Chapter 36: Final Chapter
Present day, eve of election.
"I cannot believe you managed to find me," the elderly man smiled wryly at the visitors and waved at the couch. "Please. Sit down." He said, flopping on an armchair himself.
"It took us some time to figure it out and I had to convince my mother and then emotionally blackmail her, bribe few police officers and get some of my folks to look through archives at the municipality." Arnav replied, sitting down and nods at Khushi while he does so. She slides a photo on table and leans back on the couch, gauging the man's reaction.
Arnav is surprised at the lack of surprise on the man's face. "You don't seem surprised." The man looks up from photo and shrugs.
"When a photo is taken, people speculate about who has seen it and who has it...but they forget one small detail." Varma chuckled.
"The photographer who took it," Khushi supplies. "So tell us Mr. Varma, what happened that night?"
"I should tell you that because...?" He trailed.
Arnav leaned back on the couch and looked at him straight. "It doesn't matter what your answer is going to be Mr. Varma. At this point it's just a matter of curiosity. The people in the photo have been dealt with accordingly."
Varma looks visibly shaken at that. "What have you done to them?" His question was met with silence.
He sighed and rubbed his eyes as if years of tiredness was descending upon him at that moment. "I wasn't supposed to see them let alone take a picture of it. It wasn't the time of cell phones or digital cameras that one carried around in their pocket."
"What were you doing then?" Khushi asked, leaning forward.
"As you already know I was posted in that police station four months before Shyam Manohar Jha was brought in. When he walked in to the station, there was a huge crowd gathered in front of the station, chanting slogans. He turned around and raised his cuffed hands and gave a half smile to the crowd. The next day every newspaper in the country ran that picture. I was young, as was he, and we built a nice rapport within days. I come from a politically active family and Shyam had opinions about, well, everything. We debated, argued, played snakes & ladder and ate several meals together. He was brilliant and he was becoming raging fanatic with every passing day. Our MP thought incarcerating him would reduce the passive aggressive following he received by trade unions and such but it turned out to be one of the biggest tactical error during Emergency." He stood up and walked towards the cabinet to fetch a bottle of alcohol.
"It's two in the afternoon," Arnav notes when Varma holds up three glasses. At Arnav's and Khushi's nod, he brought them over.
Varma continued, "I promised my girlfriend I would get a photo of some of the men who were detained under political reasons." Varma poured the amber liquid into the glasses and handed them each. "She was a student of journalism and she was a huge fan of what Shyam Manohar Jha was writing. She had begged me to arrange an interview with him so that she could score a job in a newspaper. Though Shyam was a nice enough guy to agree to talk to her, my superiors blatantly refused to do so, even when I convinced them that the interview questions were not going to be political in nature. After couple of weeks of needling, they agreed for a proxy interview where Shyam would be provided with pre-screened questions and he would write down his answers on a paper. The answers were going be screened for content and if passed, the interview would be published. As was the nature to print a photo of the person whose interview was being published, I was carrying a camera I borrowed from my girlfriend." Varma took a long swig from the glass slightly wincing at the burn it caused in his throat. "I honestly didn't expect to see what I saw Mr. Raizada. Trust me."
"You haven't answered the question Mr. Varma."
Varma didn't speak for several minutes. Arnav and Khushi didn't exhibit impatience when they waited for his answer.
"I think it was a suicide, Mr. Raizada." Varma said flatly when he realized he had been stalling answering the question Arnav was really here for. "There were no guards outside his cell that evening as yet another riot had broken out in our jurisdiction. The four of them were in his cell fifteen minutes before the photo was taken. They didn't have that kind of time to coerce him and hang him."
"Why is the date on postmortem report is dated three days after his death?" Khushi asked. The lawyer in her wouldn't sit still.
Varma looks visibly shaken at that. "It was a very high profile case which the prosecutor's office couldn't mess with. I guess that's why the case was handled delicately."
"It's also enough time to mess up a report; fake it or change it." Khushi twirled her glass. Varma notes belatedly that neither Khushi nor Arnav have taken a sip from their drinks.
"I wouldn't know about that as the case was way high my pay grade." Varma shrugged.
