HEY GUYS...THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR PRECIOUS REVIEWS...IT REALLY DO MEANS A LOT...AND SORRY FOR KEEPING ALL OF YOU WAITING FOR SO LONG...
NOW HAVE A HAPPY READING...
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CHAPTER 7:
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FLASHBACK:(continued from the previous one...)
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ABHIJEET stopped as a loud ringer of HIS phone disturbed the domain...and fresh sweat beads started appearing on HIS forehead as HE glanced at the caller ID...without even wasting a second HE swiped up the red side of the phone screen...
yet again another time his phone rang, and the screen showcasing he same ID...so DAYA supplicated confusingly...
DAYA:(glancing at his brother's sweaty forehead...)ABHII...kiska phone hai...utha lo na...
ABHI:(instantly with a bit of stutter...)areh nahi nahi...bass ek dost ka call hai...mein baad mein baat kar lunga...(yet again the phone rang...making ABHIJEET shiver from the core as DAYA approached towards him...)
DAYA:(intending to take the phone...)areh dikhao mujhe...kon hai jo itni subah subah call ka...
(but stopped in the mid...as the room door opened with a bang...and ACP PRADYUMAN entered inside, boiling in anger...)
ACP:(irritatingly...)ho kya raha hai yahan...(to ABHIJEET angrily...)aur tum abhi tak ese hi khade ho...
(mocking tone...)ankheein to kaam kar rahi hai na...ya phir woh bhi kharab hai, dimag ki tarah...9 baj rhe hein aur abhi tak tayyar nahi ho...hann...(toughly...)senior inspector ho tum...
ABHIJEET:(for the first time feeling happy in the presence of ACP...as HE saved him from such a big trouble...but this angry and mocking tone of his father...
oh sorry...sorry...not father but only ACP PRADYUMAN, always triggered the suppressing anger...which he tries hard to control...so replied irritatingly...)jaa rha hun abhi...har waqt ese chillane ki jarurat nahi hai...kaan hai mere pass...jo dheere bolne se bhi sunai deta hai...
ACP:(sarcastically...)thank god kuch to hai...
DAYA:(who was standing quietly since a long time, interrupted loudly...other wise the cold combat between both of them...would have touched the extreme...)DADDD...
(ACP glared at him with a deadly squeez...fully aware of the intentions...which made DAYA shiver...but still managed to stutter a few words...)wo..wohh aap..apne muj..mujhe jo file diya tha HQ mein su...submit karne ke liy...liye usm..usme tho...thoda problem hai...to aap...agar ek baar use dek...dekh le to...
ACP:(sternly...)chalo...(walking out of the room...giving a burning look to ABHIJEET...)aur apne bhai ko bol do agle pandrah minute mein woh mujhe dining table pai cahiye...
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DAYA was utterly confused between the behavior shown by the two...towards each other...the relation which was imperfectly perfect just a few years ago, became so strained over the years that both of them don't even blather straight forwardly...
was it only because of the strict behavior shown by the HIS father...who always tried to show his domination at home just like an ACP...
or was it because of the stubborn/casual behaviour shown by HIS brother...
or was there something very big hidden from HIM...by two of the best officers of the city...
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DAYA jerked off all HIS thoughts and walked out of the room...while ABHIJEET'S phone rang for the third time in the morning...HE instantly picked up the call...but before HE could start with some lame excuses of not picking at once...the other one initiated tempestuously...
CALLER:(gritting his teeth...)where the hell were you ABHIJEET...
ABHI:(regretfully...)I am sorry sir...actually kuch personal issues ki...
CALLER:(interrupted strongly...)there should be nothing personal in this profession of yours...(calming down himself...)samajh gaye...
ABHI:yes sir...
CALLER:anyways...keeping those stuffs aside...*****..are you ready for it...
ABHI:(fully determined...)yes sir...absolutely...
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HE disconnected the call...glanced at the same photograph, with a old figure in the middle and other two younger lads probably in there 30s...hugging one another...and a sweet grin dangling down their lips...
AND a drop of tear flew down his cheeks...while lips having a painful smile...
HE glanced at the clock...and without even wasting a single second...ran towards the washroom grabbing a towel... because out of the provided 15 mins, 5 mins were already gone...and no matter, how big a son has grown up...a man of 30 years is afraid of his DAD in the same way as that of a 5 years...because probably somethings never change...no matter what...
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ABHIJEET came out from the trance...as a loud sound of thunder reverberated in the whole environment...
