The telephone was ringing incessantly. It was not yet 10pm or I would have unplugged the connection – A call in the might meant same urgent business. I could imagine the speaker on the other side. I answered with some worry in my mind. “Sir – I’m the Collector’s P.A. Sir wants you to come urgently to the bungalow.” This was a summons which could not be turned down. Changing my dress, I took a notebook and hopped on to my scooter, to drive to the Collector’s bungalow.
When I reached the Collector’s bungalow the Collector was in his office room, going through the files. I was immediately ushered in. It was a little different to see my boss in his pajamas and T-Shirt. He was a picture of austerity. During the day he usually wore a blazer befitting his position. I had met him only on a few occasions and he was regarded as a man of few words. His decisions however were quick and decisive. He did not tolerate inefficient officers and had already surrendered a few of them out of his district.
As I wished him, he looked at me and was straight to the point. “You are the District BC Welfare Officer?” I nodded in agreement “You see them there!” I looked at a middle aged couple sitting in a back row of chairs before the Collector. “They have come from Kaveripuram. For not repaying the loan they have taken from a contractor that rascal has abducted their children and put them to work in Bengaluru.”
“Look at the things that are happening! (He used an expletive). They are poor and belong to the backward classes. As the District Welfare Officer I want you to take charge of this case and rescue the children from that contractor.” I immediately said, “Yes” I knew very well that it was no use saying ‘No’ to our Collector or appearing to be uninterested. I dared to ask, “Sir, have the police not been able to do anything?” I should not have asked the question. He stared at me and said, “They must have got their bribe.” In his characteristic style, he foreclosed any further discussion, and said “Take anybody you want for assisting you but I want the mission completed by day after tomorrow.”
Gangappa and his wife were waiting for me outside the Collector’s room. They gave me details of the boys. I asked them for other details about the Contractor. “Sir his name is Srinivasulu. I have his phone number.” He gave me the phone number. He told me that it was not being answered. I took the number and asked him to be ready. “We will be leaving tomorrow morning.” I said “Why we sir? When you get hold of the boys you call me and I will speak to them.” The parent Gangappa was reluctant to accompany. “What stops you from going? Why do you want to hide? Go with Sir” His wife Lakshmi scolded him. “You have no choice. I will pick you up at your village on the way. Be ready.” I said.
It was 11P.M by then, I telephoned Jaya Ram, the National Child Labor Eradication District Officer and informed him about the Collector’s instructions. He said “Boss is very tough. He gives such difficult assignments. Don’t worry I will send my Labor inspector. You can also take the project vehicle.” ”Thank you Sir” I said and fixed the departure time to be 8 AM from Chittoor. I asked the Collector’s P.A. to arrange two constables from the reserve force and went home to break the news to my wife.
“I’m going to Bengaluru tomorrow in the morning” and I narrated what had happened at the Collector’s bungalow. She was anxious and asked me to be careful. Although I was a little anxious about this task, I was also eager and felt the spirit of adventure.
The next morning we started from Chittoor. It was a sumo and we were five of us inside the vehicle; me, the NCLP Inspector, the driver and two constables. We had to take Gangappa with us and he joined us at Palamaner.
I did not know how to trace the boys. All I had was a phone number, which was now switched off. The father appeared to be a quiet character. He sat without uttering a word. One of the constables Mr. Mani said, “Sir, Don’t believe this fellow. I have a strong hunch this guy has put his boys to work there and is now playing mischief.” Gesticulating at him he said, “You-idiot . Am I right? “Mani sir, No Sir why would I do such a thing? My boys were forcefully taken away. Ever since they have been away, my wife has been very worried.” He said wringing his hands and pleading with the Constable.
We were going to Bengaluru. Finding two boys in such a large metropolis without an address was something similar to searching for a needle in a haystack. But I had my orders. We reached Bengaluru by the evening. We booked into a cheap lodge and planned a strategy. The NCLP Inspector Mr. Siva Ram kept on calling the mobile number. It was always the same message now. “The subscriber you are calling is out of coverage area.” One of the policemen said, “Sir, we could search the areas where the labor force gathers to collect wages or enlists for the next day’s work” It seemed a good suggestion. It was nearly 8 in the evening. We drove into Jaya mahal extension, Whitefield, Yelahanka, Basavangudi and other places. Bengaluru by night revealed the dark undergrowth of our cities. The sprawling slums, shacks and colonies were ripping the boundaries apart and touching the rural hinterland. Crowds milled around chapatti and Tiffin carts. The orange glow of the Sodium vapor bulbs showed a swarm of flies buzzing around the lamps. Beneath the lamps, the city seemed to slow down to dig in for the night braving the chill spreading slowly.
We had been informed by the Hotelier that we could meet thousands of workers early in the morning. We decided to come back at 4 AM and returned to the lodge. I could not sleep. Gangappa said he would sleep in the car. At about 11PM, I got a call from the Collector’s P.A. “Sir wants to know if there has been any progress.”
