Rab Rakha

Chapter 46

The sun had just set, casting a soft twilight glow through the windows of the newly renovated office space. The air was thick with the sharp, pungent smell of drying paint and varnish. Four workers were diligently putting the finishing touches on the interior design, their tools clinking softly in the quiet room. The walls gleamed with a fresh coat of oil-based paint, still tacky to the touch. The floor, a sea of polished wood, had just been treated with a solvent-based varnish, creating a glossy, reflective surface.

In a corner of the room, a worn-out extension cord lay tangled, connected to a power strip overloaded with various tools. Without warning, a spark shot out from the power strip, a brief, bright flare of light followed by a crackling sound. Instantly, the spark found its mark on a thin, almost invisible trail of varnish.

The reaction was immediate and violent. Flames erupted along the trail, racing across the floor with frightening speed. The freshly applied varnish acted like fuel, feeding the fire as it spread. The workers, initially stunned, scrambled to escape, but the flames moved too fast.

"Aag! Aag!" The intense heat grew rapidly, causing the air to shimmer. One worker, closest to the source of the fire, screamed as his clothing caught alight. Another tried to help, grabbing a nearby fire extinguisher, but the dense smoke and growing flames made it almost impossible to see.

"Ae Diwakar phone laga kisi ko, yaha aag badhti jaa rahi hai!!" One worker asked another.

"Sidharth sir ko lagata hu." Diwakar replied, dialing their boss's number.

"Hello sir, sir yaha aag lag gayi hai sir. Short circuit ho gaya ekdum se, hum phass gaye hai sir. Madad kariye!" He cried for help.

"Thik hai, thik hai, Diwakar mai aa raha hu. Tumlog kitne log ho waha?" Sidharth was expecting anything but this at the moment. Done with a meeting he had plans of returning home early but looked like he couldn't now. He ran to Vardhan's cabin and informed his friend about the same. They called for a fire extinguisher and an ambulance.

"4 log hain. Sir paint sookha nahi tha, isliye aag fail gayi har taraf. Aa badhti ja rahi hai sir, kuch kijiye." Diwakar continuously requested.

"Mai fire extinguisher leke aa raha hu. Aa raha hu jaldi." Sidharth assured him before hanging up and left his office building, making his way to the shopping complex in Bandra.

Two more workers, trapped by the advancing fire, pressed themselves against the far wall, frantically trying to find an exit. The searing heat began to blister their skin, the pain intense and unrelenting. Desperate cries for help filled the room, drowned out by the roar of the flames consuming everything in their path.

Within moments, the entire floor was a blazing inferno, the fire hungrily devouring the newly renovated space. The once-pristine room was now a chaotic scene of destruction, the acrid smell of burning materials mingling with the screams of the trapped workers. It was a tragic, terrifying end to what had begun as a routine day of work.

The loud noises of the siren battled with the chaos outside the new building of the complex, fire fighters ran in. Within a few minutes, they found the 4 workers lying unconscious and brought them back, carrying them into the ambulance.

Sidharth and Vardhan stood like five feet apart, watching their workers being carried and their weeks of hardwork on the building burning into ashes. Their phones were continuously ringing but their major focus was on making sure that Diwakar and three others were treated as soon as possible.

They followed the ambulance to look after the paperwork for their workers, Vardhan waited outside the emergency room and attended a few calls from his family and friends while Sidharth answered all the queries of the police. They recorded his statement since he had informed the fire extinguishers about the accident.