Stories / Novel – The Halo Reams      
The Secret
by TA Ramesh

The next day at 5 o’clock in the morning a person of strong body built-up in black pant and white shirt was standing near a bus with a tool box in black leather bag. He was having a well developed moustache with a calm face. He was enjoying a cool smoke. Kannan observed him for sometime. Then the man threw away the cigarette butt on the sand near the platform and looked at his watch. Kannan approached him.

“I take it you are Mr. Prakash?” asked Kannan.

With a smile the man looked at Kannan and shook hands with him.

“Yes, I am Prakash,” said the man. “You are Mr. Kannan, I suppose?”

“You are correct,” said Kannan.

“Jacob told me that I have to take you along with me. At what time the bus starts from here?”

“After half an hour!”

“Can we have our morning tiffin here or on the way?”

“Yes, I like your idea.”

“Then come on, we shall go and have coffee in the Bus Stand itself.”

After taking coffee, they came to the bus and sat inside it. The bus started from the place at 6 o’ clock.

At 8 o’ clock the bus stopped at Maduranthakam. There everyone had tiffin in a small hotel. Then Kannan sat in his place with the mind of seeing his town once again after two hour.

When Kannan came out of the bus at the Pudhu Town he saw Gopal coming with salutation. They both shook hands.

“Gopal, I have come along with this person who is standing near the front side of the bus. His name is Prakash. We are actually on duty. We shall be visiting some places from tomorrow on wards. We are going to stay in the Liberty Hotel. I shall meet you and our friends today evening in the usual place of the park. Please inform our friends about this. Now I think I can take leave of you. Our man is searching for me on the other side of the bus. See you!”

“Okay Kannan!”

Kannan went to the other side of the bus, joined Prakash and walked out of the Bus Stand. They got into a rickshaw and left the Bus Stand.

Before the Liberty Hotel the rickshaw stopped. A double room was provided for them. The suit cases were carried by the waiters to their room bearing no. 4.

Prakash went round the room, saw the toilet, opened the windows, saw the green plants outside and threw himself on the bed by the side of the window. After taking a glass of water Kannan sat on another bed directly below the ceiling fan.

“How do you like this place, Mr. Prakash?”

“Ah very fine! I feel like taking rest forever in this place. A calm and fine place for rest! I have been travelling from place to place and doing the engine servicing work. I don’t like it. But what to do? I have to eat, look after the family! What to do? You don’t have this problem. You are a lucky person!”

“Familiarity breeds contempt! It is a well known proverb. Life will be like this for you. Everyone will talk ill of each one’s way of living. That is human nature, Mr. Prakash. You take full rest today; I shall meet my friends today evening and come here for night dinner.”

“I am damn tired. I can’t go anywhere. We will have beer and whisky tonight. And a sound sleep!” With these words Prakash turned his face to the window side and started sleeping.

Kannan lit a cigarette and called for the room boy. He asked him to bring him that day’s newspapers and magazines. Then with a thoughtful mood he gazed at the green plants just outside the window. The breeze was cool. He was able to hear the snoring noise of Prakash. He smiled himself and smoked his cigarette with pleasure!

Soon all the old and new magazines and newspapers came to him. He went through all the magazines. The time passed like anything. It was 12.30 noon when he finished reading an important article in one of the magazines and looked at Prakash. The snoring sound was no more heard. It looked he had come to life only a few minutes ago!

“Hello Mr. Prakash, are you all right? I think we can go for our lunch.”

“Yes, yes, I feel very hungry! Where can we have the food – in the room or some where outside?”

“We can have it in the Dining Room below. Everything is prepared then and there. We have to order them first. It will take time, you see. We can go there now itself.”

“Yes, Kannan! I shall wash my face first and then we will go there.’

Prakash entered the bath room. Without closing the door he finished all his works. Kannan just looked at the mirror and adjusted his hair. Then he left the room and stood outside watching the beauty of the flowers in the pots kept along the corridor. Soon Prakash came out of the room and locked the door.

They went down the stairs to the office room and then entered a room with the name board Bar and Meals Attached. They placed an order for beer, fried fish, chicken, bread, rice and curd. One after the other the items came to the table. They drank, ate and smoked to the best of their satisfaction!

