To Where It All Began ✔

11. The End Of the Dead End...

She walked out of her room taking tiny baby steps in her chappals and limping her bandaged injured foot at the same time to go to the hall. While she passed along the corridor, she heard the chatting among two people.

Carefully walking down the stairs, she reached the hall to find Shreekant and Vinod sitting comfortably on the sofa that was stretched across the hall. The old man was in his sixties wearing a light-colored shirt precisely tucked in his blank pants. The lighting in the hall illuminated his tired, worn-out face with wrinkles boring deeply into his skin. He had a lot of stories to tell and the experience was dancing on his lips like a curious child.

On seeing Amna standing near the stairs, Shreekant shifted his gaze, "Uncle... Look Amna is here". The old man quickly turned and stood up in his place as a gesture to welcome the girl who had helped him. With a humble nod, she starts to walk slowly towards them, "Hello Uncle... Good to see you happy and healthy"

All of them finally settled themselves and started having their conversation.

"Doctor, I can't thank you enough for that. Because of your intervention, I didn't have any complications in my surgery that day after reaching the hospital"

"Uncle... You don't have to thank me, it's my moral obliquity. But uncle how did you fracture your ribs?"

"Actually, that day when I went to the market, the auto-rickshaw I was traveling in dashed to another car causing the driver to apply sudden brakes. That caused me to hit the iron-framed railing behind the driver's seat. Although I didn't feel anything immediately after the accident, slowly I started having mild chest pain and then finally trouble breathing"

"Oh... That's what happened, fracture will take some time to heal even if corrected by a really good surgeon, you must take good care of yourself." She asked, folding her arms with clearly evident concern for him.

"All thanks to you both", he chuckled with grasping the armrest of his sofa while his other hand held a glass of juice.

"Enough of praising us Uncle, Ratna Aunty informed me that you had some work in Mumbai?" Shreekant asked anxiously.

"Yes, I and some of my old colleagues planned to have a reunion here in Mumbai, we have had these meetings every five years since the day our old working place was permanently closed"

"That's really nice Uncle, must be very nostalgic for you, right?" She asked in a soothing, gentle tone looking directly at him.

"It really is... Twelve years is a long time, plus whenever I see newspapers today, I really get dismayed by the quality of the news. Back then we dared to expose the truth and now all these young journalists do is try to cover the truth." He sighed heavily, giving a sign of his discontentment"

"Uncle... You were a journalist?" Shreekant asked as he tried to inquire from him.

"Yes, I was long back. I used to work for a Marathi regional Newspaper, called Lokancha Awaaj " On hearing the name of the newspaper Vinod used to work for, both Amna and Shreekant exchanged glances at each other, hinting at the same thing.

"Uncle... Was your office located in Pandharpur?" Both hoped the answer to be a yes and alas it was.

"Yes, but how do you people know about it. It was a small regional newspaper" He asked in amazement putting down the glass of the juice he was holding.

The next question was asked by both of them simultaneously, "Uncle... Do you know someone called Neelam, who used to work for your newspaper back in 1995?"

Vinod was astounded by the fact that they both asked the same question at the same time, "Is there any problem?"

"No, uncle... She is just a long-lost acquaintance whom we are trying to locate" She replied in a short breath still anticipating his answer to their previous question with expanded eyes.

"Hmm... Neelam... I don't remember anyone of that name working for us, maybe she worked for a very short period of time or maybe she was a freelance journalist... Anyways, I have never met anyone of that name even in the reunions we conduct where almost every person who has worked with us even for the slightest period of time, permanent or freelance is invited"

On hearing the answer from him both of theirs hopes came crashing down again until Vinod said, "I may not know properly, but there is someone who definitely knows, our newspaper's editor, Mr. Nanda... He was the one who worked in the press from day one till the last day of closure. He is also the main in-charge responsible for conducting the reunion. You can contact him, if you need the information so badly, he might be of help... I will give you his contact number."

"Thank you so much uncle, you don't know what a huge help you have done for us today. We will contact him tomorrow morning itself", he responded as his eyes were still gleaming over the fact that there was a small hope now.

He smiled and reacted, "Everything in the universe is connected my child, nothing happens without a reason."

"He was right, nothing happens without a reason, I mean, who knew that the person whom I aided will bring an end to our dead-end", she tittered while she looked at his face.

After having a quiet and peaceful dinner, Vinod bid a final goodbye to Amna and left with Shreekant in his car.