PART THIRTEEN :
Precap :
Naina helping her friends and crying in front of Raj's room everynight....Naina's friends planning something for her birthday...
In the Night:
Naina got up with a jerk due to rash sound of Alarm.
It was only 11.45 pm !
She wondered why Pooja had put this alarm, coz she didnt !
She looked towards Pooja's bed, but was surprised to find it empty.
The bed sheet and the blanket were askew....
Her mobile was lying on the floor.....
The soft pillow was crumpled.....
There were few drops of blood on the bed sheet....
Naina got up from her bed and moved forward.
She found a letter lying on the bed and was shocked to read the matter....
It read......
" Cadet Singh!
Agar apni dost ko zinda dekhna chahti ho toh abhi aur issi waqt Girl's dorm ke visitor's room me aao.
Warna......
Tumhara shubhchintak...."
Naina hurriedly wore her slippers and headed toward's the visitor's room.
She slowly pushed the door and was stunned to find it open.
She entered the room carefully.....
As soon as she entered, the Lights were on automatically.
she immediately turned to see who it was but the person was faster than her, the door was already shut. She hastily opened it to see, but to find empty corridors....
She turned to close the door of visitor's room and found another chit stuck on the door....
" aap toh bahot bahadur nikli cadet singh! Dost ke aage khud ki jaan ki bhi parvaah nahi hai aapko? Khair cadet ghai toh wahi shaheed hogi jaha shaheedon ke shaan mein diya jalta hai!"
" Shaheedon ke shaan mein diya....?", Naina wondered, " Oh my God! academy foyer!"
And she ran towards Foyer to find another chit waiting for her....
" Ahaan! aap toh badi smart nikli...!!! Waah waah! Aise hi aapka naam Naina singh Ahluwalia nahi hai...maan gaye! Woh kya hai naa....iss chuhe billi ke khel se main bahot bore hogaya hoon. Aur mujhe bahot bhookh bhi lag rahi hai......."
" MESS! ", she exclaimed !
When she entered mess, it was pitch dark.
She wobbled in dark, hit her leg with the chair once while heading towards the switch board...
" Ouch! Aah! Pooja...pooja...Poo...", and her voice was muted by .....
All the lights were Lit suddenly! And her friends screamed from behind the balloons...
" SURPRISE!!!!!"
Naina was shocked!
Whole of the mess was decorated...there were steamers...festoons...balloons every where...
A table was placed in the centre....
It was decorated with flowers and there was a knife kept on it.....
" Guyz yeh sab...."
But she was stopped by Huda's full on Nautanki!
He held her hand and began singing...
" Baar baar din yeh aaye , Baar baar dil yeh gaaye......Happy birthday to you!"
" Abey saale ! beech ke lines khaa gaya naa? Maine toh pehle hi kaha tha...isse mat karne do. Saale ke dimaag mein Bhains aur gobar ke alawa kuch nahi hai." , Aalekh said angrily as Huda had spoiled everything by forgetting the lines!
Naina laughed.
" Thank you so much guys! Mujhe toh yaad hi nahi tha ki...."
" Par hum kaise bhool sakte hai Cadet Singh?" , Shalini entered with a cake , " Happy Birthday Naina."
" Thanks maam."
Shalini hugged Naina.
" Guys, Pooja kaha hai?", Naina was still worried for her.
" Punjaban tere saamne aane se darr rahi hai!"
" Pooja jaldi bahar aao!", Naina called out, " Dekho....jitni jaldi bahar aaogi,utni kam maar padegi."
Pooja came out and looked towards her sheepishly. Naina was staring at her and then......
she smiled.
They both hugged each other.
" Idiot! tujhe pata hai main kitna darr gayi thi!"
" Woh main aisa nahi karna chahti thi...yeh toh Huda ka idea tha."
Naina separated from her and looked at Huda accusingly...
" oye kya kar rahi hai Punjaban? Kyun mujhe shaheed karwane pe tuli hui hai? Waise Phoolan, woh saare notes Qaidi ne likhe the ! "
" AALEKH !!", She moved forward to hit him !
" Naina, usme jo english dialogue the woh Yudi ne bataye the !" , Aalekh said running away...
