Haseena hummed a song as she stepped into the thana on a Monday morning. Cheeta Chaturvedi, as ever was half nodding and half awake.
Haseena looked at her watch. It was 10 am. Santosh was most probably seated inside, and Pushpa ji was definitely in the record room.
Tapping Cheeta awake with the tip of her baton, she smiled amused as he jumped to his feet in greeting.
"Jai Hind, maddam sir!"
She nodded, and shaking her head walked away towards her cabin.
A good weekend rest had energized Haseena enough that she could dare to look at the mountain of files on her desk, and not flinch.
And thus, for the next two hours, she kept herself immersed with the files, and thankfully, no one came to report any instance of crime either.
Finally, when the clock struck 12, Haseena left the file midway, slapped it shut and roused from her seat. Placing her cap over her head and equipping her baton then, she walked out, to find only Santosh Sharma present at her desk.
"Pushpa ji and Cheeta kahan hai?" She asked, and Santosh sharma looked away from her laptop and greeted her.
"Jai hind, maddam. Vo dono rounds par gaye hain. Bas aate hi honge".
Haseena nodded and then replied, "Theek hai. DSP sir has organized a meeting of all the Lucknow thana SHOs, toh hum wahan jaa rahe hain. Humein samay lag jaega aane main. Thane ka dhyaan dijiyega".
"Ji maddam".
And with that said, Haseena walked out of thana.
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"Bakaeti ho gayi ho khatm, toh chalein!" Karishma singh taunted, settling over her bike and wearing the helmet.
Kiran and Kishan who were toying with Billu's spectacles, quickly returned them to him and seated themselves on the jeep, while another young man, Suraj settled in the seat of driver.
Karishma singh passed them a glare, frustrated after the annoying meeting with Dalal singh, that had marked the start of her ruined monday morning.
"Kiran, vaqeel sahiba ko bata do ki hum log pahunch rahe hain, aadhe ghante main. Aaj toh bail ki arji jaroor pass honi chahiye".
"Ji, mukhiyain", And as soon as he had spoken, Karishma drove out of the driveway of her bhavan, followed by the safari jeep.
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18:00
Haseena stifled her third yawn that had yet again tested the limit of her lips.
'DSP sir loves his voice, doesn't he? And of course, he loves food even more'. No wonder, the meeting that should have ended well around 16:00, had stretched all the way to 17:30.
"Humein abhi ghar hi chalna chahiye", Haseena came to a quick decision, and turned her car at the next roundabout.
"Also, it wouldn't hurt to catch a glimpse of the majestic Rumi Darwaza either".
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"Didi, aapki chai", Suraj forwarded a glass to Karishma, who was sideways leaning on her bike, looking oddly at the big marvel of architecture standing before her.
"Kaa hai isme dekhne layak?" Karishma posed to no one in particular, as she sipped on her tea.
"Itihaas hai isme, Karishma ji. Ye humein batata hai, ki kis tarah se ye bharat bana, jisme aaj hum reh rahe hain", Billu replied, biting on his toast.
"Aur ye jaanke kaa karlenge hum? Humein nahi samajh main aata inn khandaharon ka mahattv. Aur ho gayi ho tum sab ki sudkiyan, toh chalein ab. Bahot kaam hai hamare paas".
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Haseena smiled as she looked at the Darwaza. Her smile further widened seeing the crowd, who was also here for the ambience, the timeless feel. These architectural wonders weren't just some relics from past, they were like a time machine, whose sight and knowledge could take you to places you could never ever afford to see again.
Haseena turned the ignition in her jeep then.
"Let's go home!"
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"Thoda dheere!!" Billu protested, holding onto the seat for his dear life as the safari raced forward, following after karishma's bike.
And Suraj only accelerated the car in response.
Billu could only pray to god. Because this godforsaken race was going to be the death of him. And his poor hair!
Haseena was continuing with her leisure drive, when a bike whizzed past her, and practically flew forward.
Baffled for a second, she was caught off guard yet again, as another jeep rushed past hers.
"Ya allah! Iss raftaar se toh durghatna hona tay hai!" Shaking her head then, she pressed her feet on accelerator and shifted the gear, marching ahead.
So much for an early evening!
And some 500 meters ahead, Karishma smirked at the rear-view mirror, and decided that she had indulged the youngest of the group enough, and that she should slow down, lest something bad happened.
Her intention, however, was a second too late to materialize because as soon as she heard the wailing of police siren, the police vehicle had already overtaken hers and halted right in front of her bike.
