The flight-episode 1

"Excuse me ma'am,could you mind shifting to the window seat?", the Chinese looking man said.
She was so engrossed in reading the newly acquired 'fifty shades of grey' ,that it had to be repeated
again in a louder and clearer manner:"Hey miss, this ones mine .Yours is seat no.67 which is the corner one."


Finally, she rose and shifting the paraphernalia-her i-phone, hand bag , the book plus some paper napkins, she gave an apologetic smile to that plain looking man and got up with a nonchalant  attitude.


So, this was the man she was to travel with ?


She was going for a vacation to  Kerala in South India where her husband was posted .The plane had not taken off till now. The air -hostesses in bright red skirts and cream lacy shirts started to perform on the  set anthem. Sukanya gave a bored glance outside. Now she was actually glad that the Chinese man had asked her to change her seat.


But she was a woman of contradictions.


She loved to travel but not alone.She liked company She wanted to discuss the food on the flight, the fake smiles of the air-hostesses,the reprimanding Indian parents witha baggage of naughty children,  the weather outside and the travel i ternary she had planned in her mind. But now that she saw that the man was rude and blunt enough to ask her to shift her seat..she thought it better to keep to herself.As it is,she didn't want to make the first move.


It was a short flight for about two and a half hour bit the time seemed to tick very slowly.....

The twin

His name was Siddharth and people were in awe of him.A successful career as a  CA  in an MNC with a six figure salary,a BMW ,a lovely wife and two small kids whom he loved to death.
But noone knew that he had a twin residing in him:Sid,a bashful ,violent person who could be as dangerous as death itself.

This incident just freaks me out.I happen to be Sid's childhood friend , a confidante , a real chuddy-buddy and more than that,his wife. 

That day he had drunk way too much.The party was noisy and the music almost ripped the ears of the people who stood too close to the speakers.But Sid was away, sitting near the bartender ,ordered drink after drink. He saw her in the distant, a white short dress; she definitely looked hot and inviting.Luckily she came up to the bar and there he shot his one liner,"I think I've seen you somewhere! "

She turned towards him in a seductive way and held his hand,"I work in the same  company so perhaps you are right.You must have seen me at any other offsite like this one."

So the conversation had begun.After an hour long discussion ,it was time to leave.As any other opportunistic man would do, Sid also offered her a lift. She gladly accepted as if waiting to be asked.

"Such are the girls these days: AVAILABLE," he mused,conniving what he ought to do next.By the time he reached her place,he had already planned his next move. If she asks him to come for  a coffee, she's in the game, if not she still has to be in,whether she likes it or not.

Presently the car came to a shrieking halt. Sid like a true gentleman got down to open the door for her.She looked astonishinly awesome in the moonlight.

"Why don't you come up for  a cup of coffee?"
Sid's heart skipped a beat.She was walking ahead of him in an enchanting gait.Reaching near  the lift she paused for a while and looked whether he was following her or not.

Sid was sweating profusely. He wanted to smoke a cigarette badly. As soon as they halted near the door,she fiddled in her handbag for the house keys.Finally she laid the door bare open.

There ,at the entrance stood two lovely kids,waiting for their papa-mumma to come home after the party.

"Why have'nt you been sleeping dearie?,said Siddharth,as it was now him who was back. Sid had stealthily squirmed out of the scene.Nita looked smilingly at the three of them.She was used to such misadventures but was glad that he's always home.

The Seminar

They were contrasts.She was  a bubbly rambler and he was quite silent . We all know how opposites attract and in their case they really did.

She first saw him when she was waiting in the office corridor to attend one of those boring seminars which have become a recent fad in today's corporate world. It was a stupid training session on 'Communication and its right approach'.

"Hah,as if we don't communicate well,"mused Sneha who had been working in this field for almost twelve years by then ."But these bosses do want to torment you by sending you to these training sessions and seminars",she smirked.

"Why can't such seminars be organised in the same branch or the head office where I work? Why do I need to get up extra-early and drive for an hour to this Noida office?Oh no!I generally doze off with boredom in such seminars!!"

