ON GUARD

The taxi stopped near the gate and a man got down. He asked the
taxi-driver to wait. He walked through the gate and into the little
room situated where the gate ended. There he found a man who greeted
him smilingly. His taxi fare was paid and luggage transferred to the
little room. The man who came by taxi was Teklal and the second his
cousin Tejlal. Tejlal was the watchman of the building at whose gate
the taxi stopped. The building had twelve floors and was called Golf
Towers. Tejlal's duties were many. He was in charge of the overall
security and would have to switch on the diesel generator whenever
there was a power cut. Other than this he was required to run errands
for the secretary of the block committee every now and then. He was not
provided housing. All he had was the little chamber near the gate. He
had a wooden country oven where he did all his cooking behind the
building. He did have a wife and children at home in the village but
had no place to keep them in the city. So he was greatly pleased when
his cousin Teklal came visiting. It was now three pm and quite warm.
Suddenly a man carrying a bag approached the building. The bag appeared
to be big and heavy. He tried to enter the building without paying any
obeisance to Tejlal. Tejlal became very angry. He took his staff and
put it in the tall man's way. 'Where are you going?', he asked.
'Inside', said the man. 'What do you have in your bag?' asked Tejlal.
'Vacuum cleaner', said the man. 'What?', said the watchman. 'You will
not understand.'. But Tejlal was adamant. He was determined not to
allow the vacuum cleaner salesman inside. He asked to see his identity
card though he did not read English. The salesman showed him the
identity card. Just then the phone in Tejlal's chamber rang. It was a
call from Mr Sen the occupant of flat 302. After a brief conversation
it became clear that the vacuum cleaner that was being carried inside
was meant for Mr Sen. Naturally the salesman had to be allowed inside.
It was now four o' clock and time for a late mid-day meal. Tejlal
stayed on guard all night and would wake up at eleven in the morning.
Naturally his lunch never happened before four in the afternoon. Lunch
was Spartan. It consisted of few pieces of bread, an onion and two
chillies. After consuming the food Teklal the cousin was thinking of
taking a nap. Just then a young boy and girl walked in. They were well
dressed and good-looking. The girl went to the lawn while the boy
approached Tejlal. He said something in whispers which Teklal could not
hear. But the watchman's face lit up. He showed five fingers and the
boy nodded. The boy handed him five hundred pounds. Then the boy and
girl went into the building. The secret was revealed to Teklal soon.
The boy and girl were engaged to be married and wanted a place where
they could meet and perhaps have a physical relationship in peace.
Tejlal had the keys to an empty flat and he took five hundred pounds to
let it out to the boy and girl. This sort of thing could only happen in
the afternoon when no one bothered and the money was good, really good.
After a while Teklal fell asleep. When he awoke he found Tejlal looking
very happy. He had with him a bottle of the choicest country liquor
prepared by fermenting rice. He had also bought an entire cooked
chicken from a roadside eatery. Dinner was going to be great. But the
phone rang suddenly. It was a call from Mr Poorie of flat 507. His flat
was locked and the keys had been left inside. It was already dark but
Tejlal had to get on the job. This was one of the duties that he was
required to perform unofficially. So he took his ladder and went to the
rear end of the building. From here he picked up a big rock and climbed
to flat 107 on the first floor using his ladder. Thereafter he became
Spiderman scaling the building by holding on to the railings and
placing his feet on ledges. After much effort he reached flat 507 and
broke open the window. The door was opened and the keys recovered. For
his pains he was given an old shirt. Tejlal came back to enjoy his
meal. And enjoy he did. He nearly ate the entire chicken himself and
drank three-fourth the bottle of liquor. After this he was a changed
man. He went outside the chamber and started swearing. He threw
expletives at everyone: his parents, his employers even his cousin
Teklal. Teklal was surprised but not shocked. He knew his cousin well.
After a while Tejlal was quiet and fell asleep in the chamber. Around
twelve pm a van stopped outside the building. The noise it made woke
both Tejlal and Teklal up. Tejlal cursed himself for having dozed off.
At least ten men who had their faces covered alighted from the truck
carrying pipeguns. Tejlal now knew what was happening. He took out the
rifle he had and went outside. He first fired in the air and then at
the men. At least two fell to the ground. They started firing at
Tejlal. By now the whole building was awake and all lights were on.
Before the masked men left they fired straight at Tejlal's head. He was
instantly dead. He had probably prevented a dacoity. Teklal came
outside and saw his cousin's corpse. He started crying. The rest of the
building, not even the secretary bothered to come and find out what had
happened. Next morning Tejlal's body was sent for post mortem. A
unanimous decision was taken to appoint Teklal as the new watchman of
the building.