"I think you should stop lying and tell us the truth," Khushi said in nonchalance. "You do realize that there were other inspectors and constables in the station right? Not everyone is dead and handful of the ones who are still alive, remember the night very well."
Varma paled. "The four of them were in the cell for more than forty five minutes. The visitor ledger was fudged by a constable after ACP's orders and then was torn off after few months. It was monumentally stupid that such intelligent and well placed men in society would do something as inane as signing the visitor ledger, is it not? Even if they had ignored the protocol, no one would have asked or looked twice because of their social stature. It was particularly odd that the people who never bothered to follow rules were suddenly following on the day Shyam died."
Varma's jaws seem to have locked in place, his lips thin.
"You however made an entry in station ledger instead and faked the signature of station master. Didn't you?" Arnav spoke. Varma exhaled loudly, pushed the drink in his hand to the table and started to pace. The lethargy that seemed to envelope him dissolved and anger took its place. He paced for several minutes without looking at Arnav or Khushi, his face looking less defeated than before.
"I really don't know what happened that night and I wasn't lying when I said I don't know if the postmortem report is faked or real. But I do however wanted a trace of what happened that evening and I made that entry in visitor ledger. I owed Shyam at least that. When my superiors found out, they changed the record and that was that. If they had investigated further, they would have found out that the signature was fake and you had three lawyers in there Mr. Raizada. It wasn't enough to issue a warrant let alone drag them to court. I could only dig so much with the kind of political pressure my family was under." Varma waited for Arnav to say something, anything but Arnav was staring at the complex crystalline patterns on the glass ignoring the looks that were fixed on him.
He stood up suddenly startling both Khushi and Varma. "Thank you for your time Mr. Varma."
Arnav and Khushi left the isolated farmhouse outside the city in the same way they had entered thirty minutes ago - with hushed confidence.
Once they were back in car, Khushi waited several kilometers to pass before she could ask the question that had been nagging at her.
"Why did you really come here?" She asked.
After he had recovered from seeing picture, he had retreated to the room quietly and lay on his bed for hours. Khushi had walked in several times checking up on him but Arnav hadn't reacted to her presence. Arnav hadn't reacted to anything at all. For next three days he had eaten when something was presented in front of him, refused to talk and never slept. On the fourth day Khushi was tiredly rubbing her eyes at two in the morning when Arnav had walked out of the room and sat opposite to her.
"Don't worry about it," he had just said. Khushi looked at him confused and he had simply shrugged. "They either killed him or coerced him to do it himself. Shyam was unbalanced enough to get roped into hair brained plan and do something stupid like committing suicide. The question however is - do we have to do something about it?"
Khushi had retreated to silence for several minutes before giving him an answer. "Let's find out what really happened and decide later what needs to be done."
Arnav had nodded at that. They were pragmatic people and vengeance wasn't something they thought was necessary in this regard. It wasn't like they were shining examples of morality but Shyam's death had unfortunately spurred a chain reaction that had impacted politics to a great extent. The two already knew that Rathore and the band of lawyers wouldn't be spared in their carefully crafted end game but their involvement in Shyam's death changed a lot of things.
She had left the task to Arnav by an unspoken arrangement between them and she hadn't bothered to check back on the progress. Elections was in seven weeks and nothing had changed.
Present day, eve of election
"Sorry, what?" She said clutching the side of her car seat when the bumpy road's impromptu massage brought her attention back to present.
"I said two weeks ago," Arnav iterated for her benefit. "I wasn't sure if I wanted to talk to him because I didn't think it would ever be necessary."
"And it was necessary to confront him on the eve of elections because...?" Khushi asked.
"I was bored," Arnav turned and grinned at her. Khushi was momentarily taken aback at the grin on his face and the responding smile that bloomed on her face, nearly split her cheeks apart.
"Payal will be doing what needs to be done. Malvika will be sitting in a corner and brooding. Shukla will sit in opposite corner and dodge calls from Rathore." The lightness in his voice made her giddy. "Also, isn't it wise if the two of us are away from city for a little while? Payal's handiwork would have triggered a storm and people will be out for our blood."
