Teri Lakeerein

3. They Meet

Haseena hummed a song as she stepped into the thana on a Monday morning. Cheeta Chaturvedi, as ever was half nodding and half awake.

Haseena looked at her watch. It was 10 am. Santosh was most probably seated inside, and Pushpa ji was definitely in the record room.

Tapping Cheeta awake with the tip of her baton, she smiled amused as he jumped to his feet in greeting.

"Jai Hind, maddam sir!"

She nodded, and shaking her head walked away towards her cabin.

A good weekend rest had energized Haseena enough that she could dare to look at the mountain of files on her desk, and not flinch.

And thus, for the next two hours, she kept herself immersed with the files, and thankfully, no one came to report any instance of crime either.

Finally, when the clock struck 12, Haseena left the file midway, slapped it shut and roused from her seat. Placing her cap over her head and equipping her baton then, she walked out, to find only Santosh Sharma present at her desk.

"Pushpa ji and Cheeta kahan hai?" She asked, and Santosh sharma looked away from her laptop and greeted her.

"Jai hind, maddam. Vo dono rounds par gaye hain. Bas aate hi honge".

Haseena nodded and then replied, "Theek hai. DSP sir has organized a meeting of all the Lucknow thana SHOs, toh hum wahan jaa rahe hain. Humein samay lag jaega aane main. Thane ka dhyaan dijiyega".

"Ji maddam".

And with that said, Haseena walked out of thana.

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"Bakaeti ho gayi ho khatm, toh chalein!" Karishma singh taunted, settling over her bike and wearing the helmet.

Kiran and Kishan who were toying with Billu's spectacles, quickly returned them to him and seated themselves on the jeep, while another young man, Suraj settled in the seat of driver.

Karishma singh passed them a glare, frustrated after the annoying meeting with Dalal singh, that had marked the start of her ruined monday morning.

"Kiran, vaqeel sahiba ko bata do ki hum log pahunch rahe hain, aadhe ghante main. Aaj toh bail ki arji jaroor pass honi chahiye".

"Ji, mukhiyain", And as soon as he had spoken, Karishma drove out of the driveway of her bhavan, followed by the safari jeep.

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18:00

Haseena stifled her third yawn that had yet again tested the limit of her lips.

'DSP sir loves his voice, doesn't he? And of course, he loves food even more'. No wonder, the meeting that should have ended well around 16:00, had stretched all the way to 17:30.

"Humein abhi ghar hi chalna chahiye", Haseena came to a quick decision, and turned her car at the next roundabout.

"Also, it wouldn't hurt to catch a glimpse of the majestic Rumi Darwaza either".

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"Didi, aapki chai", Suraj forwarded a glass to Karishma, who was sideways leaning on her bike, looking oddly at the big marvel of architecture standing before her.

"Kaa hai isme dekhne layak?" Karishma posed to no one in particular, as she sipped on her tea.

"Itihaas hai isme, Karishma ji. Ye humein batata hai, ki kis tarah se ye bharat bana, jisme aaj hum reh rahe hain", Billu replied, biting on his toast.