HEY GUYS KAISE HO APLOG? SAB APNE GHAR PE RAHIYE AND SAFE RAHIYE.

ACHA NO MORE BAKBAK HERE'S THE STORY

STORY

Abhijeet glanced at his watch. Twenty years had passed since that day! Today, it is 4 April 2020. That day, it was 4 April 2000. Abhijeet remembered the day pretty well. The question was, would Daya remember?

Well, that question would be answered soon.
Abhijeet looked around, simply to pass the time. He was standing infront of The Taj Hotel.

Daya was supposed to come and meet him here, at this very spot. Abhijeet could see the street clearly. A lot of people were passing by but as he scanned his eyes through the crowd, he found out that no one looked even remotely similar to Daya.

Abhijeet saw a poster of the film currently running at the cinema. The figure that stood out most prominently was the hero, Ray. Abhijeet did not watch films. He was a cop after all. But he had seen the trailer of this particular movie . He had to admit that Ray's performance was quite impressive. He spent his precious free time with his family . His mind drifted back to the past.

Flashback

Abhijeet and Daya were fifteen years old. They were thick buddies and were very mischievous.

However, both boys were intelligent. Neither of them spent a lot of time studying, but when the final exam results came out, Daya and Abhijeet managed to secure a rank in the top three.

Daya's father worked for the railways, and had a transferable job. In 2000, he was transferred to Dhanbad. Daya, naturally, had to go with his father. The two boys discussed this that day before Daya left.

'Yar pata nahi hum phir kab milenge' said Daya sadly.

'Yar sunna tu aana na milenge udhar' Daya continued innocently.

'Dhanbad? Kaise Yaar hum toh idhar sei hai. Tereko pata hai na mere baba police mein hai. Unko toh chutti bhi nahi milegi' Abhijeet replied sadly.

Daya sighed, staring at the grass. After a while, he asked, 'Tu ne socha hai bada hoke kya banega?'

Abhijeet shook his head. 'Nahi re ab toh time hai bohot. Papa ko acha lagega agar main bhi cop banu. Tu ne socha?'

'No.'

Both fell silent after this. It was Daya who broke the silence. 'Listen!' he said, 'Hum ek kaam karsakte hai?'

'What?' Abhijeet asked totally confused.

'Hum bestfriends hai na. Chal humari dosti ka ek test lete hai' Daya said with glittering eyes.

Abhijeet frowned. 'Dosti ka test? Kaisa mazak hai Daya?'

'Arey mazak nahi hai. Aur ye pehle bhi log karchuke hai.' Daya said excitedly.

'Kya hochuka hai?' Abhijeet asked confused.

'Jab do dost bichad jate hai, tab wo dono promise karte hai ki kisi particular time pe ek jagah meeting karenge.' Daya replied smiling.

Now Abhijeet could grasp his friend's intention. 'All right,' he said, thinking it over, 'Main tayyar hoo. Lekin kab and kaha'

'Say, twenty years? It's 4 April 2000 today. Let's meet on 4 April 2020' Daya replied.

'Aur time?' Abhijeet asked while smiling.

'Twelve o'clock in the afternoon.' Daya replied with a bright smile

'lekin jagah?' Abhijeet asked.

'Aisi jagah jo hume bachpan ki yaad dilaye.' Daya said thoughtfully.

'What about Taj Hotel ke samne? Hum kitne baar gaye hai udhar tution bunk karke' Abhijeet asked excitedly.

'Chalo pakka promise udhar hi milenge boss' Daya said hugging him.

'All right, that's a promise.' Abhijeet replied hugging him back.

The two friends parted ways.

Flashback over

Abhijeet did wonder at times whether he would be able to remember his promise. Funnily enough, in the last twenty years, he had not forgotten about it.

An hour had passed since he had arrived. But there was no sign of Daya.

"Thank god bureau mein koi case nahi aaya. Warna main aa hi nahi pata" Abhijeet thought.

At exactly 12, a boy tapped on his shoulder with 'Excuse me!' bringing Abhijeet out of his reverie.

He turned, to find a boy of about sixteen looking at him. In his hand was an envelope.

'Are you Abhijeet Srivastava?' he asked.

'Ha Lekin beta ap kyu puch rahe ho?'

'Ye chitthi apke liye.'

The boy passed the envelope to Abhijeet. Then he said, 'I need your reply,' and waited.

Slightly taken aback, Abhijeet first checked it thoroughly to make sure that it wasn't anything sent by a criminal . Then he took the letter out and read it quickly. It said:

Dear Abhijeet,

Agar tum humari promise nahi bhule ho toh tumhe ye letter milega. I am in Mumbai, but there is no way main tumse uss particular jagah pe mil pau. Main tumse maafi mangna chahta hoo. Nahi tujhe bhula hoo na humare wade ko. Main tere ghar par pe tujse mil lunga. Tu apna address iske ulte side pe likhde and tera convenience ke mutabik date aur time bhi. Main aajaunga.
Tumara best friend
Daya.

Abhijeet had a pen in his pocket. He scribbled his address on the letter as instructed, and wrote, 'Next Sunday, between nine and twelve o'clock'. Then he returned the letter to the boy. He took it silently, and went out of of his sight.

There was no need for him to stay there.

While leaving Abhijeet thought "Chalo Daya bhula toh nahi atleast. Lekin jab wo sheher mein hi hai toh use iss tarah letter bhejne ki kya zarurat padh gayi? Kash uss ladke se address mang leta.."

