Prologue:



Thud! Sounded the thick steel staff on

the paved ground. Banging it in a

threatening manner on the bare stone

floor once again, Satbir Singh turned

around in a slow and controlled manner.

Twirling his thick black pointed

moustache, he nodded and assured

himself things were alright. Clearing his

throat audibly, the tall towering Sikh was

about to enter his cabin for a cup of tea

when he suddenly noticed a weird

shadow like outline creeping towards the

Consort tower. Frowning irritably he

stretched his right arm and seizing his

staff, rose from his wooden chair. Then

picking up his trusty black torch with his

left hand, Satbir slowly pushed open his

cabin door and cautiously stepped out

into the darkness. For a few feet all he

saw was his own shadow now quite

large due to the shifting moonlight.

A blinding flash of headlights

momentarily forced him to shield his

eyes. Lowering his arm the next minute,

he started walking towards the Pharaoh

tower.The entrance lobby was well lit,

and another night guard Shantaram was

perched over a bright red plastic chair.

He was listening to music from his new

nokia 5800 musicxpress, the black

earphones stuffed inside his ears,

blocking out the slightest sounds. It was

a moment before he was shaken out of

his stupor, startled like anything. For, his

friend Satbir Singh stood right before his

eyes, a towering and serious looking

figure. The burly Punjabi man had just

tapped him on the left shoulder, almost

breaking his trance. Quickly getting to

his feet, Shantaram wriggled his medium

sized eyebrows in confusion. He asked

Satbir what was wrong. But the hefty

Sardar merely moved his head from side

to side, barely uttering a word. Confused

with his silence, Shantaram blinked and

looked at his friend carefully for a while.

Then picking up his torch and staff, he

crossed over to the elevator at the left

side corner and pressed the 'UP' button.

Both guards waited patiently till the car

reached the ground floor. About 20 - 23

seconds later, they heard the faint 'ting'

of the lift car as it smoothly touched the

floor. With a swipe, the doors parted to

reveal an empty elevator cabin. Turning

his head Shantaram indicated Satbir and

stepped inside the car, followed by his

turbaned friend.



dimly lit stairs. They went right till the

12th floor, straight and criss-cross, taking

the very life out of your feet if by chance

you decided against taking the elevator

on a particular day. Many a times, when

lifts were out of order either for monthly

maintenance or due to rainwater accu -

- mulating underneath, the residents,

particularly the higher floor dwellers

would be highly inconvenienced. Also,

on regular days the lifts were slow than

their counterparts in other residential

and commercial towers. Visitors would

often complain about the lack of services

provided for the elevators and other

amenities in Mayur Heights inspite of

the high maintenance rates regularly

paid by the residents.

Reaching the 12th floor, Satbir pointed

out to Shantaram the small glass pane

window right in front of them. The same

was made of glass and the winds were

blowing very noisily that rainy morning.

The speedy gust of wind had actually hit

the window with an ear splitting crash,

thereby shattering the glass pane










Chapter One!







Crrrrriiinnnnngg!! The tall iron gates on

both sides of the road whirred close and

shut tightly. The moon hid behind the

clouds and a veil of darkness spread all

around.



















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