Ghosts of the Past

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Nirav Thakker

Rishi got back to his car to compare the location that he had just received with that of Suman’s last known location. The phone had been stable and had not moved since the last few hours. Either that or the location reporting had somehow turned off. The two locations were different. While the phone seemed to be in a warehouse, the location he found was off by a margin.
Rishi wondered what to do. He could either follow the bread crumb trail that he got off the phone or he could go to the location he found at the spot. He checked his glove box for the gun. It was there. His trusted Taurus PT709 Slim was safely tucked inside. So were a few spare bullets. Two spare Beretta 21A Bobcat were hidden away safely within his shoes. One Beretta 93R was strapped to his chest. He set it to fire at burst mode for dire consequences. He also had a classic scout’s knife hidden within his belt.
The car started like the purr of a cat and he was fast on his way to reaching the last known location of the phone. He was not sure what to expect. But he had to take that risk. The warehouse was a good 10 kms away. He set up his smartphone to navigate him to that location through the fastest known route. Since it was past midnight he expected the roads to be empty and empty they were. He was racing away with the navigation system on full blast at a high speed. He was there in no time.
When Rishi reached the warehouse he found it to be an abandoned old warehouse that may have been used to stock liquor. Several broken bottles and used cartons lay strewn around. He quickly read the name off one of the cartons. It read Black Dog. He was careful not to ruffle so much as a leaf just in case the people inside got alerted. He could hear a few muffled voices coming from inside. They were mostly sounds of women and a few children. He still could not risk it. He moved with the agility and swiftness of a lion to catch the people inside by surprise. Instead he was caught surprised. He was hit on the head by something hard.
When Rishi gained his senses a few moments later, he found himself tied to a chair with the spotlight on him. He could feel that his Beretta 93R was no longer with him. He did not know about the Bobcat though. His face was soaked wet and there was a man standing right there before him with a knife in hand. Next to him on a table lay his gun. He could feel his temple pulse with pain and trickles of blood around his eyes clouded his vision. He knew this man. He was the same person whom he had had jailed from one of his earlier cases. He had been wanted for murder, assault and felony. Suman was nowhere around.

Bread Crumb Trail

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Nirav Thakker

Rishi reached Suman’s Office to find it closed. There was nobody around as expected. He however found a dazed and sleepy watchman who had been woken up from his slumber by Rishi’s arrival. The watchman would not answer any of his questions. It was obvious. He was still sleepy. There was no point shaking him up. No, money would not work on a drunken and sleepy watchman either. He had to use other methods. Before he did anything, somebody walked down from the office. Fortunately for him, this colleague of Suman’s knew her. In fact, he knew too much about her to his liking. He introduced himself as Rohan.
Rohan told Rishi that Suman took the metro to get home. Even today she had left on time with Rekha to go home. Rekha and Suman always left work together and lived nearby. He offered to take Rishi to the metro by the route that Suman took everyday. Once there, he left the place without a trace or a goodbye. This astonished Rishi. He was not used to such disappearances from the folks who helped him or offered help.
At the station, Rishi could do nothing but look around. He found Suman’s bag lying thrown on one side of the road. It was lying strewn and the contents of the bag emptied. Nothing in it seemed to be in order. The money was missing. Nothing that remained was valuable. It was clear that someone had taken all the valuables from it. Was it still possible in that case that the phone really was with Suman and not with this person who had emptied the bag. He rummaged through the bag once again. He found the bracelet that he had gifted her hidden in a corner.
He was now not sure if what he had was a bread crumb trail or a real one. He was not sure what to be done now. He started looking around at the surroundings once again. May be some clues may have been left behind. He found pieces of paper that looked like they had been torn only a while ago. Next to it lay a bottle of Black Dog and two broken glasses. He picked up the pieces of paper. They were pieces of a torn photograph. He quickly got around to placing them together. A few pieces had flown away with the wind, but the face could be reconstructed partially. Only the upper half of the face remained. The face was known. It was Suman. He quickly pulled out his smartphone and clicked a photograph of all the evidences.

He flipped the pieces. It had random numbers scribbled. It did not look like a phone number. But then he was not able to understand what it could be. He pulled his phone out and tried to see if it was a location co-ordinate. He quickly punched the numbers on his screen. It was a location.

Where is Suman?

