the sanctuary - a preview
TRANSCRIPT
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 1/26
Te Sanctuary
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 2/26
About Notion Press
Notion Press is a Self-Publishing platform to write, publish &
sell Print books and eBooks around the world. To learn more,
visit www.notionpress.com
The Sanctuary is a product of the Notion Press Author
Incubation Program.
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 3/26
Te Sanctuary
Hemant V. Jadhav
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 4/26
Notion Press
5 Muthu Kalathy Street, Triplicane, Chennai - 600005
First Published by Notion Press
Copyright © Hemant V. Jadhav 2013
All Rights Reserved.
ISBN: 9789383185337
This book is sold subject to condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold or hired out,
circulated and no reproduction in any form, in whole or
in part (except for brief quotations in critical articles or
reviews) may be made without written permission of the
publishers.
This book has been published in good faith that the work of the author is original. All efforts have been
taken to make the material error-free. However, the
author and the publisher disclaim the responsibility for
any inadvertent errors.
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 5/26
This book is dedicated to my Wife,her unflinching support and love has made this
book possible.
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 6/26
All incidents, characters and events in this book
are fictional any resemblance to any living person
is purely coincidental.
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 7/26
Chapter One
"According to the will of your late father, he has left
you 150 acres of land." Mr. Seth, the family
lawyer dropped a bombshell on Vikram’s head.
Confused and a bit dazed, Vikram nally found histongue,"Er, you mean Dad left me 150 acres of land!
Where? How come I have never known about this?"
Mr. Seth lifted his hand, palm outwards, cutting his
ow. "e colonel, had his ways, your dear mother was
privy to this information, but the colonel swore her to
secrecy, I know not why."
"Now, if you will permit me to continue."
Vikram eased back into the chair nodding dumbly, still
trying to get hold of his thoughts. Trying to quickly string
them into a coherent pattern, which at the time, were
dancing around like so many dervishes in his head.
Nodding, the lawyer continued,"According to this Will,
the colonel has left you 150 acres of land in Satara, located
between Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar. Due to the Urban
Land Ceiling Act, an individual cannot own more than 40acres, hence, though you are the rightful owner of said
property, your co-owners are, Mr. Pandhari Nath Lahange,who tills the land for you and is the part owner of 40 acres.
1
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 8/26
"Another 40 acres is owned by Mr. Shivaji Rao Shinde,
who also tills the land for you, 30 acres is owned by your
mother and the balance of 40 acres is in the Colonel’s
name."
"As per the title documents of this land, the land was
bought from the above mentioned persons, over a period
of 10 years, commencing 1991."
Mr. Seth then shued out a few more documents,
which appeared to be some sort of legal agreements.
Placing them in front of a still dazed Vikram, he continuedin his somber tone.
"ese are legal agreements between afore mentioned
parties and the Late Colonel, in short, these documents
conrm, that Mr. Shinde and Mr. Lahange have received
money as full payment for the land and that they are
secondary owners of the land till such time the land
actually passes on to you."Besides this land, your mother was bequeathed the
family bungalow in Ahmednagar, where she presently
resides. Also, investments in the form of Fixed Deposits,
which will ensure her nancial comfort for the rest of her
natural life.
"ese too, along with the 30 acres, will eventually
be transferred to you after her death. Your mother has
also drawn up her will accordingly, acting under your latefather’s advice."
"Now, here is a letter your father left you, it is sealed
as you can see." Collecting the documents on the desk, he
called for his assistant, ordering her to prepare the le and
to hand it over to Vikram as quickly as possible.
"Vikram, please take this le, it has all the documents
we just discussed, you have to go to the Talathi’s oce
in Panchgani, apply for transfer of the land to your name
immediately."
Placing his hands on the table, in a gesture indicating
that the business was concluded, he peered at Vikram from
under his grey bushy eyebrows. "If you have any questions,
e Sanctuary
2
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 9/26
please feel free to call me or take an appointment." He
stood up, handing over the completed le to Vikram and
stuck his hand out to shake. "Good luck my dear boy!"
