** Chapter : 8 **
Ascertaining sahid khan…
I lied there in the cell, wide eyed, glaring at the murky ceiling. Though I wasn’t able to see anything in the dark, but I had nothing more interesting to do at this time in my cell. One more horrible day was about to end in this debris, I just hoped all of these finishes quickly; I badly missed warmth of my mom’s lap at this moment. I missed her scolding, I missed her food, in short I missed her. From nowhere, I remembered something. I checked my pocket, there was piece of paper, all crushed, but still there. I remembered Satva putting it in there today morning, without anyone noticing it. I reached near the grill of my cell, to read what was written in there under the little light of the lights illuminated in the corridor.
“We can’t prove anything staying over here, we need to escape. All arrangements are done, tonight is the night. Wait for me.” I checked the paper twice or thrice.
“What the f**k, this guy is planning to break free from here.” I kept on wondering what will he do, how will he do, normally perspiration and me are totally opposite, but today I was totally covered in the pool of my own sweat, I was worried; indeed. Slowly and steadily everything got silenced, even patrolling guards were settled into their seats for sneaking a little nap. Almost each prisoner was sleeping; I was still awake, waiting for Satva to make his move. Finally, I felt some movements in the dark corner of my cell. It was the place where urinal was situated, I never even went in that corner, it was the place I hated the most; that much, that I sought a special permission from the warden to use the female constables’ wash room. First time since I was here, I rushed to that corner, it was stinking; badly. I saw, Satva coming out from there from a little passageway.
“What the f**k you think are you doing Satva?” I heaved him out from that passageway.
“Shhhhhh..!! Please, lower your volume a little. Look Ipsa, even to prove our incorruptibility we will have to go out, we can’t do anything staying in this wreckage.”
“I am not going.”
“Please Ipsa..! You have to, you can’t desert me like this..!”
“How you managed this passageway, by the way?”
“I haven’t done anything, a friend of mine, who is a civil engineer did this. He took a gutter which is outside this prison and then made a passageway parallel to that gutter line.”
“But how he knew, where your and my cell is located exactly?”
“He managed to get the building plan of this prison, I told him in which cells we are.”
“Amazing, what money can do in this country….! You managed to get plans of this prison, seriously?”
“This isn’t any time to discuss such things, let’s get out first.” He took my hand, and we dashed into filthy passageway. It was very constricted; I was almost scratching myself with the dirt & sand. As it was dug parallel to the main gutter line, it was malodorous at its worst. I thought I won’t be able to get out on my own, I vomited thrice on the way outside, my mind was already numb; I pondered how I vetoed myself from fainting. After tediously dragging my body amongst dirt, stink and god knows what else for nearly half an hour, I took a breath in the fresh air. Even my lungs were not ready to believe they were getting the dosage of this much fresh air; I once again threw up. I was totally exhausted, my hair all disseminated, even clothes I worn were torn a little, I even managed to brush my body at three or four places, a little blood was coming out from there. Satva too, looked almost identical, he looked at me and a fatigued smile drove its way on his face. He had planned all this with pretty much precision. As we got out, a guy was standing with a fresh pair of clothes for both of us; a SUV was waiting for us over there only to get out ASAP. A few questions hovered over my mind; but I wasn’t in a frame of my mind to ask any of them as of now.
“Sahidbhai, Bahar to aa gaye…! Ab kya..?” All the eyes present over there glued at what that guy spoke, Satva looked totally embarrassed, as I switched my looks between Satva and that guy, a bomb has struck my mind. Satva Agrawal was the Sahid Khan..!! He was the most wanted terrorist, those hallucinating eyes held the deepest secret within, I kept on glaring at him, wide eyed, open mouthed.
∞
The night was totally silent, sluggish wind was stroking my face, all three of us stood there without uttering a word.
“I told you Ipsa, a hundred times, don’t come close to me. What you will have is only the obscurity and agony and moans, but you never accepted.”
“You are a bloody terrorist..!”
