airing a feature about a Bollywood actor’s on-set tantrum. The channel after that was covering the usual humdrum politics.
“Our three national obsessions – and all in the usual order of priorities,” he commented sarcastically to Elizabeth Rani, who had given Door Stop his orders and was in the process of cleaning up the office.
“Yes, sir,” she said, distracted by seeing him in such a state. “Is everything all right?”
“No, Madam Rani, everything is certainly not all right. But God willing, everything will be all right. I have hardly slept a single wink, actually. Round the clock we have been working. But it is nothing a cup of tea and something hot and tasty should not fix.”
Two cups of chai, three aloo parathas and some of Rumpi’s homemade garlic pickle – a jar of which he kept in his desk drawer – did indeed work wonders for his temperament.
After a cat wash in his private bathroom with some cold water from the fridge, Puri was more or less back to his normal self.
By ten o’clock, his office was also spick and span and smelling of mountain-pine air freshener.
“Madam Rani, be good enough to come and watch this,” said Puri, back behind his desk with the TV tuned to
She came and stood next to him as the headlines rolled.
“This morning we have an exclusive that is going to shake the whole of India,” said the young anchor. “The footage that you are about to see was released to us in the past few hours. We have been able to verify that it is not a hoax. What you are about to see is authentic and has been independently verified.”
Puri quickly checked the other channels to see if they were carrying the same story. On Bharat TV a graphic screamed:
WORLD EXCLUSIVE.
Only government-controlled DD News, and SATYA, which was owned in part by the Foundation for the Promotion of World Consciousness, a Maharaj Swami mouthpiece, were not airing the story.
He returned to
It was running grainy CCTV black-and-white footage of Maharaj Swami sitting on the floor of his private audience chamber.
“It’s our understanding the Godman recorded this footage himself with cameras hidden inside the room where he has welcomed thousands of people privately over the years – including at least two prime ministers,” said the lady presenter.
The video showed a young female devotee entering the audience chamber, stopping to touch Maharaj Swami’s feet and then sitting before him.
“The pixilation effect you’re seeing around her face has been added by our technicians in order to protect her identity,” continued the presenter. “Some of the images we are about to show you have had to be disguised as well because of their graphic content. But what you’re watching here is this young lady performing favors of, well, an oral nature for the pleasure of Godman Maharaj Swami. Again, this footage was taken inside his private audience chamber on a hidden camera placed there for – and here we can only speculate – Swami-ji’s own purposes.”
A male co-presenter appeared on the screen and said: “In an extraordinary development, the woman who appeared in the video has come forward this morning. We cannot show her face, but she tells a harrowing tale of systematic sexual abuse at the ashram.”
A silhouetted profile of Damayanti, newly liberated from the Abode of Eternal Love, appeared. In a hesitant, at times choked voice, she described how the Godman had emotionally blackmailed her into performing sexual acts in his audience chamber.
“Swami-ji used to say that like Lord Krishna’s gopis, or milk maidens, it was my duty to show him unconditional love,” she said. “I was terrified of telling my parents because I knew they would never believe me and I thought they would disown me.”
After the clip, the male presenter appeared again and said: “We’re going live now to Haridwar for the latest developments in this breaking story from our reporter Smeeta. Smeeta, what can you tell us?”
The screen divided. On the left, the CCTV footage played on a loop; on the right, Smeeta stood in front of the main gates of the Abode of Eternal Love, which were being guarded by police.
“Yes, dramatic developments here in Haridwar,” she said excitedly. “We’ve learned that at eight o’clock this morning, police, led by Delhi inspector Jagat Prakash Singh, entered Maharaj Swami’s ashram with a warrant for the Godman’s arrest. Apparently, Inspector Singh and his men did encounter resistance inside the ashram. This was of a passive nature. Hundreds of devotees lay down on the ground in front of the entrance to the Godman’s private residence and Singh had to call for reinforcements before they were able to get inside.”
“Was Maharaj Swami there at the time?” The question came from the anchor in the studio.
“My sources tell me he had been in Delhi overnight but arrived back at his ashram this morning at around six by helicopter,” answered Smeeta. “But police say when they…”
Her words were drowned out by a flurry of activity behind her. The camera zoomed in on a scowling Inspector Singh emerging through the gates on foot.
“Sir, sir, sir!” cried the reporters, rushing toward him.
The police wallah stopped as the cameras gathered round and the questions came all at once.
“Have you arrested Maharaj Swami? What are the charges? What’s that smoke we can see rising above the ashram?”
Singh’s gruff voice broke in. “I have a statement to make,” he said. “This morning my men and I entered the Abode of Eternal Love with the intention of arresting the man known as Maharaj Swami on charges of sexual assault, manslaughter and fraud. Our progress was severely hampered by his followers, who blocked our entrance. We were only able to gain access to his private residence a short while ago. So far we have been unable to locate Swami-ji, but we are now conducting a thorough search of the area.”
The reporters started shouting all at once again.
“As to the smoke you can see rising over the buildings,” Singh continued, “a fire started in a room adjacent to Maharaj Swami’s private audience chamber minutes before we entered the building at approximately half past nine. It has since been extinguished, but the contents of the room were destroyed. We have reason to believe the fire was started deliberately.”
More questions were fired at him. Ignoring them, the inspector finished his statement: “One Vivek Swaroop, Maharaj Swami’s number two, is also wanted on the same charges. So far, he is absconding. We will be issuing a photofit of both him and Maharaj Swami within the hour. Anyone seeing these two gentlemen should contact the Delhi police immediately.”
Singh turned and walked back inside the ashram and the gates were slammed shut in the reporters’ faces.
Puri muted the TV and sat back in his chair. “Seems Swami-ji got word about the video footage being released in advance. But his goose is definitely cooked, that is for sure,” he said. “My only regret is Dr. Jha did not live to see the day.”
“He would have been overjoyed, sir,” Elizabeth Rani said, smiling. “But how did you get hold of that shocking material?”
“It was not I, Madam Rani. For that we have Flush to thank.”
“But I read in Facecream’s report that she got no information. Her USB key was destroyed by that thug Vivek Swa-roop.”
By now Elizabeth Rani was standing in front of the detective’s desk.
“That was a masterstroke!” said the detective, beaming. “Unbeknownst even to my good self, the USB key contained a virus. Thus when Facecream inserted it into the Godman’s computer it was delivered. Afterward, Flush was able to penetrate the protection system of the network – ”
“I believe it is known as a firewall, sir,” interjected his secretary helpfully.
“Exactly. So this fiery wall was penetrated and thus the system was accessed. Flush got hold of all the secret accounts. Even Maharaj Swami’s private computer was not immune. That is where the video clip and many more besides were located.”
Elizabeth Rani, looking disgusted, said: “What kind of a man could do something like that to those poor young women?”
“One without any moral compasses. One who is ready to take full advantage of any and all people for his own