Tucking the le under his arm Vikram left Mr. Seth’s
oce, getting into his father’s old Maruti 800.
As he drove home, memories of his father seeped
through his mind. It was a week since he had passed away
in his sleep, the way he wanted it to be, in a Military
Hospital.
e army was his whole life and his father had beento the very last a true ocer and a gentleman. Vikram’s
father, Lt. Colonel Rudra Pratap Singh Shekhawat, 17
Horse, was a highly decorated ocer.
A veteran of three wars, Colonel Rudra Pratap Singh
had not witnessed much action during the 1961 China
War, but he was at the forefront, leading his squadron of
Centurion Tanks in the 1965 War.In the 1971 war, he was the 2IC (second in command)
of the regiment, in what is now written in the annals
of military history as the famous ‘Battle of Basantar’.
Wounded in battle, he was shipped out from the eld
hospital and later own to the Command Hospital in Pune.
A strong-willed man, he recovered from severe injuries
to his spine; doctors had almost written him o, saying
that he would probably not be able to walk. But the Colonelwas made of sterner stu as they were to nd out, when
he walked out of the hospital on his own steam a good
nine months later!
Much of that recovery had to do with the unswerving
love and attention of his wife, Vikram’s mother, Pushpa.
eirs was a fairy tale marriage, a love marriage, at a time
when such marriages were considered taboo! Considering
that the colonel, was a ‘Rajput’ and Vikram’s mother, being
a Maratha. Both sides of the family belonged to the warrior
class, ‘Kshatriyas’, clannish, feudal and orthodox.
While posted in Ahmednagar, the young dashing
lieutenant, swept Pushpa o her dainty feet in true cavalry
Hemant V. Jadhav
3
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 10/26
fashion. Her father, Brigadier orat, was commandant in
Ahmednagar at that time. Initially, the young lieutenant
had to bear the wrath of the senior ocer. But over
a period of time, the brigadier came around to see the
sterling qualities in the young man, despite the suitor not
being a staunch Maratha!
e couple was married, and a year later blessed with a
daughter, whom they named Jyotsna. Two years later they
were blessed with a son, Vikram.
While Jyotsna grew up to be an obedient intelligentchild, Vikram, like his father, was made of dierent
material.
At a very early age it became apparent to the couple
that their son had a mind of his own and the best way to
maintain a harmonious relationship would be to adapt and
adapt quickly to their son’s adamant ways.
ough exceptionally intelligent, academic excellence initself held little appeal for the youngster. Not that he was
a spoilt brat, on the contrary, he was a very polite and
disciplined child. It was just that he always forged his own
way!
His father harbored fond hopes that Vikram someday
would follow his footsteps. Vikram, though quite fascinated
by guns, tanks, ghter planes and all things military was,
however, not too inclined to be a "Yes Sir, No Sir, reebags full Sir! type."
He was ranked in the merit list of the National Defense
Academy exam in his very rst attempt, but unked the
SSB interview! e psychologist, a friend of the colonel
took him aside, he consoled the colonel advising him to
not lose heart. "Why in the next six months, Vikram could
be trained to be not so outspoken and radical in his views.
Perhaps the next time around, with the correct grounding
he will breeze through the interview."
e colonel knew his son better and shook his head
sadly. ey returned back from Bangalore, both engrossed
in their own thoughts, speaking to each other only when
e Sanctuary
4
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 11/26
necessary. On reaching Ahmednagar, a few days later,
Colonel Rudra Pratap Singh Shekhawat sat down with
his son and had a heart-to-heart talk on the merits of
sometimes toeing the line, when it came to ‘starting o’ in
life.
Vikram on his part listened to his father respectfully,
waiting for him to nish then spoke:
"Dad, I know I can pass any exam but any kind of strict
regimentation puts me o completely. I hate routine! Once
I master anything, I get bored of it very soon."e colonel was introduced to a counselor, who after
interviewing Vikram, gently advised the colonel to nd
some career option which would pose constant challenges
to his son. "Try Sports," he oered helpfully.
