It was a seemingly normal day in the bureau. The ACP was conversing on phone in his cabin, and Fredericks and Nikhil were occupied at their desks with some work. Daya entered the bureau and surveyed the place with curiosity. Somehow all of them seemed to be avoiding his eye. Freddy had just hastily replaced his phone after a sharp glimpse from the ACP. Daya had little doubt what it was all about; tomorrow was his birthday. Amused, he goes on to talk to Freddy.
Daya - Good afternoon, Freddy. Kya chal raha hai?
Freddy - (looking up hastily) Oh... sir!! Aap kab aaye?
Daya - Kab aaye? Main gaya hi kab tha? (faking indignation) Tumhara senior subah se bureau meain hai aur bolte ho aap kab aaye?
Freddy - (looking unnerved) Par sir... sorry, main toh...
Daya chuckled and clapped a warm hand on his shoulder.
Daya - Kya yaar Freddy, har baat seriously le lete ho. Bas abhi aaya hoon ek minute pehle.
Freddy - (smiling in relief) Thank god sir. Aapne ne toh mere haathon ke totey uda diye!
Daya - Vaise itna dhyaan se kya kaam kar rahe the?
Freddy - (hurriedly) Woh... kuch nahin sir.
Daya - (sharply) Accha? Kya chhupa rahe ho, huh? Kahin FarmVille toh nahi khel rahe the Facebook pe? Ruko, abhi check karta hoon...
Freddy - Arre nahin sir! Mujhe bas ek idea aaya tha.
Daya - Oh? Kaisa idea?
Freddy - Sir, pichle hafte humne dekha kaise woh banda plane chadke antariksh mein jaa raha tha. Maine socha agar hum bhi kuch aisa karte toh? Bina rocket ke space tour kar lete!
Daya - (after a long pause) Toh kya plan hai? Qualis mein baithke antariksh mein jaaoge?
Freddy - Nahin sir. Nikhil mujhse bol raha tha ki hum toh cycle se jaa sakte hain space mein.
Daya - Kya???
Freddy - Haan sir. Woh keh raha hai "aisa kuch nahi hai jo mere Daya sir nahi kar sakte! Ek baar ghuma ke fek dein, cycle seedhe Mars pe pahuch jaayegi!"
Daya was left speechless. He glanced over at Nikhil, who was looking at him with a broad smile. Before he could react, the ACP abruptly walked out of his cabin, speaking seriously on the phone.
ACP - ...haan sir, accha. Okay, main baat karata hoon. (to Daya) Daya, DCP Chitrole ka phone hai. Tumse baat karna chahte hain. Good luck.
Daya took the phone with a this-can't-be-good-news expression, and turned on the speaker.
Daya - Hello?
DCP - Hello, Daya? All well? Chalo, ek mission hai tumhaare liye.
Daya felt a stark sense of foreboding. The ACP and Freddy stared tensely at him.
Daya - Kaisa mission sir.
DCP - Baat ye hai ki Mumbai mein ek bada poaching racket chal raha hai. Hum uss gang ko pakadna chahte hain. Isliye humne ek plan banaya hai - Bubbly Lake mein aap sab log ek whale ka dhyaan rakhenge.
His words were greeted with total silence in the bureau.
DCP - Excitement ne dang kar diya na?? Abhi aage suno. Wahan pe ek mechanical whale ka intzaam kar diya hai. Uska naam hai Pappu. Pappu the Whale. Ab plan ye hai ki aap log Whalesitters banenge.
Daya - Whalesitters, sir??
DCP - Arre jaise babysitters hote hain, vaise hi Whalesitters. Ab aisa hoga, Pappu ko chot lagi hai, isliye aap sab log usko lori gaate huey Lake ki sair karayenge. Ye dekhke poachers tum logon par fire karenge.
Daya - (after a long pause) Par sir, poachers aise hi fire kyun karenge?
DCP - Blast hone ke baad Paris mein waapas kaise aa gaye?
