[The White Knight] - 4 - The Team

Intro on A White Knight | Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3

Disclaimer: While the technology described in the story may come true, chances are they are my wild imagination and creativity. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Episode 4 : The Team

“Now… Tell me. What could be his next target and what kind of action can we expect from him? Why do you think he does this? And how do you suggest we trap him?” Thiru asked CM’s Elite team.

“Uh…” almost everyone thought aloud, no one coming up with a possible answer.

“For God’s sake, I didn’t ask you a question from Algebra.”

“He could hack into cameras and look for people who might do some err… things. Or probably, take a snap of people committing crime.” One of the Elite said.

“Ok, how do you suggest we trap him?”

“Err… we could also monitor people and if we see someone committing a crime, we could err… follow them and catch … err… …”

“You know, we should actually be doing that. We’re not doing it and that’s why someone has decided to” said Thiru.

“Sir, if I may – I think he has hacked into almost all the cameras around here. So he could use them to capture a crime – like the way he did with our fellow cops. I have a good idea on how he took action against the cops – I think he used some kind of electronic mechanism – the one he used to burst all the head lights – in a similar way he could do some property damage to his next victims.”

Thiru was surprised to see a woman standing up and speaking with so much authority.

“What’s your name?”

“Savithri IPS, Sir”

“Have you profiled him? Do you have a theory that I can use?”

“Yes Sir. This is not an unplanned stuff – I think this guy has been working on this for months. His every step, actions are discreet and all of them were done via technology. He’s nowhere to be seen near any of the crime scenes and I don’t think he has man power to do it simultaneously around Tamil Nadu. I think we should look into some good software engineers and hackers who had recently lost someone very close to them.”

“Why do you say that?” Thiru was suddenly interested in what this young IPS has to say as the last line caught his attention. All the Elite team knew, was there’s a man called Ram and if they could bring him, he could help them get the criminal. Anyone could form the rest of her theory.

“No one suddenly decides to save a country by risking his life. He must have lost someone very close to him – a wife or a son or a daughter or a father or a mother or very good friend. That loss could have been an accident involving head lights or any violation of traffic rules. That must have been the reason he chose to bring order in the traffic as a beginning to his quest.”

“What makes you think like that?”

“Because, I think it’s personal. When you start something big like this, you start with your personal satisfaction.”

“You seem very sure.”

“That’s what I’d have done, if I were the White Knight, Sir!”

“Ok, fair enough. How do you suggest we trap him?”

“Considering the fact that the suspect is no way near any crime scene – present, past or I hope, future – this is not a typical police catching a criminal by planning ahead and setting a trap. We should stop using hackers to help us for they may be working for him. We should be collecting a list of hackers or very good software engineers from the last one year or so and narrow it down to a considerable number. And then, maybe we can form a team, split and canvass for the profile.”

The look on the face of Thiru said that he was impressed. “I’ll consider your suggestion, IPS. Now, focus on finding Ram – he may be our only hope.”

——–000000——–

“Welcome to my den, Christy”

“I told you – call me Oracle.”

“Ok. This is my wife – Raji, that’s Karthic or ‘Root’, and that’s Daniel or ‘Captain Jack Sparrow’”

“Hello”

“Wow, you look beautiful for a hacker, Christy” Raji said and immediately liked her.

“Why, you think the hackers will always have big glasses and cheetos in their hair?” Raji re-considered her previous decision. “I still don’t believe you talked me into your little – ‘quest’, you call it?” Christy said.

“You will one day –”

(sighs) “I know, I’ll one day be proud for what I do next. So, are we here to work as a team? I prefer working alone” she said and Karthic immediately liked her.

“I used to, too. But, not anymore!” Karthic said looking at her.

“Come on guys, we have a lot to discuss.” Ram said, deciding on something.

——–000000——–

“The new update on the-white-knight.com is out and this time it looks like the Knight is targeting the people who give or get bribes. The knight claims that he has a list of people who happens to have this as a habit and given them, an usual deadline, of one day to change them. He also requests all of the fellow citizens to pay taxes on time and be a good citizen to the country. We don’t know what the Knight has this time in his mind to do to the people who yet again, consider him as just another hacker. This is Rajesh along with the cameraman Shyam for the Daily News.”

The update on the-white-knight.com said:

“Giving and getting Bribe is against the law. There’s a list with me, it’s time you stop this if this is your habit. One day. BTW, pay your taxes!”

——–000000——–

“Ok. The update’s out. How long do you think it’ll take for you guys to finish what I requested?”

“A week, maybe more – this is a difficult task”

“I don’t think we have a week. Thiru is onto me – he may come in anytime though that main door.”

“What do you suggest?”

“I think it’s time we bring in the last resource.”

Ram finished talking to the group. Karthic, Raji, Daniel and Christy were looking at him as he was leaving.

“Are you still going to put time in finding The_Pink_Panther? You can help us, you know!”

“I’ve found her. Valli was not easy to find – she covered her tracks well. I think I’ll have hard time bringing her in. She’s essential for this job and that’s the reason I’d spend so much time and now risk going out. Keep working – even if I don’t ever make it back. Remember the ultimate goal – that should keep you all motivated!” Ram finished and moved towards the garage.

“What do you mean by ‘don’t ever’?” asked Raji, but he was well out of sight before she finished the sentence.

