-
Chapter Seven
Bannaras
Main jaanta hai ke tu, is heere ke peeche para hai Bhau, aur dilchasb baat to yeh hai ke, aap yeh soch rahe ho ke main aapko yeh sab kyun batara hai, barabar kaha na maine Bhau, smiled the curly head man with perfect teeth, and eyes hidden behind aviator style sunglasses, fairly old but dressed like a youngster in hilarious coloured clothes, with trainers that looked non-designer, almost like they were pulled out from the '80's from the movie 'Back to the Future'. Kaam ki baat kar Chasker, said a wary Dutta while eyeing around the surroundings of this abandoned garage, discreetly.
Itni bhi jaldi kya hai Bhau, dekh main tere se deal....yaneke sauda...karne ko aaya hai, he said putting up his right hand in front of him like his hand were resting on an imaginary wall, standing feet width apart from each other. Kaisa sauda, said Dutta remaining still, with his hands comfortably in his pockets, beneath his waist coat, aage bol..main sun raha hu.....he finished with his voice not sounding interested nor disinterested.
This is what his enemies despised about Dutta, they could never tell what his moves would be, as he never let on anything he was thinking with expressions, instead he always remained expressionless, leaving his foes extremely insecure of him, this was one of the main reasons Dutta held such high respect even amongst other Mafia bosses of other towns and villages, 'cause they never knew Dutta's next moves, and he was never hasty, he always planned his moves strategically, leaving his opposition confused weak and feeble. He didn't really need bodyguards for himself, but he was overprotective of his loved ones which is the real reason why they were employed, and couldn't allow any harm to come to them, this is why he'd got both his elder sister's married to non-gangster related families, but kept them with him even after marriage in order to protect them.
Kishore was intelligent and never held any interest in being part of the violent family run business, but held high respect for Dutta as he never did any injustice to his people, instead he helped them...though his money was from illegitmate dealings he never failed to distribute it amongst the poor, ...but than that was where Kishore stepped in he was the brains behind the accounts he was the one who made Dutta's black money into white money, by pumping them into various businesses, film making production houses and shares, and than pumping it back out as clean money, and this way Kishore kept several charges such as money laundering and tax evasions, and any other investigations off of the Dutta's back, to which Dutta was extremely grateful. Kalavati, Dutta's oldest sister had always encouraged her husband Kishore to get more involved on the physical side, but never with any success, which always made her more frustrated than she already was.
Sudarshan on the other hand, Leelavati's husband was a different kettle of fish, he took care of getting the arms and weapons needed in their daily business, Sudarshan was cunning, he often increased charges of certain resources and extorted money for his personal gain, but out of Dutta Bhau's empire it really didn't make a difference, however he was sly and this much Dutta was definately aware of, although he didn't let Suds know, Dutta's tolerance was only granted 'cause of his sister whom he loved very much. Families made gangsters' weak and always an easy and obvious target for foes, so therefore Dutta was able to make small sacrifices like Suds pass, and besides the money was indirectly going to his sister, which meant they were both fending for the same thing.
Baji, was always second-in-command, and this made Sudarshan more jealous, and always tried to impress Dutta in order to take Baji's place, but Dutta could never betray Baji in this sense, regardless of Suds being his brother-in-law. If it weren't for Baji Dutta would never have obtained the position he was at today, and if Baji wanted he could have been as rich as Dutta was today, but because Baji and Dutta shared such a strong bond, perhaps even more than blood brothers, Baji always remained as Bhau's right hand man, out of sheer respect, but they both knew they were incomplete without each other, like two sides to a coin, without the other they held no value.
Dutta always suspected Baji and Roops were fond of each other, but never paid too much attention as nothing solid had developed between the two, however Dutta was in any case prepared for the day they would....it was always a difficult topic for Dutta to think about, so left that subject alone, until it needed his attention.
Dutta's childhood was difficult, but it was his past that made him so strong, his father always told him Dutta, tere paas dimaakh to hai nahin, hamesha school main fail ho ke aata hain, to tujhe apne shareer ka istamaal karna hoga, samjhe.........tabhi tu jaake apne pedh ki rakhwali kar sakta hai...Dutta could still remember the time his father gambled him off for a bottle of expensive alcohol, and that was his last words to him which always echoed in his ears, when he was alone.
