Thursday, August 23, 2007

Kaun ?

Jaldi nahin chal sakte kya ???

Mrs. Sharma asked, actually taunted Mr. Sharma. This had now become a routine on their way back home from the Subhash Bose Park, their destination for evening walk. Being staunch followers of Ramdev Baba, the couple never missed a day. And at 70, they hardly looked more than 60, thanks to him. The couple had also appointed themselves as Brand Ambassadors of Ramdev Baba and didn't miss a single opportunity to tell people about him and his Shiksha and Aasans. Some accepted, some faked and most rejected. But they used to go on about their job religiously, just like they went about their evening walk.

So they eventually returned home by 7 pm. It was still 30 minutes before getting dark. After freshening up, Sharma uncle dug into the evening edition of Dainik Bhaskar as Aunty went to the kitchen to make tea.

Khaane mein kya banaun??

Jo hum bolegne wo to hoga nahin... phir kyun poochhti ho roz ? Jo sabzi jaldi kharaab hone waali hai wahi banta hai.... to wahi bana do.

Arre.. poochh lete hain nahin to padosiyon ko bolne lagoge ki hukum chalaati hai :)

They never changed, as fresh and romantic as ever, even after 42 years of courtship and 41 years of marriage. Behind all the nok-jhok, there was eternal love for each other. They had two sons, Akash and Prashant. Both are IT professionals working in top IT Firms and settled abroad with their respective families. Its not that the sons didn't love them. They were tied up by their respective careers and ambitions, and the old couple never ever asked them to stay with them, for it was too selfish of them.
The grandchildren visited in summers. Their home was a normal upper middle class home. A decent sized house, white and gray with azure linings, big glass but grilled windows and dark gray door. Almost every facility that they or the children needed was available. Uncle used the money from his Provident Fund to buy this house while the sons shared the amenities and household items.

It was a quiet neighborhood. In fact, VERY QUIET. In today's fast life, no one had the time for another. An occassional 'Hi' while crossing each other was more than enough to be a good neighbor. Everyone led his own life and was quite busy in it. Uncle and Aunty had only each other for company, support, fights.... literally for everything.

It was 9-30 pm by the time Aunty had cleaned up the kitchen. As they were preparing to go asleep, they heard some sounds outside. Uncle knew they were gunshots. Aunty, though very strong mentally, was beginning to shiver.

Arre kuchh nahin hoga. Aise hi koi pagal hoga.

Aajkal pagal log bandook le ke ghoomte hain !!!

Halla mat karo aur jaa ke so jao. Aur humko bhi sone do.

Uncle tried his best to hold himself as well as Aunty, praying that he be right.

Just then, there was a thunderous knocking on the door. Someone just collided with the door and then started beating it heavily.

Thak-thak-thak-thak-thak.........
Darwaza kholo.... please darwaza kholo. Wo mujhe maar daalega. Bhagwaan ke liye darwaza kholo. Koi hai..... arre koi to meri baat suno. Bhagwaan ke liye mujhe bacha lo... please..... wo mujhe maar daalega. Please.
............ thak-thak-thak-thak............

Mat kholna, Aunty said while managing to catch her breath.

Pagal ho kya, agar sach bol raha hoha to ? marne chhor dein usko ?

Kahin aur chala jayega.

Kahin jagah nahin milegi, ye tum bhi jaanti ho. Ye colony nahin jungle hai. yahan sab apna kaam karte hain. Samaaj, society... ye log nahin jaante. 2 taang par chalne waale praani hain ye sab, Insaan to is dinuya se kab ke khatam ho gaye.

Another gunshot.

Main jaa raha hoon.

Nahin.... ruko.

Another gunshot.

-------Thak-thak-thak-thak-thak.........
Darwaza kholo.... please darwa............

..... to be continued

6 comments:

Still Searching said...

Shiiiiittt.. u didnt finish it! Thats NOT fair!!

Lady Godiva said...

aise suspense me la kar kyon rok diye?? khatam kar dena tha na.

Daroga said...

@ SS
I know... :P

@ Godiva
I know ... :P :D

Lady Godiva said...

:-p :-p :-p

Zee said...

to continue na

Daroga said...

@ Godiva
:D :D :D

@ Zee
Ya.. will do shortly