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Nirav Thakker

Rishi was calling Suman since the last four hours. Her phone was ringing continuously since the last four hours. He was very worried now. He called her office up a few hours back but then the watchman there confirmed she had signed out at around seven in the evening. She had not come back since then, neither had any one heard back from her. He even visited her house but found it locked. Her neighbours had not seen her come home. There was no point calling Sneha since she was not even in the country. He did not have her parents’ number, but then she would have definitely told him if she was going back home or there was some problem back then.
He was stuck with no leads in this case. He took a swig of his Black Dog. He had told Suman to keep her data connection on all the time so that they could Skype whenever they felt like. He had not thought about checking her online yet. She wasn’t there. This could only mean that her Location reporting would not be available either. Nonetheless he tried checking her last known location. It was a warehouse ten miles away from her office. What could she be doing there? Was her phone stolen? But if that was the case, why hadn’t she come back home?
There were a lot of unanswered questions, none of them seemed to have any leads. He was frustrated. He felt like a novice. He felt he had hit a dead end. He could not tell the cops. They would not even file a missing complaint before 24 hours. But then it may be too late by then. For whatever you know, her life may be in danger. He did not know where to start from. He had not visited her office yet. He should start from there. He had advised Suman to keep a pepper spray in her purse for her safety. If she was in danger, had she remembered to use it?
He fiddled with his laptop keys while he thought what to do. The TV roared at full volume. His fiddling with the keys changed the map view from last known location to location trail. She had travelled from the office to the Metro station and from there to the warehouse. It was an unmarked warehouse. He finished a full glass of his Scotch in one swig and got up from his chair. He had to do something and that something had to be done fast, really fast.
Rishi changed into his tuxedo and put on his hat. He had to work in style of the private detective that he was. He had to save her at any cost.

Missing

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Nirav Thakker

Suman and Rishi had been having a great time with each other. Life was going really smooth. Suman had even started imagining what colours the new curtains in their new house would be. Rishi and she had been spending a lot of time with each other. For a change Suman’s work at office had also been going very smooth. Unknown to her, however, a danger had been lurking in her own backyard.
One of her colleagues, Rohan, had proposed to her a few months back during the Black Dog Evening with Rob Schneider. She had declined it. This had not gone down too well with him. He had ended up spoiling the evening for her. She had so very longingly looked forward to the day. She had even planned to end it with style by hitting the discotheque later. But now all that had been put off! Her mood had been completely put off. All thanks to this once known as a sweet guy, Rohan.
Rohan had tried persuading her many times in the past. He had once again attempted it a few days back. This time Suman had had enough and she had given him a strong dressing down in front of the entire office. This had hurt his ego too much. He had vowed revenge. His humiliation had been too much. He had not been thrown out of the office but he had received a stern warning.
Suman was walking down from her office to the Metro Station with Rekha, her associate producer. Just then Rekha’s boy friend came by and she left with him. Suman was left alone. She was close to the station when suddenly a car skidded to a halt next to her and she was pulled inside. She was caught totally unawares. She tried resisting but it was futile. The person was a lot more powerful than her. Her pepper spray was in her purse which she had dropped in the melee when she was dragged in. Thankfully her phone was still in her pocket. She still had hope. She tried to scream, but a hand was cupping her mouth hard. It was impossible to scream. Suddenly something was pressed against her nose and she started feeling dizzy. She lost consciousness.
When Suman awoke, she found herself at a place she did not know. Her hands, legs and eyes were all tied. She had a cloth tied across her mouth as well. It was effortless to struggle. All her efforts to free herself were getting futile. She could hear a few voices coming from a little away. The sounds were muffled. She could not make out who the voices belonged to. She strained her ears to listen closer but it bore no fruit.

