Sleepless Night

“Cheers! To the man who’s going to take over the Big Apple!” This was the millionth toast to him, Rajesh thought as he gulped down yet another shot. It was still only 10pm, and he was well and truly drunk. Obviously, his colleagues were not kidding when they told him that they would ensure that he needed to be carried home. He was dreading tomorrow morning, and how Smriti would chastise him for this ‘escapade’. Not to mention the long flight he had to take, and all the small things they needed to finish up before they left.

However, the excitement of relocating to New York, to a big promotion, soon took over. It had taken a lot of hours of hard work over the years and a lot of maneuvering, but he had got what he had always wanted. And he was glad that despite all the office politics (he wasn’t naive enough to think everyone at the party was happy at his achievement), everyone had come to celebrate his moment of triumph. And he was okay to get drunk for that.

He realized he wasn’t eating enough, as he was handed yet another mug of beer. His feeble attempts at refusal were pushed aside, as his manager Manoj literally poured the bitter brew down his throat. He nodded furiously as he accepted the mug, hoping Manoj would stop. Thankfully he did, and handed him the mug as he went away to flirt with the new joiner who had been attracting a lot of advances as the night progressed. Alone for a moment, Rajesh went over to the table where the starters were laid out and chomped down some spring rolls.

It didn’t help that the food wasn’t very good. He forced himself to have a kebab. His stomach rumbled. About two minutes later, a wave of nausea took over. He tried to make his way to the restroom, but was interrupted by Pavan, who marched over to him with a waiter carrying a tray of shot glasses. “Come on, no excuses. You gotta have this one. Be a man!” Like moths to a flame, a group of his colleagues came over and with a loud “Cheers”, they all gulped down shots of vodka. Rajesh gulped down his vodka grudgingly, and licked off the salt and chewed on the lemon, hoping he would be able to reach the restroom before any disaster.

He avoided the hand that reached out to hold him and hastily headed towards the restroom. It was thankfully empty, with the exception of Gaurav, who was throwing up into the wash basin. Rajesh quickly got into an empty cubicle and shut the door. Just being away from the loud music and the smell of alcohol made him feel a lot better. He didn’t feel the need to throw up. “Hmph. False alarm. Thank God.” He decided to bide some time here, till he felt good enough to head back to the party. He relieved himself, flushed the toilet, pulled down the seat and sat down. He put his head in his hands, wishing that the throbbing would stop.

About thirty seconds later, his phone rang. He fumbled in his coat pocket and took it out. It took a moment for his head to stop spinning, and another for his eyes to adjust as he read “Private Number” on his phone screen. He frowned, wondering who it could be. He answered the phone.

“Hello, Mr. Rajesh Padmanabhan. How are you tonight? Planning to go to America and didn’t even let me know? Tsk tsk.” The caller spoke in Tamil, and Rajesh had no idea who he was. His gruff voice and menacing tone sent a shiver down Rajesh’s spine. “Sorry sir. I am not sure I remember you. Who is this?” The caller laughed. “Sure you do. Asshole, don’t play dumb. Anyway, I know you are a busy man, so I’ll get straight to the point.” There was a brief pause before a different voice came on. “Rajesh, help me! These people have kidnapped me!” Rajesh was stunned, scarcely unable to comprehend what was happening. The caller came back on line. “I have kidnapped your wife. As long as you do as you are told, nothing will happen to her.” Rajesh’s head was reeling. “But, but, who are you? What is the meaning of all of this?” “Enough! Don’t talk, just listen. I am waiting for you, with your beautiful wife, near Doddaballapur railway station. I want you to come here – alone. We have your phone tapped, so don’t think about making any phone calls or anything. And don’t take any of those taxis to come here. We don’t want your movements to be tracked now, do we? Come on your own, don’t do anything silly, and your wife will get out of this in one piece. If you try to do something stupid, she will end up in pieces. Got it?” Rajesh though he was going mad. This felt surreal. “But I cannot drive in my current condition. I don’t even know how to get to Doddaballapur.” “Shut up! You think I am playing the fool here? This is not some joke. Get here or else.” With that, the call was disconnected.

Rajesh held his head, trying to stop the spinning. He tried to make sense of what was happening. Was this some kind of joke? He tried calling Smriti’s phone. It was switched off. He shook his head, and tried three more times, to no avail. Seconds later, the phone rang again. It was a private number. Rajesh swallowed and answered the phone. “Dey son of a whore, I wasn’t joking. No matter how much you try, the phone won’t ring. Stop fucking around and make your move.” Before he could say anything, the phone went dead.

He sat in a state of shock. He found it hard to believe, but there was no denying the phone calls that had come. Or the fact that he had heard Smriti’s voice, and the panic in it. He tried to think through what he had to do, but his thoughts were all muddled up. He came to the realization that there was nothing more he could do than to follow the instructions he was given.

