Monstrous Indrani or pretending Peter?
Is there anybody who hasn't been feeling sick about the ongoing Sheena Bora murder mystery? I have become almost physically ill with the news, yet turn on the TV the minute I can. I am a victim of the media frenzy and a robotic one at that. The drill in the last few days has been almost identical. Come home, plonk in front of the TV, watch till your eyes hurt and your bile rises and then, switch it off. Next day, repeat same thing.
Each of us has turned into Sherlock Holmes. Detectives on a moral high horse. In a race to crack the crime.
In spite of crediting myself with a fair amount of intelligence, I have to admit that, I, like many others, just can't understand what exactly is going on. So much so that I'm starting to take notes and draw diagrams. Yesterday, in an attempt to explain the sordid saga to my 21-year-old niece, I tried to draw the Mukerjeas' family tree.
This, in spite of the objection of my niece's grandparents - that is my parents (all DNA verifiable) - that she was too young. "What too young ya? This girl Sheena was didi's age, no? Just a couple of years older than me when she was killed." True, true. Poor thing. Must caution the young ones about evil in the world. Now we Krishnamoorthis were initially of the opinion that the li'l ones in our family were too innocent to be exposed to the Sheena murder mystery, but the TV and newspapers have made it impossible. I mean how does one hide something that's everywhere? And we don't hide things from each other - that's a rule. Not the important stuff. And everything is important. Especially when it comes to children. After all, we are the regular people, ya. We even have family WhatsApp groups to keep each other updated on what is happening in our lives.
"Baby fell down and hurt her elbow today. Nothing serious."
"Give her a tetanus injection anyway - don't take a chance. So much infection in the air these days."
"Mum, will you stop calling me baby now? I'm a teen."
"Okay, baby."
That's how we are. Not that its ideal or a prototype, but still - it's how we are. So my niece was very confused. In this Mukerjea family, doesn't anyone talk to each other or what? Or is everybody just a pathological liar? Who's this Sanjeev Khanna now? That's a Punjabi name, right? But isn't Sanjeev's daughter Bengali? But Mikhail isn't. That a Christian name. How can a father's daughter be married to her father's son? Who was having an affair with who, dude? So then, why did Peter say Sheena called him "jeeju"? One has learnt so many new phrases through this case - "Murderous Mother", "Pretending Peter" and so on. So many lies, buried under parcels of profit. Is anything really worth this?
Baapre! This is too much. I am getting confused again. That is why I had started to draw the family tree to explain. But as I put pen on paper what emerged was not a tree; not the kind with branches on which pretty flowers grow and from which sweet fruits fall to the ground that children eat and grow tall and strong. But a forest. Deep, dark, dense, twisted, entwined, rotting and fetid.
As the strokes on the paper increased, for me to try and make it coherent, the blue of the pen turned grey. Dark, darker, darkest - the 99th shade of grey. The forest was now on fire and soon got buried under a thick black blanket of smoke. The paper turned into ash - smouldering and smoking in my hands. There was no chance of scanning the family tree/forest fire diagram and uploading it on the family WhatsApp group now.
Hey wait a minute baby - there's some more breaking news on TV. I'll get back and explain the forest fire... Look they've traced Sheena's biological father!
Yes, yes. He's been traced ten days after the sordid saga exploded and spewed the blood of immorality, ill-gotten wealth, and pathological lying onto our spotless walls. Skeletons in the cupboard is supposed to be an idiom, not the real thing, isn't it?
No, he wasn't traced by the police. Nobody from the police - going by his words - has tried to contact Sheena's biological father apparently. The same way, nobody from the police tried to contact Mikhail - her brother - before the media tracked him down either. Yes, Siddhartha Das is Sheena's biological father and willing to do a DNA test. Phew. Is somebody finally speaking the truth?
Das has his own humble life now and so appeared in a helmet, trying to protect his identity. The media has got dates of the children's birth wrong - according to Das. Sheena was born in 1987 and Mikhail in 1988. Yet, the 2002 document Mikhail showed the police as proof of his mother's evil clearly shows Sheena listed as being 1989-born. It is the one in which Indrani apparently changed the parentage of her children Sheena and Mikhail from Pori Bora and Siddhartha Das to Upendra Bora and Durga Rani Bora - her own biological parents. Never mind dubious claims from some senoir journalist claiming that Indrani had told him that her father was actually her step-father. "No, no, it is rubbish," says the father. "I am the real father of Indrani."
Every socialite and journalist - (especially the ones with whom we associate/carry stories of - ONLY the rich and powerful and veeery senior and full of self-importance socialites and journalists) seem to have a "when I met Indrani" story. Yeah, yeah - she's the villain. We get that. But nobody, except one, has had the guts or felt the need to talk to the main piece of the jigsaw puzzle. Mr Mukerjea himself. Even the police. The Peter pan in Neverland. Everybody is taking sides and everybody is lying - false theories fabricated and planted. Nobody wants to know about Shyam Rai - Indrani's driver. India dosen't care about the low lifes.
Oh no! I must not get cynical now and fall into the "This happens only in India" syndrome - the collective unconscious apathy that makes Indian people believe that truth is fiction; the hopelessness that fills social media with comments like "Of course the Mukerjeas will get away with it. They've paid everyone off, ya."
So in spite of my desire to stop thinking or be involved in this, I can't help myself. But let's spare each other the character assassination of the people involved in the case and focus on the facts of the murder. Falsity of any kind is an immorality.
It would be a pity if this case went the Jessica Lal or Aarushi Talwar way. The fact that an officer of Rakesh Maria's calibre is heading the investigation is our biggest hope.
Okay, more about this later. Gotta get back to watching TV. Have to attend a party later this evening and need to get ready. Not that I want to go, but I HAVE to go. You know what I mean, don't you? I cant help it. It's Pinku's party, after all. She's such a sweetie.
There's going to be a lot of the "I worked with Peter", "I'll never work with Indrani", "They got married in my terrace" kinda folk. The dress code for the party is "Raadhe Maa red" and there's a Hum Aapke Hain Kaun quiz. For the non-Hindi speaking, it means "Who am I of yours". Btw, remember that Sooraj Barjatya family drama?
I believe the winner of this quiz will get an interview call for the post of CEO of Peter's new company - Chee Chee Chee! I know it's totally disgusting, but I HAVE to go - how to avoid, ya? But I told Pinku, there is no way that I am going to sing "Wah wah Ramji, jodi kya banaayi".
Not even for Rs 600 crores and who the hell wants to be CEO? I mean, I would rather have Rakesh Maria tell us the truth, ya - even if it is free on TV.