Teri Lakeerein

4. About Her

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Karishma didn't know what to make of the situation inside the thana. She has had her fair share of experiences with the police stations and was firm in the notion, that these were dark dingy places where common man was always tortured.

The scene in front of her eyes, however, was different.

A tall male officer was seated in the prison and playing cards with a man, who seemed like a thief. A girl about her age, Karishma craned her neck to focus, had earphones plugged in and was shaking to some song, on her seat. And another woman, whose desk she was standing right in front of, Karishma peered a bit then, was writing household expenses in a register!

Karishma smiled. What a lively bunch of slackers! The ambience was a bit on the cheery side, but otherwise, she was not surprised.

She looked around then, hoping to catch a glimpse of the inspector, but to no avail.

'Waah, kamal ho gaya. Kal itni badi baatein aur aaj thane se hi gayab. Bas dhang alag tha, rang toh bulbul pandey jaisa hi hai', Karishma scoffed.

Her scoff, however, alerted the unsuspecting Pushpa ji who looked up from her register and almost fell back in surprise.

Karishma watched amused as the woman somehow gained her balance, her hand on her chest.

"Ji...mahila police thana, sadev aapki seva main tatpar. Kya sahayta karein hum aapki?" She asked.

Karishma took a seat in front then and smiled. Pushpa singh recoiled at the look. It was appalling and obviously very unpleasant.

"Hum apna challan receipt collect karne aaye thhe".

Pushpa ji, felt confused at that. "Ji kabki baat hai yeh?"

"Kal ki".

"Par kal toh humne koi challan nahi kaata".

"Ji, inspector Haseena Malik ne kaata tha, Unke paas uss samay challan slip nahi tha, toh unhone humse kaha ki hum pese de dein aur kal thaane se receipt le jaayein", Karishma twisted the facts and leaned back.

"Safed jhooth boldi aap toh", Karishma looked away to see the male officer exiting the prison cell and walking towards them.

"Maddam sir, aisa kar hi nahi sakti", The girl who was till now grooving to music, added.

"Kanoon ka palan karne walon main se hai, hamari maddam sir", Pushpa ji added.

Karishma singh was a quarter surprised in this moment. So much devotion!

"Hum kaahe jhooth bolenge?" She continued the farce.

Something inside Karishma screamed that this 'maddam sir urf haseena malik' character couldn't be all that grand. As she had seemed. No. She was police. Never!

" Jaake dekh lijiye, fir kisi file main, rakhte honge na aap log, challan records", Karishma suggested offhandedly, and pushpaji obviously irked, gestured Cheetah to fetch the same from haseena's cabin.

.

.

.

As Pushpa ji, leafed through the file, for the second time, Karishma laughed internally.

For someone who had seemed uptight and upright, Haseena malik had easily conned 2000 Rs out of her.

'But she had returned the 2000 too', her conscience retorted.

'There was no record of the 2000 she had taken', her stubbornness answered.

'But she had altogether refused to take the money', her conscience reasoned yet again.