"Vikram is already a very good horseman, a decent
swimmer, good at cricket, in fact almost all games," replied
the colonel."ink Colonel, there must be some sport, which he
doesn’t tire of."
"Hmm, well he is never tired of ‘shikar’, mind you!
Ready to go o on his own, at the drop of the hat. But
he can’t make a profession of that now, can he? Short of
becoming a safari guide, or worse! A bloody poacher!" He
stared into the distance, aghast!
"How about shooting then?" oered the counselortentatively.
"Yes, he is a dead shot with a rie, but you have
something there… let’s give it a twirl, shall we?" said the
colonel, with renewed hope.
So it came to pass, that Vikram was introduced to
the sport of ‘Target Shooting’. He was enrolled in a
Marksmanship training course at the Worli Shooting Range
in Bombay.
Once again, Vikram was a natural at Competitive
Olympic rie shooting, but he found rie shooting was too
cumbersome! What with jackets and canvas trousers to be
worn over cotton leggings! He found the humid weather of
Hemant V. Jadhav
5
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 12/26
Bombay unbearable when fully attired for rie shooting. So
he opted for pistol shooting, since you could wear shorts
and a T-shirt if you wished; moreover, pistol shooters on
the range were a rum lot! So nally at the age of sixteen,
Vikram found his true calling.
Pistol shooting posed constant challenges to Vikram,
the physical aspect of shooting: lifting the pistol and
holding it steady for over 60 shots in a match did not
pose much of a problem for him, since he was blessed with
a sturdy athletic physique. Moreover, a childhood spentswimming, playing football, cricket and athletics had given
him good stamina and a rugged physique.
It was the huge mental challenge, posed by this sports
discipline on Vikram’s psyche, which made him take to it
like sh to water.
Unlike other sports, shooting is ninety percent ‘mental’
and only ten percent ‘physical’. ‘Pistol Shooting’, which isan Olympic Sport, poses tremendous mental challenges for
a sportsman, requiring nerves of steel to withstand the
‘mental pressure’, which one has to face while shooting a
match.
While on one hand you have to keep your mind calm
and cool to hold the pistol dead steady, on the other, the
excitement generated due to hitting the bull again and
again, increases the heart rate of the shooter, thus causingthe hand to shake, just enough, to cause the bullet to miss
its mark entirely, resulting in a ‘bad shot’!
A ‘bad shot’, can disturb the mind no end! Because the
shooter knows, any further ‘bad shots’ will severely dent
his chances of putting up a good total at the end of the
match.
If the ‘shooter’ were to dwell too long on one bad shot,
more bad shots are bound to follow, leading to a complete
loss of mental equilibrium. Hence the sport requires a
monk-like disposition, to take the good and the bad in
one’s stride, while continuing to focus solely on executing
e Sanctuary
6
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 13/26
each shot correctly, regardless of the ‘quality’ of the last
shot!
at is why the Hindu philosophy of focusing entirely
on the task at hand, to the exclusion of everything else,
regardless of the fruit of the labour, holds paramount
importance in this sport.
To cultivate this mental approach, takes a long time.
Some can do it, others cannot, because it involves
mastering one’s thoughts and feelings, which is an
extremely dicult task to achieve.It was this challenge that Vikram thrived on! Which
kept him rmly hooked to the sport. At the age of
eighteen, Vikram became the Junior National Champion,
with a record breaking score of 565/600. He was included
in the National Squad, comprising the country’s most
talented shooters.
To shoot at the National level Vikram had to spend fourto ve hours training daily, ve times a week! is left
very little time for academics. In order to pursue the sport
professionally, he opted for a diploma course in Mechanical
Engineering, when he could have easily passed the entrance
exam for the degree course!
His parents knew their son too well, instead of
deterring him, they grudgingly accepted their son’s
underrated career option. Vikram’s mother was morebothered about her son’s market value. A degree engineer
would get the best of girls as compared to a diploma fellow.
Touching her hand to her head, she resigned herself to
whatever made their son happy.
