CHAPTER - 13
Mayank picked up Nupur and took her to the bedroom and doctor was called.He made her lie down.Maadhvi was crying very badly and saying,"Meri bachchi.Ye kya ho gaya ma??Meri maasoom bachchi waha kidnappers ke paas aur phir Sammy bhi..."Samrat's mother too was crying.Shanti was consoling them both and said,"Tum dono fikar mat karo,Muskaan aur Sammy ko kuch nehi hoga.Mujhe matarani par pura bharosa hai.Vo un dono ki zarur raksha karengi."Anjali came outside from Nupur's bedroom,after the doctor left.On seeing her,Maadhvi asked,"Kaisi hai ab Nupur?"Anjali replied,"Doctor ne usey neend ka injection diya hai,abhi vo filhaal so rahi hai."Shanti replied,"Chalo thik hai,varna pata nehi Nupur ka kya haal hota.Dhruv aur Mayank kaha hai?"Anjali said,"Vo dono commissioner se milne gaye hai."Maadhvi yelled,"Kya???Vo police ke paas???Tujhe pata hai na ke un logo ne kaha hai police ko kuch bhi na bolne ko phir tune unhe jaane kaise diya Anjali?Agar unhone Muskaan aur Sammy ko kuch kar diya to?"Shanti said,"Mujhe un dono par pura bharosa hai,unlogo ne jo kuch bhi kiya,vo sab soch samajhkar hi kiya hai."At that moment,Dhruv and Mayank returned home.Shanti went to them and asked,"Kya kaha commissioner sahaab ne?"Dhruv replied,"Unhone kaha hai ke kuch undercover policewaale hamesha hamaare ghar par nazar rakkhenge aur hamaare phones ko bhi tape kiya jaayega.Unhone ye bhi kaha hai ke jabtak Muskaan aur Sammy nehi aa jaate tabtak hum bhi ghar se kahi bahaar na jaaye."Maadhvi was very angry at Dhruv and Mayank's decision.She came to them and said,"Tum dono ko pata bhi hai ke tum dono ne kya kiya hai?Agar is baat ki bhanak bhi kidnappers ko lag gayi ke humne police se contact kiya hai to vo Muskaan aur Sammy ke saath kuch bhi kar sakte hai,unki jaan...""Chup kar Maadhvi!!!Jo muh mein aa raha hai bol rahi hai."Shanti scolded Maadhvi.Maadhvi said,"To main aur kya karu ma?Itne mannato ke baad 7 peeriyo ke baad,Muskaan hume mili hai aur aap keh rahi hai ke main shaant ho jaau?Main Muskaan ki jaan ko kisi bhi keemat par khatre mein nehi daal sakti hu."Mayank said,"Aap samajhne ki koshish kyu nehi karti hai ma?Muskaan meri beti hai,kya mujhe uski parvaah nehi hai?Thik hai main policewaalo ko manaa kar deta hu aur un kidnappers ko paise bhi de deta hu,par kya aap mujhe ye baat likh kar de sakti hai ke paise milne ke baad bhi vo hamaari Muskaan aur Sammy ko chor denge?Nehi!Hargiz nehi!Unki maange har baar barti chali jaayegi,tab hum kya karenge?"Maadhvi asked,"Aur agar unhone un dono ko nuksaan pohchaane ki koshish ki to?"Mayank put her hands on her shoulders and said,"Vo log un dono ko kuch nehi karenge ma kyuki Muskaan unke liye ek sone ka anda dene waali murgi hai,unko pata hai jabtak vo unke paas hai tabtak hum unki baat maanne ko majboor hai par hum unhe is tarah se apni beti ko lekar apne aap ko exploit karne nehi de sakte hai aur is baat ka bhi unko mauka nehi dena chahte ke vo Muskaan ke saath kuch bhi bura kare."Maadhvi was still not satisfied.Mayank assured,"Kuch nehi hoga kisikobhi na to Muskaan ko aur naahi Sammy ko.Trust me."Hearing this Maadhvi cooled down a bit.
