BLOOD RED SARI (31 page)
Authors: Ashok K Banker
Sheila raised her eyebrows. ‘That’s heavy. Like spectators watching a game affecting the game’s outcome?’
‘No, not spectators. Participants. The actual investors whose money is in the market, the more intently they observe the market, the more they influence its valuation.’
‘For better or worse?’
‘That’s the point: it throws them into a vicious cycle of ups and downs which can never be corrected completely.’
‘Because they can’t stop watching?’
‘Yes and because the market can’t stop being influenced by their watching. Soros says that is the current state of the world economy. It’s in a death spiral from which it can never recover. There will be occasional stabilization, bubbles that make it float upwards – he claimed that we now have super-bubbles in which our speculation fuels more speculation which in turn influences further speculation, thereby causing the market valuation to shoot up to unsustainable heights – but in the end, what goes up must come down.’
‘So the world economy is in a tailspin,’ Sheila said. ‘Great, I’ll make sure I don’t put all the cash I withdrew from the ATM last night into a hedge fund. But how does all this economic philosophy connect with trafficking humans?’
‘The big guns, the kings who run the world of big finance, the hedge fund managers, the tycoons of Wall Street, the MNCs, the mega-accounting firms, the insurance conglomerates, all those guys, they know that there isn’t any business or trade left that can give them new bubbles of growth, especially the super-growth they now want, that they’re addicted to.’
‘The greed economy.’
‘Yes. Money for the sake of money. As an end in itself. That’s the only purpose of a corporation. Not to build or manufacture or serve or provide. Simply to make money. It’s a machine. And the machine must be fed.’
‘So they turned to illegitimate means of earning more bucks? Like slave trading, you say? Human trafficking?’
‘Yes, but that’s only the bread and butter.’
‘So you said. What’s the jam then?’
He looked at her. ‘Terrorism.’
She didn’t get it. ‘What do you mean, terrorism?’
‘The business of terror.’
‘Yeah, duh, I know what terrorism means, I know it’s run like a business now, but what’s that got to do with—’
‘Not
like
a business, it
is
a business. The fastest growing and biggest business today, matched only by human trafficking. The two go hand in hand. The countries that are the epicentre of human trafficking are the ones that suffer the most terror attacks. It has to be that way. That’s the system.’
‘Which country is that?’ she asked, then stopped. She raised a hand to her head. ‘You mean …’
He nodded. ‘India.’
‘But how the fuck can terrorism be good for business? I mean, terrorism kills confidence in a country’s security, affects everything, even the stock market crashes …’ She stopped. ‘Crashes …’
‘What else was Black Wednesday for the UK in 1992? It was a day of pure terror for the British Government. That was the day that made them realize they were fools to have stayed out of the EU. It led to a complete overhaul of the British banking and financial system. Which was just what Soros and his gang wanted. The same thing in Asia in 1997– 98. And those are just two examples of legitimate trading and market raids. There are a hundred, no a thousand, or thousands of such raids and manipulations happening all the time all over the world, some by groups, conglomerates, temporary partners, even governments and public sector undertakings, individual or family investment funds … it’s a melee, all the time, 24/7, 365.’
‘But that’s legit. Now you’re talking about terrorism. Actual bombs and killings of innocent people. Random attacks.’
He shook his head. ‘Not random. Never random. Always planned carefully. Targets pinpointed, debated, discussed … bid upon. Decided by mutual agreement. Chosen for maximum impact. But to what purpose? To promote Islam?’ He grinned and shook his head. ‘That’s the biggest myth of all. Islamic terrorism doesn’t do a thing to help the Islamic cause, it only demonizes Islam further. Or like Anders Breivik, the Oslo gunman, whose manifesto proposed that each country return to nationalism and killed his own countrymen to publicize his cause! Talk about breathing in your own ass fumes for too long. No, Sheila, terrorism today is a planned and calculated affair. David Headley, the man who did the reconnaissance and planning of the Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks, was CIA-trained and FBI-supervised, yet he planned an entire terrorist operation allegedly without their knowing what he was up to. In collusion with Mumbai authorities and Bollywood celebrities, who later claimed, as the FBI and CIA did, that they did help Headley but without knowing what he was doing.’ Stanley shook his head. ‘The fact is, religion has nothing to do with it. The people pulling the strings at the highest level don’t care if a Muslim does it. Or a Bollywood actor. Or a Christian fundamentalist in Oslo. Or Al Qaeda operatives in NYC. Or a madman in a Tokyo subway. All that matters is the timing and location. That’s the key.’
‘Because their goal is to use the fallout from the attacks to manipulate the capital markets.’
‘Yes!’ he said. ‘You
do
have something up there besides a beautiful head of hair, Sheila Ray. That’s what this is all really about. Terrorism as a tool of manipulation of stock markets, of currency valuations, of indices and …’
His assistant approached again, stopping several feet away at a discreet distance, waiting to be noticed and summoned closer. Stanley beckoned him. The man leaned forward and said simply, ‘Shijian’.
Stanley took Sheila’s hand and stood up. He led her forward until they were a foot away from the glass wall that was all that separated them from a view of Kolkata from eighty-five storeys high. He squeezed her hand tightly. ‘It is time.’
She turned to look at him, although her heart was pounding and she already knew what was coming. ‘Time for what?’
‘Time for the next one, the big one. The one listed in the package sent to you. The reason why they wanted the package back, why they were trying to kill you. Because it lists the locations and times and dates of the next cycle, the biggest one in India yet.’
And Sheila remembered the last page of the pile of documents, the one that had made least sense to her at the time, which she had actually looked at, puzzled over briefly, then set aside with a shrug because it seemed so inane. She had assumed it was a schedule of meetings or appointments or something.
