TALAASH - Reliving the Past

37. Truth & Lies

KS: I know not only her past identity but also her past deeds.. I know what a traitor she is.. I know how she deceived Mayadi and transferred all of Mayadi's property to her name after Jai Singh sir's death..

Maya and Kaira look at each other with widened eyes, wondering how Karishma has dug so deeply into the past while Neysa clenches her fist at Karishma's words.

N: (in an stern tone) Officer.. You can't label a person until the accusations are proved in a court of law.. As an experienced police officer, I hope you understand these basic etiquettes..

Before Karishma could reply to Neysa, Maya intervenes, saying,

MJS: (sternly) Neysa, could you please shut your mouth for a minute?

Neysa lowers her head with a contorted expression lingering on her face while Maya moves to Karishma and sit next to her. She gently places her hand on one of Karishma's shoulders and says,

MJS: Karishma, let me begin from the very beginning, from where it all started. Please listen to me patiently; I won't take much of your time.

Maya exhaled deeply and continued with a hint of nostalgia,

MJS: I met Haseena in 2005 when she was just a teenager in a.. quite strange scenario..

Maya's lips curves as she reminisced about her first encounter with Haseena.

MJS: I don't know why, but the moment I saw her, I felt an inexplicable sense of connection between us, maybe because she was around the same age as my lost sister Karu. But before I could come out of my confusions and ask her about herself and her family, she had left, and I just tried to forget the incident as I had my plates full with studies and business. However, as time passed, I found myself unable to shake the thought of her, no matter how engrossed I was in my studies and business projects. I was worried about her for apparently no reason. So I asked my people to track her down, and I found out that she had recently moved to Lucknow after her father's death and was staying with her sick mother in a small rented room. Her only connection in this new city was her maternal uncle, or her ammi's cousin, who had helped them relocate to Lucknow when they couldn't afford the rent for their previous home in Mathura. But he, too, lacked the means to support them through her mother's medical bills, particularly her mother's impending heart operation. So in a valiant effort to make ends meet and raise funds for her mother's surgery, Haseena had taken on various odd jobs, putting her education on hold.

Maya paused for a moment, reflecting on those times, then continued,

MJS: Getting to know all these, I couldn't stand idly and watch her future crumble like that. So the very next day I met her and offered her a part-time job. I told her I would help her get admission into a college on a scholarship based on her marks in 10th grade. Thankfully, she agreed after a day-long argument and persuasion. So I managed to get Haseena a seat in one of the top colleges in UP, but it was in Barabanki. I didn't want her to stay in a hostel because mobiles weren't allowed there, and I knew she would be worried about her mother if she stayed there and wouldn't be able to concentrate on her studies. So I contacted Chachaji and asked if he could rent one of his apartments to Haseena and her mother. He happily agreed to help Haseena and offered them a place to stay in his mansion until Haseena graduated. As years passed, Haseena grew closer to our family, helping Papa and me at work, and Chachaji with his NGO-related stuff. Meanwhile, Haseena's mother, my Ammi, gave me all the love that I missed since my childhood. We were a happy family together. In 2013, after she graduated with a Master's in Psychology, my Papa decided to officially adopt her as his daughter. Subsequently, she cleared her police exams and got posted at MPT as a probationary SI. There, she met Kaira and Barbie. They became very close friends, even more than that, actually. And I still remember, she used to come home late from her duty, and no matter how exhausted she was, she used to tell me everything that happened that day at her station without missing a single detail. So I got to know almost everything about Kaira and Barbie even without meeting them face-to-face.