FF : Tere Mere Darmiyaan LAST PART pg-87 dt.10.10.14 - Page 30

Chapter 8

Dutta balanced the cell phone between his tilted head and shoulder while slipping on his watch. He clasped the lock of the watch, held the cell phone and straightened his head.

" bhaunkne de kutte ko." There was a malicious glee in his eyes as he spoke through clenched teeth. He was expecting a reaction similar to this from him. He was pacing up and down in his room when suddenly nakusha came in and his feet stopped on their own accord. She stood before him with the pooja plate. Not daring to look up, she feared she might find questions or maybe just anger in his eyes caused due to her inappropriate behavior. She wasn't oblivious to his irritation last night. Annoying him was the last thing on her mind but she couldn't help herself from doing just that. For a moment he lost interest in his telephonic conversation as his eyes searched her face. She looked like a scared cat last night but now she looked different in fact almost normal. Apart from not meeting his gaze she otherwise didn't seem tensed or hassled. Then what had gotten into her in the night? Her weird behavior still disconcerted him.

"bhau..bhau..aapne suna?." the voice of kaale from the other side broke his reverie and he lifted his right hand to sweep over the lighted lamp. Nakusha frowned, how was he taking arti? Just with one hand instead of using both? She wished to correct him but didn't however once again she noticed the burn scar on his hand that had now turned dark. She parted her lips to ask but before that dutta growled on the phone," Nahin..ghar pe nahin." His face contorted as he replied. Raising his hand he threw a glance at his loosely hung watch.

"mujhe aur kaam hain..tu us saale ko teen baaje tak rok kar rakh..main aataa hoon." And before she could react he was striding out of the room. What was this? Wouldn't he have breakfast before leaving for work?

" sahab..nashta?" she called out when he was climbing down the stairs. He simply thrust his idle hand up without turning and went out still talking to kaale. Nakusha shook her head and sighed deeply. She went back to tidy the room. She picked up his night suit and brown pathani that he'd worn the day before from the bathroom and came out. Checking the pockets before giving them for laundry she found a cigarette lighter in his brown outfit. She wrinkled her forehead and stared at the lighter in her hand. Did he smoke? She didn't know him personally so well to be aware of his habits. She heard a knock at the door. Laxmi came in and suggested that she'd clean the room on her behalf. Nakusha had an urge to ask laxmi whether he smoked or not.

" vaheni, aapka naashte ke liye annay intezaar kar raha hai." Nakusha nodded her head slowly and brushed aside the question that had risen in her mind, someone was waiting for her to eat along...it felt nice. Without another word she exited the room.

Laxmi, proceed to fold the sheets then crouched to dust the bed when her gaze fell on the couch. There was a pillow and a wrinkled blanket. She straightened herself and found her eyes dancing in amusement. Wow, the newly wedded couple seemed quite close. As much as dutta wished to keep this under wraps, it was now out in the open.

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Annay pulled open the refrigerator door to fetch himself a glass of water. He saw nakusha cooking/making something in the kitchen. The mouth watering nutty smell filled his nostrils. Breakfast was over long time back. They'd even finished having lunch some half an hour ago. So now what was she cooking? Unable to stop himself he went and stood next to her. Peering into the huge plate he asked," kya bana rahe ho."

" besan ke ladoo..tumko pasand hai?" she questioned while shaping the besan mixture into medium sized balls.

Annay licked his lips and gave a huge grin. Nakusha got her answer. She was getting bored doing nothing therefore thought of making something. She was glad that annay was fond of ladoos.

" main bhi banaunga." Annay declared excitedly. Nakusha smiled back, picking him up she sat him on the kitchen counter. He crossed his legs, took the mixture in his palm and started rolling them into balls of different sizes. Nakusha's eyes widened in surprise on seeing him making a big ball of ladoo. She wondered who and how would anyone finish it?

" itna bada ladoo." She couldn't contain her surprise.

Annay placed the ladoo carefully with the others on the plate ensuring that it didn't crumble then lifted his head and pushed back his spectacles with his finger before answering," yeh maamu ke liye hai." There was a sense of pride in his tone. Nakusha too gave him an appreciative look while pushing back the fallen hair on her forehead with her arm. While glancing at annay, she recalled dutta tucking him into bed. Her heart filled with warmth. They both indeed shared an endearing bond. But at the same time it appeared that they both didn't look beyond each other. Which was probably not so good. Thus to confirm her belief she prodded further," toh annay, itne saare ladoo aur kis kis ko khilaoge?"

Annay furrowed his brows, who else other than he, she and his uncle would devour them? She noticed the confusion in his eyes.