Nonetheless,there was no choice.She was representing the head office and she had to attend the seminar with utmost sincere enthusiasm (atleast it should reflect like that on her face).

And so when he went past her ,she randomly noticed his good looks and wished,"I hope such a person is the speaker for today's session so that atleast I'm not bored.

And so it was.As she entered the Conference Room (she was the last one),she noticed that it was noone but him standing at the podium.He was in a pink  crisp shirt (quite metrosexual,she thought ) ; and some dark trousers. Actually ,she was so besotted by his Greek features that she didn't speak when he asked her to introduce herself in the ice-breaking session:"Hmm...Ummm...I 'm Sneha Dalal from the head office ..."Her confidence just vanished  in a lame reply as she felt weak in the knees.She had the same feeling only once before in her life..When she had seen her husband for the first time .

Yes ,she was married with two kids but it really did'nt strike her as something immoral or obnoxiously insane.Things like this happen all the time.People just don't talk about it.She believed in listening to her heart and follow it without any notions of "good" or "bad".That's what she was and she was proud to be herself.Let people say whatever ,it didn't matter to her.She was true to herself.

So ,back to where we were...there she was,totally,completely bowled over by his good looks and imagine what happened then!!

She heard him speak.What a manly baritone.."Ahhh...would I be able to answer ",she thought and participate  and impress all like a winner as usual"?
But  not only  did she answer all his questions and enquiries about the topics but also excelled in the partner role-play activity which he initiated .Her roleplay was very dramatic and used a lot of space.It also had humour which the other groups had not worked on.(as commented by Mr.Anuj Malhotra...that was his name......he  was younger to her..how many years...till that time,she had no idea.)

The five hour seminar ended as if it was just an hour..she wanted more of his intelligent add ons to her not so perfect knowledge (interestingly,before this day she was quite snooty about her knowledge and experience).

Finally ,the seminar ended.She mustered the courage and walked upto him ,took his number ,told him how impressed she was with his skills and presentation and started for home.

                                                         *            *              *

Some days later.

She had to arrange a similar seminar at the head office.She was to be the solo speaker.She prepared all the slides and arranged for a lot of fun games and activities to make it more vibrant.


She entered the Audio-Visual Room where she had about 25 co-workers from various branches waiting for her.She noticed a familiar face in the second row.It was none other than Anuj.He looked very different now,though.He had lost some weight and grown some beard.After the first session ,she w hoped to see him and ask why he looked so crushed by life.But she couldn't.
She didn't want him upset at any cost.

He took her number at the end of the day,showered her with similar compliments about her professional talent and waved her goodbye as they both left in their cars.

                                             *              *                  *

Months have passed . They have become friends .However, they both have many hidden secrets which they  want to share with each other.
The only reason that they don't is because she is married and they know the obligations of the Indian culture.If it were the U.S.,none would have thought about it so seriously.May be in future,they do end up telling each other what lies underneath their formal , professional talks.
I'm  waiting for Sneha to write more so that I can share the news with you.

Simply yours
Sneha 's diary

The Evening Walks

"I still rememeber the days we would take long evening walks together", blushed Suhani.He always had this effect on her.She would smile for no reason, became a poetic dreamer, and would seep back into nostalgia.It  was with Rajeev when she was truly happy, living a life of a chirpy youngster even when she was forty now.

The couple moved towards a  green coloured ,half-rusted bench .Rajeev said enthusiatically, "Do you remember how we first met ?"

"Yes, I surely do Mr. Sharma.That was how she would address him even twenty years ago.You were doing nothing that morning so you were sent to get Chole-Bhature for your guests i.e us,weren't you? "

"Yes ,I was. I didn't realise that I would not only help you with your Sunday brunch but also with the shifting and would be treated like an errand boy by your mother ,Suhani," he laughed as he remembered how they had met.
                                                            *      *       *
It was a  very cold, chilly January morning in 1997.Suhani and her parents were to shift their new house to North Delhi's rising  and well-planned  Rohini leaving their Government  accomodation in R.K.Puram.Suhani had lived the twenty years of her life in South Delhi .