——–000000——–

Inside the Office of the Commissioner’s conference room, the CM’s Elite team was talking to themselves. “He was born in the southern most part of the Tamil Nadu. I don’t think he’s in Chennai. My best hope is to find him somewhere near his hometown.” “If he’s not in Chennai, then how come a lot of cops that we had the misfortune to arrest ourselves were from Chennai?” “You know, the canteen tiffin rates had been revised! Damn, I’ll miss a lot of savings!” “You know, I think he’s watching us right now – what we are talking and how we are planning to arrest him.” “That is highly impossible. This area has been swept for bugs and other electronic devices. We have disabled the cameras in and around of this Commissioner’s office – there’s no way he can see or hear us.” “I think the Commissioner doesn’t get this kind of coffee or tea. He gets a quality one, I bet!” “You do remember that he caught one of the staffs here at Commissioner’s office getting a bribe in a photo?” “That was before we darkened all the cameras. Now he has no eyes or ears.” “I think if he wanted to see or hear what we have to say, he’ll find some way to do. That guy’s been hacking into all kinds of systems.” “Why is the coffee always cold?”

“Shut up you all” roared Thiru, storming into the room. As if the king had returned to the den, all the people stood up instantly and flashed a salute that’ll make Captain Vijayakanth proud. “You all had been given one task – one task only – to find a man who lives in Tamil Nadu. You’ve been searching for over one and a half month – involving almost all the hackers around India, announcing big rewards and yet, you couldn’t come up with a single man’s location. Now you’re so worried that he’s planted a bug under your *** and the coffee is always served cold.”

There was silence all around.

“Sir –” someone started speaking and Thiru looked at him as if he’s going to melt him using the fires from his eyes. He gulped and turned his gaze away.

“Just tell me if someone – anyone here has any good information that’ll lead to Ram.”

Some people looked at each other, but there was silence all around.

“OK. I want everybody in the room to leave. Joint Commissioner Vinoth” he called out and turned his gaze to Savithri “Savithri IPS, you both stay.”

Everybody started moving except for Vinoth and Savithri. Thiru called them close after closing the door of the conference room.

“I’ve located Ram. He should be in one of the houses purchased in the name of Ram, Ram Jr., or Rajeswari near Kanyakumari.”

“How are you sure?” asked Savithri.

“You know, I had a list of people who I suspected to be the White Knight – a list of glorified hackers. Only Joint Commissioner Vinoth knew about this, now you too. Ram was on top of it, but I told you all that, he could help us get the White Knight. I was not sure if it’s Ram, but I sure hoped someone would bring him in. Something told me that if I could get a hold of anyone, including Ram – even if he’s not the White Knight, I could get hold of all of ‘em. I was finally able to get a hold of one.”

“Who did you get?”

“I think her name is Valli, but she calls herself and prefer calling her ‘The_Pink_Panther’”

— To be continued.

[The White Knight] - 3 - Progress...

Hello there! How's it going? Well, it’s been over two months since the second part. So sorry if I have made you wait (!) for a long period for the third part. It’s been over a month since I blogged – I wanted to write another short story for a contest hosted on Cognizant Blogs, but couldn’t find time to finish. You might wonder what I was doing during these days – work was there, but I was actually Lost. Finished the series “Lost” by last week and since then I’d been dying to write back. The good news is, I’ll most probably finish The White Knight in about four to five episodes (7 to 8 episodes in all), so – Thanks for your patience? :-D

This is my 50th Post in the blogger world, but I've crossed over 70 blogs at Cognizant in about just over an year! Thanks for all your support!

Enter the White Knight!

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Intro on A White Knight | Episode 1 | Episode 2

Disclaimer: While the technology described in the story may come true, chances are they are my wild imagination and creativity. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Episode 3: Progress...

It’s been over a month since the White Knight had exposed the corrupt cops. Since then, every day, his website was updated with photos of corrupt cops, doing things. Until a week ago, it was just photos – but from last week, the photos had details of the cop – who he is and why he is committing a crime. The media feasted in it and described The White Knight as someone who could change the history of cops – history of crimes and history of India. Some of the celebrities, when asked about The White Knight, said they’d feature in a movie as ‘the-white-knight’!

The Commissioner was really pissed. Until a week ago, it was only photos and they were able to manage the press. This White Knight is proving to be difficult – he’s publishing details of the cops now, making it unbearable for the cops to come out. He’s just showing his power! On a personal note, Thiru did notice that the crime rate in the city had gone down tremendously. Cops coming into duty on time and considering it seriously while doing it! “This guy really has some power. I don’t know why he’s doing this though!” said a fellow police officer and Thiru just admitted “He’s got a good heart!”

-------- 000000 --------

“Ram, tell me why are you doing this?”

“Come on, Raji! You know why and why are you asking it now?”

“I know why, but you know you cannot keep doing this forever. Eventually you’ll get caught!”

“I know. Commissioner Thiru has narrowed it down to 5 people and I’m on the top!”

“What?”

“Yeah, and I didn't know the other three people on the list – I just know one guy!”

“So, you knew you’d get caught by Thiru. Why haven’t you told me any of this?”

“I didn’t say I was going to get caught very soon! And I’m very sure it’s not Thiru who catches me!”

“Why not? You say he has a list and you’re on top. What’s stopping him?”

“He knows what I’m doing is right. Not by the law, but by the heart.”

“Yeah, but his heart is not the law. He’ll have to answer to someone. And he will come for you.”

“Hmmm. Yeah, maybe someday… But not in the near future – that I can guarantee you.”

“Come on, Ram! If he thinks what you’re doing is right, why is he collecting a list?”

“To meet me!”

