A motorbike rider dressed in full leather outfit and helmet, rammed through the opening in the barricade towards the stage, and shot at Pratap Chaudhary with a revolver.
ACP Ajay Singh Rathore chased the bike rider on his motorbike, hell bent on cat...
What was he doing? Did he have a brain snap or what? Ajay wondered confusedly as he started his walk back to home.
His heart and mind were in too much turmoil right now, and he was not thinking straight and behaving oddly, he decided. He spent a disturbed night tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
Amrita gasped when Ajay wiped her tears with his thumb and then sucked it. She was perhaps more shocked at her own body's reaction to it. And what was that dull sickening ache in the pit of her stomach? This must be due to her tattered nerves, making her feel dizzy and confused, she thought hopelessly.
Amrita was lost in her own thoughts all night. She wondered whether she should go to Ajay's home in the morning to give him a send-off. No, it would be too painful. She decided against it.
Barely able to sleep all night, Ajay was up and ready with his entire luggage packed, much before Ganesh Chand and Shyam arrived for pickup.
Dr Sharma and Mrs Sharma, Brijesh and Vidya also came to give him send off.
Dr Sharma presented him with a new Nokia Mobile phone, and asked him to call regularly and keep everyone updated about his wellbeing. Ajay's eyes looked for Ammu everywhere, but he didn't ask anyone why she wasn't there. He knew why she didn't come, but was still disappointed.
He took blessings from all the elders, gave a brief hug to Vidya and they set off.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
As they crossed the town limits, he fondly looked back at their favourite tree groves and mango orchard, and the lovely town which was his home for 13 years.
And he closed his eyes briefly, trying to imprint the image of his hometown in his mind. But another image flashed...of big brown eyes with thick wet lashes, quivering lips and flushed cheeks; he groaned inwardly, as he realised what else he was going to miss the most.
Once he settled into the hostel room, he called Dr Sharma and Brijesh Sir as promised. He then called Amrita.
She picked up the phone straight away, as if she was waiting for the call.
"Ammu... I reached ok here. Just wanted to tell you."
Ammu didn't realise how glad she was just to hear his voice.
She wondered what Ajay must think of her if he knew how much she was waiting for his call.
Controlling the excitement in her voice, she asked him casually.
"How is the hostel? Are you sharing your room with someone?"
He was disappointed that she sounded so casual... why? What the hell was wrong with him?
"Yeah, Mukesh is my roommate but another student will join as well. We are not sure who though." He replied in a low voice.
Amrita could feel the disappointment in his voice.