For the rst time in his life, Vikram did not breeze
through the diploma course. What should have taken him
three years, due to his shooting career, took him ve years
to complete. But in the meantime, under the guidance of a
Russian coach hired by the National Shooting Federation,
his scores improved vastly!
In a span of ve years, Vikram juggled his sports career
with his diploma exam. He was now an ‘International
Hemant V. Jadhav
7
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 14/26
Junior Shooter’ of substantial promise, having won several
medals at the junior international shooting competitions
abroad.
e passage of time saw the gawky eighteen year old
teenager blossoming into adulthood. He stood a shade
under six foot in his socks, athletic build, slightly
windblown black hair, broad forehead, neat eyebrows,
intense brown eyes and a slightly aquiline ‘Rajput’ nose
from his father’s side, a short mustache and a rm jaw gave
him a slightly rakish appearance. He carried himself likean army ocer and women did give him a second look, of
which he was charmingly unaware!
Introspective by nature since childhood, he came o as
somewhat reserved. ough polite, he was not prone to
making friends easily until he was sure of the other person.
In any case, his steady stare often disconcerted friendly
overtures from shallow-minded people.ough both his parents were devout Hindus, Vikram
himself had almost zero religious leanings! He, however,
respected his parents’ beliefs and perfunctorily took part
in the Pujas or Mandir visits. He did believe in God, but
not overtly!
e rst major turning point in his life came about
when he was twenty one. In the sport of shooting, twenty
one years is the transition point when a ‘junior’ shooterbecomes a ‘senior’ shooter.
He was already ranked fth in the country in Air Pistol
shooting and 9th in Free Pistol events. e transition to
senior category meant that he now had to compete with
the senior, most vastly experienced shooters. Most junior
shooters had lost their way during this transition, unable
to cut the mustard at the senior level, most petered out
and disappeared altogether from the national scene.
Vikram too, was subjected to the same kind of
pressures, especially since his scores, though excellent for a
junior shooter, were not good enough to challenge the well
entrenched seniors. In air pistol, his scores hovered around
e Sanctuary
8
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 15/26
the 572/600 mark, whereas the top seniors were shooting
in the region of 580/600.
In the Free Pistol event too, Vikram’s scores were
around the 540/600 mark, whereas the seniors were
shooting 550 +.
To those not acquainted with shooting, the dierence
in levels would appear to be nominal, just 8 to 10 points!
But in reality, it was a Sisyphean task, to improve by even
one point!
Till date, his father had supported his career, but nowthe onus of earning a living was squarely upon him. Proud
by nature, these thoughts weighed upon him mentally.
An opportunity presented itself to him in the form of
a change in ‘Sports Policy’ of the State Government. In
order to give a llip to the sport, the govt. had decided
to develop small indoor shooting ranges, in ve cities in
Maharashtra. Vikram presented his credentials and was shortlisted!
In the nal interview, he was selected to execute two
shooting ranges, one at Nagpur and the other at Kolhapur.
Both these ranges were to be completed by him as an
independent contractor.
rilled at winning the contract on his own, Vikram
shared the news with his parents, who were equally happy.
e colonel heaved a sigh, thinking that his son had nally found a profession to his liking and his mother was happy
because she could now look around seriously for a good girl
for Vikram to marry.
e next year saw him so preoccupied with the
construction of the ranges that for the rst time he missed
the National Championships! e work was intense, but
to his liking. What was however not to his liking was the
corrupt attitude of the govt. ocer responsible for paying
him as per his contract on a pro rata basis. He faced the
same problem in Nagpur as well as in Kolhapur. A seasoned
contractor, working on a dierent project, advised him to
Hemant V. Jadhav
9
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 16/26
‘grease the palms’ of the concerned ocials in order to get
his payment.
Vikram had no choice but to acquiesce to their
demands, but he had no experience on how to go about
it. Asghar Ali, the seasoned contractor, oered to help out
as a mediator. Ali got his payments through in next to no
time, but Vikram had to part with a hefty portion of his
prots! Inwardly he seethed that the fruit of his labour was
hived o by these government ocials, but he simply had
no choice!Six months later, Vikram had completed both ranges.
