Hello Friends! This is my first FF. I noticed that most of the CID FFs are written in Hindi, but with the Roman script. I wanted to experiment with the Devanagari script to write in Hindi. I am not sure if the reviewers will receive it well, but there is only one way to find out.
मैं कुछ इस प्रकार लिखना चाहता हूँ। I will not write only in Hindi, however. The narration will mostly be in English, and the dialogs of the characters will mostly be in Hindi. Where appropriate, I may use Hindi in the narration and English in the dialogs, but expect that to be rare.
This is a Dareya FF set after the incident in Ahmedabad, where Shreya was shot. The story is set after the rescue, but before the culprits are caught. What I found slightly unbelievable is the fact that someone who had been so fatally shot was back on the field the next day.
Shreya was in very bad shape after the rescue. Dr. Salunkhe and Dr. Tarika examined her wound and chided Daya for not seeking medical help.
Dr. Salunkhe: (animated features, hands waving about) दया ये तुमने क्या किया?! किसने कहा था तुम्हें ये सब करने के लिए? तुम पागल हो चुके हो!
Dr. Tarika: हां दया। Dr. Salunkhe बिलकुल सही कह रहे हैं। तुम्हें गोली निकालने की कोशिश नहीं करनी चाहिए थी। इससे श्रेया की हालत और बिगड़ गई है।
Daya: I am sorry, Shreya. मेरी वजह से तुमहे और तकलीफ हुई। I am really very sorry.
Shreya: अरे नही sir, ये आप क्या कह रहे हैं? अपने आप को दोष मत दीजिए। आपने तो अपने जान पर खेलकर मेरी और मेरे दादा-दादी की जान बचाई।
Dr. Salunkhe: अब बातें करने का वक्त नही है। हालत और बिगड़े इससे पहले हमे मुम्बई चलकर इलाज करवाना चाहिए। मैं ACP से बात करता हूँ।
Dr. Salunkhe called ACP and explained the situation to him.
Dr. Salunkhe: Boss श्रेया की हालत बहुत खराब है। उसे मुम्बई में इलाज की ज़रूरत है। मुझे और तारिका को भी जाना चाहिए। Forensics की ज़रूरत तुम्हें इस केस में तो नहीं पड़ेगी।
ACP: हां ठीक है। तुम लोग जाओ। वैसे भी यहां ज़्यादा काम बचा नहीं है। बेचारे दया ने भी श्रेया के चक्कर में अपना बुरा हाल कर दिया है। उसे भी साथ ले जाओ।
दया और श्रेया के प्यासे दिलों को ये सुनकर सागर मिल गया।
That evening, Dr. Salunkhe, Dr. Tarika, Shreya and Daya boarded an aircraft to Mumbai. The aircraft was a small one, a DC9, and even that was not completely booked. Due to the ongoing celebrations of the kite festival, very few people were flying out of Ahmedabad.
A DC9 has five rows of seats, three on the right and two on the left of the aisle. Dr. Salunkhe and Dr. Tarika occupied two adjacent seats to the left, close to the wings. Dareya occupied the two seats immediately behind them, with Shreya towards the window and Daya towards the aisle.
Soon after the aircraft took off, Shreya, yet to recover from the exhaustion of her ordeal, fell asleep with her head on Daya's left arm.
Daya: श्रे... (thinking) नहीं, वो थकि हुई है। उसे सोने देता हूँ।
This was not out of love; purely out of concern. But that meant holding absolutely still through the two hour flight, when he was himself almost as exhausted as Shreya.
About an hour into the flight, Daya felt the urge to use the restroom.
Daya: (thinking) मुझे washroom जाना है। क्या करूँ? इसे उठा दूँ? नहीं। मैं manage कर लूँगा।
He ignored it. Ten minutes later, it hit back with an even stronger urge. Daya did not want to wake up the sleeping beauty, so he decided to fight back. Daya held on for the duration of the flight, but was desperate by the time it was supposed to land. The announcement of landing woke up Shreya.
Shreya: (embarrassed, face flushed red) Sir क्या मैं पूरे रास्ते इसी तरह सोती रही?
Daya: हां वो... तुम थकी हुई थी तो मैंने तुम्हें disturb नहीं किया।
With this, Daya got up to go, expecting relief. Shreya, per reflex, held his hand.
Shreya: Sir आप कहां चल दिए?
Daya: वो मैं washroom जा रहा हूँ।
Shreya: (realizes she is still holding him and releases him) Oh, sorry.
As he approached the end of the aisle, however, the crew stopped him as procedure dictated that the lavatories must be unoccupied during landing. Cursing his luck, he went back to his seat.
The aircraft landed and Daya was literally hopping up and down. He did not care about Shreya any longer. All he wanted was to rush to a washroom.
He was the first one on his feet as the aircraft taxied after landing. Without a word, he left his three companions behind and reached the end of the aisle.
Dr. Tarika: श्रेया, ये दया को क्या हुआ? तुमने कुछ कहा?