Angling Championship–Final Day

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Nirav Thakker

Danny had had a spectacular day 2. He had caught and tagged one of the biggest fishes of the game. He had been happy. But he wanted to remain unbeaten. He knew that in case of Angling, patience was the only key that he had. He had to employ it to full use and benefit. He had reserved his Black Dog Fly for the last day. He wanted it to be his lucky charm. Day 3 dawned, the participants were instructed to cast their lines.
Danny’s Black Dog lay immersed in the water for hours. He hadn’t tasted success yet. He pulled up a flask from his hipster and took a swig of it. It contained his rationed Black Dog Scotch. He pulled out a book and got down to reading. He knew his day would be long and tiring today. It was not the physical stress that he was expecting but then it was the mental and emotional stress. He felt a light tug on the rope. He waited for the line to tense further. It did not. The tug remained light.Danny was getting frustrated. He had expected a strong tug and a big fish. But then a light tug meant that he would not have too huge a fish caught. Nonetheless, if he wanted to free the line for another fish, he had to unhook whatever was on the line.
He rolled the line backwards but then as soon as he started it, he felt a strong hit on his boat. Much like as though something had hit it from under. It did not persist, he did not bother. He went on to rolling the line back when the line suddenly got tense and the tug on the line really strong. He now knew he had something good. He pulled on the line hard. The fish definitely was a good catch. He did not realize when he had let himself get dragged to the end of the boat.
The fish was a fighter and he still hadn’t caught sight of his opponent. Because of the strong pulling, the boat started to rock. The fish was trying all that it could to get away. Danny neither wanted to lose the fish nor his boat. After pulling for what seemed like hours, he caught the sight of the fish. It was a sailfish! Bright blue coloured fins kept emerging from the water once a way. Danny felt his energy being sapped away. He could not afford to give up now. He had almost made it. After some ten more minutes of effort, the fish gave up instead. It had gotten tired. It was now relatively easier to pull the fish close enough to weigh and tag.
This was the easier part. Tagging the fish. Well ,compared to pulling it out of water, this definitely was easier said. The fish turned out to be an astounding 75 kg in weight! It definitely was one of the heaviest fishes caught in these areas! He was proud. His record shall now remain unbeaten for a long while now.
Post championship party was all about discussing his catch. Single handed getting such huge fish had been a strain. The line had cut through many places no his palm. But he wore it as his prize. His prize of winning the championship unbeaten! Sneha was in his one arm, the other side pocket held his lucky charm. The Black Dog Fly.

Series Break

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Nirav Thakker

I have again come to a point where I am at a loss of words. I am really finding it difficult to mince words. If someone were to come down and put words in my mouth, I would lovingly accept them and pen them. Sadly, no one is going to do that. Every writer who has been portrayed in movies, every artist at such a stage is shown to take support of Scotch. I’m planning the same tonight as well. I don’t know how much it is going to work but then I am going to try it.
I am also planning to pick up one of my favourite book from the series that I have been following. The series written by Amish. The Immortals of Meluha and The Secret of the Nagas. The final book in this series is out already now and is waiting to be read. The Oath of the Vayuputras. I have come to expect a lot from the series after reading the first two books. I wonder what Amish has n store for me in his third and final book. How he manipulates the life of Shiva is fairly interesting read.

Whatever you say, I have come to kind of like semi fictional, semi mythological stories. In fact I own a mini collection of that. All these books are classics in my own accord. Lamb by Christopher Moore, Yajnaseni by Dr Pratibha Ray, Krishna Key by Ashwin Sanghi and now finally the entire collection of the Shiva Trilogy. If I were to really look at the Godly figures these books were addressing, I have one on Jesus, one on Draupadi from Mahabharath, one on Vishnu and one set on Shiva. Yet, if I look back at my collection, I am missing so many Gods here! Indira, Brahma et al.
I love reading my books in solitude with no disturbance. But then one thing that I would never want to set aside is my choice of Black Dog. That is the best company I can have with a classic book! How I wish I was of legal age to drink when I studied Shakespeare in school! I would have definitely enjoyed him a lot more! Even today, when I get a chance, I would definitely want to read a Shakespeare. But then again, I think I may have grown out of him now. One shot at school was good enough.

Talking about the classics, I have teamed Rabindranath Tagore and Black Dog. Let me tell you, it definitely is a wonderful combination. While the book grows on you, so does the Scotch. Neither wears away from your senses so soon. Tagore is known for his masterpieces and slowly building up the character. I think Black Dog took a page out of his writing. It so slowly grows on you that you would not want to let it go. Much like a lover wanting leave your arms and go home after spending a passionate evening of romance.
So while I romance my books and Scotch, you go ahead and see if you can catch up on some beauty sleep. It’s Sunday night here. I am planning to live it up in style. What about you?

