NAAZHIGAI Part 6

Prathi: Subhu, lets go to office, I understand the pain but will that bring him back?

Me: We will find Nithi with or without the police. I'm sure of that. Now come with me, we will go meet his parents; it’s definitely going to be a loss for them missing their only son. We might help.

We went to Nithi’s home, his dad didn’t go to work since yesterday morning, he has a chain of medical shops in the city. He stayed with aunty not to let her alone.

Uncle: Come Subhu, feel yourself home. Do you want coffee, I can make some??

Uncle was a sweet person, he dint want to upset us showing he is depressed and down.

Prathi: You have not tasted my preparations right Uncle, today is the day. Let me make.

Uncle, Aunty and I settled in the hall. The showcase had a picture of Nithi in a green backdrop probably taken during their family trip in college times. It also had other pics of him during his archery times and a photo with him and his parents. He had that charismatic smile which I can’t take my eyes off when I heart a sob. Aunty was crying.

Me: Aunty, don’t worry he is just out there for good, he is a good guy. See when he is back he is definitely going to be with all of us.

Aunty: No Subhu. All the evidences show that he is on his own. Why should he go away like this, uninformed? Why should he stage his own disappearance? He is such a soft guy, he has not thought any bad to anyone.

Me: You have seen the superhero movies right, the hero is, in his everyday identity, is a normal guy who lives one among the people in the city. In reality, there is less than meets the eye: though he leads a selfless life, crime-fighting accounts for most of his night hours. Nithi might be out there to save the world. If people would have taken him then they are going to call for a ransom which we are gonna pay. You also know Nithi is a bright guy right, he will find his way out. So in any case we need not worry.

Aunty was looking at me speechless listening to the way I talked, her tears stopped. Uncle had his first tear in his eye. He wiped it away before aunty could see him. I was sure that it made an impact on their distress yet I tried hard to stop flooding tears myself. I knew they miss him so bad.

We came back home, Karthi was with Subhu playing and I found his bone collar dollar that Nithi got.

Me: How are your studies going Karthi?

Karthi: Hmm, fine Akka.

He kind of had something in mind which was very obvious that he is finding difficult to tell.

Me: Karthi, Is there anything you want to tell me? You can tell

Karthi: Akka, Nithi Anna said I have to find out what I’m naturally good at and that would be what my heart wants. He said I’ll succeed if I follow that passion as profession. So I decided to brainstorm within myself when I ultimately found out my passion was to design circuits. I designed a circuit that acts as a bug and a GPS inbuilt, it is of the size of an ant, I dint tell anyone except Nithi Anna, he was my role model. It had a defect in it, for which I had asked him help. It was with him that night when he went away, if he is in bad hands he would’ve definitely tried to debug it and switched it on. Can we try to remotely see if can reach him akka? I was not sure if he had enabled it but we can try.

He is Nithi V2.0. Silent Sages and Blank intellectuals.

Me: Definitely Karthi. Show me we will see what we could get.

We worked on the remote trigger for the circuit for the whole day; it’s been a 2 days since he was lost. Karthi in his 15 years of age was more than a genius; he was a savior, we were able to find out where Nithi was, Yes Nithi debugged the circuit, and it transmitted signals. His location was now at 13.7178°N 80.2000°E, Irukkam Island somewhere near Sriharikota .

We dint know why Nithi was taken to Sriharikota and with him debugging the circuit we were definitely sure he needed help. We decided to tell only a few, since we dint know whether he was there for certain. We told Vicks dad, Vicks and Prathi.

Uncle sent along with us a trusted police official, Krish, we decided not to take the forces there which might alert the kidnappers who so diligently took him away.

The location was a house that was abandoned. There were few houses in the perimeter but the area was not deserted. As per the instructions from Krish, we watched the movements and activity in the building before we’d make a haste entry. 

Vicks was sorry for judging Nithi and he was ready to do anything to save him. We dint see anyone coming out or going inside the house. It was evening by then. We decided to go in. So we went to nearby tea shop ordered for 2 teas to be sent to the building.

We told the small guy on what he should do, we asked him to knock the door, if nobody responded then look inside the window on what he could see. The guy was bold enough to help us. 

As expected nobody responded, he looked through the window and came back running to us. He said there was a guy who was tied to a chair and started to describe about him. I showed Nithi’s photo to him, he was positive, “Yes Akka, Yes, it’s him” We asked him if he could see anyone else. He said none. And the lights were off. The room was big and empty and there was no human activity.

Krish asked us to stay behind and decided to enter the house. He asked us to call the local forces if he dint come back in exactly 24minutes and asked us to start the timer. If they could see someone entering the house he asked us to divert them by talking to them, find if they had weapons else spray chloroform that we had brought. If we could find signs of weapons on him he asked us to stage some drama so that he is confused and still for 12 minutes.

We were so terrified on the plan and we watched the timer ticking.

It was 22 minutes and we saw Krish coming out with Nithi. 

We were dumbstruck, we sticked to the plan, we had called for an ambulance and it was ready. 

We took Nithi and rushed to the nearby hospital; he was so pale and weak. On the way we tried to wake him up. Vicks splashed some water on his face, crying and asking him to get up. I was able to feel Nithi’s pulse. His pulse was almost equal mine when I heard it. I just saw him without taking my eyes off.

