Part 15
Next day , Mumbai .
Arjun and Roshni's house . Its a beautiful house. But has abandoned look . Arjun enters his house. He coughs a bit due to dust. He goes towards the windows and successfully opens the jammed windows. He then switches on the lights. There is a thick layer of dust . Everything is at its place as it was before. Like his Roshni had left. He walks around a bit reminiscing small moments between him and roshni. Her death scene repeated again in his mind. He remembered the feeling of home he felt with her . The feeling of being safe and happy.
After her he had forgotten what is to live till he met Riya. She was like a breath of fresh air. He couldn't help but fall in love with her. A strong yet sweet, Young yet wise in her own ways, caring yet fierce and the thirst of knowledge and respect for seniors. A lot of ways she was like his Roshni yet so different. Roshni was type of girl who tended to remain in shadows but something in Riya made her stand out. Both were unique and both had his heart . A permanent residence . And he knows after Riya there's no place left for anybody else , whatever someone says. Because this time his heart didn't break but died . With Roshni's death his happiness was taken away but with Riya's his hope , light , life , and somewhere his soul also got taken away. But eventhough he had accepted that Roshni had died that night but he couldn't accept Riya's death. It felt like she was there still alive , breathing . It felt like his breaths were related to her. This for some reason never let him accept Riya's death . And her cabin and house. After Roshni, this house felt ... empty. But Riya's felt like they were waiting for her return. He didn't know how he feels this . A hallucination? His mind playing tricks with him? But all this always kept a very very small ember of hope , how illogical stupid and pointless may be it is, that Riya is somewhere alive. That is what drove him to come here to relive his past . Anyways , Roshni once told him to follow his heart and instincts more than his logical smart brain .
Arjun mv: Concentrate Rawte jo karne aaya wo kar. Ab uss riddle ko solve kar .
He racked his brain but couldn't solve it.
Arjun:(dealing it like a case) Ek tukda ateet ka jo kaanch mein band hai. Maybe a photoframe. Lekin ghar mein bohot saare photoframes hai . Kuch storage mein bhi padi hai . Agar har ek dhundne gaya iss dhool mein toh wo letter milne se raha. She specified a location. "In front of me beyond reach it rests " . Kiske saamne?
His phone rings. It shows "Rathod" .
Arjun: Ha rathod bolo.
Rathod closed his eyes in dissappoint of being called Rathod again. He handled himself and spoke : Tum kaha ho office time ho chuka hai. Agar juniors ko time par aana hota hai toh seniors ko bhi yahi rule hota hai.
Arjun: Aaj main late aaunga . Mujhe kuch zaruri kaam hai. Agar koi case ho toh location message kar dena main directly pohoch jaunga. ( he cuts the call)
Rathod: Raw...(line cut) (shakes his head)Ye nahi sudhrega.
ETF Office ,
Saakshi meets up with Liza and Aayesha.
Saakshi : Guys kal raat maine riya ke baare mein search kiya. Aayesha etf ki first woman officer nahi hai. Riya Mukherjee , Research specialist , thi.
Liza : Riya Mukherjee!!! Wo toh specky ki college ki best friend hai. No surprise ki wo aaj bhi contact mein hoge . Wo meri bhi acchi dost thi. We used go to movies and shopping together. Kabhi kabhi toh lagta hai uske notes ki wajah se hi hum ne college paas kiya tha.(chuckling a bit)
Saakshi:Wo... hai nahi thi .
Aayesha: What do you mean?
Saakshi: Liza , Aayesha. Wo ... riya ... she is dead.
Both : What??!!
Liza:Tum mazaak kar rahi ho na . Ye nahi ho sakta .Holy Jesus . You are kidding me. Mujhe aaise joke nahi pasand Sakz. Come on tell me the truth.
Saakshi: I am sorry. Lekin ye sacch hai. pichle saal jo virus faila tha yaad hai. Something called xora. (Other two nodded) Wo case ETF ne handle kiya tha. Ye virus kahi phail na jaye iss liye Riye ne virus nigal liya. She died because of it.
Liza: Ye...(She wanted to form words but couldn't.)
Aayesha: Ha mujhe bhi yaad aaya . Republic Day ke din Riya ko posthumous bravery award mila tha. Uss din bhi charo toote se lag rahe thhe.
Liza: I can't even imagine Shree par kya biti hogi. Riya kaise...I can't believe this.(she got up and went somewhere)
Saakshi: Aayesha kal ka incident to Shree ke liye tab bhi samajh aata hai lekin Arjun aur Sameer ne aisa behave kyu karenge. Chotu ne shaayad Riya se dosti ki ho aur sameer shayad senior hai isliye lekin Arjun. His reaction was the strongest and strangest. He had gone pale. Arjun toh kisi ke bhi itni care nahi karta. Haa kisi colleague ki maut pe dukh hoga lekin aaise...
Geeta , another girl working in the office, comes and gives some file to aayesha which she had asked for.
Geeta: Ye lijiye ma'am.
Aayesha: Accha Geeta ...ummm... tum iss office mein kab se kaam kar rahi ho.
