Sita, Chapter 1 -The beginning

Neelakanta - One who drank poison

The year was 1983, the state just saw an unprecedented victory of a newcomer into politics. The whole media was busy eulogizing the CM's greatness. But the spectacle was different in one chief editor's room.

Shivani announced, "I worked hard on this. I cannot let it go unpublished".

"Shivani, listen to me. The report is about the CM of the state. We have to be very careful", said Shiva.

Shivani ignored Shiva and spoke to the editor, "Sir, if we release this, we can stop him," replied Shivani.

"I am not sure", said Shiva.

"I don't care for others, sir. I became a journalist seeing your journalism standards. You tell me." Shivani asked the editor.

"Shivani, you have a big career ahead of you. I cannot put you at risk. Let us name it anonymous and release", said the editor.

"I don't need credit as long as people no the man is evil", said Shivani.

"That won't work. The whole party will create chaos till we name", said Shiva.

"You are right. But we cannot name Shivani. They will ruin her life", exclaimed the editor.

"Give my name to the piece", said Shiva.

Editor, the other reporters could not comprehend Shiva's decision. Shivani, however, was angry. She never liked Shiva from day one. She cannot allow Shiva to take credit for her work. 

"Are you sure?" asked the chief editor.

Shiva did not answer but gave his consent via a nod.

The editor was leaving the room, and Shivani tried to give her disagreement vehemently. But the editor made up his mind.

That meant all the accolades that should be hers were going to Shiva.

Shivani shook Shiva's hand vigorously and said, "Congratulations on making a name, but in my eyes will remain a loser."

Shiva walked away with a smile on his lips.

Raavan - The man in power

Ravana, lost in his thoughts, was slowly sipping his whiskey.

"You are going into a bypass surgery. Why are you drinking?" questioned Ravana's wife.

"There is no bypass surgery."

"Don't joke. We came to the US for the bypass surgery. The doctor told me", replied Ravana's wife.

"It was just a front. I came here to take back a few US Dollars to turn them into lucrative investments for our friends", said Ravana.

Even then, the lady requested Ravana, "I am worried for you. Please don't drink". 

"Shut up and get out of here", shouted Ravana in frustration.

It was not her mistake or Ravana's. Ravana was going through a tough time. As Ravana travelled to the USA for medical reasons, the MLAs made a coup. They made all plans to replace him as the Chief Minister. As soon as he heard of the news, he called every one of his close associates, but no one was reachable, which took him to the brink of frustration. 

The wife was leaving the room with the edge of her saree, wiping her tears. Vishnu, his closest confidante, and his son came in, crossing the leaving mother. Ravana immediately asked his son, was what he heard was true. The son nodded dejectedly, meaning a "yes".

Ravana made his next call to an important person.

Shukra - The guide to asuras

A man wearing black veshti was sitting on a throne kind of chair. In front of him was a big circle covered with flowers, turmeric, kumkum etc. The centre of which had a set of skeletons. Ravana was sitting on the ground with folded hands. There were only a few of Ravana's people, who he trusted the most and a few assistants of the man wearing black. He was waiting for the man to look at him. But the man in black was not interested in Ravana but was in deep prayer with closed eyes.

Losing his patience after a few minutes, Ravana, in a loud tone, asked, "I did the grunt work. I roamed many, many kilometres. I spent all the money. I followed everything you said. See what is happening now. Someone else will be the CM. How is this fair?" 

The preacher opened his angry eyes and shrieked, "You, fool." 

Hearing the sound reverberating, the rest of the people in the room went silent. 

"You were the CM. I made you the CM. What did you do as soon as you become a CM? You ran out to make money. Did you ask me before leaving? No, you felt like a king and took your own decisions. Now, face the consequences", declared the preacher.

Ravana held the man's legs and kept them in his lap. In a begging tone requested, "Please help me."

Seeing the CM at his legs, the preacher's ego was satisfied. He said, "I have a solution for you."

