Writing | Select Work | 2017 - 2021 by Saicharan Kalyanaraman

Saicharan Kalyanaraman Select Work | Writing 2017-2021

This portfolio is to enable me to learn by working with professionals in a challenging environment till I achieve a degree of high proficiency to foster my skills in the fields of architecture, design, art and other allied subjects. As an aspiring designer, writer and critic in the fields of architecture, design and art, I strive to learn everything with zeal, always trying to improve my performance. I strongly believe that words have the power to bring powerful changes in the industry, as well as the society. In my free time, I’m a passionate pianist and a voracious reader.

Saicharan Kalyanaraman Architect, Writer Male | 26-Jul-1998

+91 94449 82607

#12, 1st Main Road, Sivagami Nagar, Chitlapakkam, Chennai - 600 064 Tamil Nadu, India

saicharan.kalyanaraman@gmail.com www.linkedin.com/in/saicharankalyanaraman www.saichopath.wordpress.com

EDUCATION National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli - 620 015

JUL 2016 - JUN 2021

Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) - CGPA 8.26

Srimathi Sundaravalli Memorial School, Chennai - 600 044 Grade 12: Grade 10:

MAR 2010 - APR 2016

93.2% - MPCB (CBSE) CGPA 10 (CBSE)

Asian International Private School, Ruwais, Abu Dhabi, UAE

MAR 2002 - MAR 2010

EXPERIENCE Studio Matter | Architectural Internship

MAY 2019 - DEC 2019

6-month academic internship at Studio Matter, an Architecture, Publishing and Content Curation Practice based in Guirim, North Goa. • Drafted around 120 presentation and working drawings for various types of

projects in Goa - Residential and Restoration Villas and a Sports Pavilion. • Contributed in client meetings by making presentations and was part of the design process. • Shot and edited 10 videos as part of the media and curatorial team for [IN]SIDE magazine and Takshila Yearbook 2020. • In-house photographer and video editor for the FRAME Conclave 2019.

The Hindu | Editorial Internship

JUN 2018 - JUN 2018

1-month internship at The Hindu - Chennai Corporate Office, the second most circulated newspaper in India. • Was a part of the Internet Editorial Team - managed the online edition of the

newspaper by editing videos, scoring music and animating for projects in-house. • Wrote a piece on the architecture of Chennai.

POSITIONS HELD Student Council NIT Trichy

Cultural Secretary

JUL 2020 - JUN 2021

Archcult 2020

Head of Corporate Relations Editor of In-House Magazine

DEC 2019 - MAR 2020

WORKSHOPS Design Interventions | Rhino and Grasshopper Basics Workshop

APR 2021

Introduction to Parametric 3D Modelling using Rhinoceros 3D and Grasshopper.

ACEDGE | Writing/s in Architecture: Building Bridges Through Words

AUG 2020

Handled by Ar. Apurva Bose Dutta.

Annual NASA Convention 2018-19 | Architecture Journalism Workshop

JAN 2019

Introduction to Architectural Writing and Critical Thinking.

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES Toastmasters International, NIT Trichy - Public Speaker NIT-T Design Team - Graphic Designer Feeds - Editorial Designer Music Troupe of NIT Trichy - Pianist and Bass Guitarist Thespians’ Society - Composer for Theatre and Short Films

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS NASA

Academics

Writing Architecture Trophy Shortlisted entry. Louis I Kahn Trophy Special Mention (2nd place)

2018-19

Consistent top 20% performer in the class.

2016-21

SOFTWARE PROFICIENCY & SKILLS Architecture & Design:

AutoCAD, Revit, SketchUp, Rhino 3D, V-Ray, Lumion, Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, InDesign

A/V Production:

Premiere Pro, After Effects, Adobe Audition, Apple LogicPro

Miscellaneous:

Design Thinking, Public Speaking, Content Writing, Photography, Marketing

Languages:

Tamil (Native), English (Bilingual), Hindi (Working Level), French (Elementary)

2017-18

Contents

The Quest for The Sacred

2021

p. 08-11

Architecture That Connects...

