Gandikota

The Torture

Ramalinga felt the water splashing on his face, as he woke up. He looked around trying to adjust to the pitch darkness around him. The chamber was dark and gloomy, except for the flickering torches, that cast ghostly shadows on the walls. The once proud warrior was stripped down to just a dhoti, his bare back, covered with the welts from the lashes of whips. His hands were bound by long chains of iron to either side of the walls, his feet in fetters, so that he could not move. 

His eyes could make out the faint silhouette of some one emerging in the shadows. As the man drew nearer, he saw him, a face puffed up, with a thick moustache, eyes devoid of any emotion, a rotund portly figure, rubbing his thick palms together. If evil ever had a face it was this, Bukappa , the jailor in charge of Gandikota prison. A name that evoked fear among the populace, whom no one in Gandikota dared to even cross paths with. 

Tales abounded of the horrific treatment he had given to hapless prisoners, tearing their innards apart, whipping them till they collapsed. Or another favorite technique of his, making them stand barefoot on the rocks under the hot sun, till their soles burnt. And his lust for women, young, married it did not matter, if he fancied some one, they would have to be taken to his sprawling mansion, near Gandikota. So many complaints had been made against him, but being well connected to the Governor of  Chandragiri, who was the Raya's own brother in law, ensured he got away everytime.

Bukappa approached close,his eyes gleaming with a vicious sadism,as he grinned, showing off a pair of teeth yellowing with decay, a foul odour emanating from him. 

"You are such a great warrior. It pains my heart to see you in this state, why do you have to bear all this indignity thrust on you"

Ramalinga, just looked back at him, with anger in his eyes, saying nothing.

"Why don't you confess to your crime? I shall ensure you come out of prison, with a lesser sentence, and even reinstated as the king".

And nary there was a word from Ramalinga,just fury in his eyes, looking at the malevolent form of evil in front of him.  Gathering all the strength, he spit with a fury at his captor, as the saliva fell on the face.

"Such impudence, from a convict, had it been some one else, I would have beheaded them right here, but you shall not have such an easy death" as he clapped his hands loudly.

Ramalinga's eyes could make out the guard bringing a very pointed object in the darkness. And then he felt it, as the claws dug straight into his back. The tiger claws, which had been used to rip out the innards of many an opponent.

He winced in pain, letting out a scream of anguish, as the claws ripped away the skin of his back, with the flesh comming out, as the blood trickled down.  The fetters binding his feet, his hands tied up in chains, and the searing pain on his back. He had taken the most brutal assaults on the battlefield, but this was stripping away at his dignity, leaving him with no option to even fight back.

As Bukappa and the guards around him let out howls of laughter, he felt like a caged animal, being prodded constantly.  But confess to a crime he never committed, that he would never.

"Virupaksha, just grant me the strength to bear this ordeal,I beg of you"

And then he felt the red hot chilli powder mixed with salt, being applied in his raw wounds. A lesser person would have wilted under the assault,but then this was a warrior's body that had seen many a battle and faced many an attack. 

The tiger was caged and the jackals around were enjoying it's ordeal. 

"Ramalinga, you do not have to go through this ordeal, just confess one more time, I will let you out".

Ramalinga whispered something barely audible, as Bukappa came closer to hear him.

"Yes tell me, you confess"

And for the first time, the voice rang out clear in the chambers of the cell

"Do not even try to let me out at your mercy Bukappa, when a tiger is let out of the cage, it becomes even more dangerous".

Bukkappa's face contorting into a rage, his thick lips rolling up

"Guards brand this impudent fellow with the red hot iron, and throw him into his cell. Tomorrow we hang him at the first hour of noon"

Ramalinga's saw the red molten hot rods being bought, as he closed his eyes

"Virupaksha, grant me the strength"

And he felt the flesh melting away, as the guards applied the red hot irons on his chest. He could not even move or flinch with his hands and feet bound, as he felt his skin scalding away from the burns. 

But more than anything, it was the pain inside, of being betrayed, of having to suffer for a crime he never comitted, of the indignity he was subjected to.

Someone was responsible for this, and they would have to pay, and just for that he was willing to undergo every torture inflicted on him. His brother while being one of them, could not have acted on his own, there were much more powerful interests up there.