To collect his nal payment Vikram visited the head oce,
situated at Central Building, Pune. ere he bumped into
Asghar Ali. e contractor invited him to dinner for
discussing a ‘mutually benecial’ proposition.
ey met in a swanky restaurant, where Vikram took
the opportunity to thank Ali for his assistance. Ali gavehim a long look, sighed and put down his drink.
"Vikrambhai, you don’t have to thank me, it is I who
should be thanking you." Seeing his surprised expression,
Ali continued,"You see, this shooting range business? We
were wondering, where we could get the technical expertise
to execute such orders? en lo and behold, you fell into
our laps."
“‘We’, I was not aware that you have partners?" asked Vikram. Ali smiled and said,"Yes, I have a lot of partners,
dierent partners for dierent projects, without whom, I
will not be able to do my business."
"You mean, help you out nancially?"
"Yes, in a manner of speaking you could say that. And
the reason I invited you for dinner is to invite you to be
one of my partners."
"Very kind of you Ali, but I would like to work alone"
said Vikram. "Certainly, you can go it alone, but you
wouldn’t survive in this department as a contractor for too
long, my friend."
"I am afraid I haven’t understood you completely, Ali."
e Sanctuary
10
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 17/26
"Look Vikram, you are new to the game my friend,
you must understand very clearly, that all the schemes
formulated by the government are made by government
ocials. No doubt these schemes do help the needy but
essentially, these schemes are made so that the true
beneciaries are the same government ocials who made
them.
"Now take for example this shooting range scheme, sure
the govt. wants to promote the sport of shooting, hence
the huge amounts earmarked for developing these shootingranges, but the bottom line is that around 20 to 30% of
the money goes to line the pockets of the govt. ocials.
You, yourself have experienced it rst-hand, haven’t you?"
Vikram nodded, frowning at his experience in dealing with
boors!
"How much money did you make?" asked Ali,
"Not as much as I should have! Most of it went inpaying of the bloody babus. All told, I have made in the
region of 10%, that’s it."
"at’s because you were inexperienced!" said Ali,
wagging his nger at him. Fifteen years ago, I was in
the same position as you are, though, I must admit, you
are slightly better o than I was, that’s because you are
a techie and an engineer to boot. Me, I was just out of
college with a third class BA degree."I started with supplying T-shirts, socks, and various
other minor sports apparel. ere’s not much money in
that, simply because there are too many damned suppliers
in the line. Now shooting ranges! at is a highly technical
eld, requiring specialized knowledge and imported
equipment, there’s a helluva lot of money to be made and
mind you, No competition! "ere is no other sport as
expensive or as technical as yours, with my goodwill and
your expertise, we can do solid long-term business. Now
here’s my proposition to you. Work with me and you will
get 40% and that too upfront, how does that sound, eh?"
"I’ll have to think about it," said Vikram doubtfully.
Hemant V. Jadhav
11
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 18/26
Asghar eased back in his chair staring at Vikram,
shaking his head, he spoke,"I know what’s eating you. You
know what your problem is? You are full of high ideals and
principals. You are uncomfortable because you don’t want
to soil your high ideals and principals by joining hands
with me and add to the corruption. You know what? You
may be right at that! But not entirely, mind you, not by a
dashed mile are you entirely correct!" Vikram stared back
at Asghar, slightly taken aback with the fact that Ali had
read him correctly. Yes, he hated corruption in any form and probably
would never associate himself with govt. orders in the
future. But he was intrigued with this fellow, what manner
of man was he? Inwardly, he liked Asghar’s forthrightness,
beginning to respect his seemingly deep insight into the
working of the government machinery, a thing which he
knew very little o!"Alright Ali, you tell me, I am keen to understand how
your so called ‘game’ works?"
"You think I like to indulge in corruption for the sake
of corruption?"
"I’m afraid, you have lost me there. What do you
mean, ‘indulging in corruption for the sake of corruption’?