" Yudi!!!", Naina was about to hit him ....
" Naina, Woh Handwriting Ali ne forge ki thi !" , Yudi said quickly...
" ALI...", she ran after Ali, as everyone in the mess were laughing at the ongoing scene....!
" Guyz isse pehle ke BC aajaye , Cake cut kare?", Shalini said finally !
They all came near the table and the lights were off again....
only light coming was from candles on the cake....
Naina looked at the cake and candles....
Today was her birthday....
And she was celebrating it without two most important persons in her life.....
Her bhaiya and her Love.....
Suddenly.....
She saw Naveen coming towards her with a guitar...
chandni muskuraye jab hawa kuch kahe ...
samjho meri sadaye hai tere saath main ...
He was singing their favourite song.
Naina always loved to hear it from him and He used to sing it for his loving sis.....
He moved circling her....Naina's eyes following him lovingly.....
He lit a candle and brought it infront of her....
jo ghana ho fiza main andhera ...
layenge hum savere tere liye ...
He held her hand....
le chale le chale
He brought her close hugging her and took her to the window.....He put his arm around her shoulder while She rested her head on his shoulder with his head resting on hers........
yaadon ke yeh kaafile
He pointed towards the starlit sky , while she followed his finger....Her heart content to be with her brother......
jayenge hum jahan ...
yeh zameen aasmaan mile ...
Just then she was pulled by someone and carried to the balcony....
Raindrops of the first rain hit her face.....she was enjoying the feel of it with her.....Rajveer Sir.
narm boondo ki rimzhim ...
pehli baarish ke din ...
And he carried her under a clear sky....experiencing the heat of sunny day of summer.....
dopahar garmiyon ki ...
Suddenly sky changed to shades of orange, violet and scarlet....as in pleasant winter evening....
shame woh sard si ...
She was amazed at the changes.....
rut koi koi mausam koi ghadi ..
ho saath main humko har dam tum paaoge ...
Oh! she understood..... does it means she can live and enjoy all the climates in a single moment with her Rajveer??
Yes....
She smiled at him.
le chale le chale ...
( Movie: My brother Nikhil)
He cupped her face and brought her closer into embrace.....
She rested her head on his chest with his chin resting on the top of her head...
His hands wrapped around her and hers resting on his shoulders.....
Both of them slowly moving with the music.....as if in a slow dance....
Enjoying the Bliss of the moment....The bliss of their Love....their togetherness......
She was shook by someone...
" Naina...kaha kho gayi?" , Aalekh asked.
" Woh main...."
She looked around....Her Rajveer sir was nowhere, neither was her brother.
" Kuch nahin.Bass aise hi."
" Cake kaatle?"
" Huh?...ha...haan."
Atleast she met them in her dreams...for now she was contented with it.
She bent over to blow candles....
" Chuhiya....make a wish ! " , she heard Naveen saying mischievously....and saw Rajveer smiling at her cutely.
She closed her eyes....and wished for....
" God help me to find out Rajveer Sir and prove him and Bhaiya innocent....please. I don't want anything else on this Birthday! "
She opened her eyes and blew off the candles while her friends cheered.
She cut the cake and fed everyone with a piece.
They all chatted for a long time munching the delicacy Sureeji had specially prepared for their Late night Party !
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Morning of her birthday began as usual....but...
In the afternoon Shalini got a simple letter.....
It only read...
"
Happy Birthday.... Cadet Naina ## Singh
"
She was confused as well as worried who it might be.
She decided not to show it to Naina and give her tension on her birthday, But Naina saw it when she had come to the infirmary for her regular check up.
" maam yeh kya hai? Yeh kisne bheja?"
" pata nahi Naina. Aaj dopahar mein hi aaya hai. Main khud bhi confused hoon. Bhejne waale ne apna naam bhi nahi likha aur agar tumhare liye bhejna tha toh mere paas kyun bheja?"
Naina picked up the letter. She observed it carefully.
The strokes of the handwriting were familiar.....She had seen it almost everyday....in her class.
In the CLASS?
and then she noticed what Shalini had failed to notice.