Khushi hung her head and nodded. Arnav was right of course.
Six weeks to election.
"The impact has been minimal," Shukla notes. "Even when we released the coup inside SKP, they all banded together and held an event with celebrities who support their party. Rathore knows that at this time the main goal for the party is to stay together irrespective of what shit storm it finds itself in. Akash's persuasion has already shaken the party enough."
"Rathore has taken Bhanu Pratap's betrayal better than I anticipated. His response was both mature and politically balanced," Malvika replied.
"Rathore knows how to handle press Malvika, he is a pro at it. I didn't expect anything from Rathore with this piece of information. It's everything to do with the seeds of doubt in the minds of others. As long as there is doubt, we have a shot at this." Arnav waved his hand and pointed at them in general. "Are people coming back?" Arnav asked Malvika.
"Less than half a dozen are interested to come back Arnav. Irrespective of promises of security and helping them dodge red tapes of bureaucracy on a daily basis, they are happy wherever they are." Malvika sounded more troubled than she let on. "Political exodus is done and there is nothing we can do about it now."
"Weren't there some whispers about military conscription?" Khushi spoke for the first time.
"Working on it," Payal said in a clipped voice and Khushi dropped it. She knew when to nudge and when to push.
"We don't have anything left in our arsenal to fight against them Arnav." Khushi said tiredly.
"I agree," Malvika said and took a gulp of her drink. "Unless you shake the root."
Khushi and Arnav looked at each other and held gaze for a second longer. Malvika didn't miss that and nor did Shukla. Khushi gave a tiny nod to Arnav's unanswered question.
"It's quite possible that Shyam Manohar Jha was murdered by Rathore, Saini, Sampat and Gupta. There is no evidence for this."
"How did you arrive at those four names?" Malvika asked.
Arnav handed her the photograph that was delivered to him a week before. "This helped me." He said.
"Looks authentic," Payal said staring at the photo for minutes after Malvika handed it to her. "I can run some filters and see if it's really authentic. At first glance, the paper, color and the grains at least seem fine to me."
"When did you get this?" Shukla asked, frowning.
"A week ago," Arnav replied.
"Give me the envelope it came in and I will find everything about it." Shukla said standing up. Arnav mimicked his action and fetched the envelope.
"This is taken in a police station," Malvika whispered. She wasn't foreign to atrocities committed by police force on civilians but that didn't stop the anger that coursed through her when their stupidity ran deep enough to implicate entire police force and not just the department. "Let me see what I can find behind that." She said vaguely. Arnav didn't prod further.
Malvika had been generally in a bad mood since their attack on election contenders didn't manage to bring about a revolution they had hoped. Arnav had said repeatedly that in a country of this mass and an electorate so large with such diversity - it was impossible to predict the outcome of a political fallout. In some cases a small scandal was enough to bind the nation together and make a mockery of the government with their disproportionate response but in some cases the public didn't bat an eye. Khushi had openly wondered if they could do something that would get IPL cancelled so that people paid more attention to the shit storm that was brewing instead of fantasizing about their favorite team. It wasn't fair to the public but she had no hope left.
"We do need something big Arnav." Malvika said before she stepped out of the apartment. Arnav stilled at her mildly accusing eyes. "You need to do something."
He felt infinitely tired. He sagged when he felt Khushi snaked her arm around his waist.
"I know it's an unfair expectation Arnav," Malvika continues, hinging on melancholic rage. "But if you or Khushi cannot pull this off, nothing will be different for foreseeable feature. It can only go worse from now on. We are accustomed to live on two contrasting conditions Arnav - there is both sheer luxury and utmost poverty in the same demography. The value attested to scams could have changed half a country right now but here we are, still scraping for tiny bits so that government has enough reserve to pay its employees."
"We cannot change the country Malvika," Arnav said with a soft smile.
Malvika who had turned to leave stopped and turned around. "No, but you can change its people." Without waiting for a reply, she left the two alone at the threshold. Arnav stood there for several moments before he closed the door.
