Free The Bankster (Ravi Subramanian) by Ravi Subramanian Page A

smiled.
    Jaya was very well-travelled and quite a voracious reader too. He could talk knowledgeably on any topic from the tsunami in Japan to Vladimir Putin’s affair with a Russian gymnast half his age; from corruption in African cricket to the railway budget, Jaya was an expert on almost everything. Krishna immediately connected with him. His intellectual compatibility was quite stimulating.
    Eventually that night, almost as if it was pre-planned, the two of them got down to discussing the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, the threat of the Pakistan’s nuclear programme going rogue, the unabashed aggression shown by the Iranian president in defying the world with his own nuclear plans. It was not long before they meandered towards their own neighbourhood, the Trikakulam nuclear plant. Jaya was very worried, like Krishna, about the aftereffects of any natural calamity on the safety of the people in the vicinity.
    ‘God forbid if any calamity hits this plant, it will render not only this neighbourhood, but entire town of Devikulam uninhabitable for hundreds of years, not to mention the loss of flora and fauna. It will spell a disaster of magnanimous proportions,’ Jaya said.
    ‘Yes, but what can we do? No one seems to be interested. I have been fighting a lone cause for years now. The plant is not too far away from being commissioned. There’s little we can do at this stage, don’t you think?’
    ‘You can’t give up, Mr Menon. If you have been fighting for so long, now is the time for your struggle to bear results.’
    ‘Yes but I am beginning to think it’s a lost cause. And more so, I don’t even have the resources to battle the strong reserves of the politicians.’
    ‘What is it that you need? I can help you with that. People who work with CNRI will be interested in working with you on protecting the natural resources of your region—the same natural resources which will be rendered useless if what happened in Japan were to happen in Devikulam.’
    Krishna’s eyes lit up. Was that possible? Would someone help him with the required means, enable him to keep the battle going? He desperately wanted to stall the nuclear plant from going live. The research behind the choice of the plant’s location was shrouded in secrecy. The government had not made it public. The relocation plans for people in the catchment were still to be announced. Krishna was not against it, but he wanted the government to come clean on the project and convince the people that everything had been thought through and taken care of.
    ‘Is there a place where we can sit and talk in peace? This party is getting a bit too crowded.’ When Jaya said this, Krishna led him out of the hall and drove him straight to his resort. Their discussion went into the wee hours of the morning. After all the frustrations and disappointments over his crusade, for Krishna this visitor seemed to have arrived from heaven.
    By the time Jaya left, promising to contact him in the next few days, Krishna was fully rejuvenated. He was charged up and ready to kick-start and add fire to his protests against the nearly complete Trikakulam Nuclear Power Plant.
    And today, when he stood on the dais, he reminisced over the past few months. The chance meeting with Jaya, the late night discussion at the resort, the promise of Jaya to help him raise funds, the quick-fire way in which Jaya had fulfilled those promises, the discussions with other like-minded NGOs that Jaya had prompted to help him mobilise people and garner support in his battle against the commissioning of the nuclear plant.
    He quietly walked up and took a vacant chair at the centre of the dais. Before sitting down, he looked at the person sitting on the right, folded his hands and paid his respects. Jaya looked at him, smiled and reciprocated his gesture. The friendship was sealed. In fact, the friendship had been sealed the day Jaya’s emissary delivered thirty-two lakh rupees to Krishna Menon’s resort.