money she played for the matches and why did she leave all the fame and money behind? She did not have any boyfriend too. As he was in a deep thinking, he got the list from the social media cell about the list of personnel who had the account but have not used social media for the last 5 years. He asks them how many are alive now? How many have gone disappeared? Why did they not use social media? Get the list segregated country wise.
He alerts Interpol and gets the data of recently missing youths from all countries. Bharathi from Kanyakumari tops the list. Brodie can pick the minute information and is slowly beginning to crack the bigger nut. Will he be able to crack the case and solve the bigger network behind this?
The story continues…
Naked Island-Part 6
Barcelona, Spain.
Lorena hails from Barcelona and specifically she belongs to the Catalonian community. She had lost her father in one of the battles. The Catalonian area is the richest one and contributes to a major part of the revenue, but they are not recognized. Lorena wants the Catalonian identity not lost in the current generation. After her father died, Lorena could not study Law or medicine but could study History. During her history class, she learns more about the country and Europe is the worst country which has had many wars in the history of mankind. She was angry over Napoleon for the invasion of other territories. She believed Napoleon and Alexander were not great due to their invasion of other territories and showing their might. She often says to her mother, “Greatness comes to a person, who makes everyone happy”.
After completing her education, she joined as a tour guide to a travel agency. Since she knew history very well, she was able to explain very vividly to the tourists about the history of events. The feedback about her was going positive and she was the most sought out guide for high profile visitors. The travel agency informed her that next week the Korean president Byung-Ho will be visiting Spain and she should accompany the Korean president Byung -Ho during the tour. The scheduled day came. Korean president Byung-Ho arrived in Spain and that morning; the Prime minister office was waiting for Lorena to join the tour, but Lorena did not come. The Prime minister’s office contacted Lorena’s mother Lucia. She told the staff that she left early in the morning. They tried to contact her mobile, but it was found switched off and she was not traceable. The prime minister office was red faced since she was the one to accompany the Korean president Byung-Ho during the tour. Immediately, they made alternative arrangements for Lorena and the tour went on, but Lorena went missing. It sends shock waves to the government. They could not trace her. The news goes to Interpol and from Interpol it goes to Brodie.
For Brodie, it looks the same as the missing case of Bharathi from Kanyakumari, Rashina Begum of Pakistan. He understood it was the continuation. Brodie flies to Barcelona, Spain for the investigation. Brodie lands in Barcelona and PMO [Prime Minister Office] gives the complete information about Lorena. Brodie reaches the travel agency office. He starts his investigation and asks about Lorena to her manager. Juan, her manager, talks about the extraordinary knowledge of history she has learnt. Brodie asks Juan, “Was there a change in her nature or attitude anytime during her career?” Juan clearly says yes. “In the beginning, she was a lot worried about the country, the wars and often talks about her Catalonian identity which is lost now but I could see a lot of changes in the past 4 years. Now she is a lot happier. Her outlook changed and I very well remember that after an incident that was on one of the tours. She would often say that her life changed after meeting that tourist on one of the trips”. Brodie gets attentive to this point and asks about that tourist.
Juan explains “I very well remember, it was in December that year, freezing cold, after the end of the tour of Spain, few passengers give a tip to the guide, but this passenger gave the tip that was equivalent to the tour amount itself. Lorena was initially taken back by the amount, but the tourist simply walked away without saying anything. Lorena called the tourist and said, “Have you given it by mistake?” The tourist said, “No, it is not a mistake but a tip for the wonderful explanation you gave today”. Lorena said “Gracias” and was very happy. She told me that for the first time in her life, she is getting a huge tip for her knowledge. After a few minutes passed, the same tourist came again and said “I could see on the road about 2000 Euros, someone has dropped it. I don’t know Spanish and I don’t know who has dropped it. It would be better if you could give this money to any orphanage which could be the best way the money can be used”.
“Me and Lorena were surprised to see a young tourist bringing back the money found in the road. Anyone would use that money, but he came back and gave and that said a lot about that promising young man. Lorena was surprised and they exchanged their numbers and became friends and after that day, Lorena changed a lot”. Brodie asks Juan “Did Lorena learn swimming?”. Juan says “Yes, why do you ask that?”. Brodie says that confirmation is enough for me!