Four weeks till election
"So the second wave of scandal wasn't a complete bust," Shukla noted, reading a magazine with an overtly casual tone. "At least Krishna Kumar is out of picture now. Given how he was in on the hit ordered on you two," he added pointing to Arnav and Khushi.
The four of them were meeting third time this week as the election window narrowed and their options ran out.
"We were lucky Payal figured out when she did. We just have to wait and see if he talks before elections or this will all be pushed away as a rumor," Arnav replied.
"Not even when there is a phone recording of him ordering the hit?" Shukla asked, surprised. "Who recorded it anyway?"
Arnav waited for several moments and looked at Khushi for a long moment. At her tiny nod, he exhaled, "There is one man who has been aware of what we have been up to for a very long time. He hasn't told us how he knows or what his end game is." Arnav dropped the name of ex-Chief Justice and taking pleasure in the way Shukla and Malvika dropped their jaws.
"How did he get into this?" Malvika asked.
Arnav shrugged. "We started digging around, talking to people and I guess that raised his hackles. Also that she," he pointed to Khushi, "Is a daughter of famous lawyer with who this man worked. When he confronted us, we blabbed." Arnav said sheepishly.
"And he agreed to help you?" Shukla asked this time.
Arnav gave a sardonic smile. "He wished us good luck and shooed us away. He never interfered with what we were doing and we never spoke about it again either."
"He did visit me once, few months ago actually in context of Akash digging around some of Supreme Court's verdicts especially the one that involves corruption by a MP." Khushi added.
"Wow," Shukla said.
"Wow indeed," Malvika echoed.
"That wasn't even wow worthy news, was it Khushi?" Payal interjected, waggling her eyebrows.
Khushi shook her head. "He is actually Dinkar, Akash's biological father. He was smuggled of the jail cell he shared with Shyam just few days before Shyam's death. It was reported that he died in some scuffle that ensued in jail courtyard but that wasn't the case. He got a new identity and arrived back in India somewhere in mid 80s and no one cared. Whoever knows about it, haven't talked about it in public - Sampat for example. Either this was all in the plan or Sampat knows that Dinkar is going to remain neutral in a situation like this."
"I need a glass of whiskey to follow this story that will sell well in Hollywood." Malvika said, easing out of floor and went to Khushi's bedroom already familiar with the stash of alcohol.
"Get the bottle here," Shukla said rubbing his forehead. Payal hid her face behind laptop screen and like always ignored when things got redundant around her.
"So," Malvika said after two sips of whiskey, "is he the one who gave you this information?"
Khushi nodded. "We weren't supposed to ask how he found what he did but the tape came to me and I passed it to Payal. It looks like he has been keeping an eye on all these people for decades if not years."
"He had the connection, knows people in right places and he would have recruited his own set of people to get things done." Khushi replied.
"Why isn't he releasing this information himself? What is he waiting for?" Shukla asked, twirling his glass.
"We don't know," Arnav replied. "We don't know how much he really knows, we don't know why he is doing whatever he is doing. It just how it is."
"Sounds like a power player," Malvika quipped. She got blank looks in reply. "You know, the ones who like to be always in the background pulling strings while everyone on the field is fighting like rats?" "
Arnav shrugged. "Could be," he said.
"What's next?" Shukla asked after prolonged silence.
"I have no idea," Arnav said, helplessly. "I don't have anything left for show and tell."
"That's not true." Khushi muttered under her breath. No one heard it as the TV blared at the breaking news about arrest of Krishna Kumar.
Three weeks till election.
"Bhanu Pratap and Prasenjit Sarkar in coalition with other smaller regional parties will make the largest party," Khushi said looking at sheets filled with numbers and symbols. The symbols represented every registered electorate symbol for the current assembly elections and the numbers were the seats a party was contending for.
"And Krishna Kumar's party?" Arnav replied.
"They are still supporting these two. They have isolated Krishna Kumar as a fanatic gone rotten and are happily staying away from the scandal. Krishna Kumar had truck load of issues with younger members of the party, his anti-gay rants making him seem almost inhumane and cheap comments on people who supported pro-choice. It's almost as if we did a good thing by getting him out of the race. The party is now saying how they aren't fanatics but just conservative and traditional."