“ઘવાયો છે સુરજ નો અહેમ કેવળ એ જ બીના પર, રઝળતા આદમી એ ભરબપોરે ચાંદની માંગી. – Self-worth of the sun got wounded only coz, a nomad necessitated the moonbeam on a sunny afternoon.”
“F**k you Satva..! Oh.. sorry, I should say Sahid bhai..!!”
“Don’t arrive at any conclusions without knowing reasons behind them. No guy loves to hold guns at the age of holding pen and pencil.
“What rationalization can you have for taking so many acquitted lives? “
“An eye for an eye..!”
“I will rather like to listen, which eye..!”
“Itna khouf hota hai sham kay andheron mein, Pooch un parindo sey jin kay ghar nahi hotay – There is so much fright in the shadow of the dusks; ask those birdies who don’t have houses.” I took my seat in the comfortable SUV, next to Satva aka Sahid Khan. Driver took the SUV off to somewhere, I don’t know where. I was rather interested in unveiling truth behind the transformation of Satva to Sahid, he instigated.
“As a kid, we stayed in Ahmedabad, a small family – happy family; my father, mother and me. Daddy was a business man. He was into import and exports business. All was going pretty much perfect, till that horrible Diwali night. He had said he was going for a dinner at his business partner’s place. He never returned. He was shot down in a police encounter at his partner’s place. He was alleged to be involved into drugs and ammunition smuggling, linked with one of the famous underworld don – Amjad Ibrahim Khan. My life turned upside down after that night, each eye looked at me with certain disrespect and hundreds of questions. No one spoke with me in my school, our neighbors too deserted us.
I was thrown out of my school, most of the times mom and I kept ourselves locked in the house, to avoid the disgust in the eyes of the people towards us. If this was less, a police officer took my mom for interrogation one day. And what came back was her dead body, saying she had committed suicide. You can assume what should have happened. I was finished, completely devastated. I too decided to end this life, on one fine morning, I went to Gandhi Bridge, to jump into the River Sabarmati and end this terrible story diluting myself into the Sabarmati, but destiny had planned something even more catastrophic.
As I was about to jump, a chacha stopped me. His name was Yasin Bhatkal. He listened to my story; he saved me and gave me a new life, a new name; Sahid Khan Bhatkal, a most wanted name in country today. Though only name is wanted, no one knows the face behind this name. He took me to his place in Juhapura. He fed me with the angst towards this society, this country, this government. He only made me learnt one thing; eye for an eye is the only solution. If they took my parents, I need to take theirs. He was one of the activists of the terrorist group called Lashkar-e-jehad here in Ahmedabad, his job was to find guys like me, train us and make us Jehadis. And in me, he found a loyal, dedicated and hardworking one.
My life owed to him, I did what he asked me to do. Rather my mind was totally blank, I didn’t know what to do, how to do, so I kept on following the words said to me. Today I am the number three rank of the Lashkar. This has been a road full of blood & tears. Yes, I regret my decision to choose this road today. But this is a one way, at the end of which death awaits you to hug you tightly. ઓળખેછેજેનેતુઆયુષ્યરેખાથી, અમારેમનરૂપાળોમૃત્યુનોરસ્તોહથેળીમાં – The line that you know as a lifeline, is a shiny path of demise in our palms.”
“So our stories were connected well before we met..!”
“Didn’t got you..!”
“The encounter you talking off, took place at my place. I too lost my daddy and brother in the same. I am the sole eye-witness of that dreadful encounter.”
“Oh f**k..!”
“Yeah.. Strange na…! How one incident can make or break you? It was the same incident which made me what I am today and you what you are today.”
“Even I regret going there today, but can’t help now. Just to get out of this guilt a little I started The Second Home. You promise me one thing, tomorrow if something happens, you will take care of Second Home. I have put sufficient funds in the bank accounts to run it.”
“Ohkay..!”
“Good, you already have got to know so much about me sweet heart. And now you are a threat to me and my mission. If it would have been someone else, I would have shot him or her by now. But I can’t do the same to you. Coz, Don’t know why, but I too have fallen for you.”
“So, what you gonna do to me?” A little menace appeared in my eyes, I guess. He opened his hand bag, took out an injection.
