Page 216 of The Circle of Exile
“Sambhal jaao, chaman walon,” he sang under his breath, careful not to disturb their sleeping son. Her head dropped back on his chest and he continued to sing. “Ke aaye din, bahaar ke.”
41. The Danish Gambit started with e4 e5 and sacrificed two pawns at the onset…
The Danish Gambit started with e4 e5 and sacrificed two pawns at the onset of the game, leaving the army vulnerable. It trusted the opponent’s wisdom to take down the pawns — to either open bishops for castling or get central control with fewer fireworks.
Atharva knew there was a long way to go between making himself vulnerable and regaining control over the chessboard. But for him, this gambit was not an option. It was the only way to keep his way home open.
“Srinagar is connecting in five minutes,” Samar’s assistant, Gauri Koli informed. Atharva turned from the window of Samar’s office and nodded at her.
“You don’t need to sit in on this, Gauri,” Samar smiled. “We will take it from here.”
She quietly exited the small office and closed the door behind her. Atharva returned to gazing out of the window. The HDP headquarters was located in a bigger space in Chotta Shimla. This small space was more alive and active thanks to its central location on The Ridge. Atharva had never asked Samar but now the thought struck.
“Why didn’t we get a bigger space here when we started?” He questioned, eyeing the dewy street down below, lined with chapels and thatch-roofed shops. The Indian flag fluttered proudly in the central square, reminding him of Lal Chowk.
“Domicile problems. There were just three locals I could trust with party money and that too within a limit. This property is also in Abhinav Thakur’s name.”
“Couldn't we rent?”
“Chotta Shimla office is rented.”
Atharva stared fixedly at the pandemonium of tourists down below. Shimla was clean, Shimla was flourishing, what was it that got these people to switch support? Status quo led to anti-incumbency but there had to be something that ticked beneath this shiny, perfect surface. His research so far had been about landlocked, remote districts, drawing parallels with Ladakh. But Atharva suddenly realised that he was falling into the trap he himself had sworn off. The same plan never worked for two missions.
He did not have the responsibility of strategising here yet. That didn’t mean he stopped thinking.
“Qureshi is struggling with readying a force for the next election,” Samar’s voice broke his chain of thoughts. “He will ask you to work on it.”
Atharva did not respond.
“Atharva?”
“I heard you.”
“Then say yes. This is your chance to assimilate back into Kashmir politics, even if remotely. You won’t be the face but you will get to interact with our workers and booths again. Keep yourself fresh in their minds.”
“Hmm.”
“The municipal elections were lukewarm.”
“Hmm.”
KDP had lost seats, not gained any new ones. Next was panchayat a year later. Atharva did not hold out hope for Jammu. As for the rest, their backlog of rapid development might carry the party into another term. The system Atharva had set in these corporations had the capacity to keep churning without the need for strong leadership. Work would get done. But elections were not fought on work. They were fought on emotion.
“They are calling, Atharva.”
He turned and covered the small distance to Samar’s desk, taking a visitor’s chair. Samar took the other one and turned his laptop just as two windows popped to life — Zoravar Rasool and CM Qureshi. Adil sat beside Qureshi in his office.
“Hello,” Qureshi started. “How are you two doing?”
“All good,” Samar clipped like he always did. “Zorji.”
“How’s it going, boys?”
Atharva smiled — “All good.”
An awkward few seconds of silence lingered.
“Alright,” Adil broke it with a clap. “You girls done squirming? Sorry, not you, Zorji.”
