reporting from ground zero FF updated 14 july 2015 part 2 page 2

She was tired and drained of every ounce of energy. She felt hurt and humiliated. There was not a relationship that had stood the test of time. Some phased away because she did not conform to their cast and others could not be molded the way she wanted them. It was best she quit, that way at least she won't have to come face to face with the fading friends every now and then. How sardonic it was that she loved someone who did not even wanted to keep up the faade of friendship and she was loved by someone whom she only considered a friend. Now admist all this fiasco what suffered the most was her work. She did not even know how come they called her. She had never approached any one for a job let alone this HR company. She would have to look up the email again to memorize their name. who cared about the raise and position when her entire being here was being pulled and shredded apart. Right from Ronnie to Richa to Kabir to Malvika and the newest one that silly author Nalini. She thanked her stars she never read her depressing novels. For now it appeared to her that the only way to get some respite and to move on was to move out of KKN. She was surprised why it did not strike her. She nodded her head as if she just gave permission to herself to resign. Somehow that brought a long lost smile back to her. She plugged her ears with those two little white buds and played the music to full

"Ruk jana nahi."

The Interview was a heart wrenching sob story with Kabir becoming the love guru. She laughed sarcastically and then the royal entry of Shekhar was an icing on the top. If only she could blow the trumpet out loud and announce his name. What was certain though was that today's 9 "o clock" was going to get the highest TRP ratings. She came out of the PCR back to her seat. For some odd reason she felt light footed and she wanted to breathe again live again.

"I am never going to let my heart loose ever. Lesson learnt A Man and A Women can never be friends. One of the two or both will break the ship and it is bound to sink" she smiled and accepted the lesson and started working on the last story for KKN.

She had been following this lead for quite some time now and she believed that this story belonged to KKN. She still worked according to her principles. This was about a minister's daughter who loved the son of his father's PA. He had gone missing and the father of the man, the PA to the minister had been looking for his son in every possible quarter. His son Raghav owned a small time IIT entrance coaching institute for poor students. The police had denied filing a missing person's report. It had been nearly 4 days since he had gone missing. Tinu had given her a lead that Raghav was last seen with the sons of the minister on the Yamuna express way. She picked up her bag and called Tinu to meet her at the ITO crossing.

"Hire a cab." She told Tinu. "Chal sunny Party time" she whispered to him and he followed with his camera.

They started surfing and scanning the area around the Yamuna expressway. She asked the villagers living on the sides of the road. It seemed Raghav had vanished in thin air. Nobody was able to tell anything. she felt sad for she was unable to find any clue about Raghav. The system had turned down a father's plea but she won't she promised to herself that she will find out his whereabouts. She took a sip of water from the bottle that Tinu offered.

"Ab kya karna hai" he asked. "it was a dead lead I guess." He said again

"No, the way this villagers are evading questions I am sure we will get some clue here." A group of teenage boys playing indie cricket caught her eyes.

"Lets go." She told Sunny and sprinted towards them.

"humko bhi khilaoge." She asked with genuine enthusiasm. The boys came to a stand still.

"Larkiyan log kab se gend balla khelein lagi." One of them said looking amused by her proposal.

"Chal balla de jo humka out karihai uka 10 rs inaam." She said in their lingo.

"Pakka na? Banaye to nahi rahi ho?" a little one asked.

"Nahi bilkul hi sach keh rahey hain."

"accha ee lo ballawa, hum phekat hain gendawa. Tumko to humhi ek gend pe out kar debai" she accepted the bat from the hands of the little man graciously and off, went to the crease. She played for odd 1 hour and every boy in their group tried to bowl her out to no avail. Eventually they took a drinks or rather water break.

"aap bahut hi accha khelti hain." The little champ came to her again.

"in sab mein sabse acchi bowling tumne hi ki hai champ." He looked at her curiously

"champ matlab sikander." He made a round with his lips in understanding.

"lets go Ananya. We have wasted a lot of time." Sunny said.

"Madam aap unhi Sikander sahib ke baarey mein pooch rahi thi na" this was champ again.

"Kaun Sikander" Ananya now kneeled down to come to the face level of the little champ.

"Whai jo us din teen aur logon ke saath aaye rahey par gaye sirf do."

"Kya matlab Kiss din champ." She was all ears but treaded carefully looking around her to check if they were left alone. The others were still around and hence she needed to think about something fast or they would interrupt her conversation sooner than it started.