Corruption is corruption, no matter which way you look at
it.""You are talking in absolute terms, my friend, the fact
of the matter is, that corruption has several shades, it has
a dark side and a light side, but chiey it is the color ‘gray’.
"Allow me to explain, rst let’s have another round of
soft drinks, another soda lime for you?" Asghar waved to
a waiter, indicating another round of cold drinks, then
turning back to Vikram he continued,"Hmm as I was
saying… Now, there are people who take money under the
table to fuel their vices, drinks, gambling, women. at’s
corruption for the sake of corruption for you.
"ese people are the dregs of society, who have found
their way into government positions through various
e Sanctuary
12
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 19/26
routes. ey have neither the culture nor the upbringing,
they go home drunk, curse their wives and children, even
beat them up. In time their children follow their footsteps
eventually turning out to be just like them.
"en there are others, like me, who don’t drink,
womanize or indulge in petty vices of any other kind, why?
Because we have been brought up dierently, my parents to
me are like God, they in turn have through their behavior,
impressed upon me a value system to which I abide and
my wife and children abide. So there is the dark and lightside of corruption, it depends on what you ultimately do
with the money!
"You may accuse me of aiding corruption, true, but by
doing so, thousands of needy people are benetted. Take
for example your ‘shooting ranges’, nobody knows better
than you, that the sport is bloody expensive and out of
the reach of the middle class! Each of your weapons cost inthe region of eighty to ninety thousand rupees! Each box
of pellets costs three hundred bucks! You tell me, how is a
boy hailing from a humble background, blessed with some
talent, going to get an opportunity to try himself out, if he
cannot even aord the basic equipment?
"When the govt. builds ranges and imports shooting
equipment, these are made available to those who would
otherwise have no chance of testing themselves in thesport. Almost seventy percent of the money earmarked
for your shooting ranges reaches the target audience. You
may say 30% is used for greasing the govt. machinery in
delivering the goods.
"Hell! Consider it as ‘transmission losses’."
"Transmission losses?" said Vikram sardonically.
"Yeah, see the electricity transmitted through electrical
lines? Not all of it reaches your home directly from the
station? Some of it is lost due to so many technical
reasons, which is ‘acceptable transmission losses’."
Hemant V. Jadhav
13
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 20/26
Vikram laughed heartily, shaking his head, he spoke,"By
God, Asghar Ali, you do have a way with words, you indulge
in all sorts of semantics, you missed your true calling Sir."
Asghar smiled and asked "And what would that be?"
"You should have been an English language professor or
even a ‘playwright’," said Vikram chuckling.
"Jokes apart my friend, I run a business and
maximizing my prot by whatever means possible is the
goal of any business. But I also look at it this way that I
am in the business of keeping people happy. at is why I am so successful because everybody is happy when they
work with Asghar Ali!"
For a period of time both were engrossed in their
thoughts, till Asghar broke the reverie.
"So? What’s your answer, are you with me?"
Vikram took his time answering, there was one thing
puzzling him so he asked Asghar,"As I understand it, 20 to25 % percent would be an appropriate oer from you, so
why 40%, why the municence?"
"Good question, you see, I would have to pay 25% of
my prots to a civil engineer to execute the construction
of the shooting ranges, then I would have to pay you 25%
for your technical inputs, together…"
"Would amount to 50%, interrupted Vikram, so by
giving me 40%, you still make 10% extra!""So it’s not a matter of municence, but smart business
thinking," he said tapping his head with a nger. "By
keeping you ’happy’ I will be happy," grinned Asghar.
" I think I need to learn from you and yes," he said
sticking his hand out,"I think we can work together. So
long as I don’t have to deal with the seedier side of the
business," concluded Vikram with a smile.
So it followed that Vikram combined with Asghar Ali, to
form a team, which cornered the entire ‘Shooting Ranges’
orders from the state govt. for the next ten years!
9
e Sanctuary
14
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 21/26
Chapter Two
Aside from his professional life, the turning point in
his life also encompassed a series of events, which
had much to do with the matters of the heart!