Daya - ...bas aise hi.
DCP - Haan, bas vaise hi poachers ka bhi fire karne ko mann karega. Phir tum goli lagke tapakne ka natak karna, andar bulletproof vest pehenke. Team mein tumhaare sabse kareebi log wahan ek YSPT drama karenge. Poachers confident hoke Whale ko pakadne chale aagenge, aur tab tum log whale machine Super Mega Suck function activate karke unhe pakad lena.
There was an eerie, pin-drop silence in the bureau now.
DCP - Yakeen nahi aa raha na? Itna brilliant plan! Zara Nikhil aur Shreya ko mujhse baat karne ko bolna aaj raat 2 baje, Skype par. Meri ID hai chitrole_da_king101. Best of luck!
The silence continued for a few more minutes. And then...
ACP, Daya and Freddy - Aaj toh bure phase..!!
Almost everybody had left; the ACP was in his cabin sorting some leftover work in a grave mood. Daya was sitting speechless at his desk. Looks like this was going to turn out to be his worst birthday ever. He regretted sending away Freddy despite the latter's offer to stay. The door opened and Abhijeet and Purvi walked in, talking to each other.
Abhijeet - (silently) ...aur cake?
Purvi - (low voice) Order kara di hai sir.
Abhijeet - Doh karna chahiye tha. Ek toh poora apna Freddy hi kha jaayega.
Both of them laughed and suddenly spotted Daya sitting dejected at his desk. They walked over, and Daya got up and greeted them.
Abhijeet - Arre Daya? Kya hua? Abhi ghar nahi gaye?
Daya - Yaar Abhijeet, ye toh mujhe tumse poocha chahiye. Tum dono ab aa rahe ho? Kahan the itni der?
Purvi - Woh... sir, main...
Abhijeet - (quickly) ...ACP sir ke ghar mein thi. Bhindi kaat rahi thi.
Daya - (confused) Kya?
Abhijeet - Haan! Hai na, Purvi? (She nods quickly) Aur main masala bana raha tha mixer mein. ACP sir ko madad chahiye thi apni special Bhindi Pie bana rahe the.
Daya - ...accha.
Abhijeet - Kya hua Daya? Itne pareshaan kyun ho?
Daya sighs and tells both of them about the DCP's call and what's in store the next day. Now they shared the same expressions as him.
Abhijeet - Ye phir se shuru ho gaye.
Daya - Seedhe Whalesitters bana diya humein. CID ki duty band. Kal sab log ek 100 feet ke blue whale ko jhula jhulake "Twinkle Twinkle Little Whale" gaayenge.
Purvi suppressed an involuntary giggle. Daya noticed.
Daya - Aap bhi bachi nahi hain. Suna hai aapki pairing hone waali hai Whale ke saath. Facebook pe Ekta Kapoor fans demand kar rahe hain.
All three of them suppressed their outrage and nausea with difficulty.
Abhijeet - Yaar ye CID hai ki koi theatre ka group? Ye kya bana rakha hai? Pata hota toh training academy mein Comedy Circus ki classes bhi attend kar lete.
Purvi - Ab kal kya hoga, sir?
Daya - Kuch toh karna padega warna ye YSPT ab YTSH ban jaayega... "Ye Toh Sach Hua". Ab sabse pehle pata lagate hain ki Nikhil aur Shreya se kya baat kar rahe hain DCP sahab. Tum yahan Pappu The Whale ke baare mein Koogle pe search karo, Purvi. Abhijeet, mere saath chalo.
Daya and Abhijeet used their super secret surveillance equipment to track down DCP Chitrole's Skype account transmission. For good measure, they drew their guns. They sneaked into the adda and saw Nikhil and Shreya being instructed by Chitrole who was visible on a computer screen in a pose resembling Dr. No.
DCP - Ab suno. Kyunki tum dono team mein Daya ke sabse close ho...
