Chapter 30

Arnav parked his car at the end of the street and looked around, his jaw clenched.

Seedy. That was all he could say of the decaying garbage piles in the corners of the narrow roads and the rundown edifices, the unkempt people loitering around aimlessly, the women collecting water from public taps and fighting amongst themselves, shouting abuses loudly and the shabby, half-naked children playing on the road.

He opened the door... and gagged. The stench of rotting sewage was overpowering.

He covered his nose with his hanky and looked at the paper with the address. Door 171 of Kamini Chawl meant nothing to him.

He approached the owner of the local tea shop.

"Where is Kamini Chawl?" he asked.

The man eyed ASR's expensive clothes and his upmarket car with eager eyes. "Whom do you want to see? Why are you here?" Morbid curiosity filled his voice.

"Where is it?" ASR was in no mood for any nonsense.

"Go ahead," the man pointed to a narrow alley. "As you enter, you will find a huge building to your left. That is it. But you won't be able to take your car there."

ASR nodded his thanks and walked briskly in the direction pointed out. He came to a stop before the huge decaying building made up of hundreds of small apartments.

He swallowed. Sunehri apparently hadn't profited from his father's death or her dancing.

He entered the building avoiding the questioning and curious glances of many. He walked up the dirty, narrow stairs and corridors, avoiding the many clotheslines on which shabby underclothes danced in the breeze.

Finally he stood before door 171. A brown door that had once upon a time been white stared at him. There was no doorbell. He knocked, first gently and then loudly.

"Why are you knocking down the door, you son of a ***?" came the growl from within before the door was pulled open.

Arnav stared at Sunehri, his eyes wide in shock. His father had... his father had cheated on his mother with this... this was the lady who had ensnared his father?' he wondered.

Middle-aged. Thin to the point of being invisible. Her face was gaunt, the cheekbones pronounced. Her stringy hair was piled up on top of her head in a shabby bun. His resentment seeped away slowly. His picture of a femme fatale who had lured his father to his doom faded in to nothing.

"Kya he?" she asked, none too pleased. Her voice was rough, her expression feral.

"I... I am Arnav Singh Raizada," he said.

"To?" the lady asked, her hands on her hips.

"Are you Sunehri?" he asked.

"And if I am?" Her animosity was a live being.

"I need to talk to you," he said.

"TALK... to ME?" Sunehri asked. "Men don't usually want to TALK to me." She smiled, full of contempt.

Arnav swallowed in distaste. "It will be worth your while," he said, taking a sheaf of notes out of his wallet.

Sunehri looked at his face and at the notes. "Come in," she invited.

Arnav looked around the tiny room. The walls needed paint, the little furniture there was needed to be thrown out. Curtains were non-existent but the room was dust-free. He sat down carefully on the only chair in the room, a chair that shuddered at his weight.

Sunehri sat on the floor, her knees raised, her legs spread, facing him, her wary eyes trained on him.

He placed the notes on the tiny three-legged leaning table near the chair.

Sunehri looked at the money and then at him suspiciously.

He took the money, walked up to her, and placed it by her on the floor. He returned to his chair.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Information."

"About what?"

"Arvind Mallik," he said softly.

Sunehri's shocked eyes looked in to his for a moment. Then she said, "Get out."

Arnav did not move. "I am Arnav Singh Raizada, Arvind Mallik's son," he said.

"His son?" Sunehri's voice was a thread. "Arvind Mallik's son?"

"Yes."

"The bas***d. May he rot in hell!" Sunehri made her mind very clear.

Arnav sat silent watching Sunehri. Her fury seemed to be an echo of his. Khushi...Khushi, he chanted.

"I... we didn't know about you," Arnav said softly.

"There was no need for you to know about me," Sunehri's lips twisted in a bitter smile. "Why should a man's family know about the s**ts he keeps on the side?"

Arnav swallowed.

"I heard that you came to Sheesh Mahal to meet him, to ask him for a house he had promised you?" Arnav asked, trying to swallow the bile rising in his throat.

"Yes"

"You came to see his corpse the day after he died?" Arnav asked.

"Yes. I needed to make sure that he was dead," Sunehri said.

Arnav's eyes widened in shock. Khushi... Khushi... his heart murmured.

Sunehri sighed.

Slowly, she said, "I was a dancer at a kotta in Lucknow. Then." She looked at Arnav, a sour smile on her lips. "I did not look like this then. I had flesh on my body. Flesh that men were fond of preying on. Flesh I sold daily to survive."

Arnav waited, his heart beating hard, loud. The truth was before him. It would come in to his grasp soon.

"A baharwali. A tawaif. A prostitute. That was me. Your father paid the Sahiba at the kotta for keeping me for his sole use. He moved me out of the kotta in to a small house that he rented for one year in my name. He used to visit me there. At the end of the year he dispensed with my services," Sunehri smiled. "He didn't have the guts to come and tell me. He just stopped visiting me. Nor was he bothered about what would happen to me. I couldn't return to the kotta anymore. The lease of the house was about to expire and the landlord was pressing me to move out."

