AvNeil's Arcade - A Collection of Short Stories Ud on Page 6 - Page 3

Neil stormed into his one bedroom flat, his emotions on edge. Avni, his Avni had been kidnapped and he had been unable to do anything about it. And knowing his wife he wasn't even sure if she had actually been kidnapped or whether everything had been a well thought out plan. Nothing was impossible for Avni. It actually irked him to no end to realise how casually Avni treated this entire matter, how lightly she valued her life.

"Kyun Avni... kyun? Kaha tha na maine tumse ki tum agar Rang mahal me gayi to mai ye divorce papers sign kar dunga. He was furious with himself. He raged around the room like a man possessed. "Abhi... abhi karunga mai inhe sign. Kahan gaye wo papers... kahan gaye. And pen...

He searched around the room like a man possessed, not knowing that before leaving DD had destroyed the divorce papers he had been using a trump card. Not that it mattered now, he would never divorce his wife but it had been a means to stop her. As if she had cared. "Avni... kahan ho yaar. Kahan fas gayi ho tum?

With tears flowing down his eyes, he sank down on the floor with his head in his hands. He had never felt so weak in his life. Even when Juhi had died in his arms or as he had thought at that point of time, he had never felt this level of desperation. It seemed as if he had hit a dead end, his wife had been kidnapped, his first love trapped in a living hell for 5 years, the criminal was still at large and he had no clue, not even a single hint from where he could start his investigations.

Just then the receiver of the audio recording device flared to life.

"Avni... tum yahan kaise fas gayi?

Juhi voice floating out of the receiver jolted Neil back to reality. In a flash he was up and near the receiver, increasing the volume as he tried to listen and comprehend the conversation floating out of the electronic box.

"Juhi... tum theek to ho? Avni's voice sounded strained to his ears.

"Meri chodo Avni... kitna mana kiya tha tumhe fir tum Rang Mahal me kaise fass gayi? Juhi sounded frustrated and Neil couldn't blame her for that. Avni tried his patience even at the best of times and Juhi who had been suffering in that hell for the last five years sure did not have the experience of dealing with his wife.

"Jaan bujhke nahi fasi hun. Mai to bas Jagooda murti lene aayi thi par mujhe kya pata tha ki ye log wahan pe honge. Mujhe to last minute me pata chala ki ye log mere piche hain warna wakai inhe ya to chakma dekhar bhaag jati ya fir inhe fasane ka koi plan banati. Meri hi bewakoofi hai, mai prepared nahi thi.

Neil could hear a glass shattering from the other end. Avni had probably taken her frustration out on a poor, blameless piece of crockery. The girl was really a danger magnet. The one time she chose to heed his warning, she ended up falling in Ragini Pandit's trap. He didn't know whether to be relieved that Avni had not actually tried to disobey him or to be worried that she was caught there in Rang Mahal.

"Tumhe inse nahi ulajhna chahiye tha, Avni. Pandit ji kam khatarnaak nahi hai, upar se unke sath wo Dayavanti Mehta bhi shamil hai.

"Kya?

"What? Neil echoed his wife's sentiments to the perfect T. Dayavanti Mehta why the hell was he not surprised. Of course that lady was in the same prison as Ragini Pandit. What would stop these two evil master minds from joining forces? After all, Neil was their common foe and Dayavanti wanted to kill Avni. There were so many questions that he wanted to ask, he was so eager to just burst through the doors of Rang Mahal and arrest all those involved in this case, but Avni's next words brought him back to Earth.

"Ek minute Juhi, ek minute. Mujhe sab kuch shuru se batao. Yahan chal kya raha hai?

"Tumhe kaise pata ki mera naam Juhi hai? Jahan tak mai jaanti hun maine tumhe nahi bataya tha, hai na?

"Wo... actually... Avni didn't know how to respond to this question and Neil, stuck where he was felt her hesitation just from her voice. Even though he couldn't see her, he could well imagine the way she would be looking here and there instead of at the person asking the question.

Juhi's next words confirmed his suspicion. "Batao Avni... tumhe kaise pata chala ki mera naam Juhi hai?

"Mujhe tumhara naam Neil ne bataya. Avni finally grated out and Neil could pick out the exasperation in her voice. She had not wanted to tell this to Juhi, probably thinking that it would break the other girl; but Neil knew from personal experience that it was better to deal with the unsavourary aspects of the past as early as possible. Juhi was not an idiot; she would realize the connection between them fast. True to his words, the girl did not disappoint him.

"Neil ne... as in Neil Khanna? Tum jaanti ho usay? Achha haan, wo uss din dargah pe bhi... Avni, Neil uss din dargah pe kya kar raha tha?