“You are a little tired. You need a good sleep Ipsa.”
“No Satva, please don’t do this to me..!” I tried my level best to prevent him. But he was more powerful than me. He sedated me, in a while vision in front of my eyes started to blur, my head started to feel a little heavy. Still I was trying hard to keep myself awake, medicine was doing its bit and I was doing mine.
“Bhai, What to do with this gal? Shouldn’t we leave her here only? She can be a barrier for the mission…!”
“You have gone mad Rafique…! She knows whole lot of things about me, if she awakes, she can cause lot of problems to our mission. And this is the most important one to be completed successfully. We will keep her in the safe room, sedated, sleeping. And once we are done with our mission, she will open her eyes directly in Delhi & we in the mountains of Karachi..!”
“It will just take one bullet bhai jan..!”
“I can’t, I love her..!” I just could listen this much, darkness took over my eyes. I just couldn’t keep myself awake; medicine had taken over my consciousness. “I can’t, I Love her..!” ricocheted in my ears, Rafique dashed the car to an unknown place, I catnapped.
∞
** Chapter: 9 **
Final showdown in Ahmedabad…
Dark, everything was absolutely obscure. I didn’t know where I stood. I wasn’t even able to see anything apart from darkness. I stood there in totally topsy-turvy state of mind. A little wind passed, a few leaves harried across the turf. I heard a gal’s giggling from a far; I walked towards the direction from which the voice was coming. I walked, walked and walked without knowing or looking forward to anything. After walking a little, I saw a family playing there. A father, mother, brother and in between them, a little angle like gal was playing; they looked happy, a complete family. From a far a shadow appeared; shadow of a kid. The vision was blurred; I tried to clear my eyes to see what was happening. Shadow of a kid came closer, slowly the shadow got shaped into a kid, in filthy apparels, he had gloomy expression on his face. His eyes were much known to me, hallucinating eyes full of vigor. The family hadn’t noticed the kid; they were involved in playing with that little angle. That kid was slowly moving towards the family, he had something in his hand, a knife or a cutter or something. I was witnessing all these, not knowing what to do. I had got the intention of the kid, still stood there, perturbed and puzzled. I stood there, my brain was on hibernate mode, I suppose. From very far, a few words hit my eardrums:
“Ayi Giri-Nandini Nandita-Medini Vishva-Vinodini Nandi-Nute,
Giri-Vara- Vindhya-Shirodhi-Nivaasini Vissnnu-Vilaasini Jissnnu-Nute;
Bhagavati He Shiti-Kannttha-Kuttumbini Bhuri-Kuttumbini Bhuri-Krte
Jaya Jaya He Mahissaasura-Mardini Ramya-Kapardini Shaila-Sute “
“Salutation to the Daughter of the Mountain, who fills the whole world with joy, for whom whole world is a divine play and who is praised by Nandi. Who Dwell on the summit of the Vindhyas, the best of the mountains, who gives Joy to Lord Vishnu (Being his Sister), and who is praised by Lord Indra. O Goddess, who is the consort of Lord Shiva with blue throat, who has many many relations in this world and who created abundance. Victory to you, the Destroyer of the Demon Mahisasura, who has beautiful locks of hair and who is the daughter of the mountain.”
There was some unknown power hidden in these words, I kept on listening to this chanting of Brahmins, the feel was celestial.
“Hello Ipsa..!” I heard a charming voice from behind the tree on my left. A young, handsome guy came out from the dark. His complexion was dark, his eyes were intoxicating and there was some captivation in his persona. He was wearing a t-shirt with a peacock feather printed on it and denims, a small flute rested in one of the front pockets of the denim. I just kept on ogling at him.
“Ipsa, I am talking to you. How are you?” There was a peculiar composure in the way he talked.
“Hi, do I know you?”
“Of course you do.”
“Oh, is it so? What is your name?”
“People know me my different names, Govind, Madhav, Keshav, Mohan, and a lot more. But you can call me Krishna.”
“Are you drunk or lunatic?”
“Neither, but yes people say I am a little crazy.”
“So, Krishna; why are you here?”
“You listened to that Brahmins enchanting, don’t you?”