No matter how small her two bedroom  South Delhi apartment was ,she liked it there.She had a gang of friends who would sit out in the evenings on the terrace and have a blast gossiping, sharing their crushes and  playing various games. Suhani didn't want to be shifted to a better, bigger home but as there was no choice she had risen early that day and she was there with her parents to see the newly constructed society flat .

The only excitement was her own room which she was supposed to get in this flat.
So there she was at the Sharmas,  close friend to her father, his business partner.As they had already been living in the flat ,they would go and check their woodwork so that the work at their own flat could be started.

After the normal Namastes and hello-hi's, Suhani noticed him walking down from the furtherst room of the house.He was wearing a bright yellow hand knitted pullover and looked  dashingly handsome with his flawless clear skin and Greek features."Raje, get some Chole-Bhature for the guests,"Sharma Uncle instructed in a polite tone.

"Who is this ?",mused Suhani who wore a bright  sea -green anarkali suit which had a zipper at the back.She was looking elagantly sexy in her hourglass figure and dusky complexion.

"Abhi le aata hoon Bhaiya".So this is uncle's younger brother, thought the lovestruck Suhani and heaved a sigh of relief that he was not a well -dressed driver.

"Why don't you take Suhani with you and show her the play area  and the Auditorium, suggested Uncle Sharma.

"Great ! "

They walked slowly towards the lift. Suhani ,who was generally a shy and demure girl couldn't hide her excitement ,"So what do you do?"

I 'm doing a course in Electronics Journalism from Bharti Vidya Bhawan . I just completed my B.Com(Hons) from S.R.C.C.What about you ?"

"I'm in my last year of English (Hons)".

So,they came back with the hot Chole-Bhature  after getting to know each other well.This was how they had met.

After many a visits they had opened their hearts to each other.Rajeev was in love with a girl four years older to him and Bhaiya and Bhabhi were against the match altogether.He was threatened to be thrown out of the house. Suhani never shown her deeper emotions to him when he was telling her about Priyanka, his girlfriend. After they had shifted, they would take a walk together  after dinner when her parents  would also do the same.As they were family friends they would generally be seen together in society functions ,holi -diwali celebrations which they both abhorred.

Once ,when Rajeev's relationship had been terminated with his older girlfriend, and he had got over it ,he mustered the courage and asked Suhani out for a drive . Suhani so wanted to go but refused ,"It's ten in the night.I think we ought to sleep on time.Rajeev held her hand in his ,looked into her eyes and said, "Just hope you don't  regret this day in your life because I want to confess that I'm falling in love with you.Take your time and tell me." 

That day Suhani couldn't sleep.She thought that she would tell him that they could go for a drive but he should take permission from her parents.They wouldn't disagree, she was convinced.

The next night she was waiting for all of them to go for the nighly walk ritual. Rajeev came and started walking beside her. The elders were ahead and slowly he took her hands in his and asked,"So,whats the plan?Should we then take a ride in my second-hand white esteem or not?"

Suhani gestured that he needed to ask her parents.Rajeev left her hands suddenly and vanished. He wasn't seen for some days.
She kept on waiting for him .
Days changed into months and months to  years.Two and a half years had passed and she knew that  Rajeev was settled in Bangalore and he would  never come back for her.He was so right.She was regretting her decision. She knew that she had bruised his male ego.

She had joined an MNC in Gurgaon as a communication Manager and there were talks going on about her marriage."Get ready,"one Sunday her mother announced. Someone is coming home to meet you ",her mother declared.

"Mommy,I'm not interested, I'm just 25.I wouldn't marry for another two years.

"But you will , once you see the boy.He's quite fair and handsome,"her mother giggled.

Suhani donned on her typical Indian attire undesiredly.Her mind was traumatised .

Her mother called out to her to come to the drawing room.As slow as sleepy snail she walked into the drawing room .As soon as she lifted her disinterested face to wish Namaste to the elders ,she sprang to her feet to see Rajeev with his brother and bhabhi.

"Will you come for a drive with me in my first hand new Honda city?"

Suhani blushed  with ecstasy and replied ,"Yes,why not?"

                                                                  *          *              *

Now that they were forty they would always take a walk with their kids walking behind them.