HE wiped up those dangling tears...which were envisaging to come down from those pair of heavy eyes...getting mixed up with the downpour...the thought of "some things never change" which HE was having, a moment back was now smirking at him...making him conversant with today's reality..."NOTHING'S DIFFERENT...BUT STILL EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED..." because...
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Somewhere between "crying loudly to seek attention..." and "crying silently to avoid attention"...it changed...
Somewhere between "believing in happy endings..." and "accepting the reality"...it changed...
Somewhere between "broken pencils..." and "broken hearts"...it changed...
Somewhere between "just five more minutes DAD..." and "pressing the snooze button"...it changed...
Somewhere between "crying out loud just to get what we want..."and "holding our tears when we are broken inside"...it changed...
Somewhere between "those carefree giggling" and "fake smiles"...it changed...
Somewhere between "getting scared of darkness" and "sitting alone in the darkness"...it changed...
Somewhere between "craving for pizza" and "carving for the boring watery soup"..it changed...
AND Somewhere between "emotional" and "emotionless"...it changed...
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AND now as it all changed, HE realized...none of us know what this life holds...no matter how much we think that, we do have a plan...there's always a greater plan that we can't comprehend...so living the present with no worry of past or future is the best thing one can do...
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AFTER A WEEK...
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Finally the day has arrived...
3 months!
Can you imagine?
Its been 3 months...since an old father has been carving to get only one last moment with his departed son...yeah...just one moment...at least to tell how much he loved him...
BUT what if the freakin' LONER son...who's actually alive in camouflage...away from his father...doesn't accede HIM to be the one...even if HE strives to be one...
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the elevator opened directly into a large conference room...with shade of grey, from washed out concrete to almost steel-blue...Every line was straight, every corner sharp, and the chairs looked as comfortable as fluffy ottoman couch...with a large gathering of people...
if scrutinized more clearly, all the individuals seemed to be kind of officers from security forces...with some ID'S bearing deciphering the names CID MUMBAI, STF...and the list goes on...but doesn't it seem strange all people assembled at one place at such unusual time...
BUT if its a workshop for the training in ARMS and AMMUNATIONS, and that too from RAW AGENTS...then apparently no one would be missing to grab the opportunity...
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every single individual present in the room was engrossed in the program going on...in the podium...while a figure was too engrossed in some thing...no..not in the program but down his memory lane to the same night...when again the truth just about to unfold, got stucked all along the midway...
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FLASHBACK:
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SALUNKHE yet again was stuck between the webs of promises…the scenario which HE witnessed just now...compelled HIM to mug out the whole thing...but again the pain/hurt/struggle which HE witnessed just a few hours ago...compelled to keep the truth confined...with few words still ringing in HIS ears..."kyunki mein wapas aab kabhi nahi aaunga..."...
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SALUNKHE jerked off from his thoughts...as again his ears hit a dry tone, which was some times back dangling with pseudo hopes...
ACP:(blankly...)tu kuch bolega bhi ya nahi...
SALUNKHE:(closed his eyes strongly, letting the tears escape...and stuttered in a fragile tone...)na..nah...nahi yaa..yaar muj..mujhe aaj ach..achank hi...ABH...ABHIJEET k...ki...boho..bohot yaa..yaad agyai...to...
(but HE stopped painfully...unable to continue further...as ACP rushed from the hall...with quick yet stumbling steps…hardly controlling all his emotions...when heard from DAYA...who too was in the same state of mind...)
DAYA:(in the same tone...)sirr...bohot raat ho gayi hai...to behtar hoga agar aaj aap yehi reh le to...(and HE even went back to his room...maybe trying to indulge himself in some of the sweet memories...)
SALUNKHE:(glancing at the two different but closed doors...and murmuring painfully...)bohot galat kar rahe ho tum ABHIJEET...bohot jyada galat...mana ki uss samay hum sab galat the...lekin tumhari saza uss sab ke mukable bohot jyada hai...
(strongly...)aur aaj agar PRADYUMAN ko kuch bhi hua na...iss gamm ke chalte...to main tumhe zindagi bhar maff nahi karunga...cahe jo bhii ho jaye...
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ACP entered into ABHIJEET'S room...and insanely searched for the same diary which he was determined to not read after finding the first entry to so painful...but the sudden trigger of SALUNKHE missing ABHIJEET...made him go mad like hell...so again flickered through the pages and opened up on some random entry as...
