Welcome to All Things Indian. Every Saturday, I unpack the complexities of contemporary India. Each post is a short piece of fiction based on real people I have seen, heard of and met during my reporting.

Sitting on the cold floor, Aman took a moment to casually look around. For the first time since morning he took a deep breath and relaxed. 

Eighteen people were crammed into the small ‘lock-up’ at the Koramangala Police Station in Bengaluru. Four people clung to one another, carefully avoiding the dirty walls. Five others were in the far corner, hurriedly speaking amongst themselves. A few more looked out through the iron rods that kept them confined in the cell.
A mixed bag of emotions hung heavy in the air - anger, frustration, defeat and, strangely, excitement. Everyone in that cell knew they’d walk free soon. The lawyers were talking to the police outside. 

Aman wanted to rush home, take a leisurely shower, jump into clean pyjamas and hold a comforting cuppa in his hands, but felt he deserved to be punished. It is only fair that he be kept in the stinking, dingy prison longer. Would that be a step towards redemption? What else did he need to do? He would do anything. Everything. 

***

The previous morning, as Aman Sharma flashed his identity card on the gates of his multinational software company, his mother had called. He clicked his tongue. This was just not the time to receive calls, he had to log in close to ten hours of work that day.
“Wakeel marr gaya