Krish said he must have been there only recently, the footprints were fresh in the dirt and swept the building for prints and said it has to be tested. He also got a few clues that could lead us to the kidnapper.

Me: Doctor, Is Nithi fine?

Doctor: Yeah, he is fine

Me: Then why hasn't he regained consciousness?

Doctor: We're running some additional tests to find out, but at this point, we don't think there's any cause for alarm.

Me: But we'd like to stay with him, keep him company, if that's all right.

Doctor: Of course.

All 3 of us sat beside him, in few minutes the doctor wanted to run few tests, so we stepped out.

Vicks: So we still don't know what happened to him?

Me: No.

Krish: No trace evidence on Nithi's clothes. But I did find a key sewn into the lining of his pants.

Me: What kind of a key?

Krish: I'm not sure, but it has "23" stamped on it. That mean anything to you?

Me, Vicks: No.

Doctor: Nithin's awake.

Me: It's wonderful news...Oh, oh! I am so relieved!  And we have to be right there when he started to wake up.

Doctor: First thing he did was ask for him. You are Vignesh right?

Vicks: Yes Doctor, Did he say where he had been?

Doctor: You know, we don't know what he's been through, so perhaps that question can wait.

Vicks: Can we see him Doctor?

Doctor: Yes you can

Vicks: Hey.

Nithi: Hey, Just so you know, the doctor said that hugging will speed my recovery.

Vicks: Hugging can wait, Nithi.

Nithi: Right. Sorry. I guess a put a little kink in our project plans.

Vicks: Yeah, is that supposed to be a joke?

Nithi: What do you mean?

Vicks: I mean tell me what happened.

Nithi: Was on my way home and this black SUV...

Vicks: No, no. After that.

Nithi: After the accident?

Vicks: Yes, after the accident.

Nithi: I was here.

Vicks: No, before here, Nithi. You were found in an abandoned house near Irukkam island

Nithi: What are you talking about? An i….sland, I was in a crash with a black SUV, a-and then I woke up here.I mean, I-I don't... I don't know. I was... I was unconscious.

Me: So the black SUV and waking up here, that's all you remember?

Nithi: Right. Yes. Why?

Vicks: Dai, what are you telling? Come back to your senses. Subhu, is he mad??

Me: You've been missing for four days. Okay Relax Nithi, you have taken your meds so you might be kinda confused, we shall talk later, Vicks come.

I took him out and we went to see the doctor to ask what’s happening

Vicks: Doctor, What do you think is going on with him?

Dr.: Well, Mr. Nithin shows no sign of a psychosis or break with reality, nor does he exhibit 

cognitive deficits other than his inability to recall the last 4 days.

Me: So is it possible that he underwent trauma, and he's blocking it out?

Dr.: He may have, although I didn't see any evidence of that. Maybe his memory will come back once he's had some time to readjust.

Me: It very well might. Then what he needs, maybe, is to get back to his life, his routine, the people who love him. Can't we just take him home?

Dr.: Of course, of course.

Me: Oh, thank you so much. What I do is not an exact science. I wish it were. I wanted to be a doc. This could still be the result of emotional trauma.

Dr.: There are also drugs and drug interactions that can trigger memory loss,  but...

Me: But what?

Dr.: ...I can't exclude the possibility that Mr. Nithin simply walked away from his life, for whatever reason, and facing that fact is just too humiliating for him.

Me: So you think that he could be pretending not to remember?

Dr.: As I said, it's a possibility.

Vicks and Krish were running with discharge formalities. I was with Nithi.

Nithi: To say I owe you an apology would be an understatement.

Me: I don't want an apology, Nithi. I just want to understand.

Nithi: Well, you know me, Subhu. I wouldn't just leave.

Me: I know Nithi. We found the place where you were staying.

Nithi: Where?

Me: What difference does it make?

Nithi: Because I want to go there. Maybe it'll help me remember. Whatever happens, I need answers. And so do you.

Me: No, you are not going anywhere before you see your parents and others. You owe them that much.

We booked a cab to our place….

The cab arrived and I helped him take his seat next to mine. There was silence as usual but our eyes did the talking. I showed my earphones asking him if he wished to take one. He smiled and nodded. The climate was exactly how my mood was, pleasant, serene and peaceful. We listened to “Neeyum Naanum” a song from a yet to be released Tamil movie. It went like

Female Voice:

Neeyum Naanum Sernthey Sellum Naerame
Neelam Kooda Vaanil Illai
Engum Vellai Maegame
Poga Poga Aeno Neelum Dhoorame
Maegam Vanthu Pogum Pokkil
Thooral Konjam Thoorumae

En Atcham Aasai Ellamae Thalli Pogattum
Enthan Inbam Thunbam Ellaamae Unnai Saerattum

Nee Vaendumae
Entha Nilaiyilum Enakkendru Nee Pothume

Male Voice:

Oli Illaa Ulagathil Isaiyaaga Neeyae Maari
Kaattril Veesinaai
Kaathil Paesinaai
Mozhi Illaa Mounathil
Vizhiyaalae Vaarthaai Korthu
Kannaal Paesinaai
Kannaal Paesinaai

Nøøru Aandu Unnødu
Vaazhavaendum Mannødu
Penn Unai Thaedum Èn Veedu

Nithi suddenly held my hands tight. I was happy that I could bring back Nithi, bring back Nithi in my life.

To be continued....