Geeta: Kucch teen chaar saal se.
the other two pass each other a glance
Saakshi: Toh tumhe toh saare previous officers ke baare mein pata hoga. I mean jo transfer hogaye ya job chod di pichle kucch saalo mein.
Geeta: Yes Ma'am . Maine jab join kiya tha toh originally Rathod sir, Shree sir and Chotu..oops...Chandrakant sir aur do officers thhe lekin unka baad mein transfer ho gaya tha.
Aayesha: So unke baad kaun aaya?
Geeta: Unke baad ETF ki first woman officer Riya ma'am aayi. Ussi din coincidently Arjun sir ne bhi team ko temporary basis pe ek case ke liye join kiya tha phir baad mein permanent ho gaye. Phir xora case mein Riya ma'am ... Uske baad aap ne and then Saakshi ma'am and finally Liza ma'am ne join kiya aur do naye officers phir se join kiya hai shaayad. I have not yet met them . I was on leave.
Saakshi: So tum Riya ke baare mein kya bata sakti ho.
Geeta: Ma'am dheere. Unke jaane ke baad Riya naam lena bhi yaha gunaah hai. Hum sab ko agar unn charo mein se kisine unke baare mein baat karte sun liya toh hamaari shamat aa jayegi. Especially Arjun sir toh puri ki puri band baja dalenge. Rathod sir toh office se hi nikal denge. Shree sir aur chotu sir toh silent treatment pe aa jaenge which is really bad.
Aayesha: (lowers her voice) Sorry ab batao.
Geeta:May i sit ma'am. (aayu nods) (excited)Riya ma'am aur Arjun sir iss office (checking if the coast is clear) ki sabse interesting story hai. Atleast hamare liye warna baki sab toh murder ke around revolve karti hai. Riya ma'am bohot beautiful aur pleasant thi. Office mein kayi juniors ne unpar try bhi maara tha lekin unhone bohot politely mana kiya. Wo research specialist ki tarah aayi thi. Wo martial arts mein one of the best thi. As i said Arjun sir aur riya ma'am ki joining same day par thi isliye dono ek doosre ko nahi jaante thhe. Shree ne bataya tha ki unki first meeting ek fight thi jo rathod sir ne beech mein rok di. Aur tab se shuru hui unki kahaani . Except Rathod sir kisiki himmat nahi hoti thi ki wo Arjun sir se sawaal kare kyu ki wo hamesha itna sunate thhe ki sabki phhatt jaati thi. Lekin Riya har cheez par sawal kyunki unhe knowledge gain karna accha lagta tha. Har cheez mein Statistics use karna toh unki classic aadat thi. But surprisingly Arjun sir unke har sawal ka jawab dete calmly . Sawal chahe case se jura ho ya na ho.
Saakshi: Calmly!! Wo tho hamse case chodke ek nazar hame dekhta tak nahi.
Geeta: Yahi toh baat hain ma'am. Long discussions . Dono ka ek hi gadi mein ek saath jaana. Lekin kabhi unn dono ne aaisa nahi jataya ki wo ek doosre se .. you know. Always professional . But dono ek dusre ki care karte thhe. Ma'am hamesha sir ki cutting chai ke saath waqt par hazir ho jaati thi. Aur sir unhe case ko analyse karne mein , proofs ki khal udherne mein yaha tak kabhi kabhi moral support bhi dete thhe. Humein toh pura yakeen tha ma'am ki Riya ma'am Arjun sir se pyaar karti thi. Humne kai baar Shree aur chotu sir ko unhe tease karte hue dekha hai. But Arjun sir ... unpe toh bets toh door ki baat guesses bhi karne se darr lagta hai. Ma'am apko ye saari baate mujhse nahi pata chali theek hai ma'am . Agar Rathod sir ko pata chala toh woh mujhe job se hi nikal denge.
Rathod(coming back after calling rawte) : Aisa kya kar diya tumne geeta ki mujhe tumhe job se nikaal na hoga.
Geeta(immediately stood causing the chair to fall turned around and went completely pale with fear): Sssiiirrr ... wwwooohh ...
Saakshi: Woh Sameer hamaare beech girl talks ho rahi thi.
Aayesha: Ha sir wo kucch problem thi Geeta ko toh wahi discuss kar rahe thhe.
Geeta(still pale) just noded.
Rathod: Right. Agar aapki girl talks khatam ho gayi ho toh apne kaam par wapas jayiye.(Geeta immediately fled.) Aayesha mujhe Khanna case ki file abhi chahiye and Saakshi sab log jo martial arts match karne (giving a look to aayesha) aur dekhne mein busy thhe unhe mere cabin mein aadhe ghante baad le aana.
Saakshi just noded.
Rathod went to his cabin after taking the file from Aayesha.
Saakshi and Aayeha looked at each other with the same thought running in their minds - Hum toh gaye kaam se.
The reason i am so happy today(or was yesterday or am..ugghh) is that i got 10 CGPA in my 10th class result with straight A1s.
I can't believe it. I actually took a complete minute to process it. Trust me i haven't even told any relatives till now except my mamu and well parents. Yeah i am sharing it here first to my friends .😃
comment:
p_commentcount