They had a couple of drinks in the nearby pub. From there they walked hand in hand to Ajab Malik’s apartment. Once inside, Ajab seated the girl in front of him and looking deep into her eyes began, “Look, I am Ajab Malik and you, you are my…”
“I am your girl friend for the night. My name is Angela. No complications. Is that clear?”
“I am your Ajab. We loved each other. We were separated. We lived in Kashmir.”
The girl laughed. Ajab watched her, completely at a loss for words. At last she said, “Come on man. I never went out of Germany. I wanted to but no money to visit places. I was born here in Berlin. I don’t know what you are talking about.”
He tried for a long time to convince her that she was his long lost love. The girl listened to him patiently and at the end said, “Look here, either you are crazy or there was a girl out there at your place who resembled me. That is all. Come on. Don’t spoil the fun. You are a stranger to this place. Get ready, I will take you to all the places.” Ajab had to reconcile to the situation. He had intentionally kept out the bird story while pleading with the girl. But now alone in his bathroom where he had gone to change, he began to think. Could it be that the bird collector had set her free and she had somehow regained her human form but not her past, her memory? Ajab continued to think. His chain of thoughts was finally broken by Angela’s knock at the bathroom door, “Come on man, do you intend to sleep there?” He came out and after a while both set out on their journey to Berlin’s nightlife.
She was his guide and Ajab handed himself over to her. She decided that it was time for dinner. They entered a restaurant and she ordered for both of them. They hurried through the dinner and then left the place. Out in the open she said,“There is a place. It is called the Underground. We will now go there. You can enjoy yourself thoroughly. Everything is there. How about Hashish? Do you like it?” she enquired. Ajab Malik said nothing. They walked on and finally reached the place. It was really underground. They had to descend twenty-five to thirty steps and then move through a long winding subway, at the end of which stood the Underground World. There was practically everything there—hasish joint, drug parlours, bars, and of course the sex den. At the hashish joint they saw young and old Gemans smoking hashish from beautiful pipes. Some having oversmoked lay prostrate on the ground. Others stood quite calm while yet others talked incessantly among themselves. Angela could not resist the temptation to draw at the pipe. She freed her hand from Ajab Malik’s and went for it. He tried to dissuade her but before he could do anything she was drawing frantically on the pipe that a young man held out to her. After a few puffs she slumped down into the lap of the young man.
Ajab watched in horror. An old German with a stoop materialized in front of him. “Son, take heed, the allies are coming. They are knocking at Berlin’s doors. Where is the Fuerher? Do not worry the Fuerher is there. As long as he is there, glory is to the German Reich. We will overcome. Do not worry, do not worry.” Ajab gave him a patient hearing. Suddenly, the German seemed in no mood to talk. He fell silent, closed his eyes and remained still. Ajab moved on. The rising smoke from all around got into his lungs. His eyes watered. His sight blurred and he was unable to seep roperly. He searched for Noshlab. Where was she? There were dozens of girls and boys lying on the ground, their bodies entwined, flesh intermingled. Who was Noshlab amongst them? How could he separate her from the heap even if he located her? A disgusted Ajab Malik moved on.
There were four chairs around a small table. Three men sat in them while one chair lay empty. The men looked very old, with shining long hair and beards. All three wore black robes. They seemed to be debating some important point. As Ajab appeared they saw him. They fell silent and one of them beckoned to him to take the empty chair. Ajab was mesmerized into acceptance. He moved to the chair and sat obediently awaiting the next command. The man who sat on his right patted his shoulder and said, “Young man! Ah young man! Youth, yes youth. Superman’s youth is eternal. Yes. He will not age with time. He will emerge on the horizon and control the entire world.” The man next to him intervened. Lifting his right hand and pointing directly at Ajab, he said, “This young man. Do you see this young man?” he enquired from the person on his left. He nodded his head. Then he asked the man sitting on his right. He too nodded his head. Then he gave a satirical laugh. “The young man who sits there and the young man you two see does not exist.” Both the men turned to him in disbelief. The man continued, “Yes he does not exist because you do not exist. I do not exist. Existence is a mere doubt.”