“Yeah I did.”
“You know what that is?”
“No”
“It’s called ‘Mahisasura Mardini Strotram’, They are worshipping my sister, Goddess Parvati; in the form of Slayer of Demon Mahisasura. The time has come Ipsa, for you to awake a Kali in you, to slay the Mahisasura. You know, who is the Mahisasura; don’t you?”
“I do, but I can’t. My feelings towards him are not allowing me to go ahead.”
“Remember the pledge that you took three years ago? Remember that wonderful day, when you were on the dais, recall it.” I closed my eyes and recalled that day, that so called Krishna was talking about.
“I, Ipsa Vaidya, swear by the almighty god and do solemnly and sincerely declare that I will well and faithfully serve the Government of India, Special Wing, Crime Investigation Department of India according to the laws as a Special Wing Officer, that I will obey, uphold and maintain dignity of the Constitution of India and Indian Legislations. I will execute the powers and duties of my office honestly, faithfully and diligently without a fear of or a favor to any person and with malice or ill-will toward none, and that will obey without question all lawful orders of those set in authority over me.”
“Ipsa, Karma is above all. Your Karma is to save the mother land from these blood-spattered slaughters. Yes, you have personal feelings towards him, that doesn’t mean you should step back from your duties. Karmanye Vadhikaraste Maa Phaleshu Kada Chana.”
“I don’t know, on one hand I hate Shahid Khan for spreading so much terror in my country. And on another hand, I can sympathize with Satva, coz I know what he has been through. I want to kill the Shahid Khan, but he has the face of Satva. And my hands tremble when I try to pick up a gun at him.”
“Didn’t you know from the beginning, Satva and Sahid are one in all the same?”
“Yes, from the day one I was working for the Sahid Khan case, being undercover agent. I knew everything, but the closer I went to the Satva, more I felt for him. Never realized, when those feeling got converted into lure and then something more than that.”
“So you love Satva?”
“Yes..!”
“Then Ipsa, if you want to unattach Satva from the clench of Shahid, you will have to exterminate Shahid. Only then Satva will be free.”
“I will do that..! Yes, I will exterminate Shahid Khan. My first duty is towards my country, my countrymen. My personal feelings have to be curbed, for the overall interest of the nation, I will….!”
I shouted, I felt my shallow breathing, atmosphere around me was heavy and my head was spinning. I guess I was still under the effect of the sedation. I guess, I was alone in the room, it was dark; I didn’t knew where was I, how much days I have been sleeping for. When you aren’t cognizant of the specifics, you have to put your faith on the guesstimate game. I was awake, but my brain still wanted to sleep. I dragged myself out of the bed, near the little window from where something was visible, blurred but still visible. My legs felt hefty, each step I took, emptied whole lot of energy from my body; I guess they should train you how to handle sedation in the training for being Special Undercover Agent. A lot of questions were wandering here & there in my half-conscious mind.
Where am I? Where is Satva? What is he planning to do? How will I be able to stop him? Blah… Blah…Blah…. Finally after dragging myself for almost infinity, I reached the little window. It was the night; there was no one on the street apart from the barking dogs and sleeping beggars. Just opposite to my window stood a huge hoarding in the Gujarati: “વિકાસ નો કોઈ વિકલ્પ નથી, એકમત ગુજરાત બને ભાજપ સરકાર” – “There isn’t any substitute for the development; Gujarat is united to make BJP Government.” , the dynamic and charismatic CM of the state stood in a victorious pose, making the V shape using first two fingers using his right hand. So, I was in the state of Gujarat – it meant to end, where it all begun – Ahmedabad.
I catnapped once again; once again some weird dreams got hold of me. I woke up and slept, the sequence repeated may be twice or thrice. I wanted to get rid of this lassitude as soon as possible, but there wasn’t a way out, medicines were doing their bit. In all this lethargy, I remembered one line once said by my commanding officer, the best answer to the sleep is pain. I checked the edges of the bed made with iron, they were sharp enough. I scratched my index finger at the strident edge in one go. It pierced through skin of my finger; a moan came out from my mouth in agony. Slowly and steadily thick, red, hot blood drove its way out, and with each drop of blood my sleep too came out of my system. I felt a little more conscious, felt my brain started to function a little.