2018

p. 12-15

Brinjal Biriyani

2020

p. 16-21

The Quest for The Sacred

About The Piece: This piece was written as part of the Writing in Architecture workshop conducted in December 2020 by Ar. Apurva Bose Dutta. The piece tries to understand what sacred actually means in today’s age, and how we must redefine it as future citizens and designers to lead a more peaceful, transcendental life.

Pushkarni, Hampi. Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons

We humans are truly a marvellously designed species. We’ve been on the face of this earth for over 200,000 years and human civilisation, as we know it, is as old as 6000 years. And despite all the time spent on this planet, we are yet to discover all the marvels behind it, and even today, the quest for knowledge is going on in full fervour through research in various fields. Over the course of various centuries, the inquisitive nature of humans have also led to the quest of the metaphysical – to understand what man’s true purpose of his existence is and to seek meaning in life. And hence the spiritual foundations of religion were laid sometime around 900-200 BCE which we refer to as “Axial Age” today. These foundations form the basis of all the major religions today, which the Swiss philosopher Frithjof Schuon refers to as the common esoteric essence with differing exoteric forms of religion.

The entire concept of temple building was to create a transcendental experience. It was conceived as a space where man could introspect peacefully, away from his daily worries, and hence, designed in a very conducive manner, even instigating that feeling into a person involuntarily. In Hinduism, where multiple ideas are collated and considered a way of life, temples were built across the ages where the divine is more manifest, so the people can feel it, and let that positivity flow through them. According to Sadhguru of Isha Foundation, a temple is a tool, like cell phones, that catches the divine aura from everywhere and manifests itself in a greater degree. It’s a gateway to the divine, and not the destination of the divine itself. Temples are places where we are meant to be silent, and hence, we’re more open and receptive to these vibrations. Many of you may have noticed that the oldest temples in India are built for Shiva, for instance the Kailasa Temple in Ellora. This is because ‘Shiva’ means ‘that which is not’. Hence, the temples were considered as vortexes of energy where a man transitions from the reality to a place where he can experience the metaphysical. One may wonder as to how this relates to architecture in general. To get that, one must understand how sacred works, and how it has been represented over time. People had been deeply religious, and the more affluent ones have built temples over the ages, as a public space for the general populace and a centre of power to experience the divine. These temples were monumental in scale, and represented their sense of faith. Older residences were minuscule in comparison with the temples, and settlements in India were organised around temples, for instance, Srirangam in Tamil Nadu. These temples were designed in accordance with various physical and metaphysical calculations involving the circulation patterns and the rituals that arose from those patterns. A temple is designed in a manner where all the senses are fulfilled – sight, sound, smell, taste and touch, and only when man’s senses are satisfied will he actually be in a state to enter that spiritual zone. And hence, older temples were made with intricate carvings on walls, a deep interplay of light and shadow, and the ritualistic circulation pattern, where a man is expected to transform over his time spent in the temple. The silence adds to the aura of peace, and a person leaves the premises fully recharged. This is why the people of today still visit these older temples every single morning, because it de-stresses them and helps them to start the day with positivity. Today, temples are being built in the same stylistic language of the past, but the intentions are different. Temples and temple trusts today are becoming wealthier by the day and promote tourism, and the intention has shifted towards making money. This, in turn, has changed the aura of the entire space, which is perceived by the people today. These types of temples are no longer the spaces that provide introspection, but are mere imitations visually, and hence the current “sacred” architecture isn’t as powerful as the older ones, because the connection with the community is very weak.