Shreya: नहीं तो। मैंने तो कुछ भी नहीं कहा। पता नहीं दया sir को क्या हो गया।
Shreya tried to reach Daya, but could not, as the crowd had thickened by then and Shreya was in no condition to push through the crowd. She still managed a head start on the doctors, who were busy gathering the cabin baggage.
Luckily for Daya, the aircraft was parked very close to the terminal, with only about 300m of tarmac to be crossed. Daya alighted the aircraft, and proceeded to the arrival terminal, without a single thought of the remaining three, and especially not of Shreya. By then, Shreya was also on the tarmac, and was running towards Daya, with the perplexed doctors out of sight. Shreya managed to catch up with Daya, mainly because he was not able to run in this uncomfortable position. Shreya also experienced a sharp pain in her shoulder, but ignored it.
Shreya: क्या हुआ sir? आप इस तरह क्यों चले आए? सब ठीक तो है?
For the first time, Shreya's sweet voice sounded shrill and irritating to him. He only had one thing on his mind.
Daya: (irritated voice) नहीं कुछ भी ठीक नहीं है। तुम doctors के पास जाओ, मैं आता हूँ।
Daya, almost ready to burst, saw a washroom some distance away. He hurried towards it, Shreya in pursuit. The poor doctors were still on the tarmac. They did not see the direction in which Dareya fled (or so they thought). Nor could they ascribe any motive for fleeing in such a condition.
Shreya: (panting) दया sir... दया sir... दया sir...
Daya leapt into the washroom and vanished. Shreya had not noticed it was the washroom and would have followed him in, had the cleaner not managed to stop her in time. Embarrassed, she understood the situation and waited outside. Daya emerged from the washroom with a relieved look.
Shreya: क्या हुआ दया sir? आप plane पर ही क्यों नहीं गए? और आप कब से ऐसे ही बैठे थे?
It then struck her, that Daya must not have wanted to disturb her sleep. She remembered she had been sleeping on Daya's arm.
Shreya: Sir आप इस लिए washroom नहीं गए न ताकि मैं जाग न जाऊँ? Sir आप भी तो थके हुए थे। ये सब करने की क्या ज़रूरत थी?
Daya: (embarrassed) वो मैं... तुम थकी हुई थी तो... मैं नहीं चाहता था कि तुम्हें बेवजह कोई परेशानी हो।
Shreya: और आपको जो परेशानी हुई उसका क्या? अगर आपने फिर कभी मेरे लिए अपने-आप को तकलीफ़ दिया तो मैं आपसे बात नहीं करूँगी।
Daya: अच्छा बाबा ठीक है। लेकिन अभी Dr. Salunkhe, Dr. Tarika और बाकी सबको बताना होगा कि हम सही सलामत हैं।
It was too late by now. Dr. Salunkhe had already sent a distress call to ACP about the two missing CID officers. Dareya's phones were also switched off since they did not turn it on after alighting. They turned on their phones, only to be greeted by frantic calls from all team members, to whom they had to explain everything that occurred. The doctors finally caught up with them at the crime scene, the washroom, and had a good laugh over the entire incident.
Dr. Salunkhe: श्रेया तुम्हें City Hospital में admit होना होगा। वहाँ मेरा एक पुराना दोस्त है जो तुम्हारा अच्छा ध्यान रखेगा।
Shreya: जी sir.
They boarded a taxi and headed to the hospital. Daya completed the formalities while the doctors and Shreya met the hospital doctor and explained the situation.
Dr. Salunkhe: यार मयंक इसे गोली लगी है। और इसके आशिक ने hero बनने के चक्कर में खुद ही गोली निकाल दिया। (Shreya was in the washroom, so she did not hear this!)
Dr. Tarika: घाव 9mm की गोली का है और बहुत गहरा है। शायद infection भी है। हम वहाँ ठीक से check नहीं कर पाए।
Shreya returned, and Dr. Mayank examined the wound and sent swabs for testing to the hospital laboratory.
Dr. Mayank: Infection तो है। ध्यान नहीं रखने के कारण tissue damage भी है। अभी कुछ कहा नहीं जा सकता। हमें reports का इंतज़ार करना होगा।
The laboratory treated this as an emergency, and prepared the report on a priority basis, within 30 minutes. Dr. Mayank examined the report.
Dr. Mayank: घबराने की कोई बात नहीं है। Infection तो है, पर ठीक हो जाएगा। मैं अभी operation कर देता हूँ। हां एक की आराम की ज़रूरत है इसे।
Daya had finished the formalities by then and entered Dr. Mayank's chamber. Dr. Salunkhe attempted an introduction, but...
Dr. Mayank: ये ज़रूर वही पागल आशिक होगा। है ना सालुंखे?
Dareya were both shocked to hear this. Both looked at each other, turned red with embarrassment, and looked away.
Dr. Salunkhe: (with naughty smile) एेसा मत कहो, यार। देखो दोनो कितना शर्मा रहे हैं। शर्म के मारे लाल हो गये हैं।
Dareya turned a darker shade of red, but a smile slowly crept onto Shreya's lips. Daya, not knowing what to do or say, left the chamber and waited outside. He heard a peal of laughter, from the three doctors, as he left the room.
