Fitoor

Chapter 54

Kaimur

Bihar.

Mishti Bose

By the time I woke up the next morning, Geet was nowhere to be seen. Even Maanav had escaped. Searching them in the entire empty haveli, I bumped into the old man, who was reading newspaper with a grumpy face. It made me wonder, whether he's always like that! Face constricted, anger at the tip of the nose, frowning at everyone. And I also realised, I had become like him in the past three years.

"Good morning, dadaji." I tried to smile but he didn't respond.
"Aapke liye chai naashta kuch banau?" I offered again. Only for the sake of Maanav and Geet.
"Idhar ayiye." He said and I stuttered towards him.
"Baithiye." I followed suit and sat down near the stairs.
"Hindi akhbar padhna jante hai?" I nodded silently. Did he secretly think I was some gawar? Ofcourse I know Hindi!
"To sirf headlines padhiye." And I did.

For another half an hour, me and the old man had discussed almost all the external affairs. From Pakistan and India's seperation to the recent news, we had argued almost over anything. That's when I spotted Abir and Maanav, standing and staring at us.
"Par aap to paida bhi nahi hui thi jab partition hua tha! Mai zinda tha us wakt. Aur aapko itna sab kuch kaise pata hai?" He questioned.
"Mere baba haina, baithke itna dimag khate the, shotthi. Ami ki bol-" I stopped mid sentence. The language felt foreign yet so homely. And I hadn't spoken about him in such a long time.

Baba, a word that has to be said with love and admiration, became a painful sting in my heart. He used to be my partner, a ride or die person. And I never realised he'd had this stone cold personality of his stored inside. He would have never abandoned us even if it was our mistake. Then why did he have to push me away, his favourite daughter as he had claimed. Maybe his love had an expiry date too. Unable to think much, I wanted an escape from the things running in my head.

Getting up suddenly, I jogged towards my room to find my anti depressants. Since Abir had strictly forbidden smoking, they were my only resort now. But as soon as I touched the bottle, someone snatched it away. Geet.
"Vapas de." I said calmly.
"Nahi. Tumhare seheth ke liye ye accha nahi hai." She argued. What's with people dictating me everytime!
"Geetanjali please. Give it back." I requested politely.
"Nahi, Mishti. Hum tumko aise nahi dekh sakte-"
"Kaise? Kaise nahi dekh sakte!" I yelled.

"Mishti-"
"Chup reh tu." I stopped Maanav from talking.
"Kyu? Kyu sabko chup karati rehti hai?" She asked, genuinely worried.
"Dikhta nahi hai kya tum sabko! Mere problems sabke problems ban rahe hai. Baba ne sahi kaha. I don't belong here. Mujhe nahi aana chahiye tha." I said and as I fled towards the door to exit, Abir was standing there, waiting patiently.
"Chalo." He said and dragged me out.

"Kaha jaa rahe hai!" I freaked. Honestly, I just wanted some alone time. But this monkey didn't even pretend that he wasn't listening.
"Abir! Kar kya rahe ho! Pata hai na mujhe karate aati hai?" He practically pushed me inside the car and started to drive.
"Sach me khood jaungi." And he locked the doors. Maybe I should shut up. As we travelled, I realised we were back at the reserve, but he took a right turn instead of the left, which led to general entrance.

"Ye hai tumhara first assignment." Abir finally spoke.
"Mai student hu? Marketing trainee hu? Ya tumhare assistant hu? Mujhe kyu karna hai koi stupid assignment?" He looked at me in that 'hogaya?' way so I zipped my mouth again.
"Our first session. Simulation." Abir said.
"Dekho tumhare aas paas. Feel karo in sab ko. Take in the nature. Breathe. And let go of all the things you can, right now. Ek ghante ke liye bas." I couldn't say no since he actually pleaded.
"I've booked this part of the forest. Janwar nahi hai aur, log aate jaate rehte hai." I nodded.

And that's how I entered my first and final chance of healing whatever Abir thought he could fix.

