“Charmi, Tu?” The female in the Punjabi dress astonished and cheered.
“Yes, it’s me. How are you?” Charmi entered the room.
“Changa” that lady looked at Shyam, “Come in.”
It was a room with ten by ten metre. The room had a bed and in the corner, beside the bed laid some utensils and a gas stove creating the virtual scene of a kitchen. Toward another corner a door suggesting it must be a toilet cum bathroom. The small room hardly has a kitchen built in it and single dweller manages with such a temporary setup of the kitchen. Shyam thought the rent must be INR 2000, and the room with a kitchen will surely have rent more than INR 3000. The single dweller who lives alone, having a fixed salary, spends weekends and holidays at home prefer such a small cheap room.
Shyam and Charmi sat on the bed. Gurpreet offered them water.
“You found my room!” she exclaimed settling herself on the chair in front of the bed.
“I had, once here.”
“But three years ago.”
“Though still, I remembered.” Charmi laughed.
“Tea or Lassi?” Gurpreet looked at Shyam for a response.
“Anything…” Shyam replied.
“Tussi not a Punjabi?” Gurpreet rose from the chair.
“From Gujarat. He’s my office mate.” Charmi replied on behalf of him.
“okay.” she began to prepare tea.
“Still in Pathankot?” Gurpreet asked Charmi. Shyam noted she was talkative. He must have to save himself.
Charmi nodded.
“Why in Chandigarh?”
Now Shyam assured himself she must be a teacher as nobody except a teacher asks so many questions.
“Miss WhyWhy? You never stop to ask. Your habit is still the same as school time.” Charmi smiled.
“You still so before. You still remember my name, teasing name… Miss WhyWhy!” Both burst into laughter, “No call from you, no news about you for the last three years.” Her voice had little anger and disappointment.
“Sorry Yaar, I lost your number, and I have never been Chandigarh after that. And I came here as soon as I had entered Chandigarh.” Charmi fabricated an answer.
Gurpreet gave them tea and sat in the Chair again.
“I need your help.”
“I know. You never come until you need any help.” Gurpreet stared at Charmi with scolding eyes.
“I am always out of time due to my job. Don’t you go home on Sunday?”
“I had gone last Sunday.”
Shyam kept on listening to their talks sipping the tea.
“We met with a circumstance last night.”
“Hey, Rabba! What happened?” Gurpreet suddenly became straight in the chair. Tea spoiled over her hand due to sudden jerk by her body.
“Some persons attacked us while we were walking.”
“Kithe?” Gurpreet spoke in her Punjabi language due to fear, “Where?”
“In Industrial area.”
“Why?”
“Loot, they seized our money and cell phones.”
“Have you informed the police?”
“yes, we have.”
“How can I help you?”
“Dogs bit him.”
“Where?”
“Left hand and right leg.”
“Oh! God!”
“We want to live here for three to four days.”
“Don’t worry. Stay for a week.”
“We have bought medicines and syringes. He will recover in two or three days. We can leave after that.”
“Pathankot?”
“No, if we have to go Pathankot, we had already gone. We are going to Jaipur for some office work. Now we go back Pathankot and again Pathankot to Jaipur, It is better we stay here for two-three days and then directly go to Jaipur.”
“Hamm, we have met before three years. We will have some sour and sweet talks in these three days. I always miss you. You know my gut has been saying since morning not to go home and I haven’t gone.”
“How is your life going?”
“Now on Contract and salary INR 9000, and five is spent after rent and food.”
“What is your job? Shyam spoke.
“I’m a teacher. I have done Master in Punjabi language and also have B. Ed. certificate.” She replied in detail as per a teacher’s style and habit.
“Still they are paying nine thousand?”
“What shall we? Five-year contact and a fixed salary. They will convert the contract into a permanent job after five years.”
“How long have you been on a contract?”