Vedavati's birth - The wake-up call

The newspaper office was in a desolate part of the town. No woman other than the sixty-year-old canteen lady was on the premises. Shivani, however, did not hesitate to enter the premises. It was not as if she had no doubts. But that was her only way forward. The wedding party was not going to wait if she was to head back home. 

As she walked into the premises, all the staff except Shiva looked at her like they saw an alien. But she had not noticed even one eye that fell on her. Her eyes were only on one thing, getting a job as a journalist. Ten minutes after entering the chief editor's room, Shiva got a call to come into the editor's room. Shiva did not react to the call from the editor. 

After a few minutes, the editor decided to walk to Shiva. 

"Shiva, I found an intern for you", said the editor.

Without lifting his head from his work, Shiva replied, "I already told you I don't want any."

"I still got you one. Train her. Her name..."

The chief editor turned to her and asked, "I forgot, what is your name?"

"Shivani", came the voice.

That was when Shiva turned away from her table and saw Shivani for the first time.

"I cannot train h..". Before Shiva could finish his words, the editor left for his room.

Shiva hardly spoke to Shivani or taught her anything. Shivani knew it was not easy to be a crime reporter. It was a testosterone-filled job, or so the world felt. But she took up the job for a reason. She learnt everything there was to learn by watching Shiva. She learnt from Shiva, whom to pay money in the ministry to get inside gossip. Which car driver was giving away secrets for Johnny Walker, which peon has a weakness for the big green paper. In less than a year, Shivani has news of which MLA sleeps in which MLA quarters and which secretary had hidden a treasure trove of money in his house. 

People have no time for any of this. All were busy standing behind Indira Gandhi and hoping "Garibi Hatao" to turn reality into their lifetime, commented Shiva numerous times. 

Shivani felt Shiva did not care for the job. Once she was out of his internship, she would publish all of them. Publish she did. She did not care if it made an impact or it changed anything. She did the job she kept her mind to. 

For some reason, the whole news world felt all her success was because of Shiva's mentorship.

Raavanayanam - The evil deeds continue

"I cannot wear a saree. What if someone saw me?" said Ravana.

"Do you want to be CM or not?"

Ravana nodded.

"Then do as I ordered", said the man. 

The preacher, continuing, told to Ravana, "We are leaving late into the night. The forest will be deserted at that time. Only you, me, and the two virgins will know what we are doing."

"Do we need the virgins there? Can I not do this ritual by myself?"

In an angry tone, the preacher said, "I am going to do the toughest of the black magic to get you back your CM chair. When the devil comes and responds to our rituals, she expects a virgin girl to be present."

"Can we trust these girls?" asked Ravana.

"Leave that to me", said the man.

"I am still worried about this leaking", said Ravana.

"If anyone leaks this news, it will be you", said the preacher trying to assure Ravana.

What the preacher does not know yet was, Shivani. Shivani was with a camera waiting in the forest for them.

=======

"Saree-clad CM next to two naked virgin girls", read the headline. 

Ravana ran to the preacher with the newspaper in hand. 

"You said no one will know?" asked Ravana.

"That does not matter. Are you going to be CM or not?" questioned back the preacher.

"How can you ask that question seeing this?"

"Do you have the majority or not?"

"I have", replied Ravana.

"Now do as I say. Ask the police to go to the newspaper and get the proof."

"They seem to have the proof. See the picture, it might be groggy, but it is me. You know it, I know it."

"If the editor and reporter are not fools, they will not give the proof to the police."

"So, what?"

"Then ask "your" police to arrest the reporter for tarnishing the image of the state."

Ravana started to understand the plan.

"Use third degree on the reporter and scare the editor. Tell him you will close their paper. Initially, he will try to say ethics etc. Then try to arrest one more of their reporter."

"I know what to do next."

===

"Sir, the editor is not agreeing to anything", said the police over the phone.

"I gave my orders. Arrest another reporter."

"But a woman is stopping us here."

"Arrest her and bring her here", ordered Ravana over the phone.

"It is going to be fun", thought Ravana to himself.

====

The officer bought both Shivan and The Editor to Ravana's house.

