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Chapter 20
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Immediately on getting the signatures of Hardnuts, Korruptkin, and Darpok on the papers on the gunpoint and stamping them with the official seals of Universal Chemicals and the governments of Unon and Nuplace, he left the presidential vacation home in Unon.
First he went to Universal Chemical’s Unon head office located in the same city. He gave one set of the papers to the finance chief of the company. The finance chief of Universal Chemicals was waiting in his office to know the outcome of the meeting his boss was attending.
Uttam introduced himself by showing his identity card to the finance chief. The card displayed his title as “Personal Bodyguard to the President of Unon”. He placed the signed set of papers in front of the finance chief and said, “Your CEO Mr Hardnuts and the presidents of Unon and Nuplace have signed this document that authorizes immediate wire transfer of the compensation money to Nuplace.”
“But today’s meeting, I understand, was to negotiate a deal with one Mr Vicky regarding the sale of our company’s property in Nuplace in its town of Lohab,” the finance chief said showing some surprise and some doubt.
“You are right. But a ticklish issue arose that involved disbursement of the compensation money as was claimed by the victims of Lohab gas leakage tragedy. Vicky wanted that to be settled first. He was willing to take up a good portion of that burden on himself in addition to paying a hefty price for buying your company’s property in Nuplace. Our president and your CEO agreed with this arrangement. They still saw a huge profit in the deal offered by Vicky. Right now they are discussing the deal. In the meantime CEO Hardnuts wants you to wire transfer the money to the trust created for the welfare of the gas leakage victims at Lohab. I have to go back to the meeting to confirm to Mr Vicky that the money was wire transferred.”
The finance chief shuffled the papers quickly, examined the signatures and the official seals, felt satisfied on various legalities, read the amount, and then using his desk top computer wire transferred the money to the victims’ welfare trust of Lohab.
He took a printout of the completed transaction and passed it on to Uttam. Uttam examined the printout carefully for its correctness. Uttam said, “Thank you. I will have to rush back to the meeting. Mr Hardnuts advised me to tell you to go home. He will brief you about the property deal tomorrow morning. Good night.”
“Good night,” the finance chief said.
Uttam then went to the nearest courier company of good repute. He instructed them to send one envelop containing one set of papers to the victim’s welfare trust of Lohab and another envelop containing another set to the government of Nuplace. He insisted, “Please make sure that these envelopes reach the respective addressees by tomorrow morning. Here is the extra money you wanted for the express services.”
Uttam had very little time at his disposal and he had to finish lots of work within the limited time. He took a flight from Unon to Bigland.
He reached Bigland the next day. He waited there for Adarsh who was yet to reach Bigland from Desh. On Adarsh’s arrival in Bigland Uttam met him.
On seeing Uttam Adarsh asked, “How did the meeting at Desh go?”
“Very smoothly,” Uttam replied briefly.
Both of them rushed to the surgeon who had carried out the plastic surgery on Uttam. The surgeon welcomed them in the operation room. He exactly knew what was to be done. “Soon you will be back to your original looks Mr Uttam. You have been a good patient. Behave well this time too.”
“Will he be shipshape to conduct a meeting in Nuplace tomorrow?” Adarsh inquired. By this time the doctor had administered anesthesia and Uttam was snoozing.
The doctor replied, “With the latest technology that I use, it is possible. Uttam will be kicking by tomorrow.”
The surgeon completed his operation within the time he had estimated. He let Uttam rest for couple of hours. Adarsh was in attendance.
Uttam was discharged from the clinic. He took leave of Adarsh. Adarsh advised, “Take care and don’t be rash. Bye.”
Uttam reached his hometown Lohab. The early morning sun greeted him.
He knocked at the door of his modest house where he used to live with his wife and son. Wife opened the door; she couldn’t believe she was seeing Uttam. Tears welled up in her eyes as Uttam embraced her.