Daya and Abhijeet looked at each other in shock. They couldn't believe that Daya's 17 years' worth of bonding with Abhijeet and the other veterans and members was being dismissed like this.
DCP - ...aapko sabse zyada convincingly grief dikhana hoga, jaisa ki maine aaj shaam ko bataya. Samjhe?
Both of them nodded.
DCP - Nikhil, shuru karo. Jaise hi Daya ko goli lagegi, tum kya karoge?
Nikhil - BHAAA!!!
DCP - Ye rona hota hai? Zara dil se karo!
Nikhil - BHA-BHA BHAAA!!! BHAAA BHOOO BHA-BHAAA...!!!
DCP - Aur zor se! Chhati peet-peet ke! Dekho main karke dikhata hoon.
Daya and Abhijeet looked away from the revolting sight. When they looked back again, it was Shreya's turn.
DCP - ...phir se sunao. Woh baat nahi aayi.
The duo listened and eventually realized that it was a certain Shakespearean play translated into Hindi via Google Translate. Hence, almost indecipherable.
DCP - Good. Ek aur baar rehearsal karenge, phir tum ja sakte ho. Kal goi galti nahi honi chahiye.
The duo had seen enough. They began to move away.
Abhijeet - Yaar Daya, ab kya karoge? Ye toh bada kaand hone waala hai.
Daya - (firmly) Abhi plan karte hain. Chalo
Next noon, Daya, Purvi, Nikhil and Shreya arrive at the Bubbly Lake as planned. A huge net has been wrapped around the fake whale already and the DCP speaks to them via phone in Idea Sirji style.
DCP - Ab shuru karo net ko kheechna. Aap log professional Whalesitters ho, remember. Net kheechna hai taaki lage tum Pappu ko jhula rahe ho. Bas kheechte jaao, aur jo lori sunai thi woh gaate jaao. Aur jab shootout hoga tab wohi karna jo maine kaha tha.
Groaning, the cops began their official Whalesitting mission. They pulled the net and started singing the lullaby the DCP had given them.
Daya, Purvi, Nikhil, Shreya - Munna hai tu, pyara Whaley hai tu. Oh humara pyara sa Pappu hai tu...
They moved around the lake 3 times, singing. Suddenly, there were gunshots. On cue, the cops started firing too but suddenly the robot Whale jumped high from the lake and splashed down in the middle of them. When the spray cleared, Daya was nowhere to be seen. Nikhil and Shreya now began screaming for real and thinking it had eaten him, began to chase the whale as it moved away towards the horizon.
Purvi - Daya sir!!
Daya - Idhar!
She turned and saw Daya calmly emerging from behind one of the rocks. Abhijeet, the ACP, Freddy and Dr. Salunkhe emerged from the nearby clump of trees. The phone rang as the six of them gathered.
DCP - Hello, Daya? Ye kya hai?
Daya - Woh sir, lagta hai Whale mein kuch gadbad thi. Woh uda aur saare poachers ko kha gaya.
DCP - Aise kaise??
Daya - Pata nahi sir, par kaam toh ho gaya na. Accha main baad mein bolta hoon, lori baja baja ke phone ki battery low ho gayi.
He turned off the phone and turned to the others.
Abhijeet - DCP sahab bhi na... ek butterfly catchers group ko poachers keh rahe the. Vaise unki bhi ABC kar rahe hain hum. (pointing at the direction of the whale, smiling) Par Daya ji ko toh bonus mil hi gaya, kyun?
Dr. Salunkhe - Haan. Aur thanks kisko?
Daya - Aapko, Dr. sa'ab. Aap hi ho jo ek mechanical whale ko 2 minutes mein robot bana sakte ho.
Dr. Salunkhe - Woh toh hai. Par khabardar agar apni birthday party iss khushi mein 2 minutes mein khatam kar di toh!
Daya - Do mahine chalayenge Dr. sa'ab, postmortem bhi cake khaate huey hi kijiyega, hum party hats lagake investigation karenge. Theek?
All of them shared a bright laugh together.
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