Sach hote Khwaab

Revenge

 I woke up with a start. It was eight in the morning. O God ! I was late. Kabir had to be sent to school within half an hour. Breakfast had to be prepared. Oh ! And we had to go to Raizada Sadan at the earliest. Randheer was finally back. Panditji had been summoned today to select the first suitable date for Amrit's wedding. We'd have to begin the preparations today itself. There was so much to do. Thank God, there was no college today otherwise we would be in a fix.
And this burly man here was sleeping like a log without a care in the world ! O What do I do about him !
'Uday uth !', I shook him hard.
'Sone ne de na Vashma. Mainu bohot neend aa rahi hai', he mumbled in sleep.
'Oye uth. Bohot kaam hai aaj Uday'
'Oye tera pati itti door se safar karke lauta hai. Thoda reham kar merepe. Sone de mainu'
'Kabir nu school bhi te chhadna hai. Oye utth', shaking him harder.
'To roz kaunsa main jaata hoon. Tum dono mein se jisko mann ho chhod aao use school. Mainu sona hai. Haye Rabba kaisi votti di hai mainu. Chain se sone bhi nai deti !'
'Oye tenu koi fikar vikar hai ki nai. Teri behen da vyah hone waala hai ! Kitne kaam hai aaj. Aur tujhe sone ki padi hai. Oye uth. Aaj te tujhe sone nai milne wala. Utth'.
I dragged him out of bed with much difficulty and pushed him into the bathroom.
'Jaldi Taiyaar hoke aa. Je mere puttar ko tere karan school mein daant padi na to tu dekhna !'

I hurried to wake Kabir up, got him dressed and took him downstairs to feed him.
I wondered how come Amrit was still asleep !

Meanwhile my dear lazy husband came downstairs, as drowsy as ever and sat down beside Kabir.
'Uday tujhe neend kaise aa sakti hai. Mujhe to aisa lag raha kya kya nahi kardu. Meri Amrit ki shaadi hone wali hai ! Mujhe kitni kharidari karni hai ! Kitne logon se baat karni hai ! Kitne kaam karwane hai ! Ammi Abbu ko khat bhi likhna hai ! Uday ! UDAY ! O tu sun bhi raha hai ! Ya Allah ye to baithe baithe so gaya !
Aur ek iski behen ! Vo bhi kaise soyi hai ab tak ! Use neend bhi kaise aa rahi hai !
In dono bhai behen ne pagal kardena hai mujhe ek din.'
I got some water from the kitchen and sprinkled it on his face. Mann to kar raha tha saara paani iske muh pe maar doon. But a little water was doing the job pretty well. He flickered his eyes open and seeing me so jumpy he calmly made me sit on a chair and said,
'Meri sohni sohni votti. Meri gal sun. Pehle Panditji ne aake tareek nikal dene de. Uske baad mein jee bhar ke naach leyi. Abhi shaant hoja. Kal nahi hai Amru ki shaadi !
Je panditji ne 3-4 mahine baad ki tareek nikali to saari teri taiyaariyan dhari ki dhari reh jaani hai'
'O vo panditji ka gala daba dena hai maine ! Taareek to unko issi mahine ki nikalni padegi !'
'Haan haan fir te tenu panditji ke saaamne lejaane se pehle das baari sochna padega mainu. Main na shaadi ki taiyaariyaan bhi tenu ni karan doonga. Kahin kisi se kuch galti hui nai ki tune to sabnu maar hi daalna hai !'
'Oye tu kaun hota hai beech mein padne waala ? Tu ruk. Tujhse to itna kaam karwaaungi ki merese ulajhne se pehle das baar sochega agli baar. Aur Panditji ko to main dekh lungi. Shaadi to issi mahine hogi, tu dekhna'
'Acha ji. Jaisa tuhanu acha lage. Ab main aapke ladle puttar nu school chhad aaun ? Je isnu deri hui to bhi aapne meri hi khabar leni hai !', he laughed and led Kabir out.
I waved them a goodbye and then rushed upstairs to see Amrit. 
But Amrit was not in her room ! Where had she disappeared ? Even the bedsheet was lying on the bed, unfolded. The almirah was open. Some of the clothes Amrit had bought for Randheer were lying on the bed. Her diary was open on her desk. Ye ladki kar kya rahi thi !

I moved to her desk and found a note.
'Vashma, Main bahar jaa rahi hoon Randheer ke saath. Thodi der mein aa jaungi. Tu samhaal lena'

Yahaan main soch rahi hoon ki bechaari ko neend bhi kaise aayi hogi. So bhi paayi hogi ki nai. Ye to pehle hi faraar hai !
Aise kaise mujhe bina bataye chali gayi ! Haan matlab thik hai saath mein to nai leke jaati par utha to deti ! Ek din mein bhool gai mujhe. Aaane do isse. Batati hoon.
And why was this room so messy ! How unlike Amrit !
I was going downstairs thinking about the treason when Uday called out. He was back home.
'Vashma, Amru kithe hai ? Abhi tak uthi nai ?'
'Pata nahi', I replied rather rudely.
'Pata nahi matlab ? Ghar pe nai hai ?', he asked casually
'Nai Uday. Upar to nahi hai. Pata nahi subah subah kahan chali gayi'
'Oye yaad kar. Kuch kaam tha kya use ?'
'Use kaunsa koi kaam yaad rahega ab !', I muttered under my breath.
'Hein ?!'
'Nai.. nai to. Mujhe to aisa kuch yaad nahi hai. Aur dekh na kamra bhi kaise faila hua hai uska . Amrit to aisa kabhi nai karti. Uday mujhe na darr lag raha hai !'
'Oye kya bol rahi hai.'
'Tu chal mere saath'.
I dragged him upstairs, showed him the messy room and perking up the drama a bit more, I convinced him that something was definitely wrong. And my husband already started to panic.
'Amru kaha jayegi. Daftar gayi hogi... nai to college gayi hogi.. hai na ... usnu jaana tha na shayad... Hum phone karte hai na.. abhi pata chal jayega... Yahin kahin hogi...'
I was pitying him a bit. But it's ok. This was just for a few hours.'
He had already made a few calls. I tried to divert him.
'Uday, ho sakta hai Randheer se milne gayi hogi !', I pretended as if the idea had just struck me.
'O haan. Main bhi na. Ruk main abhi dekhke aata hoon !'. And then he stopped.
'Par vo aise subah subah akele thodi unke ghar chale jayegi !'
'Oye tu dekhke to aa', I pushed him out and heaved a sigh of relief.