Rajeev held her not so young hand in his and asked,"Do you want to come for a drive, Mrs.Sharma? Let's grab an ice-cream for us and the kids."Suhani blushed .He always had this effect on her.

The Mission Impossible

She was a perfect cook .Even though people would criticise her as someone who would interfere in people's kitchen,she would go on poking her nose into everyone's affairs,especially telling them how some dishes are made .Never would she realize that she is not wanted , her opinions undesired and her hyperactivity uncallled for.She would go on bragging about the extra expensive cookery classes which she had taken as a young,unmarried Rajput girl whose main motto was to marry someone with a stable backgound and a sound bank balance.

Let me introduce you to her.Her name was Bela Choudhary and her occupation was of a housewife.You must be wondering how being a" housewife "is an occupation ;but let me make it quite clear that housewives work for more than twelve hours a day ,evidently much more than a corporate worker who goes for a nine hour shift on a regular basis.
So here was Bela,a graduate in Hindi  from Delhi University utilising her time in packing lunch boxes,instructing the house-maid and waiting endlessly for her businessman husband.

She was fair,slim and tall.A careful inspector of the kind of things she was buying ,her dealings with the sabziwallas was not at all imposing:"aree bhai yeh matar kya bhav diya ?...Nahin nahin...theek lagao nahin to main kahin aur se le loongi."

This was the usual threat presented to the sabziwallah so he would never fall into the trap.

"Jao bahenji kahin aur se hi lelo."Quite alarmed at the situation and upset with the public humiliation ,she would quietly say,"achcha chalo dedo ek kilo,agali baar dekhoongi" and quietly move to another vendor.
 Today she was in a hurry as her daughter was bringing some friends home for her birthday treat and she had bragged about her mother's culinary skills especially her gajar ka halwa.So she didn't even try to bargain.

Poor Bela was in a mess."Gajar ka halwa in June?"She had cried in disbelief.

"Mom you can arrange this, I know. "Her daughter had shown some extra faith which she never would otherwise(  being a rebellious collegiate, she was never polite with her mother and today she was on the verge of flattering Bela)..How could she disappoint her little angel,"I would surely try it..it doesn't matter if it 'll be made from the exported orange-coloured ,unsweet carrots but I will make the gajar ka halwa and also make sure it has the best taste."

So her search began ..from the mother dairies to the local sabzi mandi to her favourite vendor.But alas,there were no carrots anywhere.What to do now?
The time was ticking . Nicky's friend would be home in about four hours from now,she mused.
Suddenly she had a perfect idea.She quickly paid  the grocer and there she was,at her house ,in the kitchen.

She kept cooking the halwa for about an hour or more .After the completion of the task,she smiled satisfactorily to herself.She went to change and then dressed for the occasion.She wore a lovely pink suit with white flowers embroidered on the neck and sleeves,with a shimmery dupatta to match with it.She wore her small pearl set to finish the decking up.

Ding -Dong.Ding-Dong.The bell rang.

"Sunita,open the door".
The maid opened the door ....Two boys with spiked hair,ear studs and Gucci glasses .Identical faces.Surely they were twins.There was a fat , fair womanly girl whom Bela already knew as Nicky's best friend Savvy;and a squinted boy dressed up as a colorful joker depicting his taste in men rather women:Jyotish was his name.

"Aunty where is our lunch?We are so hungry and we have heard so much about the halwa"

."They are as dumb as my own Nicky.They 'll easily be  befooled,"thought Bela.

"Aunty, I'm sure you haven't been able to make  the gajar ka halwa Nicky was boasting off ,declared the one in courful parroty clothes-Jyotish".

She would have made it"said Jacob."Yes ,I'm sure she has,added the other twin-Judith.

"Okay Okay..see for yourself but first wash your hands and  have the lunch before making your judgements on the halwa."
They all sat down on the dining table and started gulping down the sumptuous meal which she had prepared.The butter drenched alloo paranthas,biryani and raita with paneer chilly masala her speciality.Now was the turn of the  most awaited -gajar ka halwa.