"Accha champ wo sab chod tu yeh bata tujhko khane mein kya accha lagta hai."

"Humko Aam accha lagat hai didi."

"yeh sahi hai, didi , madam vadam kuch jamta nahi. Kya main school ki masterni dikhti hoon?" she heard a chorus of laughter.

"bas yeh chashma hata dijiye to aap bilkul hi heroine dikheinge." This was a feminine voice and she looked up to ascertain who it was. she came closer to her son Champ as Ananya had named her. She looked friendly but just not enough. Ananya felt discouraged she would not be able to get the information she was looking for.

"yaha se 3 phurlang door sarpanch ka bag hai wahan bahut acche aam hai. Aapko bahut acchey lageinge." Champ said with a crooked smile and a wink.

"Chal ruk main tere ko Aam mangwa ke deti hoon, Jaiyo mat." She said earnestly and turned to sunny

"When we were coming this side then the exit lane via which we joined expressway had a big Mango stall. Chal wahan se aam leke aatey hain."

"Didi Sarpanch..."

"Nahi chori acchi baat nahi. Tu ruk main aam la ke deti hoon. Mera bhi ek chota bhai hai tujhse thoda bada par tere hi jaisa shaitan." She said trying to stop him from saying anything further because she did not want him to come out in open and be targeted by anyone who might be lurking around.

She went back to her car along with Sunny and Tinu.

"what are you doing Ananya Yaar?. Wasting so much of time." This was Grumpy Sunny again.

"Chal abhi." She said to him "aam latey hain chotey sikander ke liye phir apne liye bhi mil hi jayeinge."

"What are you talking about." She just winked back to sunny in resposnse.

...

Half an hour later all three of them were lurking in the orchard that belonged to the Sarpanch looking for real mangoes. They had actually come deep inside the enclosed area. It was not safe.

"Ananya there is nothing here."

"Sunny just a few more minutes. That child was not playing around. I know when some one is just being a jerk." They moved a little ahead and saw a small well kind of a thing and Ananya walked discreetly towards it leaving Sunny and Tinu behind a tree. She peeped into the well and there was precisely what they were looking for. She signaled Sunny to come over. She started clicking pics and shot a small video. since sunny had left the camera behind just in case that they were caught at least it won't be flatly evident that they were looking for something other than mangoes. They had actually plucked some of them and had them in their bag.

"I think he is dead"

"No I don't think so. Had that been the case there would have been some crows and other birds around and there is no smell. I have hopes, but don't know what to do?"

"let's get out of here first." Sunny said. "if someone sees us here, his chances of survival would be absolutely zero." She contemplated what he had just said and then nodded and they all started to go back to the car. They had hardly walked a couple of minutes when the a group of huge goons saw them. They next thing they could do was to run as fast as they could.

"Sunny aam mat chodiyo. Ma se achar banvaongi." She screamed at the top of her pitch and Sunny got the hint that she was asking him to leave the bag behind. That would make them think that they were just normal urban youngsters stealing mangoes. They were already far away from the vicinity of the well. They did manage to escape. On their way back she called Kabir and narrated the whole incident.

"Ananya you went there all alone?"

"No sir Sunny and Tinu are with me. What can we do now?" you wait for me at any restraunt that is fairly far away from there or rather midway to the office. Mean while I will reach there with police."

"Yes sir. I also have a footage shot from mobile. I will forward it to Ronnie."

"Forward it to me"

"I have deleted your number." She stated as a matter of fact but it hit Kabir right in the middle of his chest. He closed his eyes for a fraction of a second and then said

"I am texting you my number send it to me. I hope your ability to understand simple instructions is still intact." Ananya by now was so consumed by adventure and the possibility of having a chance at some great breaking news that she had totally forgotten all that had transpired in past few days. She was still experiencing the same high.

"OK sir text me your number."

"It appears that this man always has Bhoot Jholakiya hidden under his tounge." She said looking at Sunny "stop at the Caf "Chai Pani" in another 3 kilometers."

"You want to eat?"

"Nope order from Editor In Chief." Just then her phone buzzed again.

"Yes sir"

"Don't you dare to venture in to all this alone. Wait for further instructions from me. Am I clear."

"Very well sir. You know some thing Sunny this man has no need of a mic, even to address a million people together. He can be heard loud and clear."