Abir Bharadwaj

When me and Maanav came back from jogging, we saw Mishti and Geet's grandfather in the porch, sitting and arguing about whose fault it was to call for the partition of the two countries.
"Ye sach me itni jobless hai? Doctor thi London me ya organs bech rahi thi?" Maanav asked.
"Mujhe kaise pata hoga. Tu haina uska jigra dost, tu bol. Kitna hai tumhara share uske drug dealings me?" And he made a sound that almost sounded like a pig trying to take a shit. Oh wait, he was laughing.

"Tu ye sab kaise janta hai?" And I smirked.
"Mishti agar organ dealer hai to, tu ganja hi bechta hoga. Sirf Kuhu bach gayi tumhare group me." He rolled his eyes.

And we heard Mishti talk so fondly about her father. Vijay Bose, a stupid old man who couldn't keep his ego aside and have a conversation with his daughter, whom he loved the most. What had happened to him to turn so bitter! By the time I finished my analysis, I saw Mishti jog towards her room. I knew she wanted an exit. After the whole argument with Geet and listening her blaming herself, I decided it was time for our first session.

After Mishti scurried inside the forest, I decided to stay in the car and look at few emails but I couldn't. Maybe the forest held a pull that I couldn't resist. So I gave in. The first assignment was Simulation. Understand the nature, feel everything around you, let your body and mind take in the cool air, fresh color of the leaves, and the wet soil beneath. I reached a rock and sat on it, closing my eyes.

"Tum kya kar rahe ho yaha?" Her voice made me look at her. She was concerned. God how much I missed someone caring for me. Or atleast showed that they did care. It was natural for my parents, my brother and Kunal too. But Mishti was the only other person in the universe who volunteered to worry over me. And she stopped doing it. Feeling it again, made me heave a deep sigh. This was supposed to be about her, and not me.

"Jo tum nahi kar rahi ho." She got annoyed easily and pushed me aside. I chuckled and made space for her to sit. Mishti occupied the seat next to me, and suddenly we were back, 3 years ago in the forest where I had teased her, mimicking a cuckoo.
"I can't concentrate. Bhatak raha hai saare topics dimaag me. What do you need me to do when you say simulate-"
"Yahi. Stop this bad bad and focus on the nature. The air, the sounds, the trees. Unpe dhyan do. Baaki sab blur hojayega." I offered a suggestion because that's what I did. She nodded and closed her eyes.

I don't know what was happening inside her head, but sitting beside her, in the forest, amidst the greenery, I felt something that I had forgotten about.

Peace.

Bengaluru

Third person POV

Vijay Bose was tensed. Fidgeting his fingers, he waited for the CEO, sorry acting CEO to visit him. He had to take an appointment to meet his nephew now. Every single mistake he committed three years ago, made him act like he distrusted his own daughter, and distanced him from his family. His wife no longer spoke to him unless it was something important. Niharika was living like an outsider and Pranav became family.

But nobody knew why he had to do such heinous things. To be frank, even Vijay didn't see the meaning in it anymore. Therefore he was there in his former office, wanting to terminate the deal. To bring back his daughter. To claim their Bose group.

"Apani ekhane keno mama? Mai hi aajata ghar." Dev entered his cabin, smiling at his uncle.
(Why are you here?)
"Tumse kuch baat karna-"
"Ah! Baat se yaad aaya. Mishti vapas aayi hai par aapne bataya hi nahi." His smile was nothing but sinister. Never would he have imagined that Dev was capable of something so evil.
"Dev, seedha point pe aata hu. Our deal is off." Vijay frowned hearing him laugh.

"Mama, shayad aapka tabiyat theek nahi hai-"
"Shut up god damnit!" Hearing his uncle's outburst, Dev stopped smiling. His gaze was hard and stoic now.
"Fine, we're being rude now. To dhyaan se suniye. Na humara sauda khatam hua hai, aur na hi aapki company safe hai. So I suggest you to shut your mouth. Apani jekhan theke eshechen shekhane phire jaa." Dev declared.
(Go back to where you came from)

Vijay was trembling with anger. He hadn't known the extent of Dev's ambitious intentions. And he had led him far too much into his company. Determined to destroy him, Vijay exited the office with a smirk on his face.

Mishti would love to do the deed for him, once she realised the truth about what had happened.

Three years ago.

To be continued