The core committee was unable to arrive at a decision regarding the bombs and grenades as the for and against were almost equal in no. They decided to continue the discussion later as it was getting late. All of them said their byes. Vikrant called out for Raghav but not getting an answer thought that he would have left and set off. Chakor had the company of her friend Leela till a short distance after which she turned for her home.
Raghav knew exactly when she would be alone and was waiting for the right moment. He crept from behind, covered her mouth with his hand and pulled her behind the bushes. Chakor was startled but before she could react, he said...... …don’t get scared, don’t shout please, I am Raghav… I just wanted to tal…..by then his hand was bitten by her and he exclaimed…..ouch…are you mad?…..She turned towards him, grabbed his collar and asked ….How dare you pull me like this? He switched on the torch he had……Her face was close to him, lips hardly a fingers distance away, her eyes shone bright in the torch light, both seemed to be mesmerisedby each other……when somebody from a house neaby shouted……Kaun hain wahan? KaunHain? And both of them tried to duck down. Raghav lost his balance and rolled down a slope near the bushes with Chakor on him. They landed with a thud. The torch also broke… there was darkness around…Both got up, rubbing themselves. They were bruised. Raghav was trying to help Chakor get up when she realised that she had sprained her leg. She tried walking but couldn’t. She blasted Raghav….saying….tumhari wajah se hum iss musibat mein hain….Kaunsi aafat aa gayi thi? Kya baat karni thi tumhe……he finally just closed her mouth with his hand, lifted her and said that he would drop her home and would tell her everything if she would just shut her mouth for some time……
She reluctantly let him lift her but because of the darkness they couldn’t see well and it so happened that her lips brushed his while she was trying to hold him.The ripples it sent in both jolted them. It was a new feeling for both. They seemed to have become senseless, unable to move. Suddenly the chill in the air made them shudder and they realised what had happened. Chakor mouthed a meek sorry because she was feeling very very shy……. She thanked God that the torch had broken otherwise her crimson face would have been seen. Raghav on the other hand didn’t know how to react. He simply started walking, with she in his arms.They walked a few minutes in silence and then Chakor remembered that Raghav wanted to tell her something. She broke the awkard silence and asked him what he wanted to tell her.
Oh yes…I totally forgot about it in all this….and again both got reminded of the brief touch and felt a thrill run through them…..Raghav then in whispers told her all that he had seen….Suddenly he was greeted with a violent jerk and she asked him to place her down… she said…have you totally lost it? …….Do you even know what you are saying? He is like my own brother….my parents brought him uplike their own…I cannot believe that he would have any bad intentions…..
She was very angry……he just tried to pacify her….but she would not listen and started limping back home saying ……thank you for bringing me till here…now I will manage….she started walking away…..he just held her hand and said…..please think over practically once…..then wished a goodnight and walked off.
She reached home and when her parents enquired about her bruises, she brushed it off saying that she had slipped and had got hurt. But she couldn’t sleep very well that night. A set of sturdy arms, a baritone voice and the brief close glimpse of a handsome face in a torch light kept fleeting in and out of her dreams. Then there was a warning beeping too. All in all she had a disturbed sleep.
Raghav too reached home, cleaned himself and tried catching up on his favourite sleep but it had become elusive….He found himself automatically up the next day at dawn and near the window…..
Chakor was very angry with Raghav for blaming her brother. She didn’t bother to look at him when they crossed paths. Raghav was very uneasy. When she came home in the evening, her mom casually said that her brother seems to be very busy these days. He hardly had time to help her in her household chores. That triggered something in Chakor. She tried to enquire with her mom about it but her mom seemed to be busy with cooking and didn’t have the time. With a calm mind she tried thinking about what Raghav had said and realised that his voice had held honesty. Plus she also thought that Raghav had probably nothing to gain by blaming her brother. So she decided to do her own investigation. It took her a good four -five days to get to the bottom of things but when she confronted her cousin, he broke down and accepted…..why…..how could you do such a thing?.....I needed my own money…..how many days could I live off your parents……but you could have searched for a job?….don’t you know how difficult it is to get one these days…especially after the non-cooperation movement…..She asked him to leave the village and go off without telling anybody….If my parents come to know about this, they would be totally heartbroken said she…….She was broken too……