The night was damp, cool...A little breeze was blowing outside and the rustle of
the swaying leaves was being heard..Shreya was feeling restless, recalling the
face of Anila and conjecturing lamely how, Daya and Anila were consummating the
marriage and inexorably she felt her quickened breath. Malicious jealousy was
burning inside her as she could see in her fertile imagination how Daya was
caring and mollycoddling his wife..She sprang out of her bed and went nearer the
window...Tears brimmed her eyes as her glance stuck at a floating cloudlet..She
banged her palm on the window pane, trying to release endless dejection and when
she could sense pain in her palm, then also Daya's face came flickering before
her hazy eyes...She sat on a stool, with an effort to compose herself and then
suddenly she put a query before herself,: how could I be agreed to get married
with Siddharth? How could? Is it the fact that I failed to realise at that moment
what Daya sir meant for me? Suppose, he would remain as a bachelor until my
marriage with Siddharth...but after my marriage when I would have to be loyal and
faithful to Siddharth as his wife, how would I be able to make myself indifferent
about Daya sir? How could I be able to do it? How could?' Her face contorted with
pain beyond human endurance and she kept sniffling miserably until she felt
weary and exhausted...
Daya and Anila reached at the garden, slowly, suppressing a queer thrill inside
their hearts...Coming nearer the cradle, Anila hastened to sit on it with a
childishly affectionate smile while Daya flashed her a gentle smile..Very
abruptly a darkened layer covered the blissful face of Anila as she let out,
quietly perhaps with an apprehension,:' aap...nahi baithenge?'
Blood seemed to be sucked out of Daya's face and he was quick to cover it,with an
irresolute smile,:'woh...itna majboot...nahi banaya tha...ye jhula...' his
glance darted towards the woebegone face of Anila and he hastened in
adding,:'mmagar...chinta ka...koi baat nahi hai...Repair kara lene se
hi...baith paunga...' Both maintained a tensed silence until Daya took the
initiative to improve the situation..:'tab tak...ttum baithna...main...' he
advanced at her back and continued,:' main...ye kaam ...kar sakta hun...' he
started dangling the cradle gently, softly, while Anila, instantly closed her
eyes with an indescribable bliss...Had she ever thought before to be swung so
peacefully? Pure serenity pervaded her face until Daya kept pushing the cradle a
little fast and as Anila opened her drenched eyes, finding everything dizzy
around her, she bellowed with a mixture of scare and joy...Daya was astounded and
a thin line of amusing smile hovered at the corner of his lips..Anila once again
closing her eyes, yelled like a child,:'mujhe darr lag raha hai...chakkar araha
hai...'
Daya without wasting a moment rushed infront of her and raised his hand while
Anila grasped it tightly, trying to keep her balance intact...Coming down, she
kept an abashed glance upon her husband, while Daya with a gentle
smile, murmured, :'chale?' Anila lowered her eyes, though she felt that her
eyelashes were shivering with an unknown tension...Both advanced towards the door
clenching each others shivering palms...but the moment Daya realised it, feeling
the warmth of her palm,an unknown shyness descended upon him and he couldn't put
any effort to disengage his hand from her, out of a sneaking sympathy upon his
newly wed wife who submitted her hand peacefully to her husband...
Shreya awakened as someone was tapping the door of her room..She made every
effort to be looked like a sleepy one and opened the door..It was her father,
standing riveted infront of her with a questioning eyes...
:'kya kkya baat hai papa?' Shreya asked fretfully...
Shreya's father was silent initially until shreya could ask further,:'itni raat
me...ma ki tabyat to thik hai na?'
Father muttered out,:'haa beta...sab thik hai...bas neend nahi araha tha...is
liye aisa laga...jaise ke...' he stopped...
:'jaise ke kya papa?' asked Shreya unable to stem her worry...
:'jaise ke...koi...ro rahi hai...' he paused keeping his glance curiously at
his daughter who by that time, lowered her eyes, in her effort to bolster herself
but she raised her eyes further to listen to her father,:'socha
ke...kahi...Shreya ko...koi...taqleef to...nahi ho raha hai...?'
Shreya forced herself to pretend to be happy,:'aisa koi baat ...nahi
hai...papa...Main to...main to...' her voice was traling away in speaking a
complete lie,:'so rahi thi papa...'
:'okay beta...' clipped father ,:'aapna...khayal rakhna...' he turned back with a
grim face and strode towards his room...
Shreya stared at the way vacantly, with a plaintive smile, murmuring inside her,:'
haa papa...woh rona...aapki beti ka hi tha...shawad...shawad...use...ab
zindegi bhar hi...aise rona parega papa...'
She closed the door slowly and felt that the spasm of pain was coming back once
again, making her breathless...She closed her eyes to alleviate the pain and when
her eyes flung open she could sense through her hazy eyes that as if Anila was
sitting in her bed staring at her with a cynical glance..
:'ttum? ttum yaha ...yaha kya kar rahi ho? aur kaise ayi?'rasped Shreya with
extreme bitterness tinged with envy while Anila drawled with a venomous
smirk,:'pehle khud ko koso Shreya...Dukh tumne un ko pauchaya...aur ab khud un
ko phir se dukh pauchake...apna kiya huya bhul ko chhupana cha rahi ho?'
Shreya's face contorted with hatred as she snapped aggressively,:'mere aur daya
sir ke rishtey ke bare me baat karne ka koi haq tumhe nahi hai...tum samajhti ho
kya apne aap ko?'
Anila sneered with disdain and then answered with poise,:'kis ko kya haq hai...ye
tum se sikhungi nahi Shreya...kyuki agar tumhe haq ke bare me thori si bhi
jankaari hota to tumhe pata chal jata ki...tumhare daya sir ki upar mera kaisa
haq hai aur kyu hai...'
Shreya gritted her teeth with indescribable anger while Anila continued,:'isse
achcha ye hai...ki main tum ko keh dun ki tum...Daya ko jo bhi dukh diya
hai...uska abhi anth dekhna chahti hun main...Main nahi chahti hun...ki mere
pati ko tum jaise ek bewafai karnewali ladki se zindegi bhar dukh milte rahe...'
:'bewafai?' exclaimed Shreya with a terrified glance...
Anila sniggered and disappeared leaving Shreya in a morass of confusion...She
awakened realising that it was her illusion and that Anila never visited her
room...but then why she had been seeing all these incidents which had never
happened? Shreya slumped into the practical world with a thud as her mobile phone
blinked and vibrated...It was Siddharth...Shreya received it without straining
her brain anymore,:'haa siddharth bolo...'
Siddharth: tumhe neend nahi araha tha na?
Shreya was surprised and at the same time, pleased to hear the gentle voice of
him,:'nnahi...nnahi to...aaisa...tumhe...kyu laga?'a half smile hovered at her
lips...
Siddharth: bhala hi tum CID me ho...magar mujhe bhi kuchh kuchh skill ata
hai...tumhara awaz me neend ka koi trace nahi tha...is ka matlab you are quite
awake in the middle of the night...
Shreya flashed a pleasant smile,and then answered back,:'I'm not feeling
sleepy...kya karu?'
Siddharth: pata tha...you wouldn't feel it...
Shreya:(with a surprised face) magar tum...
the line cut abruptly...Shreya took her phone before her eyes and stared at it
with flummoxed expression..