Chapter 2

Chapter 2-

Breakfast in Raizada mansion on Monday morning was a subdued affair. 

Anjali couldn’t stop herself thinking about all the other times her family had sat down together for a meal. Even before Khushiji came into their lives and added her dose of dining table cheer, she had always looked forward to it. The members of her family were like the fingers on a hand- each of a different shape, size and temperament. They lived different lives, walked their own paths and faced their own trials and tribulations. But for a brief moment in time each day, they came together as a family, bound by their shared past and held together by the respect and affection they had for each other. 

Nani sat at the head of the table, pushing food on her plate and eating very little. Dadi sat to her right, to Anjali’s left, and sipped her glass of milk. Across the table, to Nani’s immediate left, the seat was left unused, and Anjali couldn’t bear to look at the empty space Chotey had left in their lives. Across the table from her, Payalji was serving Akash his breakfast. Beside them, Mami was spreading butter on her toast ad asking about NK bhai who was apparently enjoying a lie in. 

Anjali looked up as Shyamji took the seat to her right and greeted everyone. The response he received was pointedly underwhelming. She mustered a weak smile as she passed him toast.

“Rani Sahiba, hume kuch kaam se do-teen din sheher se bahar jaana padega” Shyamji said. 

Anjali fought a sense of disappointment. It was their fourth wedding anniversary the following week, but her husband seemed to be wrapped up with work to remember. Mixed with disappointed though was an inexplicable twinge of something that felt like doubt. 

“Damaadji, agar aap baahar nikal rahe hai toh hume ashram me chod dijiye” Dadi said.

Though Nani looked up in surprise, she did not object. And looking at the sadness on her face, Anjali’s protests died on her lips too. 

Dadi reminded Anjali of the more pleasant aspects of her childhood, of her late father who had once been the most important man in her life. But the bitterness that Dadi now carried, it seeped from her into the surroundings and Anjali already had enough on her emotional plate.

She had been as blindsided and devasted by Dadi’s revelations about Garima Aunty and Chotey’s betrayal. He had had no right to keep the secret from her for as long as he had. 

But in the end, it didn’t change the fact that Mamma and Pappa were long gone. No, her issues with Chotey and Khushiji had a more recent source, a living and breathing source who had just agreed to drop Daadi to her ashram on his way.

He leaned down and whispered in her ear.

“Aap ghabriye mat, Rani Sahiba” Shyamji said, “Hum shaadi ki saalgirah nahi bhoole. Aakhir aapke liye tohfa lene ke liye hi sahi, hume apna kaam to karna padega na”

Anjali managed another smile as she bid them goodbye. She made Dadi promise to visit more often in the future and watched on uncomfortably as Nani said a stiff word of goodbye to Dadi and headed back to her room. 

Just as she considered following Nani to check on her, her phone buzzed with a text message. 

Her meeting for the morning had been confirmed, the message told her when and where. 

An hour later, she found herself stepping out of a cab in a shady part of the city. She had had Mohanji drop her off at the temple and instructed him to return for her when she called. She had then taken a taxi to the address mentioned in the text.

It appeared to be an unused office undergoing repair work. The steps to the entrance door were on the other side of a gangplank, the pavement on either side dug up to lay pipes which were stacked in heaps to one side. 

Anjali stepped across cautiously and found the glass door unlocked. She heard a familiar voice from the depths of the building.

“Amanji?” she said, stepping inside. 

“Oh hi” 

He appeared on the mezzanine, leaning against the railing of the glass corridor overlooking the reception area where she stood. 

“I wasn’t sure if you’re comin” he said, “You didn’t reply to the message.”

“Oh, sorry” she said, looking belatedly at the phone clutched in her palm. “Hum ready hoke nikalne me lag gaye aur message karna bhool gaye.”

With a small smile, he beckoned her to join him upstairs through a flight of steps to her right. 

“Sorry” he said, observing her slight struggle. “Lift is not working but I couldn’t think of a better place for this.”

Once she joined him, she enquired after his daughter who she was sad to hear was down with a cold. Smiling at his description of her crankiness, she followed him into a small room. It was a side room with a large window on one wall, looking into the adjacent board room. It was one of AR’s older offices, he said. Closed down in preparation for a complete renovation.

“From inside, it looks like a mirror” he said, “The PI won’t be able to see you. I’ll call on your phone and keep my Bluetooth on if you want to say something or have me ask anything on your behalf. Does that sound alright?”

Anjali looked at him, and at the surrounding office in despair. She was grateful that he had seen to the arrangements, but it all felt like the sets of a B grade hindi movie.

She did not have the words to express her gratitude or convey her rising trepidation as Amanji’s phone rang and he left her side to bring in the PI whose name he said was Bankelal Tiwari or BT for short. 