Then they came back to the hall and sat on the Sofa provided there. They selected the music records from the record shelf, switched on the radiogram and listened to the hilarious tunes! At 3.15 p.m. both of them returned to the room and slept on their beds.

At 5.05 p.m. Kannan got up from his bed, went to the bath room and with in a few minutes came out fresh. He dressed himself up and tapped the shoulder of his sleeping companion.

When woke up, Kannan said, “I am going out to meet my friends. You please lock the door and take rest. I shall join you for the night dinner. See you!”

“All right, you close the door and go,” said Prakash slightly moving from his bed.

The Sun was almost approaching the horizon. The evening was becoming pleasant. No conveyance was available. Kannan preferred to walk. When he reached the park, the time was 5.50 p.m. His friends had not yet come there. He sat on the grass near the fountain and lit a cigarette. He inhaled a deep breath and let out the smoke. Even thought it was injurious to health there was no other go for him to engage himself with. What other company could he seek for when he was alone and was not at ease? It made him forget his too much personal consciousness, come to the world and go above the world!

Brightness came upon his face. He saw the yellow flowers, ink blue flowers, red flowers and white flowers and the green grass. These things of beauty brought him cheerfulness. “Beauty brings joy, ameliorates the painful heart, makes love possible… it is quite true,” said he to himself. Such abstract ideas occupied his mind.

The Sun had set. He looked at the beautiful Sky which brought him back his characteristic mood. He felt, “God is infinitely generous to have created imperishable beauties beyond man’s reach but meant for man’s peace of mind.” He threw aside the cigarette and looked around. The faces of his friends were seen at a distance!

Baku and Vaithianathan exchanged greetings with Kannan and sat near him. Then Selvam and Gopal came out one r the other, saluted at Kannan and sat opposite to Balu and Vaithianathan.

“So friends,” said Kannan to them, “I met the proprietor of THE TREASURE last month. Now I shall be going on a tour to some places as a business and service representative in lieu of another representative. There is something wrong with the business concern. I am going to get in touch with them in my tours. After observing their activities I have to write articles which will reflect the typical character of the personalities in this line. One of the persons I am going to observe in detail is this Prakash. Tomorrow we are going to Cuddalore. From there my actual operation starts.”

“I can’t understand,” said Vaithianathan in doubt, “whether you are going to work as a journalist or going to become a business representative. I think there is complication in your appointment, Kannan. How is it possible for you to do this kind of job when your aim is in some other thing?”

“There is no complication in this job. As per the programme of my office, I am accompanying service personnel or business personnel to attend to the problems of their customers. I shall be observing how they are solving the problems; secondly how they are living while touring different places and thirdly what makes them to be interested in this kind of job. Basing these points, I am going to write reports or articles for our magazine, THE TREASURE. In short, to gain experience and knowledge of these working men I have undertaken this job. It has to be interesting to me.”

After giving this explanation, Kannan looked at Vaithianathan, who remained quite clarified. Then Gopal started his enquiries regarding Kannan’s job.

“What is the name of the company you are going to represent?” asked Gopal; “And what is the name of the company you are going to have training in?”

“Messers Ramakrishna Brothers,” answered Kannan, “General Engineering Merchants, Madras is the company I am going to represent and the name of the company I am going to have the training is Logun’s Engines Limited, Bangalore. But neither of these two companies knows that I am a writer from THE TREASURE.”

“Suppose you are found out by either of them, what will be your position? It will look you yourself fell in the trap. Have you thought over this problem?” In a thoughtful mood Balu asked these questions to Kannan.

“I cannot be found out by either of them. My reports will reach THE TREASURE. Our office will instruct the real representative of the Ramakrishna Brothers what he has to do then and there. This Logun’s Engines Limited is acting as if they can’t be shaken off by anyone. If they are really that much confident, they won’t open their mouth; they will not say anything about this matter to anyone even if I am found out by them. Their real nature shall be exposed to Ramakrishna Brothers. In the meantime I shall get the facts about the gamut of their activities in our country. Even though I am in the picture for the eyes of the people, I am not actually involved in their activities, you see. I have thought about these things already and so, I need not bother about the matter for the present.”