After a few hours,Nupur woke up from her sleep.When she regained her consciousness,she started blabbering about Muskaan.Mayank returned to their bedroom to see Nupur and finding her blabbering Muskaan's name,he quickly came to her and sat beside her.He rubbed her forehead and asked,"Nupur,Nupur kya hua?"Nupur was blabbering,"Muskaan meri Muskaan ko le aao.Meri Muskaan ko lekar aao."Mayank called her again and again and she opened her eyes.On seeing Mayank,she got up on the bed and asked,"Mayank...Mayank...Kaha hai meri Muskaan?Lekar aaye ho na tum usey?Kaha hai vo?Bahaar hai?Ma ke paas?Bolo na bolte kyu nehi?"Mayank tried to console her and said,"Nupur...Nupur Muskaan nehi hai hamaare saath...Vo..."Nupur yelled,"Nehi hai??Nehi hai matlab?Kaha hai vo?Itna waqt ho gaya tum usey dhundh nehi paaye?Jaao usey lekar aao.Abhi isi waqt lekar aao meri beti ko mere paas.Unhe...unhe jitna paisa chahiye dedo aur meri beti ko lekar aao.Meri bachchi..."She hugged Mayank and cried her heart out.Mayank continued patting her and said,"Muskaan waapas aa jaayegi.Main usko lekar aaunga,you don't worry."Though,Mayank was trying to console her,but in his heart he knew,how much he himself was tensed.
In a dark room,filled up with lots of boxes,a baby girl cried out in the mattress.Beside her,there was a man lying on the mattress,with his hands and legs tied with the rope.Hearing the baby's cry,a man and a woman with guns entered inside.It was Muskaan,who was continuously crying.The woman came to her and said,"Ae tabse kaan paas roye ja rahi hai,roye hi ja rahi hai.Bandh kar abhi!"Now Muskaan started crying more loudly,"Ganni aun(auntie)!Mamma!Mu mamma!Mu papa!Aun aap!Taaa!Taaa!Mu dal!"Muskaan started calling Samrat,but he was unconscious.The man threw some water on his face and Samrat woke up.At first he screamed a bit and then very slowly he opened his eyes.On seeing them,at fisrt he asked,"Kaun ho tum log aur hume is tarah se yaha kyu rakkha hua hai?"The man replied,"Teri shaadi karaani hai!Abey kidnap hua hai tera aur is bachchi ka."Samrat screamed,"What??"His eyes then fall on Muskaan and he said,"Muskaan..."He urged to the kidnappers,"Haath kholo,mera haath kholo."The man came and slapped him and said,"Chup!Bilkul chup!Varna bachchi ko..."Samrat became quiet.He asked the woman,"Bachchi ka khaana laayi hai na?"The woman nodded her head and then he said,"Chal jaakar khila de usko aur phir usko sula dena varna ye aur chilla kar royegi.Aur ha sun iska achche se khayaal rakhna,dekhna isko kuch bhi na ho."The woman came towards Muskaan with the bowl of food.Muskaan was very scared of her.She looked at her with tears in her eyes and then moved more close towards Samrat and said,"Taaa Mu dal!Ganni aun Mu aap!"Samrat said,"Koi aapko kuch nehi bolega Muskaan aap chalo khaana khaalo varna aapki tabiyat kharaab ho jaayegi."Muskaan folded her lips and said,"Na Mu na!Mu mamma!Mu mamma!"The woman replied,"Ae chipkali kha le chupchap,varna ek itna zor se lagaaungi na..."Samrat screamed,"Nehi tum bachchi pe haath nehi uthaaogi."The woman said,"O hero!Bhalai chahta hai na to isko bol khaane ko,varna main koi iski ma nehi hu,jo iske peeche chillaati phiru.Khaana hai to khaaye varna bhuke hi sona parega."Samrat thought that Muskaan should not sleep empty-stomach,as it would cause her health.So he said,"Mera haath khol do main usey khila dunga,varna vo kisike haath se nehi khayegi."The man replied,"Hum logo ko bewakuf samjha hai jo hum tera haath khol denge?Aisa nehi hoga."Samrat said,"Varna vo nehi khaayegi aur agar usey kuch hua to..."The woman said,"Khol dete hai isko,achcha hi to hoga,yehi khilaayega is chipkali ko."The man untied the rope around Samrat's hand and then freed him.After getting free,Samrat sat properly on the mattress and took some deep breath since he was beaten before tying up his hand.Samrat made Muskaan sit on his lap and said,"Muskaan beta,aapko bohot bhukh lagi hai chachu ko pata hai,abhi mamma to nehi hai aap chachu ke haatho se to khaayengi na?"Muskaan looked at him and then at the food and nodded her head.Samrat took the bowl of food and said,"Meri achchi Muskaan,abhi chachu Muskaan ko ek achchi si story bhi sunaayenge."Muskaan asked,"Mu ta toyi??Aththi toyi?"Samrat nodded his head.He started telling Muskaan a story and she too slowly finished her dinner.
