Purvi tries hard to sleep but is very restless and she feels as if something bad is going to happen. She could feel the hairs on her back of neck rise and starts to breathe in short gasps. She cannot take it anymore and goes out of the room. She feels very dizzy and makes her way to the kitchen to get a glass of water. She walks past by Madan's room and hears him sob. She stops and slowly tries to listen. The door is slightly open.
Madan: Yeh kya ho raha hai Tarika. Main kamzor pad raha hoon. Mujhe apna badla lena hai. Bas 1 mahina aur…Purvi 22 ki ho jayegi aur tab main mera badla poora hoga. Bas tab tak mujhe sehne ki shakti dena. Main tumhara badla loonga Tarika..
He kisses a picture in his hands and then places it inside a big wooden box, locks it and hides it inside a small cupboard. Purvi is terrified and her face turns white. She rushes into her room and is again short of breath. She reaches for her inhaler and takes puffs. She slowly calms down and still feels scared.
Next day morning, she is trying to act normal in front of her brother but she can feel her heart beat fast and yesterday night's events are constantly playing in her mind. She doesn't hear her brother calling out and he comes and places a hand on her shoulder. She jumps up and looks at him with great fear.
Madan: Arre Purvi, kya hua? Aise darri huyi kyun hai? Kabse bula raha hoon. Meri chai kahan hai. Mujhe der ho rahi hai
Purvi: Ahh..woh..woh..kuch nahi bhaiyya..Chai ..abhi layi
Madan is about to leave when he sees that Purvi is still lost in her thoughts and has a look of fear. He goes near her.
Madan: Kya baat hai Purvi. Teri tabiyat theekh hai? Aaj college nahi jaa rahi?
Purvi: na..na..nahi bhaiyya main theekh hoon. Bas thoda sar dard hai..woh aaj college me 2 lectures cancel ho gaye hai. Toh aaj college late hi jaana hai. Aap jayiye bhaiyya. Aapko late ho raha hai.
Madan leaves but not before glaring at Purvi with suspicion.
Purvi waits for some time after Madan leaves and slowly locks all doors and windows from inside and makes her way to Madan's room. Her hands are shivering when she opens the door and goes inside. Madan has warned her long ago to not touch his things and till now Purvi has only entered in his room to clean and she would never touch his things. She respected and feared her brother. For the first time she was going to take a big risk of incurring his anger when he comes to know. But after yesterday night, the curiosity of her past has increased so much that she has to check it herself.
Purvi knows where her brother keeps the keys to his cupboard and she takes them and with trembling hands opens the cupboard. She is careful to not disturb the things inside and finds the wooden box in the lower shelf. She tries to pull it out, the box is heavy. She keeps it down slowly and stops herself from opening it. She doesn't know what to expect and is still undecided what to do. Finally she gulps and opens the box.
She looks inside and slowly starts to pick the things. She sees an old teddy bear which is dusty and one eye is broken. Unknowingly she holds the toy to her heart and gets an unexpected feeling like she has held the toy before. Next she finds a small girl's frock which has blood stains and a small purse. The purse has a pair of anklets and a chain with pendant. The pendant has a locket with 'M' written on it. Looking further she finds a picture. She looks at the picture – it is a black and white old pic with a smiling young woman and a man. It looks like taken in a studio/village fair. The girl looks very beautiful but the man's face is smudged.
The last item in the box is a heavy round object wrapped in a cloth. She opens it and it's a small earthen pot covered with a red cloth. She realizes that it looks like it may contain someone's ashes. She is afraid to open it and keeps everything back as it was before. She knows her brother is very sensitive so she arranges his cupboard the same way and locks it and keeps the keys away.
She rushes outside and is sweating and looks terrified. She doesn't understand what and why her brother has hid from her. She feels some of the things she saw are familiar and starts getting some flashes of a young girl wearing the frock, anklets and holding the teddy. She is unable to shake that image and hurriedly leaves for her college.
Same day evening at Rajat's house:
Rajat has just come from bureau and is in his room to freshen up. He comes out wiping his face and just then Minty enters the house and looks very disturbed. Rajat comes and sees her on the sofa looking very serious.
Rajat: Kya hua minty, aaj teri battery low hai kya? Kya jhagda hua kisike saath? Ya tu koi test west me fail ho gayi? Are bol na
Rajat's mom comes in with two cups of coffee.
Rajat M: Chup kar Rajat. Who pareshan hai apne friend ki tabiyat ke liye. Ab kaisi hai woh minty? Doctor ne kya kaha?
Minty hugs her mom and starts crying softly.
