Chapter 2

[MEMBERSONLY] [NOCOPY]

Hesitantly she asked, “Aapne bhi try kiye the kya, Baba?”

“Baap hu usska, of course try kiya! Koi khabar nahi diya ussne toh hume hi  try karna padta hai na?”

Leaping to her Virat Sir’s defense Sai replied, “Virat Sir ne kaha tha, ki wahan sab damaged hai aur shayad phone call nahi ho paayenge. Ye bhi kaha ki kisi bhi tareeke se khabar de denge, kuch bhi decide hua tab.”

“Hmm… tum dekho, Mai abhi aata hu.” Saying this, Ninad got up to go get a drink of water, when Sai let out a frantic call, “Baba!”

Turning around, he looked at her white face before turning to the television screen, where a news item had started flashing.

“Cloudburst and flash floods at the Rescue Operation Site at Chandpur - Rescue Ops Team Swept away”

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Day 2 - Before Dawn : The Day they lost their Light

Ashwini woke up suddenly, almost leaping upright from the deep sleep that she was in. Sitting on her bed, her heart and feet cold, she looked around, trying to make sense of what it was that woke her up. 

Looking across the room, and finding her husband’s bed empty, she looked at the time, to find that it was almost 1am. That was strange! Ninad still followed his Military routine and never stayed up past 10.30pm.

Her gut still cold, Ashwini got up, the fear in her slowly rising, for no reason that she could make out. Deciding to go check on Sai, she walked out, only to see the door to Virat and Sai’s room ajar and lights on, but empty.

Surprised, since she knew that Virat had made it a habit for Sai that she goes to sleep latest by midnight, Ashwini stood for a minute. The rains still pouring out ensuring that Sai wouldn’t be on the balcony, so she decided to check downstairs, and went down.

Walking down the stairs, she was surprised to see the lights on in the TV area as well at the sounds of news on. However, nothing could prepare her for the sight she saw when she turned towards the space. 

Ninad was standing frozen, as if carved from stone, while Sai was standing next to him, holding on to his arm as if it were the only thing holding her upright. Her hand clenched tight in his.

The shock, the disbelief, the joy at seeing them together, all gave way to all-consuming fear as she took in their expressions, and an involuntary gasp escaped her lips. 

At that sound, Sai jerked up and seeing her, ran to her, enfolding her in a bone-crushing hug, her dry heaves somehow sounding worse than tears would have.

Unable to respond, the implications of such reactions from her husband and daughter rushing into her mind, she whispered, “Ninad….”

Looking at her, his eyes anguished even as his military bearing made his face impassive, her husband replied, “Kuch zyada nahi pata, bas ye news scroll ho rahi hai.”

Moving out of Sai’s embrace and pulling her along by her hand, Ashwini moved up next to Ninad and saw for herself “Cloudburst and flash floods at the Rescue Operation Site at Chandpur - Rescue Ops Team Swept away”, and let out a strangled sound, “Godu…”

The chill that had enveloped her heart now spreading to her head, and suddenly feeling weak, she sat down heavily on the armchair. Sai too crouched next to her, and taking her Aai’s face in her hands, turned it forcibly to look at her, “Kuch nahi hoga Virat Sir ko. Iss sab ke beech me call karne ka time tak nahi mila hoga, bas. Aap fikar mat keejiye, Aai.”

Her reassurances sounding as if it was meant for herself more than anyone else, Ashwini stared at the screen blankly, taking in the scenes of total destruction being broadcast, of buildings toppled, of entire roads washed away and only mud and sludge and uprooted trees visible in the murkey waters flowing through the area. 

Unable to make out faces in the pouring rain, and darkness, both parents and wife kept searching the screen, praying and hoping to catch a glimpse of the one person dearest to them all.

All three remained there, watching, hopeful, Sai and Ninad repeatedly trying Virat’s number. Exhausted, Sai sat on the floor beside her Aai, leaning her head on her lap, with Ashwini gently stroking her head. 

It was to this scene that Bhavani arrived, having woken up thirsty and seeing the light on. Seeing the three of them, she stood, shocked, a thread of fear slowly making way through her as well.

Walking up briskly, not seeing Sai as she sat on the floor, she asked, “Ninad, Ashwini, tum log yahan itni raat gayi kyu baithe ho?”

Getting up, Sai rushed to her side, “Kaku, new me dikhaaya ki jahan Virat Sir gaye hue hai, wahan landslides hue hai dubara.” 

Her voice breaking as she clutched at Kaku’s hand, Sai continued, “Unka phone bhi nahi lag raha. News me bole jaa rahe hai ki Rescue Team ghum ho gaye.”

Almost swaying, but recovering her composure quickly, Bhavani pressed Sai’s hand for a second before moving over to sit next to Ashwini. 

Putting her palm on her arm gently, she said, “Kuch nahi hoga, Ashwini, dheeraj rakho. Virat ek trained IPS Officer, jiusko har kathin paristhiti ka saamna karne ka training mila hai.”

A deep shudder running through her body, Ashwini clutched at her Vahini’s hand, looking at her beseechingly, “Jee bohot khabra rahi hai, Vahini. Bas Godu ka khabar mil jaaye!”

“Milegi, network problem hi hogi.”, Bhavani replied, soothing her sister-in-law, before turning to look at Sai, “Sai, tum phone try karte rehna.”

