It’s a long long day – Acts or Arms?

Other than few vehicles and few pot holes scattered randomly on the road we came across nothing on that Ghat road after crossing Sagara. Our eyes had been keenly looking at any signs of Herangadi Bus Stop as well as the Odometer to check upon the 70 km mark. I had even lost track of which song had been playing on the tape since last few kilometers. Even Praveen had remained silent the entire journey which I was sure that his brain too was now occupied with the Mission and was getting ready to face any situation that might come in.

It was during our training days that we had learnt about a very famous mission of a drug bust in this area. It was a team work but still it was one of those missions that became a ‘must study’ for spies and became ‘nothing happened nowhere’ for the rest of the world. Spies call their missions successful not when the mission is successful but when the mission is successful behind the curtains and no one ever gets to know if actually anything had happened.

Other than that drug bust this area there had been very few arms smuggling. The local ports had been an easy access to the smugglers getting in arms in small numbers and then spreading them out into the country. But once the coastal guards caught few of these and tightened up the entire water entry of Karnataka with a major base in Karwar, this place remained calm, a scenic place with abundant places to visit and savor the beauty of nature until the recent Naxal infiltrations and few bad incidents involving them. There never had been anything that involved any major security threats in this area and now this incident somehow involved INTERPOL with their lips sealed.

Both of us were sitting upright with our eyes popped out carefully watching any signs of Herangadi Bus Stop. My Casio watch displayed 1:05 PM by now. The speed of our car had slowed down a lot than what was really required. Suddenly after few minutes, we saw a white ambassador parked on the opposite side of the road under a huge Jackfruit tree. A man, wearing greased up jeans and shirt, waved hand at us to stop. I slowed down the car a bit.

“Do you think this is our stop?” Praveen asked.

“Yeah. I feel so and that car is for us.” I said

“Let’s see” he said getting down from the car as soon as I took the car to the other side and stopped it just behind the ambassador.

“Are you coming from Bangalore?” he asked Praveen

When Praveen nodded in positive, he quickly ran towards the ambassador, put in his head into the rear window and talked to the person sitting inside. Within seconds, I saw his head come out of the window and he yelled, in the local tone, “You are going to meet Ram sir?”

Praveen again nodded a yes. That sent the guys head again into the window and within seconds came out. The door of the ambassador opened and a middle aged guy wearing black trouser and pure white shirt got down from the car. For a second, I was amused guessing if it was his shirt or his car that was whiter. He got down, stroked his shirt to settle it neatly on his body, and smiled at us holding his right hand at his chest, saying, “Namaskara”

I was bowled out by his behavior, his dressing, his fluent local language. No one could ever guess this Ram sir owning a grocery shop in Honnavar is actually Agent Ram. Spies are better than chameleons when it comes to blending into surroundings and situations but Agent Ram, he had made this his life. It seemed that he was really a grocery shop owner who was working for Indian Intelligence wing as a part time job. Though it was starting of my career, I had made it to two National Level conferences of Intelligence specialists and had seen and heard many stories but this was more than experiencing a true dedication of life to the team of spies.

We both glanced at each other and then stared back at Ram, still blinking in little surprise on what a life of spy can turn into. Leaving behind his family and settling here taking up a life which was never his. I wish I could sit with him and discuss his life and many moments that passed by, each of them winning his ardent decision to choose this life.

“I am Ram. I have a grocery shop in Honnavar. I heard from my friend staying in Bangalore that you guys are coming here for some trip and need to take care of your stay. How was your travel?” he said in a sweet tone of the local language.

“Travel was good. Thanks. Yes we wanted to plan a trip in Honnavar for 2 days. We thought of meeting you at Honnavar” I said quickly stretching the lie he started.

“Yes Yes. You are right. But I had a small work in a village Narayanpur today. I had to go there for half day. You see that road; we take that small road to Narayanpur”

“Can we also join you?” Praveen asked.

“Yes why not. But you people come from Bangalore city and these are small villages. Will that be fine for you? If you want he can take you to Honnavar and wait until I return” he said pointing to the person with greased up clothes who seemed to be his all-in-one assistant.

“It will be fine. We want to enjoy these villages and it would be great to enjoy this weather rather than sitting in home waiting for you sir” Praveen continued.

“Okay. That’s fine. If you both want to enjoy then join me” he said walking towards the car.

He then turned to his all-in-one and said, “Get Butter Milk for all of us from that shop near the stop” and opened the door of ambassador.

As soon as his all-in-one walked a bit far, he called us to get in his car.

“So you are the guys on this mission. I had thought it would be a team, but you guys came in with high recommendations at being real bad asses in this.”

“Good to be appreciated” Praveen said.

“So what’s the plan?” Ram asked.

“We still have no details on the missing agent. Once you give as much info as possible on him we should start searching for him. By the way we dint know you would be joining us to Narayanpur” I said

“Yeah. I don’t do these field ops these days but since I am involved somewhat directly into this along with that agent I took up some responsibility and it’s like I am co-coordinating this mission with you. And moreover speaking to these people in local language will help get better information on our missing agent.”

“So what will be your plan?” Praveen asked.

“Simple. We will just go to Narayanpur, gather as much information as possible until we get a clue and then I will leave you both for your actions” he said.

“Thanks Ram. That will be helpful” I said

“Ok then let’s get started. Are we taking your assistant as well to Narayanpur?” Praveen asked.

“No. He is my local assistant. He has no clue on this. He will be going back to Honnavar with your car”

“No” we both exclaimed at once.

“What happened?” Ram asked

“He can’t take our car. We need it for the mission.”

“But this car would be better to go to Narayanpur and what is so special about that car. It will be safe with him. He is more loyal than you can think of” Ram said

“But that car is fully loaded. We need it for the mission. It has all our arms” Praveen said.

“Wait. Are you guys planning something already? This is just to gather information. We will be going there undercover. One of you would be my business partner and another would be my driver. We will be only and only gathering information for now. Then once we get anything at our hand, I will return back and leave you both for your mission.” Ram said

“But Ram that cannot wait. We have less than a day to rescue the missing agent. We need to act fast” I said.

“I know but at any cost I cannot have my Cover ID blown. It will be either I leave you to take up the complete mission from now and return back or else join you, help you get some more clues and then you can start your actions. No arms when I am involved”

“But that would again stretch the mission. Atleast we can carry our arms and once we get the info we need, we can just start what is needed and at any time you can return back to Honnavar” Praveen said

“Yes that’s true” I added.

“No arms when I am involved guys. I can’t risk my Cover ID. Its taken years for me and the whole team to settle up here. I prefer we go to the village, do a little act which I have planned and then come back here and take a suitable decision. It would be better for contacting the base as well” Ram said.

It had to be either his plan of enacting a small act to gather information which often helps a lot in such situations, come back and then start a hunt or our plan of carrying arms and continuing his plan with whatever hunt that mission needed. The small talk on discussion was now turning into a serious discussion with multiple options coming onto the table.

Whatever the choice we would make, one thing was clear, it was going to be a long long day!

Which option, do you readers think would be better? Acts or Arms? Suggestions welcome…

Vishal…

Tweet