Peking Yang - An Alternate telling

Chapter 1 - Origins

Gandhi had got us freedom in the summer of 1922. The non-cooperation movement had been a success. It had been a tenuous path that Gandhi had chosen and had turned the massacre at Jalianwala Bagh into a positive notion to rally the entire nation against the British. This had resulted in the independence with the first Prime Minister being Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Subash Chandra Bose a radical thinker in the roaring thirties along with his trusted advisor Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel had led India into a new era by playing an important role in World War 2. The British Empire owed India 30 billion tonnes of gold by the end of the war. 

History was so intriguing. India has been in economic doldrums for the last 10 years. But the romantic in me thought of the golden age post world war two all the way to 1990 between which India grew into a super power. The cold war with China that defined world politics! And its inglorious end with World War 3! The Narasimha Rao / Manmohan Singh government could do little to stifle economic stagnation though India had obviously been on the winning side. Half of China became a part of India making India the biggest nation in the world that spread from Mongolia to the Kanyakumari while the other half was annexed by Germany. The annexation had not been a simple one. Rebel groups from East China have constantly worked at liberating the West Chinese Provinces. The bloodshed had not stopped and the internal war had now lasted for 20 odd years.

I don’t know why but I have always felt Indian though many around me are bitter about the annexation. I believe in India and am very much Indian. My father had roots that could be traced to the ancient Ming dynasty while my mum was a peasant woman of Kashmiri descent. If you did not know my name is Taiping Yang which means the Pacific.  I work at Infosys in the city if Shenzen. Narayana Murthy who founded the company just after the war ended, is said to have been an army infantryman who had stayed back in Shenzen post war and founded the News/ Media Empire of Infosys. It’s the kind of rags to riches story that inspires the youth that even in this economy it is possible for ideas to reap benefits if one has the passion and determination.

“Yo Tai stop day dreaming we got to move. News story breaking in the frontier town of Pok! The chopper is ready” yelled Macsan. I was her cameraman. And you don’t sit in lethargy when you hear her voice. I got into the chopper and as I did I got this strange smell. Something wasn’t right. I felt really uneasy. Kind of a premonition, I thought hard. The chopper lifted as I saw the fleeting figure of Macsan running on the tarmac and her shocked expression. I was confused and then I passed out.

I got up and found myself bound and blindfolded. I could feel and smell the damp floor. I heard a voice in the foreground and then I was shoved onto a chair. A whisper told me what to say and my blindfold was taken off. The Blinding light and I rambled, “ I am okay…. Disoriented… please give into their demands… whatever it is…” and then I was gagged again… time passed … I pissed in my pants… the stench… I blacked out.

I heard shelling. I heard bombs. I heard strange voices shout in fear. I blacked out again. When I got up I was alone. But my bonds were loose and I broke free. I grasped for air and looked around. I was in a strange cave and there were bodies around me. I started to run in the direction opposite to the blazing fire. I did not realize it then but I was running deeper into the mountain rather than out. I stopped to take a deep breath once I felt safer. It was really dark. I put my hand on the cold rock. I felt something trickle on to my fingers. It was a cockroach. I ate it. I was hungry.

I was totally lost in the unknown mountain and I kept walking deeper into it in the hope that I find an exit. And then I saw a light. I ran with joy thinking that I had finally reached sunlight. And I ran straight into a big opening and was surrounded by crystal that sparkled. In the centre was a strange vehicle and a being in a form I had never ever seen ever. I gasped. The being looked at me strangely and I felt a piercing pain and the last words I heard were, “You have finally reached your destiny child. Spread pacificity with what you will get.” I passed out.

I got up in an ambulance and when I gasped for air the male nurse told me to relax. I passed out again. I woke up in a hospital bed to the beautiful face of Macsan. She was looking very concerned and when I smiled she relaxed. I asked where was I and she said I was in a hospital in the frontier town of Pekren. Her face then grew dark. She looked at me with pity. I asked and she replied, “ Subramanian Iyer was released earlier today in a bid to free you. The black ops masterminded a plan such that he would die with the rebels and you would be freed. But everything went wrong. The rebels died alright but Subramanian Iyer escaped. No trace. And you were miraculously found in a field 20 kms away. The black Ops lead reported you to the government. The roumer is that you masterminded the whole thing such that Subramanian Iyer would escape. You of all the people , such a beautiful hearted person… you of all the people they would suspect… “ 

She was bitter.

I could not believe it. What was happening? I was an enemy of the state. I closed my eyes and then realized something with shock. I opened my eyes and I was in a field … I was able to tell Macsan from there to trust me and then I made sure she fainted with an injury to the back of her neck. I had a power I did not fully understand. I ran.

To Be continued. Filarial needs encouragement :D