∞
Once sleep was out of the equation, it wasn’t difficult to get out of that little room I was confined into. The PVC Pipe was strong enough to bear the weight of a slim and trim girly. As I freed myself, a bigger quest awaited, what Satva was upto and how to stop him? But, I had the little idea. What to do, I didn’t know. My mind was totally nonplussed. The first thing, I managed was to find a PCO, had to inform my team of my whereabouts, they too must be worried.
“Hello Sharma?”
“Oh, is it you Ipsa?” He sounded sleepy.
“Yes.”
“Where the f**k was you? You had broken the jail, and absconded with the terrorist. And today after two days you are calling me. We had assumed you to be either the part of Lashakr-E-Jehad or dead…!”
“F**k you Sharma. I was sedated by Satva. I didn’t even know where the f**k I am. But now I know I am in Ahmedabad.”
“Oh, you were sedated? How’re you now? And what is Satva up to any idea?”
“No. Only thing I know is, he is upto some big task. I need information Sharma, get your intelligence on the high alert, get me some back up. We need to work fast and smarter than that guy.”
“That even I am afraid of, something big is being planned. We have intercepted some coded messages from Karachi and POK in last two days. Activity has increased to a larger number than normal.”
“Have you been able to crack them?”
“No. The Code is difficult to crack; my team is trying hard to crack them. Hope we will get the message soon.”
“Sooner Sharma, get the team on high alert; its code red. I am going to meet the commissioner of the city right now.”
“Ipsa, its 3:30 in the night, you can go and meet them at the morning. Take a little breath.”
“We are fighting against the hands of the clock Sharma, I don’t want a few more innocents getting slaughtered, get your team to crack those codes straightaway. I want the message conveyed at the earliest.”
“Okay. Jai Hind.”
“Jai Hind.”
∞
The night was moving at the sluggish pace, I knew I had only today’s night. Tomorrow morning, Satva will come to know about my escape and he will become conscious. It will be difficult to get him then. I sat on a bench on the silent crossroads, my mind was still having the after effects of the sedation, it still felt heavy. I glared at the constantly blinking orange light on the traffic signal. A rare cyclist or a rushing car driver went by; otherwise the streets were hauntingly empty. I was waiting for the commissioner’s call, had put a message to him of the code red. Karmanye Vadhikaraste, Ma phaleshu kada chana. Ma Karma phala hetur bhurmatey sangostava akarmani. I kept on repeating this in my subconscious, image of Krishna motivating me to do my Karma, kept me a little more motivated. In a while a police gypsy, came and picked me.
“Sorry to disturb at such a wrong time sir.”
“It’s okay Ms.Vaidya, I understand.” The Police Commissioner was the guy about to retire in three or four months. Everything about his personality was grey, starting from his hair. He was still in his night suit, his eyes full of sleep, and his huge belly moving a little with every little move he made.
“As I said sir, it’s Code Red. Sahid Khan, Lashkar-E-Jihad terrorist is in the city, planning something very big. My team is trying to break the coded messages intercepted by them, to get any info on what that is. We will expect full support from your team. I don’t want any Ahmedabadi dying today, in one more terrorist assault.” While I spoke without a stopover, I checked his expressions fluctuating from being worried to being astonished to left blank at the end.
“Me and my team will be all up to help you with the anything mam.”
“We need to work in co-ordination sir. Can we start by making police a little alert, saying it to be a routine check-up drill?”
“For sure…!”
“And don’t announce any alert till I tell you. I don’t want them to get alert; we need to catch them off the guard.”
∞
The dawn was about to break its way out, the horizon was caught in between deep orange and burnt black. A few birds were out on their morning quest for finding the food; I stood in the balcony of the commissioner’s place, glaring blankly at the River Sabarmati. This was the place I had happily passed my childhood. I had a stack of memories stored in my brain regarding this place. But right now everything was irrelevant; I was waiting for that little breakthrough to sneak in. I had put my heart and mind both on the hibernate mode, I was acting as the situation was demanding, I was unable to think or feel anything as of now.
