Reborn to love

A Small Glitch

Part 10

The phone rang incessantly, interrupting Sameer's oblivion. "Yaar koi phone kyon nahi utha raha hai?" He almost yelled to anyone in the earshot but no one in particular. It was only his frustration talking.

Munna Pandit were surprised at his tone, hut Ramdhari came in hurriedly with a cordless in hand, "Bhaiyya, factory se phone hai".

Sameer composed himself and answered, "Hello".

The factory supervisor was on the other hand. "Sameer Maheshwari?"

"Haan ji, bol raha hoon?"

"Ji main production supervisor, Amit Shah bol raha hoon. Ek emergency aa gayi thi. Aur main Jaiprakash Sir se contact nahi kar pa raha tha. Na woh factory aaye aur na hi city office mein hai. Abhi aapke naukar ne bataya ki woh kuch din ke liye sheher se bahar gaye hai. Kya mujhe waha ka number mil sakta hai?"

"Actually abhi mere paas nahi hai. Nanu ka phone aayega toh main unhe bata doonga. Par aap tab tak Munshiji se baat kyon nahi karte. Nanu jab bhi bahar jaate hai, saara kaam Munshiji hi dekhte hai na!" Sameer tried to provide a solution.

"Ji maine Munshiji ko pehle hi call kiya tha, par woh toh akele rehte hai. Toh unke yahan kisine phone nahi uthaya toh mujhe laga woh zyaada tar sir ke saath hi hote hai".

Sameer was speechless, he hadn't thought immediately of contacting Munshiji either coz he wasn't sure himself how he was going to explain Nanu's sudden disappearance. But this was news flash that even Munshiji was missing with Nanu and he was clueless. Something was damn fishy and now he had to cover up and find answers quickly.

"Hello...aap hai na...?" The supervisor on the other end checked hesitantly as Sameer went silent.

"Hmmm...haaaa...uhhh...Aap mujhe batayiye kya hua hai?" Sameer tried to take up matters in his own hands.

"Ji...thodi serious baat hai. Kya aap abhi factory aa sakte hai?"

Hearing the word serious had made Sameer nervous but this was Nanu's business and could not be neglected.

"Theek hai...main aata hoon", and he hung up.

Munna Pandit had long forgotten their play and though had heard only Sameer's part of the conversation, were already on alert mode seeing his changing facial expressions and body language.

Before he asked or said anything, Munna declared, "tu kuch nahi kahega, hum tere saath hi chal rahe hai!"

Sameer smiled at his besties that though most of the times they were busy in their amusements, they never failed him.

He just smiled and nodded at them and the three headed out with the car as it was a long drive to the outskirts of the city to ride triple on the bike.

Upon reaching the factory site, which wasn't frequented so much by Sameer except for a few times, he was amazed that the vegetation spread out far and wide as a result of the monsoon. It was an industrial area but most were small factories on this side of the river bank that allowed the green meadows to flourish for a while after the rains so that the air was cleansed and the area could enjoy some oneness with nature before it had to be cleared out to prevent the overgrowth and attract the dwelling of dangerous fauna.

The boys went inside and though Sameer had visited earlier on a few occassions with Nanu, it was the first time for Munna Pandit. It was wide and heighted floor space installed with some old and some new machinery used in textiles. There were several machines that mimicked the hand weaving and loom jobs that were operated by trained and skilled personnel very vigilantly. However, despite new machinery, some old techniques were retained too as Nanu believed in holding on to the roots.