“Three and a half year, I have to manage for one and a half year yet. Then the salary will be nineteen.” She looked at Charmi, “Today is off as Sunday but tomorrow I have to go and will return at 1:00 pm.”
“Don’t worry. we could manage if you have no trouble.”
“Why should I have any trouble? I will return at 1:00 pm and cook. You have to withhold till then. You haven’t learnt to cook.” She laughed, “The guy who will marry you have to starve, too.”
Charmi also joined her laughter.
“There is a food outlet at the corner of the street. You can order from there. Its samosas are delicious.”
“I can cook now.”
“I never believe you on this matter.” She laughed again.
“I can cook but I can only eat what I cook.” Charmi also laughed.
“Have you jeans-T-shirt?”
“No, they don’t allow jeans in the school. Why?”
“Dogs bit him and my clothes spoiled handling him.” Charmi removed the shawl.
“Oh! Rabba! So much blood!” she raised from the chair. She took a dress out beneath the bed and handed to Charmi, “Go, bathe and change.”
“I don’t like to bathe in such a chill. I will just change” Charmi strode to the bathroom taking the dress.
When she came out, she was looking a different one in Punjabi dress.
“I have to buy some vegetables.” Gurpreet took a cloth bag in her hand.
“I will finish his dressing till then,” Charmi suggested.
“Shouldn’t you go to a doctor?” Gurpreet spoke.
“Who goes to Chandigarh? We should like do ourselves.”
Gurpreet went to the market.
Charmi did dressing and change the bandage at wounds both on the hand and the thigh.
“What is the plan ahead?” he asked.
“We should stay here today and tonight. You will recover somewhat by then.”
“I think so but what should we do by then?”
“We must look at the news. I want to know what the police fabricated and delivered to media.”
“Don’t you think you should talk to your chief? We might get any help from him.”
“No, the head himself has told us not to contact anybody until we are safe and secure. We never know who the friend and who the enemy is. May anyone from our officers involved in the game.”
“I am afraid I understood.”
“Our duty is the most fucking one in the world. We make many enemies from police and politician while performing our duty. Sometimes we can not reach the politician in lack of the proofs and sometimes they succeed to free themselves due to our complicated judicial system. And any such a fellow can revenge and attack us or trap us in any conspiracy. I don’t feel I should hurry to contact the head.”
“I see.”
“We don’t let Gurpreet know anything about our situation. She is my friend but she will be frightened if she knows. She believes me as an ordinary clerk in the army. We must find whether anyone follows us before contacting the head.”
“Do what you think better but I never want to be kidnapped again. I will go Gujarat as soon as the matter gets solved.
“It will be absolute foolishness. They need some information from you and they will spot you from Gujarat.
“Then what should I do?” Shyam frightened at Charmi’s word. He knew they never let him live if he is caught again.
“We must find why we were captured. Who are they? We must expose police officers if any involved in the conspiracy.”
“We? I am a detective.”
“I know you are not a detective but we must solve all questions. If you go anywhere before solving the case and if they catch you, it will be impossible to find you. They have police prove you a criminal and encounter you.
“Are you scaring me?”
“No, I am showing you reality. They want to know about the main source, Rozy, Christy and agent Malik. We can reach to the kidnappers if we can know about what the main source is and who Rozy, Christy and Malik are. You should be with me till then.”
“But I have no money.”
No need of money. We have the government finance and the fund is solely raised from tax money collected from the citizens like you. We have no issue to spend the fund after you and we can solve the case soon if you are with me. If you go Gujarat, it will be dangerous for your family if they come after you. They know nothing about your family now but once you go to Gujarat and if they follow you, they can know about your family. They will capture your family members and blackmail you to answer their questions. You are unable to answer them. And you know what they will do to your family. You keep in mind that we killed one of them and we have made a personal enmity with them.” Charmi explained him in detail.
“I will be with you. We must finish the case.” Shyam agreed to be with Charmi when he realises the risk to his family. He thought it would be a better option to be here and face them.