Between 'Naina' and 'Singh', someone had written 'Ah' and then cancelled it.
Her heart started beating faster and legs began shaking.
She took the support of the chair and collapsed on it.
She was sweating badly and was shivering.....
" Naina? Naina tum theek toh ho? Kya hua?"
" Huh? haan maam main theek hoon."
" Dekho tumhe uss letter se itna pareshan hone ki jaroorat nahi hai. That's why i didn't want to show you."
" Thank...thank you so much for the....for the letter maam."
" Kya kaha?Thanks??? Kisliye??"
" Kuch nahin. Main chalti hoon."
She got up immediately and stormed out of the infirmary, while Shalini kept calling her...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naina ran to her room. She cried with her back against the closed door, clutching that precious piece of paper.
' Kya sachmein yeh Rajveer Sir ne bheja hai? Haan...mera dil kehta hai.Yeh unhone hi bheja hai. Parr...agar yeh kisiki saazish hui toh? Haan...hosakta hai. Ab mera apni kismat se bharosa uth gaya hai....mujhe iss baarein mein sabko bata dena chahiye. Par....agar yeh sach mein sir huye toh? Toh unki jaan ko khatra ho sakta hai....tabhi unhone yeh Shalini maam ke paas bheja....haan....yeh Sir hi hai. He is taking precaution , kyunki woh jaante hai ki mujhpar sabki nazar hogi !! OH God! please help me! Sir....kaha ho aap? Please waapis aajao. I....I need you....we all need you Sir....Aap aisa kaisa kar sakte ho sir?? Please waapis aajao ! '
Then she stared at the precious letter in her hand...
She smiled amongst her tears...
" Thank you Sir...", she whispered, " Main jaanti thi....mera Birthday aur aap mujhe wish na kare, aisa ho hi nahi sakta...aaj...aaj sahi maayine mein main phir jee uthi....warna yeh birthday toh meaningless hota ! "
She wiped her tears...
" You care for me Sir !! ", she smiled and kissed the letter, " YOU DO CARE FOR ME !! bass ab aap jaldise waapis aajao !"
She cried silently.
She kept looking at the letter adorably...
This was the Best Birthday gift that she got, for sure!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next day.....
Naina was thinking about the letter.
She was not coming to decide what to do.
" Kya locha hai?"
She was brought out of her rumaging...
" Aalekh?"
" Hmmm. Baat kya hai? koi tension hai kya?"
" Kuch aisa hi samajh le."
" Rajveer sir ke baare mein?"
She nodded.
" Chal apun ke saath."
Naina followed him. He took her to secluded place.
" Ab bol."
" Aalekh actually.....", she was collecting words to exactly put forward the thing and her assumption.....No...Her belief.
But Aalekh mistook it for something else.
" Agar tu nahi batana chahti toh...."
" Nahi Aalekh. Ek tu hi toh hai jisse main apni saari baatein share karti hoon. Tujhe nahi bataungi toh kisse bataungi? Tu hi toh mujhe samajh leta hai...mere bina kuch kahe..."
Aalekh smiled.
" Toh phir soch mat aur seedha bol daal. Aadha jhanjhat wahi khatam hojayega."
" Aalekh kal Shalini maam ko ek letter aaya. Actually ek chit. Mere liye..."
And she showed him the chit.
Aalekh took it muttering....
" Saala koi tere ko chit bhej raha hai aur woh bhi shalini maam ke paas? Kisne bheji hai?"
" Bhejnewaale ka naam nahi hai chit pe."
Aalekh read the chit and looked up at Naina in disbelief.
" Tu bhi naa Naina. Khali fokat tension leti hai. Koi bechara tujhe Happy Birthday bol raha hai, usme itna pareshaan hone ki kya baat hai? Hoga koi tujhe pasand karnewaala....tere saamne aane ki himmat nahi hogi. Saala...kahi yeh Huda toh nahi...??"
" AALEKH!!!" , Naina shouted to stop his blabber.
" Theek se dekh isse."
" Kya baat hai? aisi kaunsi khaas baat hai iss mein?"