As Abhijeet entered the bureau a weird thought crossed his mind "Kahi Daya koi galat kaam toh nahi karrha. Lekin agar aisa hota toh wo ek police wale ke gharpe kyu aana chahta. Khair ab toh Sunday ko hi pata chalega" He then busied himself in the work.

When he returned home, his mom Shubhra asked, 'Beta Daya se mile?Bada hi pyara baccha hai wo...kaisa hai wo?'

' usne ek bache ke hatho letter bhijwa diya ki wo mere gharpe aayega. Khair maa ab toh Sunday ko hi pata chalega...Waise achi baat hai na maa ki use yaad hai humare waade ka!' Abhijeet said smiling.

"Ha tumlog toh kaafi dino tak contact mein bhi the...Bas uss accident mein tera phone toot gaya and phir contact nahi karpaya usse" Abhijeet's mom said sadly.

"Koi baat nahi maa. Ab ayega na woh mil lenge usse" Abhijeet replied smiling.

The following Sunday, Abhijeet's doorbell rang at 9 o'clock. He was in his living room, reading the newspaper. Their domestic help, Mala, opened the door.

'Tumare saheb ghar pe hai?' Abhijeet heard the visitor ask.

'Haan saheb,' replied Mala.

A gentleman walked in through the door a second later. He had two outstretched arms, and a beautiful smile decorated his lips.

Daya's face looked familiar as if Abhijeet had recently seen that man. But pushing his suspicions to the back of his mind, Abhijeet stretched out his own arms and hugged the man tightly.

'Daya?' he said wonderingly, smiling back.

'Tu toh bilkul nahi badla waise ka waisa hee hain. Haan bas buddha hogaya hai' Daya said grinning ear to ear.

Daya sat down on a sofa, still smiling.

'Aur proof chahiye dosti ka bhaisahab?' Abhijeet asked smiling.

'Nahi re..Tu abhi C.I.D mein senior inspector hai, haina?' Daya asked.

'Ha .' Abhijeet said proudly.

'Ha inspector babu ko toh bade bade awards bhi mil rahe hai aajkal. Akhbar mein padha tha' Daya said slapping his back.

'Ha re. Lekin tera kya?Mere baare mein toh bohot jankari rakha hai tune' Abhijeet asked with curiosity.

Daya stared at Abhijeet for a few moments. Then he said slowly, 'Mera bhi thik hi hai.'

'Tu mumbai mein hi rehta hai na?'
Abhijeet asked noticing Daya's obvious discomfort about his profession.

'Not all the time. Mereko travel karna padhta hai.' Daya replied smiling.

'Kyu tu travelling salesman hai?' Abhijeet joked.

Daya gave a slight smile in reply, but remained silent.
'Tu abhi tak nahi bataya mereko!' Abhijeet complained.

'Kya boss?' Daya asked.

'Tu uss din Taj ke samne kyu nahi aaya. Aur kisi aur ke hatho letter bhijwa diya.' Abhijeet said with love after hearing boss from Daya's mouth after 20 years.

'I had a problem.' Daya said looking away.

'kya problem? Muje bata toh. I can—'
Abhijeet stopped.

His eyes moved towards the window that overlooked the street. A large number of people had gathered outside and were making a lot of noise. Irritated, he went to the window and lifted the curtain to have a look.

Then he said, sounding excited, 'Wo teri gaadi hai kya?'

He could not remember having seen a bigger car anywhere in Mumbai.

'Aur ye log itna halla kyu kar rahe hai ?' Abhijeet turned back as he asked the second question.

He felt utterly shocked.

Daya was grinning at him. But a thick beard covered his face.

'Ray!' Abhijeet almost shouted.

Daya peeled the beard off and put it in his pocket. 'Ab samjhe main kyu nahi aa paya Taj ke samne. Shauhrat ka ek bohot bada disadvantage hai ki jaha jao waha log pakad lete hai'

'My God!' Abhijeet said coming closer to Daya.

'Main abhi nikalta hoo..Warna iss crowd ko control karna mushkil hojayega...Tune toh meri films dekhi nahi hogi?' Daya asked seriously.

'Nahi rey time hi nahi milta hai duty ke baad.' Abhijeet said with a smile.

'Tuje ek toh dikhaunga...sun mere film ka success party hai Taj Hotel mein. Main invitation bhej dunga aunty ko leke aana' Daya said while giving him a side hug.

"Lekin beta chai toh.." abhijeet's mom said while coming out of the kitchen with the tea and snacks tray.

"Nahi aunty aaj nahi. Nahi toh bahar phir mere fans log...ap samaj rahi hai na" Daya said touching her feet.

Abhijeet's mom blessed him by putting her hands on his head.

Day made his way to the front door, followed by Abhijeet. The crowd roared as soon as the door was opened. 'Ray! Ray!' .

Daya somehow managed to push his way through the crowd and got into the car with the help of his bodyguards. His driver started it at once. Abhijeet saw his friend waving at him. He raised his own hand to wave back.

A boy emerged from the crowd and approached Abhijeet, his eyes wide with amazement.

'Ray . . . Ray ko ap jante hai?' he gasped.
'Ha mera best friend hai.' Abhijeet replied with a smile.

It was easy enough to guess what was going to happen now. Abhijeet knew that, from now on, his own name would get wiped out. The local boys would refer to him simply as 'Ray's best friend'.

But did he mind? Well not in the least.

A/N So guys kaisa laga. Do review in the comment section. Agar 30 se rvw zyada aaye toh I'll make this a story. Warna ye Os rahega

Btw this is a short story by Satyajit Ray. I have made a few minute changes.