--------000000--------

The-white-knight.com was updated. The media called it “Finally” and it said the following.

The cops are now behaving; it’s time for people to behave.

Warning: Misbehaving people will be, as usual, monitored and then a list of such will be given to the cops. Now, in a normal way you would think that’s cops’ job and you know how to handle cops – you’ve seen them, manipulated them. Remember, the morale of the cops had been boosted, so there’s only a little chance you’d be slipping.

I’d been only finding faults in the cops, and forgot there are good cops too and how they got into trouble by staying out of it. Now I believe they are ready to serve the people. During this one month, I’d been watching people misbehave towards the cops, mentioning my name. This would not be the case anymore.

--------000000--------

“It was rather an unclear update as to whether the White Knight has stopped watching cops or started targeting people. It is true that we have also noted some people, despite doing wrong stuff, slip away from the hands of the cops, who perhaps were scared that their name would be coming up in the White Knight’s website if they take action. This update could be a dawn for the good cops and might create panic for people who make trouble. We are yet not sure on this, but we’ll probably know more very soon.” Said a media.

--------000000--------

“We’ll meet soon” he said and hanged up.

“Who are you meeting?” asked Raji.

“Just a fellow hacker – one of the guys who are on the list of Thiru.”

“Why do you want to meet with him?”

“It’s a surprise. I’ll tell you all the things very soon. But first, I need your help in writing an algorithm. Think you can handle a bit of Linux?”

“What do you want the algorithm to do?” she said, taking a seat near him.

“Hack, ofcourse. Target is android mobile phones.”

“All of ‘em?”

“Yep, all of ‘em. Right from Cupcake until the KitKat”

“And how do you intend to send his algorithm into all android phones?”

“That’s the easy part. I’ll tell you when it’s ready, now get on with it. Time’s of essence.”

She started moving her fingers over the keyboard. Ram looked at her for a second and realized what she is doing. He’d been kept her out for most of his stuffs, but the time is really going fast and it’s only a matter of time before Thiru or someone catches him. He decided to make the most out of it and in his desperation; he had turned his wife into an accomplice. It’s all for the good cause, he said to himself.

“So, I saw the update – you’re really going to target the people?”

“No, that was just a ‘go ahead’ for the scary cops and a warning to people. I’m not going to do anything on this. I’m sure I’ve made an impact to the people in Tamil Nadu – they know what I’m capable of. So I don’t think they’ll misbehave.”

“How are you so confident?”

“Because, people believe. They’ve seen what happened to the vehicles and what happened to the mighty cops. They’ll be scared of what’ll happen to them. If they still don’t – well, that’s why we have cops, right?” he said, finishing his codes and getting up.

“Where are you going?”

“It’s time!”

--------000000--------

“You’re the White Knight?”

“I am. It’s nice to finally meet you, Su”

“Wow, you’re good. Very few people know me as ‘Su’.”

“I know. I just wanted to impress you. Your other names would be ‘Root’, ‘Creep’, ‘Nerd’ –”

“So, you know my real name?” he cut him off.

“I do.”

“Well then, I’m at a disadvantage here. You know a lot about me and I know nothing about you.”

“That’s why I’m here.”

“I don’t want to know anything about you. I know what you do and I’ve figured how you do.”

“Why didn’t you stop it?”

“I think they deserved it. What surprises me is what’s that you want from me. I’d been personally working to crack your website and locate you, but I can’t so far!”

“Don’t underestimate yourself Su. You might have cracked, but you just don’t know it yet!”

“Wait a minute. Are you –”

“That’s not why I asked you to come here. I need your help in building something.”

“Now, why would I do that? Commissioner Thiru has a put out a healthy bounty on your head. Why can’t I just hit you and take you to him? It’d be a nice little retirement for me!”

“I know you wouldn’t do that because money is not a problem for you. You can hack into any bank and take any amount of money without their knowledge. I know you’d done this once.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” For a moment, he went pale.

“Save it Su. I’m not Thiru.”

There was an awkward silence.

“You’d been chosen, Su. To do a very important work that you’ll one day be proud of.”

“Why me?”

“Because, you believe.”

More awkward silence followed.

“What do you want me to do?” he said, making up his mind.

“It’s a challenge, Su. I’ll tell you all about it on the way.”

“Where are we going?”

“To my den.”

“To your what?”

“My place. That’s what I call it. I’m Ram, by the way – you can call me so if you’d like to, Karthic!” they shook hands.

--------000000--------

Thiru was going over the list once again.

1. Ram
2. Daniel / CaptainJackSparrow
3. Karthic  / Root#
4. Valli / The_Pink_Panther
5. Christy / “T#3 0r@c1é”

He only had the list, but he had no idea where these guys are. He’d been trying his best, but he could not get a hold of anyone. How could these people be hiding like this? And, whyare they hiding?

He knows only one on the list is the White Knight and if that person is what he thinks he is, then it’d be hard to find him. He had already sent out the CM’s Elite team to work – their top priority being “Find Ram”. If Ram is not the White Knight, then Thiru was so sure that he could help him find the rest. He knows he was a glorified software engineer. After his only son’s departure, Ram had been out of the lime light and no one knows where he is. From what he heard, Ram took his son’s death as his own fault and has been punishing himself since then. All his friends didn’t know where he is and they last heard of him was about 7 months before. Thiru took a pen and circled Ram’s name on the list.

“I’m coming for you, Ram!”

--- To be continued.

[Movie Review] Gravity!

