Maggar Singh, My Saviour

Aage aage dekho hota hai kya

 

@creativemumma

You are indeed creative.

 

@Archanaanchan

Yes, we need to worry for Reena...

 

@Amica

So I will have to wait till the weekend to see your reaction

 

@blackbeauty84

Thanks for your encouraging comments.

 

Maggar Singh, My Saviour. Part 4 Of 6




With the introduction of Maggar’s track, people started loving the story and got addicted to the “Megacity News”. There was a sudden increase in sales. People started subscribing to the paper in large numbers, which was hitherto unheard of in our newspaper’s history! Black marketing of our newspaper also began. Even people from outside Mumbai started subscribing and they were okay with late delivery of the newspaper. Our office was having a tough time coping with so much work and we had to outsource some of our work. People seemed to love the tension, manic-power and the scheming mind of Maggar. Fan mails and fan clubs also began. We had to hire more staff to manage the workload! Our editor was a very proud man now. His idea had worked and our salaries were doubled immediately!

***

A few days later, our editor called me to his office and said, “Satyanand, you have done a fantastic job. What next? This month’s story talked about the kidnapping of Reena by Maggar, in detail. Looking at the sales figures and popularity of the track, I feel you should add more gory details and keep the same track alive for another two weeks or even up to a month before we introduce the 'rape' track. What do you think?” I nodded in agreement.

After a nice siesta on the office chair, I sipped the sugary tea brought specially for me by the office peon and settled to type the story further. Since I was asked to keep the kidnapping track on for some more time, I started thinking about the newer twists and turns I could introduce.

“May I help you?” Maggar interrupted.

I had almost forgotten him for the last one month. “Oh! It is you again?” I said, trying to ignore him.

“How are you, Sir? How is your story developing?” He enquired politely.

I said with an air of superiority, “Great! My story has become a hit. People just love it.”

“Are people loving the story or ME, in particular?” He asked, trying to deflate my ego.

“Definitely, they are loving the story! How can they love you? You were born to be hated!” I said harshly.

“Those are really strong words, sir. It is just not fair. You seem to be jealous of my popularity. You are trying to pull me down to raise yourself. Isn’t this the typical Indian crab mentality?” He mocked.

I was very angry with him again. “Maggar, stop talking all that crap. I am the writer. Beware! I can get you arrested or bump you off in a police encounter or introduce a creepier villain.”



“Are you threatening me? If you bump me off to take revenge, you will end up as a villain yourself. Your short-lived success shall collapse!” He warned me.

My ego was bruised. How could a character created by me, issue me threats? I seriously thought of introducing another villain to counter Maggar.

“Don’t even try it!” Maggar thundered as if he read my thoughts. “Don’t let your jealousy and insecurity blind you. You must be grateful to me instead……for I have made in-roads into peoples’ hearts. Your sales figures clearly speak about that.”

“Maggar, stop bragging. I know to control your fate.” I said obstinately.

“Do you know that Mr Sippy did not create Gabbar? It was Gabbar, who created Mr Sippy. Sholey would have tanked at the box office had it not been for my brother, Gabbar. Are you not a fan of Gabbar’s dialogues, his gait, his antics and his menacing laughter?” Maggar tried to reason.

“Maggar, you are just a roadside thug who kidnapped Reena. Stop comparing yourself with Gabbar.” I said with contempt.



“Cool…cool! Writer,

You’ll fall into a crater,

If you turn a traitor…

How is my poetry? Can I also become a poet in this story?” He tried to change the course of our argument.

“Maggar, Maggar,

Don’t trigger my anger!

If you keep quiet

I’ll increase your role

And that’s a deal for real!” I said imitating him.

Maggar just vanished without any further argument. I wondered whether it was due to his defeat or to return later with more crap. Anyway, it gave me my freedom to complete the track as intended. Latest news items of the week inspired me to add more details to maggar’s act and persona.



With the extended kidnap track, our newspaper sales figures skyrocketed. Girls, as well as women, went hysterical over Maggar’s antics. Maggar fan clubs cropped up all over Maharashtra and in a few neighbouring states also. The owner of our newspaper decided to make the most of the current frenzy with ‘#LoveYouMaggar’ tee-shirts and other merchandise like coffee mugs, water bottles, school bags, aprons and even planned to come up with an exclusive deo and perfume for men and women.

Some women’s groups took out processions against the newspaper and the story (or it's popularity!) and this, in turn, gave us even more publicity! A TV channel famous for raising the issues discussed our story, making “Megacity News” famous all over India. Franchise enquiries started pouring in from all over India! Our newspaper owner gifted my editor and me with a car each and promised flats too!

(All images have been taken from the internet for representational purposes only.)


********************************************************************************************