The fic cint
Repeated partin brown
IV
All four of them – Yudi, Neelu, Alekh and Naina stood there apprehensively as Neelu rang the bell . They were received at the living room with raised eyebrows. Yudi's parent were already aware about the incidents at KMA and were sorry for the sad demise of Captain Rajveer . Mr. Sahani was certainly not iin sympathetic terms with Major Nair.
Yudi's Mom, being the simple person she is, at once felt sorry for poor Naina and warmly invited her to stay with them as long as Naina would need .
Well, Alekh's presence was taken with a pinch of salt and agreed upon that he would leave with Huda after seven days.
The cadets were invited to a simple dinner of roti , sabzi , rajma and dahi. Yudi's mon observed that Naina was not eating, she was just putting the spoon to her mouth and down. "Naina beta , tum bahut thak gaye ho, , jai araam karo,. " said Mrs Sahani.
After dinner, Naina was packed off to Neelu's room and Alekh to Yud's.
.
As Naina went to bed she already had made a plan of action. She was sure Rajveer wanted her to find out Lt. Chaubey who might have the link to Rajveer's current whereabouts.
So she must first get Chabey's contact number. But how?
Thank God, Huda is still there in KMA. ! She would ask Huda to do so.
Before she realized, Naina was fast asleep. It was twilight time. The sky had a lovely shade of orange and blue. The western side seemed to be on fire but the light that fall on Naina's white sareee was a soft shade of pink and gave the sari a hue of pink and orange . Naina was sitting under a tree , her hair all lose and swinging in the light breeze. She had someone close to her bosom on her lap. He was tired and had his eyes closed. Maybe he was in a deep and peaceful slumber. One sleeps like that when for days one is deprived of sound sleep and closeness to near and dear ones.
Naina was lovingly passing her fingers through the tangles of soiled and unwashed hair which were earlier always perfectly groomed and gelled . Her fingers moved over the closed eyelids, and the slightly crooked nose. She loved that nose. The way he flared his nostrils when upset with her. Naina smiled thinking of many such incidents at KMA.
She felt the rough stubble on his face and rubbed her palm and back of hand against them. The tingling she felt on her hand was at once transmitted to her brain like an electric shock, in turn bringing the tingling sensation to every part of her body.
She outlined the lips with her fingers The lips were now dry and cracked ., but that did not stop Naina from planting a small kiss on them.
Rajveer woke up and tried to get up balancing on his elbows. He turned around and hugged Naina closely . They remained still like that for long.
The pistol shots were sharp and clear and hit Rajveer on his back , three of them , he fell over Naina , who shrieked aloud………….."Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir……….."
But it was Huda who had taken the bullets aimed at her. It was HUda who was still in the KMA.
Naina was fully awake. She was panting , her chest moving up and down . Drops of sweat appeared on her forehead . She looked around the dark room, faitly lit bya nightlamp and Neelu was sleeping peacefully on her bed.
Naina got up and helped herself to a glass of water. What a nightmare !!
But she knew that HUda could help her to get the contact number of Chaubey .
She went to bed again, determined to ring up Dr. Shalini next morning and ask about HUda's condition.
"Hello kya main Dr. Shalini se baat kar sakti hoon?".
"Aap kaun bol rahe hai?"
"Unki rishte dar"
"Please wait,"
," Yeh mera kaun sa rishtedar hai, mujhe dus saal bad KMA mein yaad kya ," saying to herself, Dr. Shalini received the call," Hello, aap kaun hai?"
"Madam, " Naina waited few seconds, " Madam, mai Naina bol rahi hoon. Huda kayesa hai?"
" Oh, N….", Dr Shalini gave a piercing glance at the operator ," Oh ! Aao Huda hi rishtedar hai?, Zaroor aap baat kar sakte hai. " She asked the orderly to transfer the phone line to the infirmary. She remained standing there keeping the operator busy with silly questions.
"Hello , " said Naina.
"Hello," Huda missed a heartbeat. He has been waitng for this call since yesterday, "Phoolan tu kaisi hai?"
" Huda Sun , tujhko mere liye ek kaam karma parega."
" Ek kaam kya , hazaar kam karne ke liye tayar hoon." Thought HUda,
"Bol, ter liye main kya kar sakta hoon ?" asked HUda.
"Library ja kar , jaise bhi ho , Lt Chaubey ka contact number and address pata kar" .
"Okay, madam, consider it done , lekin tu kahan se bol rahi hai?"
Naina only said, "And send that number to Yudi's house. "
"Phoolan, tu mera halat ke ba …." Huda wanted to complain.
But Naina had already cut the connection. She had nothing else in her mind now except that she had to find Rajveer.
After breakfast when all the young people were sitting around in Yudi's room, they decided once again to visit the shootout place. By the time they managed the car , it was already late afternoon.
As they approached the accident point, they saw an army jeep , a whitelimousine and few people near the spot. Alekh , who was driving the SUV suddenly made an about turn, drove for 100 meters and hid the car behind a dhaba. All of them got down and sat around a charpayee of the dhaba. The jeep, the car and the people could be seen from here .
The cadets ordered some lassi and started to talk about their future plan, all the while keeping an eye on the happenings near the fortress. After about half an hour, those people got to their respective vehicles and drove past the dhaba. They could not spot the Army personnel or rather did not recognize him.
But Naina had recognized Lalaji's face behind the white car window.
Now the cadets slowly strolled near the fortress. They noticed that the jeep skeleton was gone , along with the tricolor they put over it.
"Something interesting is happening here. Too many people are interested in this incident.!? ", thought Alekh.
Alekh, Neelu and Yudi went to the spot where Rajveer hoisted the National Flag . They sat together in a small circle, with folded hands and closed eyes and prayed for the peace of Rajveer's soul.
Naina walked pass the opening to the spot where she and Rajveer had declared their love silently to each other . She sat there and lovingly caressed the ground. If she never would never find Rajveer, this place would be her pilgrimage destination. She would come here at least once a year and pay her respect to their love, love that had hardly got a chance to express itself with physical touch, hugs and kisses , she even did not know when she had started to love him or he her. The love - that before giving her the ecstatic bliss of a a newly wedded bride, had given her the pain and agonies of widowhood.
Edited by sunaina02 - 18 years ago
Geet - Hui Sabse Parayee
Advocate Anjali Awasthi
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