While his father was posted in Ahmednagar, the family would frequent the Ocer’s Club each week. Vikram and
his sister Jyotsna made friends with children of other army
ocers. Vikram had a great set of friends who took part in
regular cricket matches, football, swimming and generally
hanging about each other’s houses as teenagers are wont
to do.
Going to the movies at the club twice a week was
a major outing and a ‘get together’ for all the ocer’s
families.
Vikram would hang around with his buddies, enjoying
the movies, munching wafers and sipping soft drinks.
Apart from discussing the latest cricket news and who had
made a fool of whom, the topic would get quite animated
when discussing girls. By then most of the boys had a
secret crush on some girl and vice versa, but bringing it outin the open was taboo. Parents were strict and disapproved
‘girlfriend’, ‘boyfriend’ business, and were on the constantlookout for any signs of growing interest not within the
proscribed limits of healthy interaction.
15
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 22/26
Girls and boys could meet and talk, but in a group, or
in a party where everybody was present. Meeting singly or
on the quiet was severely discouraged. Parents of daughters
aged fteen onwards were perpetually on the prod! ey
were not so much worried about the young boys, as much
as they were worried about the dashing young ocers, who
themselves were on the lookout to land some juicy sh!
Now and then, a young impressionable girl of eighteen
or so, did succumb to the charms of a dashing young
ocer. Clandestine meetings would take place. But Ahmednagar is a place which takes very little to set the
tongues wagging, more often than not, the news of
clandestine meetings would somehow reach the erring girl’s
parents, inviting swift nipping in the bud for ‘that sort of
a thing’.
Nipping in the bud would mean immediate ‘quarantine’.
e errant girl would not be seen at the club for months;if at all, she was released on parole, then she was not
supposed to leave her parents’ side during the length of
the entire movie!
Vikram’s parents never faced any such problems with
their daughter, Jyotsna. ough she mingled with the club
crowd and spoke to everybody, including young ocers,
she kept a safe distance from all. Some who tried to
develop ‘something’ were frostily ticked o! e said‘ticking o’ would be discussed between mother and
daughter in the privacy of their home. Jyotsna and her
mother shared a rare condence in each other. Mrs.
Shekhawat was condent that if ever it happened that her
daughter ‘liked’ someone, then she, her mother, would be
the rst person to know.
Once or twice, Jyotsna did indicate her interest in some
ocer, but when she realized that the fellow did not meet
her mother’s approval for some reason or the other, she
would immediately retreat from the concerned person no
longer entertaining even a harmless conversation.
e Sanctuary
16
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 23/26
While Vikram was least bothered about his sister’s
friends, as a member of a close-knit family, he was well
aware of all such ‘happenings’ and all ‘nip in the bud’
type of operations between mother and daughter. At a
subliminal level, however, an image of a life partner was
forming, which conformed to the somewhat old-fashioned
views of how a lady should conduct herself.
In his mind’s eye, the girl he would look for, should of
course not only be beautiful but be pure of heart, conduct,
but above all else, character!Colonel Rawat was from the EME (Electrical &
Mechanical Engineers), his daughter Jeevika was
astonishingly beautiful, but she was quite standosh and
a little pricey! Jeevika knew she was beautiful and as all
beautiful women are wont, knew how to twist young men
around her dainty little nger to do her minor biddings.
Jeevika was twelve years old when Vikram rst sawher, he was a year older than her, they went to the same
convent school as did all other army ocers’ children.
At thirteen, she went through a brief period of
‘quarantine’, it was reported by one of the brat gang
members that she was seeing a bit ‘too much’ of a chap,
far older than her, who was the eldest son of an AMC
ocer. at skewed her image in Vikram’s mind, that and
her standosh ways, which also incidentally, put o mostof the gang’s leading members.