The last time I saw a rating of over 8 in IMDB (of a film that’s just been released) I ended up watching “The Hunger Games” and ‘disappointment’ is an understatement. The review for the movie “Gravity” was equally as good as “The Hunger Games” and IMDB once again showed a rating of over 8. After much consideration, with me still being felt a déjà vu – my roommate was pestering me to accompany him to Gravity. So we decided to watch it last Friday, at ESCAPE, ATMOS 3D. I have got to tell you, if you’d have seen my face while I was watching the movie, you’d have laughed your guts out. Most of the time, I was like ‘aaah’ and sometimes a shock in my face with the 3D effect. I have decided that I will not tell you anything about the movie, so this is a spoiler free review.

Well, if we’re not going to talk about the movie, let’s talk about the stars. It’s good to see Sandra Bullock back in the screen after almost a couple of decades (last time I saw a Sandra Bullock movie – it was Speed). She has done her part perfect; I especially liked her most in the climax. What else can we talk about? Well let’s see… Visual Effects. Man. One helluva visual effects that takes your breath away. I have to stress this once again – people who feel they don’t understand English movies – you should also watch this movie. Because, the dialogues are not very much important in this movie. Just buy yourself a 3D ticket (preferably in Satyam ATMOS screens) and just concentrate on the movie, not the dialogue [Don't take this as how Vivek says to Vikram in the Tamil movie Dhool]. I’m sure you’ll enjoy. During the first 15 minutes of the movie - watchout, or you may have your head spinning! There’s one last thing I want to talk about is the 3D effect. I’ve seen quite some movies in 3D. The thing about 3D is that, you’ll feel the effect as soon as the movie begins, but soon when you start to concentrate on the movie, you’ll forget that you’re watching a 3D film. But this one is outstanding. You will be constantly remembered that you are watching this film via 3D and it’ll make a certain impact. Don’t forget to watch the very last scene of the movie with your 3D glasses still on, it was mind blowing!

People who have watched the movie – I have a question for you. Why does ‘it’ come back after 90 minutes?  [If you know what I mean]

[The White Knight] - 2 - Clean Khaki

Intro on The White Knight is here. |    The White Knight    | Episode 1 is here.

Disclaimer: While the technology described in the story may come true, chances are they are my wild imagination and creativity. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Episode 2: Clean Khaki

“Sir, the items that you ordered online are here.”

“Thank you Mani. You can leave now.”

As Mani started leaving the room, Raji entered.

“What are all these new toys doing here? No doubt for your next vigilante program?”

“You said it!”

—— 00000 ——

Thiru, The commissioner of police of the Chennai city was furious. He was one of the good police men, yet the fact that one man has left the entire Tamil Nadu become chaos in one day made him angry. While he tries to believe that the White Knight is trying to do something for a better future, his interference with the law has gotten into his temper. He was personally amazed by the thought of how the head lights still burst out after 2 days of the initial chaos, but he still believed that it was the last of what he calls a ‘stunt’ that the so called White Knight will make! He has had an earful during the urgent meeting scheduled by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu a couple of days before. The statement that he made before the chaos begun, had came back to haunt him. The CM has ordered an elite team to grab the White Knight at any given first chance. He was part of that team too. Earlier that day, he went on to read the-white-knight.com for his next move. There wasn’t anything on it other than a few movie super hero posters, but he’s been involving the best hackers around India to crack into the website and isolate the man. He has had no luck so far. “Come on, guys – give me a bone here” he said to himself.

A whole week was gone and there was nothing the hackers could do to triangulate the so-called-super-hero. The update on the-white-knight.com earlier that day added fuel to the raging fire. When Thiru opened the page, he read the only line in between the super hero images.

“Corrupt Cops – Beware”

He immediately called for a meeting with the fellow police officers.

—— 00000 ——

The next morning, when Thiru woke up, he found a flash drive sitting beside his spectacles. Puzzled, he powered on his ‘Compaq’ and it took about 10 minutes to load his personal settings. He plugged in the flash drive and it had a lot of photos. A glance on the thumbnails gave him a good idea – those were the images of his fellow colleagues doing things that they’re supposed to catch people do. There was an odd-one-out – a Read Me.jpg. He opened the image and read out loud.

“I’m giving you one day to take action against these cops. Failing to do so, I’ll have to take matter into my own hands. Trust me, you’ll not like it!”

He immediately went to the website. The-white-knight.com was updated and Thiru didn’t like a bit of it. The update said “Corrupt Police list has been handed over to the Commissioner of Police, Chennai City. Will the police take action against the police? They have 24 hours.” A timer was running, showing less than 23 hours remaining. His head started to take a spin.

—— 00000 ——

Assistant commissioner Marimuthu surprised Thiru with an early morning salute.

“ACP Marimuthu – what are you doing here so early?”

“Sir, I saw the website – I wanted to know if my name or my cousin’s name is on the list.”

Thiru was taken aback! He managed to hide his surprise and asked him “Why, did you do something that you are not supposed to do?”

“Sir –”

“No need for an explanation, ACP. You can go – I’ll decide with the CM on what to do with the list. I’m sure whether or not your name is on the list you’ll know it by tomorrow at the max.”

“But, Sir –”

“That’s an order!”

ACP produced a flashing salute and left the place half hearted.

By now Thiru realized that atleast half of the city police will want to know if their name is on the list or not. He decided not to waste a single moment and took a drive to the CM’s house himself. He was infact, afraid that his driver might want to know if his name was on the list! There were about 30 calls on his mobile during the 25 minutes journey from his house to the CMs. Only one was from the CM and he missed the others.