“Ipsa, Sharma here.”
“Yes Sharma, any good news?”
“Absolutely, we managed to crack the code. The coded message is, get the big fish in his own ocean today.”
“Bingo. Big fish in his own ocean..! What it can be Sharma, any idea?”
“No Ipsa that we are yet to know. Which big fish are they talking off?”
“Still great work Sharma, I will get back to you as soon as I get any more updates. When it comes to work, no one can beat you and your team, kudos.”
∞
The time has this peculiar convention of undulating at a raw stride when you want it to move bit by bit and vice versa. I was trying to catch up with the Satva’s thinking process, which big fish can they be targeting here in Ahmedabad, that too in his own ocean? Each was minute was a little battle to be won. Sharma and his team had managed to crack the code, now it’s my team’s responsibility to crack into the systems of Mr. Satva aka Shahid Khan.
“Ipsa madam, can you think of which big fish these people are targeting?”
“I am trying to figure out that only. Have you managed to start safety drills on public places, that is Gitamandir ST Stop, Kalupur Railway Station and other important public places?”
“Yes madam.”
“Great…!” I managed to eye something outside the window of the commissioner’s place, earnestly most of the times answers are in front of your eyes while you are busy scrutinizing around the world. Buzzing phone disengaged me from my thoughts.
“Yes, Sharma..!”
“We finally managed to locate Satellite Phone activity in the city; it has to be from Shahid..!”
“Great Sharma, where is it?”
“Jamalpur..!”
“Where else can we expect? Great Sharma, I also managed to crack the message behind the coded message.”
“Who are they targeting?”
“CM of Gujarat, he is addressing his own political constituency today in Maninagar. So, that is the big fish in his own ocean. We don’t have much time, his public speech is at 7:45, and it’s already 6:00. We need to rush.”
“Jai Hind and all the best Ipsa.”
“Thank you Sharma, need it badly, Jai Hind.” I smacked the phone
“How did you get Ipsa, they are targeting CM?”
“Look outside your window Commissioner Saab..!” As he checked, it was the same hoarding as it was outside room where I was locked. Chief Minister of Gujarat was going to address public in his political constituency today. He certainly was considered as the biggest icon in the Politics as of now, so attack on him will surely rock the nation. Plus, he was considered to be the leader who believed in the total Hinduism, so it will be of the dual advantage to the terrorist groups. They had selected their target very wisely.
“Get me CM on the line commissioner Saab; send a special team at Maninagar right now, me and my team are moving to Jamalpur.”
“CM sir will be on the hotline in a minute.”
“You better talk to him about the situation and ask him to cancel his public address today. But don’t let him announce that officially. I don’t want those people to become conscious of the fact. No media to be aware of this fact. I am leaving for Jamalpur, right now. I want five of your best officers. Send the backup task force immediately”
∞
The sun had already risen, but the morning was hazy. Only visibility of the sun was a few of the golden orange rays which were tearing their way out from the greyish silver clouds. The scene was picturesque, but still it wasn’t that pleasant for us that moment. CM’s life was at the cost, the price was big so were the issues. My mind was at its variable highest, the little ride to Jamalpur even felt like miles. The ride was bumpy, filthy narrow streets were almost empty. The blinking GPS location was getting closer and closer, and closer it got more my heart started to miss its beats. As we reached a point, where we had to abandon car and had to walk, the place where the GPS was blinking was just a little walk ahead, we were playing in seconds now. In a while, everything will get over, MAY BE. The street was silent, like a cemetery. We, six of us moved silently towards our target, with a loaded Insaas (a light machine gun), a bewildered mind, and trembling knees. The Bullet-proof waist and helmet seemed heavier than normal; I guess it was the weight of that moment. We reached for the gate made of wood with little traditional carvings on it, only god knew what was in store for us on the other side of that door.
As one of the stronger members of the unit banged the wooden door, my heart skipped a beat or two. What amazed me was the scene inside, all calm, no one was inside, something was wrong for sure.
