Skip to main content

Crime: Death without aadhar



Fiction

Mr Varma was about to rest in peace when something arrested his death.  A police officer stood beside his deathbed demanding his aadhar card. 

“You can’t die without the aadhar,” insisted the officer.  “How dare you disobey the rules of the country when we have such an efficient government?”

“I’m sorry,” Mr Varma wheezed. 

“Not having the aadhar is a crime.  You are under arrest.”

The constables moved Mr Varma into the police vehicle which was designed like an ambulance.  The vehicle was a new addition to the police force under the Prime Minister’s Kaanoon Kaaryaanvayan Yojna.

Even before the PMKKY vehicle reached the destination Mr Varma breathed his last.  He was a good citizen, however.  The residents of his Society will vouch for that if you care to ask them.  Like all good citizens, Mr Varma wanted to obey the government.  But he had no choice here. So he just wheezed and died.

“The bugger died,” a constable reported to the officer.

“How dare he?”  The officer fumed.  “How dare he disobey such a powerful and efficient government as ours which has designed clear rules for everything?  Put him under custody.”

The constables looked at each other.  They dared not utter a word.  In the new dispensation nobody questioned the higher authorities.  You just obeyed.  That’s efficiency.  This is a country with a difference.

Mr Varma’s body was shoved into a custody cell.

The constables who were sent to bring the relatives of Mr Varma came back with the information that he had no relatives except a daughter who was now in America with her husband.  She had arranged her father’s cremation with an event manager. 

“Then bring the event manager.  Let him produce the aadhar for his client.”

“The event manager terminated the contract as soon as he got to know that the client did not have the aadhar,” reported the constable.

The officer’s eyes widened.  “Such a patriot!  Who is that man?  Bring him here.  I will recommend him for Bharat Ratna.”

The event manager touched the feet of the constable and begged, “Leave me alone, sirs.  I have a family to look after.”

The constables did not understand the connection between the event manager’s family and Bharat Ratna.  They were only trained to run, shoot, beat up and – unofficially – accept bribes.  Since the official duties of running, shooting or beating up were not applicable here, they demanded what was left.  The event manager took out his purse and the constables grabbed it.  “Okay,” they said giving the empty wallet back.

“File the FIR,” ordered the officer when the constables returned.  “Crime: death without aadhar.”

One of the constables came rushing to say that the corpse had started growing in size.  The officer frowned.  But on the insistence of the constable, Officer went to the cell.  Mr Varma was no more a mere corpse.  He was a growing corpse.  In a country with a difference.

Comments

  1. Pranju chakrapaniAugust 6, 2017 at 10:00 PM

    As was done in 1984, Aadhar has the power to" unperson" a person.

    ReplyDelete
  2. जितेन्द्र माथुरAugust 9, 2017 at 3:55 PM

    Very good satire Sir. Yes, this Aadhar issue is made to cross all sane limits. The system of checks and balances appears to have completely vanished rendering the government an unrestricted power to do anything according to its whims and fancies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalAugust 10, 2017 at 8:51 PM

      Glad you came here. I know that you are busy and when you come you go through all my posts. Thank you.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Death as a Sculptor

Book Discussion An Introductory Note : This is not a book review but a reflection on one of the many themes in The Infatuations , novel by Javier Marias. If you have any intention of reading the novel, please be forewarned that this post contains spoilers. For my review of the book, without spoilers, read an earlier post: The Infatuations (2013). D eath can reshape the reality for the survivors of the departed. For example, a man’s death can entirely alter the lives of his surviving family members: his wife and children, particularly. That sounds like a cliché. Javier Marias’ novel, The Infatuations , shows us that death can alter a lot more; it can reshape meanings, relationships, and even morality of the people affected by the death. Miguel Deverne is killed by an abnormal man right in the beginning of the novel. It seems like an accidental killing. But it isn’t. There are more people than the apparently insane killer involved in the crime and there are motives which are di...
7 comments
Read more

When Cricket Becomes War

Illustration by Copilot Designer Why did India agree to play Pakistan at all if the animosity runs so deep that Indian players could not even extend the customary handshake: a simple ritual that embodies the very essence of sportsmanship? Cricket is not war, in the first place. When a nation turns a game into a war, it does not defeat its rival; it only wages war on its own culture, poisoning its acclaimed greatness. India which claims to be Viswaguru , the world’s Guru, is degenerating itself day after day with mounting hatred against everyone who is not Hindu. How can we forget what India did to a young cricket player named Mohammed Siraj , especially in this context? In the recent test series against England, India achieved an unexpected draw because of Siraj. 1113 balls and 23 wickets. He was instrumental in India’s series-levelling victory in the final Test at the Oval and was declared the Player of the Match. But India did not celebrate him. Instead, it mocked him for his o...
6 comments
Read more

In this Wonderland

I didn’t write anything in the last few days. Nor did I feel any urge to write. I don’t know if this lack of interest to write is what’s called writer’s block. Or is it simple disenchantment with whatever is happening around me? We’re living in a time that offers much, too much, to writers. The whole world looks like a complex plot for a gigantic epic. The line between truth and fiction has disappeared. Mass murders have become no-news. Animals get more compassion than fellow human beings. Even their excreta are venerated! Folk tales are presented as scientific truths while scientific truths are sacrificed on the altar of political expediency. When the young generation in Nepal set fire to their Parliament and Supreme Court buildings, they were making an unmistakable statement: that they are sick of their political leaders and their systems. Is there any country whose leaders don’t sicken their citizens? I’m just wondering. Maybe, there are good leaders still left in a few coun...
12 comments
Read more

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl
47 comments
Read more

Whose Rama?

Book Review Title: Whose Rama? [Malayalam] Author: T S Syamkumar Publisher: D C Books, Kerala Pages: 352 Rama may be an incarnation of God Vishnu, but is he as noble a man [ Maryada Purushottam ] as he is projected to be by certain sections of Hindus? This is the theme of Dr Syamkumar’s book, written in Malayalam. There is no English translation available yet. Rama is a creation of the Brahmins, asserts the author of this book. The Ramayana upholds the unjust caste system created by Brahmins for their own wellbeing. Everyone else exists for the sake of the Brahmin wellbeing. If the Kshatriyas are given the role of rulers, it is only because the Brahmins need such men to fight and die for them. Valmiki’s Rama too upheld that unjust system merely because that was his Kshatriya-dharma, allotted by the Brahmins. One of the many evils that Valmiki’s Rama perpetrates heartlessly is the killing of Shambuka, a boy who belonged to a low caste but chose to become an ascetic. The...
8 comments
Read more