D-Day

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Nirav Thakker

Danny arrived at the championship venue with Sneha in one arm and his equipment slung over the other shoulder. He was wearing Khakhi shorts and a bright coloured open neck Tee. He had paired it with boat shoes. His hired Dhoni was marked and ready. It was a bare boat and nothing was allowed on it. He was supposed to row the boat himself. All the participants were explained the rules once again and were also explained the grounds that could allow disqualification. The rules and regulations were based on the rules that were laid down by IGFA. Those participants who were not a part of the MGFA (MALDIVES GAME FISHING ASSOCIATION) were registered and incorporated into the association. The main sponsor of the event was Black Dog, this meant none of the participants needed to pay for the membership.
The bugle was sounded and the participants were asked to get on to their boats. The chosen location was The northern end of Gaafaru Falhu on Male’ Atoll at latitude 4 degrees 50’ North to the southern end of Vattarurah on Felidhe Atoll at latitude 3 degrees 11’ North and bounded on the eastern sides of Male’, South Male’ and Felidhe Atolls at longitude 73 degrees 55’ and on the western side of the above Atolls at longitude 73 degrees 10’.

The championship was supposed to be spread between 3 days. Day 1 started at 0730 hrs and ended at 1700 hrs, Day 2 and 3 started at 0630 hrs and ended at 1700 hrs. The competitors were supposed to tag and weigh before 1830 hrs on all days.

When the clock struck 0700 hrs, all the participants were asked to leave in their boats to their desired fishing locations located in view of the judges. At 0730 hrs, a gun shot sounded which let the participants to start fishing. The first half of the day went fairly dull. None of the participants had caught even a single fish. By evening few participants had caught one or two fishes but none noteworthy. Day close was sounded, the participants returned disappointed.
Sneha was back with Danny. He was not disappointed but definitely tired. He wanted to relax. The participants were all invited to come together for a round of scotch. Black Dog was on the house. Scotch allowed the participants to relax and let their hair down. All of them shared their experiences and also tips from other earlier championships that they had participated in.

Angling Rules

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Nirav Thakker

Danny had been as excited as a kid right from the morning. It was but obvious. This was something close to his heart. He was so excited, he wanted to get up and be there way before the championship time. It was scheduled at 5 in the morning. Every participant was handed over a set of rules. They were strict and hard!

Rules of the championship:

There must be no cruelty towards any fish.

None of the fish would be kept. They would be caught, measured, marked and released.

Any type of fly line and backing may be used. The breaking strength of the fly line and backing are not restricted.

Leaders must conform to generally accepted fly fishing customs. A leader includes a class tippet and, optionally, a shock tippet. A butt or taper section between the fly line and the class tippet shall also be considered part of the leader and there are no limits on its length, material, or strength. A class tippet must be made of non-metallic material and either attached directly to the fly or to the shock tippet if one is used.

Regardless of material used or number of sections, rods must conform and cast according to generally accepted fly fishing customs and practices. A rod shall not measure less than 6 feet (1.82 m) in overall length and any rod that gives the angler an unsporting advantage will be disqualified. Overall butt length may not exceed six inches when measured from the centre of the reel foot to the end of the butt. Overall butt length for two-handed or Spey rods longer than 11 feet may not exceed 10 inches when measured from the centre of the reel foot to the end of the butt.

The reel must be designed expressly for fly fishing. There are no restrictions on gear ratio or type of drag employed except where the angler would gain an unfair advantage. Electric or electronically operated reels are prohibited.

A conventional fly may be dressed on a single or double hook or two single hooks in tandem. The second hook in any tandem fly must not extend beyond the wing material. The eyes of the hooks shall be no farther than 6 inches (15.24 cm) apart. Treble hooks are prohibited.

The fly must be a recognized type of artificial fly, which includes streamer, buck tail, tube fly, wet fly, dry fly, nymph, popper and bug. The use of any other type of lure or natural or preserved bait, either singularly or attached to the fly, is expressly prohibited. Only a single fly is allowed. Dropper flies are prohibited. The fact that a lure can be cast with a fly rod is not evidence in itself that it fits the definition of a fly. The use of any lure designed to entangle or foul hook a fish is prohibited. No scent, either natural or artificial is allowed on flies. The use of scented material in a fly is prohibited.

Gaffs and nets used to boat or land a fish must not exceed 8 feet (2.44 meters) in overall length. (When fishing from a bridge, pier or other high stationary structure, this length limitation does not apply.) The use of a flying gaff is not permitted. Only a single hook is permitted on any gaff. Harpoon or lance attachments are prohibited. A rope or any extension cannot be attached to the gaff.