It indeed was, what followed the cemetery like silence, was fury of bullets, some three or four guys from the room inside were raining bullets, even before we could react our team strength was reduced to half, and I too was shot in both my legs, the pain was incredible, blood was flowing out from my body, so was the energy. I closed my eyes, scene on the eve of a Diwali floated across my eyes, same bullet shots ricocheted in my ears, the same smell of gunpowder mixed with blood filled my nose. I felt like fainted for a moment or two. I wasn’t able to see anything around, but I felt Satva’s presence somewhere inside. I knew he was in there. Silently, I decided the time has come to end it all. I opened my pocket, took two hand grenades, and silently launched them towards the direction militants were firing. A huge blast, reddish –orange flames blasted their way in that room, and a few burning bodies ran here and there.
There were three of them covered into flames, shouting, screaming. I wasn’t able to see them, I shut my eyes down, pain and agony of those persons were unbearable for me, getting burnt alive. In a little while everything got settled, I was almost about to faint, what I was waiting for was the arrival of back up task force. Still one thing was lingering inside the brain, how they were so well prepared for our assault, this can happen only if they knew about our arrival well in advance. There was a moll within the team. I felt a little movement inside the room, I checked none of my team mates were alive to support me, it was a bloodied encounter, that grenade had managed to kill at least three of those militants. I saw them burning alive, if Satva was one of them, difficult to say as of now. But there was some movement inside the room, I checked my Insaas, it was fully loaded, I gathered all the strength of my body and decided to rush in, to face whatever was inside, it was either my death or was of the one inside.
“Usi Diye ne hath ko jalaya, jisko hawa se bacha rahe the hum. – The lamp which I was vexing to protect from air, charbroiled my hands.” I saw a known figure appearing from the room, he was injured. I guess a bullet had gone through his shoulders, and a grenade blast also had left a few wounds on his legs, he was limping. My hands got locked on the Insaas, a shot came from the room, it splinted through my hands, I lost my gun.
“You are talking to ACP Ipsa Vaidya Mr. Shahid Khan, not the Ipsa you knew. Better surrender, I will make sure you will get to court alive.” Yes I was injured, but bodily injuries were not able to injure my self-respect.
“F**k you Ipsa, I trusted you more than my own life. And this is the reward for that. All that care, those feelings, everything was fake.” I could see the annoyed, tired expressions on his face.
“No, my feelings for Satva Agrawal were real one, but at this moment the person standing opposite to me is Shahid Khan and not the Satva. And if I want to free Satva, I will have to exterminate Shahid.”
“Look at you, you are all wounded, you aren’t even able to stand on your feet at this moment, it won’t take even a second for me to exterminate you, Ms. ACP Vaidya..!”
“I am ready to die, atleast I will die doing good for my country, you will have to stop this Satva. You can kill me right now, this moment. But, task force will be here in a while, where will you escape?”
“Your country, you wanna do well for those ba**ards who themselves told me that you are coming here, for some money. I bet these people can sell their mothers and sisters for money. Forget about f**king country, and task force, I can bet only those f**king people will help me escape.”
Pain in my body was unbearable, I guess I was shot almost at three or four places; blood was racing out of my body, even for speaking a word I had to do a lot of drudgery. I felt I will be losing my conscious in a while, the end was near, but unluckily mine and not Shahid’s.
“For those few mother f**kers, who sell their country for money, I can’t leave my duty towards country and my countrymen. It’s my destiny that I am not able to kill you today. But, inshallah I will wait for that day when a bullet will pass through your head, not coz I hate you; just coz I love you. You can empty whole cartridge of your AK-47, I am waiting to hug my death.” I closed my eyes anticipating fury of bullets, my mind and wits had already become numb, pain had also given up troubling me, I just waited for that final moment to arrive.
“I can’t, coz I love you.” I heard these words, felt like these words were coming from far, distracted, I tried to open my eyes, it took all my life’s strength to stretch those eye-lids open a little, I wasn’t able to see anything clearly, but the vision was blurred, I heard voice of sobs, Satva was crying, crying like a baby. Finally I was able to glimpse Satva in Shahid, I tranquilly padlocked my eyes.