He had forever remained grateful to his Kaka Shriram Patil and Aye Sahib, of course as they took him in gave shelter to a scared and shaken boy of ten. He'd always refused to accept Damodar as his praternal father, and eventually adopted his Kaka's surname hence Dutta Shriram Patil. He'd known Baji since than, but Baji was always involved with dealings of his own, and always lent Dutta money when he needed it, it was Baji who got Dutta his first job in Govind's Garage, as a mechanic.
.........Tu mereko, raasta de sumundar ki aur se, Ratnagiri ke border pe, apne Cocaine offload karne keliye, aur apne Ratnagiri ke road se yeh container truck mein jayenga, tere aadmio ke saath, tere full protection ke under......he looked and spoke at the same time at Dutta as though he'd striked a successful deal in his mind already, and than carried on......aur samjho ke jo cheez tum dhoond rahe ho, woh tumhari...apun...mil ke Ratnagiri par raj karenge... finished Chasker in his classic dialect (from the show) with both his hands in the air and hinting towards the 84ct diamond at the same time, smiling with his exposed teeth.
Hmm.....abh tu meri sun, said Dutta unaffected by Chasker's proposal, whilst circling Chasker at a slow pace and his hands still in his pockets, Ratnagiri ka Raja sirf aur sirf Dutta Shriram Patil hain, aur......koi bhi heera chahe kitna hi chota kyun na ho Chasker, he said making eye contact with him for a spilt second and stopping, ya phir teri muthi jitna bara, as he continued circling him with his hands now behind his back, meri ijaazat ke begaar aah to jaata hain lekin Ratnagiri se jaa nahin sakta Chasker he finsihed in his most chilling voice, nodding his head from left to right slowly and stopping directly in front of a pale looking, sweat dripping Chasker.
Chasker continued with his efforts regardless, and tried to convince Dutta by praising him about how he knows the surrounding druglords and kingpins who have alot of respect for him, and even have agreements of keeping drug trafficking out of his Ratnagiri, as Dutta disapproved of it and felt that his idoloized figure in society would be jeapordised, and also his doing so encourages his own people to get involved in such influences, and therefore resented it. Chasker knew Dutta was a powerful man, and Dutta's turf was the only place where such high amounts of drugs could be smuggled without the feds getting involved, and as a final settlement Chasker told Dutta that they will split the dealing 60:40, with Dutta getting the bigger share as the profits were ridiculously high, Chasker would still become a rich man. With this proposal Chasker saluted Dutta, and told him to sleep on it, fearing he might refuse instantly and left his number on the lone dusty chair beside them, and climbing on his Moped, sped off.
As Dutta was driving back, in the morning towards PN, he was thinking to himself, why can I smell something fishy, everyone knows Dutta's main dealings are in diamond smuggling, and gold bricks, alongside his illegal boxing matches organised by Baji, and funding the production houses in Bollywood, but never drugs, why.....as he drove he tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and turned on the radio, when his thoughts were interrupted by the radio presenter........kyunki aaj Shivaratri hain, kyun na hum kuch Bhagwaan Bholenaath ko yaad kar kar is geet ko sunte hai.... the lady voice continued as music began to play in the background which sounded light and refreshing to the ear ....subha ke 08:15 am huwe hai aur yeh geet lekar aah rahi hai sarita joshi...radio mirchi se.......shreya ghoshal ki awaaz mein.......picture banaras......she finsihed....and the song became clearer, as Dutta turned up the volume, he smirked to himself as if the lion had caught it's prey.......why do I smell you Anna......
Naku began telling her story as promised to Roop, while they were walking with their taali's to the Mandir directed by Roops, 'cause Naku wasn't familiar with the area.
....Banaras, said Naku as she began her story, while a curious Roop just listened on with her eyebrows squinted from the sun and Naku's start of the story, unable to understand her connection of Banaras and her basti, which Naku had familiarised to Roop earlier, but decided not to interupt as she could see Naku getting lost in her memories from her past, and stayed quiet to see what would come of her words.
(Please plug in your headphones, and don't read this part without them, please, otherwise you won't be able to imagine the scene I'm trying to create here lool, so please).
....As Naku's was swept into her past, she smiled and let the words flow out of her mouth, for it was the most beautiful time of her life, she was young, not so young only a few years ago, but how much her life had changed.......