"Ananya he never raises his pitch. He never looses control." Sunny deferred.

"What do you guys think what will happen now?" Ananya was still riding high on her thrill ride.

"I don't know I just hope banda bach jaye."

"I am sure he was not dead but he was not alive either." She said

"Hain???? How is that possible?" said Tinu who had been a silent spectator all this while. They had just entered the parking lot of the Caf.

"Ideally the police shall write an FIR if the person has been missing more than 24 hours. Chalo 48 hours nahi likhi but 4 long days there has to be some reason behind this delay."

"Bol to tu theek rahi hai."

"Jee madam ji hoga mantri ji ka haath."

"nahi yahan keval mantri ji ka haath nahi unka sar pair sab kuch hai. Aur to aur mujhey to lagta hai higher up police officers bhi mile hain"

"Ho sakta hai" Sunny said. They placed their orders and waited for their turn. It had been a awhile and there was no information from either Kabir Sir or about their order. Ananya was getting impatient. There was ring and Ananya looked up at the digital counter that showed number 256.

"Chal kahin to apna Number aaya" she said and got up to get her order. On the counter a guy bumped into her and she apologized but was caught in their conversation. They were a group of three.

"Sale se aaj to pakka suicide note sign karvana hai. Aise maar diya to media jeena haram kar degi."

She immediately switched on the camera hidden in her top.

"Par keval sign karvane se accha hai likhva lo." Said the other one in the group

"Aukat gangu teli kin ahi chale hain raja bhoj ki beti byahne. Bas nahi chalta aaj kal press darna parta hai nahi to muh se daant aur pet se aant nikal leta." This was the first one again. Ananya did not recognize the minister's son but logic told her this was about the missing Raghav. She grabbed her order and came to her seat. She by now had drops of sweat on her forehead. Some because of excitement and some due to shear fear. These guys were talking in full audible tone that too in public. They feared nothing but the camera. She inhaled deeply to steady herself and gestured Sunny and Tinu to act normally for they were looking at her intently. Sunny was by now very perceptive of Ananya's overall behavior. He started talking casually with her. She in the meantime messaged the whole thing to Kabir. In not even a minute her phone beeped.

"Stay where you are and don't do any thing stupid for God sake. Stay away from these guys. I will message you when I reach there and join me in my car all three of you. Take care stay alive."

"He is just so over dramatic." She muttered

"Hain? Kya boli tu." Sunny said

"kuch nahi tu sandwich thoos" she again said trying to think of something. It came to her the way these guys were behaving it was certain they were backed by the police as well. She could not understand how an intelligent person like Kabir was not able to understand this.

"Yahi hota hai jab Malvika se zada dosti ho jaye to dimag ka dahi ban jaata hai." She again muttered to herself. The phone buzzed again.

"come out and try not to raise alarm come out normally. Let Tinu take the taxi and leave. You and Sunny join me." She typed a quick OK and said.

"Hogaya mera tu chal jaldi chal."

"humara bhi ho gaya hai." And all of them left without creating any scene. They did as they were told.

"Are you all right? How could you even dare to come here without informing me? Are you out of your mind? Do you even understand the kind of people you were dealing with? This is height of irresponsibility. These past few minutes were like pure hell for me." Kabir literally blasted her off the minute she entered his car. Even Sunny was taken aback by this sudden outburst. Ananya who was till now engrossed in her work collided with the other reality head on and it hurt even more this time. She chose not to answer a single question. His presence was causing ruckus in her entire being. She closed her eyes shut to find her equilibrium back. With great effort she came back to the issue at hand.

"Sir you wanted to take help from police but the way these guys were behaving, I think they have the blessing of that department." She said with distinct detachment from him. Kabir straightened himself and fixed his eyes on the road in front.

"The entire police department is not corrupt. There are a lot of honest officers. You would do your job a favor if you find a few for your self."

"That makes sense. Won't they need a search warrant to search the property of the Sarpanch."

"If it is a matter of life and death then there are exceptions to that rule but yes ideally they should have it. What makes you think they won't have it? It is broad day light and it takes just a few minutes for a judicial magistrate to sign a search warrant." She looked at him this time and smiled crookedly.

"How could I forget that you are a perfectionist and have been longer in this game." She muttered

"Come again."

"Just wondering what next?"

"We will be there in a few minutes." He said not sparing a glance towards her