Chapter 1

It was a humid afternoon in mid August. I was travelling to Tiruvannamalai. Another attempt at redeeming the various sins committed over the time that life spanned. It had been a long journey for me, lots of pitfalls to be where I'd reached. A funny world they say, one which doesn't appreciate the one who deserves it all, and the ones who get it all are the opportunists. I was an opportunist and made best use of all options available to me.

As I settled upon a window seat, the bus drew to a halt. A peek outside informed me of the strife that was going on. Rasa Chellappa had just been killed, and apparently, the entire area was attacked pretty often by his followers. The man had been some kind of messiah to the people of the area, some sort of a father figure. He had been a rowdy in the area from the tender age of twelve. Local crimes led him to the next big thing, smuggling.

They say, the stories of all big gang-lords could be traced to the same old route. Domestic Violence leading to Rowdyism, leading to Smuggling, and a couple of terms in jail, opening doors to all kinds of criminal activities. Rasa was no different. A couple of trips to the Central Jail, and he became largely feared. Said to be a man with a heart of gold, he didn't leave a stone unturned, to get something his men wanted done.

But on a personal note, I wasn't very fond of him. In some way, he had terribly impacted my life. I was actually glad he was dead. But I did not like the strife. As my thoughts wandered away in this note, the strife cleared, and a huge crowd got into the bus. The seat next to me was taken, the face I saw was someone I knew very well!