“Yes, but we can’t haste. We should follow the policy ‘wait and watch’ now.”
Their conversation suspended as Gurpreet had returned.
Gurpreet cooked. Shyam and Charmi ate till they found their belly full. After the meal, Charmi and Gurpreet engaged in talking. Both girls slipped into their school time, their childhood and kept on chatting.
Shyam took a painkiller as he felt pain. He laid himself on the bed listening to their chat and he fell asleep.
Shyam found the hour hand at the four in the clock when he awoke. He met many monsters in the sleep but he forgot all the monsters as soon as he opened his eyes. Shyam felt his mental health was going to imbalanced. He rose from the bed and limped to the bathroom. Shyam could walk in the morning but he felt the muscles might tighten due to sleep. He set himself on the chair after visiting the washroom.
Charmi and Gurpreet met after years and their chat still continued. Shyam thought they had childhood more than a century as they still talked about their childhood memories.
“Gurpreet, I want something from the market.” Charmi changed the topic.
“Let’s go.” Gurpreet proposed.
“Isn’t any teenager around to go to market?”
“What you want to buy?” Gurpreet inquired.
“One packet of cigarettes and two toothbrushes.”
“Okay, I manage for them. Do you still smoke?”
“Once or twice in a day.”
“I don’t know how we have become friends,” Gurpreet exclaimed. It was really strange how they have become friends. One is a teetotaller and one is a smoker. Poor Gurpreet didn’t know who Charmy was now indeed.
“Can we connect to the net?” Charmi spoke as she saw the laptop.
“Yes, I have dongle but we have to recharge data pack,” Gurpreet replied.
“How much will it cost?”
“One hundred and fifty”
Charmi looked at Shyam. Shyam handed one thousand borrowed from Vijay to Charmi. Charmi gave Gurpreet three hundred rupees. Gurpreet hesitated to accept the money but at last, she agreed. Gurpreet went at down. She requested a teenage boy to buy the goods and recharge the net pack. Gurpreet came back and sat in the chair.The teenager who was sent to market came back in a while.Gurpreet prepared tea and trio enjoyed the tea.After the tea, both ladies resumed their chat.
*
At six o’clock Gurpreet wished to cook. Charmi happily welcomed her proposal as both Shyam and Charmi was bored with her continuous chatter.
Gurpreet set herself in the virtual kitchen, Charmi and Shyam settled on the bed and laptop in from them. Charmi downloaded several newspapers. The leading papers have allotted a full page for the upsets to the laymen due to demonetisation though they were covered at the second last page. Local papers have also filled the demonetisation and its outcome in the first page and news about Shyam and Charmi as well.
Their incident was constructed and presented like so. A cop down during the encounter between Haryana police and the drug suppliers. A smuggler shot by the force but the other two succeed to escape. The force had to suffer the life of an officer.
In details news, they faked the combined operation of Haryana police and Chandigarh police. The cop who martyred was of Haryana police. They claimed a smuggler shot during the bullet exchange. The police had not identified the man who was shot. They also fabricated two police dogs shot during the encounter.
With reference to police officers, they told a young man and a young lady had succeeded to escape. The police succeeded to detect drugs costing ten lack, two firearms. Police was hunting for the fugitives. Police will shortly release sketch of the felons.
“Have dinner” they heard Gurpreet and Charmi shut the laptop down. Charmi didn’t forget to delete the browsing history before shutting the laptop down.
After the dinner, the trio discussed the demonetisation and black money. Charmi and Gurpreet decided to sleep on the bed. Gurpreet gave Shyam an extra bedsheet she had on the rack. Shyam was lucky he had got a blanket to save from the cold.
He would have not to suffer the chill that night. Gurpreet switched off the lights but a dim light. Both the girls began to snore but Shyam couldn’t sleep as early as he had enjoyed a pretty sleep at noon.
***
To be continue...
