Ittefaq Say (MeeraSim FF)

25 - Alag

She hadn't been in his office before. The walls were dark, and the mahogany wood carried through from the library. But the shelves were duller, with less vibrant book covers. He took out a box of paper from the endless shelves- a yellow-ish box. It landed on the already messy table with a gloomy thud.

On the top, it had written in thicken bold font, 'Khan V State. Water degradation by use of banned pesticides in agricultural practice.'

It dawned on her, that he had been dragged to court in pollution charges- and she was dumbfounded. How could a person so caring, so mindful of his residents, directly harm his waste water, in turn, the earth that served him?

In his defence, he said, 'mainey aisa kuch nahi kiya.' For some odd reason, she believed him instantly. The tenderness housed in his voice made her realise, that he was just a man too- being fought from all angles- it seemed her baba was like a relentless hailstorm upon them, pounding them with countless pellets of stress. (I didn't do anything wrong)

'Pollution?' She asked, not really knowing about that aspect of farming. Of course, she knew about the beautiful fruit fields that they had visited, and the main business of cotton and linseed, the resulting fabrics which draped her body- but why would he be accused of using banned pesticides?

'Betho,' he ordered, and she promptly fell back on the cushion of the cold leather chair, and he leaned onto the desk, unloading the box for her. 'They had tests done on the water down stream from us, and found it to contain concentrations of banned pesticide. Unko lagta hai ke hum banned pesticides istemaal karte hai khet pe, to try to get a higher yield, to protect the crop against disease.' He handed her a thin file. On opening it, she found it to be full of graphs, and lists of undecipherable numbers, chemicals that she couldn't understand- she had been thrown in the deep end. 'Hum pesticides istemaal karte hai, par jaiza wale, safe wale,' he defend candidly. (They think we use the banned pesticides, but we just use the safer ones.)

Her gaze flittered upwards and she watched him, his careful voice, the way he studied her reaction. 'Unko lagta hai ke tum karte ho? Issi liye muqaddama chl rha hai tumpe... unko lagta hai kay tumhari waja se dangerous chemicals hai paani mei?' She tried to piece it together. (And they think the water is polluted because of the pesticides you use so they initiated a case against you?)

There was no turning back, so he plainly divulged, 'Haan, waste paani nadi mei jata hai. Paani ki quality kharaab hai, aur filter karke bhi peeya nahi jaa sakta. Pakistan ka natural resource kharaab hua ja raha hai, aur hummay kusoorwaar theraya ja raha hai.' She listened intently, every word processed with upmost concentration, considering the case as if it was her own issue, her own lands in question. (The water is so contaminated that it isn't drinkable even after treatment. It is a natural resource of the country therefore we are held responsible)

Maybe it was the soft afternoon rays which gave him a healthy, sincere glow, and she was already on his side, pushing her sleeves up to her elbows to ready herself for the fight. 'Tumne nahi kiye, tou koy aur kar raha hai istemaal?,' she reasoned. How could he be wreckless, when he so warmly accommodated the village kids, when he fondly talked about the responsibility goan on the train ride over- it was an uncharacteristic behaviour. (Maybe it is someone else contaminating the water body?)

'Haan, par pani humara hai. Patta nahi kab aur kahan se kar raha hai, but the scientific results don't lie. So mushkil case hai.' (Yes, but the water body is near us and we don't who and how is polluting it. So it's a difficult case )

'Ho sakta hai hai paisay bachane kay liye tumhare kisaan istemaal karte hon, aur tumhein patta nahi?'
It was possible but then he would still be responsible- and she wished with all her might that she was wrong, that he was angelically innocent. (Maybe the farmers are using those pesticides to save money and you aren't aware)