Adding to this is the decline of faith in religion in the current generation. Clay Routledge, professor and psychological scientist at North Dakota State University, says that there has been a gradual replacement of religious doctrines with rationalist, evidence based methods for explaining the world. And that isn’t wrong, by nature. The temples of the past had the supplementary function of acting as a public gathering space, where people could discuss issues, conduct events, and take decisions as a community. The halls (or mandapas) in a typical South Indian temple prove testament to this fact. Contemporary public spaces include malls, parks, amusement parks and cinema complexes, which cater to the entertainment and relaxation of the general populace of today. Yoga and meditation centres also exist, but they don’t offer the same surreal experience provided by these historical temples, mostly because they are not introspective and transcendental in nature, but rather more extroverted. The current youth population is majorly stressed-out and anxious today. There may be many reasons for this behaviour, but one is due to the inability to relax and let the universe handle things. It is quite well known that old people, despite all their worries, know when to “leave things to the Universe” and let go, which the current generation lacks. According to Foreign Affairs magazine, there has been a remarkably sharp trend away from religion since 2007. In almost every high-income country, religion has continued to decline. At the same time, many poor countries, together with most of the former communist states, have also become less religious. From 2007 to 2019, only five countries became more religious, whereas the vast majority of the countries studied moved in the opposite direction. Explaining the natural world is only one of religion’s functions. Religion ultimately should fulfil the inherent human need for meaning and provide that particular scope for exploration. And if the current generation of today doesn’t believe and conform to the traditional approach to religion and spirituality, then we as a community, should work towards redefining the new ‘sacred’ and create such community-oriented spaces in harmony with the tangible ‘nature’ and the intangible ‘spirit’, so that the entire world gets to benefit and stay physically and mentally healthy, to discover their true divinity.

References: https://www.archdaily.com/891984/is-religious-architecture-still-relevant https://www.ishafoundation.org/Dhyanalinga-Energy-Center/science-of-ancient-temples.isa https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2020-08-11/religion-giving-god https://quillette.com/2019/01/09/is-religious-belief-in-decline/

Temple of Kukulcán, Chichen Itza Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons

Architecture That Connects...

About The Piece: This piece was written as part of the Writing Architecture Trophy conducted by NASA India 201819. This shortlisted essay talks about identifying the issues in the Indian design education system and suggesting ways to improve it, with pedagogical suggestions and principles suggested by architects, designers and educators.

It was a fine day at the hot town of Sankarankovil, Tamil Nadu. A common government school primary teacher enters his school, ‘Thai Tamizh Palli’, translated ‘Mother Tamil School.’ But he isn’t like any other ordinary teacher. His students look up to him with happiness, wonder and curiosity every time he enters the classroom. This day, he comes in with a series of homegrown grains and pulses, and distributes it to everyone. While the kids keep wondering what to do with it, he tells them, “Get these grains cooked, and bring them tomorrow.” The following day, the kids do the same, and he now asks everyone to share and taste the cooked grains, and then, starts explaining the difference between the various varieties they just tasted, and the way they are grown, and harvested. He next instructs them to make a booklet, sticking all these grains and writing about them, as an activity. He calls this activity ‘The Food Festival’, and now the students would have experienced what each food is and would never forget this lesson till the end of their lives. This man, Mr. V Sankar Ram has been doing this for the past decade, and has successfully managed to keep students curious and informed at the same time. However, can professional education, architecture education, or any other form of design education be handled in such a way, where students keep wanting for more? First of all, it is imperative to understand the current state of architecture in India, in order to assess and come up with a better strategy. According to Ar. Mahesh Radhakrishnan of MOAD, Chennai, the entire society is moving towards chaos and confusion, with no vision in mind, and architecture is a direct reflection of the same. This visionless attitude is the reason for so many generic projects that we see throughout the nation.

“Neither do we live for the past, nor do we live for the future.”

The only thing that is highlighted in today’s architecture, throughout the world is the marketability factor. Architecture has pretty much become a form of real estate investment, more than a vision of how society should turn out to be. Apart from this factor, every Indian teenager undergoes the pressure of unhealthy competition to get into various institutions of all disciplines, let alone architecture. The society is marching towards the quantifiable aspect of marks, and grades, and has misjudged the quality of knowledge to directly relate to amount of marks a student scores. Due to this, every average Indian architecture student looks to get into a college by partaking in this rat race, somehow get employed and earn money somehow, rather than specialise in the degree he has worked so hard to pursue. The quantitative aspect overshadows the quality of work, unfortunately.

