FF- Naku's Call, Epilogue, pg32,note on pg 33 - Page 5

Kiran ka ladka, Nakusha ka judwa, 10 minute bara Nakusha se, lekin Nakusha hai leader, jo Nakusha kehti hai woh wohi karta hai...chamcha number one...

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Dutta took one of the cycles standing in the yard and rode towards Jitesh's shop in the biggest market complex, on reaching there he found, some men were collecting donations for the forthcoming cricket finals, this is the first time we have reached the finals and we should take good care of the team, they need new gear, uniform aur kuch high protein diet, energy drinks…Dutta took out Rs.1000/- and gave it….best of three matches, one to be played in the newly built stadium, the next in the village of the opponents and need be the 3^rd on a neutral ground…

Yeh Vikas bahut talented hai, lekin thora nervous kism ka, bara matcho me fail ho jata hai, this is his biggest problem…areh socha hi nehi tha that we will reach the finals, isiliye humlog gay hi nehi dekhne, lekin dekho….everybody seemed to be excited on achieving the unexpected, Dutta listened to their conversations, they asked about his work, offered him tea, as Jitesh arranged for a round of bridge outside his shop when he pointed out to Dutta…

Dekh Dutta, joint-venture….

Joint-venture? Dutta glanced towards the direction Jitesh's finger, Nakusha was riding a bicycle, she was maneuvering the cycle sitting on the rider's seat while a guy at the pillion was paddling it….

Areh yeh Vikas, bara VIP ho giya, dikhayi nei deta, idhar aaah, called our Jitesh…

Aya bhaiya, Vikas got off and ran towards them…so this was Vikas, thought Dutta, same height and feature that of Nakusha, except for his voice which was slightly heavier than Nakusha's and other obvious female developments Nakusha had, both brother and sister looked alike…

Dutta stared at Nakusha, leaning against her cycle waiting for Vikas to finish speaking, she glared back at him for sometime, then turned away showing her disinterest fiddling with her cycle when somebody whistled …Areh Rakesh aya hai, shouted a male voice from somewhere, Nakusha got excited, Vikas, Rakesh…she jumped up onto her cycle and started paddling,

Areh jaldi jaldi chal, Vikas jumped behind and they leave in speed shouting at their group to come along to the place where Rakesh, their arch rival has been spotted…

Seeing the brother/sister paddling in collaboration, someone commented, Jo Nakusha se shaadi karega, Vikas ko dahej me payega…

Dutta laughed at the comment, I would not mind if Vikas was a girl after all saali adhi gharwali…

Idhar sali nehi sala hai upar se Nakusha ka to chal chalan hai, usse kaun shaadi karega…

Mujhe toh Nakusha bahut achhi lagti hai, sidha, saral aur himmatwali, I wish my daughter becomes like her...Jitesh commented

Ha jab roz roz ghar me complain ayenge then you will no longer wish….

Kuch bhi bolo I enjoyed the way Nakusha chased away Seema's mangetar last year…Jitesh went on…

Ha isiliye masterji abhi tak Seema ki shaadi nehi kara sake…

Lekin end waqt itna dahej manga bhi toh theek nehi hai…woh bhi shaadi ka 2 din pehle…

Abh dahej toh rahegai….

Mai manta hu toh pehle itna nek banne ki keya jaroorat tha, shuru me hi mang lete….Jitesh still supported Nakusha

Jo bhi ho the end result is Seema is still unmarried….

On their way back to their house, Jitesh narrated to Dutta how Nakusha alongwith Vikas & their group chased away Seema's groom and his father who had come 2 days before the wedding with a long list of demand….

Aisa nara lagaya that they chased their car out of the village…Seema bahut kabil ladki hai, dekhne me bhi sundar hai, I am sure she will get a good match….

Toh ek saal me baat kuch ageh nehi bara…Dutta asked…

Keya kare this area is still somewhat backwards, nobody now wants to come formally to see Seema, Ma koshish kar rahi hai ki informally agar koi Seema ko dekhkar pasand kar le to baat ageh baray Dutta without much fanfare…Dutta tried to recollect Seema's face but only remembered Nakusha glaring at him…

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Next day, after his breakfast Dutta left the house, cycling towards the stadium, it was getting prepared for the finals to be played next week but outside it in the open area he heard nets have been set up for the team to practice…

On reaching it, he noticed the practice was on, Dutta leaned against the big tree to see what was going on…Nakusha was there, she could be distinguished by her salwar kameez, batting in the nets, sometimes sitting at the sidelines giving instructions, serving water to players, Dutta watched Vikas too, yes he was also good, he and Nakusha had similar stance, making shots etc., if dressed identically it would be difficult to distinguish them from a distance, lekin what about the close in fielders couldn't they make out she was a girl, keya akh itne kharab hai…

Aap idhar keya kar rahe hai…

Dutta saw Nakusha standing in front of him with a big frown on her face…

Don't you have eyes, can't you see that I am watching…

What are you watching? Net Practice? Nakusha asked…

Yeah you can say that but something else too…Dutta pinned his glance at Nakusha's bosom…

Nakusha followed his eyes…she frowned harder…

Niche keya dekh rahe ho upar dekho…she minced her words…

Mai yeh dekh raha hu, ki tumne chhupaya kaise…

Matlab?