Dark, it was.
Absolutely Dark…….
∞
** Epilogue **
It was an early morning, the whole sky was greyed, the moisture in the air was palpable, I was able to feel the arrival of rain was near. But, it hadn’t rained since days. I flaunted my sleep less eyes around the horizon; I was playing with the curls. I looked down, he was calmly sleeping in my lap, there was composure on his face and innocence in his personality, Second home hadn’t awakened yet. Everyone was fast asleep, so was Satva. I felt a little heavy today; once again those nightmares had taken sleep away from me. I waited for the dawn to arrive, wait had been long.
“Ipsa, Amitosh has talked with the decorators and caterers, almost all the preps for the annual day are completed. “
“Ssssshhh.. Satva is sleeping, you will awake the kid.” I signaled her to be silent; she smiled at Satva, who already had awaked hearing her mom.
“Good Morning mumma, Morning Ipsa aunty..!”
“Morning beta, go and finish your routine now. We have a lot of work today, your tests are starting day after tomorrow.”
“Neeaaaahh, I will study with Ipsa aunty.”
“Satva…!”
“It’s okay Varnika, I will take care of him. Satva, first go and get ready, then we will have breakfast together.” He rushed out of the room; I kept on glaring at his agility.
“Ipsa, I wanted to talk to you something..!”
“Yeah, Varnika. Speak up..!”
“Actually, don’t know how to tell it to you. It’s your personal stuff, but me and Amitosh were thinking to tell you since long.”
“It’s okay Varnika, don’t make round round talks. Better speak it up, you know you are like a sister to me. You can always say anything to me.”
“Then listen to your sister Ipsa, find someone. It has been two years since whatever happened. That bloody Shahid will be enjoying his life somewhere in the mountains of Karanchi, why are you struggling here alone.”
“Alone.. I am happy like this Varnika..And you won’t believe how our thought processes are similar to each other. Yesterday night only I thought like this being alone. And on that I drafted this, read it and tell me how it is for the next one of From Ipsa’s Pen..!” I handed a piece of paper to her, she started to read it.
Alone in love….
One can be in deep love and yet be alone. In fact, one can be alone only when one is in deep love. The depth of love creates an ocean around you, a deep ocean, and you become an island, utterly alone. Yes, the ocean goes on throwing its waves on your shore, but the more the ocean crashes with its waves on your shore, the more integrated you are, the more rooted, the more centered you are. Love has value only because it gives you aloneness. It gives you space enough to be on your own.
But you have an idea of love; that idea is creating trouble – not love itself, but the idea. The idea is that, in love, lovers disappear into each other, dissolve into each other. Yes, there are moments of dissolution – but this is the beauty of life and all that is existential: that when lovers dissolve into each other, the same are the moments when they become very conscious, very alert. That dissolution is not a kind of drunkenness, that dissolution is not unconscious. It brings great consciousness, it releases great awareness. On the one hand they are dissolved – on the other hand for the first time they see their utter beauty in being alone. The other defines them, their aloneness; they define the other. And they are grateful to each other. It is because of the other that they have been able to see their own selves; the other has become a mirror in which they are reflected. Lovers are mirrors to each other. Love makes you aware of your original face.
– Ipsa Vaidya
“How is it…?”
“I think its worthless to argue with you Ipsa..!”
“Don’t get annoyed Varnika, the only aim in my life is to snatch Shahid Khan from the mountains of Karanchi, and pass a bullet through his head, to unattach Satva from the clench of Shahid. You know why, just coz I loved him, and even today I love him.”
“I will pray for you. But seriously, how quizzical a destiny can be. You want to pass a bullet through someone’s head just coz you love him, strange but true.”
“Indeed, coz we don’t have an option to question destiny, one might end up quizzical only…! I have been living under the rain shadow for a while now, but I know rain is not far away, it will rain, it will rain like god has opened the flood gated of the heavens. I am waiting for that rain..!”
I felt the aroma of wet sand coming through the open window of my room, I checked out of the window my room, it had started to pour down, it had begun to rain…!!
__END__