Nodding once, taking a deep breath, Sai called again, before shaking her head. She was about to try again when another news item broke, this time, the visuals taken by someone’s phone of the Rescue team working amidst flood lights, and a sudden wall of water breaking over them, muddy and full of debris.

With no one’s faces clear due to the rain and the distance, all that they could see were the Khaki-coloured raincoats of the Police Officers who were leading the Rescue getting washed away. The message scrolling had now changed - "Rescue Teams from Nagpur swept away in flashfloods at Chandpur".

As Sai almost fell on the chair she was standing next to, staring at the screen in horror, Ashwini let out a scream, echoed by Bhavani as well. 

As for Ninad, he had been standing behind the chair Sai had fallen upon and shaking, covering his face with one hand, leaned on the chair and clutched Sai’s shoulder, whether to console her or to draw strength from her, he himself didn’t know.

Hugging Ashwini close, Bhavani too had started sobbing when doors started opening all over the house, the family, woken up by the screams, rushed out to the lounge. 

Not understanding anything, Omkar and Sonali rushed over to Ninad, while Mohit and Karishma automatically ran to Sai and Ashwini.

Holding Ninad by his shoulders, shaken more by the fact that he was holding on to Sai’s shoulder than the shudders that ran through his frame, Omi asked, “Dada! Kya hua?! Aap sab iss waqt jage hue kyu ho? Aur aawaz kisne ki?” ; just as Mohit crouched in front of Ashwini and Sai.

“Vahini, Kaku? Kya hua?” growing frantic at Ashwini and Bhavani’s cries and Sai’s frozebn expression, he shook Sai, “Vahini! Kuch toh boliye!”

Snapping out of her daze and focussing on Mohit’s face, Sai gave a huge gasping sob and pointed to the TV. The other had jus turned and seen the flash flood clip replaying and the scrolling message on a loop when all the lights flickered and went out, immersing the whole house in total darkness.

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“Landline band pada hai, Dada. Aur mobile ka toh network ek bhi bar nahi aa rahi! Kay karein?” Omakr asked Ninad, who was sitting now, his head in his hands. 

Wiping his face, Ninad looked up, “Power failure baarish ki wajah se hi huyi hogi, shayad koi ped gira hoga, kya pata? Kya hi kar sakte hai, intezaar karenge.”

It had been almost half an hour since the lights went out. And Omkar and Mohit had been frantically trying to call for the electricity company and electrician, to no avail. All lines were down. 

Mohit had even gone out in the rain to see if any house in the area had power, but everything as far as the eye could see was shrouded in pitch dark, the rain still falling in torrents.

Karishma and Patralekha had lit several candles around the room and were standing next to Sonali, still looking shell-shocked by the description of what was shown on TV as given by Kaku. 

Sai had moved over to sit next to her Aai, and both of them had their arms around eachother, as they sat, looking totally lost in thoughts, faces expressionless.

Not used to seeing Sai like this, Kaku moved over to her, and keeping her hand on her shoulder, shook her gently, “Sai…”

Looking up, Sai replied, her tone normal but emotionless, “Ji Kaku?”

Swallowing hard, Bhavani pushed down the memories of herself that suddenly surfaced seeing Sai’s face. The day Nagesh Chavan had been shot, Bhavani herself had been the one person who had remained normal; but she knew what had been happening inside her that day. Sai was reminding her of herself.

Shaking herself free from those memories, she asked, “Tum toh Virat ke sath kaam karnewale bohot logon ko jaante honge na? Kisi ko ek baar phone lagake dekho…”

Holding out her phone, Sai replied, her tone child-like, “Kiya naa… bohot try kiya maine. Unke pichle mission ke baad na, Virat Sir ne mere phone me sab ke numbers enter kar diye the. Nishikant Sir ke, Patil Sir ke, Pedkar Sir ke… kisi ka bhi nahi lag raha. Shayad woh bhi gaye honge Virat Sir ke sath.”

At that, Ashwini let out a sob, and Sonali quickly sat down next to her, holding her close, while Karishma turned her face into Mohit’s shoulders, Sai’s tone sending shivers down her spine. 

Oblivious to how shaken everyone was, hearing her tone, understanding how broken she was, Sai continued, “Kaku, maine toh DIG Sir ka bhi number try kiya. Unhone mujhe unke personal number diye the na… uss me. Woh bhi nahi lag rahi. Woh toh mujhe beti maante hai, connect hoti toh zaroor uthaate. Ab mai kya karu, Kaku?”

Crying in earnest now, Ashwini shook herself loose from Sonali’s arms and hugged Sai close, pulling her head on to her shoulder. Ninad, who had gotten up again and had moved behind the sofa, saw Sai’s face from behind and almost broke down himself. 

In his long military career, he had seen many broken souls, where just the body survives, but the essence of the person has left and the eyes turn dead. The bright, sparkling eyes of this young girl, his son’s wife, which were ever alive with a multitude of emotions, were flat as glass now.

Without even realizing what he was doing, he kept his hand on her head, and at that, Sai sighed and closed her eyes, sinking into her Aai’s embrace. And within the family, thus they remained, a small cocoon, each lost in their own fear, but joined by the gut-clenching agony of having lost their light. 

Behind each of the three sets of closed eyes, the smiling face of Virat Chavan was breaking their hearts into a million pieces.