Eliminating the competition for architecture school admissions is one effective way to go about this hurdle. If both the institutions and the general public consider and work on a system where each system specialises on the native architecture of that location, and the students can get to choose which they would want to specialise in. Madurai-based architect and professor Ar. Ramalingam opines that an institution has the responsibility to improve passion in the young minds, which can only be brought about by an effective academic architectural leader. Such a leader brings about the focus of education to the values a student must gain from his design school. “Education is the only place where values can be imparted,” says Ar. Mahesh, reaffirming the cause. These values directly correspond to every important contextual information about that place. “For any architectural institution to have that value, it must dedicate itself to research,” says Ar. G Naveen of Tiruchirappalli. This specialisation, based on the context where it is located, gives students a sense of rooting and a hands-on database to work with, where they could pick up a methodology that can be applied anywhere in the world. An objective mindset should be adopted by the students in order to look into the contextual questions of that region. These questions may be challenges in preserving the past, or being avant-garde without damaging the resources, or any other specific issues that needs to be sorted in that region. Ar. Mahesh reinforces the above fact by saying that this sense of rooting teaches students to be more objective in their approach, as they could relate to the context they are surrounded by, which in turn develops their innate curiosity. “Architecture cannot be taught, instead, it must be learnt,” says Ar. Ramalingam. This learning can only be achieved through the second most important factor: Interaction. Interaction can be multilayered — among peers, vertical (among seniors and juniors), between the staff and students, among institutions in that region, or the institution and the industry in itself. The coming together of minds introduce a lot of challenges, and new ideas, upon solving them lead to new visions for the same context. Practically speaking, the numbers are way too high for direct learning from the masters, considering the current scenario. There are no masters that live today, as the world has lost its focus entirely. The system was very optimistic and experimental a few decades ago, where masters had the vision of modernity for India, and hence there was a rise in such an interaction. However the only way education can be made most effective today is through peer interaction and learning, that is achieved through positive interaction. This interaction is made very effective, by a capable leader, who can transform the limitations into opportunities. Group activities, like seminars, presentations and combined studio sessions can be worked on to improve such a healthy interaction. These reduce the chances of copy-pasting assignment works, and bring out the originality of each student.

“Technology isn’t seen as a tool, but is given more preference,” laments Ar. Ramalingam, citing another common phenomenon of today. This technology distracts them away from the core values that actually need to be picked up in design school and hinders interaction. When institutions do not focus more on this, the students lose the hands-on experience, which would otherwise be extremely useful in this regard. For instance, Building Construction and Materials could be a manual documentation and hands on session to ensure a deeper, practical understanding of the subject, so that it complements the main Architectural Design Studio subject, instead of being treated as a separate theory subject that would eventually be forgotten. Ultimately, the focus should be on the fundamental questions, that is specific for an institution, for its own specific context. What architects are meant to contribute to that society is the main puzzle that needs to be cracked, in order to produce good quality in work. A prime example of an architect who followed this principle, yet is still considered relatively underrated, is Laurie Baker. His designs were primarily aimed at people, and each and every project of his had value and meaning to it. Grand ideas where a singular “modern” system, will not work practically in an Indian context, as the main factor is the huge diversity in people and cultures. Collaboration with the local knowledge is the first step to go local, and achieve that sense of rooting and the global methodology.

“The more local we get, the more global we become,” says Ar. Mahesh.

Being local can also be taken to the extent of teaching and interacting in the local language, as the school teacher Mr. V Sankar Ram aptly says,

“The fundamental concepts are most understood in the mother tongue.”

This practice is followed in European countries like Germany, and France, where international students would also have to learn the local language to take the course. Another practice that is prevalent in foreign countries is that they have two different components of design, specifically taught in different areas — one being the core design education, solely focused on innovation and new design (Like Germany’s TU) and the other focused on practical design based architectural education (Germany’s Hochschule). Implementing a focused system like this one in India will drastically improve the current dire situation. It could also be flexible in such a way, that a main guideline is common across all schools, but the syllabus is highly specific, and evolves with each batch. Such a pragmatic system would be very dynamic, and would also not compromise on the qualitative aspect.