With some effort, he got up from the seat and headed out of the cubicle. The restroom was surprisingly empty. His steps as he walked to the wash basin were shaky. He held onto the sink to steady himself, and washed his face repeatedly to shake the grogginess. He was now fully alert, but was still feeling disoriented. He tried not to think about how ludicrous the situation was. He looked at the mirror, trying to figure out what to do next. As he opened the door of the restroom, he was still none the wiser on how he was going to proceed.

He stepped out back to the loud music, the smoke and the stifling heat. He weaved his way through the crowd in varying degrees of inebriation, avoiding those who were trying to grab onto him. He tried to remain discreet as he scanned the crowd looking for Manoj. He saw him on the dance floor, trying to keep up with the youngsters shaking a leg.

Rajesh went up to Manoj and, grabbing him by the elbow, shouted into his ear to be heard over the loud Punjabi track playing “I need to talk to you – alone!” Manoj turned around to face him and, giving an animated look of finding a long lost relative, grabbed Rajesh and started forcing him to join in the dancing. Rajesh shook Manoj’s hands off his shoulders, grabbed his hands and again pulled him close and shouted into his ear, almost growling “NOW!”

It must have been the urgency in his voice, but the jovial expression on Manoj’s face quickly became one of concern. He nodded, and the two started walking away from the dance floor, brushing aside eager hands that were reaching out to force them to stay. It took them some time to get to the exit.

The loud music and smoke filled air was replaced by the distant din of the reducing traffic and the cool night breeze coming in from an open window outside. Rajesh took a deep breath to try and clear his head. It didn’t help. Manoj asked “Is everything alright? What’s the problem?” “I need to go home.” Manoj looked at him incredulously. “You can’t be serious. We’ve bloody thrown this grand party for you, and you want to leave? And it’s not even 11. You know the trouble these guys went through to make sure this place would stay open well after 1? You can’t just up and leave now!” “Look, I’m really grateful for all this. But I’m really not feeling well. I just want to go home. And Smriti will also be worried.” “Don’t worry about Smriti – we’ve got permission from her to get you home whenever in whatever shape; as long as you’re in one piece. And why don’t you just sit out here and relax for a bit? The fresh air will help you feel a bit better, and then we can go back in and rock the party“. Rajesh tried to hide his exasperation with little success. “Look, I really appreciate it, but I just want to go home right now. Please, I really don’t want to argue on this further.” Manoj looked unconvinced, but eventually gave a grudging nod. “Ok – I really don’t understand this, but if that’s what you want, I won’t keep debating with you. But just so you know, I’m not happy about this. And I doubt anyone else will be.” “Yeah, I know. But I really need to leave. And I really appreciate everything.”

They walked back into the madness. Though now, Rajesh was hard pressed to decide which the greater madness was – the party inside or the turmoil his life had taken suddenly. He hoped to leave silently and figure out a way to reach the railway station. It took him a moment to realize that Manoj was now heading towards the DJ booth. Before he could wonder what was going on, Manoj had a mic in his hand and the music was stopped. “Hey everyone! I hope you’re all having a good time?” Shouts of ‘yes!’ emanated from the dance floor. “It pains me to say this, but our guest of honour does not share your enthusiasm. Rajesh has turned into a wuss and wants to go home and curl up in bed.” Exaggerated shouts of ‘oh no!’ filled the room, and all the eyes in the room started searching for the person in question. Rajesh felt a sense of dread rising inside him, as all eyes were trained on him. “I say we make sure that we get him piss drunk and give him a night to remember, and he will thank us for stopping him from making such a stupid decision!!” The rousing speech was met with loud cheers and applause. The entire crowd turned and started inching towards him, many of them with glasses in their hands.

Rajesh didn’t know what to do. He had half a mind to make a dash for the exit, but quickly abandoned the idea as he knew there was no way he would make it out. He tried unsuccessfully to ward off the advancing crowd, but it was no use. In a matter of minutes, a few drinks were forced down his throat and he was hoisted on the shoulders of his colleagues as they advanced towards the dance floor. The DJ started playing ‘We will rock you’, which was greeted with cheers from the crowd followed by everyone singing along.

As they put him down to the ground, Manoj came over and embraced him. “We’re not letting you leave tonight” he shouted, though his voice was barely audible over the loud music and the cheering from everyone, who had also started stomping their feet to the beats of the song. Pavan appeared from nowhere, carrying a tray of shots and shouting loudly “Time for some shots!!” Rajesh was in a daze as he came to the realization that he had no choice but to do the unthinkable.

Not everyone realized what happened. The punch Rajesh landed on Pavan’s jaw sent him careening backwards, and the tray filled with shot glasses up in the air. Both Pavan and the tray with the glasses landed on the floor with a crash. The glasses shattered on the floor, and people who were not already seeing the scene unfold now came rushing to look, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Even though Pavan sprawled on the floor and didn’t look like he would get up anytime soon, Rajesh knelt over him and landed another punch that caught him square beneath the jaw. By this time, a few people had recovered from the initial shock and pulled Rajesh away from Pavan, who was now out cold.