" kya? Apne doston ko nahin doge?" she replied casually while garnishing the ladoos with some chopped almonds.

" dost." He gave her a blank look. The word seemed alien to him. What was she talking about?

" mere matlab jinke saath tum khelte ho."

Oh, now he understood and promptly replied," ghar mein jitney log hain main unke saath khelta hoon aur chutti wale din maamu ke saath." He smiled and added further," ab aap bhi kheloge nah mere saath?" she blinked her eyes in response. Such a young boy confined to this big and lonely house. Surprisingly he went out only with dutta otherwise he wasn't allowed to venture out, even going to school wasn't permitted. He played and interacted with people who were four to five times his age. He didn't have a single friend! What kind of a caged and over protected life was he leading? He was close to his uncle, that was great, however that didn't require him to cut himself from the outside world. It extremely saddened and awfully pained her to see him like this.

" annay, tum pure din ghar par rehte ho..tumhara school jaane ka mann nahin karta?"

Her sudden question startled the little boy. His small fingers stopped rolling the mixture. He didn't lift his head but she could see his eyes staring into oblivion. He didn't answer in words instead his silence did.

She remembered his teacher talking about the picnic and last night she wanted to seek dutta's permission but unfortunately she wasn't in the right frame of mind. She couldn't do anything then but now she wanted to do something for annay. Perhaps later on she would convince him to send annay to school but for now at least he could agree for the picnic. She glanced at the clock placed on the refrigerator. It was half past two. He left home without having breakfast and even now he hadn't returned. He had a meeting around three so in all possibilities he would skip lunch as well.

An idea crossed her mind.

" annay, maamu ko khaana dene chaloge?"

Without thinking twice he nodded his head in excitement and at once grabbed the ladoo he had made for his uncle. His eyes shone brightly. Nakusha looked around for a tiffin box to pack lunch for him but failed to find one. She hurriedly called for laxmi.

" mausi mere ko sahab ke liye khaana le kar jaana hai..ek dabba nikal do."

Laxmi was taken aback, she wished to take lunch for him? If she knew him correctly then he would surely not appreciate this.

" par ho sakt hai bhau ko aapka aise kaam pe aana pasand na aaye."

Laxmi's words did make sense, nakusha lowered her head and thought about it. what if he lost his temper? Under no circumstances she wished to talk about the picnic when he might be in a foul mood. She let out a defeated sigh. Probably she'd have to wait until he came back home.

Sensing that nakusha might be thinking of dropping the idea, laxmi quickly tried to cover up her earlier suggestion by making a concerned face while saying," lekin bhau ne subha se kuch khaaya bhi toh nahin."

Correct, he was on empty stomach, he might lose his cool initially but later on might appreciate her gesture ( definitely not openly). She had to take this chance.

" theekh hai hum chalenge." She said looking at annay who was already beaming.

" main store room se dabba lati hoon." Laxmi at once headed for store room before nakusha changed her mind.

Nakusha followed her to a dark store room that had old pieces of furniture, big rusted trunk, broken cupboard. Cob webs blanketed the ceiling even the fan hanging above was dirty. Forget cleaning, it seemed as though nobody came here. There was dust and bad odor in the air. Nakusha coughed and asked," mausi is kamre ki kabhi safai nahin hoti kya?"

Laxmi took out an old lunch box and defended herself," yeh kamra bandh rehta hai nah..isliye thoda..."

Nakusha shook her head in disappointment, just because nobody came here that didn't mean it should not be kept clean like other rooms. She took the lunch box from laxmi and left the room before saying," nakku is dabbe ko saaf karti hai..aap is kamre ki safai karao." Laxmi didn't reply but cocked a brow when nakusha's back faced her. So now a person like nakusha who probably lived her whole life in a home that was way more crammed and filthy than this store room was today complaining and teaching her how to keep things tidy. Amazing! She was slightly confused as to what would dutta have for lunch, the food or the person getting the food? She pushed away the end of her jasmine garland hanging from her hair and chuckled while settling for the latter.

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Malmal Morey's eyes furiously ran across the field that was now nothing more than a barren piece of land. Apparently last night the whole field had caught fire burning down the entire produce. He had made dutta a carefully thought out offer whereby after settling the debts he'd sell the crop at a reasonably high price in the market and thereafter use the same field for further cultivation. Slowly and steadily he would buy out more land from other cultivators who were under debt at a cheap rate and then establish reasonable control over PV. But now he had suffered a major setback. The produce that he was hoping to sell was now reduced to ashes. The loss was quite significant. And it didn't stop here. In order to turn this field fertile he needed to spend additional money and wait for another six months to harvest the crop. Until then the advance that he'd already given plus the balance payment that he'd have to make along with this unforeseen additional expenditure would be a blocked investment. He was new in this business and certainly couldn't afford this long for his investment to yield return.

