INVISIBLE INK





To,

Mr Drake. 


He recognised her writing.

The letter had arrived through the normal channel of communication that they used. It had come through the secret courier who had managed to smuggle it out from the cantonment.

Drake -- His name, Kedar, was written cryptically on the envelope. It was an anagram.

It had a dried blot of blood on it.

He opened the envelope. 

Inside the envelope, there was green chilli and a very small piece of charcoal wrapped in a sheet of paper.

It was a crumpled blank sheet of paper.


The blot of blood on the envelope brought back a rollercoaster of memories.

Memories that took him almost five years back.

Memories that took him back to his college days.

Memories that took him back to his first love.

Love at first sight. 

A very beautiful sight.


----------////----------


Their paths first crossed on the college campus as they completed admission formalities.  

Their eyes met. 

That was as far as they got that day. 


A week later on the first day of college, she was sitting on the desk in front of him in the lecture room.


‘Khat likhta hu khoon se 

siyahi na samjhana.

Marta hu teri yaad me 

bewafai na samjhana.’


He had scribbled this in red ink on the white paper.  Making it into a ball he had passed it on to her. 

As she unfolded it he saw the look on her face as she read it.

She quickly glanced back at him.

There was something in that glance.

A slight smile had broken on the corner of her lips. 

A minute later he saw her scribble something on her notepad.

Plonk — a paper ball landed on his desk.  


She had replied, 

‘Khoon se kyon likhte ho 

siyahi nahi miltha.

Mere peeche kyon pade ho 

koi aur nahin milta.’


His heart fluttered. 

She had replied. 

It was an indication that the chemistry was building up. 

His reply had to be apt to further this reaction. After giving it a thought he smiled as a reply crossed his mind.  

With a smile on his face and a warmth in his heart he wrote.

Neatly folding the paper he passed it to her. 

Cupids arrow had struck as she opened the letter and read it. 


‘Siyahi milta hain 

lekhin mera khoon jaise nahin.

Ladki to bahut hain 

lekhin aap jaise nahin.’


Love blossomed and they courted. 

This soon led to matrimony. A year after the romantic ‘blood’ ink note they were husband and wife.


----------////----------


Almost five years later he had a letter in his hand. 

A letter that had a blob of dried out blood on its envelope.

‘Khat likhta hu khoon se 

siyahi na samjhana.

Marta hu teri yaad me…..

The blood meant that she would have been captured and killed by now. 

The blood blot meant her end.

His eyes moistened at the thought. 


The fact that this letter had come in with a small piece of charcoal and a chilli wrapped in it indicated that this was a coded letter. 

An otherwise blank coded letter.

They had mastered the techniques over the years.

They were spies and were spying for their motherland.

There was a secret here.

The empty paper meant there was a hidden message. There would be information written in invisible ink.



----------////----------


Komal was not all ’Komal’ as her name suggested. She was also filled with grit. 

She belonged to a wealthy family, and her father was a close subordinate of Netaji (Subhash Chandra Bose) 

She was very influenced by Netaji’s thoughts. She wanted to free her Moherland from bondage. 

Free from British rule.

She donated all her jewellery for the cause Azad Hind Fauj was fighting for. 

She wanted to do more.


After her marriage to Kedar, she managed to convince him also to join the Indian forces to battle against British imperial rule.

On seeing both husband and wife’s courage and determination Netaji had included them in the army.


In the field of espionage which is often considered to be a ‘masculine’ job that requires strength and bravery, She was given the most difficult job of spying. She had disguised herself as a boy and snooped on the British in their cantonment.  Komal was made to spy on the British forces and to pass on all the information. 

Kedar was also assigned to be in the same team. She now worked hand in glove with her husband.

Her husband supported her from outside. Their chemistry worked here as well.


It was probably in Germany that Subhas Chandra Bose was first known as ‘Netaji’, which literally means ‘leader of leaders’ 

‘Führer’ is the equivalent German expression. 

In their earlier years, due to Netaji’s German connection.

Komal and Kedar had read about and were influenced by George Vaux Bacon.

He was an American journalist sent to Britain in September 1916 by German Secret Service officers based in New York City.

He collected information useful for the German government, including antiaircraft defence, troop movements and morale, and information on new battleships.

He then got the messages back to the spymasters in New York City.

The British normally censored all reports and letters that came from the journalists but he had mastered a secret of fooling them. 

The secret turned out to be a new ink. 

Invisible ink.

German chemists had developed it.

It was a thick brown paste in a toothpaste-like tube. This would be smeared on the top of black socks and allowed to dry 

When required the top of the socks would be soaked in water.

It would then be squeezed out and the liquid would be used as secret ink when he wrote letters. A ballpoint pen—to avoid scratches—and rough paper so that the paper would absorb the ink would be used to assist the guise.

Komal and Kedar also read about what was needed to develop the secret ink he used. 

Argyrol, the commercial name for a silver salt of a protein mixture sold as a light brown powder soluble in water was used. Argyrol can also be used as an antibacterial and antiseptic; it was used to combat gonorrhoea. If a spy was caught he or she claimed they were using it as an antiseptic but did not know that it was impregnated in the socks.


In developing the art of espionage a continuous cat and mouse game was going on. 

Apart from Argyrol, clothing —socks and shoelaces— were also impregnated with secret ink using organic compounds of silver like protargol.

