Chapter 15: This about the Past—or Should I Say, Future
18th September 1970
The city outside Vikram's fifth-floor window was still waking as he began his day. At 5:00 a.m., he slid out of bed without disturbing the thick silence of the building. The apartment air was crisp with early autumn's approach. He dimmed the lights and stepped out into the still shadows of Mumbai, beginning his familiar ritual of discipline—morning jogging, bodyweight exercises, and stretches rooted in yogic tradition.
For two hours, his body moved in quiet mastery, a blend of old principles and new power.
By 7:00 a.m., he returned, showered thoroughly, and sat down for a modest breakfast of soaked almonds, banana, and black tea—fuel for a mind that never rested.
Then, he entered his private study, closed the door, and retrieved a thick, hand-bound notebook from a shelf beside his System console. The room was silent save for the tick of the slow metal fan overhead. He sat cross-legged on the floor, spine perfectly erect, and opened to a fresh page.
At the top, he wrote the date: 18 September 1970
And below that, a heading in block print:
> "Important Future Events: 1970–1971
Preserve India. Fix the Future. Collapse the Old Orders."
1. Pakistan Election Crisis — The Birth of Bangladesh
His first notes concerned Pakistan's election crisis, the seeds of which had already been sown.
According to history, general elections across Pakistan were scheduled for 7 December 1970, covering both East and West Pakistan under one national vision—at least on paper. Provincial elections would follow on 17 December.
However, none of that would matter once Nature spoke.
> 12 November 1970: The Bhola cyclone would strike East Pakistan—one of the deadliest storms in recorded history. Public records would later estimate between 300,000 and 500,000 deaths, though unofficial figures fear the count was higher. Entire districts were swallowed by water and grief.
In response, the central Pakistani government's apathy—slow relief efforts, bureaucratic delays, and West Pakistani indifference—would enrage the population beyond pacification. The call for autonomy would turn into a demand for separation.
Between 8 and 13 December 1970, votes would be counted. The results shocked the West:
> - Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's Awami League would win 160 out of 162 East Pakistani seats.
> - Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) would claim 81 out of 138 West Pakistani seats.
> - Awami League now held a clear national majority, enough to choose the Prime Minister and form a solo government.
But the political and military elite of West Pakistan refused to hand over power to an East Pakistani leader.
Tensions flared.
> 3 January 1971: Sheikh Mujib addressed a crowd of over a million people in Dhaka. There, he would publicly declare that Awami League would not compromise on their Six-Point Plan for autonomy.
> 1 March 1971: President Yahya Khan postponed the National Assembly session—deliberate betrayal.
> Protests erupted. Flags were burned. Casualties followed.
> 3 March: The National Assembly failed to reconvene.
> 26 March 1971: East Pakistani leaders formally declared Independence.
What followed was not political turbulence—it was genocide.
From May to November 1971, a civil war raged, brutally one-sided. Estimates of the dead ranged from 300,000 to 3 million. India, bearing the burden of 10 million refugees, became a silent actor now moving toward decisive intervention.
> 3 December 1971: Pakistan launched pre-emptive airstrikes on Indian airbases, opening the western front.
> India responded instantly, entering the war with full legitimacy.
> 16 December 1971: The Pakistani military formally surrendered in Dhaka.
93,000 Pakistani soldiers were taken as prisoners of war in one of the largest surrenders since World War II.
Bangladesh was born.
Vikram scribbled furiously. This war is inevitable, he thought, but the timing, alliances, leverage—those can change. If India acts with foresight, it can unlock new fronts.
In his original timeline, India liberated Bangladesh but left POK untouched.
Now, armed with knowledge, allies, and memory manipulation, he could engineer a dual campaign:
> One, for Dhaka. Two, for POK.
If India reclaimed Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, it would sever the direct land corridor between China and Pakistan—effectively crippling the future plan for CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor), turning it from a strategic dream into a blueprint trapped on paper.
That could permanently disrupt military logistics, Chinese naval options in Gwadar, and isolate both adversaries regionally.
This victory, Vikram noted, must be complete and permanent.
2. Preventing PRC Entry into the United Nations (UNSC)
Vikram then flipped to another page labeled simply:
> "Chinese Entry into the UN: A Mistake That Must Be Reversed"
He wrote the date at the top:
> 25 January 1971
That would be the day that Taiwan—then recognized as Republic of China (ROC)—would be replaced by People's Republic of China (PRC) as the fifth permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC).
In his original timeline, PRC got 76 votes out of 111. It only needed 74.
Recorded histories noted that Taiwan didn't vote. But if Taiwan cast its ballot, China's required majority would increase to 75.
That opens a path.
He listed strategies:
- Ensure Taiwan votes against the motion.
- Flip 1–2 small but reliable U.S. allies who originally supported China.
Potential candidates:
- Bhutan, Nepal, and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), all still within India's influence orbit.
- Israel, a country friendly to India due to shared security anxieties, could be convinced to vote with moral logic.
> "If India votes against," Vikram reasoned, "Taiwan + India + 1 or 2 neutral votes turning would deny PRC the numbers."
Success here would prevent China from gaining UN veto power, military lobbying strength, and automatic legitimacy in global forums—setting them back by at least a decade or more in diplomatic leverage.
That's how timelines were altered.
Not with assassinations—but with votes flipped at the right chamber.
3. The 'Nixon Shock' and the Golden Financial Opportunity
Next, he wrote:
> "Nixon Ends Bretton Woods – The Global Reset Begins"
August 15, 1971
President Richard Nixon officially ends the gold-backed dollar system, a move that shocked and destabilized international finance systems.
The dollar was no longer pegged to $35 per ounce of gold.
Over the next few years, market panic and speculation created enormous volatility.
> - The price of gold shot up—to $850 per ounce by 1980
That was a 24× increase.
Vikram ran the numbers quickly in his mind.
If he:
- Began buying gold at $35 now.
- Held it in secure System space
- Released it after US decontrols hit global inflation…
He could multiply wealth near-infinitely. He could first buy gold from Dubai and other foreign countries and the sell it after it reaches $150 per ounce the invest that money to buy crude oil, plastic and other such items when their prices increase by almost 4 times because of the first oil crisis.
He made a note to assign Mark 1 and 2 to secretly purchase gold stocks from Indian black-market sources and international jewel merchants like Dubai. Underpriced Indian gold would be aggregated, sorted, and logged inside system space under climate-free, security-locked containment.
> "No bank vault needed," Vikram thought. "The System is better than Fort Knox."
He also noted the side effect: with this gold buffer, he could launch a private banking institution early—preparing India's answer to foreign capital barriers.
—
He paused, surveying the three pages before him—three plans that, in truth, weren't plans at all.
They were declarations.
> - Turn the Bangladesh crisis into a dual-front geopolitical conquest.
> - Deny China their UN veto card permanently.
> - Buy gold now. Break it later.
And in doing so, reshape a nation's place in history—before history even happened.
He closed the book, placed it inside his system space, and lit a stick of incense. The scent of sandalwood curled through the silent room like smoke from history, rewriting itself one decision at a time.
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