Safar

Chapter 6

I was usually woken up by the vegetable seller who brought his cart to our doorstep, yelling, "Ae bees rupay bees rupay bees rupay aloo leleeee----" at the top of his voice. That morning, however, I woke up late because he had not come, which resulted in me being sent to the market at 8 a.m.

I had just proudly walked out of the grocery store, having successfully taken 'free ka dhaniya' from the greengrocer, and was about to head towards home, when I heard my name being yelled out. I turned right, to see Bhuvan waving at me from a distance. I went there.

He came forward and said, "Achchha hua tum yaheen mil gayi, main ghar jaake tumhe phone karne hi wala tha."

-"Kya hua" I asked, trying to manage all those heavy grocery bags.

-"Suno, tickets book go chuki hain... woh to tumhe pata hi hain. Hotel bhi book ho chuki hain. Tum bas ekbaar mere ghar aa paaogi?" he asked.

-"Abhi?" I asked, horrified. My sister would kill me if I didn't reach home before our cook arrived at 9:30.

-"Nahi nahii..." he tried to cover up, "Ghar jaake yesab rakhke aaraam se baad mein aana. Par aaj hi aao to achchha hain"

-"Par kyun? Koi kaam hain kya ?" I asked.

-"Haan... woh.. actually Papa tumse milna chaahte hain." he murmured.

-"Ohh" I wasn't expecting this. "I'll try to come" I said. His face said he was relieved.

"Eeeeeeeeeeinnnnnnn" a woman in a grey saari with red patterns on it came to us, crying. She covered her face till her nose, so only her eyes and forehead were visible. I was taken by surprise.
"Kahaan tha tuuu... " she asked Bhuvan.

'She knows him?' I wondered.

-"Mummy, main yaheen tha... aapne bola tha..." he was answering, but got interrupted.

-"Kabse dhoond rahi hoon main tujhe..." she said.

-"Areeee mummy yaheen to tha main" he tried comforting her. I understood that she was Bhuvan's mother.

"Achchha bye.. main dopeher ko jaaungi tumhare ghar... abhi chalti hoon'' I told him.

-"Main help karun.." said Bhuvan, bending to pick up my bags.

-"Anjaan ladki ki madat karta hain tu, par apni maa ki taraf dekhta bhi nahi hain... eeeeeeeinnn" she continued crying. I hurriedly picked up the bags myself, trying to escape from there. But Bhuvan stopped me.

-"Mummy ye anjaan nahi hain; meri classmate hain. Ayra" he introduced me to her. She stopped crying and said "OK" smiling sweetly.

-"Namaste Aunty" I touched her feet. "Aapke ghar jaaungi main aaj, Bhuvan ne bulaya hain" I thought it would be better to inform her.

-"Haan beta bilkul aana" she said very sweetly.

I bid them goodbye and went home. Thankfully, I reached just on time. I also was praised for that free coriander.

* * *

House number 17, Malviya Nagar.

A four-storeyed house with an open terrace. A beautiful and well-maintained garden in front. A flight of stairs led to the front porch. I climbed them up, and rang the bell.

I was admiring the location and maintenance of their house, when I realised that 5 minutes had passed, and nobody had opened the door. I rang it again, twice this time.
Still no answer...
Were they not at home ? But how could it be .... the house wasn't locked.

I banged hard on the door. Nothing happened.

Now I got really scared. Did something happen to them ...?

I thought hard. I had to do something...

I ran out of the gate, and entered the neighbouring house. An old gentleman came out after hearing the calling bell.

"Kaun?" he asked.

I had no time to explain who I was and where I came from. I shortly told him why I was there.

"Bam ?? Aaj subah hi to baat hui thi Babloo Ji se... achanak kya ho gaya..." he too got worried.

He called his son and told him to check.
Bhuvan's door was banged on for several more times. No response. I was scared stiff. What if...?

The boy brought a ladder, kept it against the wall, and climbed up to look through the 1st floor window. We waited. I apologized to the elderly gentlemen for all the fuss. He said it was okay, and was about to say something else, when suddenly his son let out a shrill, ear piercing scream.

My heart skipped several beats. What could he have seen ?