He wrinkled his nose in rage and shook his head. No way would he go ahead with this dead deal, on the contrary he'd have his advance returned.

" dutta, mujhe mere paise waapis chaiye..abhi aur isi waqt." Morey curled his fingers in a fist to control his anger. Whereas dutta calmly rested both his hands on his waist, pursed his lips and turned his neck the other side, rubbishing morey's demand.

Kaale sniggered openly and asked " kya yeda ho gaya hai..saude se tu peeche hatta hai..toh paise bhau kyun wapis karenge?" it was an unsaid and unwritten rule, if the seller backed out of the deal then he was obligated to refund the advance money however if the buyer backed out then the advance money stood forfeited. Easy and simple as that.

Fuming morey, leaped forward , grabbed dutta by his color and barked like a wild dog," yeh galat hai." Curling his lips, dutta at once wrapped his hands around morey's wrists and freed himself. Leaning over, his mouth close to Morey's ear, he spoke through greeted teeth," ab tu dutta ko sahi galat ka paath padayega?" He hadn't played unfair. He'd simply twisted the rule in his favor.

Dutta shoved Morey back as though he was some piece of dirt. His men grabbed morey by his arms and held him captive. Morey twisted and struggled to set himself free but dutta's men were hard and strong. He clenched his jaws and spat," mujhe paise wapis chaiye..itna bada nuksaan main bardasht nahin kar sakta."

" nuksaan bardasht nahin kar sakta toh dhande mein aaya kyun?" dutta's words were mocking and his eyes were cold and dark.

Morey curled his lips and twisted his face, he knew from the beginning that dutta wasn't interested in selling the land but he purposely made an offer that dutta wouldn't refuse. However he least expected or imagined that the tables would turn on him in such a way that he'd himself need to call off the deal.

" raaton raat is kheth mein aag lag gayi..aisa hota hai kya?"

Kaale smirked at his question," aag ka kya hai..kabh bhi kahin bhi lag sakti hai." He winked at morey and added further," lagne se pehle batati nahin hai."

With hands deposited in his pockets, dutta casually walked up to morey and stood just inches away from him. Today morey wasn't wearing his sunglasses as a result dutta could easily look into his eyes and see all that he desired. There was pain, anger and regret. Pain on losing his money. Angry on being helpless and unable to do anything about it. And regret messing with him. Dutta slowly buttoned the two open buttons of morey's tight shirt. In the end he even buttoned his collar, choking him slightly.

" agli baar meri PV mein maalik banne ki sochna toh bahut door ki baat..mehmaan banker bhi mat aayio." With that dutta signaled his men to take him away. With the right he was right but with the wrong he didn't mind going down the wrong way to show them the right path. He didn't always need to defeat his opponent with muscle power, he could do the same with his brains as well.

Turning around dutta stilled, his gaze narrowed on the pair of green eyes that was looking back at him. Like every time nakusha lowered her lashes. He flared his nostrils as a wave of anger swept over him.

" tu yahaan kya kar rahi hai." His high pitch shook her.

" khaana." She murmured , that was all she could say and showed him the tiffin box. His eyes followed the old lunch box and it irked him more. Who told her to bring him food? He didn't remember the last time when he carried a lunch box along. He was about to give her a piece of his mind when his gaze shifted beyond her. She too looked over her shoulder. Annay hopped out of the car carrying a mat made of bamboo and cane tucked under one arm and a football under his other arm.

" maamu, hum aa gaye." He happily shouted as though dutta was actually expecting them and was equally elated to see them.

"aur tu apne saath annay ko bhi le aayi?" his hissing words startled her as she turned her neck to glance at him. His dark eyes were nearer to her than they were a moment ago. She didn't realize when he'd stride toward her. Automatically she took a step back to maintain distance.

" tujhe kisi ne bataya nahin ki annay aise bahar nahin aata?" he kept his tone low so that annay wouldn't hear him but there was a menacing edge to his voice. Scared by his anger nakusha silently batted her eye lids ever so slowly. Laxmi had warned her that he might not like her bringing lunch for him but not even once did she mention that annay was not allowed to go out even if someone accompanied him. She was here because of annay, she wanted to discuss about him. But now annay's very presence was making his blood boil. If she knew he would get this upset then she would have probably not brought annay along.