"Sunita.jaldi se woh bada bowl leke aao jisme halwa hai."
Nicky was proudly smiling at Bela".My mom is so great a cook.The halwa is soooo  yummy, isn't it?"
Everyone agreed with a smile because all of them had their mouths stuffed with the orangish red gajar ka halwa.

"But aunty how did you manage to get carrots in this season,asked Jyotish who was sure that it just looked like gajar ka halwa but wasn't that for sure.
Bela shrewdly replied,"Aree dhoodhne se to bhagwan bhi mil jaata hai , yeh to bas gajar thi."

Satisfied that it must be the real carrot halwa , Jyotish also gulped down the last spoon .
"We are going for a movie and I will come back around eight .Savvy will drop me,mamma,don't worry .
                                                                 *       *          *

That night at eight when Nicky returned after watching Mission Impossible -The ghost Protocol,she was on cloud nine.Her birthday had gone quite well.She went on in the kitchen to thank her mom for the lovely treat she had put up for her friends ,especially the not so possible : the mission impossible , the gajar ka halwa.Her mother was not to be found .She asked Sunita ,the maid about her whereabouts."Arre madam to bahar aur kaddu lene gayi hain ,halwa itna bhadhia jo bana tha ,ekdum gajar -halwa jaise.Yahi to kamal hai tumhaari ma ka."

Bhagatji learns driving!!

Mr.Bhagat is my protaganist,my new -old age hero..You might not have seen anyone like him.Such men are not made anymore.
A man of blunt honesty ,family values;highly intelligent,quick,innovative,creative mind ,a good sense of humour .All that he lacked was the sense of worldy wisdom.I sometimes wondered and wanted to educate him with some cleverness and shrewd cunningness.

The incident on my mind is when I got a fortunate chance to see his driving skills,I mean if there were any.

At that time he was a man of thirty -seven .You must be wondering why the hell  didn't he learn to drive till that age.The reason was simple.Mr.Bhagat lived in a world of ideologies.

Ideology No-1:Live a simple life.What simple meant was travelling by autos,buses and metros no matter how much you suffer everyday.(Atleast someone should think of the Mother Earth.)

Idelogy No-2:Keep yourself busy.Busy meant sleeping on weekends,eating a completly unhealthy food and listening to old Hindi film songs and living by them.(Muflisi me maza hai:there is pleasure in being poor.)

Ideolgy No-3:Be different( whatever it may mean).He could argue for anything that he believed in..If people are learning to drive cars at the age of 18 or 20 ,why should he?? 

So enough of a good introduction of my hero-Mr.Bhagat.
Being a Copywriter by proffession ,he lived a busy life .As he started earning quite early in the ninety-ninetees when he just passed out of college(he did English (hons) from Delhi University,)he didn't get a fair chance to learn driving.He was hardly twenty one at that time .He would take DTC buses ,(autos when getting late after the late night shifts).He was quite a genius in creating ads.

Remember the polo ad (the mint with the hole)All due credit to him.The frooti ad(Mango frooti,fresh and juicy)It still resounds in my ears.
What I mean to say is that professionally he was awesome.He went on climbing the ladder of success but never got free time to learn driving.

Mr.Bhagat finally decided to learn driving when he was on a break from his over busy schedule after fifteen years of working nonstop.He owned two cars,two houses and a good bank balance by that time.  He never bothered to learn driving because he always had a chauffer.Once the chauffer left for a break just when he was on one,he finally decidedto try his hands on it.

I just happen to be a good neighbour and a childhood friend.I couldn't do much professionally (I'm a lower divisional clerk in a government school) but I learnt driving ten years back when I bought my first Maruti 800.

So that morning I was coming from my morning walk when I saw him returning from driving classes.I was a witness to his recent classes and was genuinly grateful at the fact that his good sense had prevailed and finally he was taking it up.He shook hands and sweetly said,"Amit yaar,You know its been a week that I have learnt driving ,could you let me practise on your Maruti 800 which you don't use anymore.You see I don't want to ruin my new D'Zire.As I have a Hyundai I10 also , I agreed quite happily.
There came another request,"Could you please sit with me?Won't you help your brother like old friend?"I agreed again.

