Puchh nahi raha; bata raha hun..

He looked up at the sound of someone asking, "lal shirt", since he also was wearing a red shirt that night. He looked at everyone else in the room, trying to find another red shirt, but he couldn't. "haan haan tum hi. idhar udhar kya dekh rahe ho." said the sleepy looking looking policeman from his desk. "idhar aao", the policeman continued. He got up slowly from the wooden bench he was sitting on, still not sure why he was there in the first place. He has not done anything wrong. All he was doing was, having a quiet dinner with his friends at a restaurant. He walked up to the desk of the sleepy looking policeman and spoke in a confused tone, not sure whether it was a question or acknowledgement, "ji sir!". "naam kya hai tumhara" asked the policeman. He was scared now. He was thinking whether to give him correct name or be smart and try to get away with giving fake information. "What if he asked for an ID? How would I produce the ID for the fake identity? What if my friends spill the beans, who are still sitting at that bench waiting for their turn?" all these questions cropped in his head. Besides, he was not even sure why the policeman was asking his name. He hasn't done anything wrong. "Ajay", he said and gave his correct name to the policeman.

"Ajay. Hmmmm." the policeman repeated his name and wrote it down on a piece of paper, which looked like some kind of form. He tried to read the headings on the form but was too tired and sleepy. "tum wohan par restaurant me danga kar rahe the" policeman said, while looking up at his face. He at first thought it was some kind of joke, because looking at his size nobody would believe he is capable of doing any danga. He cannot even slap a person of normal built, forget about doing danga. "tum wohan par danga kar rahe the", the policeman repeated. "Nahi sir!" he said, trying to protest. "Poochh nahi raha hun, bata raha hun", the policeman said in a calm and firm voice. He tried to protest, "lekin sir, jab main kuchh kar hi nahi raha tha...". "Dekho.." policeman did cut him in between, "tumhare paas do choice hain, ya to tum pe 160 lagega ya fir 189 lagega". Policeman looked up and noticed the blank look on his face and realized he did not understand what 160 and 189 mean. "160 better hai, usme saja kam hoti hai," he said trying to sound helpful. As if he was doing some favour by helping him chose among the two. Well, no police in the world would have such facility, where they allow convicts to choose between the charges and even help them with the selection.

"theek hai sir, 160." realizing that there is no point protesting further, he surrendered to the policeman's suggestion. Keeping with the helpful image of Indian Police, the policeman helped him even further by informing him that now since there is a case against him on IPC Section 160, which means creating nuisance in a public place and will need someone to bail him out.

At this point he was allowed to make one call and was handed over his cell phone, which was taken from him during the raid at the restaurant.

The Last Goodbye

He was sitting in a sofa, staring down fiddling with his cellphone. She was standing across the table looking at him. The silence in the room was getting uncomfortable. He did not have the courage to look up and face her. He was afraid, he would not be able to stand the look of pain in those eyes. So, he kept looking down. Though, not being able to speak was almost killing him. He would rather die than see the pain in those beautiful eyes.

She was so shocked at what he had said and was unable to react. She kept on staring towards him waiting for him to look up and meet his eyes. Finally he looked up. Her eyes met his and few drops of tears fell from her eyes. "There has to be a way", she said wiping her tears from her palms. "There is no way", he replied and tears dropped from his already wet eyes. He continued, "They are outside, waiting for me. I have to go." "I will talk to them", she protested, "they cannot do this." He asked, "Do you think they need permission from anyone to do what they want?" "But..." she paused for a moment, then continued, "but I cannot let you go. I will die without you." There was silence again. Neither of them had the courage to speak, or may be they were just not able to find the right words.

He stood from the sofa, held her face in his palms and did the most brave thing he had ever done in his life. He looked straight into her wet eyes and said without blinking, "you will live. Nothing will happen to you. They want me and they will not let me go." He pulled her close and hugged her. "I must go now. They are waiting outside and if I don't go out soon, they might break in." he said in her ear and moved away from her. He did not have any courage left in himself to look into her eyes again. He turned and started moving towards the door.

She came behind him and grabbed him. She was not ready to let him go. "I will come with you," she said and opened the door. A bullet hit her on her neck and she fell on the floor bleeding. He could not believe what just happened. His heart could not take this shock and stopped. He fell on the floor lifeless.