"And his die hard supporters? What about them?" Khushi asked, making notes.
"Those who have taken identity of Shyam Manohar Jha have all disappeared after Krishna Kumar's arrest and the rest will be swing voters. It's too late to do anything about it. Akash however may offer them a good pitch," Arnav smiled at that.
When Khushi didn't reply, he looked up from his laptop and glanced at her questioningly. "What?" He asked, looking at her soft smile.
"You like Akash." She said it more like a realization than a statement.
"Like you don't," Arnav replied, his cheeks tinging faint pink.
Khushi laughed freely. Arnav couldn't help but watch her uninhibited laugh which had become such a foreign thing for them to do. "Of course I like Akash, Arnav. He is..." She trailed.
"Something we both once wanted to be," Arnav finished softly. Khushi pushed papers away from her, threw her pen and slid next to him.
"I am very fond of Akash, Arnav and I know so are you. It's just sad that he is going to be tainted by all this bullshit." She said.
"Khushi," Arnav started, "Don't you ever feel like giving all this up and live in a remote place?"
"Isn't that what we are going to do after this is over?" Khushi asked. "Or are you eloping with Lavanya?" There was humor in her voice that he had desperately missed for a long time. Of the two, he was the silent, broody one that latched on to the sunshine that she was.
"Didn't you hear latest gossip?" He asked tilting his head. Khushi shook her head, no. "She is in relationship with a producer and is getting married within a year or something."
She snorted at that. "You sound awfully happy about it," Khushi said.
"Shut up," he said without any heat behind his words. They fell into companionable silence that was broken by Khushi's sigh.
"Malvika and Shukla are doing this just because we asked them to Arnav. They have painted bulls-eye on their head with the work they have been doing for us." Khushi's concern was valid.
"I have made arrangements. I will brief them when we meet them next, okay?" Khushi nodded.
"They look nice together, don't they?" Khushi said, looking at Arnav.
Arnav gives her an odd look. "We are talking about this?"
Khushi rolled her eyes. "Say yes and we will be done." She grinned as Arnav started nodding right after she finished speaking.
"Why are we really doing this Arnav?" She asked in a small voice after few moments of shared silence.
Arnav swallowed. He brushed her face of errant hairs and put his arm around her. "Because we have to. Because someone has to. Because we can. Because we know how to manipulate the system and use it as we see fit. Because we have connections. Because..." He stopped unwilling to go any further.
"Because we wanted to, didn't we?" Khushi said.
"Yes." Arnav said. "Come on, let's get some sleep."
"Arnav," Khushi halted. "We still can do something about this," she said.
Arnav's arm tightened around her. "That will be our last resort and end game. I don't want to take an extreme step, the magnitude of which will change entire course of country. It would be too much."
"It may be too much but it's an option. Think about it, alright?" She didn't push him further when she saw Arnav nod. For now, this was enough.
A week before election
"His name is Atul Varma. He was an inspector in the station where Shyam was held during his last days." Malvika said spreading the contents of the file on the table nudging coffee mug towards her. Arnav had banished alcohol from Khushi's apartment given how the previous meeting had ended depressingly with Payal colorfully portraying dystopian India, ten years into future.
"Every police station maintains a ledger where day to day activities are noted. You can think of it as a personal journal of the station. Its station master's ledger and he maintains it on daily basis. The entries are elaborate and includes who visited the station when and how long they were in station. They have to sign in this and everything. State government insists on maintaining a visitor's ledger that can be submitted to court as evidence. Station master's ledger is simply for the sake of housekeeping."
"Check these," Malvika said pointing to four sheets on the table.
Arnav and Khushi peered at them but drew blank. "These are photocopies of the visitor ledger on the day Shyam died. Six hours of visitation information is completely missing."
"Someone wanted to hide the information, obviously." Khushi remarked.
"However," Malvika said taking out five pages from a thin file and spread it on top of already present sheets. "This is station master journal for the same day. See this?" She tapped on an entry.
"Is this what I think it is?" Arnav snatched the paper. "Look at this," he said handing Khushi the paper.