Ajab Malik was beginning to get frightened. He was probably in the company of men not quite in their right minds. He made a slight movement to get up. The gentlemen sitting on his left placed his hand on his thigh and said, “Rational theory demands that I ask you a set of questions. You will answer them; then I will analyze them. We may have to take help from a physicist, a chemist, a biologist, an anthropologist, a dentist, a psychoanalyst and so on and so forth.” The other two gentlemen gave a measured laugh. The man looked at them with contempt and said, “You don’t forget that the Feurher considers me as his teacher and out of your entire lot he only adores Clausewitz.” The two gentlemen lowered their heads. He turned his attention to Ajab and said, “Are you ready? Who are you?”
“I am Ajab Malik.”
“Which kingdom?”
“Kingdom? What do you mean?”
“Plant kingdom or the animal kingdom?”
“Oh! The animal kingdom.”
“Order? Class? Species?”
The man was filling answers into a sheet of paper in front of him. When the questioning was complete, the gentleman studied the paper with great interest. He went on studying it. Then he got up and walked to a nearby cupboard, opened it and brought out old worn out books and placed them on the table. He sat down and went through the books, one by one, reading and throwing an occasional glance in Ajab Malik’s direction. Then he closed his books, stood up and holding the paper in his hand said to Ajab, “I have identified your type but how do you surface here? You are already extinct.” Ajab was startled. He got to his feet and was about to move when the old man said, “I sympathize with you, but your struggle for existence has ended; you were not the fittest, you go and enter a fossil and don’t disturb anything.”
Ajab Malik walked away from there. He was really sorry for having been there. It was a place for nuts, he thought as he came to the end of another corridor and moved into another chamber.
However hard she tried she couldn’t locate the treasure. In utter desperation, she decided to try the direct approach. Fondling Birbal’s cheek she said, “I salute you, you are great.”
“What do you mean?” asked Birbal.
“I mean what I mean, no hide and seek dear, you know I was after the treasure you stole from Qaf. But I couldn’t locate it. You are a genius.”
“Oh that…” Birbal felt flattered. “We are masters in the art of concealing things, my dear.”
“Alright, now listen carefully. Yes, you have done it, but you cannot hold it. You know Raw Kaw is after you. Guruswamy has set his hounds in search of you. They won’t let you have the treasure. But if you take my help you will succeed.”
“How?” Birbal enquired.
“Look man, I should not be saying this but now there seems to be no other way. I represent the CIA. I offer you a deal. You pass on the treasure to us and in return we give you any number of dollars you demand and that too in Swiss banks.”
“Why is the CIA interested in the treasure?”
“Don’t ask me this. You can only satisfy yourself of my antecedents. Wait a bit.” Saying this she got up and moved to the little table where her clothes lay. She picked up her denim jacket and bringing out her identity card returned to Birbal and handed it over to him. “That should settle it. Look, you have no choice. I guarantee your life and also your fortune.”
Birbal held the card in his hands and began to think. He realized that the lady was right. Mahaballi and Guruswamy, both must be after him. He could take a chance with this girl. But somewhere an idea surfaced in his mind. He said, “Basically I was doing it for my friend who wants to win the jackpot at the casino in Delhi. What does he get in the event of my accepting your offer?”
“We will take care of him, okay.”
“It is a deal.”
They kissed each other. Then Rachel got up from where she sat on the bed and said, “Now get ready. We don’t have much time. We have to get out of here. I will make a few phone calls and directly proceed to the airport. We are on our way to the States.”
Birbal had no option now. He stood up and moved towards the bathroom. Rachel went to the heap of clothes and began to dress. Once through with it she came back to the bed and picked up the telephone. She gave an outer number and replacing the receiver waited. Presently there was a buzz. She lifted the receiver and told someone to make arrangements for her flight to the States. She heard the reply for a while and then thanking her contact severed the link and replaced the receiver. Birbal showered and came out of the bathroom fully dressed. Seeing him Rachel informed him that the flight was in two hours and it was important that they start for the airport immediately. He agreed and crossing the room went to the cupboard, opened it and brought out his suitcase. He stuffed his used clothes and others things into the case and closed it. “I am ready,” he informed Rachel. She looked at him in a thoughtful way and said, “Where is the treasure? Birbal it is better if you give it to me here. You know, no one suspects me, so let me carry it.”
An excerpt from Ayaz Rasool Nazki’s book SATISAR, THE VALLEY OF DEMONS published by Vitasta Publishing and the book is available on www.vitastapublishing.com