Shreya was sedated in preparation for the operation and wheeled into the operation theater. The red light glowed for 15 minutes before turning green and Dr. Mayank emerged.
Dr. Mayank: Operation successful!
Shreya remained unconscious through the night from the heavy dose of anesthetics administered during the operation. Dr. Tarika wanted to stay, but allowed Daya instead, since only one person could accompany the patient at night.
Daya: (thinking) जब मैं मौत से लड़ रहा था तो श्रेया ने मेरे लिए व्रत रखा था। अब मेरी बारी है। पर मुझे तो इन सबके बारे में कुछ भी नहीं आता। क्या करूँ?
घावDaya suddenly got an idea. One could see a huge cartoon light bulb over his his head as he lunged from his seat in the hospital ward.
Daya: (thinking) श्रेया के phone में Internet connection तो है। Google से देख लेता हूँ। ये रहा उसका phone. (His phone was not smart and also did not have an Internet connection.)
He searched – scoured – Google for information and finally found it. He quit the browser on her phone, and put it back where he found it. He followed the procedure to the letter, and avoided water or food that night. He had not taken anything since the morning, either. The situation aboard the aircraft meant he had been without food or water since the morning.
The next morning, Shreya woke up.
Shreya: दया sir! आप कहां हैं? Dr. Tarika? Dr. Salunkhe?
No one was around. Shreya looked for her phone and called Daya. She heard the phone ringing from the couch. Then she called Dr. Tarika.
Dr. Tarika: Good morning, Shreya. तबियत कैसी है?
Shreya: (worried tone) दया sir कहां हैं?
Dr. Tarika: वो तो तुम्हारे पास थे न?
Shreya: उनका phone मेरे room में बज रहा है, पर वह कहीं दिखाई नहीं दे रहे हैं।
Dr. Tarika: तुम चिंता मत करो। वहीं कहीं आस-पास होंगे वह। आ जाएंगे। में hospital आ रही हूँ। वहां से airport जाउंगी। अभि... मेरा मतलब पूरी CID team आज वापस आ रही है।
Shreya: ठीक है। Bye.
Dr. Tarika: Bye.
Shreya wanted to go looking for Daya. She was, however, hooked to an intravenous and could not walk away.
Shreya: (thinking) मुझे छोड़कर कहां गये दया sir? कहीं उन्हे कुछ... नहीं नहीं... hospital में भला उन्हें क्या हो सकता है।
To divert her attention, she decided to surf the web. There was not much she could do now anyways. The default browser on Android phones has a very bad habit. It opens the last visited tabs if the tabs have not been manually closed before quitting. (You are wise enough to guess what happened next!)
Shreya: (thinking) क्या?! दया sir ने मेरे लिए व्रत रखा है! How cute! आने दो उन्हें। आज तो दिल की बात बुलवा के रहूँगी।
Then it suddenly struck her...
Shreya: (thinking) एक minute... कहीं दया sir को पता तो नहीं चला कि मैंने उनके लिए व्रत रखा था? पूर्वी... तुझे तो मैं देख लूंगी।
Daya returned.
Daya: तुम जाग गयी?
Shreya: आप कहां थे sir?
Daya: Washroom में।
Shreya: आपने कल रात कुछ खाया या नहीं?
Daya: वो... रोटी और सब्जी़ canteen से खा लिया था।
Shreya: आप से कभी किसी ने कहा है कि आप झूठ बोलहे हुए बहुत cute लगते हैं?
Daya: (perplexed) क्या मतलब?
Shreya: आपको क्या लगा? मुझे पता नहीं चलेगा कि आपने मेरे लिए व्रत रखा है?
Daya: (shocked) तुम्हें कैसे पता चला? मैंने तो किसी को नहीं बताया।
Shreya: Sir मैं CID officer हूँ। Investigation मैंने आप से ही तो सीखा है। अब बहाईए क्यूं आपने मेरे लिए व्रत रखा?
Daya: वो... मैं... बस ऐसे ही...
Shreya: कैसे ही? मेरे स वाल का जवाब नहीं दिया आपने।
Daya: तुम्ने भी तो रखा था मेरे लिए।
Shreya: (mildly shocked) आप को कैसे पता चला?
Daya: मैं तुमसे 15 साल पहले बना था CID officer.
Shreya: (disappointed) तो आपने मेरे लिए व्रत सिर्फ इस लिए रखा क्यूंकि मैंने आपके लिए रखा था? सिर्फ इतनि सी बात है या कुछ और भी है?
Daya: (somewhat shocked) मैंने ये व्रत रखा क्युंकि मैं चाहता था कि तुम जलदी ठीक हो जाओ। बस और क्या हो सकता है?
Shreya: और कुछ नहीं? अपने दिल से पूछिए...
(cough) (cough)
Dareya were startled by the sound of coughs. Dr. Tarika was standing at the door.
This chapter draws to a close and so does this short story. I intend to maintain this FF as an anthology, instead of a contiguous piece. That way, I can add incidents, which would otherwise be far apart on a timeline, in adjacent chapters.
Please do report any technical difficulties with web browsers rendering Devanagari, so other readers know which browsers to avoid.