"This isn't going to fly Arnav," Khushi said dully. "The signatures aren't right and a thirty year old record that could be easily forged will not hold as good evidence. And as Malvika already said, it is not admissible by court."
"It's not evidence for the court Khushi but for us. The question is - do we believe it?"
"All this means someone tried very hard to hide the fact that these four gentlemen visited Shyam on the day of murder. It still doesn't mean that they killed him. Given their stature and the position in society, they might not have wanted to associate in any legal hassle - if there would be one." Khushi said in nonchalance. Her face didn't show the war within her - her father was involved and that complicated plenty. "Where did you get this Malvika?" She asked.
Malvika shrugged. "Police stations dump very old records in their archive room which is basically a dump where files are thrown. It took me ten days to dive through the paperwork in the room."
"It doesn't add up," Arnav said quietly. Khushi looked at him in question cocking her head motioning him to continue. "Isn't it odd that someone faked an entry to ensure those people were there? If we didn't have the photo, I would have thought someone was trying to frame these people."
"Malvika, how did you find this inspector?" Khushi asked, tabling Arnav's query on the side.
"It wasn't easy but it wasn't too difficult either." She shrugged. "I dug through station records, employment records and roaster for the station. An aging constable had seen this Atul Varma running out of corridor where Shyam's cell was with a camera hanging around his neck."
"Lucky break." Arnav commented.
"You have no idea." Malvika sighed. "I would have knocked on their doors and found out one way or the other." She was surprised when there was no response from Arnav or Khushi. It took her a moment to realize that the accusation of murder of a famous personality involved Khushi's father on the opposite side of the law. It wouldn't matter in the end if she was disowned or note - the fact remained that she was that man's daughter.
Khushi sagged her shoulder the weight of words and everything they have been going through becoming heavier and heavier by the minute.
Noticing the heavy silence, Malvika cleared her throat. "We will meet again later. I have some... err... errands to run," she scrambled for a reason. She found that her words were ignored thus giving her a nice space to escape. She turned around when she reached the threshold to say goodbye but the words died on her tongue when she saw Khushi sag into Arnav's space and cry.
Present day, Eve of election
"Where are we going?" Khushi asked yawning after waking up from a short nap. "Shouldn't we have reached city by now?"
"Payal has done her job and she is already underground." Arnav replied, smile tugging at his lips. "We have been driving for four hours Khushi."
Khushi had the decency to look appalled. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"
Arnav smiled wanly. "Don't worry about it. You looked peaceful and you needed this rest Khushi."
Khushi grumbled under her breath calling him a weirdo. "Go back to sleep, I will wake you up when we reach." He said softly, running the back of his hand on her cheek. Khushi closed her eyes and smiled at him. Before Arnav withdrew his hand, she was already fast asleep.
Few hours ago
"Everything should have changed tomorrow," Malvika sulked.
"Who knows, maybe it will," Shukla displayed hope. "Unless Arnav has some weapon we don't know about."
"There is nothing we can do," Arnav said, voice faltering.
"That's not true," Khushi rejected vehemently. "We can do one last dump of information today."
"Please ask her what kind of information that is." Arnav asked Malvika and Shukla. "You - don't answer," he stopped Payal who already had her mouth open with a snarky answer ready.
Khushi rolled her eyes. "It's raw information about everyone and about everything."
"What kind of information are you talking about?" Shukla asked.
"All surveillance photos, records of properties, conversations on phone and emails that we have collected over last two decades. There is complete information about every scandal that has taken place with percentage cuts to each limb, their bank accounts." Payal said, feeling in her element. "On the list there are politicians obviously, lobbyists, bureaucrats, lawyers and judges, media houses, big corporations, senior officials in banks, investment bankers, traders, diplomats etc. Arnav and Khushi started a network with Meera Nanda and began expanding it over the years based on the kind of job they were doing."
"That's an exhaustive list," Malvika said. "Isn't it dangerous?" She asked.
"Thank you!" Arnav said loudly. "That much of information on a single day will just create chaos and more than half of them will just run away from the country before revenue department can even begin to go through the information. It would be risky."
