Saturday 16 November 2013

The star tattoo

image

Write Over the Weekend theme for this week

This time your entry must contain, ‘He/She had seen that tattoo before! If only he/she could remember where.’



Ananya pressed the 'on' button and the blank, lifeless screen in a jiffy sprung to life. Sprung to life was an inappropriate term to be used here as a news of a murder/suicide  was being replayed umpteen times in a monotonous voice devoid of any emotions. This is the result of 24x7 news , concluded Ananya. 

Suddenly the camera panned on to something that caught her attention,' She had seen that tattoo before! If only she could remember where.' The tattoo was not clearly visible.

She raised the volume to a higher decibel. She scanned the hard-disk of her brain minutely but without success. The girl had found on the cemented ground floor of a high-rise building lying in a pool of blood. She was rushed to a hospital by the police where she was declared DOA (dead on arrival). The secretary of the high-rise said that she was not a resident of the building nor she was a guest. No purse or any belonging of hers was found to establish her identity. No-one had come forward to claim her body nor anyone had lodged a missing person's complaint.She was an enigma. Police and the press alike were requesting the public for any information leading to her , to report to the nearest police station.

Ananya had to reach her workplace. She had an appointment at 10'O clock.

 Purvi was still sleeping. Ananya finished her morning chores noiselessly least she woke her flat-mate. Sharing this tiny flat with Purvi or rather going dutch on the expenses prevented the size of the pocket hole becoming bigger. Phew! Mumbai is expensive , she grumbled but its roads are paved with gold. In a short time , her trade had picked up and there was respectability in her work, that puffed her chest with pride . Her parents back in a moffusil town would never understand her. But she loved them.

Reaching her workplace well on time and finishing off all her appointments she thought of the tattoo. She had text-ed Purvi for a request for a closer look at the tattoo.

 Purvi's colleague was covering the murder case. Having friends in the print media helped matters and the photograph of the enlarged tattoo was staring at her on the screen of her computer. She had seen that tattoo before and now she was sure of it.  Her pupils dilated and there were goosebumps all over her body and  a shiver ran down her spine and she sat huddled encircling her knees with both her arms.

Ananya had inked that tattoo last fortnight on the murdered girl's back.


                     



A fortnight ago ..................


It was Purvi's birthday and Ananya wanted to wind up early and make preparations for the celebrations. And this girl walked into 'Ananya's Arcade'  without a prior appointment. Ananya tried to persuade her to come back the next day  but the girl, sweetly and politely explained her urgency. It was her boy-friend's birthday the next day and she wanted to surprise him with the tattoo of five stars of varying sizes. That girl was flushed with love and she had stars in her eyes. Ananya felt a pang of jealously . The girl wanted a simple tattoo with five stars and Ananya advised her that connecting the biggest star to the other stars with delicate creepers was artistic and appealing to the eye. The girl immediately agreed.

Ananya inked a permanent tattoo. This permanent imprint became her identity , a clue which would lead to the mystery surrounding her death.

But Ananya's mind forbade her from sharing this vital piece of clue with the Police. The murdered girl was not related to her in any way nor was she a friend or an acquaintance. She was just another client who had come to her tattoo parlor to avail of her services. Ananya did not want to get involved with the long arm of the law. It would spell doom to her budding business and her clients would dwindle and she had a loan to clear off and the running overheads of her business had to be taken care off. She would be a loser if she went forward to help a stranger. No , she decided against it. She would keep mum.

But a small part of her heart tugged her to step forward and climb the steps of the Police Station. The girl's parents or relatives will be worried. Was it a suicide or a murder? What were the reasons behind her untimely death? She too stayed in a big metro far away from her home and parents. God forbid , if in any untoward incident , she is left alone and on soul comes to her rescue. Now its pay-back time for her, to give something to the society . The public always blames and criticizes the police and the press for not discharging their duties but it is the responsibility of every citizen to co-operate . The dead girl's soul will not allow her conscience to be at peace. She had full faith in God and in herself.

She opened the red file which housed the records of each of her clients. She dialed a number and the voice at the other end said , 'Police Station.................

P.S. : In an accident or a murder , the general public is unwilling to share a piece of vital information with the law-keepers. This attitude has to be changed.  

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

list of WOW badges

28 comments:

  1. Nice take on the prompt. Loved the way you highlighted the fact that general public should always cooperate with the police whenever they can using this story.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Police are there to help us provided we too should help them to help ourselves. Still our society has to go a long way to cement this bond of trust.

      Delete
  2. Beautifully written :) good point made. U r right. What if everyone thinks that way and noone comes to our help when we need it....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We expect others to come running when were are in distress but the same has to be reciprocated.

      Delete
  3. Very nice story, Ma'am! I love the moral at the end.
    Info sharing can solve many cases...
    Congrats for wow. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nice story with a moral, Ma'am! Congrats for Wow again!
    The entire scene came to my mind!
    Cooperation with the Police can really help.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you are right Anita, co-operation is a two-way lane. Thanks.

      Delete
  5. Loved the message in here. The reluctance to approach the police is understood but a little piece of information could be a breakthrough in such cases.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You have hit the bull's eye. A small clue can be vital only if the public shares it.

      Delete
  6. Like how you've played around with the prompt and also given a punch message at the end of the post/story. I love tattoos, do you?

    Joy always,
    Susan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Susan, I am not a tattoo person and a tattoo on me is a strict no-no. But this 'star'' tattoo caught my attention.

      Delete
  7. Very true - often the general public hold many clues. I like how you've brought a social issue to the fore. Nice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Suzy, the general public hold the key to the clues but are reluctant to open up due to the fear of the long arm of the law.

      Delete
  8. Ejoyed reading this.. It is an interesting way to intertwine a writing prompt, and a social message. Very well done, especially with the suspense creation

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hrishi , my son tells me that there is no story with a message and I agree.

      Delete
  9. The story Kalpana was well etched but it was the message which was very good. I quite liked the end..

    Richa

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks Richa and the end made all the difference.

      Delete
  10. This was really gripping, Kalpana. And as always I love how you relate this to what we can do to make a difference! Good stuff!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks Corinne. A small difference on part of Ananya would make a huge difference in a breakthrough. But an indifference would prick the conscience.

      Delete
  11. oh wow! That was thrilling!!
    Beautifully done as always Kalpana :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wonderful story and a very important social message. Yes, the mindset has to change... we must come forward to help the law whenever possible.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shilpa, the mindset has to be changed and today I read in the print media that witness should not be harassed in cases but the interrogation should be held in CCTV.

      Delete
  13. It is indeed a WOW post. Nicely written and yes with a social message. Loved it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Gripping words with a message. Nice take on the prompt. :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. A very nice message that comes along with a wonderful story.

    ReplyDelete
  16. A thrilling story..but also a way to highlight a problem that a lot of people have about not wanting to get involved so they stay silent when they could have been of help. Well done! ♥

    ReplyDelete

please show some love......