But, if we follow everything that was aforementioned, would it make our system ‘Indian’? Ar. Ramalingam says that the main difference between the Indian and the Western system of architecture is that the Indian system focuses on catering to the needs of the diverse population, with a touch of humanness. This touch can be imbibed into the students through hands-on experiences, and multilevel interaction, made effective by a focused academic institution with an effective academic leader. Understanding the society and its issues is the first step, and focusing the designs at people, instead of technological perfection would be the key. As Joseph Campbell aptly says, “The job of an educator is to teach students to see vitality in themselves” the system must provide such a platform with good pedagogy values such that a positive, optimistic change can be seen in the generations to come, which will ultimately be reflected in architecture.

Heartfelt Gratitude to: Mr. V Sankar Ram, Educator, Sankarankoil, TN Ar. G Naveen, Architect, Trichy, TN Ar. Mahesh Radhakrishnan, Architect, Chennai, TN Ar. Ramalingam, Architect and Professor, Madurai, TN

Brinjal Biriyani

About The Piece: This piece was a creative attempt at building an entire story out of a single news article during the Coronavirus lockdown in 2020. This exercise was quite fun and challenging and in the end, many creative barriers of mine were broken. This was also my first attempt at writing a spoof of typical heist movie setups and how ridiculous the entire plot becomes.

“Customs officials seized 4.67kg of gold worth INR 1.96C at Chennai airport from three women passengers from Malaysia and Colombo and from an aircraft where the metal was concealed inside the hollow pipes under two seats. A woman passenger was arrested, said a release from the Commissioner of Customs.” “Oi Shanti, have you seen the newspaper today? “Not right now Abby! I’m in the middle of my Skype class!” “Those bungling idiots were caught! Our entire operation has been busted!” “What? Wait wait, let me wind up the class for today and come over there.” The Women Empowerment Cell for Smuggling and Trafficking Inc. (WECST Inc.) has its branches all over the world. Based off South Asia (exact location confidential), they have a wide range of smuggling activities and training programmes for women, who are trained to use their looks and disguises to get past any Customs official in the world. 16

They are quite infamous in the dark web, and their services can be accessed only through that channel. They can smuggle quite anything. Apart from your regular drugs like cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine and valuables like gold and silver, they can also smuggle extremely rare bizarre, antique items like celebrities’ used toothbrushes, or old shards from shipwrecks. Name it, you get it, but only at the fixed price quoted on the dark web. No negotiations, no bargains. Abby and Shanti work at the WECST Inc. branch in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, right downtown, in a small sweatshop located right next to the Petronas Towers. They are the heads of the Training Cell of this esteemed organisation, christened WECST Academy. The 3 women, Simran, Elise and Maqlab (names changed due to privacy reasons) were their new padawans, and were on their first assignment to smuggle gold in India, which they failed miserably. The students were also trained in the art of hypnotism, warfare and hiding anything without leaving a trace. And if things went wrong, prison survival was also taught. But all of this came at a cost, of faking death and coming up with a new name, new identity. A clean slate for all the dirty jobs they had to do throughout their lives, to live as queens of the underworld. Abby recalled the days of training, where these 3 women were their star padawans. They had passed every test with an A+, setting the academy record. The three combined were able to steal Justin Bieber’s used earbuds, Brad Pitt’s empty hair product box and a fake gold biscuit from an Indian pawnbroker and sold it to a Chinese collector for USD 1 million each. It was quite an impressive feat. It was time for their first assignment - the Gold smuggling cell for a certain Mr. Mallay in the UK. Everything was set up. Their roles were each handed out to them. Simran was to distract the Customs officer and was the main face of the operation, and 50% of the gold was to be brought to Chennai by Elise from Colombo and the rest was to be directly sent to Chennai via Kolkata from Malaysia by Maqlab. Once they rendezvous at their hiding spot at a Pawnbroker in Sowcarpet, they were to transport everything via 3 fish lorries to Vasco da Gama, Goa, from where it would be shipped to Lisbon, via the Persian gulf and the Mediterranean sea, and then to the UK, where Mr. Mallay would be waiting to receive the consignment. The 3 women were eager, and it was all sorted. The first half of the mission, gathering all the gold and waiting for the go call (encoded through code words, duh) from Colombo and Malaysia. It was quite an enthralling and a risky mission for them, but the trio handled it like it was a piece of cake. They were all excited and waiting for their signal eagerly. ___