"It's the only option left now Arnav. This chaos is what the country needs. Let them see what their politicians are up to and let's not give election council a lot of time to deliberate and postpone the elections. There will be by elections soon, I am sure of it if we go in this direction. But people won't be so callous about it." Khushi stopped.
"What if nothing great happens even after this?" Shukla asked. "I mean by the time CBI gets involved after a formal complaint is filed along with revenue, won't it be late?"
"It's possible." Khushi agreed.
"Then why...?"
"Legal repercussions take time. But public judgment is going to be tomorrow." Arnav replied.
"Elections begin in less than twenty four hours. How is it possible to reach the masses? You are talking about information to be uploaded on internet or let's say you even print pamphlets and distribute them for free. But you will not be able to reach the masses who don't have access to these avenues." Shukla argued.
"No they will not know what's going on immediately but they will come to know about it in near future. If a candidate who has won tomorrow does have substantial evidence against him with respect to corruption, the party is obligated to make changes." Arnav replied.
"So there is no actual rule as to how this is going to work?" Malvika looks stunned.
"It depends on how CBI wants to process it all. And that's why both of you should accept your new jobs. You can drive the investigation however you want." Arnav said.
"Wait. What?" Malvika and Shukla looked at each other, stunned.
"Khushi pulled some strings and paid a lot of money for this. Ironic in retrospect," Arnav replied. "You are technically starting job tomorrow." He said handing them envelopes which held their orders. When neither said anything after seeing their orders, Arnav said gently. "I am not asking you guys to do this. Khushi and I will not be able to live openly here. There is nothing left for us to do anymore. But you two can. You want to get away from this, there are arrangements made for that too. So it's really left to you guys."
Malvika chuckled. "I really didn't expect you to make a plan for me let alone find me a job."
"Why wouldn't we do that?" Arnav honestly looked slapped. "We are all together in this. So of course Khushi and I planned for you and Shukla."
"Their plans generally involves living like a saint in some house away from civilization or some lame government job." Payal interjected.
"What are you going to do?" Malvika asked, curious.
"I will be going to one of my islands, obviously." Payal said primly. Malvika looked at Arnav and Khushi for confirmation and they both shrugged.
"Thank you." Malvika said sincerely.
"If your name comes up in the list, I am not going to stop investigating." Shukla said. "I may delay it a bit or reduce priority but won't stop."
"I wouldn't expect you to be otherwise, Shukla." Arnav smiled and clapped him on the back.
"Are we doing it?" Khushi asked.
"I think we should do it." Shukla said. "It's the worst case scenario that might help Akash in the end." Arnav and Khushi looked at him sharply. "What? He is a great guy." Shukla said, flippant.
"I don't like it." Malvika said. "But since I believe in our system and I kind of already know that nothing great is going to change, I think we should do it too."
Arnav looked at Khushi and they held the gaze for moments.
"Do it." He said, looking at Payal.
"It will be done in six hours. By noon, everything should be online and in public domain." Payal replied.
The air was suddenly different. With the final decision made and nothing much left to do, they just sat and drank coffee. Payal was the first to leave. She hugged Khushi for an extra second, fully knowing it would be years before they would contact each other. Malvika and Shukla were next.
"Take care Arnav," Malvika said, hugging him. "Take care of her, will you?" She whispered in his ears, tinging them pink. She rolled her eyes at the manly handshake Shukla and Arnav shared. Khushi hugged both and wished them all the luck in the world. She shoved a packet in their direction that Shukla took from her hand.
"What's this?" He asked peering inside.
Khushi closed his hands and smiled at him. "People who are ready to help you when you feel yourself cornered." She squeezed his hand that made him stop what he wanted to say. "Just in case." She said. Shukla nodded. Shukla and Malvika thanked them and left. With that, everything fell into silence.
And just like that, it was done. A decade and half of work that was done at the cost of their morality was finally over. Arnav threaded his fingers with Khushi's and squeezed it. "Let's go for a drive," he said. Khushi nodded and allowed herself to be pulled.
Present day, eve of election
"We are here Khushi," Arnav said walking Khushi up.
"What time is it?" Khushi asked, rousing.
