Before the pandemonium stopped, Daya
sensed that something terribly wrong
had happened...He scooted towards the
lake and ended up seeing lots of
bubbles in the middle of it and when
he turned back, one member of his team
was missing...
He panted tensedly,:'Sachin jaldi
dhoondo aspas...shayad...' Sachin
and mayur rushed into different
direction but unfortunately they found
no one except a cloud of smoke...Daya
frantically rushed towards the cottage
and there he left perplexed as Nikhil
burst in silent sobs grasping Daya...
-nnikhill...kkya...kkya huya?
-ssir...Ishika...mere pas hi
thi...magar...bombing ke baad
se...pata nahi...shayad
...shayad...kisi ne...' his haggard
face was the tacit expression of what
he was implying...
Daya's lugubrious glance wandered upon
every single object though with mute
futality and he clenched his
dishevelled hair with sheer
despair...
[In the cottage]
Eevryone gathered in the hall though
an uncanny and tensed silence wreathed
them all until Daya clipped his
tongue,:'Sachin Shreya...tum logo ko
careful hona chaiye tha...aise kaise
casually keh diya tom log ke...' he
stopped as a bitterness crossed his
face while Sachin replied, cringing
with shame,:'sorry sir...magar...jis
taraf se bombing huya tha...us taraf
to...us taraf to Shreya dhyan
rakh rahi thi...'
Daya's annoyed gaze fell upon Shreya
though with a little
discomfort...What he couldn't
pronounce aloud he swore beneath his
breath,:'mujhe pata hi tha
Shreyaa...tum kuchh garbar karnewali
ho...tumhara dhyan kahi aur bhatka
huya hai...aur lakh samjhane se
bhi...tum kam me thik se dhyan nahi
de payi...I knew well somthing that
sort of thing would happen...' he
fidgeted with restiveness and his
tightened jaws clearly indicated
that...
:'ab kya hoga sir?' asked Sachin a
little culpably,:' mamla sulajhne ke
jagah aur ulajh gaya...'
-'ha Sachin,' asserted Daya
stoutly,:'aur iska zimmedar hum
hain...sirf hum...'
nikhil spluttered with worry,:'aur
sir...Ishika bhi to...sir...hum
kaise wapas laye use?'
Daya's jaws bobbed up and down with
steadfastness as he inferred,:"plan
badalna parega...ab hum yaha aur
disguise me reh nahi payenge...direct
attack karna parega in badmasho
ko...' his voice trailed into a
whisper and a tint of shame sprinkled
all over his face as he murmured,:'
aur isliye...hume aur bhi officers
ka jaroorat parega...' He heaved a
deep sigh of despair and then cowered
his head down...
Sachin asked mustering courage,:'
matlab sir...hum ko...ACP sir
ko...inform karna parega?'
Daya maintained silence for some
seconds until divulging,:' hhaa
Sachin...bohut hi sharmnak baat hai
ye...magar humare failure se zada
important hain...un sare logo ka pata
chalna...aur agar woh log zinda
hain...to un logo ko uddhar
karna...aur phir...Ishika bhi
to...' he couldn't linger more
and further lowered his head down in
dejection...
Shreya, shrunk in guilt sat motionless
gazing at the floor with vacant
eyes...Did she really want that? Did
she want to take an avenge in this
way? Her eyes were wandering with
vague hope here and there but she
could't allay the surging waves of
emotions those made her almost
paralysed...She tried to organise her
thoughts but failed everytime...One
self of her as if was smirking at her
whispering that...she did want
that...even if not with full of her
awareness but in her subconscious
mind...but the other self was
revolting devoutly remonstrating that
she couldn't ever think of taking a
revenge to whom she ...had once
devoted her heart...
:'nnahi...nahi...aisa nahi huya
hai...aisa nahi...' she whispered,
having been unaware...
Daya's glance fell upon her and
eventually he felt as if a wave of
sympathy was surging over him...but
there he needed to be the dutiful
senior inspector daya instead of being
the soft hearted caring Daya sir of
Shreya...With a jerk he endeavoured to
keep his concentration upon his cell
phone...
After some irresolute futile efforts,
he finally picked his cell and called
ACP Pradyuman...