Annay spread the mat under a shady tree then beckoned dutta with his tiny hand to come. Sun slanted through the trees, dappling the fields. Dutta sat on the mat, back propped against the tree, one leg stretched out and the other raised and bent at the knee. Nakusha opened the tiffin and lay out the contents. Still miffed with both of them particularly with her, he chose to look the other way.

" maamu..khao naa." Annay's sweet voice urged him and he was compelled to focus on the food. He furrowed his brows on seeing a big ball of ladoo. Was she out of her mind? Who could eat such a huge thing?

" yeh annay ne banaya hai..aapke liye." She said softly after probably reading his mind. Surprised dutta instantly looked at annay who pouted trying to suppress his giggle and shyly nodded his head. All the anger and irritation evaporated within that second making dutta smile inwardly. He placed the dry chilly paneer dish on the chapatti and made a roll of it. Ignoring the rice mixed rajma that nakausha had taken out in a plate for him, he quietly chewed the roll.

Few minutes later, annay stood up with the ball and asked," main udhar khelne jaaoon?"

" haan..jao." nakusha replied promptly. Dutta scowled at her, his mouth was full and before he could open it up and say'no', nakusha had already given him the permission. Annay kicked his ball and began following it.

" zyada door mat jaiyo." Dutta called him out from behind. He hoped annay had heard him. Nakusha needed this time alone to talk to him. She toyed with the chain around her neck while framing her words correctly then glanced at him. He wasn't looking at her instead his eyes were following annay, ensuring that at any point of time he wasn't out of his sight. He cared for annay. In fact he cared a lot. She took a deep breath, so this shouldn't be tough.

" annay ki teacher ne kal mere se baat ki." Hearing about annay he turned to look at her.

" kuch din baad woh school ke bachon ko yahin pass mein jo baagh hai..wahaan ghoomane lekar jaa rahi hai." He shot her a so what' look. If some school kids were going out somewhere then why would he care and why was she telling him about it? His eyes once again automatically shifted to where annay was playing. Nakusha pressed her lips together and continued," who keh rahi thi ki ..annay bhi ja sakta hai." He didn't bother to respond instead took another bite of his roll and chewed .

" toh annay ja sakta hai?"

" nahin." Pat came his reply. This time he didn't care if he choked on his food, he couldn't wait to say, "no."

" par kyun, sahab?" she couldn't stop herself from asking. It was just a picnic! In response dutta simply glared at her, he didn't like explaining or justifying his decisions.

" annay ko is se khushi milegi..balki mere ko toh lagta hai ussey school bhi jaana chaiye." She blurted about the school as well. She didn't wish to bring up this topic now but before she knew the words jumped out of her mouth.

" uski khushi kismein hai..main jaanta hoon." She was daring to cross her limits and he was not liking it. How much did she know about annay? He knew very well what was good and bad for his nephew. He didn't need her advice and immediately sprang to his feet. Apparently annay had wandered far away. He ran after him.

Nakusha slumped her shoulders in dismay. She could see it in his eyes how much he loved annay. As a child or for that matter as an individual she never got love from anybody, annay was fortunate that even after losing his parents he still had an uncle who doted on him. But was that enough for annay? No, she didn't think so. Dutta's over protective and over possessive nature was hampering the child's growth. Dutta was annay's world and dutta liked to keep it that way. Today annay felt sufficient and didn't complain against his decisions that kept him close to his uncle but what if tomorrow these very decisions began suffocating his life? She feared that instead of wishing to keep annay close to him he might end up finding annay moving away from him. Then what? The thought twisted her heart.

Annay climbed the gate of the tree and clutched it firmly in his fists. The morning session was over and the afternoon session was going on. In the playground the children played on the swing while some rode on plastic animals cemented to the ground. A fleeting smile spread across annay's lips. He was so lost in this world that he failed to realize when dutta came and stood behind him.

" sahab, kya apko abhi bhi lagta hai ki apka faisla sahi hai?"

This was the second time in the day that someone was questioning the propriety of his decisions. Everything couldn't be black or white...there could be shades of gray as well. But why would others care to understand. He contorted his face in grimace and gazed right into her eyes after walking away from annay

" kayi baar kuch sahi paane ke liye aisa karna padta hai jo shayad utna sahi na ho...chod... tu nahi smajhegi." He dismissed her by waving his hand. However this time she stepped forward, extended her hand and opened her palm to him. He looked down and saw the lighter in her hand.

" sahi kaha aapne sahab...nakku nahin samjhegi."

Thanks for reading

Rose