"It's late. Let's go home and get some sleep on actual bed." Arnav said and dragged her inside. She noted belatedly that they were in his apartment and she hadn't been there in weeks. Her apartment had become their war room and base of their operations. Coming to a clean and well-made apartment gave her a feeling of coming home.
"It's going to be a beautiful morning," Khushi said snuggling into sheets. Arnav spooned her from behind and nuzzled the nape of her neck but didn't reply.
She noted belatedly that she hadn't seen news or had even checked their phones to see the status of their action. For the first time in her adult life, she didn't care.
She sunk into mattress and fell asleep.
Election Day
"ID card please." A police constable asked her. She hands him her voters ID. An elderly woman puts a drop of ink on her index finger. She signs her name in a daze and walks into the booth. She looks at the name of contenders and their party symbols. She wonders if she should choose NOTA and be done with it. Akash comes to her mind with his idealism, bright smile and sense of morality that she had let go of. She presses her choice and walks out of the booth. She meets Arnav who is standing outside the voting center.
"Let's go," she says sliding inside the car.
She watches when Arnav's hand clutches steering wheel, his index finger mirroring same ink drop stain like hers. An involuntary smile breaks out of her that threaten to hurt her cheeks if she persists.
"How about some lunch?" Arnav asks minutes later.
"It's nine in the morning," Khushi deadpans. Arnav gives her a look that translates to "So?" She shrugs in response. She switches on radio to find the station tuned in is talking about information uploaded online making her switch it off.
"Let's try some music," she switches on CD player. Song from 60s fills the car, its melody settling in as a gentle hum.
When Arnav stops the car two hours later in front of a small hotel by the side of road, Khushi raises an eyebrow at him.
"Best paneer curry ever." He says. Khushi shrugs and follows him inside.
They get through their meal slowly, the owner coming by their table every few minutes and enquiring about the state of food and condition of their palate.
"I knew you two idiots would do something monumentally stupid," a voice calls out behind them. Khushi drops her food and whirls around when she recognizes the voice.
"What the hell are you doing here Akash?" She all but screeches.
"Do you know what kind of mess you have created?" His voice is accusatory but his eyes are filled with mirth. He steals a roti from Arnav's plate and dips into curry. "So hungry," he mutters with mouthful of food.
"What's going on?" Arnav asks, stumped. He is a man who predicts next five moves and now he feels he has been left behind. It's not a good feeling but he is glad it's Akash to he has lost so horribly.
"I think I am going to win in both of my constituencies. So I am going hang out here for few hours before I drive back to the city." He stuffs more food into his mouth without glancing at Arnav or Khushi. Khushi hugs him sideways and Arnav just laughs.
"What are you going to do next?" He asks.
"Where the wind takes us," Khushi replies, laughter in her voice.
"You know it's actually very easy to find you two." Akash says, motioning the waiter to bring more roti. "I just have to screen through news and see which town or city or village is having a political crisis. You two would be at the center of it after starting it, you will add fire to it, direct to other places and then finally bring it down aiding in eliminating the problem. But you will also give everyone else a massive headache in the process."
Arnav and Khushi laugh at that. He isn't too far off but they don't say anything to contradict that.
They talk about food, places worth travelling and bad 80s movie for few hours till Akash falls quiet and tells them it's time for him to leave.
There are no goodbyes, there are no tears and there are definitely no words of wisdoms offered.
"Try not to be idiots," Akash says.
"Try not to start a civil war," Khushi quips.
"Stay safe," Arnav adds.
The two stand by their car and watch Akash leave. They know they have created chaos. But they are glad they have left the chaos in good hands.
"Want to check news?" Arnav asks.
Khushi thinks for a full minute. "No," she says finally.
"I am glad I voted today," Khushi says after minutes.
"Me too," he replies. "Let's go," he says and shoves her gently into the car.
Moments later, he pulls into the road driving in the direction opposite to what Akash had taken.
In the background, the TV in the small hotel blares loudly about election upsets and CBI making statement to launch an investigation against several active politicians. The newsreader's panicky voice tells their viewers that no one knows what is going to happen next.
THE END!
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Cricket
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