A shaft of sunlight stole into the room through the shutters and illuminated the face of niyati...She woke up with a start and realised that she had been dreaming about her reflection...but was it only a dream? Then why everything seemed so serene around her?...She kept her glance upon her wrist watch which she placed over the glass table...and grunted,:'Myyy God...it's eight...'
:'Good morning Dr. Niyatii ' daya greeted her with a placid smile over his face and added further,:'mausam achcha hai...dhoop aya hai...aur raste se bhi...' he shrugged and said,:'paani gayab...' a candid smile hovered at his lips while niyati stared at him for about half minute before commenting with a little sardonical smile,:'aap ko to...bohut khushi ho raha hai na?'
daya looked at somewhere else and with a smile he replied a little reflectively,:'of course...bachche log phir se school ja payega...phir se raste me khel kud kar payega...aur pher...sab ka zindegi...phir se normal hone lagega...is se achcha khabar kya ho sakta hai...'
niyati's face turned grim and she leapt to her feet without saying a single word and trudged towards the wash room...At very first she undone the bandage with a faint smile and then looked at the mirror and stared at her reflection for about couple of minute...and then she scoffed at her childish behaviour and then went ahead to have a bath...a bath...that could make her fresh wiping off every strain and pain she had felt for the past hours...
Though there was a clean set of daya's kurta pajama, but this time niyati didn't touch it and wore her own jeans and t shirt which she had worn on that day when she had come here, being drenched and helpless...Coming out, she went to the couch and checked her vanity bag whether everything was okay..daya though called her for breakfast and she too went to the dining table to have it with a nice smile,:'what have you made today?' asked she,trying to be chirpy...
daya answered being a little coy,:'nothing special, it's cucumber and onion sandwiches...'
:'wooow, it's wonderful..' she exclaimed and giggled while daya shot an astonishing glance at her unnecessary giggle and then he asked,:'aap ja rahi hain?' the smile disappeared from niyati's face as she replied with a grimness,:'haa daya...do din se ghar na gayi...aur...sab kuchh thik ho raha hai to...' she stopped, gazing at her plate and kept flinching with the food...
daya flashed an ingenuous grin and inquired again,:'kya aap ka car...'
her voice turned rough as she said,:'car to yaha pe hi para huya hai...pata nahi driver ake meri khabar karne ka jarrorat samjhega ya nahi...'
daya, eating slowly nodded,:'hmmmm...to pher...chaliye...aap ko...main hi paucha deta hun...'
niyati though protested weakly,:'nahi...aap ko jana nahi...' she hesitated and then resumed,:'koi...auto pakr lungi yaha se...'
daya flashed a frank smile at her and didn't linger the topic...
Both finished the breakfast within a breathless atmosphere and thereafter when daya slipped into the kitchen for a little while, Niyati slipped into the tiny prayer room where she had seen daya doing puja the last morning...By an unknown force, she sat there before the idol of God,kneeling and felt a vehement urge to cry her heart out...It was a half truth what she told daya the day before that she hadn't have belief upon God..Though in some hard times, she asked for His support but, it was now...that she felt it intensely where she could submit herself...Drops of tear coursed down her cheeks as the silent sobs were shattering her inside...Some desperate good wishes for daya crowded her mind giving a heap of pressure upon her already contracted heart..
:'Dr. Niyatiiii ,' She awoke from the trance hearing the voice of daya; wiped off her tears hurriedly and when she came out from there, she had to face daya's astonishing glance and a inquisitive smile over his face but she knew that daya wouldn't ask her anything for her visiting prayer room so she herself tried to mitigate every query of her humble host,:" Aap ka ghar me reh ke...aap ke Bhagwanji ko...bina kuchh keh ke chali jana...'she pressed her lips and to utter the rest showing a very confident gesture,:'thik nahi samjhi...so...'
Daya flashed her perceptive smile; looked at somewhere else to comment,queitly,:'Bhagwanji sab ka hain...' The feigned smile that pasted over her face, faded out as she gazed at his face-a perfect combination of childish humour, and manly suaveness...Her heart lurched as daya kept his glance at her, bringing her out of her rapturous muse, unconsciously...Niyati sharply evaded her eyes and coming nearer the table, she now grasped her vanity bag which was a sole property of her she brought here..Coming into the main door with sluggish steps, she felt as if all the restrain now would be broken. A violent cyclone was as if blowing inside her heart making herself so weak even not to stand her erect..Putting every effort to stem the impassioned emotion that weighed her heart heavy,she turned back with a smiling face to face daya,:'Thanks Daya...for...whatever...you...have given me...' Daya's face wreathed with a very humble and uneasy smile as he felt it uncomfortable...
Niyati's lips pressed in an effort to resist a terrible sob,:'it's...' she stopped, failing to find any word, she resorted again,with a shaky splutter,:'thanks...'
daya smiled faintly, before informing her,:'thanks dene ka waqt gaya nahi ...chaliye bahar...'
niyati kept a surprising glance at him and said,:'matlab...aap ja rahe hain mujhe drop karne?' daya didn't answer her and instead of that he asked her,:'aap ka pair kaisa hai? itni siri..niche ja payenge aap?'
niyati closed her eyes; smiled at his arrogance and then nodded positively...Daya coming infront of her her, guided her with care while niyati felt a warm wave as if spreading over her cheeks, recalling that how daya had carried her the day before...Coming into the ground floor garage,daya took out a car...