" Aalekh yeh handwriting...tujhe kuch jaana pehchaana nahi lag raha? Yeh...yeh Rajveer sir ke handwriting hai..", She said in whisper so that no one could hear them.
Aalekh looked at her in shock and again hastily looked at the chit.
His face was showing a glow of realisation....
" Aur yeh dekh.", Naina said pointing in the chit.
Aalekh saw the cancelled ' Ah '.
" Sirf Rajveer Sir mujhe aise pukaarte the.", Naina said crying slowly.
" Iska matlab?" , Aalekh said with a great hope....his eyes moist too.
For the first time in life his logic was not working.
The mere thought of their Captain Sir being Alive and somewhere around made his mind numb.
He tightly held Naina's hand for support.
She in turn hugged him and began sobbing.
He too hugged her tightly.
" Iska matlab apun ke Captain Sir zinda hai....apun ko bass unhe dhoondhna hoga. jaldse jald...", He said soothing her hairs.
" Haan Aalekh. Sir ki jaan ko khatra hai. hume jaldse jald un tak pohochna hoga. Kya pata ? agar unhe yeh pata na ho ke unke mentor hi asli traitor hai? agar Sir ne Lala ko contact kiya toh...Sab khatam ho jaayega." , She spoke with a fright.
" Naina....", Aalekh hesitated.
" Kya hua Aalekh?" , Naina asked separating from him.
" Naina agar yeh kisi ki saazish hui toh?"
" Nahi aalekh. Main Sir ki handwriting pehchaan ne mein dhoka nahi kha sakti. Aur phir woh mera naam ustarah se....."
" Naina pagal mat ban. Thoda dimaag laga. Agar koi apunko ghumaane karne ki koshish kar raha ho toh?Apun apne laksh se aur bhi door hojayega. Tere paas Rajveer Sir ka likha koi letter, chit ya aur kuch hai?"
" Haan hai. Kyun?"
" Apun ko lagta hai..."
" Tu kehna chahta hai ke hume yeh chit Handwriting expert se confirm karwaani chahiye?"
" Haan."
" Theek hai Aalekh. Agar tu keh raha hai toh karwaate hai. Parr mera dil jaanta hai ki yeh chit Rajveer sir ne hi bheji hai."
Aalekh smiled and put his hand on her head.
" Apun duaa karta hai Naina ki tera Dil sahi ho aur apunka bheja galat. Waise bhi.....Dil hamesha sahi hota hai."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Both of them returned to the group and got engrossed in the classes and drills.
They were busy for the entire day and couldn't discuss it anymore. Naina wanted to discuss it with her other friends also, but it was not safe to say it there....when she was always being closely watched 24x7 by Maj.Nair.
But her mind was completely occupied with the chit only. She was thinking about the pros and cons of tallying the chit with Handwriting expert.
What if the expert is Lala's man ?
What if somebody else of the culprit find out that Rajveer is alive?
These days nobody could be trusted for.....
Neither should she underestimate Lala Gehlot......
One mistake..........And everything will be Finished......
But... Even Aalekh was right somewhere.....She needs to confirm this.
Whatever it is.....She needs to act fast. Before it's too late....
She was walking deeply immersed in her thoughts when she bumped into someone.
Her books fell.
She bent to collect them, when the person too stopped to help her.
That time the person saw her properly for the first time....
" Cadet Singh??" , he asked in disbelief.
Naina looked up immediately.
" Buntyji aap? Yahaan...KMA mein??"
She looked at him with some hope.
May be he knows.....where Rajveer Sir is?
" Yeh kya haalat bana li hai apni? maine to tumhe pehchaana hi nahi!"
she smiled sadly.
" Aap yahaan KMA mein?"
" Hmmm. Yahaa kuch nahin bata sakta. We can't take risk. Meet me afterwards....bahot kuch poochna hai tumse."
She nodded, collected her books and left the place as if nothing happened.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She met Bunty Chaube in the same secluded place around dusk.
As soon as she reach there, first thing she asked was...
" Buntyji...Aap jaante hain na Sir kaha hai?"
She asked with so much hope that Bunty felt sad to reply.
He just looked down.
Tears formed in her eyes.
