Safar

Chapter 7

For a second, the boy lost his balance, and was about to fall, but he managed to stay put. But somehow he must have got hurt, as he limped while coming down. He sat on the grass, holding his ankle and whining.

"Kya hua, kya dekha tumne andar ?" I ran to him, my brain making me visualize all kinds of terrible things.

-"Arrey didi, kuch dekhne ka waqt to dedo..." he looked up, covering his ankle which had swelled up badly.

"Ye kaise hua" I asked him. "Aur chillaya kyun tumne?"

-"Pata nahi kya tha upar... kaat liyaaa" he cried out in pain.

His dad got busy with him.

I understood that there must had been some sort of insect or something on that ladder which had bitten him.
"Tu pagal hain ? Itna zor se kaun chillata hain..." his father was saying, and I kinda agreed.

I was still thinking of what to do, when footsteps were heard. Three of us looked back, and saw three people at the gate, goggling at us, horrified. They were a very surprised Bhuvan, an even more shocked gentleman (probably his father), and his mother, who was on the verge of tears. All three of them had frozen at the gate, looking at us wildly, and probably wondering what on earth was going on.

"A... Ayra...t- tum ?" Bhuvan finally found his voice. "Ahuja U- uncle aap?" He asked, blank. Then suddenly his eyes fell on the boy and he yelled "abbey tu kya kar raha hain yahaan..".
The boy forgot all about his ankle and ran away in terror.

"Beta kya hain yeh sab" Bhuvan's father asked him. "Ahuja Sahab aap kab aaye... hum ghar pe the hi nahi. Aur beti kaun ho tum" he asked us.

-"Arrey Babloo Ji ye ladki aake humse kehti ki aaplog darwaaza nahi khol rahe. To hum tension lene lage. Isike chakkar mein mere bete ko bhi...
Khair aaplog aa gaye, hum chalte hain".

He quickly left the spot. I stood there, looking like a complete idiot.

"Bancho aur Sameer andar hain na... isilye bahaar se locked nahi hain" Bhuvan said, "khidki se ghusna padega lagta hain. Papa chaabi do" he went to the back of the house to unlock the rear door.

"Beti tum Ayra ho kya... Bhuvan bataa raha tha...?" Babloo Uncle asked me.

-"Haanji uncle, Namaste" I touched his feet.

"Mummy Papa andar aajaao" Bhuvan yelled. "Ayra aao" he opened the door. "Ye Bancho aur Sameer ko kya hogaya" he muttered under his breath while opening his shoes, and then ran up the stairs. I followed him.

"Kahaan gaye the tumlog?" I asked, trying to catch up with him.

"Papa ke dost ki beti ki shaadi pe" he didn't stop until he reached the terrace. Panting, he looked around. Nobody was there. Disappointed, he came back.

Both of us were alone together.

He paused to catch his breath. He then turned to look at me.
"Tumne Ahuja Uncle ko bulaaya kyun" he laughed.

-"Main dar gayi thi" I answered. "Isilye... "

-"Aur woh bachcha to ek number ka haraami hain. Usne pichhli baar Diwali pe Papa ke kaano ke saamne bum phode the, bechaare behre ho gaye the." He said, shaking his head. "Sabke naak pe dam kiya hua hain woh"

-"Uncle behre ho gaye the ?? Phir sabkuch theek kaise hua?" I asked, shocked.

-"Areee woh... aise hi.. chhodo na.." he dodged the question.

"Dekho" he said...

We looked at the sky.

It was dusk now. The sky had turned orange, but a shade of pink came in between too. The sun looked similar to the yolk of an egg. It would soon disappear behind those clouds. The view altogether was mesmerizing.

"Yaar" Bhuvan said, "ye shaam se pehele ke lamhe kitne khoobsurat hote hain na.."

-"Haan" I said, awestruck by the magic.
"Pata hain, dard na ye aasmaan ki tarah hain... kaheen shuru bhi nahi hota, kaheen khatam bhi nahi hota. Bas, usike neeche chhupe hue hote hain hazaaron sunehre pal..."

I looked at him... his eyes were lost somewhere in those orange clouds...

"Bhuvan betaaaaaaa" Babloo Uncle shouted. We quickly moved away from each other, though I don't know what made us do so. Uncle reached the terrace, panting loudly
"Abhi to jodo mein dard rehta hain..." he breathed heavily.
"Beta" he said, "Humne poore ghar dekh liye, Banchoddas aur Sameer kaheen nahi mila"