"Wo to mujhe bhi nahi pata Juhi. Mai usay leke to nahi aayi thi, na hi usay kuch bataya tha. Amidst all the chaos, she had forgotten to ask him this.

"Tum Neil ko kaise jaanti ho? Aur tum... I mean, tumhare husband wo police officer hai na? I am sure wo tumhe chudane...

Juhi trailed off as the scenes from that night flashed before her eyes like the stills of a movie. Neil standing in front of Avni, Avni calling her Juhi, Neil who turned to look at Avni before running after her, Ballu asking her what that policewala was doing there and why was he following her, Avni being called the policewale ki biwi'. "He bhagvaan...!!!

She collapsed on her bed in a heap as everything added up one after another.

"Juhi... Avni was besides her in a flash, supporting her as she tried to comprehend the enormity of her realization. Neil was married, married to the girl who sat there supporting her; married to the girl who wanted to save her from the life of a prostitute; married to a girl who believed that rescuing Juhi mattered. True, she had not expected Neil to wait for her till his last breath, especially not after her staged death but it still hurt her to see Neil married to another girl; a girl who was fiercer, more loyal and more beautiful than her. She had to give her love credit Neil had chosen well.

"Tum Neil Khanna ki patni ho...!!! The words slipped out of her mouth on their own violation and she immediately regretted saying them.

But Avni surprised her once again, she just took it in her stride and wrapped an arm around her. "Haan... par iska matlab ye nahi ki tum Neil ke liye matter nahi karti. Neil tumhe aur inn ladkiyon ko bachane ke liye raat din ek kar raha hai. Aur agar mai Neil ko sahi jaanti hun to mujhe kidnap karke inn logon ne apne din kam kar diye hain. Neil mujhe bachane zarur aayega. Par tumhe meri madad karni hogi Juhi. Agar tum help nahi karogi to hum Rang Mahal se kabhi nahi nikal payenge.

"Yahan se bhagna namumkin hai, Avni.

"Mushkil hoga, namumkin nahi. After all mai pehle bhi iss qile ko do baar bhed chuki hoon. Ek baar aur sahi.

The belief and strength in Avni's voice gave her hope hope for a better future and Juhi found herself spilling the secrets of Rang Mahal, of Ragini Pandit who came and went out of the prison as and when her whim dictated, of Dayavanti Mehta and her scheming, of Ali being kept there on the first floor and finally of Amol being involved in all this drama.

As Avni broke down upon hearing Aman's betrayal, Neil vowed to himself that not only would he free his wifey but he would punish that ill-mannered brat for hurting his beloved.

"Par inn information ka tum karogi kya, Avni. Ye Neil tak pahunchaogi kaise?

In response, Avni smirked and Juhi was immediately reminded of the way Neil used to smirk when he had something up his sleeves. Trust the girl to pick up a few mannerisms of her husband.

"Don't worry Juhi. Neil tak sari information pahunch chuki hogi. After all ganapati Bappa jo humare sath hain.

And back here in their studio apartment, in spite of the stressful situation, Neil started laughing at his wife's sharpness.

"You are a genius, wifey. He chuckled at her audacity. To transmit information right under the very noses of those criminals was something which only Avni could do.

He heard Ballu ordering his wife to go to another room and soon there was silence on the other end.

~*~

DD looked at the man standing in front of him with a thoughtful expression on his face. The man had arrived a few minutes back and had sought audience with ACP Neil Khanna. Upon being informed that Neil Sir was not there he had asked for DD. And now, he told DD that he had important information regarding the kidnapping of ACP's wife and he would share the information only with ACP Neil Khanna.

DD had called up Neil and the man was now on his way. In the meantime, Dakhal Dayal surveyed the person sitting on the chair, his eyes fixed on the bare stone wall of the room. The man was dressed in a simple jeans and a shirt with the sleeves folded up to his elbows. Thin almost to the point of being gaunt, he was a bespectacled man of medium height. Nothing remarkable per say concluded DD but if one looked carefully those eyes hidden behind the spectacles spoke of an intelligence which was far from common. The man was used to hiding in the shadows, and also of observing what happened around him.

"I hope I passed your scrutiny. He said after a while, but it wasn't DD who answered that query. Neil who chose to walk in at that precise second simply muttered a "I think you did. Before collapsing in his chair on the other side of the table.

"You wanted to meet me, Mr. ...

"Rajan Agrawal, Sir. And I am a reporter by profession.

"Reporter? To what do I owe this pleasure? Sarcasm oozed out of his voice as Neil locked his eyes with the other man who met his gaze unflinchingly.

