Ek Ajnabi

Chapter 19

Broken

"Nahi, meine tumhe bilkul theek samjha hai Daya. Acha hota ke mein us din mar hi jaata jis din tumhari gaadi se mera accident hua tha. Na hi tum se milta, na hi tumhare itne qareeb ho pata, aur na hi tum mujhe yun apni zindagi se ukhaar kar phaink paate. Lekin tumhara haq hai shayad yeh bhi. Aakhir lagta hi kya hun mein tumhara. Aj bhi ek ajnabi se badh kar nahi hun" Abhijeet ki awaaz mein dukh, takleef aur begumaani shaamil thi. Woh jaane anjaane mein Daya pe apna haq samajhne laga tha magar shayad us ka Daya pe aj bhi koi haq nahi tha. Aakhir ek ajnabi ka haq hi kya ho sakta hai.

"Yeh kya keh rahe ho tum Abhijeet. Please aise mat kaho. Meri neeyat pe shak mat karo. Mujhe ghalat mat samjho. Mein sirf tumhara bhala chahta hun" Daya ki aanknon mein dukh aur beizzati ke ahsaas se aansu a gaye the. Use samajh nahi a raha tha ke Abhijeet ko kese samjhaye. Woh Abhijeet ko apne liye aur us ke liye us ke maa baap se door nahi kar sakta tha kyunke woh jaanta tha ke Abhijeet ko aik din apne is faisle pe pachtawa zaroor hoga aur Daya woh pachtawa Abhijeet ki zindagi mein nahi lana chahta tha.

"Daya mein yeh kehna to nahi chahta magar tum se zyaada mujhe apne bhale ki fikar hai, aur mein be khabar nahi hun. Mein jaanta hun ke mere liye kya theek hai aur kya ghalat" Abhijeet ka ghussa shayad Daya ke aansu dekh kar thoda kam ho gaya tha magar khatam nahi hua tha. Woh chahta tha ke Daya is waqt use bas akela chod de. Shayad woh Daya pe aur ghussa nahi utaarna chahta tha.

"Tum jazbaati ho rahe ho Abhijeet. Sahi faisala soch samajh kar hi liya ja sakta hai" Daya ne use samjhaane ki aik baar aur koshish ki.

"Please Daya mujhe akela chod do. Mein kuch dair tanhayi mein rehna chahta hun" Abhijeet ne Daya se dheemi awaaz mein iltija ki jis pe Daya wahan se mayoos aur bebas wapis chala gaya.

Daya kamre se bahar aaya to lounge mein Rohan aur Mr aur Mrs Ravi ko bethe dekha. Woh to in ki mojoodgi ko kuch pal pehle yaksar nazarandaaz hi kar gaya tha. Abhijeet se baat karte karte use yeh tak na yaad raha ke koi bahar us ka aur Abhijeet ka intezaar kar raha hai. Use woh log dikhe to woh seedha un ki taraf aaya. Ab woh soch raha tha ke aakhir kahe to kya kahe. Khamosh to woh reh nahi sakta tha. Khamosh rehta to sawaal hote aur phir bilaakhir use bolna hi parta. Us ne do pal ko socha ke use kya kehna chahiye. Unhe umeed deni chahiye ya mayoosi. Sach dena chahiye ya jhoot.

"Kya hua Mr Daya, Abhi kahan hai?" Jab Daya kuch na bola to bilaakhir Mr Ravi ko hi sawaal karna pada.

"Woh actually Abhijeet..woh..use sochne ke liye kuch waqt chahiye" Daya ne jo bhi jumle apne dil mein tayaar kiye the woh baahar aate aate gid mid ho gaye the. Us se bolte hue ilfaaz nahi ban pa rahe the. Aik aik lafz use sochna par raha tha.

"Sochne ke liye waqt? Lekin woh kis liye?" Mrs Ravi hairaan aur pareshaan ho kar bolein. Mr Ravi ke chehre pe bhi kuch aise hi taasuraat the.