Selvam who had been listening the conversation finally asked Kannan, “When will this programme or training be over?”

“Six months afterwards!” said Kannan laconically.

Gopal lit a cigarette and offered the cigarette pack to Kannan, Balu and Vaithianathan respectively. They lit the cigarettes and smoked for a while in silence. Then Gopal resumed the conversation.

“Okay Kannan,” said he, “you have given your explanation. But I tell you that you will be found out today itself. How, you know? You have left that Prakash in the Liberty Hostel and you have come to see us. You have not showed yourself that you have come to this town as a stranger like him.”

“Very simple, Gopal! This Prakash is a Punjabi. Even if he has this suspicion, I can settle it easily. How, you know? I shall say that you are all my friends who have studied together in a college in Madras. Further I will include that this town is a near by place to Madras and we use to meet often. On that basis only I so easily came out to meet you all!”

“Then it is okay man,” said Gopal to Kannan, “anybody can play your part. But anyway you have to be careful in dealing with those service personnel.”

Kannan said nothing and was in a thoughtful mood though he was gazing at an ink blue flower near him. Then he turned to Selvam and looked at him for sometime and kept quiet.

“What Selvam?” said Kannan then, “you are not saying anything interesting today?”

“What is there to say?” responded Selvam, “As usual everything is going on.”

Vaithianathan could not keep himself quiet. He said, “Soon, Selvam is going to become a lawyer. He can talk and move with anyone because he is not having any secret affair with anyone of the fair sexes in his area. As usual everything is going on!”

Vaithianathan raised his eye brows up and down twice and looked at the Stars in the Sky. This kindled the curiosity of Kannan and he wanted to dig out the hidden matter.

‘What Gopal,” asked Kannan “is everything as usual going on well or not? What do you mean by the statement of Selvam? As usual is everything going on? Please tell me anything you know regarding this sort of reply.”

“What is there for me to tell you, Kannan? I am far away from Selvam and Vaithianathan. Perhaps Balu can be in touch with Selvam much closer than anybody else as far as distance is concerned. But Vaithianathan is closest to Selvam as far as secret affairs are concerned. What do you say, Balu?”

“Yes, Kannan, what Gopal says to you is having weight. It is better you ask this question to Vaithianathan. I shall also persuade him to tell you the message of this allegory. I know the out line of this affair, but I don’t have proper facts to support it. That is why I am not at all considering that matter as a happened one rather than a rumour. But let us see what it is today.”

“I am also far away from Selvam’s house like Gopal, Kannan. I think as Balu says this affair is a rumour. I cannot say lies and offend the feelings of Selvam, you see. Let us drop this matter and talk something useful and try to develop ourselves man. What do you say, Selvam?”

“Yes, Kannan, what Vaithianathan says is correct. Let us drop the rumours in our Halo. Let us discuss on a good topic. You suggest a topic and on which we can have our conversation this evening.”

Kannan did not say anything. With a suspicious smile he looked at Balu and kept quiet for sometime. Balu looked at Kannan for a while and resumed his battery of words on Vaithianathan.

“It is you Vaithianathan who have used the word secret affair in connection with Selvam’s reply to Kannan’s question. This means you know what this secret affair is. Otherwise you would not have opened your mouth. Kannan, you are believing him. But he is not true to your belief.”

“Balu,” interfered Vaithianathan immediately in the talk, “don’t play like this. Kannan, don’t believe Balu’s words.”

To cut short the matter Balu said, “Kannan, these fellows are always like this. The secret affair in short is Selvam’s connection with a lady next to his house. This is the thing I know. Other things you have to guess by yourself!”

To put an end to this chain reaction, Kannan said, “Okay men! Stop them! The person involved in the secret affair is Selvam. He is not opening his mouth. That means what? Perhaps it is something beyond his control. But I tell you one thing, man… If a lady smiles at you while you are going on the road, you should not smile at her, because if a lady smiles no one will find fault with her, but if you reciprocate her smile, you will be taken to task. That is the world.”

There was a discerning smile on the faces of Gopal and Balu. But Selvam and Vaithianathan were keenly listening to Kannan’s talk.