He was surprised to see a half smile stretch on the lips of the other man. "Aap ka gussa aur aapka shak jayaz hai Sir, par mai yahan interview ke liye nahi aaya hun. In fact mai aapko kuch batane aaya hun.

"Bataiye... kya batana chahte hain aap?

"Yun kahiye ki dikhana chahta hun ACP Sir. Mai uss waqt Jagooda me tha jab aapki wife ka kidnap hua. Initially mujhe laga ki pata nahi kaun hai par mai wo incident cover karta raha. Unhe bachane ki koshish to logon ne ki thi par gundon ke chakuon aur katte se darr gaye.

"Aap ne Avni ke kidnappers ko dekha hai? Neil was treading cautiously but he couldn't stop the ray of hope from igniting in his heart. He had tried in vain to get an eye witness for that incident but nobody came forward and here was a person who had walked on his accord to the police station to talk about Avni's kidnapping.

"Maine dekha hai Sir aur aapko bhi dikha sakta hun.

Rajan pulled out a chip from the folds of his shirt's pocket and handed it to Neil who quickly put it in his laptop. In a second, the scene changed to that of the market in Jagooda.

"Pehle mai Jagooda ki pooja etc cover karne gaya tha. Par fir ye haadsa ho gaya.

Neil watched in rapt attention as the camera focused on a girl clad in yellow saree who was looking at the various idols of Goddess Durga displayed in the shop. All of a sudden she turned around and was instantly surrounded by four people who kidnapped her under the very noses of so many people present there.

"Kya bakwaas hai ye? Itne sare log the aur char gundon ko nahi sambhal sake. Hadh hoti hai darr ki. Neil fumed at the apathy of the people.

"Ye darr nahi hai, apathy hai. Wohi apathy jo na jane kitne logon ki zindagi barbaad kar deti hai, wohi apathy jo gharon ko ujaad deti hai, wohi apathy jiske chalte inme se koi ek bhi bayaan dene aage nahi aaya.

Neil looked at the man in surprise but Rajan was not looking at him. He was staring at the laptop though his eyes were focussed somewhere in the past. Neil could see very clearly that he was remembering something, some aspect of his past which perhaps carried a dark secret. The police officer in him was curious regarding the man's past but he did not want to pry.

Rajan chose just that moment to look at the young ACP in front of him and he smiled - a painful one which added years to his face. "I am not doing this out of the goodness of my heart Sir, but I am doing this because as a responsible citizen who owes it to the society he lives in. Maine apni wife ko isi human trafficking ke chalte khoya hai Sir. Mai nahi chahunga ki aisa aur kisi ke sath ho, aapke sath to bilkul nahi. After all aapne inn logon ka pardafash kiya hai, shayad isliye aapki wife...

Neil did not react to this but he knew his heart was breaking for this man who had taken pains to bring this news to him.

"Aapko protection ki zarurat padegi, Rajan. Neil voiced the thought running uppermost in his mind.

"Fikr mat kijiye Sir. Page 3 reporter hone se pehle mai crime reporter hua karta tha. Ye case na hota aur mai aaj bhi crime reporter hi hota. Basically mujhe pata hai ki khud ko kaise bachana hai.

"Par ye meri duty hai ki mai aapki safety ka dhyan rakhun.

"Fikar mat kariye Sir. Abhi aap protection denge to logon ka dhyan khud ba khud khinchega meri taraf. Aur aise koi nahi keh payega ki maine aapko koi clue diya hai.

"Lekin aap kahenge kya?

"Yahi ki mai aapse apki wife ki kidnapping ke bare me puchne aaya tha. Par koi jawab nahi mila. Meri fikar mat kijiye Sir aur iss case ko jitni jaldi ho sake solve kar lijiye. Aur kuch bhi help chahye ho to bata dijiyega. Jo bhi ho sake mai zarur help karunga.

With that, the man walked out of the police station his head held high leaving behind a grateful Neil.

~~~*~~~

"Madan... kaam ho gaya. Wo video recording ACP tak pahunch gayi hai. The man was hidden in the shadows but the satisfaction in his tone was unmistakable.

"Shukriya Sir ji. Madan whispered and the man on the other end of the phone laughed.

"Ab kya karna hai?

"Ab information Commissioner Sir tak pahunchani hai. A female voice spoke from the other end and the man in the shadows straightened imperceptibly.

"Thik hai Didi. Kaamho jayega.

Disconnecting the call, the man stepped out of the ramshackle building and mingled with the crowd. In the crowd nobody noticed that reporter Rajan Agrawal had just played the first move in a very complicated game of chess.

~~~*~~~