Minty: Maa main bahut darr gayi use dekhke. Doctor ne kaha ki thoda serious hai. Use kuch bhi ho sakta tha aaj maa. Upar se uske bhai ne hum sab ko daatkar bhej diya.
Rajat: Kya hua Minty? Tujhe pehle aise nahi dekha maine.
Minty: Bhaiyya woh aapko Purvi pata hai naa?
Rajat gets very alert at mention of her name.
Rajat: Kya hua use?
Minty: Bhaiyya hum log aaj dopahar ko hamare laboratory ke Cold room me ek experiment kar rahe the. Normally Purvi sabse jyaada attention deti hai magar pata nahi aaj uska dhyaan bilkul nahi tha. Who bahut restless thi. Hum sab cold room ke bhar aa rahe the aur Purvi wahi rukh gayi. Jab hum sab bahar aaye, tab achanak power failure hua. Cold room ka darwaza automated hai toh who power failure me bandh ho gaya. Hum sab darr gaye aur 5 min me power back up se darwaaza khul gaya. Jab hum andar gaye tab dekha ki Purvi ek corner me choti bachi ki tarah sikud ke baithi thi. Uski aankhen ekdum badi ho gayi thi aur saas lene me badi takleef ho rahi thi. Jab meri teacher ne use chua toh woh zor zor se cheekhne lagi aur bahut zyada breathing difficulty ho gayi. Bahut muskhkil se hum hospital le gaye. Who poori thandi pad gayi thi aur uske lips blue ho gaye the.
Doctor ne kaha ki use severe asthama attack hua hai. Uske bhai ko hamne inform kiya. Woh aaye aur hum sabko daatkar ghar bhej diya. Main bahut darr gayi thi maa…
Rajat gets up suddenly and says to his mom: Maa, ek zaroori kaam yaad aya hai. Mujhe jaana hai.
Rajat leaves for the hospital with great fear and worry for her health. He reaches the hospital and asks for Purvi's room. He approaches the room but hesitates to go inside. He looks from the small window on the door and sees Purvi with an oxygen mask and various tubes attached to her. She is breathing heavily and her eyes are closed. He feels tears in his eyes and is in great pain seeing her like this. His gaze shifts to the room inside and he sees her brother sitting on a stool.
He steps back quickly asks for Purvi's doctor from the ward boy. Rajat goes to meet the doctor.
Rajat: Hello Dr Shah. Main CID inspector Rajat hoon. Aapki patient Purvi Garg hamare ek case me witness thi. Uski tabiyat ke bare me puchna tha.
Doctor: Look officer, patient abhi bhi critical hai. She had a severe asthma attack. Hamne use strong dose of steroids diya hai aur 12 hours ke liye sedate kiya hai. Uski history ke bare me toh zyaada pata nahi but hosh aane ke baad zyaada clarity milegi.
Rajat: Doctor, is attack ka kuch reason hai ..jaise koi bimari yaah allergy?
Doctor: This is a panic and anxiety induced asthama. Jaisa unke friends ne describe kiya I think patient ko claustrophobia hai aur yeh aksar long term hoti hai. Matlab yeh shayad pehle bhi hua hai, normally most cases me patients ko bachpan se hoti hai yaah phir koi major incident ke baad
Rajat: Thank you doctor. Please uska khayal rakhiye. Main aapko directly contact karoonga and please keep this confidential. Unke relatives ko bhi mat bataiye ki hum khabar rakh rahe darana nahi chahte.
Rajat takes one last look at Purvi, prays for her speedy recovery and leaves the hospital. He receives a call from CID office.
Shreya: Sir, woh Mangesh murder case me ek lead mili hai. Puch taach me pata chala ki Mangesh ki maut ke 2 hafte pehle who roz raat ek naye dost ke saath beer bar me jaata tha. Us beer bar ke waiters ne Mangesh ki photo pehchani aur kaha ki yeh dono kaafi jhagadte the. Mangesh ke death ke ek din pehle, uska dost ek bag ke saath bar me aaya tha. Phir dono kahi nikal gaye.
Rajat: uss aadmi ke bare me kuch pata chala? Uski koi sketch?
Shreya: Nahi Sir, Unka sab ka kehna hai who hamesha chehra dhak ke rakta tha. Waise, us beer bar ke saamne ek atm hai jisme CCTV hai. Pankaj abhi footage leke aa raha hai
Rajat: Good work Shreya! Main abhi bureau aa raha hoon.
Who is this masked man? Will Purvi discover her past? Will it bring happiness or increase her pains?
Await my next chapter. Thank you for all your review comments. Thank you to the silent readers as well.