—— 00000 ——

The finger print search on the flash drive came up empty. CM was in a dilemma whether to suspend all the 341 cops in the photo or not and a team was identifying them from the photo. Time was tickling away and the media was already on it.

“We are standing here at the corner of the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu’s home. It’s been crazy up here. Apparently, the white knight has collected a list of corrupt cops and sent it to the commissioner of police, Chennai city. We see that the commissioner is inside the CM’s house having a discussion. They have 24 hours time to take action against the listed people. It’s been over 4 hours now, and we are yet to see any results. We are trying our best to talk to one of the spokes person from the Chief Minister’s house. Stay tuned for more updates. This is Sachin with camera man Sourav, reporting for India-News.”

A set of lawyers came rushing from the CM’s house and they said “No Comments” even before a question was asked. The place was chaos.

—— 00000 ——

Inside almost all of the police stations in Chennai city, a group of cops had gathered and were watching the televisions’ live update.

“Do you think that b*****d would have captured me when I was getting the money?” “I think that stupid software guy who I locked for two days is coming back to haunt me!” “You know, I once hit a photographer for not having money. I think it’s him. My name would sure be on the list. I’m doomed!” “I never saw any flash lights or anyone infact, watching me when I got that money from that rowdy. My name would not be on the list for sure.” “Whoever he is, if my name is on that list, I will hunt him and I will kill him.”

—— 00000 ——

After about 16 hours, as if waiting for a verdict on a murder case – the result was out. Thiru personally appeared on the television and delivered the news. Camera flashes were flickering for any given second.

“I received a set of photos from the White Knight this morning which had a few police officers committing a crime. The scrutiny of the photos we received is being examined and at this point we cannot come to any conclusion on whether or not these people have infact, committed a crime as the photos claim. We do take this as a serious concern and we will take severe action against the people who are in the photo, if proven to be guilty. While we analyze the facts, we request people and fellow police officers to remain calm. The photos will not be disclosed to public and protection will be given to the people in the pictures as the white knight has threatened them. The White Knight’s action is still considered to be offensive and unlawful. He or She will be punished when captured for all the crime committed.”

Watching the news, Ram said “As expected.”

“What are you going to do to them?” asked Raji.

“Wait and see tomorrow. After all, the 24 hours is not yet finished.”

—— 00000 ——

It was dawn. The media and some interested people had been waiting for the-white-knight.com to be updated. Thiru was one of them. At 5 in the morning, when then timer reached 00:00:00, it was updated.

“Time’s up. As expected, the police consider the given evidence as not-enough to proceed. I have decided to act. Consider this as a warning, for the punishment would not be severe for your ignorance of my power. For all the corrupt cops – ‘You are being watched’. I don’t want the list to be increased by the end of the day. The list will be punished within the span of 24 hours. Watch out.”

—— 00000 ——

One of the corrupted cops was in a deep sleep when that happened. He heard a loud sound and woke up with heavy breathings. He saw his family was also disturbed by that sound and he asked them to stay inside the house and went on to open the door of his house. What he saw was unbelievable. His brand new 72,000 rupees Bajaj Pulsar had a hole in the side of the petrol tank and the petrol was rushing outside, making a small river towards his gate. While he watched that in horror, a beggar, who made a fire to escape the early morning chills because of last night’s rain, was just leaving. A still burning paper from the fire went flying like in the Final Destination movie and landed at the banks of the newly formed river. The police officer’s family, whose sleep was disturbed by the first sound, heard another sound – the sound of 72,000 rupees burning.

—— 00000 ——

The whole city was peaceful except for the corrupt officers’ mind. The media went on to report none of the incidents happened as The White Knight threatened and people spent a peaceful day except for a few accidents.

—— 00000 ——

Another corrupt officer, who had been afraid to go out of the house that whole day, waited for a miracle to save his precious RX100 after he heard what had happened to the nearby police officer Sivamani’s Pulsar. It was almost 7 in the night and he needed a break. He went inside and switched on his hall lights. With a flash, his house electricity short circuited and the burnt smell of his Whirlpool refrigerator made him realize that he’d been punished.

—— 00000 ——

At 9:30 in the night, the-white-knight.com was updated.

“The list had been punished – ofcourse, it wasn’t serious. Now they know the power of me and I strongly suggest them passing the information to their fellow cops for what awaits them next, if they were to go on a different path. To the media, I know you didn’t get what you wanted. But, I wanted this just to be a warning, so the punishment was discreet. Next time when they dare try again, I’ll be sure to let you know the evidence and their punishment. For now, this photo of the burning Pulsar is evidence that one of the corrupt cops had been punished.”

And it showed the lone Sivamani’s Pulsar on fire. Thiru was reading the update and he knew a few of the cops who were on the list were punished. He recollected ACP Marimuthu being on the list, and wasn’t sure if he was punished. Curious, he placed a call to him and almost thought he’d not answer, after 11th ring, he answered.

“Hello”

“ACP, I know you were on the list. Were you punished by The White Knight? Would you like to make a formal compliant?”

“No sir, I was not punished. I think you overlooked!” he said, looking at the engine burst Scorpio.

—— 00000 ——

“How did you punish them?” asked Raji.

“I damaged one of their properties.”

“First, tell me how did you take pictures of them?”

“If I tell you, you’ll be an accomplice to my crime.”

“I am an accomplice. Now, tell me!”

“Remember the toys?”

“What, those cameras you bought online?”