"Abhijeet yeh sab process nahi kar pa raha. He's taking a hard time processing all of this. Woh ap dono ko accept nahi kar pa raha. Use lagta hai ke us ka koi apna nahi hai. Meine use samjhaane ki bohat koshish ki lekin woh samajhne ke liye tayaar nahi hai aur sach kahun to shayad use kuch waqt ki hi zaroorat hai yeh sab qubool karne ke liye. All he truly needs right now is time" Sach karwa hota hai magar sach jhoot se behtar hota hai aur Daya ne bilaakhir wohi kaha jo sach tha. Halanke woh jaanta tha ke Mr aur Mrs Ravi ko yeh sach sun ke kitna dukh pahuncha ho ga. Kisi bhi maa baap ke liye yeh sab sunna asaan nahi hai.

"Yeh tum kya keh rahe ho beta?" Daya ko Mrs Ravi ki aankhon mein aansu dikhe to use un ke liye bohat bura laga magar woh bebas tha, kuch nahi kar sakta tha.

"Ap please fikar na karein Aunty. Mein us ko bilaakhir samjha hi lunga. Mein jaanta hun ke woh thoda ziddi ho gaya hai magar zid us ki aadat mein nahi hai. Yeh sirf waqti hai. Bas mein itna hi keh sakta hun ke aj ap log wapis chale jayein. Mein waada karta hun ke use mana lun ga. Ap ka beta mera dost hai. Mein use kabhi koi takleef nahi pohnchaun ga" Daya ne poori koshsih ki ke un se un ki umeed na cheene.

"Han beta, tum theek keh rahe ho. Chalo begum, hum abhi chalte hain. Daya hamare bete ka khayal rakhe ga. Abhi amanat hai yahan hamari. Daya hume humari amanat zaroor lautayega" Mr Ravi bole the aur Daya ko aik dam hi ahsaas hua tha ke kitne azeem maa baap hain yeh. Apne bete ki khushi ke liye us se dastbardaar hone ko bhi tayaar hain.

Rohan, Mr aur Mrs Ravi chale gaye to Daya sofe pe deh gaya. Woh apne ap ko bohat tanha mehsoos kar raha tha.

Subah se raat ho gayi thi. Raat ka andhera bahir har taraf phail gaya tha magar Abhijeet ab tak apne kamre mein band tha. Soch soch ke woh pagal hua ja raha tha. Aakhir aur woh kar bhi kya hi sakta tha. Use yaqeen nahi a raha tha ke Daya use us ki zindagi se bahir nikal dena chahta tha. Phir use laga ke us ki to shayad is ghar mein bhi jagah nahi hai, Daya ki zindagi mein kya khaak jagah hogi. Use aik aik kar ke Daya ke saath bitaya hua aik aik lamha yaad aane laga. Woh har lamha hi aik yaadgar tha magar ab woh yaadein zakham ki tarah chub rahi theen. Shayad gulaab ka jo kaanta us ne nazar andaaz kar diya tha, woh use bedheyaani mein lag gaya tha aur us kaante ki chuban bohat takleefde thi. Us ke dil mein aaya ke ab use kya karna chahiye. Saari zindagi woh kamre mein band ho kar, sab se nazrein chura kar to nahi reh sakta tha. Aur phir aik dam hi us ne faisla kar liya ke use kya karna chahiye. Use woh kaanta ukhaad ke phainkna hoga ke shayad takleef kam ho jaaye. Woh zameen se utha jahan woh kab se betha hua tha. Us ne pehle notebook mein se aik kaghaz phaada aur phir us pe kuch likhne laga. Woh likh chuka to kaghaz ko saleeqe se mod kar apne bistar par rakh diya. Phir us ne apni almaari se apne kapre nikalne shuru kiye aur un ko aik baste mein daalta gaya. Sab kapre daal chuka to baste ko band kar ke apne kandhe pe utha liya. Us ne aik aakhri dafa is kamre ko dekha aur phir kamre se bahar nikal aaya.

"Is se pehle ke tum mujhe apni zindagi se nikalo, mein khud hi tumhari zindagi se nikal jaata hun. Aik ajnabi samajh ke bhool jana mujhe" Ghar ka bahar ka darwaaza khol ke us ne aik qadam bahar barhaya tha. Andar ghar ki taraf dekh ke us ne azeeyat se yeh sargoshi in diwaaron ke kaanon mein utaari thi.

To Be Continued