Arnav looked at her lined face, his jaw clenched. The legacy he had inherited was as bitter as poison and as painful as a bed of thorns.

"Arvind Mallik had promised to buy me a house whenever our relationship ended. I needed that house badly. I tried to contact him, many times. But he managed to elude me. I was desperate. That was why I went to Sheesh Mahal to get hold of him."

"Did you see him?" Arnav asked, swallowing hard.

"Yes."

"Did he agree to give you the house?" Arnav asked.

"No. The rat wanted to weasel out of his promise. He pushed me out of his study with vague promises of meeting later. I walked about the house. There was some function going on there. The house was decorated and there was music being played. I mingled with the guests and found out that Arvind Mallik's daughter was getting married," Sunehri frowned. "That must be your sister?" she asked.

"Yes."

"I see," Sunehri nodded. "I thought that would give me additional leverage. That I could get the house out of him by threatening to reveal myself to his family on the wedding day. So I hung around without leaving as Arvind Mallik had instructed."

Arnav's chest felt tight. He focused his eyes on the painfully thin lady's weather-beaten face. Khushi... Khushi... Her name calmed his soul.

"I don't know what happened for a few hours after that. There was some commotion. People were running up and down," Sunehri frowned. "I wondered if someone had found out about me being there. Anyway I sidled to the study and hid myself behind a curtain, waiting for Arvind Mallik to make an appearance."

"Could you talk to him again?" Arnav asked.

"No. He did come in an hour or so later, but his brother was with him. So I stood there for hours till the coast was clear and then ran home," Sunehri said.

"You were in the study for long?" Arnav asked.

"Yes. I could not get out," Sunehri said, a remnant of half-forgotten panic flashing across her face.

"He killed himself in the study," Arnav said softly.

Sunehri jerked in shock.

"Did you see him die?" Arnav asked, his eyes serious.

Sunehri looked away, silent. "No."

"Why did he kill himself?" Arnav asked, his voice free of judgement.

"Who knows?" Sunehri looked away.

"You know," Arnav said, his voice ringing with conviction.

"Take this and go," Sunehri held out the money. "The last thing I want is a police case."

"There will be no case. I promise," Arnav leaned back in his chair and refused to take back the money.

Sunehri laughed, her laughter holding no amusement. "You promise. And I should believe you? Your father too made many promises. I believed him and today..." her voice trailed away.

"I am Arnav Singh Raizada. I am not Arvind Mallik," Arnav said. The righteousness of his Nani, the love of his Di, the maternal care his Mami had showered on him, the respect his Mamaji had for him, the love and unfailing faith his brothers had in him, the responsibility of hundreds of employees that he carried on his shoulders, the implicit faith and trust and love Khushi reposed in him shone from his face, added conviction to his words.

Sunehri looked at his drawn face, its fine lines, his resolute eyes, the hard jaw.

"No, you are not Arvind Mallik. You are strong. He was weak. Very weak. I realised it too late..." Sunehri sighed.

"What happened that night?" Arnav asked.

"Why should I tell you?" Sunehri asked.

"Money. You can have five lakhs today if you tell me the truth about what you saw in that study," Arnav said softly.

Sunehri's face twisted in to a mockery of a smile. "I will either end up in jail or dead."

"You won't."

"I can't take the risk," Sunehri said softly.

"I promise. Even if you killed Arvind Mallik with your bare hands, I promise not to file a case against you," Arnav said equally softly.

Sunehri smiled sadly but remained silent.

Arnav drew in a deep breath. What he had to do was difficult. Laying the cards on the table was always an exercise in vulnerability and it was alien to his character. But he had to do it. His mistakes with Khushi had taught him that and more.

He spoke softly, from his heart. "My mother saw you with my father."

Sunehri looked up in shock.

"My sister's wedding preparations were on. And my parents were fighting about you."

Sunehri's eyes were trapped by his.

"My mother asked him about you. She cried. She left the room.

We heard a gun shot.

She killed herself," Arnav said, his face and voice expressionless.

Sunehri gasped.

"My father killed himself in the study two hours later. He apparently shot himself out of love for his wife."

Sunehri stared at him, willing herself not to make a sound.

"The wedding got cancelled. Di and I were left with the corpses of our parents. The next day Chachaji turned us out of the house in the clothes we were wearing."

Sunehri's eyes became moist but she still met Arnav's grave eyes.

"That is why I want to know what happened that day. To find closure," Arnav sighed. "My sister and I... we... for the past fourteen years..."

Sunehri looked at his face. Both of them sat looking at each other for long.

Finally Arnav stood up. . He had lost now, but maybe Sunehri would reconsider and put him out of his misery later. He had learnt patience at Khushi's feet.

He handed over his card to her.

"Call me if you are willing to talk. I will come with the five lakhs," he said.

Sunehri remained silent.

He walked towards the door.

As he reached for the broken handle of the door, he felt a small tug on his other arm.