Laxman - The distorted mirror: stories, travelogues, sketches

KAILAS CHECKED the mileage and was satisfied with the distance he had put between Gunny Daga and himself. Hed been driving almost ceaselessly from the moment he had left him sprawled on the sofa three nights ago.

The road wound through a thickly wooded part of the country which, as he raced along the tall trees, gradually gave way to shrubs and fields. Now lone farmsteads stood haplessly in the parched vastness of unyielding land.

Kailas marvelled at the country and felt grateful that it offered him such a protective expanse and variety in which he could render himself inconspicuous.

He saw a petrol pump and stopped. There were lorries laden with goods standing around, billowing diesel smoke and making belligerent noises. While his car was being attended to, Kailas went across the street to a little shop and bought a newspaper. Though it was a day old, he scanned its columns anxiously.

Then, returning to his car, he sat down and repeated the performancethis time more carefully, dropping each page he finished into the back seat. He was relieved that there was no news about his escape.

When he got set to resume his journey, he was happy to see the road stretch invitingly before him. Deciding to take advantage of the bright day to get as far away as he could before sundown, he took off like a jet on a runway.

The car wheels spun, whistling on the melting-hot tar surface, the wind hit the glass shield with the force of a gale, and wailed like a thousand unseen ghosts. The horizon quivered and danced in the heat and mirages of puddles receded, disappeared and reappeared as Kailas madly sped towards them, spurred on by the feel of brute power under his grip. The ground on either side became more and more blurred as it hurtled past him with the gathering speed of the car.

Suddenly he heard sounds of a thunderous flapping all around. Before he could react, something blocked the view of the road in front. His reflexes went into action and he slammed down the brakes. The car swung crazily and skidded, its steel frame shuddering as though its bolts would fly off.

When it ground to a halt, Kailas sat stunned, gripping the steering so hard it could have cracked his bones. All his nerves had gathered up into a concentrated tight knot. He had no idea what devilish force had dealt the blow and where.

Kailas then realized that he was looking at a sheet of the newspaper he had bought, spread out neatly on the steering-wheel, as if he had propped it up there to read!

There was another sheet lying limply on the space above the dashboard, partly covering the windshield and one more next to him on the seat. He turned and noticed in the rear seat a chaos of newspaper pages.

The angry hooting of a passing truck jerked Kailas back to reality. His car was standing at an odd angle, blocking the way.

After moving it out, he sat and began to reflect in horrified fascination on his fate if he had dashed against the fat tamarind tree nearby! He visualized his car in a shambles and himself in it reduced to a bloody pulp. The gory image sent a cold shiver down his back. No one would have believed that his death was caused by half a dozen newspaper sheets flying about madly and that one of them wrapping itself round his face had sent him crashing against the tree at more than a hundred kilometres an hour!

After a while Kailas resumed the journey and made sure that every scrap of paper was thrown out of the car. But he never felt at ease again as he drove on: imaginary noises of rustling papers and odd sounds harassed him and hindered his progress.

The sun had gone down, setting the western sky aflame and Kailas had still not passed a town where he felt he could rest for the night. Late at night, at last he came by a place so tiny that its sole excuse for existence seemed to be a noisy cinema house with bright-coloured bulbs and garish posters. Part of the town was still awake, for the show had not ended.

He parked the car in front of Nehru Lodge, went in and asked for a room.

Of course, sir. I will give the one on the other side. You will not be disturbed by the racket created by the cinema house.

Kailas was pleased with the friendly proprietor and the cheerful atmosphere of the place.

The room was small. An iron cot and chair filled it entirely. There was a window overlooking the darkness outside and the walls were unevenly plastered. A snuff manufacturers calendar hung on the wall as if to add elegance to the room, with a picture of a female nude standing knee deep in a brook. But provocative parts of her body had been discreetly airbrushed to a superb vagueness, perhaps evoking a feeling of disappointment in the eager viewer. However, some previous occupant had tried his hand at restoring the picture with a ballpoint pen.