" Aap...aap chupa rahe hai mujhse. Aap ko kaise nahi pata sir ke baaremein? Aap toh unke assisstant the naa? Dekhiye buntyji, please agar aap kuch bhi jaante ho toh mujhe bata deejiye. Yaad hai aap ne mujhpe tab bharosa kiya tha jab main nayee cadet thi...toh phir...toh phir aaj kyun nahi. Mujhe apni jaan ki koi parvaah nahi hai. Please mujhe bata deejiye Sir kahaan hai?"
" Cadet Singh Shaant ho jaao! Agar mujhe pata hota toh main jaroor batata tumhe. Meri posting Ladakh mein ki gayee thi. Isliye mera aur Sir ka koi contact nahi tha. Mujhe jab sir ke baarein mein pata chala toh....maine bahot koshish ki yahaa aane ki par....Duty!!! Abhi official kaam se Delhi aaya toh health ka bahaana banake maine leave li taake kuch toh pata chale sirjee ke baarein mein.....Issiliye main tumhe dhoondh raha tha. Kyunki agar Sirjee kisiko contact karenge toh woh tumhe......."
Naina cried at his last sentence.
" Himmat rakho Cadet. Sir ko kuch nahi hua hai....Sirjee ko uss Jeep ke saath jalta hua main imagine hi nahi kar sakta."
" Buntyji, hame sir ko jaldi dhoondhna hoga."
" Haan. Parr saavdhani se. Sir ki jaan se abhi khatra tala nahi hai.... Koi toh lead miljaaye....kash...."
Suddenly Naina remembered something.
" Buntyjii yeh dekhiye."
She showed him the chit.
" Yeh mujhe kal mila tha. Kisine Shalini maam ko bheja tha. Aur....", She put forward another matter she had ,written by Rajveer before., " Yeh dekhiye....yeh Sir ka likha hua hai. Agar hum inhe compare kare toh....."
Bunty Chaube himself was a handwriting expert.
He keenly checked both the written matter.
He was sure....No doubt about that. But.....
" Isse tumne kis kisko dikahya hai. I mean apna doubt kis kis ke saath share kiya hai hai?"
" Aalekh ke saath."
" Hmmm. Aur kisiko batane ke chakkar mein mat pado. Yahaan tumhari jaan ko bhi khatra hai. Tumpar bhi kadi nigraani rakhi jaa rahi hai."
" Theek hai. Par ye...."
" Kuch kaha nahi jaa sakta Cadet. par jaise hi kuch pata chalega, I will surely tell you. Bharosa rakho." , Bunty said, his eyes betraying what he said.
Naina smiled. She had got it....after all she was Rajveer's protege!
" Hume ab chalna chahiye,isse pehle ki kisiko shak ho jaaye."
"Hmmm."
" Apna khayal rakhna cadet. Tumhari aisi haalat....Sirjee ko bhi achcha nahi lagega."
She smiled and nodded.
Bunty began to leave when Naina called out....
" Buntyjii!"
He turned.
Naina walked upto him.
" Meri Chit."
" Oh haan."
He handed her the chit and observed her as she took it as a most precious thing......
Even He understood......that his act......
" Aur All the best. Mujhe aapke contact karne ka intezaar rahega.", Naina broke his chain of thoughts.
" Sure cadet. Bye and Take care."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Days passed and all the cadets were immersed in their training and their secret mission.
Naina was trying her best to get the leads and also probe into Shalini if she got any more messages. But surprisingly though, Shalini never again received any message or call from the anonymous.
The conversation taped due to bugs planted in Nair's chamber were pointing his and Gehlot's involvement, but they were not staunch proofs and therefore they required to get more. Also, they have to carry on their task such that nobody could catch them,and so they have to do it rather slowly and there were many obstacles in their way. But they were Rajveer's cadets. Woh itni jaldi haar nahi maan sakte.....
Thus....Slowly and steadily they were heading towards their goal.
But it was as though stars were not on their side.
*****************************************************************
DONE !!! 😃 😃 😃
Edited by Revolutionbreez - 15 years ago
I assure you...jaldihi Raj ko le aaungi yaar ! 😃
CID
Bade Achche Lagte Hain Naya Season
13