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It was all because of Snowy. If Snowy had not startled the camel, it wouldn't have trampled on his paw and crushed it. Which was how Tintin came to be dog-sitting in Jaipur. He hoped the twin detectives, Thomson and Thompson, went to see the Taj Mahal or Red Fort or anything else, as long as they stayed away from Birpur and his gun-running lead. But their phones were out of range...
Meanwhile, in dark and deserted Birpur, TnT alighted from their Jeep and made their way by the light of the moon to the village square in their brand new Birpuri disguise. They gathered the heavy folds of their blankets close - they'd already tripped thrice and were eliminating any chance of future mishaps.
Red Paro was in their line of sight. She'd stopped by a temple and had her hands folded. No doubt she was whispering secrets, passwords, or secret passwords to the priest inside. If only they could see him; or hear her. Fragments of her conversation drifted across: "...Thank you for bringing me back to Birpur and home...for awakening the man inside that BSD Officer...is there a reason behind this that I should know of?..."
"...Can't stay away from Mamisa anymore, Thompson, Mamisa, write it down!" Thomson whispered. "Mamisa can't stay away..." Thompson repeated precisely.
Red Paro seemed to hear something, because she stopped. TnT held their breaths. But the moment passed and Red Paro took a step or two, anklets and bangles jangling with every movement.
"Hurry up Thomson, she's getting away," Thompson panted. And they both picked up their blankets and ran after her.
Perhaps Red Paro heard their footsteps because she seemed to stiffen, and looked over her shoulder.
"Well done Thompson, that's a big tree you picked to hide behind!" Thomson clapped him on the back. "Precisely, Thomson, excellent behind to hide tree!" TnT were excited - they were this close to nailing Terrible Thakur and the Gun Runners.
Red Paro took a few more steps. But an ant bit Thomson, who left the cover of the tree for the side of the building ahead. Thompson leapt up the single step like a young goat to join him. It was then that Red Paro saw his monstrous shadow flit by on the wall ahead. Again she looked over her shoulder but saw nothing.
TnT peeked out carefully, what was she doing now? She seemed to be lifting her skirt. Was it a signal? That meant the enemy was nearby. They had to see whom she was signalling. They stuck their necks out some more. Then drew back as she walked on towards the door and knocked on the step.
Thomson made as if to go to her, but Thompson stopped him. "Wait for the door to open," he warned. They heard more knocks and waited with bated breath. Then the knocking stopped. "The knocking has stopped, Thompson, but there's no sound of the door opening. Something's wrong!" Thomson was worried. They couldn't see Red Paro. They abandoned the wall and looked around but she wasn't in sight. "Where's she gone?" Thompson was perplexed.
"Shhh," Thomson cautioned, "if she walks we'll hear her jewellery." He sent T to reconnoiter the alley.
Thompson returned face grim: "That's a dead-end," he reported. "She's messed up the plan. We were so close." "That's right Thompson, we've messed-up the plan. She's so close, to be precise." Thomson hung his head, and spotted a red gleam in the bin...bangles! Aha! A clue at last! "All her jewellery!" he breathed. The cunning girl had slipped silently away to Terrible Thakur's. "She can't have gone far, Thompson, come..." They ran on blanket-less in the wake of Red Paro...
...At 7.00 am they were no closer to finding Red Paro. "Mark my words, Thompson, she's a player, mixed-up in all this." Thomson concluded. Thompson concurred, "She's mixed-up, to be precise..." He paused as a thought struck him, "Hope she doesn't fall into the hands of the Thakur...dangerous man...can go to any extent." Hearing Thompson echo his thoughts only added to Thomson's frustration fuelled fury. "Where HAS the foolish girl gone?"
On to the review. This was, let's face it, a bit of a filler episode. But it had its moments and some very nice lines. A lot of which were handed out to Kakisa & Co. My favourites were Kakisa's opening line on the curse that had turned Mythili into a pillar of stone, which explained why she hadn't retrieved the glass even after it'd woken up the lot of them. And of course that absolutely brilliant comeback from Kakasa about Vibheeshan's wife at least being a looker! Ahhh Kakasa, you lovely man!
Then there's young Sumer, picking just the wrong time to rile Rudra. And Rudra's retort: "Just wondering which feature of yours to rearrange..." And of course the exasperated response to his father's query about who's knocking at the door: "Me! who else calls you Ranawat? Why have you locked the door?"
There were also some touching moments like when Mamisa picked up the phone only to get a busy tone. And when the scales fell from Paro's eyes and she realised that all his caring - feeding, shawl, etc - was part of the plan. Rudra is going to face a very angry woman in tomorrow's episode. Just as Paro is going to face an equally angry Rudra whose plans she has foiled yet again. And finally, the look on Rudra's face as he caught sight of Paro in his room was priceless! Tomorrow looks like it'll be worth the wait.
Disclaimer: I have no intention of offending RR fans with this take, so please nobody take offence, and if you don't like it, please just dismiss it as my odd sense of humour. And if I've offended any Tintin fans, please feel free to correct. The lapses in research are all mine.
Fan Fictions
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Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