We sat down :he on the driving seat of my old Green Maruti and I beside him.I told him to start the car.But where were the keys?"But you just opened it?,"I said confidently.He fiddled in his trouser pockets and looked inside the car if he had made them fall.They weren't there.After much of a hunt Mr.Bhgat realized that the key was hanging outside at the car door.How funny ,I thought  taking condescending pleasure in my superiority but was quite unaware of what was to come next.

After a series of trials ,the car finally started."How is the gear put?,"he enquired.I told him that it has to be in the neutral and then shifted to the left above.He did that and the car made a cacophonic sound.
 Wondering why I asked him if he had put his foot on the clutch."Yes ,"he said but I noticed that he also had put his right foot on the accelerator simultaneously.
My car was in trouble.No matter how old my greenie was ,I was still in love with her,afterall it was my first love.
Anyway, finally we were out of the society gate and turned left.I was giving him clear and loud instructions to save my life and his.
"Our life was in danger",was the only thing on my mind.Suddenly I noticed a small tempo coming towards us with a sneering smile.I told Bhagatji,"Yaar Bhagat ab slow karke ,second gear me daal le gaadi ,aur is tempo ko pass karne de".
"I don't know how to come back to the secong gear from the third one."The tempo was almost there .When I looked through the corner of my eyes,I turned stone-still.I didn't know what to do.I shouted in his ears ,"Hey tu break maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrr."

Crash.
Boom.
Smash.
The noise of mirror cracking pierced my ears like a dart.But the tempo had gone .Then why was there this crashing sound??? I noticed that a Santro was behind  us and had smashed my sweetie due to sudden stop by us.
Mr.Bhagat quickly came down and apologised to the Santro driver."Thankfully it is a lady who would not indulge in  a road rage murder,"I thought.
I heaved a sigh of relief and listened to what Bhagat had to say:"This man is new learner ma'am.I was teaching him how to pull a break in emergency situations.It all happened because I wanted to teach him how to drive.The lady made a face and called up someone."

She might be calling a relative or her husband ,I thought,After fifteen minutes of silent wait I saw a police gypsy arrive with a tall policeman shouting ,"Haan darling.key baat ho gayi ??kaunsa sai jisne meri daarling santro ki headlight todi hai?"

Mr.Bhagat pointed at me"Ji sarkaar, yeh Maruti Amit Mishra ji ki hai.Mujhe to driving aati bhi nahi."

The Compensation

She felt lonely.She felt cheated.She felt as if an invisible hand was suffocating her breathing space.

It happened like that.

Aditi's usual mornings were full of excitement.She had  loving parents,a sweet sister Neeti and a responsible brother Aditya. She was in class VIII at that time -the most unfortunate year of her life-1990.That day was a just another day in her life.She dressed up for school.She helped her mother pack her lunch for the three siblings and papa and then started for school.

Aditi's school was at a walkable distance from her home(hardly 3-4 minutes).It was a pleasant October morning.As soon as she reached the school premises ,she was exuberantly delighed to see the gate shut with this"The school will remain closed due to the Mandal Commission Riots taking place all around Delhi till further notification by the government."

"What is this Mandal Commission ,"she wondered for a while and discussed with all her friends going back .None clearly knew.
How could they?They were hardly thirteen or fourteen years of age.
But one thing was sure.It must have been something serious because as they all reached their homes ,their parents heaved a sigh of relief .

Days passed .
The first few days were like summer holidays in October.Surprisingly there was no holiday homework.The days would just pass in idle conversations with Neeti and her mother(she being a teacher was also lucky enough to have this sudden holiday fun).

Mother was glad that they were safely home.She explained to the children that India was burning.
The new VP Singh Government had implemented The Mandal Commission which gave the people from the reserved category a higher reservation in educational institutions and jobs but the other ones, espeacially the middle class and poor yet elite caste general category people were commiting suicides against the VP Singh government to take back their decision.

The hired mercenaries :policemen were using all kinds of ill methods from lathis ,dandas and teargas shells to disperse the angry crowd and defeat themwhenever they showcased their solidarity.