A few years down the line, a few progressive parents
thought it would be good to let the children hold ‘jam
sessions’. A typical ‘jam session’ was hosted by one of
the parents at their residence. Youngsters, read teenagers
attended the party, which involved dance music being
played. Obviously boys and girls danced with each other,
eats were catered by the host parents, who checked in once
in a while, to just ‘keep an eye on things’.
Obviously no ‘jam session’ would be successful unless
the girls were invited! e onerous task of going to the
girl’s house, convincing the parents of the girl, was
Hemant V. Jadhav
17
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 24/26
inevitably shouldered by the senior-most boy who just had
to have an impeccable reputation. Invariably the fellow
would face an interrogation which could have done the
Spanish Inquisitors proud.
Generally, the key to getting the parents’ nod, was to
get one set of parents to agree to allow their daughter to
accept the ‘invite’, the others would follow suit!
Another important factor in making a ‘jam session’
successful, was to get the maximum number of girls on
the gangs ‘hot list’ to attend the party. e ‘hot list’ was amisnomer. It did not imply that the girls on the list were
eager to be ‘groped in the dark’! But primarily those on
whom some of the boys were secretly ‘sweet on’!
Just anybody and everybody was not invited, girls had
to have ‘class’, the ability to carry on a decent conversation,
knowledge of the latest music, to have a good ‘turn out’,
not necessarily ashy, and oodles of charm was essential toget an ’invite’. ‘Behenjis’ were not invited, regardless of the
size of their décolletage!
Jeevika was at the bottom of the list, though she
fullled all the requisites of an ‘invite’. Not because of her
parents, who were strict but sporting too, but because it
was a ‘pain’ to go over to her house, where one had to wait
for an unnecessarily long time since ‘madam’ was busy!
Eventually when she did come out, she would feign suchdisinterest that it would normally put o most of those
who had gone over with the invitation.
Eventually she would see them o with a non-
committal "I’ll see, if I feel like it I’ll come."
is would piss o most of the fellows, nobody really
gave a hang if she materialized or not – had it not been for
Balraj Bedi, one of the leading members of the gang who
was beginning to get ‘sweet’ on her. Everybody liked Balraj,
so in order to humor him, an ‘extra eort’ was made.
But come the day of the party, if Jeevika did make an
entrance, everybody would stop what they were doing and
e Sanctuary
18
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 25/26
give her a good once over, the boys in admiration and the
girls with envy!
Balraj of course would be over the moon! But he was
such a suave gentleman that it would never reect in his
outward appearance or behavior. Generally, he would be
the rst to walk across the room and greet her. Her smile
would light up not only her pretty face but the entire
room!
Jeevika danced mostly with Balraj, once or twice she
would give her royal consent to some other lesser mortal! Vikram was not overly keen on dancing with her, but
on one such occasion, she was looking so beautiful, impulse
got the better of him so he walked across and asked her
for a dance. She smiled sweetly and declined, saying that
her feet were killing her. Nodding, Vikram retreated only
to turn around and see her jumping to her ‘aching’ feet,
when Balraj stretched out his hand. Her eyes met thoseof Vikram across the room, the coldness in Vikram’s eyes,
could not entirely eclipse the wounded pride.
Jeevika turned her face away with a knowing smile,
which infuriated Vikram no less. He vowed never, ever to
speak to her, less ask her for a dance again!
e passage of time saw several ocers being posted
out of Ahmednagar. e original ‘jam session’ group
disintegrated, till only Jeevika’s and Vikram’s fatherremained. In any case, Vikram’s father had decided to settle
down in Ahmednagar after his retirement.
Vikram and Jeevika attended the same college. Both
had to travel the same slow road home. ose days,
students went to school or college on bicycles! Often
Vikram and Jeevika would cross each other going in
opposite directions, perforce, they would exchange
perfunctory hellos.
One day, Vikram was going home, when he spied
Jeevika pedaling ahead of him, going homewards. At his
speed, Vikram was bound to overtake her, just saying hello
and pedaling onwards would look a bit inappropriate, so he
Hemant V. Jadhav
19
7/28/2019 The Sanctuary - A Preview
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-sanctuary-a-preview 26/26
Te Sanctuary