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Chapter Five
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What did Tashi do? Chapter Six
The only way out of this messSleep is an enemy these days, it hardly stops by where I lay - staring at the ceiling, heart beating in rhythm to the relentless ticking of time- as the hands of the clock gouge my face like fingernails made of steel.My thoughts flow out in black rivers:some get lost in the darkness beneath my eyes,and some come back to haunt me -words stripped of meaning clogging my veins,making my heart stop,choking me up as I try to take one desperate lungful of airbefore I go down,before I lose myself.The sun has lost significance- it comes up and goes down at will,but my world remains dark all the same.The bed, these sheets, my heart, this painare all I have,and these words - that shatter the silence into a billion shards,with jagged edges I could slash my wrists with.But escape is not an optionand release is not going to be easy.I am going to go somedaybut the world i
What did Tashi do? Chapter Seven
Tashi, you crazy womanIt was forty minutes past seven in the evening.A woman stepped out of a twelve-storied building, her hair in disarray. A loose cardigan was thrown lazily over her shoulders as if she had put it on in haste. Her clothes were mismatched, and she had dark circles under her eyes.Her gait was unsteady as if she were drunk. She walked with the air of one who had lost the will to live. Every few steps, she kept looking back as if to check if she were being followed. Then, looking ahead and gaining her composure, she walked on.The woman’s name was Tashi Chotten, and today, she had lived through one of the most gruelling experiences of her life. She had faced a storm head on and had come out victorious. It didn’t matter that the victory was short-lived; that it rested precariously on the thin edge of a dagger.What mattered was that after months of being made to feel small and defeated, Tashi had fought tooth and nail to carve out for herse
What did Tashi do? Chapter Eight
It is a dead endTashi was seated in the Delhi Police Cyber Crime Cell, wearing a simple green shirt with blue jeans, her hands folded neatly on her lap. Her mother, who had accompanied her to the police station, was waiting outside. Tashi sat across from Inspector IndrajitBhowmick, with his scarred, yet polished desk separating them.The inspector had a spacious office lined with shelves full of old folders and creased paperbacks in different colours. A golden framed logo was hung on the wall behind the inspector’s chair with shiny letters proclaiming: ‘Satyameva Jayate’ – ‘Truth alone triumphs.’ His window looked onto the street outside, with a tiny fraction of the iron sky visible from where she sat. Tashi glanced at an odd series of clouds. They looked like misshapen chimaeras breathing ashen fire onto the world.Presently, he was leafing through a file of her case, with several lines he had jotted down during their past hour of interrog
What did Tashi do? Chapter Nine
Just some drunk menKaran Mondal was a final year engineering undergraduate from Durgapur doing his internship at a company in Gurgaon. He had rented an apartment for two months in Sector 29. As was his habit, he sat down on his computer for his usual evening schedule while sipping coffee from a large mug. His room was dimly lit with wires strewn all over the floor. His laptop cover had at least ten different stickers of famous electronics brands. His place smelled of cigarettes. There were several crumpled packets of previous food delivery orders thrown carelessly around the floor.Karan slouched shirtless in his chair and opened an incognito window on his browser. He entered his search item when there were a series of sharp raps on his door.Startled, Karan sat up.He had no friends in the city and the only person who ever knocked on his door was his maid who came to clean up in the we
What did Tashi do? Chapter Ten
Blackcurrant or chocolate?Tashi and Manav were seated opposite Inspector Indrajit in his office. He sat facing them from across the polished desk, his uniform crisp.The police had called Tashi in the morning to inform that the blackmailer had been found and put behind bars. After hanging up, she had immediately called Manav and asked him to accompany her to the police station.“The blackmailer worked in the sales department of a reputed IT company,” Indrajit said, showing them the first page of criminal’s file. “He had awell-paying job, and his friends would have been prepared to swear that they knewthe man well. On the surface, he was an average IT professional with a normal day-to-day life and nothing to hide.”Manav nodded, while Tashilooked at the inspector with rapt attention, her shaking hands hanging by her side.“But inherently,” the inspector continued, “he was a hardened criminal – a pervert who derived
What did Tashi do? Epilogue: And After
It was a chilly Friday afternoon, almost eight months after the blackmailer had been caught. In their cosy two-bedroom apartment, Mrs Chotten was shelling some peas in the kitchen when her phone screen flashed with a call. Wiping her hands on her apron, she leaned over to pick up her daughter’s call. “Mom, I have to tell you something,” Tashi gushed. “Even I have to tell you something,” she smiled. “I got a promotion and a raise,” she squealed in joy, without letting her mother finish. “That is such good news. I am so happy for you, Ashi dear.” “Let’s celebrate by taking a trip to Shimla – just you and I.” “I would love that,” her mother laughed. “Are you sure you don’t want to bring Venkat along?” “Mom!" she chided, blushing. “Venkat is just a friend; you know that.” “Yeah, and who are you going out for dinner and drinks tonight?” “Mom, stop pulling my leg. Tell me, what were you about to say?” “Manav called. He said he is back in town for a few days.” “A
What did Tashi do? Prologue
The man scrolled through the photographs he had saved in his protected folder. It disappointed him slightly; he had seen them all and used them to his heart’s content.He needed more, and he needed them soon.He remembered the woman’s name well. All he had to do was check her Instagram profile. He typed her name in the search bar and pressed enter. When he saw the first thumbnail among the search results, a primal excitement spread in his loins.It was her. And her profile was public.Greed and anticipation making his heart beat faster, he went through the selfies, sunsets, and quotes till he came across a photograph she had uploaded seven weeks back. It was a no-make-up selfie of the woman with her mother. “Chilling at home with mom,” the caption read.What interested the man the most was the location along with the caption. He clicked on the map link and opened a photographic view of her street: he noted she lived in a twelve-story apartment.“Sweet,” he thought, as he
What did Tashi do? Chapter One
You have five minutes. Tick tock. It was eleven in the night.A lone dog greeted the cab that stopped in front of a twelve-storeyed apartment with a low howl. A slender young woman got down, glancing at the deserted street for a moment before turning to pay the driver. Heels rapping smartly on the concrete, she looked at her watch and waited for him to return the change.She was a little over five feet tall, dressed in fitted black trousers and a matching blazer. A large shoulder bag was slung to her right, blocking half her body from vision, failing, however, to hide the alluring shape of her chest. Her thick black hair highlighted with a bold auburn shade fell to her shoulders in cascades, casting shadows on her pale face. Her full lips were painted red and the epicanthic folds in her eyes were rimmed in black kohl.The woman’s name was Tashi Chotten and today had been her first work anniversary as a graduate trainee engineer at a reputed EPC firm
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