Semi-final match keya tum andho ke saath kheli thi, Dutta asked very innocently…

Tum bare batameez ho, ilhaaz karo ki tum mamiji ke bhateje ho, nehi toh mai…

Yeh Naku koi problem, Vikas shouted from the nets…

Nothing which I cannot handle she replied back…

Tumhare built ki hisab se toh size theek hi hai, phirbhi kisi ko kuch maloom nehi chala, Dutta went on observing….

You, tum now that is the limit, Nakusha was hopping mad, mai jake mamiji ko bata dungi, she turned to leave…

Tabh yeh bhi bata dena ki tum Vikas bankar semi final me century mari thi…

Nakusha turned around and with a sly smile said you do not have prove do you…

Dutta returned her smile, Try me, he gave her a glimpse of his fi-hi mobile, aur mere baath hi kafi hai, mujhe log jaida biswas karenge yeh dikhana bhi nehi parega…by the way us din Vikas kaha tha…

She ignored the question, usme keya hai…her eyes refused to leave his pocket containing the mobile…

Dutta got up in his cycle…Tumhare karname ki proof, it can be yours if you will tell me how you fooled Rakesh and his team…Nakusha stood her ground, she was not forthcoming with any information, Dutta pushed the paddle and went off…

While Nakusha conned them, where was Vikas, obviously not around to be seen by the rival team and not around this village even, yeh manna parega both brother and sister are good actors, while Vikas is basking in the glory of his scoring so called century, Nakusha is not giving away anything by which it can be detected it is not Vikas but she who scored it, aur toh aur uski sathiyo ka bhi keya kehna instead of playing cricket they should have enrolled themselves in a drama company, surely would have been raking millions now…

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When Dutta returned in the evening, he saw Kiran and Seema chatting with Bua and other ladies of the family, Dutta nodded an acknowledgement before picking up the cricket bat to play with the kids of the house…while he bowled underarm so the children could hit the ball properly, he heard Kiran saying to Bua, Bhabiji me abh chalti hu, pura din mere ghar me yeh awaz, Naku aur Vikas, mera toh abhi sar dukhta hai sunkar, chillane se bhi koi faida nehi, bhai ko India Team me ghusa ke hi rahegi Nakusha…

Abh bachche hai, thora toh awaz to sahena parega Kiran…

Nakusha ke umar me mera shaadi ho chuka tha, har samay uchhal kud…

Parai bhi toh theek hi karti hai…

Dimag hai lekin jaha lagana chahiye udhar nehi ….Abhi college jana shuru karegi, bal bara karne ke liye bola toh aur chhota kar diya….isse achha vikas ko ladki aur isse ladki bana deta bhagwan mera parishani kum ho jati…

Areh Kiran bua abh bus bhi karo itna bhi koso maath, aapka beti hai, aur usdin jab phupaji raat ko bimar ho gaye the, adhi raat ko doctor sahab ko pakarke Nakusha hi layi thi, doctorji toh phone hi nehi utha rahe the….

Ha woh toh hai…

Ha toh kuch dosh ke saath bhagwan ne kuch gun bhi usse diya…aur do char saal me ekdom santh ho jayegi…

Tabh tak mai agar zinda rahu toh….

Tabh tu akar idhar royegi, meri Nakusha ko keya no giya Bhabiji koi awaaz hi nehi karti, Bua butted in, the ladies laughed…

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As the ladies resumed talking, Nakusha barged in like a storm, Ma tum idhar ho keya, didi bhi hai, dekho Vikas a photo semi final jitney ke baad…the children jumped in dikhao didi dikhayo…they huddled together over the photographs, Dutta stood casually next to them when someone passed at copy or two to him, Vikas with the winning team, holding his bat up and Vikas batting, the helmet was covering his face, the photo was in such an angle that though his face could not be made out properly, his front looked to be that of a man's and not girls…

Dutta looked up to watch Nakusha giving him half a smile…

She then pulled Kiran up saying she is hungry and Vikas too needs timely meals now…

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