Delhi – Daryaganj – Jama Masjid – 21:11
and today’s date.
Mumbai – Dadar – Shivaji Park – 21:17
and today’s date.
Bangalore – M.G. Road – Chinnaswamy Stadium – 21:23.
Although the fourth line on the list had held her attention briefly:
Kolkata – Salt Lake City – Salt Lake Stadium – 21:27.
And she remembered the football fans swarming across all of Biddhanagar and remembered that she had seen something on a poster about today’s big game. That was why the fans hadn’t dispersed and were still milling about the area. They were waiting for tonight’s game, the big event of the season. A major film star was coming to inaugurate it.
Her breath caught in her chest as a brightness flared in the eastern sky, blazing out of the darkness. The sound wave struck a moment later, hitting the glass tower like a blow from an invisible dragon’s tail. She felt her bones jarred and Stanley squeezed her hand tighter. And then she saw the plume of flame rise in the distance.
Ashok Banker
’s books have sold over 1.4 million copies in twelve languages and fifty-seven countries. He is currently best known for his multi-volume retellings of epics. But long before he became India’s favourite epic storyteller, he was the author of the first Indian crime novels in English, one of which featured Sheila Ray, India’s first female private eye. Sheila Ray returns after a twenty-year hiatus, as do other series characters such as Anita B. and Nachiketa Shroff who previously appeared in short stories published on mystery fiction websites and in magazines.
With
Blood Red Sari
, Ashok reinvents the action thriller in a new global all-female avatar. In the Kali Rising Series, the sequels
Burnt Saffron Sky
,
Rust Black Heart
and
Silver Acid Rain
are already complete and awaiting publication. Ashok can be contacted via his website
ashokbanker.com
. One of the most accessible and reader-friendly authors, over 41,000 readers have corresponded with him till date. He looks forward to hearing from you!
THIS IS A WORK
of fiction. As are all the characters, events, and even the locations which are depicted purely in a fictional context. However, human trafficking and profiteering from such illegal enterprises is very much prevalent and possibly the greatest threat to the world today. Information is freely available online and in numerous studies, including many valuable ones conducted by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which require many brave individuals to put themselves in positions of threat. Further studies in this field are encouraged. The more we know, they less they can hide it. Shine the light of knowledge in the darkest corners.
I’d also like to thank the usual suspects: V.K. Karthika who has been the greatest supporter of my work and vision that I’ve had the good fortune to find in my entire career. I honestly couldn’t have done it without her. If you like anything I write, no matter how little or how much, please send a wish her way. An author proposes, but a publisher disposes – or promotes. Karthika’s untiring faith and appreciation of my work has more than partially made it possible for me to fulfil my vision of an Epic India Library. May she thrive and the vision be fulfilled all the way – in time!
Prema Govindan, a rare editor who actually edits well, is a wonderful person to interact with, and enjoys her work as well as the books she publishes. Too many editors outside India (and in India too, sad to say) have chosen to become glorified marketing and administrative tools of a corporate structure. Prema is a book editor and a great one. I’m lucky to have worked with her on … is it really six books so far? Wow. May we work on sixty more!
The wonderfully talented Ermisenda Alvarez, who even at nineteen, with a working knowledge of Photoshop and no formal graphic design training, has turned out amazing cover designs for my e-books. It’s a thrill to have her work featured on this print edition. I feel proud of having played some tiny part in discovering and encouraging her talent to flourish, even across continents and through only email communication. Hope to meet you some day, and until then, keep up the great work!
Arijit Ganguly and Shuka Jain made working on this cover design a pleasure. Look forward to working with them on the rest of the Kali Rising Series!
P.M. Sukumar, Sameer Mahale, N.S. Krishna, Lipika Bhushan, Neha Punj, Amit Sharma, Rajeev Sethi, Girija Padmanabhan, Mohit Mehta and all else at HarperCollins India who devote their lives to not just the business of book publishing but the sharing of knowledge itself. You are great at your jobs. Please keep it up!
Biki, Yoda, Yashka and Willow, my homies: I love y’all. 2gether 4ever, awright!
My constant readers: You may not have wanted this book, so shockingly, profanely different from my epic retellings, but an author is more than one story, and in this case, more than a genre or several genres. I love storytelling and writing and sharing stories about all kinds of people everywhere and everywhen, and this is one that I truly loved telling. I hope you loved reading it as much. But whether you did or not, it’s all good, because stories are like people: they’re not in competition with one another, not really. Just with themselves. I hope I was able to do justice to this very challenging project and hope that you will follow me to the books that succeed this one. The great news is that the sequels are not only complete, they have been turned in to the publisher already. They’re titled
Burnt Saffron Sky
,
Rust Black Heart
and
Silver Acid Rain
.
From my heart and mind into your hands. Peace, only, and love always. Happy Reading!
A
SHOK
B
ANKER
Mumbai
November 2012
I think I should select from my poems as my favorite ‘The Emperor of Ice Cream’. This wears a deliberately commonplace costume, and yet seems to me to contain something of the essential gaudiness of poetry; that is the reason why I like it.
– W
ILLIAM
C
ARLOS
W
ILLIAMS
(Letter dated 6 January 1933)
First published in India in 2012 by
HarperCollins
Publishers
India
Copyright © Ashok Banker 2012
ISBN: 978-93-5029-321-8
Epub Edition © January 2013 ISBN: 9789350299265
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
Ashok Banker asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
This is a work of fiction and all characters and incidents described in this book are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under The Copyright Act, 1957. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins
Publishers
India.
Cover design: Ermisenda Alvarez
Cover photo: Fotoluminate
For sale in the Indian subcontinent only
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