The British and French had found reagents for the simpler secret inks, like revealing iron chloride with potassium ferrocyanide concealed in soap, and lead acetate in perfume that they had come across by searching suspects at border crossings.


----------////----------


Komal had embarked on a dangerous fact-finding mission. 

The British were transporting a huge sum of money, gold, precious stones and jewellery away from the cantonments to be shipped away from the country.

She was supposed to try and get information on the journey dates and route. 

This would help the freedom fighters plan and loot the treasures.


----------////----------


Clutching the paper in his hand and looking at the charcoal and chilli made Kedar deduce that his wife had not used complicated techniques.

In this letter, she had used a very simple technique. She has somehow managed to get the basic items to trigger his memory.

His memory went back to her superstitious ways. 

She would always tie a superstition symbol of good luck — lemon, coal and green chillies on a cotton thread on the doorway. 

The Evil Eye Warder, also known as "NAZAR BATTU", was used all over India for ages to keep homes and businesses safe from all the evil spirits and let all the happiness be yours for always. 


The clues said it all.

To a Britisher's eye, it would look like blood soiled envelope and chilli and a piece of charcoal wrapped in a crumpled blank paper.

To an Indian eye, especially Kedar’s eye, it had a lot of significance.

She had sent a NAZAR BATTU 

She had sent the coal and the chilli as clues. She would have used the juice from the lemon as the invisible ink.


----------////----------


Kedar had guessed right.

After sneaking into the commander's office Komal had managed to read the information required from the documents available. Her photographic memory helped her retain the information.


She slipped out and managed to reach her hideout in the kitchen cellar. 

She did not have the chemicals required for the invisible ink.

She had to improvise and make do with what was available in the kitchen.

She found some lemon and cutting it squeezed out the juice.

She made a quill from a duck feather that was lying around.

Drafting the letter using lemon juice as ink she let it dry before slightly crumpling it.

She now had to include a clue

So she also put a chilli and a small piece of charcoal she had got from the kitchen and wrapped it in this paper.

She placed it in the envelope and addressed it to Mr Drake on it. This was written in normal ink.

In case the envelope was intercepted it should throw off the inquisitive eyes.


In the meantime, the British officers had got the hint that someone had entered the office.

They were surprised as nothing was stolen.

A search had however started around the cantonment for the intruder.

Escaping from this situation would be difficult for Komal.

She knew that sooner or later she would be caught.

They would shoot her to death as they had done to the earlier spies. 

She had to send love to her husband.


Pricking her finger with the tip of the knife she put a blot of the red blood on the envelope.  

He would understand her. 

She left the envelope in the predetermined ceramic jar in the cellar.

This was the dead letterbox aka dead drop.

That night the courier would extract the envelope and take it to the outside team. The letter should reach her husband in two days. 

As per the schedule she sent, they should be able to hijack and loot the British treasury in a week.

They could also kill a few top British officers if they got lucky.


----------////----------


Her letter was now in her husband’s hand. 

Kedar went towards the oil lamp in the corner of the room. 

Smoothing and straightening the blank paper he gripped it in both hands and carefully moved it over the flame.

Slowly like magic, a message started appearing on the sheet of paper. 


Komal had used a simple chemistry principle. 

Lemon juice – like most fruit juice – contains carbon compounds. These compounds are pretty much colourless at room temperature in the paper. 

When exposed to an open flame or heat source heat breaks down these compounds and releases the carbon in the lemon juice. 

When carbon comes in contact with air specifically oxygen, oxidation occurs and the substance turns light or dark brown. 

The message discolours before the rest of the paper gets hot enough to do so. 


The full plan was now revealed. 

The invisible ink gave up its secret.


----------////----------


Far away in the cantonment gunshots could be heard as the soldiers shot down an intruder. It had taken them two days to locate the spy. She had tried to escape and they shot her as she ran.


She had completed her mission. 

She had managed to give up her life for her country. Her husband would be proud of her.

Her thoughts went out to her husband's expectation of her.

‘Ladki to bahut hain 

lekhin aap jaise nahin.’

She was proud that she had lived up to it. 


The bullets ploughed her down and she breathed her last. 

The last words that the British soldiers heard from her lips were, “Jai Hind”.


Credit for Image -- Internet

Hindi lines -- Anon 


Comments

  1. Wow! A terrific thriller with generous dollops of romance! Loved it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anamika Kundu
      Appreciate these kind words Anamika.
      Your compliments mean a lot and will be treasured.
      Keep motivating.
      🙏🙏🙏

      Delete
  2. Awesome this is!! Jai hind!! Your research is wonderful and enlightening for all of us. There are many many names who could not find place in history books. Hats off to their sacrifice and salute to you for yet another beautiful story shared here

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks a Ton, Vishy.
      Appreciate your generous compliments.
      Glad that my INK was enlightening.
      JAI HIND!!

      Delete
  3. Gripping, moving, poignant and filled with a patriotic fervour, your ink surpasses the ordinary and makes your story special. Enjoyed reading it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Jyotirmoy.Glad that you enjoyed reading my INK.
      You are very generous with your compliments.
      Keep motivating.

      Delete
  4. Another exciting story with romance and nationalism. Wonderful.

    ReplyDelete

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