By Anwesha Manasingh
3 PM. Sunday.
The tired sun rays through the leaves of that arrogant banyan tree in cold December were actually not soothing to Kumar’s sweating skin. On his crude wooden set up, he was sawing down the 17th log of the day. Well, not a good number for him. “To flaunt my skin corns! Don’t worry Bannu, won’t hurt you. No one harms the walls of own house.” On a second thought he thinks, “Well, some do.”
He rushed inside, probably because he had a delivery to do.
“Good evening, Sir! The furniture is here.”
“Oh! Kumar. Great timing.” The manager said. “The new guests are coming tomorrow. You heard about the sensational serial killings happening in the town? Now CBI is handling! And a team of doctors ….”
“Doctors !!”
“Yes, because one of the suspects in custody is unwell. No doctor can detect what’s the problem. So, this team from south was requested to come here for the case… I know you won’t reveal about the case, you are our own!”
“I am just a carpenter, Sir; understanding such complex things is a big deal for me.”
Next morning. Guest house.
“Hello Dr Nair! Thank you for being here to help.” The additional director, CBI greeted.
“Hello officer. Meet Dr Sampadaa, senior scientist from Germany. She came back India after years, for a short time though. After that devastating decision, she didn’t look back once. Well, she got some keen interest in the case and suggested those tests.”
“Hello Ma’am! You are most welcome.” Officer said. “Please take rest, we will visit the hospital in evening.” Officer said and left.
“It’s magnificent! You people have got a really nice market...” Dr Sampadaa praised.
“Madam. It’s ordered from a famous carpenter. Mr Kumar.” The manger replied.
5 PM. Same day.
“It’s weird! He behaves completely normal.” Dr Nair was astounded!
“There is something weirder in his f-MRI report. But …” Dr Sampadaa mumbled. “Sorry. I doubt the suspect has a rare neurological disorder that compels him to kill people. He might not want that even.”
“It’s an oxymoron kind of thing! he doesn’t want to harm so that he is killing!” CBI officer said.
“We are humans! We can think, decide based on our conscience unlike others who do everything based on necessity. What if I tell you, there are some factors in our body that make us humans. Otherwise, we would be mere animals; eating, reproducing and doing intraspecific competition for survival!”
“Some people anyway live like that. Without some dreams and people.” Kumar said.
Dr Sampadaa turned around and got frozen in the moment.
The manager entered and said, “Ah! Kumar, I called you for your payment. We can go outside and talk.”
Kumar was silent like a dry river that won’t have its flow back, stunned but still.
Dr Sampadaa said “Wait. Praveen!! You ... you are in the town !!”
“Who Praveen? He is Kumar, the carpenter. Remember, the sofa you praised; he is here for the payment. I will handle ma’am, sorry for the disturbance.”
“I heard you are here, I … I just… wanted to see you. How are you, Sam?”
No one could understand what was happening in the room!
Sampadaa smirked and said, “Just like the people who live without some people.” After a min of pause she added, “Meet Dr Praveen Kumar, a mental giant in neurogenetics.”
In another scene.
“Why research got banned here, Sir? could never understand.” Manager asked.
“Well, a big story. Will tell you after I solve this case.” CBI officer said.
Night 8PM. Rooftop. Guest house.
“So, you actually ended up being the carpenter you always wanted to be. Wow! I always thought you were kidding me.” Sampadaa said.
“C’mon, you know well what I wanted to do. Just hiding the internal noise in woods. After research is banned in India, we fought a lot to revoke the decision, but it was all in vain.” Kumar replied.
“You never thought about shifting from here? Never remembered me?” Sampadaa quavered.
Praveen looked vacantly. “I live in your memory every day. But I could never leave from here. After the defeat, something died inside me that no medicine could heal, I could never try again anywhere. I hid Dr Praveen in carpenter Kumar, forever.”
“Do you remember your work from where you left?”
“Research is banned madam, internet is not. You guys have really lifted up where it was 10 years back. I keep a track, at least that I can do.”
“Yes, but no one has done the clinical trial you were up to. That is still pending. That idea was really unique, we revolved around everything else except touching that part. As your paper never came no one else could try that. From your team also no one migrated outside, except me. It’s hard to believe but true.”
Praveen couldn’t believe that! “Why? Why didn’t you? you knew it.”
“That was your idea, your work, I could not acquire it though I knew you are not going to continue. I just could not.”
“You did very wrong with science, you realize?”
“Yeah, I do agree. But now we need you in the case. Can we resume the clinical trial on this suspect?”
“How? We can’t do anything here for a stupid decision. In those 10 years, now we are centuries back. And it will be illegal also. Plus, we don’t have the RNA sequencing reports till now to confirm.”
“Sorry to intrude in, the reports are here (handing over to Dr Praveen). We can have some special permission too for any trial you want to do if that is what the only thing left to solve this query.” CBI officer advanced.
“Thank you, officer.” Sampadaa said. “But tell me one thing, if you know that he is the killer, why administration is waiting, for what. Hundreds of murders! It’s not a small crime.”
“No matter how strongly we feel that he is the one, but he has no motive to do so when we interrogated. Proofs are also not that strong against him. And most importantly, he is suspected to be mentally unstable. We can’t do anything till he is not normal. Basically, he is in a state where he is proved neither to have any mental disorder nor to commit the crime. If this is not resolved within some days, he will be transferred to a mental asylum, but the investigation of this case will go on, no one knows till when.” Officer said.
“But can you guys explain what’s the problem with him, if anyone of you figured it out?” Dr Nair asked.
“Well, the being human factor I was talking about we guess is relevant in the case. Dr Praveen can explain you better.” Dr Sampadaa replied.
Praveen looked serious after thoroughly examining the reports and handed them over to Dr Nair.
“I was working with this factor, namely H-factor. We all have it, that is why we are humans. The gene which is responsible for producing this is governed by an epistatic gene, that normally doesn’t express. In our suspect, that epistatic gene is expressed somehow, which is itself a rare event, so that masks the function of H-factor. If we do not have the H-factor, we cannot say what may happen, but for sure we will not behave like humans. Moreover, we will be the cruellest species on earth. We may do things quite opposite of our cognitive nature. But …” Dr Praveen explained.
“But?” Dr Sampadaa asked.
“We don’t know, why the expression of the epistatic gene is irregular. That’s why sometimes he becomes violent and kills…”
“And sometimes weeps loudly, as if he is in guilt.” CBI officer remembered.
“Yes.”
“But what’s the solution, doctor?” Officer asked impatiently.
“My team had designed a drug, that is basically an inhibitor of the epistatic gene. But the clinical trial was never done in humans. I still have the formula. You know, hope against hope!”
“We should try that.” Dr Nair suggested. “That’s the only way out. And who knows, if it works, the ban may be revoked.”
2 months later. Hospital lawn.
“Please arrest me officer. I do not want to live with the burden of hundreds of sins, but I do not have the courage to kill another life, otherwise I would die.” The suspect sobbed.
“The court will decide that. Let’s go.” Officer said.
Evening. That day.
“So, the ban got revoked, is Dr Praveen making a comeback from the aestivation?” Sampadaa asked.
“I don’t know, will think about it. So, when are you leaving?” Praveen asked.
“Umm, I am thinking to go, wind up everything and come back here to start afresh. Had everything, now it is time to have ‘some people”! Sampadaa said with a smile.
[TEXT SOUND ON PHONE]
Both of them opened the text that reads, “THE SUSPECT JUMPED FROM THE ZIP ON THE WAY TO POLICE STATION. NOW UNDERGROUND.”
By Anwesha Manasingh
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