“We are trying to locate them” I said wondering why the Collector was very particular about it. I knew it was a way of follow up by him. He liked efficiency and he wanted to know if I had been efficient. “We will find them tomorrow.” I told the P.A and he said he would convey to the Collector. Sleep was hard to come by. During the day my companions had been quite depressed about the time it was going to take. The NCLP inspector was quite sure, if it were a case of abduction, the boys would not be there and the phone would never be answered. I was apprehensive too about this futile search and waited for the morning to get some positive news. Meanwhile I was also thinking about the explanation I had to give our Collector if I could not succeed. These were the thoughts going through my mind when the morning brought bad news.
When I woke up at 3 AM, Constable Mani told me that Gangappa was not to be seen anywhere. He said, “He has gone back Sir .There is something fishy about how he acted yesterday.”
“Let us hope he reaches home safely.” I said. Meanwhile Siva Ram kept calling the number he had from different mobiles. To make it appear to be a local call, he went out and called from a land line also. It was either switched off or out of network area. We reached the Bengaluru suburbs to look for the boys. Now the task was more difficult since Gangappa was gone, and we had no one who knew the boys.
The square at 5 am in the morning was a very busy place. Crowds were milling into the area to join some batch, to board a lorry or a truck to the work place. Tea stalls were doing good business. In the din Siva Ram kept calling the numbers he had. At about 6 in the morning, he got connected and a rough voice at the other end, answered in Kannada. “Who are you?” Immediately he gave the mobile to our Constable Mani who took over and counseled the speaker in his police style. He told us that he was 20 Kms away from Bengaluru, involved in laying an underground telephone cable work on the Bengaluru – Coimbatore road. He said he would wait for us and gave us directions.
Wading through the heavy traffic, of trucks coming into the city and going out, we reached the spot at around 8 AM. Srinivasulu was there along with a few laborers and the two boys. It was surprising to see the boys smiling and assisting Srinivasulu in small chores. On the whole they were a picture of health and happiness.
“Why did you abduct the boys?” I asked Srinivasulu. Mani was about to thrash him with the smallest hint from me. But I warned him and asked Srinivasulu to answer. I told him why we were there, the Collector’s instructions and other details. “I did not abduct them. Gangappa put them under me as labor. For the both of them he collected 50,000 from me.” I looked at the boys, “We want to stay here in Bengaluru and do some job – Sir – Nobody abducted us.” They said.
This was a sudden twist in the story and it made my heroic attempt to rescue two hapless boys from the clutches of a savage money lender look totally meaningless. Srinivasulu was a pathetic figure. He showed us the bond executed by Gangappa. He had kept his boys under Srinivasulu for a period of 1 year. Srinivasulu would give them food and shelter. The contract was only 1 month old. “Sir if you take the boys from here what about my money? How can I recover my money from that wily son of a bitch? You ask the boys about my treatment. They don’t lack anything. I give them what I eat. They get chicken also every week. Sir, you are the officer! You please tell me what is just.”Srinivasulu started to plead. I said, “See Mr. Srinivasulu. You can’t keep the boys with you now. I have to obey the orders of the Collector. I will take the boys with me. If you want to tell the Collector about what really happened, you can come with us.”
At the work spot, hot Rice Pongal was being served to the laborers and Srinivasulu asked us to taste the tiffin. We sat down to eat this delicious field breakfast and as all of us were starving, we made a good deal out of it.
The children were very reluctant to come with us. I had to send Mani to get their belongings and when we were ready I said I was sorry for Srinivasulu who was the real loser in this business.
We left Bengaluru at 10AM. I called our Collector’s PA giving him the news of our “victorious” return. I asked him to convey the news to our Collector. The burden of the task over, I was now a relaxed person. I could look out and see the beauty of the garden city. The traffic snarls and the buzzing motorcades, made our progress tardy. The boys sat comfortably inside the van.
Mani relaxed in his seat, “The fellow made a good story. He took the money putting his sons under Srinivasulu. After one month he comes up with a story to convince the Collector that his sons were abducted because he defaulted on payment. Who is the real rogue here Sir? Is it Gangappa or Srinivasulu? That is why we cannot take their words for truth. They will cook up any story just to suit their need.” He was eloquent, now that his first hunch had proved to be correct. “Gangappa looks very innocent but is actually ultra intelligent and is in fact cunning.” The boys were listening attentively to this outburst. “He knew he could convince the Collector with a story like that who is naturally inclined to social justice.”
From all the stories that I had heard about administrative apathy, official carelessness and systemic oppression, I had a notion of reformist zeal and activism like many bureaucrats. But here was a case of exploitation of a different kind, playing the system for their need. I handed over the boys to their mother Lakshmi who was waiting near the Collector’s Bungalow. Gangappa was nowhere to be seen.
I met our Collector and thanked him for giving me that opportunity. In the next meeting he spoke about my mission and said acts such as what I had accomplished gave immense satisfaction. One has to be ready always to take up such challenging tasks. I did not reveal the different reality from what he perceived and let him have the satisfaction of that moment. In my mind I saw the two principal actors Srinivasulu and Gangappa and couldn’t decide who the victim was and who the wily fox.