Rajesh was pushed roughly towards the bar, and Rajesh ended up scattering several glasses as his hands fell onto the counter. He held one of the few phones that had been left lying on the counter and slipped it into his jacket pocket, hoping that no one had noticed. He then turned around to face a visibly upset Manoj, who grabbed him by his shoulders and violently shook him. Rajesh felt he was going to throw up, even wished that he would. But nothing. “What the hell do you think you are doing?! You may be drunk, but what is the meaning of these crazy shenanigans?” Manoj screamed. There was pin drop silence, as everyone had their eyes fixed on the exchange. Rajesh hadn’t realized when the music had stopped. “I told you I want to go home. Now just let me go and get back to your party.” Manoj was speechless for a moment, unable to comprehend what was happening. He slowly shook his head and said “Vinod, come on. Get you bike and take this fellow home.”

Rajesh shook his head. “No, just let me go and I’ll be okay.” “Oh no you don’t. After the scene you have created, I’m not sure you’re completely capable of going home on your own. Either way, we never intended to have you going home without someone. Vinod is the designated driver for tonight, and he’ll take you home. I hope you are in a position to sit behind a bike.” Rajesh thought about protesting, but then realized that he would not have much chance of winning an argument after what he had just done. He nodded his assent.

Vinod came over with an outstretched arm to steady Rajesh – an offer he rejected with a show of his palm. The entire crowd didn’t take their eyes off the two as they silently made their way to the door. They were escorted by three others till the elevator – clearly they didn’t want to take any chances. The elevator opened and all five of them got in. The crowd still remained in stunned silence as the elevator doors closed.

Rajesh waited near the entrance while Vinod went to get his bike. “Poor guy”, he thought, “and to think this is his first office party.” Rajesh pulled out the phone and quickly tried to unlock it. Thankfully there was no pass-code and he was able to unlock it. He was not sure what he was going to do with it yet, but it may come in handy. After a few more taps, he locked the phone and kept it back in his pocket. As he waited, the manager of the restaurant came up to him and said “I hope you enjoyed the party sir. Please do remember us for your other events.” Rajesh looked at him incredulously – obviously he hadn’t yet been made aware of what all had happened upstairs. He would have laughed if the situation had been different. “Yes, sure. Thank you.”

Once Vinod came on his bike, Rajesh hopped on and they were off. Vinod had already been told where Rajesh was staying so they went along silently. Rajesh tried to figure out how we would get from his house to his railway station. He had already sold his car and bike. He doubted he could ask his neighbours at this hour, and in his current state.

It had taken them almost an hour to get to Rajesh’s place at HSR Layout. It had taken every of ounce of patience Rajesh could muster not to shout at Vinod to go faster. As they reached the parking under his apartment block, Rajesh got off and turned to Vinod. “Thanks so much for getting me home. And sorry you had to miss the party. Now go back and enjoy yourself. And if you can, tell Pavan I’m sorry.” Vinod parked the bike. “Sure sir. Let me first take you home.” “You’ve done enough. I can manage from here. Don’t trouble yourself.” “No trouble sir. Let me just drop you to your door and I’ll be off.” Realizing it was futile to protest, Rajesh let out a sigh and nodded. Just as Vinod was about to get off the bike, without warning, Rajesh staggered as his legs gave way. He plonked onto the floor.

“Are you alright sir?” Vinod knelt down next to him, unsure of what to do. He was getting increasingly worried about the precarious situation he was in, and feared the worst. Rajesh’s breathing was laboured as he said “It’s my blood sugar. I need you to do something. There is a syringe pack and an insulin bottle on the table in the hall in my house. I need you to go and get it.” He tossed his keys at Vinod. “Sir, let’s call your wife sir. She can come with the medicine.” “No, she isn’t at home. She’s staying at her friend’s place.” Vinod wanted to suggest calling a doctor instead, but saw how uncomfortable Rajesh looked – he turned around and ran towards the elevator. It seemed like an age before the elevator door finally opened.

As soon as he was sure that the elevator had started moving up, Rajesh got up and looked to see if Vinod had left his keys on the bike. He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the keys in the ignition. He had timed his ‘attack’ to ensure that Vinod hadn’t gotten off the bike yet. He hoped Vinod would waste some time looking for the non-existent insulin bottle before coming down. He felt bad about doing this, but he did not have any choice. He got onto the bike and, after a quick look around, started the bike and sped away.

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Author's note: This is turning out to be very long, so thought I'd split it into two parts. Stay tuned for part 2, to be posted (hopefully) very soon. :) Would love your feedback as always.