A Long Day's Night by Ruskin Bond

Author:Ruskin Bond [Bond, Ruskin]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9788129132376
Publisher: Rupa & Co
Published: 2009-01-06T16:00:00+00:00

FIVE

'BUDDHA HIMSELF!' SOMEBODY CRIED FROM INSIDE AS Virendra entered the restaurant.

It took a second for Virendra to follow the sound and locate the spot where the call came from. He was totally surprised. It was Vishwamitra Khanna and Harjinder Singh, his two close faculty colleagues from the university.

'Oh, no!' came out from Virendra's mouth, although from his face it was obvious that he was happy at this totally unexpected meeting.

'Oh, yes!' Vishwamitra Khanna responded, enjoying Virendra's surprise at finding them there.

While the restaurant focused on Virendra, not comprehending what was going on, Virendra, obviously pleased, strode past several tables and reached the spot where Khanna and Harjinder were sitting. He stood there for a minute, looked at Khanna, then at Harjinder, and asked smiling, 'Well, what are you doing here?' And before they could answer, he pulled out one of the two empty chairs at the table and sat down. 'Really, what brings you here?' he asked again.

'First, tell us what brought you to the city at this awful hour?' Khanna returned the question.

'You mean rather who brought me?' Virendra asked.

'All right. Who?' Khanna responded and Harjinder looked on amused at both of them.

'The Devil Himself,' Virendra replied eyes twinkling.

Khanna laughed. 'And where have you left this eminent company? Should you not have brought Him along to the restaurant? Would He not feel hungry?' Khanna asked Virendra laughingly.

'No. Today He is fasting. It is a sacrificial fast. He wants a sure victory at the end of the day,' Virendra replied.

'In that case surely He must have given you some impossible assignment; when you fail He will break your neck. What is the assignment?' Khanna asked.

'Yes, you have got it right. He wants delivered to Him two precision-machined stainless steel parts for the electron microscope in two hours' time. On a day when the university machinists are not available.' Virendra's face betrayed a tinge of pain though his overall expression was sarcastically humorous.

'Well, that means you must have a good lunch now. Especially because if He breaks your neck tonight, this could be your last meal!' Khanna smiled.

'Surely, how perceptive of you. And isn't it considerate of Almighty to place you two right here, so that we may have a last chat together!' Virendra said.

'Is it the MatTech machine again?' Harjinder asked.

'Yes.'

'What do they have to say now?'

'They have sent a young man who has just joined their company. Seems competent, but going nowhere trying to defend a faulty design he probably himself does not believe in, and parroting the company stand. He is here for a few hours only; in the best of circumstances he could do little. To top it he has brought with him wrong-sized parts, and to compensate for it wants us to immediately produce two custom-designed precision-machined parts on a day when our great university machinists are not available. So I took some tips from a couple of machinists at the university, travelled to the Coolie Bazaar of this great city, touched the feet of the

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