Haan beta bilkul theek sur, aur ab phir se, Sa Sa repeated a younger Naku, Re Re...., as she was rehearsing he was making faces to tease her, and she couldn't concentrate, they hated each other when they first met. He'd always tease her and she'd always get upset, but than when he saw her crying sitting on the bank of Ganga, on the steps he would always apologise and pacify her, when eventually they became good friends, and as time went ahead and they both grew up, the tradition went on that he would come and collect Naku from her basti during the holidays to complete her shiksha, at first Roopa Tai would accompany her but than she became busy and always joined her in Banaras a little later, which is why her Guru ji let Gaurav collect Naku in person and always funded her too, as he knew her rare talent wasn't one you come by everyday, and Babi never minded him either in fact she was quite fond of Gaurav and Naku's pairing.
Teri awaaz mein sakshaar laxmi hai Beti....iska upoyog kar ke agar tum dil se awaaz lagau gi, aur Bhagwaan ka sache mann se swaran karoge to tumhare sachi shraddha se Bhagwaan prasand honge, aur tum kya kuch nahin paa sakti beti, bhagwaan to pathar mein bhi mil jaate hai agar shradda ho to...he preached in the most calm and serene voice to a hand folded Naku below him with her legs crossed and listening with Garav, who was always less interested. And than her kathak began, tak din tak din....tha....tha..tha...haan aise hi karti raho, Gaurav ache se syahi ki sur ko pakar, and than once the tabble played Naku trained to the rythm in a traditional katakh manner, ladi (footwork composotion) pe dyan de Naku as he spoke out the notes in a sync with the tabla, ....Naku abh gat (a walk demonstrating beautiful scenes from daily life and visualising them) par gor de Naku, dheere se chal kar har woh cheez sab ko dikha jo hai nahi....explained Shastri ji....par tujhe dikhaye deti hai Naku, tumare hi nritya se sab woh dekhenge jo tu unhe dikhaye gi, dil se Naku... her training continued like this to Gaurav's tabla bols.
Naku loved watching Gaurav playing the tabla, he was always so captured and lost, she loved the way music could do that, she envied him as she wasn't taught an instrument of her choice, but was mostly intrigued by the sound of the piano, she could listen to it all day long. Everyday while exploring the breathtaking streets of Banaras Naku would come accross one such house where a girl her age would be playing the piano with a lady who was probably her mother she'd guessed, and when one day Gaurav caught her spying she told him of her newfound passion, but couldn't afford to learn to buy lessons for herself, although she knew how to play the harmonium, which meant she knew the chords, octaves, tones and whole tones and et cetera, but nevertheless Naku was a fast learner.
As any other problem, Gaurav solved this one too, he knew a girl that lived away from the Ghat in the cleaner streets farther from the slums, Gauri....Gaurav and Gauri often spoke to each other as he was the Guru ji's son he knew almost everyone in Banaras, but Gauri took an extra interest in him and therefore didn't immediately like Naku when he introduced her, to her. Over time Gauri and Naku became good friends, when Gauri's parents weren't around she would teach Naku her lessons taught to her by her piano tutor, and than sneak her out before Gauri's parents got back.
Gaurav loved watching Naku play the piano, she looked gorgous with her blue eyes and fair skin and her hair tied in a plait hanging by her side on the front of her shoulder, she never was like the other girls thought Gaurav, Naku was a diamond but wasn't discovered to herself, she always thought her sister was prettier, and he tried to make Naku understand that she was pretty in a unique way, she never made the efforts other girls made, but it was enough to look at her and see she was fine the way she was, it was in actual fact the other way round, girl's envied Naku for her blue-eyed and fair-skinned beauty, but she couldn't see it that way.
Eventually, Naku became so engrossed by the piano that she'd eventually wanted one for herself, or at least an electronic one, she always pleaded her Tai, who was already giving money to Naku, to hand to her friend when she'd found what she was upto, and began paying her for the lessons eventually, and her Tai managed to buy her an electronic keyboard too, somehow.......
As Naku and Roop offered the milk and bhaang leaves they purchased on the way, on the Shivling, along with the rest of the remains from thier taali's, they seeked blessing from the Pandit, and went around the fertility tree, and circled the Shiv ji temple, all the while Naku carried on narrating her past, as they made their way back home, on foot.....