He turned out to be a short, bespectacled and nondescript looking middle aged man. Anjali watched as after the introductions, he pulled out a little flip notebook and took notes while Aman explained the job. 

Full investigation in the professional and personal affairs of Shyam Manohar Jha. On behalf of his unnamed client, he expected complete confidentiality. BT could expect to be compensated more than handsomely for a job well done. 

As they moved on to the particulars of communication and payment, BT asked where the person of interest could be found at present ad Anjali remembered.

“Amanji” she said into her phone and saw him immediately hold up a hand to silence BT and listen. 

“Shyamji ne subah kaha ki woh kuch din sheher se bahar ja rahe hai” she said, “Kaam ke silsile me.”

She watched him relay the information to BT who made a note of it. 

When BT left, Aman gestured for her to join him. When she came around to the board room, she was surprised to find that he had arranged for a thermos of tea.

“Let’s give it a few minutes” he said, offering her a cup. “Hume lagta hai BT pe bharosa kar sakte hai. Humne ek paar pehle bhi unki help li thi. Ek button factory jo humaare company ko supply karti thi, ASR ko unpe shak tha. BT dikhne me jitney saadharan lagte hai utne hi efficient aur resourceful hain.”

Anjali listened to him, suppressing the sudden shivers that had come on. Accepting the cup, she sat opposite him. 

“Aap jaanthe hain, aaj pehli baar humne apne pati pe shaq kiya” she said, and then looking at his incredulous expression, added “I know ki hum yeh sab shaq door karne ke liye hi kar rahe hain but today for the first time, jab unhone kaha ki who sheher se baahar jaa rahe hai toh humare mann me, ek pal ke liye, yeh baat aayi ki kya woh humse sach bol rahe hain? Ki jaa kahan rahe hai aur…kiske saath?”

When she looked up, through her sheen of tears, she saw that he wore a pained expression. 

“Agar aap proceed nahi karna chahti toh abhi bhi der nahi hui hai” he said.

She shook her head. “Nahi Amanji, hume pata karna hi hoga. Ab iss shaq ke saath hum aur nahi jee sakthe…nahi jee sakthe.”

 Her mind reeled back to the night Chotey had returned, slapped Shyamji and had thrown him out of the house. Since that day, he had never once wavered in his belief that Khushiji was in the right. Later, he had even confessed to marrying Khushiji for the wrong reasons and had gone to the extent of fighting with Khushiji when she brought Shyamji back home for Anjali’s sake. 

Her brother’s conviction had been her undoing.

‘It’s my word against his’ Chotey had said, setting forth the chain of events that had led her here. To this room in this dingy building, to BT and his little notebook and to the man sitting before her. She tried to tell him a little, to explain herself but he cut her off. 

“Aapko kuch kehne ki zaroorat nahi hain, you don’t owe me any explanations.” he said, “And waise bhi, ASR also wants the same thing.”

She looked up in surprise as he mentioned Chotey’s instructions to him before leaving on his honeymoon.

“Chotey Bali gaye hain?” she said, her eyes lighting up. Despite everything, she couldn’t keep the happiness she felt for her little brother out of her voice. 

As they stood up to leave, she said, 

“Hum aapka shukr kaise ada karenge Amanji. Aapne humare liye jo kiya…jo kar rahe hain…”

“Anjaliji, Priya ke jaane ke baad…” he hesitated but crossed his arms on his chest and pressed on, “It was difficult to find reasons to go on. I know ki situation bohot alag hai lekin I’m saying this because no matter what we find out…aapko uska saamna karna hoga…”

“Hum jaanthe hain” she said, “Hum samajthe hain…hume bhi aisa hi laga that jab humari raajkumari..jab humne unhe kho diya. Hum jitna dikhte hain usse zyaada strong hain”

“Usse kayi guna zyaada” he cracked a smile and mock saluted. “Aap bohot bahadur hain, Anjaliji”

No one had ever accused her of that. On the way home, it stayed with her, it made her want to be brave.

Survival was not the same as bravery, she decided. She had simply survived the tragedies of her life; he was the brave one. He had suffered loss but continued to live a life of meaning, to help others.

Stepping into her home, she headed straight to Nani’s room. She had always shared a special relationship with her grandmother but in recent months, Nani had become her strongest support system. But now, Nani was weakened by the memories of the daughter she had lost, of the events that had led to it, but most of all she missed Chotey and Khushiji. Since returning from their wedding at the temple, Nani seemed particularly desolate.

Anjali couldn't wait to tell her that the newlyweds were honeymooning in Bali, that would definitely cheer her up and spending some time with her seemed like a much worthier cause than brooding over the pieces of her own life.