Ragavan Rangasamy is an honest Customs officer from Mylapore, Chennai. Having watched all the Telugu and Tamil cop movies, where the superhero protagonist eliminates all world threats and corruption, he aspired to take up this position as his career from a very young age. He kept practising by watching the great superstars in their most famous movies. And even though all this movie-watching reduced his scores, he got into the Customs department through sheer recommendation from his dad, as the Chief Customs Officer at Chennai International Airport. On this fine sunny morning, he got his box of curd rice packed from his mom, waved hi to all his buddies in the Agraharam, and moved on to take the metro to the airport. He had a perfectly calm morning, amidst the usual traffic, and finally reached the airport, after 2 hours. He had absolutely no idea of the action-packed sequence he was to experience that day… ___ “Guys, good luck on your mission. You know what to do,” said Abby. “Yeah, Shanti would be dressed up as the ground crew and help set up the gold biscuits taped to my body that can’t be recognised under my robe. I’ll look like a very convincing 50 year old with arthritis, bound to my wheelchair, directly taken to my flight, past all the paperwork. All I need to do is get past Chennai customs. I should meet up with Simran, who would help me there. I’ll wait for your call once I land.” “Good. And Elise and Simran, what are you to do?” “One of us would disguise ourselves as a flight technician and the other, an on-flight toilet cleaner. We’d go 3 hours before our flight from Colombo and set up the gold chains in the tubes below our seats. And a quick change of clothes!” “Great. Let Operation: Brinjal Biryani begin!” ___ Everything went exactly as planned. Shanti was able to send Maqlab off properly in the airport, after dropping off at her seat on the airplane, with absolutely no hindrance at all. There was a slight glitch during the final immigration security check, where everyone was to be frisked, but as Maqlab’s turn came, there was a shift change, and they were able to sneak away quite easily. The flight was very smooth. However, there was a single moment during landing, when a gold biscuit taped to her calf muscles came off and fell on the floor of the aeroplane, but Maqlab was able to handle it perfectly by using her sash from her robe to fasten it there and keep it intact. She had bent over to pick it up and tie it, citing tying her shoelaces as the reason. Finally, touchdown! And there she was, at the arrivals of the Chennai International Airport. If only she could contact those two. She was eagerly waiting for her call from HQ. ___

“The flight is to be boarded in the next 5 hours. Quick! Let’s go change!” whispered Elise into Simran’s ear. They were right outside the pilot’s entry into the Colombo airport premises. “How are we to get past this guard?” asked Simran. “Just wait and watch.” Elise had made sure to mix a tiny dose of laxative in the guard’s cup. And so the guard had to run away to the nearby Porta-Potty, which gave our ladies just the right amount of time to walk in casually through the gate. “Wow! That’s amazing! When did you do that?” “With a little help from some old friends!” “Quick, let’s rush there!” The duo walked in quickly to the flight and rushed to the changing rooms, near the aeroplane. “Wait, wait! We haven’t decided who gets to be the flight technician and who gets to be the toilet cleaner!” whispered Simran. “You have the most important role to handle Maqlab once she lands in Chennai. So I’ve got to be the flight tech, and you be the stinky toilet cleaner!” “Why must I always be the one who’s the sidekick? You’ve seen my skills at the Academy. I’m much better than you are.” “Oh, really? Then who saved your ass when you almost got caught by JB’s bodyguards when you went to flick his earbuds?” “I screwed up only because you were screaming after looking at a cockroach! I wouldn’t have been startled had you stayed shut!” “Fine, fine. But next time, I get to take one of the more important roles, and you get to be the sidekick,” said Elise with a reluctant, exasperated sigh. Elise changed into the toilet cleaner’s outfit and Simran dons the flight attendant role. The gold chains were tucked safely into her briefcase. They walked down the aisle of the aircraft, and the duo handled it perfectly when Simran inserted those chains into the tubes below her seat, while Elise was on the lookout, feigning toilet cleaning. Elise called out, “Hurry! We have only 3 minutes left before we are to leave!” “Yeah yeah, just a second…. Wait… I’m done! Yeah let’s go!”