(If the song has finished, please play it again)
Naku's life was perfect in the holidays she would come to Banaras and gain shiksha from her Guru ji, Shastri Narayan Ji, who had become more like a father figure to her, and she loved spending time with him when Gaurav wasn't around, this is what made Gaurav jealous in the first place, he used to think Naku was taking his place, but than eventually he got over it.
Naku would always aid Guruji, help him making ayurvedic medicines, and always enquired about the process and the goods of each herbs as she prepared them for him as per his instructions. Shastri ji knew much about the scientific studies too, as Naku had seen many foreigners visit Shastri ji's place for information and research purposes and it turned out that Banaras was a hotspot, as foriegners always wanted to challenge religion, and the teachings of the great souls that had once walked the auspicous grounds of Banaras, such as Tulsidas, Guru Ravidas and Sant Kabir, Naku could never understood why people had a hard time believing in God and accepting his ways.
Guru ji was the one who introduced Nakusha to Bappa and his stories, since than he had become her favourite God amongst the rest, and she began confiding every secret and all her problems with her miniature Bappa that Gaurav had gifted her for when they parted and told her to tell him everything as she would've to Gaurav, and so she did henceforth that day.
When Shivaratri had arrived it was Gaurav, who had gifted her a white suit, by getting Gauri to take her measurements, he told her she had to start flaunting what God had given her, knowing she never would, he tried to do her a favour, by getting her a pair of clothes tailor made and gifted it to her instead, knowing she couldn't refuse it. He wanted her to wear it for her performance when she was going to sing Om Namah Shivay, his Dad had been teaching her.
Guys started noticing Naku alot more and she felt way too uncomfortable, she wanted to curse Gaurav for putting her in this postion, but to her surprise it was Gaurav who was keeping the crowd of boys aways from her, he used to encourage that she should find someone, and needs to get herself noticed, but than when she did, he didn't approve of it, and Gauri teased him. Naku apna duppatta oar ke le apne upar, ye saale aise khare hai ke jaise koi ladki nahin aishwariya rai kadi hai inke saamne, chalo jao yahan se, he ordered Naku's audience, good job she didn't let her hair down he thought, as he looked back at the two girls laughing at him with their hands over their mouths', and mocked his behaviour.
Everyone was surprised that Naku and Gaurav weren't a couple or even attracted to each other, but they would always remain close, their friendship was pure and neither of them wanted to lose that, and Gauri also discovered this, which is when she considered Naku her friend rather than enemy. When Naku would do performances for the Ramleela, or played Radha in the krishna play it was always on Gaurav's saying she would perform, as she was a nervous wreck, she got so used to him protecting her from everything she became dependant on him, he was the only person who's taal she could dance to and become free of everything around her, she could sing before him which she couldn't do easily, and finally the piano Gauri had taught Naku all the best movie songs to play on the piano, and told her to always keep a listen out to the radio for newer songs, to keep her encouraged when she left for the basti, when the holidays were over.
And for almost four years this process carried on, and than after that we moved, as my sister Roopa Tai had got married in Mumbai, and in order to be close to her we shifted here to the horrible basti, worse than the one we lived in before.....finished Naku, as they were about to enter Patil Niwas gates, trying to hide her emotions, and keep away her tears,
....and than what happened questioned Roop, thinking this can't be the end of the story, where's the happy ending she thought confused. ...'And than nothing' replied Naku, 'we lost touch, and I never got to see Banaras again, as I never went back, because we'd moved before the holdiays finished......so when Gaurav probably came to collect me, he most probably learnt that we'd left', she managed to squeeze in before her voice broke.
Roop understanding Naku was probably upset that she lost touch with a friend she was so dependant on, became curious to what he looked like....Naku....she started...yeh Gaurav Shastri Narayan kaisa dikhta hai......and Naku smiled as she explained that he was tall, tanned, short hair, earring in both his ears small hooped ones and a Shiv ji's amulet tied to his right arm, and he was built too she said ...as he used to workout alot just to prove to me that his muscles were bigger than Salman Khan's who she loved, and Gaurav could never understand why she laughed to herself when she told Roops......wow tume Salman acha lagta hai...so cute na.....aur botao...aur kuch nahin bas jab bhi mujhe gussa aata ta to main usse aise chirati thi...she continued that he hated being compared with him, and instead used to tell Naku to stop dreaming tumhe Salman Khan kabhi nahin milega samjhi, she imitated his words to Roop while getting lost in her memories once again, but this time happier ones.