Niyati got into it, though with less hesitation than before and daya possessed the driver seat to take the car away from his apartment...
niyati managed to steal a furtive glance at him and thereafter remarked,a little jauntily,:'aap bohut ziddi hain...' daya didn't reply but flashed a prudent smile while niyati kept speaking,:'waise...main kisi se lift nahi leti hun...' daya kept driving watching ahead in such an expression as if a little girl could chattter whatever she loved to whether it was important or not...but niyati continued,:'magar aap ka...' suddenly she stopped and an uprush of bashfulness seized her and colour rushed to her cheeks...daya didn't look at her and she sighed in relief...For about forty minutes both remained silent and when the car reached at the front of niyati's apartment, daya sighed and looked at her with a fine candour...niyati was speechless and for a minute's struggle within herself helped her to reveal,:'thanks daya...' she further pressed her lips and then suddenly said loud trying to bring a big grin over her face,:'waise koi filmy dialogue bolne ka mann nahi hai meri...'
daya chuckled without a word while niyati divulged more,:'aur kabhi kabhi to mujhe aisa lag raha hai ki...woh jhagarta huya aadmi hi achcha tha aap se..' she paused and then muttered out further,in a hushed tone, :'us behes karnewala se….aap …..aap….kayi guna zada…khatarnak hain….' A nervous titter crossed her face in her effort to conceal her emotion…
daya grinned disarmingly and said gently,:'all the best for your researches ...aur...' his face turned amusing and a twinkle of mischief blinked in his eyes when he resumed,:'ummeed karta hun ki...dobara fornesic me ja ke...ajeeeb logo se milna na pare aap ko...' his grin lingered making niyati weak and enamoured...Daya suggested further, this time being totally earnest,:'aap ka pairo ka khayal rakhna...' Niyati was defenseless; she was mesmerised to that extent that it became difficult for her to speak out anything courteous...
something terribly swelled up within her making her face reddened and she hastened in a murmur,:'good bye...'
daya nodded with the same smiling face and spluttered, :'good bye...take care...'
His car moved slowly and within a minute vanished from her eyes...
niyati entered into her dark apartment with sluggish steps and tried to switch the light on but...it was of no use...She murmured, :'where is candle?' and inescapably recalled the illuminated face of daya...She tried to divert her mind, but it seemed that just two days just two nights just forty eight hour had an ineffable and indelible effect upon her which she couldn't explain...Something radically changed her...or rather something radically converted her from a stubborn, grouchy, vainglorious girl to a sensitive,sympathetic woman who could glance at the world with the light of humanity-humanity that touched not only the heart but the soul...The last words of daya kept intruding into her mind bringing a smirk of pleasure..."the man isn't that naive what he looks" thought niyati as she chose to muse about her recent adventurous experience but suddenly a thought gave her a start..." kuchh din pehle...main forensic ke liye hi to...apply kiya tha...agar...' an apprehension made her face worried and she breathed,:'nahi nahi...bhagwan kare...mujhe waha pe opportunity na mile...I don't want to face him again...I can't oh I can't...I would have to summon up all my courage to face that man again...'her eyes flung open some minutes later as she had a dolorous smile over her face as she purred,:'I wouldn't scare...scare for what?...agar is zindegi me...usko phir kabhi...face karna pare...to I would try to face him with sheer optimism...with full liveliness...I would be as humorous as he is...I would try to smile and make everyone smile...spending and counting every moments of my life precious...kyuki...us ne...mujhe...jeena sikhaya hai...marna nahi...'A drop of tear spilled down her cheek unknowingly as she kept lying in her couch being sunk into the small yet brief memory of the man with a golden heart...
(The End)
Author's note:
In 2006,when niyati returned in forensic as a full time forensic expert, then I was astounded to see her behaving so humorously with the officers and even cracking funny jokes in front of ACP sir...Her thought revealed about daya, when in a case, attempting to drink a poisonous wine, she humorously showed her feigned disappointment saying that,:'Dayaa...kam se kam mujhe tum se ye ummed tha ki tum ake mujhe bacha loge..' Daya returned with humour too,:'kya baat keh rahe hain aap doctor...main to bhagne hi wala tha aap ko bachane..' Why she chose daya as her rescuer even if during friendly jokes, it was a mystery to me ...
But somehow, this story will give me a bridge between old quarrelsome egoistic niyati in 2003 and humorous niyati in 2006...For me She had the finer understanding about daya's sensitivity that touched her a lot...
About the 'Heart attack' incident what Aditi mentioned here, I had immediately a doubt that might be niyati buried some emotion about daya within her heart that she alluded in an indirect way...
Thanks my friends for making useful reviews to encourage me and I am grateful to all of you for giving your precious time
Wish you all my heartiest good wishes...
take care...