Actual rules are available in detail here.
Danny looked at his Black Dog once, turned it around and looked at it again. He wanted to reassure himself that this definitely was his winning bait. He had other baits too, just in case. But he knew he would not need them. This bait showed off his style!

Angling Championship Preparations

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Nirav Thakker

Sneha and Danny had been having a gala time at Maldives when they saw a poster calling people for a fishing contest. Danny was fairly excited. He had been dying to go fishing for a long time now! Back home on his ranch, he went fishing every now and then. It was his favourite pass time! It was a different story that not all the fishes that he caught ended up on his table and that there were often many days when he caught none!
He now wanted to buy all the best equipment for this contest but then the first thing that he had to do was register. At the registration desk was a nice lady who caught his attention. He started to flirt with her. Sneha was observing all this. She waited for a while and then her purse landed with a thwack on Danny’s head. He had to cut short the crap and get out of there. He could not afford to hurt Sneha, not when their relationship was still just budding!
Next stop, Fishing Equipment shop! Danny wanted to buy the best hooks, the best lines and the best Rod! He wanted to win the championship at any cost. It was a matter of his prestige! The prize was secondary, it was the satisfaction of winning that he wanted so very badly! He was not sure what Sneha would think about it, but Angling was close to his heart. He had learnt it from his father. And his father from his father. It had flown down passed on as inheritance for generations now. It was how they lived in style!
But even after buying all of this, one thing was missing. A bait. He was particular about the bait that he used. He only used the Black Dog! This store did not stock one. They had alternatives. He did not like alternatives. They were against his train of thought. This resulted in store jumping. He spent the better part of the evening hunting, scrutinizing, reminiscing the baits he saw at every store. Finally he found his bait. He was happy. It was the perfect one. Tail, a tuft of olive-yellow pig’s wool; body, black mohair; gold and silver tinsel with orange silk between; two or three black hackles; galena at the shoulder; wing, grey speckled turkey, two long slips. The hook, 3 1/2 inches long and 7/8 of an inch wide, and the succeeding flies rundown to 2 inches or even smaller.
Now all that remained was to hire a boat. That was not as easy either! Sneha was now getting impatient. He had to quickly wind up. But he could not afford to be slack! However, the rules of the championship restricted his choice. So he could finish this fast! He hired one of the Dhonis that were available.

Taking a break from the series

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Nirav Thakker

I have been facing the flak internally almost everyday that I am writing the series. I am not a regular writer but then with this, I was planning on trying something innovative. However, I found it fairly stifling. I had the story line there, up and ready when I first started writing the story. Somehow, I don’t see it progressing the way I want it. Thinking of the way the characters come together and how they interact on a daily basis has been difficult given the fact that I am spending almost all my day studying for the Six Sigma Certifications that I have lined up for myself.
I am planning to complete the Green Belt certification today and hope to be Black Belt certified by end of month. It is not too much to ask but then I cannot forget the fact that I have two beautiful daughters to play with everyday. Even as I write this, my older daughter is jumping over me from my right to my left just for the fun of it and I am juggling the writing bit as she does this! Any ways, for tonight I have a plan to watch a nice movie on the TV while I sip my Black Dog.
I explored the TV guide and there is a Bond movie playing on. Classy huh? I have never been a fan of the ultra classy movies, Harry Met Sally, Benhur or even The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I have not been a fan of the extreme gore inducing movies like Species, Aliens vs. Predators etc. But then, I prefer movies like the games I love to play! Need For Speed series inspired The fast and the Furious, or was it that the movie inspired the game, I don’t know. But then the cars are something I would die for! Another movie series that I loved was the Men In Black and the Bad Boys! both movies were extremely fun to watch and entertaining.
These movies were all that I could watch with the family, but then like all women say, “Men are dogs” and because dogs need their daily fix of bones, there are some movies I do love but then I would not dare watch in front of my family. Brother and wife are ok, but then not my parents and kids! The American Pie series is one such and so is There’s Something About Mary. Both hilarious movies but then best advised with parents and kids on a vacation! And when they are on a vacation, what better way than to live it up in style and catch up with every favourite movie a glass of Black Dog Scotch in hand and the remote in the other!
Ciao for now. And if you have been reading my series, please do motivate me by commenting on at least one of the posts in the series! I badly, terribly need it! I am getting demotivated faster than fizz escaping soda!