"I asked you to bring the woman only", scolded Ravana.

"He is the editor. He did not let us." 

"That is also for our benefit. I will make sure the editor stops this today. You can leave now", said Ravana.

"You cannot blackmail us", shouted the editor.

Ravana did not react, instead walked towards the refrigerator to take out a bottle of whiskey.

"I don't care if you are a CM. We are the fourth estate." continued the editor.

Ravana picked up the empty glass next to his chair and poured the last of the whiskey from the bottle. 

"We keep standing here, and you keep ignoring us. What do you think of yourself?" the editor asked.

Ravana sipping the whiskey, turns to Shivani and asks, "Are you a virgin?"

Angered by the question, the editor holds Ravana's shirt and asks, "Is that how you talk to a woman?".

Ravana picks up the whiskey bottle and breaks it on the editor's head. Shivani runs and holds the falling editor.

"Now, he is quiet. Tell me, are you a virgin," asks Ravana again.

Awestruck by what was going on, Shivani did not listen to what Ravana had to say. She was trying to wake the editor, who lost consciousness due to the hit.

Ravana, in a louder tone, asks, "Are you a virgin?"

Shivani, with tears in her eyes, nods a yes.

"Listen to me carefully, the virgin reporter. I worked for years to become a CM. Before I could enjoy the victory, a "nobody" tried to take everything away from me. What I did do to get back my CM seat?"

Shivani looked blankly towards Ravana.

"I did not kill anyone. I did not bribe anyone. I did a small ritual, as per advice from my preacher. Is that wrong?" Ravana shook his head as if asking a question to Shivani.

Shivani remained blank, tears rolling.

"What can I do if the ritual needs virgins to be present? I did this with acceptance from the girls. You might ask me, how can naked girls be used to rituals? What about their future?'

Shivani started to realize what was going on. But still could not react to anything happening around them.

"I have an answer for that, too. I did this in a forest, middle of the night. If your team had not published, no one would have known anything. Is it my fault or yours? Tell me."

"But is this right? What message are you giving to the people?"

"This is yuga of kali. Dharma has no legs. Only power matters." replies Ravana sipping his whiskey.

"But we don't let you be in power. We have proof to bring you down."

Ravana laughing loud walks back to sit in his chair. 

"Let me ask you this once again. Are you a "Virgin"?" 

Shivani ignoring the rape threat, says, "I am not backing off. I will make sure you are out of power."

"Dear, listen to me carefully. I am the CM. In a day, I made sure your star reporter went to jail. With the treatment he is getting, he cannot sit on his back for at least a few months. Your chief editor is in a pool of blood. What do you think I can do to you, a virgin."

"As long as I have proof, no one can stop me."

"Okay, as you wish", said Ravana. He then held the edge of her saree and started pulling. 

Shivani did not flinch.

Ravana tied the saree to the neck of the editor and started pulling from both sides, strangling him. The editor coughed and started to fight for his breath. That was when Shivani gave up. She begged Ravana to let go of the editor. 

Ravana held the saree a little tighter and kept laughing. Shivani begged and fell to his feet, "Please, please, let him go."

"One condition, I want the naked proof and naked you in an hour. The issue is, your editor, with all these injuries, only can survive an hour."

Sita - The beginning of the end for Raavan

Shivani was in her editorial room, busy editing the latest gossip. Apparently, the room boy found the heroine's lipstick when cleaning the hero's room. 

Shiva came to meet Shivani after completing ten years of his term. He picked up the paper and read the news. 

"Seems to be important news", quipped Shiva. 

"At least my news is read by people. Your last piece sent you ten years to jail," replied Shivani, with tears rolling.

"Well, it is worth every day of it."

"How, tell me how?" asked Shivani.

"I don't yet. But I want to believe it is worth it. Otherwise, there is no meaning to the last ten years."

"But they have no meaning. The evil man is still the CM. No one believes our news", said Shivani.

"I am here to change it. "

"How?"

Shiva points to a woman standing at the door. "She is Sita. She will be our new beginning to end the CM."