Applying the brakes instantly, Karishma barely avoided crashing into the government vehicle and removed her helmet in annoyance. Great! They were caught now!
Putting her motorbike on stand then, she watched as the door of the jeep ahead opened wide and stepped out a woman.
Her men had alighted the jeep too and were standing by her side. Karishma watched as the officer turned to face them and walked towards the group, the baton continuously swinging in between her fingers.
Finally, when the officer was close enough, Karishma gave her a onceover and was a quarter impressed.
The officer suited the uniform! Also her gait was quite impeccable, unlike the Bulbul Pandey of their area. That man was an absolute chooran.
Haseena looked at the crowd in front of her and then at the woman, who seemed to be the leader. Short yet imposing. Hmm.
"You were over speeding. Kya iss nasamjhi ki wajah jaan sakte hain hum?" Haseena addressed Karishma, whose eyes widened, in surprise.
There were two reasons for that. One was the voice itself, the manner of speaking to be exact. Was this woman a descendant of the royal family? Karishma found her gaze wandering to the inspector's name plate, and as she read 'Haseena', Karishma's gaze instantly found Haseena's waiting one.
'Wakai main', she thought and then was about to reply, when Suraj beat her to a punch, and jumped ahead.
"Arre daroga, nasamajh kisko boli bey! Janti ho ki didi kaun hai!"
But before, Haseena could retort to the rude boy, the other woman caught his ear and twisted it severely, as mercy pleas started escaping his mouth.
"Ahhhh, didii!!" Suraj whined, trying to wriggle out but to no avail.
"Ye kya durachar hai! Mahila se baat karne ka tameez nahi hai tumko!" She scolded, tugging him forward.
"Ahhh! Sorry didi!!"
"Ye kaan naa nikalke haath main de denge! Humse kaahe mafi maang rahe ho, inspector ji se maango mafi!"
Suraj turned to face Haseena then, in his literally sorry state and whimpered, "Sorry mam! Forgive me, please!"
Haseena found the situation quite funny and nodded, "Aage se dhyaan rakhna".
And finally, Karishma let go, but not before smacking the back of Suraj's head.
Karishma then focused her attention towards Haseena and bowed her head, "Hum iske vyavahar ke liye kshamaprarthi hain".
Haseena was amused. 'Pal main aag, pal main paani. Badi interesting hain inki zubaani'
"It's alright", Haseena accepted the apology and then added, "Aap kaafi suljhi hui maloom hoti h-
*cough* *cough*
Billu coughed suddenly and Kiran turned his face away too. Karishma glared at the duo, her eyes promising severe punishment.
"-phir iss laparwahi ki wajah?" Haseena asked, ignoring the weird background noises.
"Nahi madam wo galti hamara hi tha. Inko race karni thi, aur hum bhi maan gaye. Aage se nahi karenge. Sorry".
Haseena nodded, "Beherhaal, kyuki aapko apni galti ka ehsaas hai toh hum aapko keval jurmana lagakar chhod denge. Par aage se dhyaan rakhiyega".
Haseena then went to jeep to fetch the challan slip but realized that they were in the other jeep and sighed.
"Hamare paas abhi challan slip nahi hain, toh aap jaa sakte hain".
Now, Karishma Singh should have jumped at the chance. She wasn't a miser. No. But neither was she an ardent law follower.
She should have greeted night to Inspector here and walked away. She should have.
"Hum challan aur receipt, kal aapka thana se collect kar lenge".
It wasn't until every face had turned to hers in surprise, did Karishma realize just what had escaped her mouth.
"Nahi, that's not legal", Haseena denied, but Karishma was already taking her wallet out.
"Dekhiye madam, ab legal-illegal toh aapke upar hai. Aap hamara parchi kaat dijiyega toh legal ho jaega. Aur waise bhi Karishma singh hisaab ka bahot pakki hai".
With that said, Karishma looked at Haseena and forwarded the four thousand rupees. Raising her brows in surprise, Haseena took the money and immediately returned the two thousand rupees.
"Mahila Police Thana, Aminabad", She half smiled at Karishma and then twisting on her heels, walked off towards her jeep.
And as she heard the engine revv, Karishma too turned to her bike and took her seat.
"Didi pesa kaahe diya?" Suraj asked, and as Karishma turned to face him, her brow furrowed.
"Ghar chalo, aaj tumhara tudai karte hain!"
Suraj shivered in response and Billu avoided karishma's gaze.
"Aur tumhara ye jo chaar baal hai na, wo bhi ukhaad denge. Bahot hasi aa rahi thi na!"
And then she started her bike and raced off.
Within limits of course.