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hey yaar...again back into the same boring hostel life...lekin pata hai, iss baar wapas ane ke time mujhe thoda dukh hua...strange na..lekin sach hai...kyunki iss baar DAD ke sath bitaya hua samay mujhe kisi purani almari mein ghumm kitabbon sa lag raha hai...jinhe pane ki tammana to bohot hai...lekin saalon tak khone ka gaam utna hi...
aaj bhi mujhe woh din yaad hai, jab bachpan mein DAD ne mujhe pehli baar padhane ki koshish ki thi...aur rahega bhi kese nahi...itni badi baat jo thi...
unhone mujhse ek sawal pucha, aur over confiedence mein aake mene galti kar di...(with a sarcastic laugh...)woh galti to aab choti lagti hai...lekin saza mujhe bohot badi mili...(with a pause...)shayad woh kaam mein busy ho gaye...ya phir unn ko mera syllabus samajh nahi aya...(painfully...)kyunki uss din ke baad DAD ne mujhe kabhi nahi padhaya...
aur phir kya...hamari bich ki duriyaan dheere dheere badhe lagi...
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sab kehne lage ki dad log to ese hi hote hein...unka pyaar gunga aur chinta behri...phir bhi kahin na kahin mujhe ummid thi ki...yeh khamoshi ki ye hawa apna rukh jarur badlegi...(with extreme happiness...)aur kal jab storeroom ki uss kone se woh dhul se sane badminton ke do rackets mile...to pata nahi mere dimag mein kya hua...ki mein woh pagllon ki tarah DAD ke pass leke gaya...
(but the happiness nd excitement few moments back...turned into a soggy one with...)lekin un hone tabhi kuch nahi kaha...
(with a small pause...)sirf uss shuttle cork ko uthaya aur uss racket se ek zordar shot lagaya...woh shuttle udta hua mere taraf aya...aur phir mene bhi ek shot lagaya...lekinnnnn...phir se mujhe laga ki yeh mouka hath se gaya...kyunki DAD ka shot miss ho gaya...
(dreamily...)mein phir darne laga...laga ki jese woh phirse ussi din ki tarah naraz ho gaye toh...yeh waqt kese guzrega...aur kya yeh pal yahin rukk sa jaega...
kya hum do kinare alag hi reh jaenge...aur baaton ka dariya hume bina chun ke hi beh jaega...
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(after a very long pause...with twinkling eyes...)lekin tabhi DAD muskuraye , aur bole, " chalo...chalo aaj ek match ho jaye..."
aur tab samjho meri jindagi ki woh almarri apne aap hi khul gayi...aur giri unn mein se waqt ki woh saari kittabein jinse hum mehroom the...chuupe the...aur jinn mein mere bachpan ke dher sare kisse aur kuch kahaniyaan thi...phirse udne lagi...
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sach kahun to waqt jarur laga...lekin pehli baar jindagi mein mujhe itni khusi mili...jo mein shayad hi kabhi bayaan kar sakun...
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for the first time after the tragic incident...tears of happiness started flowing down ACP'S eyes as he finished reading the entry...HE couldn't just express the over whelming feeling which he was going on within himself...HE had never imagined that such a small moment of togetherness could give so much happiness to his son...and HE wished if those moments were little more in their lives...
BUTTTT...at least now he could breathe mitigatly with an assurance that his son did not hate him fully...maybe just by 1% he loved him...and this was enough for him to sustain his rest of the lives...
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ACP came out of the trance as HIS attention diverted towards the podium...with the host announcing…"now lets welcome...our honourable guests of the day...RAW AGENT RANDEEP SINGH RAWAT...along with his team to the expanse"...
ACP could feel a very familiar ardour arousing in his heart at the moment...which he had felt for the very first time, during the time HE had welcomed his elder lad to this world of materialistic pleasures...
and somewhat it seemed strange to him...because probably the history was gonna repeat itself...as the wait of a father for his son was as desperate as it was 35 years back...
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yet another figure was mending his way towards the conference room...but the steps which seemed to be so strong and confident enough to shake the whole underworld...were stumbbling today...as if again the history was gonna repeat itself...by giving a chance to the old father...to teach the toddler for the first time how to walk by holding hands...
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HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED THE CHAPTER...
PLZ DO READ ND REVIEW...SILENT READERS TOO...MISSING MANY OF YOU...(Divyanshi Sharma, fab duo, fan club, Babli 15, and many more...)HOPE YOU GUYS WOULD BE BACK SOON...
PROBABLY THE NEXT UPDATE WOULD BE A DRABBLE...(within 2-3 days...) AND THEN "ALWAYS A MEMORY" (maybe within this week only...)
TILL THEN BYE...TC...