There was no security. No Priyanka in the wings. No Rahul looking casually disinterested. And Sonia was nowhere to be seen. The normally alert Press, especially in the sleepy town of Hyderabad missed the biggest event in its history.

Not since Alexander the Great had come to the Deccan so many years ago and spawned what was destined to be the ruling class in a Moghul Empire gone astray, had such a celebrated person come to town. And the rocks of Lamakaan were glowing with stifled excitement.

The audience was a mute spectator to the drama that was unfolding in front of them. Even the clamour of their frequent applause could not mute the hidden noise, the disturbance on the radar and the sonar…because it was turbulent below the surface of the earth and above. The skies seemingly went into pause mode to more carefully witness the great event.

And the hundreds of power point presentations that had flown via the internet in the past several months…the presentations detailing how the Indian Polity had become so family dominated that now, even sons in law were entitled to pecuniary benefits…or are they called peripheral benefits now? All of them were ignored…

And the hundreds of accusations, proofs, allegations and what have you were swept under the carpet of leaves that intermittently showered down onto the audience. Everyone was too busy figuring out whether Sanjaya Baru’s book about the unmasked Prime Minister was but a preamble to a time when the opposition would systematically proceed to strip the once highly regarded Super PM of his torn red underwear.

And Bob, let’s call him Bob for now…was in no mood to stay around while Delhi was getting ready to burn…and the family’s fingers were too sensitive now to hold on to the end of the rope as the fires blazed towards their dirtied fingers. Swiss knives had their limitations and the Caribbean was only good for a holiday if you managed to reach it.

But the question that remains is how did Bob meet Riyaz Usman? Better still how did he convince Riyaz to give him a role in the play 39 Steps?

How much was paid to Riyaz? And is this the beginning of a pattern? People who are in hiding approach theatre directors and grab lead roles for a price?

What a deception! Escaping the glare of a thousand accusing spotlights by gently slipping into the glow of a few applauding ones. From the theatre of the corrupt to the theatre of the absurd…what a journey!!!

And I…I tremble at the thought of meeting my friend Srikanth KM in a dark alley…or bumping into Saharssh Bubna who first pointed out to me, the amazing similarity between the villain and the hero.