Baldev puttar, tu Delhi Ja raha hain na? yeh mere kuch saman ke list hain le ana...said an overjoyed Bansuri. He didn't answer anything just took the list silently and walked away...
Papaji..main aaj ek consignment leke Delhi ja raha hoon...aur phir waha se aur ek consignment leke Amritsar...sayad wapas aate aate parsow subha ho gayegi...he bend down to touch his feet...Balwant stood up from the arm chair and put his hand on his head...Changa puttar...apna dhyaan rakhi...he tried his level best to sound happy and allow himself a smile, but two droplets of tears escaped his eyes. Baldev slowly walked away and Balwant kept looking at him with teary eyes...
Sarpanchji...aap ki chaye...Balwant silently took the cup from her...dekha aapne main na keh ti thi ke dhire dhire humara puttar sab bhool jayega...ab toh main koye susil, change kudi dekh kar uska beha karwaungi...she was almost jumping with joy...
Baas...Bansuriji...Ab rehem karo...mujh par aur mere bachoo par...na jane mere kis janm ke papon ka fall hain yeh...kamwaqt maut bhi to nahi aati...tin baar daura par chukka, lekin har bari...raab ne mainu bacha liya...sayad mere khamosiyon ki saaja ab taq puri nahi hui...he put down the cup on the table and walked away...
Leh Jaggi prasad...
Oye, aachanak yeh pradad kaise?
Who aaj itne dino ke baad Baldev praji khood consignment leke Delhi ja rahe hain, to socha Gurdware main Prasad chara doon...
Bohot changa kitta Billa tune. Baldev praji dhire dhire zindage main aage barh rahe hain...Kash...kahi se...
Jaggi...Billa...consignment ready hain?...he asked in a how lifeless voice...
Haan praji...ek ek saman hum dono neh check kiya hain...aap baas form peh sign karo aur raabji ka naam leke nikal paro...pehle yeh Prasad lelo praji...said Billa in a very hesitant voice...
Tum log to jante ho... main in baton main biswas nahi karta...form kaha hain...aur driver aya ki nahi...
Haan praji...main taiwar hoon said the driver...he first signed the form and then tiered it off from the pad and kept it in the pocket of his jacket and rode the truck alongside the driver...the truck slowly moved out of the sight of Jaggi and Billa, who kept looking at the truck with teary eyes.
Baldev Balwant Singh, age 28 years, native place Preetampura, Punjab. He looks like a man but actually is a vegetable today, "Zinda Laash" as they call it in Hindi. He is living his life for the sake of living only. Words like happiness, smile and even pain and tears do not exist in his dictionary. The only person he speaks with is his father Balwant, his two friends Jaggi and Billa and his sister Gunjan. The persons he hates most is himself and then his mother...he has never spoken to her in the last 6 months...for 3 months he had isolated himself from everything...staying in an abandoned stable which belonged to his family near the end of his village, he had decided to close down his rapidly flourishing transport business, but his father requested him not to and his friends literally begged him not to close the business. For the last five months his father and his friends have been taking care of his business and him. He has many kurtas and jackets but not a single baniyan ( men's innerwear for the upper portion of the body) which is not stained with his own blood. He had decided to torture himself till death, but death never came. Somehow Gaunjan and Balwant managed to convince him to stay at home and try to get back to normal life and move on. Although he has been staying with his parents for the past 1 month he never enters his bed room. Gunjan has shifted his belongings to her room and she herself is staying in Baldev's room. She is pregnant and has been staying in her mother's place for the last 1 month.
"Tu neh mera drawing book phar diya...main tujhe nahi choroonga..."
"Main tera jaan le loonga"...two school kids were fighting endlessly and had been banging each other to the ground...a lady came running in
"Karan...Rajesh...nooo...stop this". She managed to stop them and separate them from each other. " Tum dono phir se lar rahe ho...phir se maar pit kar rahe ho...mana kiya tha na maine" said the lady
"Miss is ne mera drawing book phar diya"...said Karan
"Nahi Miss...pehle isne mera drawing book phara tha"...said Rajesh
"Baas...tum dono neh mujhse keya promise kiya tha? Kabhi nahi laroge...tum logo ne apna promise tor diya?"
" Sorry Miss" said both Karan and Rajesh
"Ab jaldi se ek dusre ko sorry bolo aur zadra khatam karo"...they both said sorry to each other and hugged and went away. An elderly lady had already arrived..."Poore school main koye aur in dono ko sambhal nahi sakta...lekin tum kitne aasaani se inhe sambhal te ho..."
" Kuch nahi Ma'am...do no baas thore se sararati hain...lekin pyaar se samjhane se samajh jaate hain. Aacha Ma'am main chalti hoon mere class ka samay ho raha hain"...she walked away...the elderly Lady kept looking at her.
Name: Veera Singh, age 24 years, native place preetampura, Punjab, current location Delhi, India. Nick name given by colleagues, particularly male colleagues "MYSTERY". The only time she smiles is when she is with the students of her class and the only person she speaks freely with is the Principal of her School, Mrs. Ahuja. She never speaks to anybody unless absolutely required. Her colleagues have tried to talk and get closer to her but she never gave anybody a chance. They say there are actually two Veeras...one inside the class room with her students and another outside that class room. People are curious about her, particularly about her marital status, but nobody dares to cross the wall she has herself put around her. She tries to keep herself engaged with the kids all day. If any time she is free she can only be found at one place, under a big banyan tree at the corner of the school compound. Once Mrs. Ahuja found her there, she was sitting like a statue, but tears were pouring down her chicks, when asked she said I am missing my family. Yes she has a non existing family today. She has broken all ties with every one she knew, even with her Veerji, who was like God to her and may be the root cause of all her sufferings. The only person who knows her in Delhi is her classmate and friend Shivani. She herself does not know her identity today whether she is Veera Sampooran Singh or she is Mrs. Veera Baldev Singh.
...to be continued