“Yep, I placed them discreetly at places where I thought crimes would happen, including the police stations, using the help of a couple of drones.”

“Drones? I never saw a drone in that list of toys!”

“I made that personally a month back. During this one week, I’ve been moving that drone from place to place planting the hidden cameras. I even have one in the commissioner’s office.”

“I’ll be damned! So, how did you isolate the corrupt people within a day and damaged their property?”

“Well, I didn’t. During this one week, I’d seen a list of people who couldn’t keep their hands clean at all. So, I started making a note of them and planted a surprise for them on the 4th day. After my announcement, about 100 people kept their hands clean, so they were sparred. The other 341 received the surprise.”

“So, everything went according to the plan?”

“Not really. One of the corrupted cops – Sivamani his name, was on my list. My thought was to make a hole in his petrol tank using one of my drones, but things went south when a beggar started a fire nearby. Sivamani was standing somewhat near the bike when the explosion happened. It was unexpected, but the good thing is he got out alive with a few burns.”

“What? You nearly killed a cop?”

“Raji, I know the risk. Sometime fate intervenes. It wasn’t my intention that he get what he got.”

“You need to be more careful with your planning.”

“I will from now on, ma’am. I could use an extra hand though!” he said.

“Alright, since you begged for it, I’ll join” she said with a naughty smile on her face.

—To be Continued.

Tutors World Wide India Limited - A Tribute...

October 4. It was a Monday, one of the memorable days in my life. It is the birthday of one of my best buddy from back home – but that’s not why it is memorable. It’s definitely not my birthday – those who’re close to me would know that. Then, why is that day special? It’s a special day because it’s the day I started my professional journey. It is that date that earned me a set of friends who I’d never forget in my life. It is on that date, I transformed from a ‘college boy’ to a ‘man’. It’s that date I joined a company called “Tutors World Wide India (P) Limited”.

To tell you about the company, well it’s been closed for some time now – I think it was on Feb 2009 when the operations shut down. Makes me sad, when I type this – I always wanted to see that company produce more and more professional people – the way it made me. Everyone would love their first company – I was no exception in it. Be it the night shifts, be it the English training session, and be it the “Typing” lessons. I loved each and every one of the lessons they taught me. Situated at the main area – opposite to the “All Sec” call center at Velachery was our TWWI, we call it short for the Tutors World Wide India Ltd. Every time when I cross Velachery, I can’t help but notice the SRS Arcade. That SRS Arcade once was like a home to me – what I see there now is the “State Bank of India”.

We were called the ‘Batch 4’, a set of enthusiastic 25 odd people from different part of the cities in Tamil Nadu. We literally were the 4^th batch to be employed in that company – there were about 50 people working in the company when I joined. Right from the beginning, I had some kind of an attraction towards this company. I don’t know if it was because the way “Sivasankaran” or “Siva PSG”, an assistant manager at that time, who answered the phone and talked to me very nicely when I first called the company regarding the joining formalities. I don’t know if it was “Sridhar KS” – a manager and a man who almost always had an answer to any question – who almost always says “Excellent” when you answer him. I don’t know if it was the “Sucharita ma’am”, the CEO of that company at that time – who encouraged me to pursue my higher education during the day time. I don’t know how often you get a chance to talk to a CEO of a company that you just joined!

I still remember the way we hustle when a student had joined. I do remember the bashings you get when your session has been one of the worst. The appreciations you get when your student gives you a compliment and the satisfaction you get when you taught a student something new are some feelings, that’ll be hardly forgettable. While the mock sessions and the tests gets your pulse quicken, the music on almost every bay relaxes you. You’ll get the felling you’re not working in an office, but you’re along with your family! Inspirations were all around – be it my first mentor “Krithika” [I still remember the way she talk – the way she often use the word ‘nahi’], followed by “Sundar”, the infamous “Seval Pannai” team lead by “Thala aka Saravana” and last but not least, my TAG [Tutoring Administration Group] team lead “Srini” [who I humbly call ‘Ji’]. Every one of them had a passion to work and a passion to teach. Outside my team, I could point “Gyani”, “Alfred”, “Elango Kallanai” "Vishnu Senior" and many such others, who I’d have forgotten over the time period.

Almost all of the ‘Batch 4’ members were recognized for their talents – I became the Team Lead of a 10 member TAG team. Satish Narayan went on to become the lead for the “Image” team. Shanmugam became the important person for the “Content Development”. “Stat Karthi” or “Karthick Subramaniam” went onto became the lead for the “Statistics” team and all this happened within a span of two years. I still am proud for getting the “Outstanding” rating during one of the appraisals. Beyond work, we became thick friends – from staying in one room to watching almost all the movies together. I still remember my first ever movie at Chennai – with my buddies, we went to the infamous Udhayam theatre for the movie “7G Rainbow Colony”. The last time we were in Chennai & working for TWWI, we watched “Vettayadu Vilayadu” at Mayajal.

When I pause and look back after 9 long years, I see almost all of the people who I remember from TWWI are successful today. Well, as for me – I’m working in a software company – same goes to Satish and Somesh. Stat Karthi went on to become a statistician on Ford. Sivasankaran is a HR in one of the companies. Shiva Kumar, mentor for Satish is living in UAE and so on and so forth. That great was that company! It taught you so many stuffs that you’ll survive any where.

To write about the company TWWI or the work culture there or about the people who inspired me there would take atleast 10 pages for me. Please don’t mistake me if I missed any one of the legends from TWWI – it’s just that my memory is becoming weak.I just wanted to re-live the memory of the days I spent with that wonderful company – and the mission is accomplished!