ACP:(with endless surprise) ha Dayaaa!
Daya:(in sombre voice) ssir...!
ACP: haa...Daya bolo...
Daya felt as if his mouth had been
sealed tight and not a single word was
coming out with which he could form a
plausible excuse..crimson colour of
shame associated with grim failure
rushed into his cheeks as he
desperately trying to be normal...
ACP: (with aggression) chup na raho
Dayaaa...jo bhi hai...woh batane ka
himmat kaha gaya tumhe?
Daya:ssir...woh...humara plan...na
kamiyab raha ssir...
ACP: (with extreme coerciveness) ye
kaise ho sakta hai Daya? sab ka itni
sari mehnat pe paani kaise pher diya
tumneeeee?
Daya's woebegone face had been
indicating extreme dejection and guilt
while ACP continued,:'pata hai
tumheeee...abhi iske liye mujhe
senior officials ke pas explanation
dena parega? do you have any idea?
Daya kept digesting with strangling
muteness while Sachin and Shreya kept
exchanging guilty glances...
ACP: kis officer ka laparwai se huya
ye sab?
Daya:(getting extremely astonished)
ssir?
ACP: mujhe ek ek moment ka report
chaiye Dayaaa...aur ye bhi jan na
jaroori hai ki exactly kya huya tha...
Daya: ye yyess sir...report bhej raha
hun...mmagar ssir...
ACP: kis ka galti se itna achcha plan
barbad huyaaaa?
Daya:( with a haggard face)
ssir...hum...ye ek team ka failure hai
ssir...
ACP: woh to hai hi...lekin senior
officials aise baat nahi
sunenge...usko pura details chaiye...
Daya: aagr...agar...aisi baat
hai..ssir...to...to phir...(his
lips were trembling )...main..main hi
hun woh officer...jis ka laparwai
se...yye sab huya hai ssir...
ACP:(with goggled eyes) kyaa?
Daya:(with a lugubrious face)
ssir...mujhe jo bhi saza diya
jayega...manzoor hai ssir...magar
abhi...ek dusra plan ka jaroorat hai
sir...hume direct attack pe jana
parega...aur isliye hume aur bhi
officers ka jaroorat hai...kyuki
sir...
ACP: aur chara hi kya rakha tumne?
Daya: ssir...Ishika bhi gayab hai..
ACP: (with extreme anger) damnnn
itt...mujhe pata nahi tha Dayaa...ke
tum itna important mission pe ja ke
aise mess karne wale ho...
A dark gloom slowly descended upon his
face as he continued to get severely
criticised by ACP sir...
Shreya felt a pain beyond human
endurance was spreading in her whole
body...She abruptly leapt to her
feets and stormed out of the
hall...Coming into a tiny private
cabin and slamming the door...she
burst into pathetic cry...Wriggling
with burning desire to mollycoddle
Daya sir...she perhaps realised for
the first time...where she erred...It
was merely a vague imagination of her
what she clutched till now as 'love'
without feeling what love was...She
discared the piece of gold just
beacuse it couldn't announce
boastfully :look at me ...I'm the
gold...' and in search for a gold she
in her tomfoolery clutched a tinsel as
gold...She hemmed the word 'love'
within a boundary in which there were
only revelling celebraion and glim and
glitter of the candlelit dinner and
the flaming excitement of the official
proposal...But she in her idiocy
couldn't peep into the core of the
gaiety; she couldn't feel that love
silently adored each other without
expecting anything... Her face
crumpled with pain as she craved to
smother Daya with her kisses...and
breaking into sobs she murmured,:'how
could he burden himself with the fault
of...? nnahi...ye nahi ho sakta
hai...yye...nnahi...' her mind kept
recalling Daya's words on the eve he
divulged about his marrige...and
suddenly she felt as if every fog had
been dissipating slowy giving her a
clear view why he had got married so
drastically; why he kept telling lie
to siddharth about his happiness with
Anila...
Shreya as if tittering on the brink of
an abyss of despair and felt
everything spinning around her...She
clasped the side of the table and
within a minute her moistened glance
fell upon the drawer where they kept
their revolvers with care...