As they entered the house Roop was so busy talking that she didn't notice Baji with Kaale in conversation, wooow...she carried on 'tall...dark and handsome bilkul rajkumar ki tarah' she said pressing her hands together bringing tham towards her heart and looking up as though she imagining him above the skies.....when Baji looks in the same direction, and replies...eh shaani...yeh tu kiski baat kareli hai...getting suspicious and walking up to the girls.....and Roops who didn't realise how she must've looked began to say main....main to...when Naku nugded her signalling her to be quiet, and than Roop tactfully changed the subject and decided to say, ...hai koi.....while acting all fresh folding her arms accross her chest and looking away from him, not knowing that she'd just made Baji get angry, or rather jealous. Kaun hai yeh Gaurav, mereko abhich ke abhi bata Roop he said getting impatient and folding either sleeves of his kurta up and pointing his finger downwards as though trying to say he's going down.
And than finally a slow Roop understood that Baji was getting jealous, that's not what she intended, but than the outcome was good, so what the hell she thought, wow this vrat is working so fast she thought to herself secretly getting overwhelmed.
As Naku left the two arguing, she went into her room thinking of the remainder of the story she had not told Roop, and more to the point could not tell Roop, or anyone else for that matter......kaha ho aap Tai, mujhe aap ki bohut yaad aati hai, said Naku sitting on the edge of the bed in a seated position,....main aapko zaroor dhoonde gi Tai..zaroor dhoonde gi.....promised Naku to herself.
As Dutta pulled up in Patil Niwas, he was thinking to himself....who do they think they're fooling, my eyes are too sharp, you can't escape the eagle eye he said to himself with ego, as he walked up the stairs and into his room, Anna you snake in the grass.....thought Dutta as he sat on the egde of the bed and removed his shoes and socks...he recalled why him and Anna had such a fallout, and smirked out loud on his stupidity.....while nodding his head left to right at his foolishness.....he continued to grin.....remembering when Anna had found out that Dutta slept with his girl, the night they finalised their first deal, because he was drunk.....as Dutta went towards his cupboard, he removed his jewelry and shrugged his shoulders to himself while still finding the situation funny...thinking it's not my fault if you couldn't get it up, and your girl came running to me and .....I was drunk..so I weren't about to say no....he amused, when Anna had found out he blew the rooftops, and since that day on they were officially public enemies, and often tried to get one another assassinated or garroted, through bounty hunters or henchmen, with no success till date.
Okay one helluva a loooong update, but as I promised you guys Naku's past in this part...well here it is, the remainder will also follow, in the next part. Also I have given you alot of details of Dutta's past, so you can now put most of his character together, and the rest of his past will unfold eventually, like Naku's past his past is slightly different too, but not that much
Oh and girls imagine Gaurav's charcter portrayed by Saurabh Pandey, Gauri and Shastri Ji don't matter lol, so you can use your imaginations there.
Yuvika thanks for the advice hun, appreciate it, I will start the pm's once I've sent out buddy requests lool.
And Mishez, I knew someone would pick up on that detail...and guess what I knew it would be you, looool😆, but newyz here goes....I was gonna put that in but it's obvious she wouldn't apply black soot on areas not exposed, and couldn't let her slip up yet...but...this is why I put the sentence in such a way, that no one would notice, but if they did (i.e. you👏), I can tell u it makes perfect sense, because I said her hair was lower than her back right, which means the ends of her hair land on her backside right, but..she will be wearing a churidaar trousers underneath it, doubling up the layer of material, hence not as much exposure, and for argument's sake if it did catch Dutta's attention he didn't have enough time to notice, coz both the girls turned around soon after he got down....so u see, I had it figured out, lool,...but nice catch, it's u who's got the eagle eye lol, not Dutta, unless u2 r a match made in heaven !
So I'm not CV's dat slips up and has bloopers lol, but if I do, please do let me know, 'cause I enjoy my Naku type bashans too lol😳.
Lots of muuaaahhhhzzz to everyone reading it, and hope u r enjoying the parallel plot lol.😉
Edited by tinkerbe11 - 14 years ago
Harry Potter
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
Shiv Shakti