Brodie asks Juan the name of the tourist and where did he come from? Juan says, “I know very well about him. His name is Charles, a Tamilian from Sri Lanka”. They checked the record of the tour 4 years back in December for the tourist, it was confirmed as “CHARLES-SRILANKA”. Brodie tracks the address of Charles. It is from Colombo, Sri Lanka. He speaks to the Sri Lankan agencies. Brodie goes to the hotel and gets ready to fly to Colombo, Sri Lanka. In his briefcase, he checks whether the silencer gun is loaded with bullets. He always carries the licensed silencer gun for his safety. He boards the flight from Barcelona to Colombo.
After reaching the airport, immediately he goes to the address where Charles is staying. It is a very big house with a lot of plantations and is far away from the city and on the outskirts of the village.
He takes the silencer gun in his hand and rings the bell of the isolated house. To his surprise, the door was opened by a young lady with an acid-burned face.
Is Charles the Kingpin? A Tamilian gang leader, who is organizing all these?
The story continues…
Naked Island-7
Colombo, Sri Lanka
On seeing the young lady with an acid-burned face, Brodie hides the gun inside his pant pocket. The lady welcomes Brodie inside the house. It is a simple and beautiful house. The young lady asks Brodie, “You have knocked on the doors of this home, what help do you need? No one will go from this home empty handed after seeking any help, even though you are a foreigner and do not belong to this country”. Brodie couldn’t wake from this surprise welcome. Brodie asks straightforward, “Iam Brodie from Scotland yard, I want Charles”.
The young lady introduces herself as Yuvani and says “In Tamil culture, whomsoever comes into a Tamilian home, guests are offered to drink first. I will bring tender coconut water which is so sweet in this land”. It was the first time for Brodie to get such a reception and he loved it. When Yuvani goes to the backyard, Brodie looks at the room and notices a family group photo. It was a group photo of five members. The group was the father, mother and 3 children, and the 3 children were one boy and 2 girls.
In the meantime, Yuvani comes with the tender green coconut taken from the tree and offers Brodie. Sipping the coconut water, Brodie notices the face of Yuvani completely burnt. Sensing that, Yuvani tells Brodie, “Let me tell you about me and then you can ask whatever you want. This house belongs to Charles. He lives alone in this house. Iam a Sinhalese girl. A boy was continuously proposing to marry me and when I refused, he threw acid in my face. I was in the hospital for a long time and a lot of money drained for my poor family. After my parents passed away, I came to this city and was working in the school as a helper. I usually cover my face so no-one can see the acid mark scars on my face. Charles usually comes to the school for donations and one day due to the heat of the summer I had to remove the scarf to sprinkle water. Charles noticed me and called me and asked my entire story. He patiently listened and asked me, “Can you come to my house, stay there, and help me with the plantations?” Knowing his nature of donating to the school and always selling the vegetables and fruits grown in the backyard at a very nominal price, I immediately agreed to come to this house. I help with the vegetation and sell in the market. Charles lives alone and occasionally comes to this house. One thing Charles always tells me is that when anyone who comes to this house asking for help, always give it. After meeting and interacting with Charles, I removed the scarf since he gave me another independent life. I don’t need to hide my face now; Charles has told me to remove the scarf and show the world who Iam. I don’t need to be afraid, rather the boy who threw acid should be afraid and cover his face. Charles has changed me a lot and Iam grateful for that”. Yuvani says Brodie, pls let me know how this home can help you.
Brodie asks, “Where is Charles now?”. As I told you, Charles occasionally comes to this house. Most of the time, he lives in Germany where he studied. There were many mementos in the hall where Charles got at the University of Munich as the university topper. Brodie notes the University of Munich, and his next stop is the University of Munich. Brodie thanks Yuvani for the wonderful hospitality she gave for him and says that he will meet Charles in Germany.
He leaves for Germany from Colombo. He reaches the University of Munich, and he is directed to meet, Mistila the head of the Physics department. Brodie introduces himself to Mistila and the purpose of his visit to meet Charles. Mistila says “I’m not surprised that there will be visitors to enquire about Charles? because Charles is an outstanding student in this university. If I want to tell the story of Charles, I must take you to the graveyard, because his story started from the graveyard”. Mistila started with suspense. Many life’s start from the mother’s womb, but his life started from the graveyard. We all think death is the end of the life, but death is the beginning of another life.
Mistila takes Brodie to the nearby graveyard and starts her conversation.
