Pratapgarh Diaries

Dusra Manka

Kabir's POV
We were walking from hours and everyone was hell tired. We decided to rest for sometime.

"Me paani lekar aata hu, yaha koi nadi hogi aas-paas" I said. "Akele mat jao, me bhi aati hu" Dimpana said. I nodded and we left.

We walked for some minutes. "Ek minute. Awaaz suni?" I asked. She shook her head. "Dhyaan se suno, paani k behne ki awaaz h" I said.

She listened carefully and finally heard the noise. We went to the direction where the noise was coming from.

And there the river was! "Kabir paani lekar kisme jaenghe?" Dimpana asked.

I looked around. "Woh dekho! Uss ped k patte bade h, unhe fold krte h aur unme paani lekar jaate h" I said. She nodded and we went towards the tree.

"Nhi pohonch paeghe waha takk" Dimpana said. I picked her up. "Arey kya kar rhe ho?" She asked. "Patte todo Dimpana!!" I ordered. "Ho gaya!" She said. I put her down.

She was looking at the river and I was staring at her. "Kya kar dekh rhe ho?" She finally asked. I got close to her and made her stand by the tree. "Man me kucch ajeeb se khayal aa rhe h" I said with a smirk. She blushed. "Apne khayal rakho side me aur chalo yaha se" She said. I chuckled.

"Paani daalo isme" She ordered. "Theek se kro Kabir!" She said. "Jab tum saamne hoti ho tab kese koi aur kaam theek se kru?" I asked. She slapped her forehead. "To pehle me hi jaati hu yaha se!" She said. "Arey nhi, yeh dekho, ho gaya. Saathme chalte h na!" I said.

We finally left.

*******

I was sleeping and woke up when I felt that someone was walking to us. I opened my eyes and found myself surrounded by a group of people, who were adivasis I guess.

I kicked Sumedh. He woke up. Everyone opened their eyes and they were also shocked. "Chalo hamare saath!" They ordered. Mirza followed them and we followed Mirza.

They took us to their village, which was situtated in the jungle.

They locked us in a jail. "Yaar kya h yeh sab? Hamne kucch kiya bhi nhi aur ese hi hame andar diya!?" Sumedh asked.

Almost an hour later, they came and took us to a hut, which was looking a bit different from other huts.

We went in. A man was sitting on a chair, which looked more a throne than a chair.

He had tattooes on his body and was wearing weird clothes. "Namaste Bhaisahb" I said folding my hands.

Sumedh gave me a nudge. "K-k-kon h aap?" Sumedh asked him.

"Sarkar!" He said proudly. "Sarkar? Kiski Sarkar chalti h yaha? BJP?" Mahima asked. Sumedh slapped his forehead and we chuckled.

"Iska naam Sarkar h!!" Mirza said gritting his teeth. We controlled our laughter.

"Hame yaha kyu laya gaya h?" Razia asked confidently. I must say, that girl is really brave!

"Hamare ilaake me ho aur hamse hi savaal kar rhe ho?" Sarkar asked.

"Ilaka kutto ka hota h!" Dimpana said. I held her hand but we all couldn't control and laughed.

Sarkar gave us a death glare. "Maafi chahte h Sarkar. Nadaan h" Mirza said. Sarkar simply nodded.

"Aap yaha kyu aae the?" Sarkar asked. Mirza narrated him the whole story.

He listened to us carefully.

"Hmm, aapki ek amanat to hamare paas h" He said. "Matlab?" Sumedh asked.

"Ek Manka h hamare paas. Jhariyo me mila tha kucch varsh pehle" He said. "Aap woh le jaiye. Woh aapki amanat h, lekin..." He said and stopped.

"Teesra manka hasil karna mushkil hoga" He said. "Kyu? Kaha h teesra manka?" I asked.

"Naagesha k paas" He said. "Naagesha? Woh kon h Sarkar?" Mahima asked.

"Hamare paas wale kabile ki mukhiya h woh" He said. "To mushkil kyu h?" Mirza asked.

"Woh aapko manka kabhi nhi deghi. Woh uspar apna hakk karke bethi h" He said.

"Woh ilaaka naag aur nagino se bhara hua h. Ek naag k pet se mila tha unhe manka. Use Naagmani bna kar rakh liya unhone" He explained.

"To woh haseel krne k lie hame kya krna hoga?" I asked.

"Ya to manka chori krlo, ya yuddh kro" He said. "Ham yuddh krenghe" Mirza said.

"Kya yuddh krenghe? Har baat pe yuddh. Yaha tumhare ilava aur kisiko talvaar baazi nhi aati!" Sumedh said to Mirza.

"Ham usko churaenghe. Aur yeh churana nhi keh laegha, woh hamesha se hamara tha" I said. Sumedh agreed.

"Theek h" Mirza said.

We thanked Sarkar who gave us the Second Manka.

"Lekin Sarkar ham woh Manka churaenghe kese?" Mahima asked.

"Naag Devta k mandir se" He replied.

"Mandir se chori?" Dimpana asked. "Chori nhi hoghi Dimpana. Ham apni cheez wapis lenghe, that's it" I said. She nodded.

"Mandir me Shesh Naag ki ek boht badi murti h. Us murti me sabse bade Naag k muh me Manka rakkha hua h...wahi se lena h" Sarkar said.

"Leh, bas itna sa?" Mahima asked.

"Khatra yeh h k uss Mandir ki rakhwali naag krte h. Woh din  har jaagte h par raat ko so jate h. Tum log raat ko jaa sakte ho" He said.

"Thik h Sarkar, aapka boht boht shukriya" We thanked him and left.

*******

I updated my cover guys.

The previous cover, which was amazing, was by qadar05

The current cover, which is  awesome as well, is by mythologicaldiva