[The White Knight] - 1 - The Light Effect

Introduction to The White Knight is Here. Read this before you continue the story.

Disclaimer: While the technology described in the story can come true, chances are they are my wild imaginations and creativity. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Episode: 1 - The Light Effect

His wife didn’t know about this. She’d have stopped him if she’d known what he’s about to do. But, it was too late. She is the only person in the world who knew he is the only person in the world who could do it. And he did it!

—— 00000 ——

The indiannews.com website didn’t know they were being hacked. He did so in a prime-time and displayed his message which couldn’t be taken off the website for atleast a day. He had hacked into the news website’s database server and hard programmed the news on the database like it’s a notice from the press to the public and its backup DB too. He took a deep breath and published the news. He said to himself, “One down”.

This is what he posted on it (Click on the image to get a better view):

The news went viral. The indiannews.com didn’t know that this had been published on its entire Tamil Nadu version. People started calling the company and asked who the White Knight is. They had no clue. Chennai commissioner went on to make a public statement that the news company didn’t know about this and people don’t need to worry about it. He said that it’s just a stupid computer genius who’ll get caught very soon for the nuisance that he created.

—— 00000 ——

She walked into his room. He was alone and having his regular JD, watching the commissioner’s statement on the news. She walked over to him with the breakfast she prepared and set aside.

“It’s too early for a JD.” He didn't respond.

“So, why’d you do it?”

“You know why” he said.

“I know why, but why now?”

“Someone has to do it. I can and I’m going to. World has to change. And I’ve decided to change it. I don’t want people to go through what I’m going through.”

“So, you’re going to be a vigilante?”

He let out a dry smile on that comment and clicked on a switch. The entire library that was before them started moving aside and a rack full of computer monitors started moving towards them. One keyboard popped up in front of him and he started typing codes.

—— 00000 ——

Inside one of the biggest MNC, its employees were busy discussing the possibility of detecting high beams. “You think this white knight could really stop people using the high beams?” “Kill a high beam? This guy’s an idiot!” “I don’t think this maniac has any rights to do whatever he’s up to” “People do use high beams these days – I almost hit a two wheeler a couple of days before because one idiot came flashing up towards me!” “He doesn’t have any rights to do anything to our cars. It’s my car and I use it the way I like it” “I don’t think anything’s happening tonight – watch my words, he’s lucky he got that news published!” “White Knight? Hahaha. I think this guy had way too much to drink last night!”

—— 00000 ——

Sun was all set to go to sleep after a tiring day of smoking things up. The news created a big impact, one passed it to other and almost the entire Tamil Nadu knew that something does gonna happen tonight. Or probably, nothing but a hoax! They were about to find out as it was almost time to switch on their lights. Almost all the news channels made sure they covered the city traffic during the night time and some even started running live coverage. “I’m standing here at one of the high traffic area here in Chennai – Old Mahaballipuram Road. The morning news from The White Knight had claimed that people who use high beam has to watch out tonight. We will see if this white Knight will really do something about it in a short while. This is Priya Malhotra reporting from OMR, Chennai for indianews”

People started rushing towards home with their four wheelers after a hectic day at work. After all, who has a good day at work? Time to put their lights on. The news did make the impact on people – most of them were running with their lights on the road. The live coverage said there’s nothing happening tonight so far, people are going home with their normal lights and seemed to stop using high beam. And then it happened. One of the non-believer, started his car and switched his high beam, and entered into the traffic. He smiled to himself – “White Knight – a drunken idiot!” and increased his speed on the traffic. He heard a bursting sound – the sound of his head light dying. Smoke was coming out of his car’s head lights. At the same time, he heard the same sound around him and realized that he’s driving only with the help of the street lights. Panicked, he switched on his left indicator and pulled over aside to see smoke coming out of his car’s head lights. And then, like a magic, when he saw the traffic, he noticed, one by one, the head lights of the cars that have their high beam on, started bursting up like a cracker. “Damn you White Knight!”

The live coverage went on to report the incidents. “We are bringing you the live coverage from the Mount Road where you can see a lot of cars are pulling over. Apparently, their head lights have been burst out after they switched on their high beam. Looks like the White Knight has made something that is making the car’s high beam lights go burst like a cracker. People who use the normal lights don’t have any impact by this and are driving safely. We advice people not to use the high beam inside the city for your own safety.”
The coverage from another news channel showed some accidents because of the light bursts. It was chaos all around the city that night. At 9, a channel summarized the incidents happened on that night. About 30% of the vehicles were in the service center for a new head light and most of them were IT company buses that had about 6 lights on a side.

—— 00000 ——

“Stop this” she said after bursting into his room.

He gave her a look and then started typing more codes.

“I said stop it Ram. You better watch the news – it’s chaos out there and there had been accidents because of what you did”

He stopped typing for a moment as if he heard what she said and then started typing codes again.

“Are you hearing me?” she started coming forward as if she’s going to pull the keyboard from him.

“I can hear you alright. Do you think I didn’t know accidents would happen when I planned this?” he was still typing.

“Then why the hell are you doing this? People might die, Ram!”

“Then it’s the price that I’m willing to pay for no such future incidents”

“No Ram. This is not you. You’ve taken junior’s accident seriously. You couldn’t have done anything to stop it. It’s not your fault!” She realized it too late.

