It was raining heavily and he could see nothing out of the window as his plane taxied out to take off – or were the tears in his eyes blinding his vision?
It was almost 5am in his watch as the plane touched down at Palam airport in Delhi. He soon realized – it was about 3am – he had not changed the time in his watch according to the IST. He was whisked away through a special clearance channel amid high security. He travelled in a luxurious car but couldn’t see anything outside – the windows were blindfolded for security.
He rested for a couple of days amid his seclusion and was then taken to some secret army HQ. He was showered with praises by many officers for the courage he had shown on a foreign land. He then was taken to another cell within…
He was breathless – he was standing face to face – it was the President of India – Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Sir – his joyous wonder knew no bounds when the shower of praises and vote of thanks came right from the President who was his ideal…
He swore to secrecy of all that had happened – the oath was personally given by the President of India… He was thrilled by his secret meeting with the President – the chief of that secret cell then handed over few papers to him… “Son – we have torn off the papers from your diary for those days – we have carefully – attached new sheets for those days, to keep the secrecy – you are free to leave the security and go back to your home after you write down those as per these papers…”
Chaits looked at the bunch of sheets which were handed over to him, “Sir – a few moments ago, I took a solemn oath in front of the President to secrecy – and I will abide by my oath…”
“We know you will…”
“But the pages you tore off my diary are my fond memories and I don’t want to lose them…”
“I understand – and it’s my promise – I will keep them in safe custody and return these pages to you – maybe – after 10 years – once the dust settles down and these pages are no longer relevant. The importance of these papers is high and so will the memory card remain with us – if anyone asks you for details of those days – you have the answers… this is for your own safety…” he pointed at the sheets.
It took Chaits about a week to write those papers handed by the army in his diary and to memorize the chain of events as written in them – to tell the world about them. The truth was deep down his heart and he knew he had to hide it there… He was given a new mobile with new SIM card with the same old number – his mobile was to remain in army’s custody for at least 10 years…
He no longer wished to fly – so he was booked in a special coupe of Rajdhani express leaving for Mumbai… A normal taxi covered by some secret agents drove him to the railway station and watched him board the train. Unknown to him there were some secret agents booked in that bogie as passengers and staff guarding him… he looked out as the train rumbled out of the station – back to Mumbai – his hometown… there was no trouble… he seemed to have left the trouble, back in Malaysia.
He soon joined his organization back and the daily activities took the control over. Everything was normal… seems he had moved on…