So, Kannan turning to Vaithianathan said, “Vaithianathan, if you want to help a person solve his problem, never say a false thing and fight with others in words to change over to another kind of rubbish. If you cannot openly say a thing, please don’t lie at least to a person who is happened to be your friend.”

“Vaithianathan,” said Balu, “is in want of this, Kannan. So, you never listen to his words. He is a liar.”

“Balu,” said Kannan, “if he cannot say the truths here, to whom shall he share his secrets or when will he get the time to say the truth? It will be like a lump in his throat. Others won’t suffer for it. But he alone will suffer for it. Okay, we will mind some other thing.”

Everyone was looking at the green grass and minutely minding the activities of the insects upon the grass leaves. Though they had not talked much the time was going beyond 8.15 p.m. Kannan was the first man who noticed the time.

“All right Haloens! A name to call ourselves is fine! We are not able to discuss today on anything because I don’t have time. Let us do this discussion work in our magazine itself. What do you say, Balu?”

“That is a fine idea, Kannan. We shall take up a poetic passage and a prose statement and upon which we shall write in the style of a discussion. Let everyone contribute his matter for these statements. Otherwise, we have to discuss on various subjects in these meets only. We can do one thing, i.e. let us discuss on lighter topics when we meet here and let us write on serious topics in the magazine. I want opinions from all of you. First let us hear what Kannan says.”

“Balu, I fully agree with what you suggest; we have a lot of quotations for this work. We shall take up one by one and discuss it in our articles we write for the magazine. In this way we can develop our reasoning capacity. Let us see what Vaithianathan, Selvam and Gopal say on this matter.”

Vaithianathan said, “I welcome this idea. I take a lot of time to understand any quotation. Only after understanding the meaning of it, I shall be able to write on it. So, I should not be compelled to submit my views of the quotations within a certain time limit. Once I write out the matter I shall send it for publication.”

Both Kannan and Balu listened to his view and waited for the opinion of other two Haloens.

Then Selvam said, “Recently I saw a poetry bit. It was having a wonderful meaning. I think you may be aware of it Kannan… That is… Good to forgive / Best to forget/ Living we fret/ Dying we live! I suggest we can write our opinion for these lines in our next issue of THE HALO magazine. What do you say?”

“I accept this,” said Kannan, “let us listen to what Gopal says about this arrangement.”

Gopal said, “It is just like a school composition work! You and Balu are very much interested in this kind of work. Writing an article, I take a lot of time not that I am a dull fellow but that I have got to mind my family works. There should not be any compulsion over me. But I shall certainly contribute my articles and view points on quotations provided I am free in my spare time.”

After listening to the views of all the Haloens, in conclusion, Kannan said, “Friends, our magazine work is not an imposed one on anyone. It is a voluntary venture. You write for the magazine what you feel, see, hear, think and imagine. It is a process by which you can keep your mind free and clear. Please don’t take this work as a burden. Do what you can. Why we have to add quotation explanation work is that we are not having enough time to discuss on subjective topics whenever we meet together. If we discuss well on our respective topics we can develop our knowledge sooner and use it for better works in life…

Tomorrow I won’t be here. I don’t know when I shall meet you all afterwards. But I shall note down what is interesting to you and convey them to you in articles whenever possible. Please maintain the release of magazine every month not for my sake but for your own development and benefit. It is already time for me to join my new companion to mind my present work. I don’t have the heart to leave you, yet I have to leave you. Let us see what we can collectively do when opportune time comes to us one day. It is not far off!”

In that manner that day’s Halo meet came to an end. Soon Kannan left for the Liberty Hotel. The other Haloens had to go in the North for their destinations and so, except Kannan they all went together to the North!

– Continued

November 4, 2007

The Halo Dreams : A Novel 
Writing a Novel | The Park | Philosophy | The Confusion | The Conversation
The Appointment | The Journey | The First Publication | The Change
The Secret | The Painted Veil | The Halo Magazine | The Debts | The Break
A Letter | A Surprise Letter | The Literary Muse | The Souvenir | The Questionnaire
The Reconciliation | The Lake | The Final Meets | The Surprise | The Settlements
The Result 

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