He stopped typing. A tear rolled down his cheek. There was a long silence. “I could have Raji. I could have. I don’t want any more accidents happen because of a high beam and I don’t want any father losing his only son. This is for a greater good and a brighter future.”

She walked over to him and gave him a hug. “I know Ram. I know what you’re trying to do. I just don’t like the way you do it” tears came down from her eyes too.

There was a long silence once again and then he moved her aside and started typing more codes. She knew that nothing she could do to stop him. It’s that attitude that attracted her to him.

“So, how did you do it?” she asked looking over the codes.

“Are you interested in my vigilante program?” he said with a little smile.

“May be. How do bursting head lights work?”

“Through the cell phone towers. I’ve hacked into almost all the cell phone service providers and use their signal to detect for a high beam. Once the source is identified, I use the internet to locate the car key’s resistor and using the circuit, I kill the bulbs of the source by sending 75% of the car’s battery life into it. Using the maps, I’ve programmed it to work inside the city, so the highway high beamers won’t be affected.”

“Hmmm. Interesting”

“Is that compliment?”

“You could say so. A vigilante not only kill peoples’ head lights – what else have you planned for?”

“Oh, this is just a beginning. A personal satisfaction, I would say. There’s lot more to come!” he said with a smile on his face.

“What are you doing now?”

“Sending out the news that The White Knight will continue to serve!”

She looked up at the screen and a news paper column showed the message (Click on the image to get a better view).

–To be continued.

Newspaper image courtesy: fodey.com

The White Knight - An Intro...

He was a glorified software engineer. Anything anyone asks him for, he’ll get it done – the maximum time he has taken to do so is 1 day. He had never switched company because, the company that he worked for made sure to raise his salary twice in a year – an exception that’s not even made for the CEO of that company. He infact negotiate/withdraw salary in US $s while working in India. He had everything he needed for his life – a good job, a loving and caring wife, good money (ofcourse!) and the blessings of his parents. He had been earning in $s for the last 10 years and there’s a talk going on that he’d soon be the richest man in India. He had multiple houses in and around most of the cities in Tamil Nadu, almost all the states in India and even a couple in the US of America. God is not the type who’d give only happiness to his fellow disciples, is he? He had issues too and the major one being his only son died in a terrible accident. With the wealth he had, he could have sued the lorry driver who hit his car and taking away his only child. The case was closed as an accident and the driver’s license was ‘punched’ once and he paid for the bail and walked away. After that night, he resigned his job and settled in the almost-farthest-end-of-India – a remote village near Kanyakumari. Six months passed and the world thought the emerging wealthy had lost his mind after his only son’s departure and very soon, forgot about him. Little do they know on what he was doing in that remote village or what comes the following day.

—— 00000 ——

Say hello to my “White Knight”, my first attempt at creating a ‘series’. This is a super hero story, inspired by many, many such movies that I watched. I’m naming it “A White Knight”, after my favorite “Dark Knight” and a recent photo shared at Facebook (below). I’ll try and create each and every part as one episode – i.e., one story per episode, so people who miss one could still follow the next. This is not going to be a mega-series with lots of episodes. The frequency of the episodes depends solely upon my availability, so please don’t be disappointed (!) if I don’t write often. First part would be published shortly. As always, your feedback’s important! Please do leave them on the comments section!

Image Courtesy: Facebook

 

This and That...

When I was busy writing “What the hell”, my Honda Shine celebrated its first birthday, courtesy of me filling his stomach up – yep, that was his treat! When I now pause and take a look at him, I feel like he feels violated. During this journey of over 13300 kilometers, he never let me down – even literally! But, every morning when I take him to office – with the one stop at “Hotel Raja”, I see he has the knack to attract all kinds of mud and dust. No matter how many times I clean him [for the sake of an argument]; he’s like a kid who, when let out to play, comes back with dirty clothes and muddy feet!

There was a cubicle decoration contest held at Walgreens offshore (don’t remember why, but who wants a reason) and out of the 6 bay here, 3 themes were given. It was a country theme – Egypt, Paris and China – one country for every two cubicles. You’ve to decorate your cubicle with things that’ll resemble the country assigned to you. Our theme was Egypt and I don’t know why, but the contest was postponed for multiple times after the announcement. Nevertheless, we were born ready and soon our cubicle mates came up with ideas (we even had a meeting held up in one of the conference rooms available). Until the D-Day, I was only involved in buying things like color paper or scissor or something-like-that. In the last moment, I don’t know whose idea it was, but the team decided to pose me as a live ‘Mummy’. I’d never been interested in any of these things throughout my career – whenever there’s such a contest, you can see me as one of the ‘Gethu’ [கெத்து] people who wouldn’t get involved in any of the activities. But this time, people were so good to me and the fact that I contributed very less in the theme, made me guilty. So, I accepted to pose as a live Mummy and as if they knew I would accept, they brought the tissues ready with them. They then wrapped and wrapped and wrapped me until I couldn’t see a damn thing and only hear naggings.

When the chief guest came and asked about the live ‘Mummy’, I said “Hello Sir, I can offer you my hand, but I’m a bit tied”. I don’t know if he was able to hear what I said because the area was filled with laughter most of the times. In the end it was “China” who won the contest and we finished as a runner up. People took quite some snaps around me, my honest thought was – when I wasn’t a ‘Mummy’ no one was willing to take a snap with me, but when I became a ‘Mummy’, people just rushed in! It’s a Crazy world, huh?

PS: After the contest, people started calling me – “Hey Mummy”… I told them – “Don’t call a future-to-be-daddy as a Mummy!”