Chakor and Raghav looked at each other ……They thanked their stars that the venue of the meeting had been changed and that the shed which these guys had blasted was empty……Raghav wanted to rush and throttle Mr. John for the gruesome act. But Chakor held him back……Let him enjoy his so-called moment of victory today. We will jolt him from his dreamland later …..….
Both started their walk back…. They knew others would be getting worried….
Chakor felt Raghav’s grip on her hand tighten….what is the matter Raghav? ….just wondering what if we were inside the shed! She stopped, looked at him and said…..Don’t worry, nothing will happen. God is with us…He just couldn’t control himself and hugged her…..I cannot imagine staying without you Chakor……I want you to be with me always……She was taken aback…. He gathered all the courage he had and said…..I love you Chakor….Infact I fell in love the moment I saw you from the window. She just kept staring at him trying to ignore the tingling inside her…….
Everybody at the shed were getting worried for Chakor. Only Vikrant was worried for Raghav too…He was the one who knew that they were together…They were about to send a search party for Chakor……. ……
Chakor said….pleaseeeee let us go back to the shed…..and she almost started running….Raghav tried to speak to her but her lips were sealed….poor guy said…… Sorry if you didn’t like it….I will never ever say it again…but please don’t get angry……Those were my genuine feelings……Nonetheless I promise they will never ever come forth again……..But the only response he could evoke was the rustle of leaves.
To everyone’s relief, Chakor came in followed by Raghav. Everybody started talking at the same time and there was quite a din…..they wanted to know whether she had seen the blaze…..where had she been…..why was she so late in coming…all were talking…all were relieved that they weren’t present in the shed today…..Finally Vikrant hushed everybody and Chakor managed to tell them the entire story of how her cousin was keeping a tab on her and how they had traced the guys who blasted the shed today to Mr. John…..She also told them how Raghav had helped her in all this. She tried to keep all her emotions at bay while saying “RAGHAV”. Everybody started clapping for him. Raghav was shaken out of his thoughts and managed to smile.
All the while he kept looking at Chakor who pointedly avoided his stare. Chakor then suggested that since all of them were tired with today’s happenings, she would like to postpone the discussion to some other time. Truth being that she just wanted to run from there. All agreed. Rana reminded them to arrange for a meeting as soon as possible because he had to reply to his friend at Lucknow.
Before Raghav could speak with her, Chakor managed to escape. He was exasperated. He wanted to know what was going on in her mind. Chakor took a deep breath when she reached her door. She freshened up, barely listened to her parents and gave some vague replies when they enquired about the blast and about where she had been. She excused herself saying she was tired and wanted to sleep. Lying on her cot,eyes wide open she tried to go through all that happened. Raghav’s ‘I Love you’ stood prominently among the happenings. She kept thinking about it and a sea of emotions seem to drown her and she drifted to sleep…….
The next morning Mr. John got the shock of his life seeing the troupe going around the village square as usual…. …..he was seething in anger…..And they enjoyed his frustrated look.
By the end of that day Chakor knew what her heart wanted…A smile rose to her face... But she knew that the only option she had was to keep quiet…. Nonetheless, knowing that, that was what her heart wanted gave her immense satisfaction!
Rana wanted to hold the meeting the next afternoon as he had secured more details from his Lucknow friend and he was eager to share it with the others…. The information which he had got was indeed Dhamaakedar!
Raghav couldn’t concentrate on anything. His parents got tired asking him what the matter was…..but he brushed their questions aside, sometimes gently, sometimes by venting out his anger which later made him feel bad too. Finally he decided that he couldn’t go on like this. He needed his answer and he would get it….. whatever it was…. by the day end……
The meeting began. As part of the non-cooperation movement, Gandhiji had urged people to set up local schools and Chakor had managed to start one in the village, on a small scale though. Volunteers took turns teaching the village kids. She assigned work to those volunteers and small things like making banners, arranging for street plays etc.to a few others and then the general crowd dispersed….. She had managed to ignore Raghav all through.
Vikrant asked Raghav to wait out for a minute. He then told the core committee that Raghav was a very intelligent and brave young man. He had known him since childhood and he felt that he would be an asset to the group. So he wanted to request the committee to include him. Chakor knew that whatever Vikrant was saying was correct. But she kept mum. All looked at her….. She said that she was ok with whatever the majority decided. …She ignored the racing heart beats.....Love for the nation was naturally above all personal nitty gritties but was there an excitement too? wonder wonder....... Everybody generally liked Raghav...…Plus now he had saved Chakor too so he was their hero and nobody opposed. Infact they welcomed him happily. He whole heartedly thanked all and hoped that he would live upto their expectation. Chakor’s tried to maintain an unaffected look during the entire proceeding.
The meeting was then called to order. Rana took over. He told them….. the revolutionaries in Lucknow are planning to blast one British office in every nook and corner of India, at the same time on the same day, i.e. 13th of April 1920, to commemorate the one year of Jallianwalla Bagh massacre and they need our help to make the bombs and grenades…. Hearing this, all shouted in unison, INQUILAB ZINDABAD except of course Chakor….All looked at her ……I don’t like this violent way of solving issues……Raghav butted in….. Have you forgotten what Mr. John did? Have you excused the British for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre? Is the Rowlatt Act justified? They don’t deserve Ahimsa….I think we should help Rana……..But Raaaghavvv don’t you know what Gandhij…..Chakor even I respect Bapuji and would love to follow his principles whenever possible…….But these guys don’t deserve mercy…..Both weren’t liking this argument but they were firm in their views…..All the others had gone quiet….First time they had seen somebody standing up so strongly to Chakor……
Finally Rana raised his voice and said….WILL BOTH OF YOU KEEP QUIET AND JUST LISTEN FOR A SEC……The plan is to blast the offices in the night when nobody is around…..That means no human loss… Only immovable material will be destroyed…..Isn’t that a small price to pay for all that the GORAS have done till now??? Nonetheless, it will serve as a severe warning……We just want to show them that we aren't cowards any more…… Chakor please think….our countrymen need our help now…..She thought over….confirmed and reconfirmed that there wouldn’t be any human loss…..Then she finally nodded…..Rana said ….we have to be very careful though… Mr. John has already tried to harm us and his plan has gone bust so he will be very angry…. …..They named this operation GOBAR(COWDUNG IN HINDI) but it actually meant gola and barud….hindi for ammunition…..All of them had a hearty laugh on this…. The meeting ended.
When Chakor turned in the alley to her home, a familiar voice called out…Chakkkooorr….
Edited by 77nikita - 6 years ago