“I am so happy you are home. Now there are no charges against you. We can live together happily again.”
“Yes darling. And you will be happier to know that we have won our case against the company. I have the legal documents with me. The company has already sent the entire compensation money we had claimed. It has already been transferred into the bank account of the victims’ welfare trust of Lohab,” Uttam declared.
“But the company was not even willing to pay 6% of what we had asked. How come they agreed to cough up 16 or 17 times more?”
“That is a very long story. I will tell you about it some day later in detail,” said Uttam.
“OK.” Uttam’s wife was satisfied with the fact that her husband returned to her intact. She would catch up with the story leisurely in the future.
Uttam soon contacted his associates. He requested them to reach out to the citizens of Lohab and appeal to them to gather in the community ground of the town in the evening.
Within a few minutes the news of Uttam’s safe return to the town spread like wild fire throughout Lohab. The residents of Lohab were highly excited to learn about Uttam’s return.
The number of people that turned up in the community ground was far more than what was expected. As Uttam arrived on the scene, the gathering cheered him thunderously and they went jubilant.
Uttam came on the dais and addressed the gathering.
“Dear friends, as you are aware we have been negotiating with the corporate office of Universal Chemicals to get the justified compensation amount. We wanted justice. We didn’t want more money to make profits like many of these corporate giants do. We were pained by the sufferings of our people and animals. Whole environment got contaminated. Sheer negligence of the local as well as the corporate management of the company resulted in a sorrowful tragedy. The numbers are astronomical. I had shared with you these numbers in one of our meetings earlier. Any compensation money whatsoever its amount can never correct the wrongs for many generations to come. The company was willing to pay us a meager 6% of what we had claimed. They mocked at us. Later on the corporate management and government of Unon even dared to call the entire accident as an act of sabotage by our fellow employees. Our own corrupt government was completely sold out to Unon. It supported Universal Chemicals. It deserted us totally. But with your support we have been fighting for justice.
In the meantime I was declared as a terrorist until the real terrorist organization FREE took the responsibility of the bomb blasts in Unon and Bigland. Once I was free of all the charges against me I resumed my efforts to get us the best compensation. Finally the money we had claimed has now been transferred to our trust. I have a set of the original documents with me.
We will utilize this money prudently to take care of your sufferings. The taskforce that was formed earlier will work out the exact compensation amount for each one of you and give the same to you within a fixed time frame. A portion of the money will be used for community rebuilding- healthcare, education, jobs etc. These items are of great importance to all of us. The agreed contract stipulates reconditioning the plant and filling all the job vacancies by the family members of the deceased and incapacitated employees. The detailed announcements will be made tomorrow.
I congratulate each one of you. Please maintain peace and decorum. For now please return to your homes and wait for a day for further communications in the matter.”
The people listened to Uttam in utmost silence. At the end of his brief address they clapped without any restraint. The eyes of many of them became moist with overwhelming emotions. Yet all of them went home with contentment.
99% club could grab justice when 1% club was not willing to give it gracefully.
Uttam remained constantly in touch with Amar, Victor, Adarsh, and Shakti. He had developed a great admiration for them.
He rang them separately and conveyed his heartfelt gratitude. He told, “I am thankful to you for everything you did for the people who deserved. You showed your faith in me and for it I am thankful. I am glad that my expertise in chemical formulations became useful in preparing the magic potion. The magic potion worked wonders in our Unon meeting exactly the way we wanted it to work. Please do not hesitate and feel free to ask me to undertake any other work you think I can perform. I am not fully aware of your mission. I could not grasp it. Yet in our limited interactions I sensed that you are aiming at something big and important for the entire human kind. That’s why I offer my services wholeheartedly. I wish you all the best.”
Uttam was indebted to Amar, Victor, Adarsh and Shakti.
Victor had not been able to find suitable privacy during the Unon’s meeting to thank Uttam for developing the magic potion. Therefore he rang him now. He thanked him profusely.
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