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The nine o'clock BBC news offered few new developments on the situation.
Curfew had imposed in the cities of Madras, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The smaller towns and cities in the region were also tense with sporadic violence...
Many policemen, are disobeying direct orders from their senior offices, and joining the rioters...
The Indian army continues to be the only reliable force that can control the situation...
After burning government buildings and transport, some of the protestors are now targeting North Indian residential areas in Sowcarpet and shops...
Moon was keenly listening to the news in the living room, slurping on his noodle soup, having just woken up from a deep slumber, when he heard a faint knock on the door.
Must be Professor Ganapathy.
He opened the door and peeped out at the dark empty verandah, a couple of gunshots rang out in a distance, and he closed it shut immediately.
The knocking persisted, it was coming from the back. He switched on the kitchen lights to investigate, when a sharp voice startled him.
‘Switch off the lights and open the backdoor.’
It was Professor Subbaiah. He seemed furious.
‘Didn't I tell you to keep the back door open at all times?’ he barked at Moon, as the door was unlatched.
‘I am sorry sir, I forgot.’
Subbaiah was not alone. Two other stocky dark-skinned men trooped in behind him, their face wrapped in towels. They sat down on the kitchen floor, and revealed their weather beaten faces with bushy mustaches. They appeared to be in their mid-forties. Subbaiah handed them a tumbler of drinking water from the clay pot.
‘They are my party members, and will stay with us tonight,’ he told Moon. ‘Please switch off all the lights in the house, we need complete darkness.’
As the entire house dissolved into the night, Subbaiah guided the other two to the living room towards the sofa, their eyesight slowly adjusting to the darkness, while Moon stood in a corner of the room.
‘Sir, I heard there was more violence today,’ he said in a low voice.
‘The situation is out of control now. Many policemen have joined our movement, Anna is secretly meeting some Army officers tonight’ Subbaiah whispered.
‘BBC said that North Indians are being targeted in Madras.’
‘Yes, it is very unfortunate. My party is divided; one group wants to target Brahmins and North Indians. But I am totally opposed to it, as is Anna; our fight is against the government, not fellow citizens.’
‘Why doesn't Anna make an announcement and stop it.’
‘He cannot come out in the open; there is a warrant for him, and the moment he is spotted, he will be arrested. Luckily, the City Police Commissioner is a friend and alerted us, so he was able to go underground. If it gets worse, he may have to relocate to Ceylone for a few weeks.’
‘Are the police helping you?’
‘Yes, they have refused orders to fire on other Tamilians. We are now directly in combat with the Indian army. These two young men are from Andhra and Mysore, they reported that a similar situation is unfolding in their states.’ he replied. ‘Moon if you don't mind, can you wash some rice? We haven't had dinner, and can have some curd rice with avakaaya.’
‘I don't know how to make this rice, in Corea we eat a different kind of sticky rice.’
‘Don't worry just wash three cups of rice in water. I will take care of the rest.’
‘I can do that,’ Moon said, heading to the kitchen, as Subbaiah plunged into a discussion with the visitors.
When he came out a few minutes later, Moon noticed them pouring over a map in candlelight. It appeared to be a map of India, with lots of scribbling and markings. He could not understand their conversation, which was interspersed with a few familiar words: army, barracks, grenades, and rifles.
Not wanting to disturb their flow, Moon sat down on a corner chair and watched.
They were getting quite animated now, and frequently raised their voices. After 20 minutes of heated discussion, Subbaiah folded the map and turned towards Moon.
‘We will show them!’
A sudden loud knock on the door made everyone gasp.
‘Young man! Are you awake?’
‘It is Ganapathy,’ Subbaiah whispered, as he motioned the other two to follow him into the bedroom. ‘Don't allow him inside.’
A few more knocks later, Moon slowly unlatched the front door, while Subbaiah and his friends safely locked themselves in the bedroom.
‘Is everything okay with you? Why have you switched off your lights? I heard some voices.’
‘That was the radio sir. I was listening to BBC News.’
‘In candlelight?’ Gananpathy asked suspiciously, poking his head through the open gap in the door.
‘Oh that? I was not able to sleep, so decided to meditate for sometime, it is a very effective remedy in my country.’
‘I thought I heard Subbaiah's voice.’
‘He is in Hyderabad sir. How can it be possible?’
‘Anyway, Vijaylaxmi, told me to remind you of breakfast at my house tomorrow, she is very worried about your food. Did you have dinner?’
‘Yes, I made some noodle soup.’
‘Poor boy, why don't you shift to my house till Subbaiah returns? You may be lonely and hungry all by yourself.’
‘No sir, it is OK, I am able to do a lot of reading. It is good for me.’
‘Suit yourself, if you have any problems just come next door. Don't forget breakfast at 8.30 tomorrow morning. Vijaylaxmi is making upama.’
‘Thank you sir, I will be there.’
He waited until he saw Ganapathy enter his own compound, before latching the front door once again.
‘What did he want?’ Subbaiah asked, coming out of his bedroom.
‘He invited me for breakfast tomorrow.’
‘I suspect, it is not the only thing that was on his mind, he was definitely snooping around. We have to be very careful, as he will definitely inform the police.’
‘That reminds sir, he had a phone call from an inspector in the afternoon while he was chatting with me here.’
‘Inspector Bala?’
‘Yes, the inspector who helped you find me after the stampede. Is he Professor Ganapathy's childhood friend?’
‘Is that what he told you? Of course not, he has been very secretive about this association even before,’ he replied. ‘Why don't you go and sleep? I will make rice for us, and we have more work to do. We will leave at dawn, remember to keep the backdoor unlocked.’