"But why is mummy telling me all this ?How does it matter to me?We are safe at home,"mused the bored Aditi.Neeti was busy in chewing her nail disinterestedly.Aditya  Bhaiya was out with his friends.He recently had made a new girlfriend.In the days of no mobliles and facebook the only way to carry on with a relationship was  meeting secretly which was surely quite a task.They would meet in shoddily made restaurants and public parks due to the strict monitoring of the one hundred and fifty rupees a month pocket money.

As Aditi moved away from her mother so that she may further not be instructed and enlightened about the Current affairs of Delhi,the doorbell rang.It rang and it rang.Which idiot is pressing the doorbell again and again...even mother was losing her calm.

She went up and opened the door.It was Sahil,Aditya's friend.He was in a bad shape .His dull brown complexion was full of dirt ,sweat and blood.His blue shirt was torn at places and his nostrils were oozing out filthy half-dried blood.
"What happened Sahil?,"asked Mother in desperation.
"I'll explain it later aunty.Please come with me."

He held mother's hand and took her out .Just outside the house were standing two hefty policemen with Aditya's body in their hand.Just behind them was a police jeep.
Mother was aghast .Her pale face got paler and fear stricken .She quickly turned back to Aditi who was peeping through the half open door with fear.
"Inform papa  that we are going to AIIMS Emergency."

Aditi saw her mother ,Sahil,and the two policemen leave hurriedly in the jeep.For a moment she couldn't decide what to do.Was she dreaming?

NO.That was real.She mustered the courage to look for the phone book to locate papa's office number.He  who  worked as a Scientist in DRDO .She dialled the number and explained to papa what had happened.

She didn't realize that it was late in the night and the both of them need to eat and sleep.Both the sisters finally made Maggi  at one in the night when mother called them to tell that they would not come and they have to spend the night alone.
They slept hugging each other in the fear of the unknown.

The next morning their maternal aunt came up to pick some clothes of mother and father.
"What has happened to bhaiya?Is he alright?When will mummy-papa come back with him?"
Aditi bombarded Suman masi with her innocent questions.She got no answer though.

The sisters got used to their new lifestylein afew days.The bai would come in the morning to do the dusting ,mopping and utensils.The neighbours gave them food three times aday.Masi would come and go off and on to the hospital.
"Would somebody tell me what had happened?",Aditi's mind was always bothered and tensed .She forgot to smile ,to dance and watch T.V.She would just keep Neeti busy in something or the other.

Eventually Bhaiya came back after one and a half month.
Dead.
He was covered with a white shroud and he carried the same smile on his face which was loved by his girlfriend.The  unfamiliar rites and rituals assosiated with death became known to  the fourteen  old Aditi.How the dead bady was washed,flowers showered and then taken for the final ritual at the Nigambhodh Ghat .
Neeti was the same.She also metamorphosed like her elder sister and consoled mother who had not spoken a word since the day she had gone to the hospital .

Aditi asked papa what had happened to Bhaiya after everone had left the family alone.

Papa was silent for a while and then said,"As per Sahil,Aditya and a few of his friends were sitting atop Rajesh's car and having some fun cracking jokes.At that time the police jeep with four people sitting inside drove up .Mistaking your Bhaiya and his friends to be some sort of hooligans,they fired some random shots.Aditya was the most unfortunate that the bullet hit his head and he fainted.Since the day we had gone to the hospital ,your Adi bhaiya was in a state of coma.We were hopeful but we were not lucky."Papa broke down hugging Aditi .

                                                                       * * *

The doorbell rang with sharp tingling pain.The postman gave a courier to Aditi.She opened the envelope with careful deftness.
It had a cheque  of rupees one lakh for her father with the following note:

'In lieu of the accidental death of Aditya Narayan Sharma,a compensation for his family.'

She felt lonely.She felt cheated.She felt as if an invisible hand was suffocating her breathing space.

Aditi had tears rolling down her soft brown cheeks"Can I celebrate Rakhi and Bhaiya Dooj with this money?She wiped her tears off and woke up mummy to tell her about the compensation cheque.