“Charles came to Germany and had his education. He studied Physics and then later did his doctorate and gives guest lectures in many workshops across the globe due to his excellent knowledge of the subject. Charles is a very quiet, calm, and composed person. I have admired his knowledge and his perseverance and always the tops the class in the university. He is not talkative but when he speaks, every word comes like a bullet to the point. He can impress anyone with his speech even in the first encounter itself. When other boys and girls in his class of his age would spend time the weekend boozing, he was always found in the library reading books. I remember it was during the first semester exams and one of the exams was on November 8th, and he did not appear for the exam. The next day, I went to his hostel to enquire about his absence for the exam. He was reluctant to speak at first but after giving confidence, he opened his life to me. Charles does “Mouna Viratham-Fasting of Silence” on November 8th every year. He will not speak to anyone on that day but be silent and be in memories of that day, whatever happens he never skips “Mouna Viratham-Fasting of Silence”. That day he shared his story, which Iam sharing to you since it will be helpful to you”.
“Charles’s father Nelson had migrated from Tamil Nadu, India to Sri Lanka for a living and he started his life as a rubber plantation worker and slowly and steadily rose up-to owning a big rubber plantation land. Charles was the last child and he had two elder sisters in the family. It was a very happy family. Charles would return from school and play with his sisters in the big garden. On vacation and weekends, the children from the village used to come and they would play till sunset. Charles’s mother would prepare food for all the children playing in the garden. On all festivals, irrespective of the religion all would gather and share the sweets that were prepared at their home.”
“It was 1983, Sri Lanka was witnessing the bloodiest ethnic war between the Tamilians and the Sinhalese. The island nation was torn apart, and the whole country was burning, and it grabbed the attention of the whole world at that time. Tamilians were fleeing the country as their homes were destroyed. One fateful evening, few uniformed men came to Charles home and ransacked the home. They attacked the entire family. Charles, as a child, did not know what was happening. He was beaten and thrown in the garden. When Charles regained his memory, he could not stand up as his right leg bone got fractured. Managing to walk, he went to the house seeing the entire family killed. His mother and both his sisters were lying naked like a torn cloth. Charles cried, shouted but their lives had been taken away hours ago. It was a complete disaster for Charles. Locals buried all of them in the graveyard in the garden. Charles did not want to live his life losing all his loved ones. He jumped into the Sea to die but the Sea did not want to take him, it threw him back in the coast.”
“A Buddhist monk who was walking along the coast noticed him lying and took him to his monastery. The Buddhist monk told Charles, “I know the sorrow you are undergoing, no-one should undergo that, there are many untold stories like yours in this island. There is a purpose in this life for you. Find that purpose and you are destined to do that, but don’t end your life. You will be the light for much darkness”. Charles was staying in the monastery serving the Buddhist monk. After few years, the Buddhist monk decided to send him to Germany for studies. He told Charles that he would take care of the land, home and decided to send him abroad so he could forget the place and see the new place and start a new beginning. Come whenever you want to see me. Charles studied in Germany through a caretaker in this country and later came to this university for studying Physics and completed his doctorate.
Charles was extraordinarily brilliant like Charles the son of Velupillai Prabhakaran, when he too studied in Germany and designed the first fighter jet to evade the radar. His fighter jet entered Colombo evading the military radar. Charles also was working on Submarines that cannot be detected and can travel at the lowest depth of the Ocean. He successfully designed Submarines which can sustain very high underwater pressure and the movement not traceable”.
This made Brodie to quickly connect the dots backwards.
Mistila ends her conversation saying “We think all are peacefully sleeping in this graveyard but not all are so, few are lying with buried sorrows, which are carried to the next generations. The world should understand that. Penicillin was discovered by the world to save millions of lives and the same world made the atomic bomb which led to great human tragedy”. She continued “I know the intelligence of Charles; he can complete any task alone without the help of anyone. He can do bigger work. Since his past was filled with sorrows, I do not know about human minds, since it does wonders, and it can also do worst disasters. His last visit to Germany was for the lecture in the workshop 3 years ago. Even during these technological days, he always prefers to connect by letters”. In a passive voice Mistila ends again, “I don’t know whether to say Goodluck for you to catch Charles or good luck for Charles, but the world should understand the pain, the people like Charles are carrying in their entire life. I know Charles very well; he plans for years and executes very well without any mistakes and his silence is his greatest weapon”.
Brodie is now clear about Charles. Is Charles about to carry out one of the deadliest attacks through sea using these revolutionary people going missing voluntarily. From where is he going to attack, and which will be the first place he will be attacking? how many have joined him? Where is he? Under which water Charles is hiding? How to trap him? Will Brodie be able to catch Charles. Who will be the winner?
Miles away in Singapore, Xiang, who is working as a Physiotherapist is missing and did not return home.
The story continues…
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