Chapter 6
Two months ago
Kalyani was in a meeting when her phone rang. Seeing the name on the display, she disconnected the phone and continued with the meeting. After the meeting was over, Kalyani went to her cabin and called back, "Haan bolo?"
"Madam aapne jis orphanage par Nazar rakhne ko bola tha, us par picchle ek hafte se main Nazar rakh Raha hoon. Aur mujhe ek andar ki secret baat pata chali h."
"Maine tumhe khabar ko sensationalize karke news headline banane ke liye nahi rakha h," Kalyani said sharply, "Seedhe mudde par aao."
"Madam yahaan aaye anaath bacchon ko human trafficking racket ko diya jaata h," the man said from the other side, "Bahut Khatarnaak log hain ye."
"Aur Jo picchle teen saal me anaathalay aaye bacchon ki photograph sahit list maine tumhe bhejne ko kaha tha?" Kalyani said.
"Ma'am abhi aapko send karta hoon," the man said and Kalyani disconnected the phone.
With trembling hands, Kalyani scrolled through each picture when at last her hand hovered over a picture.
"P...Pillu," Kalyani kissed the picture and held it against her bosom.
"Maharashtra News," Kalyani called after composing herself, "Aapke liye mere paas breaking news hai."
Kalyani wore a leather mini skirt and did dark makeup. Wearing high heels, she adjusted the camera hidden inside her heart shaped locket.
"Miss D'Souza," Kalyani said laughing over a glass of soft drink, "Aapne is orphanage ko kitne acche se sambhala hai iske charche to Bangkok, Middle east tak hain. Suna hai, Bade bade log yahaan bacche khareedne aate hain."
The head off orphanage said, "Ye kya keh rahi hain aap? Hamare yahaan ye sab nahi hota...chali jaiye yahaan se varnaa mujhe police bulaani padegi."
"Are Mrs. D'Souza aap to bura maan gayi. Khair mujhe hi kucch misunderstanding ho gayi hogi," Kalyani stood up without realising that a cheque had fallen from her purse.
Mrs.D'Souza saw that Rs. 20 crore were written as amount with her name as the beneficiary. As Mrs. D'Souza was going to pick the cheque up, Kalyani picked it first and said, "Boss ne ye cheque to aapko Dene ke liye bola tha magar aap to kanoon ko maanne wali sacchi citizen hain. To ab is cheque ka kya kaam hai? Main ise faad hi deti hoon..."
"Are nahi madam," Mrs. D'Souza said, her hands stretched to hold the cheque, "Kitne bacche chahiye aapko?"
Kalyani kept the cheque back in her purse, and whispered, "Vaise aapko bata doon in bacchon ka use organ trafficking me hota hai. To are you sure? Kyunki kucch bacche ye tolerate nahi kar paate aur surgery ke baad hi..."
"Vo bacche chahe marein chahe jiyein," Mrs. D'Souza said, "Meri balaa se. Mujhe paise to poore milenge na."
Kalyani nodded, her face heavy with emotions.
Malhar got up on seeing the live telecast of all this on his home.
Vivek asked, "Malhar kahaan jaa rahe ho?"
Malhar said, "Un human traffickers ko pakadkar mujhe laga tha ye khel band ho gaya hai. Magar hamare sheher ka orphanage bhi isme involved tha? Kalyani ma'am ki jaan ko khatra hai vahaan...at least mujhe to inform karna chahiye tha na akele vahaan jaane se pehle."
Malhar started his motorbike.
Kalyani was searching for her child's face in every resident of the orphanage whom Mrs. D'Souza ordered to queue up for Kalyani to select. But she couldn't find her child in them.
Then a man came running, "Mrs. D'Souza," and showed her the mobile clip of news. Mrs. D'Souza growled, "Tu police ki mukhbir hai." And ordered her men to hold Kalyani. She slapped Kalyani and ordered her men to kill her and dump her body in the backyard.
As a man was going to shoot Kalyani, a gunshot hit him.
"Itni bhi jaldi kya hai Mrs. D'Souza?" Kalyani was never more relieved on hearing Malhar's voice. Three men attacked Malhar at once with knives but Malhar was too quick and with well thought out punches and kicks made the fall to the ground. Suddenly then someone shot Malhar in the chest.
"Malharji," Kalyani shouted. Then Pawar and other policemen arrived. Pawar said, "Aap Sir ko lekar jaiye. Yahaan ham sambhaal lenge."
Supporting Malhar, Kalyani made him lie on the car and told her driver to go to hospital as fast as he can.
It was late when Kalyani realized that the driver was taking them through a forest path.
"Tum to Sanjay bhau nahi ho?" Kalyani said to which the driver just laughed and simply took out a revolver to shoot Malhar. But Kalyani stabbed his hand with her pen nib repeatedly until the gun dropped from his hand. She picked up the gun and took Malhar out of the car. They were not safe there and the man would have his companions catch them sooner or later. When Malhar was shot, Kalyani didn't realise when her cellphone dropped out of her purse in the orphanage itself and there were no signals in Malhar's phone.
Finally dragging herself and Malhar to the deep of the forest, Kalyani was surprised by Malhar saying, "Itni...itni irresponsible aap kaise ho sak...sakti hain Kalyani mam? Aapko zara bhi andaaza hai ki vo log kitne khatarnaak the? Aapko kucch ho jaata to?"
Kalyani was dumbfounded by the man who despite being shot himself and fighting for his own life was concerned more about her well being.
"Maaf kijiyega madam," Malhar was going on and on, "Aap state ki asset hain. Aapki life par sirf aapka hi nahi, public ka bhi haq hai. Kucch aur nahi to apne aai baba ke baare me to sochiye. Khair koi boyfriend to hoga nahi aapka itni akdoo Jo hain aap. Thoda to thande dimaag se sochna chaiye tha aapko..."
Kalyani put her finger on his lips and said, "Shhh...Goli lagi hai par fir bhi daantne me koi kami nahi hai," and as she bent over him and unbuttoned his shirt, Malhar was feeling so shy and blushed despite himself, "Ye k...kya kar rahi hain aap?"
"Kaha na kucch der apne muh par taala lagaiye aur chaabi mujhe de dijiye..." Kalyani removed his shirt and started cleaning his bullet wound.
"Ye sab aapko kaise?"
"As an IAS select hone se pehle, I was a doctor, Officer," Kalyani said.
"Fir aapne ye field kyon?"
"Haalat hi kucch aise the," Kalyani so wanted to tell everything to this man who was not related to her in any way yet she felt a strange connection to him. But no, now she must think only about Malhar.
Malhar was feeling pain but he was not expressing it, Kalyani knew that. To ease out his suffering, Kalyani started singing Aapki nazron ne samjhaa as she worked to remove the bullet.
https://youtu.be/LbVI1fVvf8A
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