The pair scuttled away, back to the staff room to change back into passenger clothes. Mission 60% accomplished. The boarding was smooth, and the flight took off safely. However, the flight was quite turbulent and there was a loose nut that fell off. Nobody had noticed it then. It was only during landing, that the chains just fell off, and garnered the attention of the air hostess. Post touchdown, there was a huge commotion, and the air hostess suspected Elise, as she was in that seat. Elise was taken away into the interrogation room. Elise quietly slipped the chains into her coat. Elise whispered angrily into Simran’s ear. “Why do I have to save you everytime? Look you idiot, we are in trouble! Own up!” Simran had a very nonchalant reply, much to Elise’s dismay. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I did the deed. The job must go on. I’ll have to help Maqlab get there!” “Why, you!” But Simran only shrugged. ___ Simran went to the baggage collection area, and called Maqlab up. The duo had to move quickly as there was a crowd of alert guards on the lookout for more gold. They had to move fast. “Maqlab, I screwed up, I’m sorry! Elise is caught! The nuts were loose under the seat and it’s all my fault!” Simran sobbed. “It’s okay. The job must keep going. Abby will understand. We’ll come and rescue Elise later.” As they frantically hurried, the gold biscuit tied to Maqlab’s leg also fell off. The two had no other option but to run. Imagine the crowd’s surprise when they saw an old woman running past all the guards and boarding their taxi! It was a sight to behold. “You idiot! Now we’re all noticed!” “We can’t help it. Let’s lose the heat and then figure out what must be done.” The duo were headed for Sowcarpet to meet the pawnbroker. ___ “Well well well, look who we have here! Another person to take all the complimentary golden headphones eh? I’m a very strict officer, and you have to admit the truth and nothing but the truth.” Ragavan entered the interrogation room with an extremely unusual authoritarian tone.

Elise was already shell shocked and confused. “Well.. um… yeah. Sorry about that. You got me! I’ll pay whatever you want. Please let me go!” “That would be a no-can-do. I’m an honest officer. I don’t take bribes!” “Well, if there’s something I can do for you, please allow me to! I’ll do anything, I swear!” “Um, if you put it that way, I can’t do anything...you flew in from Colombo right? I would like some Sri Lankan coffee. The filter coffee here is just way too bad, what with all the 3rd grade coffee bean quality and all.” “Why, you’re lucky sir, I just happened to carry a packet. It’s in my handbag over there. Let me fetch it for you.” As Elise got up to reach her handbag, the chains fell off on the floor. She was caught. There was no escape this time. “Wait, what is this? Gold? Oh, are you smuggling gold? Eh? Who’s the client?” Elise had no reply. “A-ha! I caught you! I’ll be promoted to Chief Customs Officer, thanks to you! And by the way, let me have that coffee to celebrate!” ___ “Ah, those bungling idiots! Well, now we can see why a senior executive is always needed to babysit the newbies,” Shanti sighed to Abby, back at the HQ. “Ah well, nothing can be done. Forget about the gold. What happened to the other package, with the Kate Winslet’s fake gem from the Titanic?” “Don’t worry, they are on their way to Mr. Mallay. Maqlab was able to handle it perfectly. No one knows about the swallowed gem in her stomach,” Shanti said with a wink.

News Article Reference: “Bid to smuggle 4.6 kg gold foiled at Chennai airport” The New Indian Express, dated 05-Mar-2020 Illustration Credit: Redrawn from Source - Freepik

Saicharan Kalyanaraman +91 9444982607 saicharan.kalyanaraman@gmail.com