At night,Anjali served dinner to everyone,but no one was in the mood to eat anything.Shaanti asked,"Anjali Nupur ne kuch khaaya?"Anjali replied,"Nehi khaaya ma,kuch bhi nehi khaaya."Maadhvi said,"Aise kasie chalega doctor ne bola hai uska dhyaan rakhne ko.Ma aap hi jaaiye na vo aapki baat to kabhi nehi taalegi."Shaanti said,"Khaana khaane ka mann to kisika bhi nehi hai Maadhvi,ek to ghar ka beta aur ek lauti bachchi dono musibat mein hai,kaise kisike gale mein se khaana utrega."She still got up and took the dish of food to Nupur's room where she was sitting with Muskaan's photo and shedding tears.Shanti went to her and sat beside her in the bed.Nupur showed her the photo and said,"Ye dekhiye dadi,uske pehle birthday ki tasveer,bilkul pario jaisi hai na meri bachchi.Aaj tak usko kabhi kisi cheez ki kami nehi hui,aajtak usne har aisho-araam se zindagi bitaayi,abhitak to khaana kha kar so bhi jaati hai,par aaj pata nehi usko khaana mila bhi hoga ke nehi.Pata nehi usne ek nivaala bhi khaaya hoga ya nehi,phir aap hi bolo na dadi,main kaise khaalu,jisko khaana khilaaye bina pura ghar nehi khaata tha,aaj vo bhuki bethi hai to phir boliye na main kaise khalu.Yu mujhse lipat ke soti hai dadi,aaj to vo bhi nehi hai,main kaise rahungi uske bina."Nupur put her head on Shanti's bosom and she again cried.At that moment,Mayank called out everyone informing about the kidnapper's phone.Nupur and Shanti came running to the hall.Mayank was standing holding the receiver of the landline and said,"Kidnappers ka phone aaya hai.Vo Nupur se baat karna chahte hai."Nupur took the receiver from Mayank.The convo :-
N :- "Hu...Hullo!"
K :- "Ha hullo,bachchi ki ma bol rahi ho na?"
N :- "Ha ha,kaha hai meri bachchi?Ek baar usse baat karao na.Usne khaana khaaya na."
K :- "Tumhaari beti so nehi rahi hai.Usey kaise sulaana hai."
N :- "Vo...vo...mujhse lori sune bina nehi soyegi.Ek baar phone loudspeaker par daaliye main usse baat karti hu.
The kidnapper put the phone in loudspeaker.
N :- "Hullo Muskaan beta!!!"
M :- "Mamma Mu!Mamma Mu dal!Ganne un Mu aaap!Ta ooohhh!"
N :- "Aapko unhone data,thik hai,mamma aur papa milkar na unko aaap kar denge.Abhi aap mamma ki achchi baby ho na to aap so jaao.Mamma aapke liye lori gaayegi.Mamma ki baat maanogi na aap?Chalo aap aakhe bandh karo mamma aapke liye lori gaati hai."
Nupur started singing the lullaby and Muskaan closed her eyes and slowly slept in Samrat's arms.
S :- "Muskaan so gayi bhabhi aur aap fikar mat kijiye,main hu yahapar."
On hearing Samrat's voice,his mother asked,"Kaisa hai beta tu?"
S :- "Main thik hu mom.You don't worry."
The kidnapper snatched the phone from in front of Samrat.
K :- "Thik hai rakhta hu,paiso ka intezaam jaldi se karlo."
He cut the phone.
Mayank came to Nupur and said,"Dekha Nupur,Muskaan ne khaana kha liya hai ab to kha lo."Nupur looked at Mayank and and then he forwarded a spoon of food to Nupur.With eyes full of tears,ate it.Mayank assured,"Do dino ke andar andar,Muskaan hamaare paas hogi,you don't worry."Nupur nodded her head.
